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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/38411-8.txt b/38411-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..222c9aa --- /dev/null +++ b/38411-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,14041 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Froth, by Armando Palacio Valdés + +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: Froth + +Author: Armando Palacio Valdés + +Translator: Clara Bell + +Release Date: December 26, 2011 [EBook #38411] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FROTH *** + + + + +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) + + + + + + + + +FROTH + + +=Heinemann's International Library.= + +=Edited by EDMUND GOSSE.= + +_Crown 8vo_, _in paper covers_, 2_s._ 6_d._, _or cloth limp_, 3_s._ +6_d._ + +_IN GOD'S WAY._ By BJÖRNSTJERNE BJÖRNSON. Translated from the Norwegian +by Elizabeth Carmichael. + +_PIERRE AND JEAN._ By GUY DE MAUPASSANT. Translated from the French by +Clara Bell. + +_THE CHIEF JUSTICE._ By KARL EMIL FRANZOS. Translated from the German by +Miles Corbet. + +_WORK WHILE YE HAVE THE LIGHT._ By COUNT LVOF TOLSTOÏ. Translated from +the Russian by E. J. Dillon, Ph.D. + +_FANTASY._ By MATILDE SERAO. Translated from the Italian by Henry +Harland and Paul Sylvester. + +_FROTH._ By ARMANDO PALACIO VALDÉS. Translated from the Spanish by Clara +Bell. + +_THE COMMODORE'S DAUGHTERS._ By JONAS LIE. Translated from the Norwegian +by H. L. Brækstad and Gertrude Hughes. + + Other Volumes will be announced later. + Each Volume contains a specially written + Introduction by the Editor. + +London: + +WILLIAM HEINEMANN, 21 BEDFORD ST., W.C. + + + + +FROTH + +A NOVEL + +BY + +ARMANDO PALACIO VALDÉS + +TRANSLATED FROM THE SPANISH + +BY + +CLARA BELL + +LONDON + +WILLIAM HEINEMANN + +1891 + +(_All rights reserved_) + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + + +According to the Spanish critics, the novel has flourished in Spain +during only two epochs--the golden age of Cervantes and the period in +which we are still living. That unbroken line of romance-writing which +has existed for so long a time in France and in England, is not to be +looked for in the Peninsula. The novel in Spain is a re-creation of our +own days; but it has made, since the middle of the nineteenth century, +two or three fresh starts. The first modern Spanish novelists were what +are called the _walter-scottistas_, although they were inspired as much +by George Sand as by the author of _Waverley_. These writers were of a +romantic order, and Fernan Caballero, whose earliest novel dates from +1849, was at their head. The Revolution of September, 1868, marked an +advance in Spanish fiction, and Valera came forward as the leader of a +more national and more healthily vitalised species of imaginative work. +The pure and exquisite style of Valera is, doubtless, only to be +appreciated by a Castilian. Something of its charm may be divined, +however, even in the English translation of his masterpiece, _Pepita +Jimenez_. The mystical and aristocratic genius of Valera appealed to a +small audience; he has confided to the world that when all were praising +but few were buying his books. + +Far greater fecundity and a more directly successful appeal to the +public, were, somewhat later, the characteristics of Perez y Galdos, +whose vigorous novels, spoiled a little for a foreign reader by their +didactic diffuseness, are well-known in this country. In the hands of +Galdos, a further step was taken by Spanish fiction towards the +rejection of romantic optimism and the adoption of a modified realism. +In Pereda, so the Spanish critics tell us, a still more valiant champion +of naturalism was found, whose studies of local manners in the province +of Santander recall to mind the paintings of Teniers. About 1875 was the +date when the struggle commenced in good earnest between the schools of +romanticism and realism. In 1881 Galdos definitely joined the ranks of +the realists with his _La Desheredada_. An eminent Spanish writer, +Emilio Pardo Bazan, thus described the position some six years ago: "It +is true that the battle is not a noisy one, and excites no great warlike +ardour. The question is not taken up amongst us with the same heat as in +France, and this from several causes. In the first place, the idealists +with us do not walk in the clouds so much as they do in France, nor do +the realists load their palette so heavily. Neither school exaggerates +in order to distinguish itself from the other. Perhaps our public is +indifferent to literature, especially to printed literature, for what +is represented on the stage produces more impression." + +This indifference of the Spanish reading public, which has led a living +novelist to declare that a person of good position in Madrid would +rather spend his money on fireworks or on oranges than on a book, has at +length been in a measure dissipated by a writer who is not merely +admired and distinguished, but positively popular, and who, without +sacrificing style, has conquered the unwilling Spanish public. This is +Armando Palacio Valdés, who was born on the 4th of October, 1853, in a +hamlet of Asturias, called Entralgo, where his family had at one time a +mansion which has now disappeared. The family spent only the summer +there; the remainder of the year they passed in Avilés, the maritime +town which Valdés describes under the name of Nieva in his novel _Marta +y Maria_. From Asturias he went, when still a youth, up to Madrid to +study the law as a profession. But even in the lawyer's office, his +dream was to become a man of letters. His ambition took the form of +obtaining at some university a chair of political economy, to which +science he had, or fancied himself to have, at that time, a great +proclivity. + +Before terminating his legal studies, the young man published several +articles in the _Revista Europea_ on philosophical and religious +questions. These articles attracted the attention of the proprietor of +that review, and Valdés presently joined the staff. Next year he became +editor. He was at the head of the _Revista Europea_, at that time the +most important periodical in Spain from a scientific point of view, for +several years. During that time he published the main part of those +articles of literary criticism, particularly on contemporary poets and +novelists, which have since been collected in several volumes--_Los +Oradores del Ateneo_ ("The Orators of the Athenæum"); _Los Novelistas +Españoles_ ("The Spanish Novelists"); _Un Nuevo Viaje al Parnaso_ ("A +New Journey to Parnassus"), sketches of the living poets of Spain; and, +in particular, a very bright collection of review articles, published in +conjunction with Leopoldo Alas, _La Literatura_ en 1881 ("Spanish +Literature in 1881"). These gave Valdés a foremost rank among the +critics of the day. He wrote no more criticism, or very little; he +determined to place himself amongst those whose creative work demands +the careful consideration of the best judges. + +Soon after he took the direction of the _Revista_, Valdés wrote his +first novel, _El Señorito Octavio_, which was not published until 1881. +In 1883 he brought out his _Marta y Maria_, a book which, I know not +why, is called "The Marquis of Peñalta" in its English version. This +novel enjoyed an extraordinary success, and had more of the graphic and +sprightly manner by which Valdés has since been distinguished, than the +books which immediately followed it. Spanish critics, indeed, +remembering the wonderful freshness of _Marta y Maria_, still often +speak of it as the best of Valdés' stories. In this same year, 1883, he +married, on the day when he completed his thirty years, a young lady of +sixteen. His marriage was a honeymoon of a year and a half, of which _El +Idílio de un Enfermo_ ("The Idyl of an Invalid"), a short novel of 1884, +portrays the earlier portion. His wife died early in 1885, leaving him +with an infant son to be, as he says, "my illusion and my fascination." +His subsequent career has been laborious and systematic. He has +published one novel every year. In 1885 it was _José_, a shorter tale of +sea-faring life on the stormy coast of the author's native province. +About the same time appeared a collection of short stories, called +_Aguas Fuertes_ ("Strong Waters"). + +It was not until 1886, however, that Valdés began to rank among the +foremost novelists of Europe. In that year he published his great story, +_Riverita,_ one of the characters in which, a charming child, became the +heroine of his next book, _Maximina,_ 1887. Of this character he writes +to me: "My Maximina in these two books is but a pale reflection of that +being from whom Providence parted me before she was eighteen years of +age. In these novels I have painted a great part of my life." A +Sevillian novice, who has helped to care for Maximina in Madrid, reigns +supreme in a succeeding novel, _La Hermana San Sulpício_ ("Sister San +Sulpicio"), 1889. But between these two last there comes a massive +novel, describing the adventures of a journalist who founds a newspaper +in the provincial town of Sarrió, by which Santander seems to be +intended. This book is called _El Cuarto Poder_ ("The Fourth Power"), +and was published in 1888. To these must now be added _La Espuma_ +("Froth"), of which a translation is here given. When these words are +published, the original will just have appeared in Madrid. It is by the +kindness of the author, in supplying us with a set of proof-sheets, that +I am able to speak of a book which even the critics of Madrid have not +yet seen in Spanish. + +In _La Espuma_ Valdés has reverted from those country scenes and those +streets of provincial cities which he has hitherto loved best to paint, +and has given us a sternly satiric picture of the frothy surface of +fashionable life in Madrid. From the illusions of the poor, pathetic and +often beautiful, he has turned to the ugly cynicism of the wealthy. With +his passion for honesty and simplicity, his heart burns within him at +the parade and hollowness which he detects in aristocratic and +bureaucratic Madrid. One conceives that, like his own Raimundo, he has +been invited to enter it, has taken his fill of its pleasures, and has +found his mouth filled with ashes. His talent for portraiture was never +better employed. If he is occasionally tempted to commit the peculiarly +Spanish fault of exaggeration--scarcely a fault there, where the shadows +are so black and the colours so flaring--he has resisted it in his more +important characters. The brutality of the Duke de Requena, the sagacity +and urbanity of Father Ortega, the saintly sweetness of the Duchess, +the naïveté of Raimundo, the sphinx-like charm of Clementina de Osorio, +with her mysterious sweetness and duplicity, these are among the salient +points of characterisation which stand out in this powerful book. _La +Espuma_ is a cry from the desert to those who wear soft raiment in +kings' palaces. It is the ruthless tearing aside of the conventions by a +Knox or a Savonarola. It is stringent satire, yet tempered with an +artist's moderation, with a naturalist's self-suppression. + +Those exquisite descriptions of Nature in which Valdés sparingly +illuminates the pages of his country-novels, must not be looked for +here. There is nothing in _La Espuma_ like the splendid approach to +Seville in _La Hermana San Sulpício_, or the noble picture of the +Asturian sea-board, ravaged by the ocean, in _José_. The desolation of +the mining district, at the close of the book, is all that we can +compare with these. But one descriptive gift of Valdés, his power of +rendering with sustained vivacity a varied social scene, was never +better exemplified than by the dinner-party at the Osorios', by +Salabert's ball to Royalty, in which Clementina ejects the +_demi-mondaine_, or by the scene in Pepe's dressing-room when the mad +Marquis wants to shoot him. The absence of sensational emphasis of every +kind is notable. This is the result of severe self-training on the +novelist's part. He has confessed himself displeased with the end of his +own _Riverita_ as too theatrical, and in the prologue to _La Hermana San +Sulpício_, he wears a white sheet, and holds a penitential candle for a +too stagey episode in _El Cuarto Poder_. No charge of this kind can be +brought against _La Espuma_. It is closely studied from life, and is +careful not to affront the modesty of nature, which loves an occasional +tragic catastrophe, but loathes the artifice of a smartly constructed +plot. + +Of the author of so many interesting books but little has yet been told +to the public. In a private letter to myself, the eminent novelist gives +a brief sketch of his mode of life, so interesting that I have secured +his permission to translate and print it here:--"Since my wife died," +Señor Valdés writes, "my life has continued to be tranquil and +melancholy, dedicated to work and to my son. During the winters, I live +in Asturias, and during the summers, in Madrid. I like the company of +men of the world better than that of literary folks, because the former +teach me more. I am given up to the study of metaphysics. I have a +passion for physical exercises, for gymnastics, for fencing, and I try +to live in an evenly-balanced temper, nothing being so repugnant to me +as affectation and emphasis. I find a good deal of pleasure in going to +bull-fights (although I do not take my son to the Plaza dressed up like +a miniature _torero_, as an American writer declares I do), and I +cultivate the theatre, because to see life from the stage point of view +helps me in the composition of my stories." + +EDMUND GOSSE. + + + + +FROTH + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +DRAMATIS PERSONÆ + + +At three in the afternoon the sun was pouring its rays on the Calle de +Serrano, bathing it in bright orange light which hurt the eyes of those +who went down the left-hand side where the houses stood closest. But as +the cold was intense the pedestrian was not eager to cross to the other +pavement in search of shade, preferring to face the sunbeams which, +though blinding, were at any rate warming. At this hour, tripping slowly +and daintily along, her muff of handsome otter-skin held up to shade her +eyes, an elegantly dressed woman was making her way down the street, +leaving behind her a wake of perfume which the shopmen standing at their +doors sniffed up with enjoyment, as they gazed in rapture at the being +who exhaled such a delightful fragrance. + +For the Calle de Serrano, albeit the widest and handsomest in Madrid, +has an essentially provincial stamp; little traffic, shops devoid of +display, and dedicated for the most part to the sale of the necessaries +of life, children playing in front of the houses, door-keepers seated in +committee and discussing matters at the top of their voices with the +unemployed butchers' boys, fishmongers, and grocers. Hence a +well-dressed woman could not pass unremarked, as she might in the more +central parts of the town. The glances of the passers-by, as well as of +the loungers, rested on her with pleasure; the women commented on the +quality of the clothes she wore, and horrible jests were uttered by the +dreadful apprentices, provoking their companions to outbursts of brutal +glee. One of the most ruffianly and greasy looking threw out as she +passed one of those coarse remarks which would bring the colour to the +smooth cheek of an English Miss, and make her call the policeman, and +almost exact an apology. But our valiant Spanish lady, her soul above +prudery, did not even wince, but went on her triumphant way with the +dainty and hesitating step of a woman who rarely sets foot in the dust +of the highway. + +For that hers was a triumphant progress there could be no doubt; no one +could look at her without admiration, not so much of her luxurious +attire, as of the severe beauty of her face and the distinction of her +figure. She was five-and-thirty at least. There was something extremely +original in the type of her features. Her complexion was clear and dark, +her eyes, blue, her hair coppery red. Such a strange mingling of +different races is rarely seen in a face: if it showed a stronger dash +of one than another, it was of the Italian. It was one of those faces +which suggest an English lady burnt under a Neapolitan sun. In some of +Raphael's pictures we see heads which may give some notion of our fair +pedestrian. + +Her predominant expression at the present moment was one of proud +disdain, to which perhaps the sun contributed by making her knit her +smooth and delicate brows. There was not, it must be confessed, any +sweetness in this face; its firm and regular lines betrayed a haughty +spirit devoid of tenderness; those blue eyes had not the limpid serenity +which lends perfect harmony to a certain virginal style of countenance, +occasionally seen and admired in Spain, but more frequently in the north +of Europe. They were made to express the tumult of vehement and violent +passions, among which ardent love might, perhaps, have its turn, but +never that humble and silent devotion which would consent to die +unspoken. + +She wore a high red hat, and a short thin veil, also red, reaching only +to her lips. The hue of this veil contributed to lend her face that +singular tinge which caught the eye of every one who met her. Her +wrapper was a handsome fur cloak, over a dress of the same shade as her +hat, with an overskirt of lace or grenadine such as was then the +fashion. + +She held up her muff, as has been said, to shade her eyes, and kept her +eyes fixed on the ground as one who does not care to see or heed +anything which may come in her way. Consequently, till she came to the +Calle de Jorge Juan, she did not detect the presence of a young man, +who, keeping pace with her on the opposite side of the way, gazed at her +with even more admiration than curiosity. But on reaching the corner, +without knowing why, she raised her head, and her eyes met those of her +admirer. A very perceptible shade of annoyance clouded her face; she +frowned with greater severity, and the haughty expression of her eyes +was more marked than before. She walked a little faster, and, on +reaching the Calle de Villanueva, she stood still, and looked down the +street, hoping, no doubt, to see a tramcar. The youth dared not do the +same; he went on his way, not without sending certain eager and +significant glances after the graceful figure, to which she vouchsafed +no notice. The car at last arrived; the lady stepped in, showing, as she +did so, a pretty foot shod in a kid boot, and took her seat in the +farthest corner. Finding herself safe from indiscreet observation, her +eyes by degrees grew more serene, and rested with indifference on the +few persons who were with her in the vehicle; still the cloud of anxious +thought did not altogether disappear from her face, nor the touch of +disdain which lent dignity to her beauty. + +Her youthful admirer had not resigned himself to losing sight of her. He +went on confidently down the Calle de Villanueva; but as the tramcar +went by he nimbly caught it up, and got on the step without being +observed. And contriving to place himself where the lady could not see +him, behind other persons standing on the platform, he was able to gaze +at her by stealth, with an enthusiasm which would have made any +looker-on smile. + +For the difference between their ages was considerable. Our young friend +looked about eighteen; his face was as beardless, as fresh and as rosy +as a girl's, his hair red, his eyes blue, gentle, and melancholy. Though +he wore an overcoat and a felt hat, his appearance was that of a +gentleman; he was in the deepest mourning, which contrasted strongly +with the fairness of his complexion. Under the magnetic influence of a +firm gaze, which we all have experienced, our heroine ere long turned +her eyes to the spot whence the young man fired darts of passionate +admiration. Her face grew dark again, and her lips twitched with +impatience, as though the poor boy's adoration was an aggression. And +she began to show signs of feeling ill at ease in the coach, turning her +pretty head now this way and now that, with an evident desire to escape. +However, she did not alight till they reached the church of San José, +where she stopped the car and got out, passing her persecutor with a +look of proud disdain, which might have annihilated him. + +He must have been a very bold man, or quite devoid of shame, to jump out +after her as he did, and follow her along the Calle del Caballero de +Gracia, taking the opposite side-walk to be able to stare more at his +ease on the face which had so taken possession of him. The lady +proceeded at a leisurely pace, and every man who passed her turned to +gaze. Her step was that of a goddess who condescends to quit her throne +of clouds for an hour, to rejoice and fascinate mortal men, who, as they +behold her, are enraptured and stumble in their walk. + +"Merciful Virgin, what a woman!" exclaimed a young officer in a loud +voice, clinging to his companion as if he were about to faint with +surprise. + +The fair one could not help smiling very slightly, and the flash of that +smile seemed to light up her exceptional loveliness. Presently two +gentlemen in an open carriage bowed respectfully to her, and she +responded with an almost imperceptible nod. When she reached the corner +where the streets part by San Luis she hesitated and paused, looking in +every direction, and again catching sight of the red-haired youth, she +turned her back on him with marked contempt, and went on at a more rapid +pace down the Calle de la Montera, where her appearance caused the same +excitement in the passers-by. Three or four times she stopped in front +of the shop windows, though evidently she did so less out of curiosity +than in consequence of the nervous state into which the youth's +unrelenting pursuit had plunged her. + +Near the Puerta del Sol, to avoid him no doubt, she made up her mind to +go into Marbini's jewel shop. Seating herself with an air of +indifference, she raised her veil a little, and began to examine without +much attention the latest importations in gems which the shopman +displayed before her. She could not have done worse by way of releasing +herself from the observations of her boyish admirer, since he could +pursue them at his leisure and with the greatest ease through the plate +glass windows, and did so with a persistency which enraged her more and +more every minute. + +In point of fact, the elegantly decorated shop, glittering in every +corner with precious stones and metals, was a worthy shrine for her +beauty, the setting best fitted for so delicate a gem. And so the youth +was thinking, to judge from the impassioned ecstasy of his eyes and the +statue-like fixity of his attitude. At last, unable any longer to +control her irritation, the lady abruptly rose, and with a brief "Good +morning" to the attendant, who treated her with extraordinary deference, +she quitted the shop, and set off as fast as she could walk, towards the +Puerta del Sol. + +Here she stopped; then she went a little way towards a hackney cab, as +though intending to take it; but, suddenly changing her mind, she turned +with a determined step towards the Calle Mayor, still escorted by the +youth at no great distance. Half-way down the street she vanished into +a handsome house, not without sending a hasty but furious glance at her +follower, who took it with perfect and wonderful coolness. The porter +who was standing in the portico, gravely clipping his bushy black +whiskers, hastily pulled off his braided cap, made her a low bow, and +flew to open the glass door to the staircase, pressing, as he did so, +the button of an electric bell. She slowly mounted the carpeted steps, +and by the time she reached the first floor the door was already open, +and a servant in livery was awaiting her. + +The house was that of the Excellentisimo Señor Don Julian Calderón, the +head of the banking firm of Calderón Brothers, who occupied the whole of +the first floor, with a staircase apart from that which led to the rest +of the apartments, let to other persons. This Calderón was the son of +another Calderón, well known, in the commercial circles of Madrid, as a +wholesale importer of hides and leather, by which he had made a good +fortune, and in the later years of his life he had greatly augmented it +by devoting himself, not to trade alone, but also to circulating and +discounting bills of exchange. He being dead, his son Julian followed in +his footsteps, without deviating from them in any particular, managing +with his own property that of his two sisters--both married, one to a +medical man, and the other to a landowner of La Mancha. He, too, had +been married for some years to the daughter of a wealthy merchant of +Zaragoza, Don Tomas Osorio by name; the father of the well-known Madrid +banker, whose house in the Salamanca quarter of the town, Calle de D. +Ramon de la Cruz, was kept upon a princely footing. The handsome lady +who had just entered the Calderón's house was this banker's wife, and +consequently the sister-in-law of Señora de Calderón. + +She passed in front of the servant without waiting to be announced, +walking on as one who had a right there; crossed three or four large, +elegantly decorated rooms, and, pulling aside with her own hand the rich +velvet curtain with its embroidered fringing, entered a much smaller +drawing-room where several persons were sitting. + +In the seat nearest to the fire reclined the mistress of the house; a +woman of some forty years, stout, with regular features, and large black +eyes, but devoid of sparkle; her skin was fair, her hair chestnut, and +remarkably soft and fine. By her, in a low easy chair, sat another lady, +a complete contrast in every respect; brunette, slight, delicate, and +full of excessive vivacity, not only in her keen, bright eyes, but in +her whole person. This was the Marquesa de Alcudia, of one of the first +families in Spain. The three young girls, who sat in a row on straight +chairs, were her daughters, all very like her in physique though they +did not imitate her restlessness, but remained motionless and silent, +their eyes cast down with such an affectation of modesty and composure +that it was easy to see in what severe order they were kept by their +lively and nervous mamma. To one of them every now and then the daughter +of the house spoke in an undertone. She was a child of thirteen or +fourteen, with round cheeks, small eyes, a turn-up nose, and scars in +the throat which argued a delicate constitution. Her hair was plaited +into a long tail tied at the end with a ribbon, as was that of the +youngest Alcudia, with whom she carried on a subdued and intermittent +conversation. This young lady and her sisters wore fanciful hats, all +alike, while Esperanza Calderón sat with her little round head +uncovered, and wore a blue morning frock much too short for a girl of +her age. + +Facing the Señora, and lounging, like her, in an arm-chair, was General +Patiño, Conde de Morillejo. He was between fifty and sixty years of age, +but his eyes sparkled with all the fire of youth; his grey hair was +carefully dressed, and large moustaches à la Victor Emmanuel, a pointed +beard and aquiline nose, gave him a gallant and attractive appearance. +He was the ideal of a veteran aristocrat. By him sat Calderón, a man of +about fifty, stout, with a fat florid face, graced with short grey +whiskers, his eyes round, vacant, and dull. Not far from him was an +elderly woman, his mother-in-law, but quite unlike her daughter in face +and figure; so thin, that she was no more than skin and bone, dark, and +with deep-set, penetrating eyes, every feature stamped with intelligence +and decision. Talking to her was Pinedo, the occupant of the third-floor +rooms. His moustache showed no grey hairs, but it was easy to see that +it was dyed; his face was that of a man verging on the sixties; a +good-humoured face too, with prominent eyes full of eager +movement--those of an observant character; he was dressed with care and +elegance, his whole person exquisitely clean. + +On seeing the beautiful lady in the doorway, the whole party showed some +excitement; all rose, excepting the mistress of the house, on whose +placid face a faint smile of pleasure showed dimly. + +"Ah! Clementina! What a miracle to see you here!" + +The lady in question went forward with a smile, and, while she embraced +the ladies and shook hands with the gentlemen, she replied to her +sister-in-law's affectionate reproach. + +"Come, come. Fit the cap to your own head--you who never come to my +house above once in six months." + +"I have my children to think of, my dear." + +"What an excuse; I ask you! I, too, have children." + +"Yes, at Chamartin." + +"Well, but having sons does not hinder you from going to the opera or +out driving." + +Clementina seated herself between her sister-in-law and the Marquesa de +Alcudia; the rest resumed their seats. + +"Oh, my dear!" Señora de Calderón went on, "if you could have seen what +a cold I caught at the play the other night. It was all the fault of +that goose Ramon Maldonado; with all his bowing and scraping he could +not manage to shut the door of the box. The draught pierced my very +bones." + +"Happy was that draught!" remarked General Patiño with a gallant smile. + +Every one else smiled, excepting the lady addressed, who gazed at him in +amazement, opening her eyes very wide. + +"How--happy?" said she. + +The General had to explain that it was a covert compliment, and not till +then did she reward him with a smile. + +"And was not Gayarre delightful?" said Clementina. + +"Admirable, as he always is," replied Señora de Calderón. + +"He seems to me to want style of manner," the General suggested. + +"Oh no, General, I beg your pardon----" And they went off into a +discussion as to whether the famous tenor had or had not the actor's +art, whether he dressed well or ill. The ladies were all on his side; +the men were against him. + +From the tenor they went on to the soprano. + +"She is altogether charming," said the General, with the confidence and +conviction of a connoisseur. + +"Oh! delicious," exclaimed Calderón. + +"Well, for my part I regard the Tosti as extremely commonplace. Do you +not think so, Clementina?" + +Clementina agreed. + +"Do not say so, pray, Marquesa," the General hastened to put in, +glancing as he spoke at Señora de Calderón. "The mere fact that a woman +is tall and stout does not make her commonplace if she holds herself +proudly and has a distinguished manner." + +"I do not say so, General; do not make such a mistake," replied the +Marquesa, with some vehemence. But she proceeded to criticise the grace +and fine figure of the soprano with much humour and some little temper. + +The argument became general, and the issue proved the reverse of the +former discussion; the men were favourable to the actress and the ladies +adverse. Pinedo summed up by saying in a grave and solemn tone, which, +however, betrayed some covert meaning, "A fine figure is more essential +to a woman than to a man." + +Clementina and the General exchanged significant glances. The Marquesa +frowned sternly at the dandy, and then hastily looked at her daughters, +who sat with their eyes downcast, in the same rigid and expressionless +attitude as before. Pinedo himself was quite unmoved, as though he had +said the most natural thing in the world. + +"For my part, friend Pinedo, it seems to me that a man too should have a +good figure," said slow-witted Señora de Calderón. + +As she spoke a faint gasp was heard as of laughter hardly controlled. It +was the youngest of the Alcudia girls, at whom her mother shot a +pulverising look, and the damsel's face immediately resumed its original +expression of timidity and propriety. + +"That is a matter of opinion," replied Pinedo with a respectful bow. + +This Pinedo, who occupied one of the apartments on the third floor of +the house, the whole belonging to Señor de Calderón, held a place of +some importance in one of the public offices. The changes of political +administration did not affect his tenure; he had friends of every party, +and had never thrown himself into the scale for either. He lived as a +man of the world; was received at the most aristocratic houses in the +metropolis; was on terms of intimacy with almost every one who figured +in finance or politics; was an early member of the Savage Club (_Club de +los Salvajes_), where he delighted in making fun every evening with the +young aristocrats who assembled there, and who treated him with a +familiarity which not rarely degenerated into rudeness. He was a genial +and intelligent man, with considerable knowledge and experience of the +world; tolerant towards every form of vanity from sheer contempt for +all; and nevertheless, under the exterior of a courteous and inoffensive +creature, he had in the depths of his nature a power of satire which +enabled him to take vengeance quite gracefully, by some incisive and +opportune phrase, for the impertinence of his young friends the +juveniles of the club, who professed an affection for him mingled with +contempt and fear. + +No one knew whence he had sprung, though it was regarded as beyond doubt +that he was of humble birth. Some declared that he was the son of a +butcher at Seville; others said that in his youth he had been a waif on +the beach at Malaga. All that was positively known was that, many years +since, he had come to Madrid as hanger-on to an Andalucian of rank, who, +after dissipating his fortune, blew his brains out. Under his protection +Pinedo had made a great many useful acquaintances; he came to know and +be known by everybody who was anybody, and was popular with all. He had +the tact to efface himself when he crossed the path of a pompous and +overbearing man, letting him pass first; he gave rise to no jealousies, +and this is a certain means of exciting no hostility. At the same time +his cleverness, and his caustic wit, which he always kept within certain +bounds, were a constant amusement at social meetings, and sufficed to +give him a certain importance which he otherwise would not have enjoyed. + +His family consisted of one daughter aged eighteen, and named Pilar. His +wife, whom no one had known, had died many years before. His salary +amounted to forty thousand reals,[A] on which the father and daughter +lived very thriftily in the third-floor rooms which Calderón let to them +for twenty-two dollars a month. Pinedo's chief outlay was on +"appearances"; that is to say, as he moved in a rank of society above +his own he was obliged to dress well and frequent the theatres. +Understanding the necessity for keeping up his acquaintances--the +pillars on which his continuance in office rested--he indulged in such +expenses without hesitation, pinching himself in other departments of +domestic economy. Thus he lived in a state of stable equilibrium; his +position enabled him to move in the society of the great, while they +unconsciously helped to keep him in his position. No Minister could +venture to dismiss a man whom he would inevitably meet at every evening +party and ball in the capital. As Pinedo had occasionally had the honour +of speaking with Royalty, certain sayings of his were current in +fashionable drawing-rooms, where they enjoyed a fame out of all +proportion to their merits, since, as a rule, there is a conspicuous +lack of wit in most drawing-rooms; he was a good shot with pistol or +rifle, and possessed a voluminous library on the culinary arts. The very +highest personages were flattered when they heard that Pinedo had +praised their cook. + +"How long is it since you were at the Colegio, Pacita?" asked Esperanza +of the youngest de Alcudia, in an undertone. + +"On Friday last. Do not you know that mamma takes us to confession every +Friday? And you?" + +"It is at least three weeks since I was there. Mamma and I confess once +a month." + +"And is Father Ortega satisfied with that?" + +"He says nothing about it to me. I do not know whether he does to +mamma." + +"He would say nothing to her; he knows better than to put his foot in +it. Have you seen the Mariani girls?" + +"Yes; I met them in the Retiro Gardens a few days ago." + +"Do you know that Maria is engaged?" + +"She did not tell me." + +"Yes. In the cavalry, a son of Brigadier Arcos. Such a queer-looking +fellow; not ugly, but his legs tremble when he walks, as if he had just +come out of the hospital. You see, as the brigadier is her mamma's most +devoted--it is all in the family." + +"And you? Do you keep it up with your cousin?" + +"I really cannot tell you. On Monday he went off in a huff and has not +been to the house since. My cousin is not what he seems; he is no +simpleton, but a very presuming fellow; if you give him an inch he takes +an ell. If I did not keep a very sharp look out there is no knowing to +what lengths he would go at the pace he makes. Do you know that the +other day he insisted on kissing me?" + +Esperanza gazed at her, smiling and curious. Pacita put her mouth close +to Esperanza's ear and whispered a few words. + +"Mercy!" exclaimed the girl, turning scarlet. + +"As I tell you, child. Of course I told him he was a horrid wretch, and +I would not touch him with a pair of tongs. He went off very much +nettled, but he will come back." + +"Your cousin rides very well. I saw him on horseback yesterday." + +"It is the only thing he can do. Books make him idiotic. He has been +examined six times already in Roman law, and has failed to pass every +time." + +"What does that matter!" exclaimed Esperanza, with a scorn which might +have made Heinecius turn in his grave. And she went on, "Did Madame +Clément make those hats?" + +"No. Mamma had them bought in Paris by Señora de Carvajal, who arrived +on Saturday." + +"They are very pretty." + +"Yes, prettier than any Madame Clément makes." + +Little Esperanza de Calderón, though plain enough, was nevertheless not +without attractions, consisting partly perhaps in her youth, and partly +in her mouth, on which, with its full fresh lips and even white teeth, +sensuality had already set its seal. The youngest of the Alcudias was a +delicate creature, all bones and eyes. + +At this point another lady was shown in--a woman of forty or more, +pretty still, though painted, and marked with lines left by a life of +dissipation rather than by years. + +"Here is Pepa Frias," said Mariana--the Señora de Calderón--with a +smile. + +"Quite right; here is Pepa Frias," said the lady so named, with an +affectation of bad humour. "A woman who is not in the very least ashamed +to set foot in this house." The company all laughed. + +"You would suppose by my appearance that I had come out of the +workhouse? That I had no home of my own? But I have. Calle de Salesas, +Number 60--first floor. That is to say, the landlord has--but I pay him, +which is more than all your tenants do, I am very sure. Oh! Pinedo, I +beg your pardon, I did not see you. And I am at home on Saturdays--it +is not so hot as you are here, oof! And I give chocolate and tea and +conversation and everything--just as you do here." + +And while she spoke she went from one to another shaking hands with a +look of fury. But as every one knew her for an oddity they took it as a +joke and laughed. + +She was a woman of substantial build, her hair artificially red, her +eyes rather prominent, but handsome, her lips rosy and sensual--a +decidedly attractive woman, in short, who had had, and, in spite of +advancing years, still had, many devoted admirers. + +"What there is not at my house," she went on to Señora de Calderón, +giving her a sounding kiss on each cheek, "is a woman so graceless and +so insignificant as you. For, of course, I am not come to see you, but +my dear Señor Don Julian, who now and then comes to wish me good +evening, and tell me the latest prices of stocks. And _à propos_ to +prices, Clementina, tell your husband to hold his hand till I give him +notice. No, you had better say nothing about it. I will call at your +house this evening." + +"But, child, how you are always loaded with papers about shares and +stocks!" exclaimed Mariana. + +"And so would you be if you had not such an energetic husband, who heats +his head over them that you may keep yours cool and easy." + +"Come, come, Pepa, do not be calling me names, or you will make me +blush," said Calderón. + +"I am saying no more than the truth. You may imagine that it is pure joy +to be always thinking whether shares are going up or down, and writing +letters and endorsements, and walking to and from the bank." + +"I imagine, Pepa," said the General, with a gallant smile, "that, from +all I hear, you have a perfect talent for business." + +"You imagine! That is an event!" + +"I have not so much imagination as you, but I have some," retorted the +General, somewhat put out by the laugh Pepa's speech had raised. + +Pepa enjoyed the reputation in society of being a very funny person, +though, in fact, her wit was hardly to be distinguished from audacity. +Speaking always with an affectation of anger, calling things bluntly by +their names, however coarse they might be, saying the most insolent +things without respect of persons--these were the characteristics which +had won her a certain popularity. She had been left a widow while still +young, with two children, a boy who had entered the navy and was at sea, +and a girl who had now been married about a year. Her husband had been a +merchant, and in his later years had gambled successfully on the Bourse. +At that time Pepa had caught the same passion, and, as a widow, she had +cultivated it. Prudence, or more probably the timidity which generally +hampers a woman in such a business, had hitherto saved her from the ruin +which, as a rule, inevitably overtakes gamblers. She had somewhat +impaired her fortune, but still enjoyed a very enviable competency. + +"Pepa, the matter is going on famously," said Pinedo. "Zaragoza wishes +to have one volcano, and at Coruña the authorities have decided on +making two, one on the east and one on the west of the town." + +"I am glad; I am delighted. So that the shares will not be put on the +market?" + +"No; the syndicate has ample security that they will be at three hundred +before the month is out." + +The few who were in the joke laughed at this. The rest stared at them +with intense curiosity. + +"What is all this about volcanoes, Pepa?" asked Señora de Calderón. + +"Señora, a society has been formed for establishing volcanoes in various +districts." + +"Indeed. And of what use are volcanoes?" + +"For warming, and as decorative objects." + +Every one understood the joke excepting the lymphatic mistress of the +house, who still inquired into the details of the affair with continued +interest, her friends laughing till Calderón, half amused and half +annoyed, exclaimed: + +"Why, my dear, do not be so simple. Do you not see that it is a joke +between Pepa and Pinedo?" + +The couple protested, affecting the greatest gravity. But Pepa whispered +in her friend's ear: "Mariana is such a simpleton that for the last +three months that carpet-knight, the General, has been making love to +her and she has never found it out." + +Pepa was not far wrong in styling General Patiño a carpet-knight. In +spite of his swagger, his somewhat damaged features and his martial +airs, Patiño was but a sham veteran. He had got his promotion without +losing a drop of blood--first as military instructor to one of the +princes, then as member of various scientific committees, and finally as +holding a place under the Minister of War; cultivating the favour of +political personages; returned as deputy several times; senator at last +and a member of the Supreme Court of Naval and Military Jurisdiction, he +had never been on the field of battle excepting in pursuit of a +revolutionary general, and then with the firm determination never to +come up with him. + +As he had travelled a little and boasted of having seen every implement +in the arts of war, he passed for an accomplished soldier. He subscribed +to two or three scientific reviews; when his profession was under +discussion he would quote a few German authorities, and he spoke in an +emphatic tone and a deep chest voice which impressed his audience. But +in fact the reviews were always left to lie open on his table, and the +German names, though correctly pronounced, were no more than empty +sounds to him. He piqued himself on being a soldier of the modern +school, and for this reason he was never seen in his uniform. He was +fond of the arts, especially of music, and was a regular subscriber to +the Opera House and the Conservatorium Quartetts. He was fond of +flowers, too, and of women--more especially of his neighbour's wife; +insatiable in tasting the fruits of other men's gardens. His life +glided on in simple contentment, in watering the gardenias in his little +garden--Calle de Ferraz--and making love to his friends' wives. + +This he did as one who makes it his business, and in the most +business-like way. He devoted all his mind to it, and all the powers of +his considerable intelligence, as a man must who means to achieve +anything great or profitable in this world. His strategical knowledge, +which he had never had occasion to display in the battle-field, served +him a good turn in storming the fair ones of the metropolis. First he +established a blockade with languishing glances, appearing at the +theatre, in the parks, in the churches frequented by the lady; +where-ever she went Patiño's shining new hat, gleaming in the air, +proclaimed the ardent and respectful passion of its owner. Then he +narrowed the _cordon_, making himself intimate in the house, bringing +bonbons to the children, buying them toys and picture-books, taking them +out to breakfast occasionally and bribing the servants by opportune +gifts. Then came the attack; by letter or by word of mouth. And here our +General displayed a daring, an intrepidity, which contrasted splendidly +with the prudence and skill of the siege. Such a combination of talents +have always characterised the great captains of the world: Alexander, +Cæsar, Hernan Cortés, Napoleon. + +Years did not avail to cool his ardour for great enterprises, nor to +diminish his extraordinary faculties; or, to be accurate, what he lost +in energy he gained in art; thus the balance was preserved in this +privileged nature. But since fortune--as many philosophers have taught +us--refuses her aid to the old, in spite of his skill the General had of +late experienced certain repulses which he could not ascribe to any +defect of foresight or courage, but only to the vagaries of fate. Two +young wives in succession had snubbed him severely. But, as is always +the case with men of real genius, in whom reverses do not produce any +womanly weakness, but, on the contrary, only prompt them to concentrate +and brace their spirit and power, Patiño did not weep like Augustus +over his legions. But he meditated, and meditated long. And his +meditations were rich in results; a new scheme of tactics, wonderful as +all his schemes were, rose up from the labour of his lofty thoughts. +Taking stock very accurately of his means of attack, and calculating +with admirable precision the amount of resistance which the fair foe +could offer, he perceived that he could no longer besiege new citadels, +where the fortifications were always comparatively recent, but only +those which, being ancient, were beginning to show weak spots. Such keen +penetration in planning the attack and such skill in execution as the +General could bring to bear, promised him certain victory. And in fact, +as a result of this new and sure plan of action, first one and then +another of the most seasoned and mature beauties of the capital +surrendered to his siege, and at the feet of these silver-haired Venuses +he won the reward due to his prudence and courage. + +Like Hannibal of Carthage Patiño could vary his tactics as circumstances +required, according to the position and temperament of the enemy. +Certain strongholds demanded severity, a display of the means of +coercion; in other cases craftier measures were needed, a stealthy and +noiseless approach. One fair enemy preferred the martial and manly +aspect of the conquering hero: she would listen with delight to the +history of the famous days of Garrovillas and Jarandilla, when he was in +pursuit of the rebels. Another took pleasure in hearing him discourse in +his highest style of oratory and richest chest notes on political and +military problems. A third, again, went into ecstasies over his +interpretation of some famous melody of Mozart's or Schumann's, on the +violoncello. For our hero played the 'cello remarkably well, and it must +be confessed that this elegant instrument had helped him considerably in +his most successful achievements. He brought out the notes in a quite +irresistible manner, revealing very clearly that, in spite of his +dashing and bellicose temperament, he had an impressionable heart, alive +to the blandishments of love. And lest the long-drawn notes should not +express this with absolute clearness, they were corroborated by eyes +upturned till they disappeared in their sockets at each impassioned or +pathetic point of the melody--eyes which really could not fail of their +effect on any beauty, however stony-hearted. + +Pepa's malicious insinuation was not unfounded. The gallant general had +for some time past been turning his guns on Señora de Calderón without +her showing any signs of being aware of it. Never in the course of his +many and brilliant campaigns had he met with a similar case. To bombard +a citadel for several months, to pelt it with shell as big as your +head--and to see it as undisturbed, as sound asleep, as though they had +been pellets of paper! When the General came out, point-blank, with some +perfervid address Mariana smiled complacently. + +"Hush, wretch! A nice specimen you must have been in your day!" + +Patiño would bite his lips with annoyance. In his day! He who fancied +his day was still at its noon! But his amazing diplomatic talent enabled +him to dissimulate, and smile in bland reply. + +"How much did you give for that bracelet?" Pacita inquired of Esperanza, +who was wearing a very pretty and fanciful trinket. + +"The General gave it me a few days ago." + +"Indeed! The General evidently makes you a great many presents then?" +said her friend, with a slightly ironical tone which the girl did not +understand. + +"Oh, yes. He is very kind. He is always giving us things. He gave my +little sister a beautiful locket to wear at her neck." + +"And does he make presents to your mamma?" + +"Yes, sometimes." + +"And what does your papa say?" + +"Papa!" exclaimed Esperanza, opening her eyes in surprise, "What should +he say?" + +Pacita, without replying, called the attention of one of her sisters. + +"Mercedes, look what a pretty bracelet the General has given to +Esperanza." + +The second of the Alcudias abandoned her rigidity for a moment, and +taking Esperanza's arm examined the bracelet with interest. + +"It is very pretty. And the General gave you that?" she asked, +exchanging a meaning glance with her sister. + +"Here comes Ramoncito," said Esperanza, looking towards the door. + +"Ah! Ramoncito Maldonado." + +A tall young man, slight and thin, very pale, with black whiskers which +encroached on his nose, in the style adopted by his Majesty the King, +and, following his example, by many of the youthful aristocracy, came +into the room with a smile and proceeded to greet the company without +any sign of shyness, taking their hands with a slight shake, and +pressing them to his breast in the affected style which, a few years +since, was the correct thing among the coxcombs of Madrid society. As he +came in he filled the room with some penetrating scent. + +"Heavens, what a poisonous atmosphere!" Pepa exclaimed in an undertone, +after shaking hands with him. "What a puppy that fellow is!" + +"Hallo! Old boy!" exclaimed this youngster, coolly taking Pinedo by the +beard. "What were you doing yesterday? Pepe Castro called on you----" + +"Pepe Castro called on me! So much honour overwhelms me!" + +Such familiarity on Maldonado's part to a man already of mature age and +venerable appearance was somewhat startling. But all the gilded youth of +the Savage Club treated Pinedo in the same way without his taking +offence at it. + +"And here is Mariana," Pinedo went on, "who has just been abusing you; +and with reason." + +"Indeed." + +"Do not believe him, Ramoncito," exclaimed Señora de Calderón, much +surprised. + +"Oh, and Pepa too." + +"You, Pepa?" asked the youth, trying to appear indifferent, but in fact +somewhat uneasy; for Pepa de Frias was very generally feared, and not +without cause. + +"I? Oh yes, and I will have it out with you. What do you mean by soaking +yourself with scent? Do you hope to subdue us all through our olfactory +organs?" + +"I only wish I could subdue you through any organ, Pepa." + +The retort was generally acceptable. There was a spontaneous burst of +laughter, led by Pacita. Her mother bit her lip with rage and whispered +to the daughter next her to tell the second, to communicate to the +youngest that she was a shameless minx, and that she would hear more of +it when she got home. + +"Well said, boy! Shake hands on it!" exclaimed Pepa, holding out her +hand to Ramoncito. "That is the first sensible speech I ever heard you +make. Generally you only talk nonsense." + +"Thank you very much." + +"There is nothing to thank me for." + +"We have just read the question you put in the Assembly, Ramoncito," +said Señora de Calderón, trying by amiability to discredit Pinedo's +accusation. + +"Pshaw! Half a dozen words!" + +"Every one must make a beginning, young man," said Calderón, with a +patronising air. + +"No, no. That is not the way to begin," said Pinedo, gravely, "You begin +by dissentient murmurs; next come interruptions"--"That is inaccurate; +prove it, prove it; you are misinformed"--"Then you go on to appeals and +questions. Next comes the explaining of your own vote, or the defence of +some incidental motion. Finally a speech on some great financial +question. So you see Ramon is at the third stage, that of appeals and +questions." + +"Thanks, Pinedito, thanks!" replied the young man, somewhat piqued. +"Then, having reached that stage, I appeal to you not to be so devilish +clever." + +"I declare! That too is not so bad," exclaimed Señora de Frias in a tone +of surprise. "Why Ramoncito, you are sparkling with wit!" + +The youthful deputy found himself a seat between the daughter of the +house and Pacita de Alcudia who parted reluctantly to make room for his +chair. Maldonado, a man of good family, not altogether devoid of +fortune, and recently elected member of the Chamber, had for some time +been paying his addresses to Esperanza de Calderón. It was in the +opinion of their friends a very suitable match. Esperanza would be +richer than Ramoncito, since Don Julian's business was soundly +established on an extensive scale; still, the young man, who was by no +means a beggar, had begun his political career with credit. The young +girl's parents neither opposed nor encouraged his advances--Calderón, +with the dignity and superiority which money gives, hardly troubled +himself as to who might profess an attachment to his daughter, satisfied +with the certainty that when the time came for marrying her she would +have no lack of suitors. Indeed, five or six young fellows of the most +elegant and superfine society in Madrid buzzed in the parks, at evening +parties, and at the theatre, round the wealthy heiress, like drones +round a beehive. + +Ramon had many rivals, some of them men of position. But this did not +trouble him so greatly as that the damsel, by nature so subdued, and +usually so silent and shy, with him was saucy and at her ease, allowing +herself sundry more or less harmless little jests, and blunt answers, +and grimaces, which amply proved that she did not take him seriously. +And for this reason, Pepe Castro, his friend and confidant, constantly +told him that he should make himself more scarce, that he should seem +less eager and less anxious, that a woman was the better for being +treated with a little contempt. + +Now Pepe Castro was not merely his friend and confidant, but his model +for every action of social or private life. The verdicts he pronounced +on persons, horses, politics--of which however he rarely spoke at +all--shirts and walking-sticks were to the young deputy incontrovertible +axioms. He copied his dress, his walk, his laugh. If Castro appeared on +a Spanish mare, Ramon sold his English cob to buy such another as his +friend's; if he took to a military salute, raising his hand to the side +of his head, in a few days Ramon saluted like a recruit; if he set up a +flirtation with a shop-girl, it was not long before our youth was +haunting the low quarters of the city, in search of her fellow. Pepe +Castro combed all his hair forward to hide a patch that was prematurely +bald; Ramon, who had a fine head of hair, also combed his hair forward; +nay, he would very willingly have imitated the baldness to appear more +_chic_. + +However, in spite of all this devout imitation of his model, he could +not obey him in the matter of his incipient passion. And for this +reason: strange as it may seem, Ramoncito was beginning really to care +for the girl. Love is but rarely a single-minded impulse; various other +passions often contribute to suggest it and vivify it: vanity, avarice, +sensuality, and ambition. Still it is hardly to be distinguished from +the real thing; it inspires the same watchful care, and causes the same +doubts and torments; the touch-stone lies in unselfishness and +constancy. Else it is very easy to mistake them. Ramon believed himself +to be sincerely in love with Esperanza, and perhaps he was justified, +for he admired her and thought of her night and day, he sought every +opportunity of pleasing her, and hated his rivals mortally. However he +might try to follow the advice of the infallible Pepe and to conceal his +devotion, or at any rate the ardour of his feelings, he could not +succeed. He had begun to court her out of self-interest with all the +unconcern of a man whose heart is free, and the young lady's disdainful +indifference had quickly brought him to thinking of her constantly, and +feeling himself confused and fascinated in her presence. Then the +rivalry of other suitors had fired his blood and his desire to win her +hand as soon as possible. And in deference to the truth it must be said +that he had _almost_ forgotten Calderón's thousands, and was _almost_ +disinterested in his attachment. + +"So you really made a speech in the Chamber, Ramon?" asked Pacita. "And +what did you say?" + +"Nothing! Half a dozen words about the service of the bridges," replied +the young man, with an air of affected modesty. + +"Can ladies go to the Chamber?" + +"Why not?" + +"Because I should so much like to hear a debate one day. And Esperanza, +too, I am sure." + +"No, no. Not I," Esperanza hastily put in. + +"Nonsense, child; do not make any pretence. Do not you want to hear your +lover speak?" + +Esperanza turned as red as a poppy and burst out: "I have no lover, and +do not wish for one." + +Ramon, too, coloured scarlet. + +"Paz, what horrible things you say," Esperanza went on, in indignant +confusion. "If you say any such thing again I will go away and leave +you." + +"I beg your pardon, my dear," said the malicious little thing, enchanted +at having put her friend and the deputy to such confusion. "I quite +thought--so many people say--Well, if it is not Ramon it is Federico." + +Maldonado frowned. + +"Neither Federico nor any one else. Leave me in peace. Look, here comes +Father Ortega. Get up!" + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +MORE OF THE ACTORS. + + +A tall priest, still young, with a full, pale face, blue eyes, and the +vague gaze of short sight, was standing in the doorway. Every one rose. +The Marquesa was the first to come forward and kiss his hand. After her, +her daughters did the same, and then Mariana and the other ladies. + +"Good-evening, Father." "Delighted to see you, Father." "Sit here, +Father." "No, no, not there; come near the fire, Father." + +The men shook hands with him affectionately and respectfully. The +priest's voice, as he returned their greetings, was sweet and very low, +as though there were a sick person in the adjoining room; his smile was +grave, patronising, and insinuating. He had an air of having been +dragged from his cell and his books with extreme difficulty--of coming +hither much against his will, simply to do some good to the Calderóns, +whose spiritual director he was, by the mere contact of his learned and +virtuous person. His clothes and robe were fine and well cut; his shoes +of patent leather with silver buckles; his stockings of silk. + +Every one complimented him enthusiastically on a sermon he had delivered +the day before at the Oratory Del Caballero de Gracia. He merely smiled, +and murmured sweetly: "I am only glad, ladies, if you derived any +benefit from it." + +Padre Ortega was no common priest--at any rate, in the opinion of the +fashionable society of the metropolis, among whom he had a large +following. Without being a meddler, he was a constant guest in the +houses of persons of distinction. He did not love to make a noise, or +attract the attention of the company to himself; he neither made jokes +nor allowed joking; he had none of the frank, gossiping temper which is +commonly found in those priests who are addicted to social intercourse. +If he had any love of intrigue it must have been of a different type to +that usually seen in the world. Discreet and affable, modest, grave, and +silent in society, effacing himself completely and mingling with the +crowd, he stood out in full relief when he mounted the pulpit, as he +very frequently did. Then he expressed himself with amazing ease and +fluency; he did not move his audience to emotion, and never attempted +it, but he displayed very remarkable talents, and a distinction rare +among his order. + +For he was one of those very few ecclesiastics who are--or who at any +rate seem to be--up to the mark of modern science. Instead of the moral +platitudes, the empty and absurd declamation, which are hurled by his +brethren against science and logic, his sermons boldly rose to the level +of the literature of the day; he invariably ended by proving directly or +indirectly that there is no essential incompatibility between the +advance of science and the dogmas of the Church. He would discourse of +evolution, of transmutation, of the struggle for existence; would quote +Hegel sometimes, allude to the Malthusian theory of population, to the +antagonism of Labour and Capital; and from each in turn would deduce +something in support of Catholic doctrine; to meet new modes of attack +new weapons must be employed. He even confessed himself an advocate, in +principle, of Darwin's theories--a fact which surprised and alarmed some +of his more timid friends and penitents, although at the same time it +enhanced their respect and admiration. When he addressed himself to +women only, he avoided all erudition which might bore them, adopted a +worldly tone, spoke of their little parties and balls, their dress and +their fashions like an adept, and drew similes and arguments from +social life. This delighted his fair audience, and brought them to his +feet. + +He was the director of many of the principal families of Madrid, and in +this capacity he showed exquisite discretion and tact, treating each one +with due regard to his or her temperament and past and present position. +When he met with a woman like the Marquesa de Alcudia, devout, +enthusiastic, and fervent, the shrewd priest pressed the keys firmly, +was exacting and imperious, inquired into the smallest domestic details, +and laid down the law. In the Alcudia's household not a step was taken +without his sanction; and in such cases, as though he enjoyed exerting +his power, he adopted a stern and grave demeanour which, under other +circumstances, was quite foreign to him. + +If he had to do with a family of worldlings, indifferent to the Church, +he played with a lighter hand, was benign and tolerant, requiring them +only to conform outwardly, and refrain from setting a bad example. He +did all he could to consolidate the beautiful alliance which in our days +has been concluded between religion and fashion; every day he found some +new means to this end, some derived from the French, some the offspring +of his own brain. On certain days of the year he would collect an +evening congregation of ladies of his acquaintance in the chapel or +oratory of some noble house. Then there were delightful _matinées_, when +he would extemporise a prayer, some accomplished musician would play the +harmonium, he himself would speak a short friendly address, and then +discuss religious questions with the ladies present; those who chose +might confess, and, to conclude, the party would adjourn to the +dining-room, where they took tea,--and changed the subject. + +When any member of one of these families died, Padre Ortega had his name +inserted on the letters of formal announcement, as Spiritual Director, +requesting the prayers of the faithful for the departed soul; and then +he would distribute printed pamphlets of souvenirs or memoirs, with +prayers in which he besought the Supreme Redeemer, in persuasive and +honeyed words, that by this or that special feature of His most Holy +Passion, he would forgive Count T---- or Baroness M---- the sin of pride +or avarice, or what not; but, as a rule, not the sin to which the +deceased had been most prone, for the worthy father had no mind to cause +a scandal or hurt the feelings of the family. He also undertook the +business of arranging for the acquisition of the greatest possible +number of indulgences, for the Papal benediction _in articulo mortis_, +for the prayers of any particular sisterhood, and so forth. Those who +were his friends and of his flock, might be quite certain of not +departing for the other world unprovided with good introductions. What +we do not know is how far they proved useful in the sight of God: +whether He passed them with a superscription in blue pencil as an +ambassador does, or whether, like the lady in the story, He asked: "And +you, Padre Ortega--who introduces you?" + +When he had exchanged a few polite words with every person present, with +such courtesy as was due to the position of each, the Marquesa de +Alcudia took possession of him, carrying him off into a corner of the +room, where, seated face to face in two armchairs, they began a +conversation in an undertone, as though she were making confession. The +priest, his elbow resting on the arm of his seat, and his shaven chin in +his hand, listened to her with downcast eyes, in an attitude of +humility; now and then he put in a measured word to which the lady +listened with respect and submission; though she immediately returned to +the charge, gesticulating vehemently, but without raising her voice. + +Soon after the ecclesiastic, a youth had made his appearance--a fat +youth, very round and rosy, with little whiskers which came but just +below his ears, his eyes deep set in flesh, and a fine fresh colour in +his cheeks. His clothes looked too tight for him; his voice was hoarse, +and he seemed to produce it with difficulty. Ramon Maldonado's face +clouded over as he came in. This new-comer was the heir of the Conde de +Casa-Ramirez, and one of the suitors for the first born of the house of +Calderón. Jacobo--or Cobo Ramirez, as he was generally called, was +regarded as a comic personage for the same reasons as Pepa Frias, but +with less foundation. He too displayed great freedom of speech, cynical +disrespect of persons, even of the most respectable, and an almost +incredible degree of ignorance. His jests were the coarsest and grossest +which decent people could by any means endure. Sometimes, indeed, they +hit the nail on the head, that is to say, he had a happy thought; but as +a rule his sallies were purely and unmitigatedly indecent. + +And yet the company were pleased to see him. A smile of satisfaction +lighted up every face but that of Ramoncito. + +"I say, Calderón," he exclaimed as he came in, without any sort of +preliminary greeting; "how do you manage to have such good-looking boys +for your servants? As I came in, in the dim light, by the mezzo-soprano +voice I heard, I took one of them for a girl." + +"Nonsense, man," said the banker, laughing. + +"I tell you I did, man, not that I care if you have as many Romeos as +you please. Is your friend Pinazo coming this evening?" + +All understood the allusion; almost every one burst out laughing. + +"No, no, he is not coming," replied Calderón, choking with laughter. + +"What are they laughing at, Pacita?" asked Esperanza, in a low voice. + +"I do not know," she replied with perfect sincerity, shrugging her +shoulders; "Cobo has said something horrid no doubt. I will ask Julia +by-and-bye; she will be sure to know." + +They both looked at the eldest of the three sisters, but she sat unmoved +and stiff, with downcast eyes as usual; nevertheless the corners of her +mouth quivered with a faint smile of comprehension which showed that her +youngest sister's confidence in her profound intuition was amply +justified. + +"Hallo! Ramoncillo!" said Cobo, going up to Maldonado, and patting him +familiarly on the cheek. "Always the same sweet and seductive youth?" + +The tone was half affectionate and half ironical, which the other took +very much amiss. + +"Not to compare with you; but getting on," replied Ramoncito. + +"No, no, you are the beauty of the two--let these young ladies decide. +You are a little too thin perhaps, especially of late, but you will +double your weight as soon as you have got over this." + +"I have nothing to get over. And after all, no one can run to as many +pounds as you," retorted Ramon, much nettled. + +"You have more graces." + +"Come, that will do; do not come talking such nonsense here, for it is +very bad form, especially in the presence of these young ladies." + +"Why must you two always be quarrelling?" exclaimed Pepa Frias. "Have +done with this squabbling, or the world will not be wide enough to hold +you both." + +"No, the place that is not wide enough for these two, is Calderón's +house," said Pinedo, in an undertone. + +"Nothing of the kind," Cobo exclaimed, in a cheerful voice "friends who +quarrel are the best friends--eh old fellow?" + +And taking Ramoncito's head between his hands, he shook it +affectionately. Maldonado pushed him away crossly. + +"Have done, have done; you are too rough." + +Cobo and Maldonado were intimate friends. They had known each other from +infancy, they had been at school together; then in the world of fashion +they had kept up a close acquaintance, chiefly at the club which both +frequented regularly. As they followed the same profession, that, +namely, of "men about town," on horseback, on foot, or in a carriage, as +they visited the same houses, and met everywhere and every day, their +mutual confidence was unlimited. At the same time, they were always on +terms of mild hostility, for Cobo had a true contempt for Ramon, and +Ramon, suspecting the fact, was constantly on his guard. This hostility +did not exclude liking; they were insolent to each other, and would +quarrel for hours on end, but afterwards they would drive out together, +just as if nothing had occurred, and arrange to meet at the theatre. +Maldonado took everything Cobo said quite seriously, and Cobo delighted +in contradicting him whenever he spoke, till he had succeeded in putting +him out of patience. + +But all affection vanished from the moment when they had both cast their +eyes on Esperanza de Calderón; hostility alone remained. Their relations +were apparently the same as before, they met every day at the club, +often walked out, and went hunting together, but at the bottom of their +hearts they hated each other. Each spoke ill of the other behind his +back; Cobo, of course, with more wit than Ramon, because, with or +without good reason, he had a real and sincere contempt for his rival. + +"Come, you are just like my daughter and her husband," said Señora de +Frias. + +"Not so bad, not so bad, Pepa!" Ramirez put in, with affected horror. + +"What a shameless fellow you are!" exclaimed the lady, trying to control +her laughter, which ill-matched her affectation of wrath. "They are just +like you two, for they are always squabbling and making it up again." + +And then she went on to describe in racy terms her daughter's married +life. She and her husband alike were a couple of children, dear +children, but quite insupportable. If he did not hand her a dish as +quickly as she expected, or had not poured her out a glass of water; if +his shirt-buttons were off, or his clothes not brushed; or if there was +too much oil in the salad, there were frightful rows. They were both +equally susceptible and touchy. Sometimes they did not exchange a word +for a week at a time, and to carry on the affairs of life they would +write little notes to each other in the most distant terms: "Asuncion +has asked me to go with her to the play at eight o'clock. Is there any +objection to my going?" she would write, and leave the note on his +study-table. + +"You may go wherever you choose," he would reply in the same way. + +"What will you have for dinner, to-morrow; do you like pickled tongue?" + +"You ought to know by this time that I never eat tongue. Do me the +favour to order the cook to get some fish; but not fresh anchovies, as +we had them the other day; and desire her not to burn the fritters." + +Neither of them chose to give way to the other, so that this nonsense +would go on indefinitely, till she, Pepa, took them both by the ears, +gave them a piece of her mind and obliged them to make it up. Then they +went to the other extreme in their reconciliation. + +"Do you know, Pepa, that I should not care to be there at the moment of +reconciliation?" said Cobo, with another outburst of malignant +vulgarity. + +"Nor I, my friend," she replied with a sigh of resignation, that was +very laughable. "But, what can I do? I am a mother-in-law, which is the +lowest function one can fill in this world, and I must endure that +penance and many more of which you know nothing." + +"I can imagine them." + +"You cannot possibly imagine them." + +"But then, my dear, it would be a great joy to me, to see my children +friends once more," said the gentle Mariana, in her slow, drawling, +lethargic way. "There is nothing more odious than a quarrelsome couple." + +"And to me, too--when the scene is over," replied Pepa, exchanging +smiles with Cobo Ramirez and Pinedo. + +"How gladly would I make friends with you, Mariana, on the same terms," +said the insinuating general, in a low voice, taking advantage of a +moment when Calderón's wife stooped down to stir the fire with an +enamelled iron poker. At the same time, as if he wished to take it from +her, and save her the trouble, the General's fingers were laid on the +lady's, and without exceeding the truth, may be said to have lightly +pressed them. + +"Make friends?" said she, in her usual voice. "But first we should have +to quarrel, and thank God we have not done that." + +The old beau did not venture to reply; he laughed awkwardly with an +uneasy glance at Calderón. If he persisted, this simpleton was capable +of repeating aloud the audacious speech he had just made. + +"Of course," Pepa went on, "I interfere as little as possible in their +disputes. I hardly ever go to their house even--Pah! I loathe playing +the part of mother-in-law." + +"Well, Pepa, I only wish you were my mother-in-law," said Cobo, with a +meaning look into her eyes. + +"Good! I will tell my daughter; she will be much flattered." + +"No, it has nothing to do with your daughter! It is that--that I should +like you to interfere in my concerns." + +"Stuff and nonsense! Cease your compliments," replied the lady, half +vexed. But a symptom of a smile which curled her lips showed +nevertheless that the speech had pleased her. + +Ramoncito now brought the conversation back to the opera--the hare which +runs in every fashionable meeting in Madrid. The opera is, indeed, to +the subscribers, no mere amusement, but an institution. It is not, +however, a love of music which makes it a constant subject of +discussion, but the fact that they have nothing else to think about. To +Ramoncito Maldonado, to Señora de Calderón, and to hundreds of others, +the world is divided into two classes: those who subscribe to the opera +and those who do not. The former alone really and completely represent +the essential part of humanity. + +Gayarre and Tosti once more came under discussion. Those of the party +who had just come in gave their opinion on the merits as well as on the +physical advantages or defects of the two singers. + +Ramoncito began to tell Esperanza and Paz in a low voice how that he had +last evening been presented to La Tosti in her dressing-room. A very +amiable and refined woman; she had received him with wonderful +graciousness and friendliness. She had heard much of him--Ramoncito--and +had been most anxious to know him personally. When she was told that he +was a member of the Assembly she was amazed to think of his having risen +to such a position while still so young. "So absurd you know; it would +seem that in other countries it is the custom only to elect old +men.--She is even handsomer near than from a distance--a skin like +velvet, exquisite teeth; then a splendid figure--a noble bust, and such +arms!" + +Vanity had made the young man not only a blunderer--for it is a +well-known rule that in courting one woman it is never wise to praise +another too vehemently--but a little over free in speaking to two such +young girls. They looked at each other and smiled; their eyes sparkling +with mischievous fun, which the young deputy did not detect. + +"And tell me now, Ramon, did you not make her a declaration on the +spot?" Pacita inquired. + +"Certainly not," replied he, seeing through the ironical meaning of the +question. + +"Then you will." + +"Never! I love another lady." And as he spoke he shot a languishing +glance at Esperanza. The young girl suddenly turned serious. + +"Really? Tell me, tell me----." + +"It is a secret." + +"Well, we can keep a secret. You will not tell, will you, Esperanza?" + +And the mischievous little thing looked slily at her friend, enjoying +her vexation and Ramoncito's discomfiture. + +"I do not want to know anything about it." + +"There, Ramon, do you hear? Esperanza does not want to hear anything +about your love affairs. I know why, though I shall not say." + +"What a silly thing you are, child," exclaimed Esperanza, now really +angry. + +The young man, flattered by these hints from an intimate friend, +nevertheless thought it well to change the subject, for he saw that +Esperanza was seriously annoyed. + +"But you must not believe that it would be so very difficult to make a +declaration to La Tosti, and for her to respond to it. Ask Pepe Castro; +you can depend on what he says about it." + +"But Pepe Castro is not you," said Esperanza, with marked disdain. + +Maldonado fell from the celestial spaces where he had been soaring. This +pointed speech, uttered in a tone of contempt, touched him to the quick. +For, as it happened, the transcendent superiority of Pepe Castro was one +of the few truths which dwelt in his mind as absolutely indisputable. +There might be doubts as to Homer's, but as to Pepito's--none. The +certainty of never rising, however much he might try, to the supreme +height of elegance, indifference, contempt, and sovereign scorn of all +creation, which characterised his admired friend, humiliated him and +made him miserable. + +Esperanza had laid her finger on the wound which was threatening his +existence. He could not reply; the shock was so great. + +Clementina was depressed and uneasy. As soon as she had entered her +sister-in-law's drawing-room, she had sought a pretext for leaving; but +she could find none. She was compelled to let some little time elapse; +the minutes seemed ages. She had chatted for a few moments with the +Marquesa de Alcudia, but that lady had quitted her when Father Ortega +had come in. Her sister was appropriated by General Patiño, who was +giving her an elaborate account of the mode of rearing and feeding +nightingales in captivity. The two Alcudia girls, who sat next to her, +might have been wax dolls, they were so stiff and motionless, answering +only in monosyllables to the few questions she addressed to them. By +degrees a sort of obscure irritation took possession of her; to a woman +of her temperament it was a matter of minutes only before she would +cast all conventionality to the winds and take an abrupt departure. But +on hearing the name of Pepe Castro, she looked up eagerly, and listened +with keen interest. At Ramoncito's abrupt allusion to him she suddenly +turned pale; however, she immediately recovered herself, and, joining in +the conversation with a smile, she said: "Nay, nay, Ramon, do not be +malignant. We poor women, if you begin to talk of us----!" + +"I speak ill of none who do not deserve it, Clementina," replied the +youth, encouraged by the rope thus thrown out for him. + +"You men discuss us all. It strikes me that your friend Pepe Castro is +not a man to bite his tongue out rather than sully a woman's +reputation." + +"But, indeed, Clementina, I never yet found him out in a falsehood. All +Madrid knows him for a favourite with women." + +"I cannot imagine why!" exclaimed the lady, with a disdainful pout. + +"I am no connoisseur in male beauty," said the young man, laughing at +his own phrase, "but everybody says that Pepito is handsome." + +"Pshaw! That is a matter of individual taste. Pacita, who is his +relation, will excuse me--but I, who am one of the 'everybody' do not +say so." + +"It is quite true," said Esperanza timidly, "that Pepito is not +considered bad-looking. Besides he is very elegant and _distingué_. Do +you not think so?" And she turned to Pacita, colouring slightly as she +spoke. Clementina glanced at her with a penetrating and singular +expression which deepened the blush. + +"What are you talking about?" asked Cobo Ramirez, joining the little +circle. + +He hardly ever sat down. He liked wandering from group to group, +breathing as hard as an ox, and firing some audacious remark at each in +turn. Ramoncito's brow darkened at his rival's approach. Cobo did not +fail to perceive it and looked at him with a slight sneer. + +"Well, Ramoncito? Tell me, how do you contrive to keep these ladies so +well amused? I was just saying to Pepa that you really sparkle with +wit." + +"No, indeed. How should I sparkle when you monopolise it?" said the +deputy, with some irritation. + +"Well, well, my son, if you are afraid of me I will go." + +An ironical smile, both bitter and triumphant, beamed on Ramoncito's +sharp features. He had the enemy in a trap. It should be said that, a +few days since, a learned discussion had given rise to a decision by an +expert philologist that _afraid_ was wrong and _afeard_ alone was right. + +"My dear Cobo," he exclaimed, throwing himself back in his chair and +gazing at him with ironical amazement. "Before you talk in the presence +of persons of quality you might learn to speak your mother-tongue. I +mean--it seems to me----" + +"Well?" said the other, in surprise. + +"That no one now says _afraid_ but _afeard_, my dear Cobo. I give you +the information for your satisfaction and future guidance." + +Ramon's manner as he spoke was so arrogant, and his smile so impertinent +that Cobo, disconcerted for a moment, asked in a fury: + +"And why afeard rather than afraid?" + +"Because it is so--because I say so! That is why," replied the other, +not ceasing to smile with increasing sarcasm, and casting a triumphant +look at Esperanza. + +The two rushed into an animated and violent discussion. Cobo held his +own, maintaining with great spirit that no one ever said _afeard_, that +he had never heard the word in his life, and that he was in the habit of +talking to educated persons. The young and scented deputy answered him +briefly, still smiling impertinently, and sure of his triumph. The more +angry Cobo became, the more Ramon gloated over his humiliation in the +presence of the damsel to whom they both were paying court. But the +tables were turned when Cobo, thoroughly provoked and seeing himself +beaten, called General Patiño to the rescue. + +"Come here, General; you who are eminent as an authority--Do you think +it correct to say _afeard_?" + +The General, greatly flattered by this opportune mouthful of honey, +replied, addressing Maldonado in a tone of paternal instruction: + +"No, Ramoncito, no. You are mistaken. Such a word as _afeard_ was never +heard of." + +The young man jumped in his chair. Suddenly abandoning all irony, and +his eyes flashing, he began to exclaim that they did not know what they +were talking about, that it would seem that the best authorities were +liars, and so on, and so on--that he was quite certain he was right, and +that he wanted a dictionary forthwith. + +"To tell you the truth," said Don Julian, scratching his head, "the +dictionary I used to possess has disappeared. I do not know who can have +taken it. But it seems to me--I agree with the General--that we say +afraid and not afeard." + +This fresh blow was too much for Maldonado; pale already, and tremulous +with vexation, he uttered a last cry of despair. + +"But _afeard_ is derived from _fear_, gentlemen!" + +"Fear or small beer, it is all the same!" exclaimed Cobo, with an +insolent peal of laughter. "Confess now that you have put your foot in +it, and promise not to do it any more." + +Maldonado's disgust and rage knew no bounds. He struggled on a few +minutes with incoherent words and gestures; but as the only reply to his +energetic protests were laughter and sarcasm, he resigned himself to an +attitude of dignity and scorn, chewing the cud of bitterness, his lips +quivering, his looks grim, a snort of indignation now and again +inflating his nostrils. Cobo remained unmoved, taking every opportunity +that offered for shooting a poisoned dart of repartee at the foe, which +enchanted the girls and made their elders smile soberly. No one in this +world ever hungered and thirsted for justice as did Ramoncito at this +moment. + +The arrival of another visitor ended, or at any rate, suspended, his +torments. The Duke of Requena was announced. His entrance produced an +agitation which sufficiently indicated his consequence. Calderón went +forward to receive him, offering him both hands with much effusion. All +the men rose in haste, and left their seats to meet him with smiles and +gestures expressive of the reverence he inspired. The ladies turned +their heads to greet him with curiosity and respect, and Pepa Frias rose +to shake hands with him. Even Father Ortega deserted his Marquesa and +went forward with a submissive and engaging bow, smiling at him with his +bright eyes behind the strong spectacles for short sight which he wore. +For a few minutes the only words to be heard in the room were "Señor +Duque," "Señor Duque"--"Oh Señor Duque!" + +The object of all these attentions was a short, stout man with a +lividly-pale face, prominent squinting eyes, white hair, and a grizzled +moustache as stiff and harsh as the quills of a porcupine. His lips were +thick and mobile, stained by the juice of a cigar which he held, not +lighted, between his teeth, incessantly passing it from one corner of +his mouth to the other. He might be about sixty years of age, more +rather than less. He was wrapped in a magnificent loose fur coat, which +he had not removed in the ante-room, having a cold. But on setting foot +in the little drawing-room, the heat struck him as unpleasant, and +hardly replying to the greetings and smiles which hailed him from all +sides, he only muttered rudely, in the hoarse, thick voice +characteristic of men with a short neck: "Poof! a perfect furnace!" And +he added a Valencian expletive more vehement than choice. At the same +time he unbuttoned his overcoat. Twenty hands were laid on it to help +him to take it off, which somewhat hindered the process. + +And now, in the Calderón's drawing-room, was repeated the scene which +has oftener than any other been performed in this world, of the +Israelites in the desert worshipping the Golden Calf. The new-comer was +no less a person than Don Antonio Salabert, Duke of Requena--the famous +Salabert, the richest of the rich in Spain, one of the colossal figures +of finance, and, beyond a doubt, the most famous for the extent and +importance of his transactions. He was a native of Valencia. No one had +ever heard of his family. Some said he had been a mere waif in the +streets; others that he had begun as a footman to some banker, and had +risen to be a sort of messenger and errand man, others that he had been +an adventurer under Cabrera in the first civil war, and that the origin +of his fortunes was a valise full of gold, of which he had robbed a +traveller. Some even went so far as to credit him with having belonged +to one of the notorious troops of banditti who infested Spain just after +the war. He, however, explained the growth of his fortune--which +amounted to no less than four hundred millions of reales[B]--in the +simplest and most graphic way. When he was angry with any of his +clerks--as very frequently happened--and found that they took offence at +his gross abuse, he would say to them, shouting like a possessed +creature: "Do you know how I came by my money? By taking many a kick +behind. Nothing but kicks will ever help you up the ladder. Do you +understand?" + +It must be confessed that there was something a little vague about this +explanation, but the authority with which it was delivered gave it +irrefragable value. Assuming it as the basis of the inquiry, we might +perhaps be able to form a just estimate of the character and the +achievements of the wealthy banker. + +"Hallo, little lady," said he, going up to Clementina and taking her by +the chin as if she were a child. "You here? I did not see your carriage +below." + +"No, Papa; I came on foot." + +"You are a wonder. You can take mine if you like." + +"No, I would rather walk. I have been out of spirits lately." + +The duke had turned his back on all the company, and was talking to his +daughter with as much affability as he was capable of. He rarely saw +her. Clementina was his natural daughter, the child of a woman of the +lowest type, as he himself had probably been. Afterwards, when he was +already beginning to be rich, he had married a young girl of the middle +class, by whom he had no family. This lady, whose health since her +marriage had been extremely delicate, had agreed, or to be exact, had +herself proposed that her husband's daughter should come to live with +her. Clementina had therefore been brought up at home, and was loved as +a daughter by her father's wife, whom she loved and respected as a +mother. Since her marriage she had paid her frequent visits; but as her +father was always busy, she did not go into his rooms, but left her +mother's--for so she called her--only to quit the house. Excepting on +days when there was some great dinner or reception, or when she met him +by chance in the street or at a friend's house, they never talked +together. + +After inquiring for her husband and sons, the duke, without sitting +down, turned to talk to Calderón and Pepe Frias. He was a man of common +and provincial appearance; he rarely smiled, and when he did, it was so +faintly as to be hardly perceptible. He was in the habit of calling +things by their names, and addressing every one without any formula of +courtesy, saying things to their face which might have seemed grossly +rude, but that he knew how to give them a tone of friendly bluntness +which deprived them of their sting. He was not loquacious; he generally +stood silently chewing the end of his cigar and studying his +interlocutor with his squinting and impenetrable eyes. When he talked it +was with a factitious and cunning simplicity which was not unattractive, +but through it pierced the old man, the Valencian foundling, shrewd, +sarcastic, crafty and uncommunicative. + +Pepa Frias began to talk of money matters; on this subject the widow was +inexhaustible. She wanted to know everything, was afraid of being taken +in, always greedy of large profit, and comically terrified at the idea +of a depreciation of the Stocks she held. She would have every detail +repeated to satiety. + +"Should she sell Bank Stock and buy Cubas? What was the Government going +to do about entailed estates? She had heard rumours! Would money be +dearer at the next settlement? Would it not be better to sell at once, +and make thirty centimes, than to wait till the end of the month?" + +To her Salabert's words were as the Delphic oracle; the banker's fame +acted like a charm. But, unluckily, the Duke--like every oracle, ancient +or modern--was wont to answer ambiguously. Often his only reply was a +grunt, which might mean assent, dissent, or doubt; while the words, +which now and then made their way between the cigar and his moist, +stained lips, were obscure, brief, and frequently unintelligible. +Besides, every one knew that he was not to be trusted, that he loved to +put his friends on the wrong track, and see them get a tumble in some +bad speculation. Nevertheless, Pepa persisted in hoping to wring from +that great mind the secret of the hidden Pactolus, playfully taking him +by the lapels of his coat, calling him old fellow, old fox, Sphinx, +glorying in her audacity, which amounted to a flirtation. But the banker +was not to be cajoled. He humoured her mood, answering her with grunts, +or with some coarse joke at which Calderón would laugh, though he felt +in no laughing mood as he noted the frequency of the duke's +expectorations on his carpet; for the munching of his cigar gave rise to +the necessity, and he was not accustomed to note what he was doing. +Calderón was as much irritated, and annoyed as if his visitor had spit +in his face. The third time it happened he could contain himself no +longer; with his own hands he fetched a spittoon. Salabert gave him a +mocking glance and winked at Pepa. + +Calderón, now easier in his mind, became quite loquacious, and +endeavoured to reply instead of the Duke, and advise Pepa as to her +investments; but though he was a man of prudence and experience in such +matters, the widow did not value his counsels, nor would she listen to +them. When all was said and done, there was an enormous gulf between him +and Salabert--the one an ordinary stock-broker, the other a genius of +banking. The Duke, no doubt, assented inarticulately to the opinions of +the master of the house, but Pepa would none of them. + +Salabert presently left them to themselves, and seated himself on the +arm of a chair in a lounging attitude, which he alone would have +ventured on. Instead of being disliked for his coarse rudeness, his bad +manners contributed not a little to his prestige and to the idolatrous +reverence which was paid him in society. Having left the spittoon behind +him, he again expectorated on the carpet with a malicious pleasure which +was visible through his imperturbable mask of good humour. Calderón on +his part frowned gloomily once more, till at length, with a heroic +determination to ignore the conventionalities, he once more fetched the +spittoon, but less boldly than before, for he only pushed it along with +his foot. Pepa, meanwhile, seated herself on the other arm, and went on +coaxing the Duke till at last he paid more attention to her. He glanced +at her several times from head to foot, dwelling with satisfaction on +her figure, which was round and shapely. Altogether Pepa was a +fresh-looking and attractive woman. In a few minutes the banker leaned +over her without much delicacy, and, putting his face so close to hers, +that he almost seemed to touch her cheek with his lips, he said in a +whisper: + +"Have you many Osuñas?" + +"A few--yes----" + +"Sell at once." + +Pepa looked him straight in the eyes, and, taking the advice as meant, +she said no more. A few minutes later it was she who put her face across +to the banker's, and asked him mysteriously: + +"And what shall I buy?" + +"Entailed estate," he replied in the same tone. + +Just now a lady and gentleman came in, a young couple, both under the +middle height, smiling, and lively. + +"Here are my young people," said Pepa. + +They were, in fact, a pleasing pair; well matched, with attractive, +candid faces, and so young that they really looked like a couple of +children. They shook hands with every one in turn, and every face beamed +with the affectionate protecting feeling which they could not fail to +inspire. + +"Here is your mother-in-law, Emilio. What a vexatious meeting, eh?" said +Pepa to the young man. + +"Mother-in-law! No, no. Mamma, mamma," replied he, pressing her hand +affectionately. + +"Heaven reward you!" replied the lady, with a comical sigh of gratitude. + +Once more the company settled into their seats. The young couple sat +down by the mistress of the house. Clementina had left her seat, and was +talking to Maldonado; Pepe Castro's name recurred frequently in their +conversation. Meanwhile Cobo was improving the opportunity, and making +Pacita laugh with his impertinence; but although he hoped that Esperanza +might receive his jests with equal favour, this was not the case. The +young lady was grave and absent-minded, and evidently trying to overhear +what Ramoncito and Clementina were saying; Pinedo had remained standing, +and was doing the civil to the Duke; and the General, seeing his adored +one in eager conversation with the new comers--tired, too, of finding +that his elaborately disguised compliments were not understood, nor even +his poetical allusions--followed his example. The Marquesa and the +priest still sat whispering vehemently to each other in a corner, she +more and more humble and insinuating, sitting at the very edge of her +chair, and bending forward to make herself heard; he every minute more +grave and rigid, closing his eyes from time to time as if he were in the +confessional. + +"What a pair of babies!" said Pepa to Mariana, alluding to the young +couple. "Is it not a shame to think of such children being married? How +much better they would be playing with their tops!" + +The young people in question laughed, and looked lovingly at each other. + +"They play with them still, at spare moments," said Cobo Ramirez in a +childish squeak. + +"Don't talk nonsense!" cried Pepa, turning on him fiercely. "Have they +told you what they play at?" + +Cobo and Mariana exchanged a significant look. Irenita, the young wife, +coloured deeply. + +"You are growing old, Pepa. Remember you are a grandmother," said +Mariana. + +"And such a grandmother!" exclaimed Cobo in an undertone, intended to be +heard only by the lady concerned. She glanced at him, half smiling and +half vexed, showing that she had heard, and was on the whole pleased. +Cobo affected innocence. + +"Is your quarrel over?" said the widow, turning to her children. "And +how long will peace last? Mercy, what a squabbling pair. Look here, I +will go to your house no more, for when I find you sulking I long to +take a broomstick and break it over your shoulders." + +The whole company turned round to look at the husband and wife, who were +smiling beatifically. This time they both blushed. But in spite of the +gravity which remained stamped on Emilio's features, it was clear that +his mother-in-law's free and easy sallies did not altogether displease +him. + +General Patiño, at Señora de Calderón's request, pressed the button of +an electric bell. A servant came in to whom his mistress gave a sign, +and five minutes later he reappeared with two others, carrying trays +with cups, tea, cakes and biscuits. There was a stir of satisfaction; a +change of attitude in all the party, and the sparkle in their eyes of +the animal pleased to satisfy a craving of nature. Esperanza hastened to +leave her friend and Ramirez, and proceeded to help her mother in the +task of pouring out tea for the company. Ramoncito took advantage of the +moment when the young girl offered him a cup, to observe in an aside +that he was much surprised at her finding any pleasure in listening to +the nonsensical or unseemly speeches of Cobo Ramirez. Esperanza looked +at him somewhat abashed, but she replied that she had heard no nonsense; +that Cobo was very pleasant and amiable. Ramoncito, in his lowest and +most pathetic tones, protested against such an opinion, and persisted in +running down his friend, till Cobo's suspicions were aroused, and he +came up, jesting as usual. On this our illustrious deputy grew sullen +once more, and drew in his horns; it only remained for Cobo to bring out +some piece of insulting nonsense to turn the laugh against his rival. + +This was the moment for discussing literature; a stage which always +supervenes in every afternoon or evening party in Madrid. General Patiño +mentioned a new play which had just been brought out with great success, +and raised some objections to it, chiefly on the ground of certain +scenes being too highly coloured. Mariana declared that on no account, +then, would she go to see it; and all agreed in anathematising the +immorality which nowadays is the delight of play-writers. Naturalism was +becoming a curse. Cobo Ramirez, who had taken tea and then more tea, and +had eaten a fabulous quantity of sandwiches and biscuits, told the +company that he had lately read a novel entitled "Le Journal d'une +Dame"--in French of course--which was precious, charming, the most +delightful thing he had ever read. For in literature Cobo--strange to +say--was all for refinement, spirituality and delicacy. It was of no use +to talk to him of those dreary books which dwell on the number of times +a bricklayer stretches himself when he gets out of bed--or of biscuits +and cakes a young gentleman can eat at afternoon tea--or describe the +birth of a child and other such horrors. Novels ought to deal with +pleasant things since they are written to give pleasure. And all this he +pronounced with decision, snorting like a war-horse as he talked. All +the audience agreed with him. + +But this literary lecture was prematurely cut short by the arrival of +another visitor, a man, neither tall nor short, nor stout nor thin, +square shouldered and dapper, sallow, and wearing a black beard so thick +and curly that it looked like a false one. This was no less a personage +than the Minister of Public Works, a member of the Cabinet. He carried +his head so high that the back of it was almost lost between his +shoulders, and his half-closed eyes flashed self-confident and +patronising gleams from between his long black lashes. Till the age of +two-and-twenty he had carried his head as nature intended; but from the +day when he had been made vice-president of the section of Civil and +Canon Law in the Academy of Jurisprudence, he had begun to hold it +higher and higher, by slow and majestic degrees, as the moon rises over +the sea on the stage at the opera-house, that is to say by slight and +frequent jerks with a rope. He was elected a provincial member--a little +jerk; then deputy to the Cortes--another little jerk; Governor of a +district, and another little jerk; Director General of a +department--another; President of the Committee of Ways and +Means--another; Member of the Cabinet--yet another. But now the rope was +at an end. If they had made him heir to the throne, Jimenez Arbos could +not have held his large head a tenth of an inch higher. + +His entrance on the scene produced some little sensation, but not such +as that of the Duke of Requena. He, whose puffy, sensual face could not +conceal the scorn he felt for the Assembly, nevertheless hurried to +greet him with a deference and servility which amazed every one, all the +more by comparison with the rough discourtesy he usually displayed in +social intercourse. The Minister, on his part, distributed hand-shakings +with an air of abstraction which was positively offensive. It was only +when he greeted Pepa Frias that he showed any signs of animation. The +widow asked him in a familiar tone: + +"How is it that you are in evening dress?" + +"I am on my way to dine at the French Embassy." + +"And then home?" + +"Yes." + +This dialogue, carried on very rapidly in a low voice, was noticed by +the Duke, who went up to Pinedo and asked him mysteriously, with an +expressive sign: "I say--Arbos and Pepa Frias?" + +"These two months past, at least." + +The gaze which the banker now bestowed on the widow was widely different +from his former glances. He was more attentive, more respectful, keener, +and presently somewhat meditative. Calderón had approached the Minister +and was talking to him with polite attention; Salabert joined them. But +the great man was not inclined to talk of business, or perhaps he was +afraid of the financier; the press had thrown out some malevolent hints +as to Requena's transactions with the Government. So in a few minutes +the Duke attached himself, instead, to Pepa Frias, and stood chatting +with her in a corner of the room. + +Clementina was growing more and more impatient, longing vehemently to +get away. Still, she would not go, for fear her father should insist on +accompanying her. The Minister was the first to depart, taking leave +with the same impressive absent-mindedness, never looking at the person +he addressed, but up at the ceiling. The Duke meanwhile had quite taken +possession of the widow, displaying such effusive gallantry that he +might have been about to make her a declaration of love. The General, +observing this, said to Pinedo: + +"Look how eager the Duke has become! He is certainly making love to +Pepa." + +"No," replied the other very gravely. "He is making love to the transfer +of the Riosa Mining Company." + +At this moment Pepa Frias announced in a loud voice that she was going. + +"Where are you off to, next?" asked the banker. + +"To Lhardy's shop, to buy some Italian sausages." + +"I will take you there." + +"Do--and I will treat you to some little tarts." + +The Duke was delighted to accept the invitation. + +"Come along, too, child?" she added to her daughter. + +Clementina waited only five minutes longer. As soon as she felt sure of +not overtaking her father on the stairs, she rose, and, under the +pretext of having forgotten some commission, she also took leave. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +SALABERT'S DAUGHTER. + + +Clementina descended the stairs in some anxiety, and on setting foot in +the street, breathed a sigh of relief. She went off at a brisk pace down +the Calle del Siete de Julia, across the Plaza Mayor, and on through the +Calle de Atocha. On reaching this, she suddenly remembered the youth who +had previously followed her, and turned her head in anxiety. No one. +There was nothing to alarm her. No one was in pursuit. At the door of +one of the best houses in the street she stopped, looked hastily and +stealthily both ways, and went in. A hardly perceptible sign of inquiry +to the porter, was answered by his hand to his cap. She flew to the back +staircase, to escape any unpleasant meeting no doubt, and ran up in such +a hurry that on reaching the second floor she was quite breathless, and +pressed one hand to her heart. With the other, she knocked twice at one +of the doors, which was instantly and noiselessly opened; she rushed in +as if the enemy were at her heels. + +"Better late than never," said a young man who had opened it, and who +carefully shut it again. + +He was a man of eight-and-twenty or thirty, above the middle height, +slightly built, with delicate and regular features, a colour in his +cheeks, a moustache curled up at the ends, a pointed chin-tuft, and +black hair carefully parted down the middle. He looked like a toy +soldier--that is to say, he was of the effeminate military type. His +face was not unlike those of the dolls on which tailors display +ready-made clothing, and was not less unpleasing and repulsive. He wore +a pearl-grey velvet morning jacket, elaborately braided, and slippers +of the same material and colour, with initials embroidered in gold. It +was evident at a glance that he was one of those men who care greatly +for the decoration of their person; who touch up every detail with as +much finish and attention as a sculptor bestows on a statue; who believe +that curling and gumming their moustaches is a sacred and bounden duty; +who accept the fact that the Supreme Creator has bestowed on them a +fascinating presence, and do their best to improve on His work. + +"How late you are!" he exclaimed once more, fixing on her face a +conventional gaze of sad reproach. + +The lady rewarded him with a gracious smile, saying at the same time in +a tone of raillery, "It is never too late if luck comes at last." + +She took his hand and pressed it fondly; then, still holding it, she led +him along the passages to a small room which seemed to be the young +man's study. It was a luxurious den, artistically decorated; the walls +were hung with dark blue plush curtains, held up by rings on a bronze +rod under the cornice; there were arm-chairs of various shapes and +sizes, a writing-table in walnut-wood ornamented with wrought-iron, and +by the side of it a book-stand with a few books--about two dozen +perhaps. Suspended by silken cords from the ceiling, and against the +walls, were horse-trappings and several saddles, common and military, +with their stirrups hanging down; curbs of many ages and lands, whips, +fine woollen horse-cloths richly embroidered, gold and silver spurs, all +very handsome and in perfect order. The hippic tastes of the owner of +this "study" were no less evident in the corridor which led to it from +the door; everywhere there were portraits of horses saddled or stripped. +Even on the writing-table, the inkstand, paper-weights, and paper-knife +were decorated with horse-shoes stirrups, or whips. Through an arch with +columns, only half-closed by a handsome tapestry curtain representing a +youth in powder kneeling to a lady _à la Pompadour_, a handsome mahogany +bedstead with a canopy was visible. + +On reaching this little room the lady let herself drop gracefully into a +pretty little lounging chair, and went on in a light jesting tone: "So +you are not glad to see me?" + +"Very. But I should have been glad to see you sooner. I have been +waiting for you above an hour and a half." + +"And what then? Is it such a sacrifice to wait an hour and a half for +the woman who adores you? Have you not read how Leander swam every +evening across the Hellespont to see his beloved? No, you have never +read that nor anything else. Well, I believe that knowledge would not +suit you. Books would spoil that pretty colour in your cheeks, and +undermine the strength and agility with which you ride and drive. +Besides, some men were born only to be handsome and strong and to amuse +themselves, and you are one of them." + +"Come, come. It seems to me that you regard me as an idiot ignorant even +of my alphabet?" exclaimed the young man somewhat piqued and distressed, +as he stood in front of her. + +"No, my dear, no!" she replied, laughing, and seizing one of his hands +she kissed it with a sudden impulse of tenderness. "Now you are +insulting me. Do you think I could love an idiot? Take this," she went +on, taking off her hat. "Put my hat on the bed with the greatest care. +Now come here, wretch that you are. You are so touchy that you forget +you began by being rude to me. An hour and a half! What then? Come +close; kneel down; wait till I pull your hair for you." + +But the young man, instead of obeying her, drew up a smoking chair, and +perched himself on it in front of her. + +"Do you know what kept me? Why that tiresome boy who followed me again." + +And as she spoke she suddenly grew serious: a well-defined frown +puckered her pretty brows. + +"It is insufferable," she went on. "I do not know what to do. Whenever I +stir, morning or evening, this shadow haunts me. I had to take refuge at +Mariana's; then, having gone there I had no choice but to stay a little +while. Papa came in, and to avoid his escorting me home I had to wait +till he went first. So you see." + +"A pretty fellow is that boy!" exclaimed the man, with a laugh. + +"Very much so! It would be very amusing if he found out where I come, +and every one were to hear of it, and it were to reach my husband's +ears. Laugh away, laugh away!" + +"Why not? Who but you would think of objecting to so platonic an +admirer? Have you had any note from him? Has he ever spoken a word to +you?" + +"That would not matter in the least. It is the persecution which jars on +my nerves. He is just such a boy as would be capable out of mere spite, +if he detected me entering this house, of writing an anonymous letter. +And you know the peculiar position in which I stand with regard to my +husband." + +"There is not a chance of it. Those who write anonymous notes are not +admirers, but envious women. Shall I meet him face to face and give him +a fright?" + +"How can you ask such a question!" exclaimed Clementina, indignantly. +"Listen Pepe, you are a man of feeling, and have plenty of intelligence, +but you sadly lack a little more delicacy to enable you to understand +certain things. You should give rather less time to your club and your +horses, and cultivate your mind a little." + +"Is that your opinion?" cried Pepe, angered extremely by this reproof. + +"Well, if you wish that I should not tell you such things, there are +others which you should not say." + +Pepe Castro shrugged his shoulders scornfully, and rose from his chair. +He paced the room two or three times with an air of abstraction, and +stopped at last in front of a little picture which he took down to dust +it with his handkerchief. Clementina watched him with anger in her eyes. +She suddenly started to her feet as if moved by a spring; but then, +controlling her petulance, she quietly went into the adjoining room, +took her hat off the bed, and began to put it on in front of a +looking-glass, very deliberately, though the slight trembling of her +hands still betrayed the annoyance she was repressing. + +"There," she presently exclaimed, in a tone of indifference, "I am +going. Do you want anything out?" + +The young man turned round, and exclaimed with surprise: "Already!" + +"Already," replied she with affected determination. + +Castro went up to her, put his arm round her neck, and raising the red +veil with the other hand, kissed her on the temple. + +"It is always the same," said he. "I get the broken head and you want to +wear the bandage." + +"What is that you are saying?" she replied in some confusion. "I am +going because I have another visit to pay before dinner." + +"Come Clementina, you cannot make believe, even if you wish it. You must +understand that I cannot listen to insults and laugh, and you insult me +at every moment." + +"I really do not understand you; I do not know what insults or make +believe you allude to," she replied, with affected innocence. + +Pepe tried coaxingly to take her hat off again, but she repelled him +with an imperious gesture. He then put his arm round her waist and led +her to the sofa; he sat down and taking her hands kissed them again and +again with passionate affection. She stood upright and would not be +softened. However, he was so vehement and so humble in his endearments, +that at last she snatched away her hands and exclaimed, half laughing, +but still half vexed: + +"Have done, have done: I am tired of your whining--like a Newfoundland +dog! You are abject. I would be torn in pieces before I would humiliate +myself like that." + +She took her hat off, and went herself to place it on the bed. + +"When a man is as much in love as I am," replied the youth somewhat +abashed, "he does not regard anything as a humiliation." + +"Really and truly, boy?" said she, smiling and taking him by the chin +with her slender pink fingers; "I do not believe it. You are not the +stuff that lovers are made of. Well, I will put you to the proof. If I +told you to do a thing that might cost you your life, or, which is +worse, your honour--a few years in prison--would you do it?" + +"I should think so!" + +"Well then--well then, I want you to kill my husband." + +"How barbarous!" he exclaimed in dismay, opening his eyes very wide. + +The lady looked at him steadily for a few minutes with scrutinising, +sarcastic eyes. Then with a sharp laugh, she exclaimed: + +"You see, miserable man, you see! You are a fine gentleman of Madrid, a +member of the _Savage Club_. Neither for me nor any other woman would +you exchange your dress-coat and white waistcoat for a prison uniform." + +"You have such strange ideas." + +"Well, well. Go on in the way which your pusillanimous nature points out +to you, and do not get into mischief. You will understand that I only +spoke in jest; but it has confirmed me in the opinion I had already +formed." + +"But if you have so poor an opinion of my devotion, I do not know why +you should love me," said the young man, again somewhat piqued. + +"Why I love you? For the same reason for which I do everything--Caprice. +I saw you one day in the Park of the Retiro, breaking in a horse +splendidly, and I took a fancy to you. Then, two months later, I saw you +at the fencing gallery at Biarritz, crossing foils with a Russian, and +that finally bewitched me. I got you introduced to me, I did my best to +please you--I did in fact please you--and here we are." + +Pepe made up his mind to endure with patience her half cynical tone of +raillery, and by dint of talking she presently dropped it. Clementina +when she was content, was affectionate and gay, and ready to yield to +impulses of generosity; her face, as singular as it was beautiful, never +indeed softened to sweetness, but it had a kind, maternal expression +which was very attractive. But if her nerves were irritated, and her +opinions or wishes were crossed, the under-current of pride, obstinacy +and even cruelty, which lay beneath, came to the surface, and her blue +eyes shot flashes of fierce sarcasm or fury. + +Pepe Castro, who was neither illustrious nor clever, had nevertheless +the art of amusing her with the gossip of society, and innuendoes +against those persons for whom she had a marked antipathy. The means +were coarse but the effect was excellent. The Condesa de T----, a lady +whom Clementina hated mortally for some displeasure she had once done +her, was desperately hard up; she had gone to borrow of Z---- the old +banker, who had granted the loan, but at a percentage which had made the +lady stare. The Marqués de L----, and his wife, for whom also she had an +aversion, had, before he was in office, given entertainments to the +electors at their country house, with splendid banquets; but as soon as +he was made Minister, though they still gave parties there was no +_buffet_. Julita R----, a very pretty girl who, again, was no favourite +with the haughty lady, had been turned out of doors by the M---- s for +having been found in their son's room--a lad of fifteen. This and much +more of the same kind fell from the lips of the generous youth, with a +scornful humour which put the fair one into a better temper. This was +Pepe Castro's sole talent of an intellectual character; his other +accomplishments were purely physical. + +The clouds had cleared from Clementina's brow. She was now loquacious, +smiling, and lavish of caresses; during the hour she remained with her +lover, he was amply indemnified for the stabs she had given him on first +arriving, as happy as their _tête-à-tête_ could make him. + +It had already long since become dusk. The youth lighted the two lamps +on the chimney-piece, without calling the servant--his only servant, and +the only living soul with him in his rooms. + +Pepe Castro was the son of a noble house of Arragon; his elder brother +bore a well-known title, and his sister had married into a family of +rank. He had been educated at Madrid; at the age of twenty he lost his +father. For a time he lived with his elder brother, but it was not long +before they quarrelled, since the elder, who was economical to avarice, +could not endure Pepe's wasteful extravagance. He then tried living +under his sister's roof, but at the end of a few months incompatibility +of temper between himself and his brother-in-law led to such violent +disputes, that it was said in the Madrid clubs and drawing-rooms that +they had cuffed and cudgelled each other soundly; a duel was only +prevented by the interference of some of the more respectable members of +the family. Then, after living for some time at an hotel, he decided on +furnishing rooms. He engaged a servant, had his breakfast brought in +from an eating-house, and dined sometimes at Lhardy's and sometimes with +one or another of his numerous friends. His stables were in the +immediate neighbourhood, Calle de las Urosa, and were not ill-furnished: +two saddle horses, one English and one cross-bred; two teams, one +foreign and one Spanish; a Berline, a cart, a mail-phaeton, and a break; +it was a channel through which his fortune was rapidly running away, +though it was not the principal one. He had, in fact, left the greater +portion on the gaming-tables at the club, and by no means a small part +bad been grabbed by certain smart damsels, whom he had promoted in a few +hours to the rank of fashionable courtesans. This, however, was a fact +he always denied, thinking it might diminish his prestige as a +lady-killer; but it is nevertheless a fact, like everything else herein +set down. + +All this is as much as to say that Pepe Castro was at this moment a +ruined man; nevertheless, he went on living in the same comfort and +style. His losses and his borrowing cost him a great deal: loans from +his brother on the mortgage of estate he could not sell, post-obits to +merciless usurers on his prospects from an old and infirm uncle, +accepted for three times their cash value; jewels given him by his +sister, who could not give him money; exorbitant charges run up by the +importers of carriages and horses; bills with the tailor, the perfumer; +with Lhardy, the restaurant-keeper, with every one in short. + +It seemed impossible that a man could live easy in such a tangle of +toils and nets. And nevertheless, our young gentleman enjoyed the same +beautiful serenity of mind and lightness of heart as many others of his +comrades and acquaintances, who, as we shall have occasion to see, were +no less ruined, though less fascinating. + +"I have a surprise in store for you," said Clementina, as she again put +on her hat and tidied her hair in front of the glass. + +The handsome puppy sniffed the air, like a hound that scents game, and +he went up to Clementina. + +"If it is a pleasant one let me see it." + +"Yes, and no less if it is an unpleasant one, rude boy. Everything I can +do ought to be pleasant to you." + +"No doubt, no doubt.--Let me see," he went on, trying to conceal his +eagerness. + +"Very well; bring me my muff." + +Castro flew to obey. Clementina, when she had it in her hands, sat down +on the sofa with an affectation of calm, and flourishing it in the air, +she exclaimed: "Now you will not guess what I have in this muff?" + +Her eyes were bright with glee and pride at the same time. Castro's +sparkled with anxiety; the colour mounted to his cheeks, and he replied +in a tone between assertion and inquiry: + +"Fifteen thousand pesetas."[C] + +The lady's triumphant expression instantly changed to one of wrath and +disgust. + +"Go--go away--Pig!" she furiously cried, giving him a hard box on the +ear with the handsome muff. "You think of nothing but money. You have +not a grain of delicacy." + +"I thought----" The change in Pepe's face was no less marked; it was +more gloomy than night. + +"Of money, yes; I tell you so. Well then, no. Nothing of the kind. +Nothing but a little tie-pin, which--fool that I am--I bought at +Marbini's as I came along, to show you that I am always thinking of +you." + +"And I thank you from the bottom of my heart, my sweet pigeon," said the +young man, making a supreme effort to recover from his sudden dejection, +and producing, as a result, a forced and bitter smile. "Why do you fly +into such pets? Give it me. But I know what a bad opinion you have of +me." + +Clementina would not give him her present. Pepe begged for it humbly; +still there was in his entreaties a shade of coldness, which to the keen +intuition of a woman, betrayed very plainly the disappointment at the +bottom of his soul. + +"No, no! My poor little pin that you despise so--I can see it in your +face. It shall go into the box where I keep memorials of the dead." + +She rose from her seat and pulled down her veil. Pepe was pressing in +his endeavours to be attentive, and to mollify her wrath. At last, when +she had almost reached the door, she suddenly turned about and drew out +of her muff a neat little jewel-box, which she gave to her lover, +looking him straight in the face meanwhile. + +The young man's eyes opened, resting on the box with an expression of +delight; then they met those of his mistress. They gazed at each other +for a minute, she with a look of mischievous triumph, he with gratitude +and suppressed joy. + +"I always said so! No one in the world knows what love means, but you, +my darling. Come here; let me thank you, let me worship you on my +knees." + +He dragged her to the sofa, made her sit down, and falling on his knees, +kissed her gloved hands with rapture. + +"Mercy, what madness!" cried the lady quite bewildered. "What a +whirlwind round a trifle." + +"It is not for the money, my darling, not for the money; but because you +have such an original way of doing things. Because you are such a trump, +such an angel!" He clasped her knees, he grovelled before her, and +kissed her feet--or, to be exact, her boots. + +"What an abject thing you are, Pepe!" said she, laughing. + +"I don't care what you call me; I am yours, your slave till death. I owe +you not only happiness, but honour. You cannot think what I have gone +through these two days, over that cursed debt!" he said, in a voice of +genuine emotion. + +"And will you go and gamble any more, eh? Gamble, and lose it all, you +wretch," said she, tumbling his hair and spoiling the beautiful parting +down the middle. + +"No--I swear it on my word of honour." + +"On your word, and on your money, wretched man? Well, I am off," she +added, with a fond little pat, and she went to look at the clock on the +chimney-piece. "Mercy! How late it is--I must fly. Good-bye." + +She ran to the door, waving her hand to her lover, without looking at +him. He could only clutch it, and kiss the tips of her fingers. + +He rushed to open the door for her, but her hand was already on the +lock; indeed, she was in a fury, because her feeble efforts would not +turn it. + +"By-bye--till Saturday!" said she, in a whisper. + +"Till the day after to-morrow." + +"No, no--till Saturday." + +She ran downstairs with the same cautious haste as she had used in +coming up, nodded imperceptibly to the porter, and went out. She walked +as far as the Plaza del Angel; there she took a hackney coach to drive +home. + + * * * * * + +It was now past six; the lights in the shops had been blazing for an +hour or more. She sat as far back in the corner as she could and gazed +without interest or curiosity at the streets she passed through. Her +face had resumed its characteristic expression of scornful haughtiness, +qualified by a certain degree of disdain and absent-mindedness. + +Her refined elegance, her arrogant mien, and, above all, the severe +majesty of her exceptional beauty stamped Clementina beyond question as +one of the most _distinguées_ women of Madrid. At the same time, though +she was recognised as such, figuring in all the drawing-rooms of the +aristocracy, in all the lists of fashionable persons which the papers +publish on the day after a ball, a race, or any other entertainment, by +birth-right she was far from belonging to such a set. Her origin could +not have been more humble. Her mother had been an Irish girl, the +mistress of a cooper, who had landed at Valencia in search of work. Her +name was Rosa Coote; she was extraordinarily handsome, and would have +been even more so if she had cared for dressing or adorning her person; +but the squalor in which the illicit home was kept had made her +neglectful and dirty. The Valencia waif and the handsome Irish girl came +to an understanding behind the cooper's back. Salabert was quite young +and a brisk youth; he was not, like the girl's present protector, a +victim to drunkenness. Rosa abandoned her former lover to go off with +him. Within a few months, Salabert, who saw an opening for going to Cuba +as steward on board a steamboat, in his turn deserted her. The +Irishwoman, expecting then the birth of the offspring of this +connection, wandered about for some time without any protector or means +of living till she became acquainted with a carpenter, who ultimately +made her his lawful wife. Clementina grew up as an intruder in this new +home. Her mother was a violent and irascible creature, with bursts of +tenderness which she kept exclusively for her legitimate children. +Clementina she seemed to hate, and avenged on her her father's offence +with cruel injustice. + +A fearful childhood was that of Clementina. + +If some details of it could but have been known in Madrid; if, only in +some brief vision, the scenes through which this proudest and most +arrogant of dames had passed could have been placed before the eyes of +her fashionable acquaintance, who would have envied her? What tortures, +what refinement of cruelty! At the age of four or five she was made the +watchful nurse of two brothers younger than herself, and if she +neglected the smallest particular of her duties the punishment followed +at once, but not such punishment as was due--a slap, or her ears pulled. +No, it was premeditated to hurt her as much and as long as possible; +after flogging her with a strap the wounds were washed with vinegar, she +was made to tread for hours on hard peas, to wear shoes that pinched her +feet, to go without water, she was thrashed with nettles. + +More than once, on hearing the hapless child's outcries, the neighbours +had intervened and had remonstrated with the unnatural mother. But +nothing ever came of it beyond a noisy discussion, in which the +passionate Irishwoman, in sputtering Valencian, poured out her wrath on +the gossips of the quarter, and afterwards vented her fury on the cause +of the squabble. She was always declaring that she would send the child +to the workhouse, but this was opposed by the carpenter, who prided +himself on being a kind-hearted and merciful man, and who sometimes +interfered to mitigate her punishment, though he generally left it to +his wife "to correct her daughter," as he said to the neighbours who +blamed him. His educational notions clashed with his more kindly +instincts, and when they got the upper hand, alas, for the poor little +girl! + +Certain details of these horrible torments were sickening. On one +occasion Clementina had been to the well and broken the pitcher. It was +the third within a month. The child dared not go home, and sought refuge +with a neighbour. The woman took her to her mother, but did not leave +her till she had extorted a promise that she should not be punished. And +in point of fact her mother did not punish her by any ordinary process +of chastisement; her cries might have led to a disturbance. She formed +the diabolical idea of holding the girl's head over a foul sink, till +she was half asphyxiated and fainted away. The worst days for the +wretched child were when she had dropped asleep at her prayers. The +cruel Irishwoman was a bigot, and this offence she never forgave. On one +occasion, she beat her so mercilessly for repeating her prayers half +asleep before going to bed, that the carpenter, who was peacefully +eating his supper in the kitchen, heard her cries, and went up to the +bedroom, where he rescued her from her mother, who would otherwise +perhaps have been the death of her. + +This course of incredible cruelties ended at last in one which led to +the interference of justice. The unnatural mother, at her wit's end how +to torture the girl, burnt her legs with a candle. A neighbour happening +to hear of it told others, and the scandal in the quarter produced a +stir; they appealed to justice, informed against the Irishwoman, and the +crime being proved, she was condemned to six months' imprisonment, while +the girl was placed in an asylum. + +About a year later Salabert came to Valencia, not yet a potentate, but +with some money. On hearing what had occurred he went to see his +daughter at the school for poor girls, whence he removed her to one +where he paid for her education, and at long intervals went to see her. +His generous deed was highly lauded, and he knew how to make it tell, +setting himself up in the eyes of those who knew him as a living model +of paternal devotion, in shining contrast to the brutality of his +deserted mistress. + +Not long after, he married, and settled in Madrid. His wife was the +daughter of a dealer in iron bedsteads and spring mattresses, in the +Calle Mayor. She was plain and sickly, but gentle and affectionate, with +fifty thousand dollars for her portion. At the end of three or four +years of married life, finding her health increasingly delicate, Doña +Carmen lost all hope of having any children, and knowing that her +husband had an illegitimate daughter in a Convent at Valencia, she +proposed, with rare generosity, to have her at home and treat her as +their child. Salabert accepted gladly; he went to fetch Clementina, and +thenceforward a complete change came over the girl's fate. + +She was at this time aged fourteen, and already a marvel of beauty, a +happy combination of the refined and delicate northern type with the +severer beauty of the Valencian women. Undeveloped as yet, in +consequence of the cruel experiences of her childhood followed by the +quiet routine of a convent, under this change of climate and mode of +life she acquired in two or three years the commanding stature and +majestic proportions we have seen. Her moral nature left much more to be +desired. Her temper was irritable, obstinate, scornful, and gloomy. +Whether she was born with these characteristics or they were the result +of the misery and sufferings of her wretched infancy it would be hard to +decide. In the convent, where she was never ill-treated, she was not +much loved by her teachers or her companions; her character was +suspicious, and her heart devoid of tenderness. Her companions' troubles +not only did not touch her; but brought a cruel smile to her lips, which +filled them with aversion. Then, from time to time, she had fits of +fury, which made her both feared and hated. On one occasion, when a +young girl had spoken to her in offensive terms, she had clutched her by +the throat and nearly strangled her. And it was quite impossible +afterwards to induce her to beg pardon, as the mother superior required +her to do; she preferred a month of solitary confinement rather than +humble herself. + +The first months of her life in her father's house were a period of +trial for kind Doña Carmen. Instead of a bright young creature, grateful +for the immense favour she had done her, she found herself confronted +with a little heartless savage, devoid of affection or docility, +extravagant and capricious to the last degree, who never laughed +heartily excepting when a servant had an accident, or a groom was kicked +by a horse. But the good woman did not lose courage. With the unfailing +instinct of a generous heart she understood that if no love could spring +from the soil it was because nothing had been sown in it but the seeds +of hate. The softer affections exist in every human soul, as +electricity exists in every body; but to detect them, to rouse a +response, they must be treated for a length of time with a strong +current of kindness. This was what Doña Carmen did to her stepdaughter. +For six months she kept her in a warm atmosphere of affection, a close +net of delicate thoughtfulness, and unfailing proofs of lively and +loving interest. At last Clementina, who had begun by being first +disdainful and then indifferent, who would pass hours together locked in +her own room and never go near her stepmother but when she was sent for, +who never had made any advances, but lived in absolute reserve, suddenly +succumbed, feeling the vital and mysterious throb which binds human +beings to each other, as it does all the bodies of the created universe. +The change was strange and violent, like everything else in that +strangely compounded temperament. At the most unlooked-for moment she +fell on her knees before Doña Carmen, professing such deep respect, such +passionate affection, that the good woman was amazed, and had great +difficulty in believing in her sincerity. The revelation of +lovingkindness had burst at length on the girl's soul; her icy heart had +melted under the motherly warmth of the large-hearted woman; the divine +essence of love henceforth had a home where hitherto the essence of +Satan alone had dwelt. + +It was a perfect miracle. Instead of spending her life in her room, she +would never leave her stepmother's; she now called her "Mamma" with a +fervour, a joy, a determination, such as are only to be seen in the +devout when they appeal to the Virgin. And Clementina's feeling for her +father's wife was in truth devotion. Amazed to find that so gentle, so +tender a being could exist in this world, she was never tired of gazing +at her, as though she had dropped from heaven. She would read her +thoughts in her eyes, anticipate her smallest wishes, let no one serve +her but herself; and, like every lover, insisted on the exclusive +possession of the object of her affection. The slightest sign of +disapproval on Doña Carmen's part was enough to disconcert her and +plunge her into the deepest grief. The haughty creature, who had made +herself generally odious, would humble herself with intense satisfaction +before her stepmother. It was the humiliation of the mystic prostrated +by an irresistible spiritual impulse. When she felt the good woman's +hand caress her face she fancied it was the touch of God Himself, and +hardly dared to touch those thin, transparent fingers with her lips. + +But it was only to her stepmother that she had so entirely changed. To +all else, including her father, she still displayed the same scornful +coldness, the same proud and obstinate temper. If now and again she +seemed sweeter and more tractable, it was due, not to her own will, but +to some express command of Doña Carmen's; and as soon as this command +was at an end, or forgotten, she was the same malevolent being once +more. The servants hated her for the insufferable pride which she showed +as soon as she realised her position as her father's heiress, and for +her total lack of compassion if they did wrong. + +The greatest sufferer was the English governess whom her father had +engaged for her. She was an elderly woman, but she had a mania for +dressing and tricking herself out like a girl. This harmless weakness +was so constantly the theme of Clementina's mockery, that only necessity +could have made the poor woman endure it. All the secrets of her toilet +were mercilessly revealed for the amusement of the servants, and her +physical defects, mimicked by the young lady's waiting-maid, were the +laughing-stock of the kitchen. On a certain grand occasion, a day when +there was a dinner-party, Clementina hid the old maid's false teeth, +which she had left on the dressing-table after washing them. Her +discomfiture may be imagined. But she took an innocent revenge by +calling her "_Señorita Capricho_" and setting her as an exercise to +translate from English into French certain maxims and aphorisms of +scorching application, as: "Pride is the leprosy of the soul; a proud +girl is a leper whom all should avoid with horror." "Those who do not +respect their seniors can never hope to be respected," and the like. + +Clementina laughed at these innuendoes; sometimes she would even dare to +substitute some phrase of her own for that of her governess. Where she +should have translated: "There is nothing so odious and contemptible as +haughtiness in the young," she would write: "There is nothing so +ridiculous and laughable as presumption in the old." Miss, as she was +called, took offence, and complained to Doña Carmen, who would appeal to +her stepdaughter, reproving her gently, and Clementina, seeing her +grieved and annoyed, would smoothe her brow and kiss her lovingly. And +all was well till next time. In fact Miss Anna and the servants were no +doubt in the right when they said that the Señora would be the ruin of +the girl. Doña Carmen, living in fearful solitude of soul, was so +captivated and gratified by the warm affection her stepdaughter was +always ready to lavish on her that she had no eyes for her faults, and +even if she had, would not have found the courage to correct them. + +At eighteen Clementina was one of the loveliest and wealthiest women of +Madrid. Her father's fortune grew like the scum of yeast. He was +regarded as one of the great bankers of the city, and was not known to +have any other heir, nor was it likely that he would have one. The young +aristocrats of family or wealth--the best known members of the _Savage +Club_--began to flutter about her with the most pressing and eager +attentions. If she appeared at a party a group of men fenced her round; +if she went to church, another and a larger party stood in a row +awaiting her exit; if she drove out in the Castellana Avenue, a +cavalcade of admirers galloped beside her carriage as a guard of honour; +at the theatre pairs of opera-glasses were invariably fixed upon her. +The name of Clementina Salabert was to be heard in all the conversations +of the gilded youth of Madrid, to be seen in print in every drawing-room +chronicle, and was registered in the capital as that of one of the +brightest stars of the firmament of fashion. She took up and dropped one +lover after another without a thought, thus earning the reputation of a +flirt and feather-brain. But this never interferes with a girl's chance +of adorers; on the contrary, the self-love of men prompts them to pay +great attentions to women of that stamp, in the hope, born of vanity, of +being the nail to fix the weather-cock. Nor did she suffer any serious +damage from a coarse and malignant rumour which, all through Madrid, +connected her in a strange friendship with a young and famous +bull-fighter. In this affair Doña Carmen's simplicity and weakness +played a leading part. Not only did the good lady allow the man to visit +at her house, and sit at her table, but she even accompanied the pair in +public on more than one occasion. This, and her having cheered him at +the death of several bulls, gave scandal--as busy in the capital as in +the provinces--sufficient pretext for an attack on the envied beauty. +But as it could bring forward nothing but bold suspicion and vague +conjecture, and as, on the other side, there were positive facts which +far outweighed them, the calumny did not diminish the number of her +adorers. Its only use was as an outlet for the bile of some rejected +one. + +At this age, and often after, Clementina's manners betrayed a strong +infusion of Bohemianism--of the free and easy airs and sarcastic +coolness of the adventuresses of Madrid. A similar tendency may be +observed, in a more or less exaggerated form, in all the upper circles +of Madrid Society; it is a mark which distinguishes it from that of +other countries. And in this tendency, which is everywhere conspicuous +from the palace to the hovel, there is some good; it is not wholly evil. +In the first place it implies a protest against the perpetual falsehood +which the increasing refinement and complication of social formalities +inevitably entail. Propriety of conduct and moderation of language are +highly praiseworthy no doubt, but in an exaggerated form they result in +the cold courtesy of a _diplomate_ at a foreign Court. Men and women, +crushed under the weight of so much formality, become artificial beings, +puppets, whose acts and words are all set forth in a programme. To +exclude liberty and familiarity from society is to undermine human +nature; to prohibit frankness of speech is to destroy the charm which +ought to exist in all human intercourse. + +Moreover, an instinct of equality underlies this assertion of freedom, +and cannot fail to make it attractive to every lover of Nature and +truth. A lady is not a bundle of fine clothes, of foregone conclusions +and ready-made phrases; she is, above all else, a woman in whom culture +has, or ought to have, tempered impetuosity of character and impulses of +vanity, but not to have impaired the genuineness of Nature by +transforming her in society into a cold dry doll, devoid of grace and +originality. It must not be supposed that the perfect refinement and +elegance proper to the scenes where the upper classes meet are unknown +in Madrid. They are constantly observed by almost every Spanish woman of +family; but, happily, they are united with the vivacity, grace, and +spontaneity of the Spanish race, making our fair ones, in the opinion of +impartial observers, the most accomplished, gracious, and agreeable +women in Europe--excepting, perhaps, the French. + +Clementina had a somewhat exaggerated taste for this freedom of word and +action. She had acquired it no one knows how--by contagion in the +atmosphere perhaps--since women in her position are not in the habit of +spending their time with the commoner sort. She had had a waiting maid, +born and brought up in Maravillas, and it was from her, in her moments +of excitement, that Clementina picked up the greater part of her slang +and sayings. Then came her friendship with the _torero_ above-mentioned; +an acquaintance with various young men who cultivated that style; the +lower class of theatres, where the manners and customs of the lower +classes of the Madrid populace are set on the stage--not without grace; +and her intimacy with Pepe Frias, and some other fast women of fashion, +finally gave her the full Bohemian flavour. She was an enthusiast for +bull-fights. It was a perfect marvel if she missed one, sitting in her +private box with the orthodox white mantilla and red carnations. And she +would discuss the chances, and fulminate criticisms, and bestow +applause; and was regarded by the _habitués_ as a keen and eager +connoisseur. The national sport, exciting and bloody, was quite after +her mind, violent and indomitable as she was by nature. When she saw +other women covering their eyes or showing weakness over the fortunes of +the arena, she laughed sardonically, as doubting the genuineness of +their horror. + +Among the many adorers and suitors who successively and rapidly rose and +fell in her favour, there was one who succeeded in securing her notice, +at any rate, for a rather longer time than the rest. His name was Tomas +Osorio. He was a young man of twenty-eight or thirty, rich, small and +delicate, with a pleasing face and a lively, determined temper. Either +of deliberate purpose, or from genuine independence of character, he +made a deeper impression than his peers. When he first paid attention to +her he did not cringe nor completely abdicate his own will. In some +differences on important points in the course of his long courtship--for +it lasted not less than two years--he firmly maintained his dignity. He +was, like her, irritable, haughty and scornful; purse-proud too, and +with a spiteful wit which stood him in good stead with women. Thanks to +these qualities, Clementina did not tire of him so soon as of the rest. +But at the end of the two years, within a few days of the marriage, it +was broken off in a very public and almost scandalous manner. All Madrid +was talking of it, and commentary was endless. The conclusion arrived at +was that it was the gentleman who had taken the first steps towards the +rupture, and this report, whether true or false, reached Clementina's +ears, and was such a stab to her pride that she was almost ill with +rage. + +Another year went by. She had other suitors, off and on, and Osorio, on +his part, courted other damsels. But in both, notwithstanding, the +memory of the past survived. She was burning for revenge. So long as +that man was going about the world, so perfectly content as he seemed, +she felt herself humiliated. He, on the contrary, in spite of his +affected indifference, was still consumed by love, or rather by desire. +Clementina had captivated his senses, had pierced his flesh, and, do +what he would, he could not extract the dart. She was always in his +thoughts, always before his eyes, provoking his passion. The longer the +time that elapsed the fiercer the fire burned within him, and the +greater were the effort and the anguish of keeping up a haughty and +indifferent demeanour when they happened to meet. Clementina, with a +penetration common in women, had no difficulty in guessing that her +former love still cherished a secret passion for her, and felt a +malicious joy. Thenceforward she dressed and adorned herself for him +alone--to bewitch him, to fascinate him, to make him drain the bitter +cup of jealousy. + +From this moment dated her fame as an elegant woman. Clementina was +indeed, in this matter, a great artist. She knew how to dress so that +her clothes should never by their colour or quality attract attention to +the prejudice of her face. Understanding that what a woman wears should +be not a uniform, but an adornment to set off the perfections which +nature has bestowed upon her, she was no blind slave of fashion; when +she thought it unbecoming to her beauty she boldly defied it or modified +it. She avoided glaring hues, a profusion of trimmings, and elaborate +styles of hair-dressing; she regarded and treated her person as a +statue. Hence a certain tendency, constantly evident in her costume, +towards drapery, and amplitude of flowing folds. Her fine, majestic +figure gained greatly by this style of dress, which, though it became +rather pronounced after her marriage, was never exaggerated beyond the +limits of good taste. She was fond of wearing white, and this, with a +simple manner of dressing her hair like that of the Milo Venus, made her +appear in the drawing-rooms of Madrid like a beautiful Greek statue. One +thing she did which, though highly censurable from a moral point of +view, is not so as a matter of art. She wore her dresses very low. Her +bust was superb; it might have been moulded by the Graces to turn the +head of a god. The vain desire to display her beauty, unchecked by the +wholesome control of a mother, led her on more than one occasion to +incur the severest comments of society. Poor Doña Carmen, besides +knowing nothing of social custom, was so lenient to her stepdaughter's +fancies and caprices, that she accepted them as quite reasonable, and as +undoubted evidence of her indisputable elegance and taste. + +However, her vanity brought its own punishment. On one occasion when she +made her appearance at a ball given by the Alcudias, the Marquesa said +as she greeted her: + +"Very pretty, very nice, Clementina. Your dress is lovely; but it is too +low, my dear. Come with me and let us set it right." + +She took the girl up to her room and, with motherly kindness, arranged +some gauzy material to cover what really ought not to be displayed. +Clementina managed to conceal her mortification, ascribing the fault to +the dressmaker; but she felt so humiliated by the lecture, and the +pitying smile which accompanied it, that she never again could endure to +see the prudish Marquesa. + +Under this constant fanning Osorio's flame waxed fiercer and fiercer, +and he could no longer keep it to himself. At last he confided in his +sister, who was fairly intimate with the young lady; he begged her to +sound the way, and ascertain whether he might once more make advances +without fear of a rebuff. Mariana undertook the commission. Clementina +heard her with ill-disguised triumph, but sat demure until Señora de +Calderón had poured out all her story, and assured her that Tomas was +burning with devotion. Then she replied ambiguously, and with laughter: +"She would think it over. She was deeply aggrieved by the reports that +had been spread as to their rupture, but at any rate, he was not to give +up all hope." + +She did reflect seriously as to the means of satisfying the demands of +her wounded pride, and at the end of a few days she announced to Mariana +her ultimatum. If she was to consent to give her hand to Osorio, he must +beg it of her parents on his knees, in the presence of such witnesses +as she might choose. + +Such a preposterous idea would never have occurred to any Spanish woman +of pure race, and only the admixture of British blood could have led her +to conceive of such a monstrous refinement of arrogance. + +When Osorio was informed of the conditions imposed by his ex-_fiancée_ +he flew into a violent rage, and swore defiantly that he would be cut in +pieces before he would suffer such degradation. The matter dropped, and +things went on as before. But as, in spite of his utmost efforts, the +serpent of desire gnawed at his heart with increasing virulence, the +poor wretch at the end of two months had fallen into utter dejection; he +was really dying of love; he could not tear himself from Madrid, and +once more he besought his sister to open negotiations. Clementina, quite +sure of having him in her power, was inflexible; either he must pass +beneath these strange Caudine forks, or there was no hope. + +And Osorio submitted. + +What could he do?--The extraordinary ceremony was carried out one +evening at the lady's residence. On reaching the house Osorio found +assembled about a score of women whom Clementina had chosen from among +the most envious of her acquaintances, or those who had been most +malignant as to the cause of their former quarrel. He adopted the best +conduct he possibly could in such a case: grave and solemn, with a +certain ease of language and manner, betraying a suspicion of irony, as +if he were performing a comedy for the benefit of a crazy person. He +gave a brief preliminary sketch of their former engagement; confessed +himself to blame; praised Clementina in extravagant terms--with so +little moderation indeed that he seemed to be speaking +sarcastically--and professed himself unworthy to aspire to her hand. +Finally declaring that as she was so worthy to be adored, and the joy of +winning her so great, he thought it but a small thing to ask her of her +parents on his knees. At the same time he fell on one knee. Doña Carmen +hastened to raise him, and embraced him effusively. Clementina even +pressed his hand, better pleased by the grace and dignity with which he +had got through the ordeal, than gratified in her conceit. In truth, on +this occasion she felt for him, what she never felt again, a tiny spark +of love. If any one suffered humiliation from this scene it was she +herself, from the light and easy dignity with which her lover carried it +off. But this was a trifle; a woman enjoys nothing more keenly and +deeply than the superiority of the man who mollifies her. Clementina was +happy that evening. + +But though Osorio had come so well out of the ordeal, he never forgave +her the intention to humiliate him; he was as proud as she. The insane +passion she had inspired for a time smothered every other. His honeymoon +was as brief as it was delicious. The shock of two such characters, both +equally obstinate and proud, was inevitable. It soon came in the form of +a series of petty annoyances which instantly extinguished the feeble +sparks of affection which her husband had struck in the young wife's +heart. In him passion survived longer. The knowledge each had of the +other made them cautious, for fear of a more formidable collision which +must have led to disaster. But this too came at last. Report said that +Osorio, tired of his wife's indifference and scorn, had insulted her +beyond forgiveness. Whether or no the story as it was told was true in +all its details, their union at any rate was practically at an end for +ever. Osorio forfeited his own right to interfere with his wife on the +score of conduct, and could only look on while Clementina unblushingly +and confessedly accepted the attentions of every man who offered them. +He certainly, to parry the ridicule to which he was thus exposed, threw +himself into excesses of dissipation, raising women from the lowest +ranks to figure as his mistresses. + +At home the husband and wife spoke no more to each other than was +absolutely necessary. To escape the discomfort of a _tête-à-tête_ at +table, they always had some guest. In public they made a show of the +most natural and friendly relations; Osorio would sometimes go late to +fetch his wife from the theatre or party to which she had been. But +every one understood the facts of the case. Clementina, as a rule, would +go out on her lover's arm; they would stand talking in the lobby in the +sight of all the world, while waiting for the carriage; she stepped in; +before it drove off they would yet exchange a few confidential and +incoherent remarks interrupted by gay laughter. Morality--fashionable +morality--was satisfied, so long as the lover did not drive off in the +same carriage, though a few minutes later they might meet again at some +rendezvous. + +When Clementina reached home it was half-past six o'clock. The driver +whistled; the porter came out of his lodge and opened the gate first, +and then the door of the hackney coach. He paid the man. The lady, +without uttering a syllable, went through the garden, which though small +was exquisitely kept, and up the outside steps of white marble, screened +by a verandah, which extended across half the front of the house. The +house itself was not very large, but handsome and artistic, of white +stone and fine brickwork. It had been built by Osorio about four or five +years since. As the plans had been fully discussed and considered, the +rooms were well arranged, and this made it more comfortable than his +brother-in-law's, though that was three or four times as large. + +She asked a servant in the anteroom: "Where is Estefania?" + +"It is some time since I last saw her, Señora." + +She crossed a magnificent hall, lighted by two large lamps with polished +vases borne by bronze statues, went along the corridor, and up the +stairs leading to the first floor, meeting no one on her way. At the +door of the drawing-room leading to her boudoir, she met Fernando, a +page of fourteen in a smart livery. + +"Estefania?" she asked. + +"She must be in the kitchen." + +"Tell her to come up at once." + +She entered the boudoir, and going up to a long mirror resting on two +pillar-feet of gilt wood, she took off her hat. The room was a small +one, hung with blue satin bordered with wreaths in _carton-pierre_. On +the chimney-piece, covered also with blue satin, stood a clock and two +fine candelabra, the work of a silversmith of the last century. The +carpet was white with a blue border; in the middle of the room there was +a _causeuse_ upholstered in gold colour, the armchairs were gilt, two +large feather pillows lay on the floor. In one corner was the mirror, in +another a _Pompadour_ writing-table of inlaid wood; in the other two +were columns covered with velvet, to support the lamps which now lighted +the room. On one side this room opened into Clementina's drawing-room, +and then into her bedroom. On the other side, a door led into a small +drawing-room, where she was at home to her friends on Tuesday +afternoons, and where cards were played at night by an intimate circle. +Only a few very confidential friends were ever admitted to her boudoir, +calling at the hours when she was "Not at home." Here those long and +secret colloquies were held which women so greatly relish, in which they +pour out their whole mind, with swift transition from the profoundest +depths to the frivolities of the day and details of dress and fashion. + +Within a few seconds of her taking off her hat Estefania came in. She +was a pale young girl, with pretty black eyes; dressed suitably to her +rank but with care and finish; over her skirt she wore a holland apron +trimmed with white edging. + +"You might have been ready for me, child. Where had you hidden +yourself?" said her mistress, in a tone at once cross and indifferent. + +"I was in the kitchen. I went to put a few stitches into Teresa's skirt; +she had torn it on a nail," replied the girl, with affected servility. + +Clementina made no reply, absorbed, no doubt, in thought. Standing in +front of the mirror to take off her cloak, she gazed at herself with the +perennial interest which a pretty woman feels in her own face. + +"Did you go to Escobar's?" she asked at length. + +"Yes, Señora." + +"And what did he say?" + +"That he has no silk so thick of that colour, but that he would send for +it if the Señora wishes." + +"Turura! That journey won't kill him! And to the milliner's?" + +"Yes, they will send the caps on Saturday." + +"Did you inquire after Father Miguel?" + +"No, I had not time. It is such a long way." + +"A long way! Why, did you not go in the carriage?" + +"No, Señora. Juanito said that the mare was not shod." + +"Then why did he not put in one of the Normandy horses?" + +"I do not know. Whenever you tell me to take the carriage he finds some +excuse." + +"So it seems. Never mind, child; I will see to it. What next, Señor +Juanito, with your masterful airs?" + +But as she glanced up at the maid's face in the glass she thought she +noticed something strange about her eyes, and turned round to see her +better. In fact, Estefania's eyes were red with weeping. + +"You have been crying, child?" + +"I--no, Señora, no." + +The denial was evidently a subterfuge. The lady had not to press her +much to make her confess even the cause of her tears. + +"The head cook, Señora," she whimpered out, "who used to take my +part--when I say anything he bursts out laughing or says something rude, +and the others, of course, as they are jealous because you are good to +me, and to flatter the cook--the others laugh too; and because I said I +should tell you, he said all manner of horrid things, and turned me out +of the kitchen." + +"Turned you out! And who is he to turn you out?" exclaimed her mistress +vehemently. "Tell him to come here. I must give him a rowing, as well as +Juanito, it seems! If we do not take care, the servants will rule this +house instead of the masters." + +"Señora, I dare not. If you would send Fernando!" + +"Do as you please, but bring him here." + +She had worked herself up into high wrath at the girl's story. Estefania +was her favourite, whom she petted above all the other servants, and +made the confidant of many of her secrets. The girl's fawning and +flattery had won her heart so completely that, without being aware of +it, she had allowed a large part of her will to go with it. It was, in +fact, Estefania who ruled the house, since she ruled its mistress. The +servant who could not win her good graces might prepare sooner or later +to lose his place. And what happened was the necessary result in all +such cases: the mistress's favourite was hated by all the rest of the +household, not only from envy--the disgraceful passion which exists, in +a greater or less degree, in every human being--but also because the +nature that is hypocritical and time-serving to superiors, is inevitably +haughty and malevolent to inferiors. + +The _chef_, on being called by Fernando, to whom Estefania gave the +message, soon made his appearance at the door of the boudoir wearing the +insignia of his office, to wit, a clean apron and cap, both as white as +snow. He was a man of about thirty, with a fresh and not bad-looking +face, and large black whiskers. The frown on his brow and the anxious +expression in his eyes betrayed that he knew why he had been sent for. +Clementina had seated herself on the ottoman. Estefania withdrew into a +corner, and when the cook came in she fixed her eyes on the floor. + +"I hear, Cayetano, that after behaving very rudely to my maid, you +turned her out of the kitchen. I have, therefore, sent for you to tell +you that I will not allow any servant to behave badly to another; nor +are you permitted to turn any one out so long as you are in my house." + +"Señora, I did nothing to her. It is she who treats us all +badly--teasing one and nagging at another, till there is no peace," the +cook replied, with a strong Gallician accent. + +"Well, even if she teases one and nags at another, you have not any +right to insult her. She is to tell me, and there is an end of it," +replied his mistress sharply, and mimicking his accent. + +"But you see----" + +"I see nothing. You hear what I say; there is an end of it," and she +waved her hand imperiously. + +The cook, with his face scarlet and quivering with rage, stood without +stirring for a few seconds. Then, before he withdrew, he boldly fixed +his wrathful gaze on the girl, who kept her eyes on the carpet with a +bland hypocrisy which betrayed the triumph of her self-importance. + +"Tell-tale!" he said, spitting out the words rather than speaking them. + +The lady rose from her seat, and, bursting with rage at this want of +respect, she exclaimed: + +"How dare you insult her before my face? Go, instantly. Get out of my +sight!" + +"Señora, what I say is, that the fault is hers." + +"So much the better. Go!" + +"We will all go--out of the house, Señora. We can none of us put up with +that impudent minx!" + +"You go forthwith, as though you had never come! You may find yourself +another place, for I will never allow any servant to get the upper hand +of me." + +The cook, in some dismay at this prompt dismissal, again stood rooted to +the spot; but, suddenly recovering himself, he turned on his heel, +saying with dignity: + +"Very well, Señora, I will." + +But when he was gone Clementina still muttered: "An insolent fellow is +that Gallician! I don't believe any one but I gets such servants!" + +Then, suddenly pacified by a new idea, she said: + +"Come, now, I must dress; it is getting late." + +She went into her dressing-room, followed by Estefania, who, contrary to +what might have been expected, looked grave and gloomy. Clementina +hurriedly began to remove her walking-dress and change it for a simple +dinner-dress, such as she wore at home to receive a few friends in the +evening--always very light in hue, and cut open at the throat, though +with long sleeves. At a sign from the mistress the maid brought out a +"crushed-strawberry" pink dress from the large wardrobe with mirrors, +which lined all one side of the room. Before putting it on she arranged +her hair, and exchanged her bronze kid boots for shoes to match the +dress. The pale girl meanwhile never opened her lips; her face grew +every moment sadder and more anxious. At last, on her knees to put on +her mistress's shoes, she raised beseeching eyes to her face and said +timidly: + +"Señora, may I entreat you--not to send Cayetano away?" + +Clementina looked at her in amazement. + +"Is that it? After you yourself----" + +"The thing is," said Estefania, turning as red as her complexion would +allow, "if you send him away the others will take offence." + +"And what does that matter?" + +But the girl insisted very earnestly with urgent and persuasive +entreaties. For a time the lady refused, but as the matter was +unimportant, and she perceived, not without surprise, the interest and +even anxiety of her favourite for the cook's reprieve, she presently +yielded, desiring Estefania to make the necessary explanations. On this +the girl's face immediately cleared; she was as bright as a bird, and +began to help her mistress to dress very deftly and briskly. + +Two taps at the door made them both start. + +"Who is there?" called the lady. + +"Are you dressing, Clementina?" was asked from outside. + +It was her husband's voice. Her surprise was not the less; Osorio very +rarely came to her rooms when she was alone. + +"Yes, I am dressing. Is there any one downstairs?" + +"As usual--Lola, Pascuala and Bonifacio. I want to speak to you. I will +wait for you here in the drawing-room." + +"Very well; I will come." + +Until her toilet was complete Clementina spoke no more; her expression +was one of gloomy anticipation, which her maid could not fail to +observe. Her fingers, as she gave the last touches to the folds of her +skirt, trembled a little, like those of a young lady dressing for her +first ball. + +Osorio was, in fact, waiting for her in the little drawing-room beyond +the boudoir. He was lounging at his ease in an arm-chair, but, on seeing +his wife, he rose, and dropped the end of the cigar he was smoking into +the spittoon. Clementina saw that he was paler than usual. He was the +same neat and dapper little man, with a bad complexion, as when he had +married; but in the course of these twelve years his temper had been +greatly spoiled. He had many wrinkles on his face, his hair and beard +were streaked with grey, and his eyes had lost their brightness. He +closed the door which his wife had left open, and going up to her said, +with affected ease: "My cashier handed me to-day a cheque from you, for +fifteen thousand pesetas. Here it is." + +He took out his pocket-book, and from it a half-sheet of scented satin +paper which he held out to her. She looked at it for a moment with a +grave and gloomy face, but did not wince. She said not a word. + +"A fortnight ago he gave me one for nine thousand. Here it is." The same +proceedings, the same silence. + +"Last month there were three: one for six thousand, one for eleven +thousand, and one for four thousand. Here they are." + +Osorio flourished the handful of papers before his wife's eyes; then, as +this did not unlock her lips, he asked: "Do you acknowledge it?" + +"Acknowledge what?" she said, shortly. + +"That these documents are correct." + +"They are, no doubt, if they bear my signature. I have a bad memory, +especially for money matters." + +"A happy gift," he replied with an ironical smile, as he went through +the papers in his pocket-book. "I, too, have often tried to forget them. +Unfortunately my cashier makes it his business to refresh my memory. +Well," he went on as his wife said no more, "I came up solely to ask you +a question--namely: Do you suppose that things can go on like this?" + +"I do not understand." + +"I will explain. Do you suppose that you can go on drawing on my account +every few days such sums as these?" + +Clementina, who had been pale at first, had coloured crimson. + +"You know better than I." + +"Why better? You ought to know the amount of your fortune." + +"Well, but I do not know," she replied, sharply. + +"Nothing can be more simple. The six hundred thousand dollars which your +father paid over when we were married, being invested in real estate, +produce, as you may see by the books, about twenty-two thousand dollars +a year. The expenses of the house, without counting my private outlay, +amounts to about three times as much. You can surely draw your own +conclusions." + +"If you are vexed at your money being spent you can sell the houses," +said Clementina with scornful brevity, her colour fading to paleness +again. + +"But if they were sold I should none the less be responsible for the +whole value. You know that?" + +"I will sign you any paper you like, saying that I hold you responsible +for nothing." + +"That is not enough, my dear. The law will never release me from +responsibility for your fortune, so long as I have any money. Moreover, +if you spend it in pleasure"--and he emphasised the word--"it may be all +very well for you, but deplorable for me, because I shall still be +compelled to supply you with--necessaries." + +"To keep me, in short?" she said with a bitter intonation. + +"I wished to avoid the word; but it is no doubt exact." + +Osorio spoke in an impertinent and patronising tone, which piqued his +wife's pride in every possible way. Ever since the violent differences +which had led to their separation under the same roof, they had had no +such important interview as this. When, in the course of daily life, +they came into collision, matters were smoothed over with a short +explanation, in which both parties, without compromising their pride, +used some prudence for fear of a scandal. But the present question +touched Osorio in a vital part. To a banker money is the chief fact in +life. + +His personal pride, too, had suffered greatly in the last few years, +though he had not confessed it. It was not enough to feign indifference +and disdain of his wife's misconduct; it was not enough to pay her back +in her own coin, by flaunting his mistresses in her face and making a +parade of them in public. Both fought with the same weapons, but a woman +can inflict with them far deeper wounds than a man. The misery he +suffered from his wife's disreputable life did not diminish as time went +on; the gulf which parted them grew wider and deeper. And so revenge was +ready to seize this opportunity by the forelock. + +Clementina looked him in the face for a moment. Then, shrugging her +shoulders and with a contemptuous curl of her lips, she turned on her +heel and was about to leave the room. Osorio stepped forward between her +and the door. + +"Before you go you must understand that the cashier has my orders to pay +you no cheques that do not bear my signature." + +"I understand." + +"For your regular expenses I will allow a fixed sum on which we will +agree. But I can have no more surprises on the cash-box." + +Clementina, who had been about to quit the room by the ante-chamber, +turned to go to her boudoir. Before leaving the room she held the +curtain a moment in her hand, and facing her husband she said, with +concentrated rage, "In that you are as mean a cur as your +brother-in-law, only he never made believe, like you, to be generous." + +She dropped the curtain, and slammed the door in his face. + +Osorio made as though to follow her; but he instantly stopped short and +yelled, rather than spoke, so she might hear him: + +"Oh, yes! I am a mean cur, because I do not choose to maintain a crew of +hungry puppies. I leave that to the hags who choose to pet them!" + +This brutal speech seemed to have eased his mind, for his lips wore a +smile of triumphant sarcasm. + +Five minutes later they were both in the dining-room, laughing and +jesting with a small party of guests. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +HOW THE DUKE DE REQUENA REWARDED VIRTUE. + + +"Let me see, let me see. Explain yourself." + +"Señor Duque, the matter is as clear as possible. I spoke with Regnault +to-day. If the furnaces are altered, a few roads made, and proper +machinery set up, the mine can be made to yield half as much again as it +now does. It may be as much as sixty thousand flasks of mercury. The +outlay needed to produce these results would not exceed a hundred to a +hundred and fifty thousand dollars." + +"That seems to me a great deal." + +"A great deal for such a result?" + +"No, that seems to me a great many flasks." + +"But I have no doubt that what Regnault says is true. He is an +intelligent and practical engineer. He worked for six years in +California; and, indeed, the English engineer said the same." + +The persons holding this discourse were Requena and his secretary, or +head-clerk, or whatever he called himself, since he had no particular +style or title in the household. He was known only by his name--Llera. +He was an Asturian, tall and bony, with a colourless, hard-featured +face, enormously long arms and legs, and large hands and feet. His +manner was rough and awkward; his eyes, which were fine, had a frank, +honest look, and were bright with energy and intelligence. He was an +indefatigable, an amazing worker. No one knew when he ate or slept. When +he made his appearance at eight in the morning, he brought with him as +much work ready done as most men get through in a day, and at midnight +he might often still be seen in his office, pen in hand. + +Salabert, having the gift of judging men, without which no one makes a +great success in the world, had discovered Llera's intelligence and +character after employing him for a short while as an underling, and +without giving him any showy position--which was not at all his way--he +made him a responsible one, by accumulating in his hands all the most +important business of the house. He very soon was the great banker's +confidential man, the soul of the business. His laborious industry put +all the other employés to shame, and Salabert took advantage of it to +load him with work after regular hours. Llera was at the same time his +private secretary, his steward, the head clerk of the office, the +inspector of all the works he had in construction, and the agent in most +of his transactions. And for doing all this inconceivable amount of +work--more than four men of average industry would have got through--he +paid him six thousand pesetas a year. The man thought himself well paid, +remembering that only six years ago he was earning but twelve hundred +and fifty. + +Every day, before taking his morning walk and paying his round of +business calls, Requena looked into Llera's office, made inquiries as to +things in general, and chatted with him for a longer or shorter time +according to circumstances. + +The Duke's offices were at the top of his palace in the Avenue de +Luchana, a magnificent mansion, standing in the midst of a garden which +for extent was worthy to be called a park. In the spring the dense +foliage of the fine old trees almost hid the white tops of the turrets; +in winter the numbers of firs and evergreens which grew there, still +gave it a pleasant verdure. It was the meeting-place of all the birds in +that quarter of the city. The entrance to the house was up a large +flight of marble steps; above the ground floor, where the +reception-rooms were, and the dining-room, there were three storeys, and +the Duke's offices, which were not large, filled part only of the upper +floor. They were large enough for Salabert, who conducted his affairs +from thence, with the help of a dozen expert clerks. + +The luxury displayed in the house was amazing; the furniture and +fittings were almost priceless. This was not in keeping with the avarice +with which the master was generally credited; but this and other +contradictions will be explained as we become better acquainted with his +character, which was curious enough to be well worthy of study. + +The kitchens were in the basement, roomy and well-fitted; the +dining-room, at the back of the house, opened into a conservatory of +vast dimensions, filled with exotic shrubs and flowers, where water was +laid on to form little pools and water-falls of charming effect and +imitating nature as closely as possible. The picture-gallery was in a +separate building at the end of the garden, and in another some of the +servants slept, but not all. + +The Duke, occupying the only chair in Llera's office, while the +secretary stood in front of him twirling a large pair of scissors used +for cutting paper, turned his wet cigar three or four times from one +corner of his mouth to the other, and made no reply to the clerk's last +words. At last he growled rather than said: + +"Humph! The Ministry grows more pig-headed every day." + +"What does that matter. You know the secret of making it give way. +Telegraph to Liverpool, and within a fortnight the price of mercury will +have fallen from sixty to forty dollars the flask." + +About four years since, Requena, at Llera's suggestion and advice, had +formed a company or syndicate for buying up all the mercury which should +come into the market. Thanks to these tactics, the price of this product +had gone up wonderfully. The company had now an enormous stock in hand +at Liverpool; Llera's scheme was to throw this into the market at a +given moment and so produce a great fall in the price, which would +frighten the Government. This, which was to be done at the moment when +the Government was about to repay a loan of fifteen million dollars +borrowed ten years since of a foreign house, would reduce them to +selling the mines of Riosa. If Requena was then prepared to pull the +affair through at the sacrifice of a few thousands, to subsidise the +press, and bribe certain individuals, he might be certain of success. +This project, conceived of by Llera, and matured by the Duke, had run +its due course, and was now near the final _coup_. + +"Well, we shall see," said the rich man, and after meditating a few +minutes he went on: "When the mines are for sale it will be necessary to +form another company. The Mercury Syndicate will not serve our turn." + +"Of course!" + +"The thing is that I do not want to sink more than eight million pesetas +in this concern." + +"That is a different matter," said Llera, becoming very serious. "It +does not seem to me possible to keep the control of such a business with +so small a stake in it. The management will slip into other hands, and +the profits will soon be reduced to so much per cent., more or +less--that is to say, a mere nothing." + +"Very true, very true," mumbled Salabert, again falling into deep +thought. Llera too remained silent and pensive. + +"I have already explained to you the only way of keeping the concern in +your own hands," said he. + +This way consisted in securing a sufficiently large number of shares in +the mine which the company was to purchase, and to go on buying up as +many as possible; then to throw them into the market at so low a price +as to alarm the shareholders. Thus to buy and sell at a loss for some +time was Llera's plan for bringing down the price of the shares, when he +could acquire half the shares _plus_ one, for much less money, and be +master of the whole concern. + +To Salabert this was not so clear as to his clerk. His intellect was +keen and far-seeing, but he lacked breadth of view and initiative, +though those who saw him boldly undertake ventures of vast scope were +apt to think that he had them. The first conception, the mother idea, of +a new concern scarcely ever originated in his brain. It came to him from +outside; but once sown there it germinated and developed as it would +have done in no other in Spain. By degrees he analysed it, or rather +dissected it, laying bare its inmost fibres, contemplating it from all +sides; and once convinced that it would prove advantageous, he launched +it with the rare and surprising audacity which had so greatly deceived +the public as to his gifts as a speculator. He was perfectly convinced +that when once he had made up his mind to an enterprise, vacillation +must be fatal. Still, this boldness proceeded not from his temperament +but from reflection; it was the outcome of extreme astuteness. + +Otherwise he was by nature timid, and this weakness, instead of +diminishing under the almost invariable success of his undertakings, +increased as time went on. Avarice is always suspicious and full of +alarms, and Salabert grew more and more avaricious. Also, as a man grows +older, it is a rule without exceptions, that pessimism soaks into his +mind. Our banker, accustomed to grand results from his speculations, +regarded any concern in which the profits were small as altogether +deplorable; if by any chance they were _nil_, or he even lost a trifle, +he thought it a matter for serious lamentation. Thus, but for Llera, +with his bold temperament and fertile imagination, the Duke de Requena +would not, for some years past, have ventured on any concern of even +moderate extent. On the other hand, what he had lost in dash and +resource he had made good by really astounding tact and skill, and a +knowledge of men which can be acquired only by years of unremitting +study. Thus it may be said that he and Llera complemented each other to +perfection. + +Salabert's sagacity and knowledge of human nature sometimes erred by +excess; now and then he was caught in his own trap. In his dealings with +men, studying them always from the point of view of substantial +interest, he had formed so poor an opinion of them, that it became +monstrous, and led him into serious mistakes. Perhaps, after all, what +he saw in others was no more than the reflection of himself; to this +error we are all liable. To him every man and woman had a price; a cheap +conscience or a dear one, but all alike for sale. Of late years his +faith in bribery had become a passion. If he came across any one who +would not yield to money, he never suspected it could be in good faith, +but only supposed the price was higher than his bid. + +One of Llera's hardest tasks was to get such schemes of bribery out of +his master's head when he had to do with men who would have rejected it +with indignation. If he were engaged in a law-suit, the first thing he +thought of was how much it would cost him to bribe the judge who would +decide it; if he were concerned in a government transaction, he +calculated the sum to be handed over to the Minister, or the +Under-Secretary, or the Councillors of State. Unluckily, he not +unfrequently made practical use of the black-lead he had always ready to +disfigure the face of humanity with. + +Requena had absolutely no moral sense, and never had known what it was. +His life, as a nameless waif in Valencia, had been characterised by a +series of tricks and dodges, and such a lively inventiveness of means +for extracting coin from his fellow-creatures, as made him worthy to +compare with the favourite heroes of Spanish romance. In fact the name +of one of them, _El picaro Guzman_, had actually been bestowed on +Salabert as a nickname by some wags of his acquaintance, but they kept +it to themselves. + +It was told of him with apparent truth that when he was in Cuba, whither +he went to seek his fortune, he bought a tavern with all its furniture, +including a negro woman who managed the business. This negress, for all +the time he remained, was his servant, his housekeeper, his slave and +his concubine, by whom he had several children. When he had saved some +thousands of dollars to return to Spain, he squared his petty accounts +by selling the tavern, the furniture, the black woman, and the +children. + +Then he took army contracts, speculated in tobacco, government loans and +tenders for roads; these he sometimes sold again at a premium, and +sometimes carried out the works without any regard to the conditions of +the contract. But in all he did he displayed his wonderful capacity, his +practical sagacity, and so large a development of the organ of +acquisitiveness, as made him a man of mark among bankers. + +He was not disagreeable to deal with, though, unlike most men who aspire +to wealth or power, his manners were not smooth nor his language choice. +He was brusque rather than courteous, but he was keen in the distinction +of persons, and could be very civil when he must. The natural abruptness +of his manners served him well to disguise the subtle astuteness of his +mind. That blunt, straightforward air, that exaggerated freedom and +provincial rusticity, could only cover a frank and loyal heart. To the +outside world he was the perfect type of the old Castilian school, +freespoken, downright and impertinent. He would be loquacious or +taciturn as suited his purpose, expressed himself with real or affected +difficulty--which, no one ever could discover--could sometimes jest with +some wit, but with unfailing coarseness, and was wont to say such +detestable things to the face of friend or foe as made him a terror in +drawing-rooms. The importance his wealth conferred on him had encouraged +this defect: he talked to most people, even to ladies, with a plainness +which verged on cynicism and grossness. + +Nevertheless, when he came across a person of political importance whom +he desired to propitiate, this bluntness vanished and became flattery +that was almost servile. But the farce, however well played, deceived no +one. The Duke of Requena was regarded as a very wily old fox; no one +believed a word he said, or allowed himself to be deluded by that blunt +_bonhomie_. Those who had dealings with him were on their guard even +when feigning confidence and satisfaction. Still, as always happens with +a man who has succeeded in raising himself, the faults which every one +recognised--or to be exact, his ill-fame--did not hinder his neighbours +from respecting him, talking to him hat in hand and with a smile on +their lips, even when they had no need of him. Men not unfrequently +humble themselves for the mere pleasure of it. Salabert well knew this +innate tendency of the human spine to bend, and took unfair advantage of +it. Many men in quite independent circumstances not only took from him +impertinence which they would have thought intolerable in their oldest +friend, but even sought his society. + + * * * * * + +"We will see, we will see," he repeated, when Llera recapitulated the +scheme for getting sole control of the mines. "You are too full of +fancies. Your head is too hot. That does not do in business. We must +take care not to get into the same scrape as we did with the granaries." + +By Llera's advice the banker had constructed granaries in some of the +principal towns of Spain, and they had not proved such a success as had +been hoped. However, as the undertaking had been on a moderate scale the +losses, too, had not been great. But the Duke, who had bewailed them as +though they had been enormous, and had not spared his secretary much +gross insult, was always reminding him of the disaster. It served him as +a weapon when he wished to depreciate Llera's schemes, though he would +afterwards avail himself of them, and owed to them considerable +additions to his wealth. By such means he kept him in subjection, +ignorant of his real value, and ready to undertake any task however +disagreeable. + +Llera, though somewhat mortified by this reminder, still insisted that +the transaction now under consideration would infallibly succeed if it +were conducted on the lines he had suggested. Salabert abruptly closed +the discussion by changing the subject. He briefly inquired into the +business of the day. The loss of some money he had advanced for a +relation in Valencia put him into a frantic rage; he stamped and fumed +like a bull stung by the darts, called himself a thousand fools, and +actually had the face to declare, in Llera's presence, that his good +nature would be the ruin of him. The whole loss amounted to about four +or five thousand dollars. The form of loan which Requena adopted to his +most intimate friends was this: he paid the sum usually in paper, +demanding six per cent. on the securities deposited, and besides this he +himself cut off the coupons, and claimed the dividends. So that the +securities, instead of bringing in the net interest, yielded him six per +cent. more. These were the dealings to which he was prompted, not by +interest, but by kindness of heart! + +He left Llera's office in a state of fury, went to the counting-room, +and learning there that it was necessary to draw on the bank for nine +thousand dollars in currency, he himself took charge of the cheque, +after having signed it; he would have to go there to a meeting of +directors, and it would be no trouble to him as he passed to get it +cashed. + +He went out on foot, as was his custom in the morning. The birds were +singing in the beautiful trees which bordered the walks. It was quite +clear that they had incurred no bad debts. The Duke cursed their foolish +trick of singing, and would not listen to their gleeful trills. He +walked on slowly with a gloomy scowl, taking no notice of the greetings +of the gardeners and the gate-keeper, biting his huge cigar with more +than usual viciousness. In the street, however, his face somewhat +recovered its tone. He had a pleasant and useful meeting with the +President of the Council of State, who likewise was fond of an early +walk, and who bowed to him in the Avenue de Recoletos; they stood +talking for a few minutes, and he availed himself of the opportunity of +recommending to the President, with the intentional bluntness which he +affected, the prospectus of certain salt-marshes in which he was +interested. Then, at a deliberate pace, gazing with his prominent, +guileless eyes at the passers by, and more especially at the fresh +damsels hastening home from market with their baskets loaded, and their +cheeks rosy from the effort, he proceeded to the Bank of Spain. Numbers +of persons lifted their hats to him, now and again he paused for a +moment, shook hands with one or another, and after exchanging a few +words with an acquaintance, went on his way. + +It was still early. Before reaching the Bank, it occurred to him that he +would go to see his friend and connection Calderón, whose warehouse and +counting-house were in the Calle de San Felipe Neri, still in the state +in which his father had left them--that is to say, very +poverty-stricken, not to say dirty and squalid. In these quarters, where +the light filtered in through panes darkened by dust and protected by +clumsy ironwork, and where the smell of hides was perfectly sickening, +old Calderón with mechanical regularity had accumulated dollar on +dollar, till several piles of a million each had formed there. His son +Julian had made no change. Though he was one of the wealthiest bankers +in Madrid he had not given up the hide warehouse and the small profits +which this business brought in--small as compared with those on +securities and stocks which the banking house dealt in. + +Calderón was a banker of a different type from Salabert. He was of an +essentially conservative temper, timid in speculation, always preferring +small profits to large when there was any risk. His intelligence was +somewhat limited, cautious, hesitating and circumspect. Every new +undertaking struck him as madness. When he saw a friend embarking on one +he smiled maliciously, and congratulated himself on the superior +shrewdness with which he was gifted; if it turned out well he would +shake his head, saying with determined foreboding: "Those who laugh +last, laugh longest." At home he was parsimonious, nay stingy to a +scandal; and though the house was kept on a comparatively luxurious +footing, this was partly the result of his wife's entreaties, and the +raillery of his friends, but even more of his conviction, slowly formed, +that some external prestige was indispensable, if he was to compete with +the numbers of skilful financiers established in the capital. But after +having bought good furniture, he insisted on such care being taken of +it, such refinements of precaution on the part of the servants and his +wife and children, that they were really the slaves of these costly +possessions. Then with regard to the carriage, it is impossible to +imagine the anxieties and agitations without end which it cost him. +Every time the coachman told him that a horse wanted shoeing it was a +fresh worry. He had a pair of French mares of some value, and he loved +them as he loved his children, or more. He drove them out of an evening; +but never to go to the theatre for fear of cold; he would rather see his +wife walk or take a hired carriage than expose them to any risk. And if +one of them really fell ill, there are no words for our banker's state +of mind; anxiety and dejection were written in his face. He went +frequently to see the animal, patted and petted her, and would often +assist the coachman and the vet. in applying the remedies, however +unpleasant. Till the invalid had recovered no one in the house had any +peace. + +As a husband he was most officious; but in this he was hardly to blame. +His wife's apathy was such that if he had not taken charge of the +kitchen accounts and the store-cupboard keys, God knows how the house +would have been kept. Mariana did nothing and gave no orders. Any other +woman would have felt humiliated by finding herself obliged to refer to +her husband at every moment for the most trifling details of domestic +life, but she took it quite as a matter of course, and found it most +convenient, when Calderón's stinginess did not make itself too +pressingly felt. Her part was that of a child in the house, and she was +quite content to play it. + +The person who sometimes dumbly rebelled against the exclusive +centralisation of all administrative power in the master's hands was +Mariana's mother, the diminutive lady with deep set eyes, of whom +mention was made in the first chapter. Her protests indeed were neither +frequent nor lengthy. At heart she and her son-in-law were in perfect +agreement. The old woman, the widow of a provincial merchant, who +herself had helped in saving his capital, was even more devoted to order +and economy than Calderón himself--that is to say, more sordidly +thrifty. For this reason she never would have endured to live with her +son; his expensive tastes, and, yet more, Clementina's extravagance and +disreputable caprices enraged her, and would have embittered every +moment of her life. In Calderón's house she was inspector or spy over +the servants, and she filled the part to admiration. Her son-in-law +could rest in confidence, and thanks to this and to his expectation that +Mariana would be enriched by her will, he showed far more consideration +for her than for his wife. + +Salabert was at heart not less covetous than Calderón, and hardly less +timid; but his intellect was very superior, his cowardice was +counterbalanced by a strong infusion of bounce, and his avarice by a +profound knowledge of mankind. He knew very well that the paraphernalia +and ostentation of wealth have a marked influence on the minds of the +most indifferent, and contribute in a great measure to inspire the +confidence without which no important enterprise can prosper. Hence the +luxury in which he lived--his palace, his servants, and the famous balls +he occasionally gave to the fashionable world of Madrid. For Calderón he +had a profound contempt, though at the same time his society put him +into a good humour. As he contemplated his friend's inferiority he +swelled in his own esteem, regarding himself as a greater man than he +really was, and deriving from it the liveliest satisfaction. He not only +judged himself to have more cleverness and astuteness--the only superior +qualities he really possessed--but, to be, by comparison, generous and +liberal, almost a prodigy. + +Panting and puffing he went into the dark warehouse in the Calle de San +Felipe Neri, producing the usual effect of amazing, crushing, +annihilating the clerks of the house, to whom the Duke de Requena was +not merely the greatest man in Spain, but a quite supernatural being. +His visit impressed them with the same reverence and enthusiasm, awe and +adoration, as the appearance of the Mikado arouses in the Japanese. And +if they did not prostrate themselves with their foreheads in the dust, +they coloured up to their ears, and for some minutes they could not put +pen to paper, nor attend to the requirements of a customer. They looked +at each other with awe-stricken eyes, repeating in an undertone, what +indeed they all knew: "The Duke!" "The Duke!" + +The Duke passed in, as usual when he by chance called there, without +vouchsafing them a glance, and made his way to the little room where +Calderón sat. Long before reaching him, he began shouting: "Caramba, +Julian! When do you mean to get out of this hole? This is not a +banking-house, it is a stye. Are you not ashamed to be seen here? Poof! +Do you skin the beasts here, or what? The stink is intolerable." + +Calderón's private room was beyond the front office, a mere closet, +separated from the rest by a partition of painted wood, with a spring +door. Thus he could hear all that his friend was saying, before Salabert +reached him. + +"What do you expect, man?" said he, somewhat nettled at his clerks being +made the confidants of this philippic. "We are not all dukes, trampling +millions under foot." + +"Millions! Does it need millions to keep an office clean and +comfortable? You had better confess that you cannot bear to spend a +peseta in making yourself decent. I have told you many times, Julian, +you are poor, and you will be poor all your days. I should be richer +with a thousand pence than you with a thousand dollars--because I know +how to spend them." + +Calderón grumbled a protest and went on with his work. The Duke, without +taking his hat off, dropped into the only easy chair, covered with white +buckskin, or which ought to have been white, for it was of a doubtful +hue now, between yellow and greenish-grey, with black patches where +heads and hands were wont to rest. There were besides three or four +stools covered with the same material, in the same state, a book-case +full of bundles of papers, a small cash-box, an ancient walnut-wood +writing-table covered with oil-cloth, and behind the table a greasy, +shabby arm-chair in which the head of the house sat enthroned. This +small room was lighted by a barred window, to ward off the prying looks +of passers-by; there were blinds, which, being the cheapest and +commonest of their kind, had this peculiarity, that one was much too +wide and the other so short that it did not cover the lower pane by at +least a quarter. + +"Why in the world don't you quit this blessed leather-shop, which is not +worthy of a man of your position and fortune?" + +"Fortune--fortune!" muttered Calderón with his eyes still fixed on the +paper he was writing on. "People talk of my fortune I know, but if I +were compelled to liquidate, who knows what would come of it?" + +Calderón never confessed his wealth; he loved to crawl; any allusion to +his riches annoyed him beyond measure. Salabert, on the contrary, loved +to flourish his millions in the face of the world, and play the nabob, +at the smallest possible cost of course. + +"Besides," Calderón went on with some acerbity, "every one looks at what +comes in and never thinks of what goes out. Our expenses are greater +every day. Have you any idea, now, of what our private expenditure has +been this year? Come." + +"Nothing much," replied Requena, with a depreciating smile. + +"Nothing much? Why it amounts to more than seventy-five thousand +dollars, and we are only in November." + +"What do you say?" exclaimed the Duke greatly astonished. "Impossible!" + +"As I tell you." + +"Come, come; do not try to throw dust in my eyes, Julian. Unless you +include in the seventy-five thousand the cost of the house you are +building in Calle Homo de la Mata." + +"Why, of course." + +At this Salabert burst into such a fit of laughing that he seemed about +to choke; the cigar dropped out of his mouth, his face, usually so +pale, turned so red as to be alarming, and the fit of coughing which +ensued was so violent that it threatened him with congestion. + +"My dear fellow, I thank you! That is really delicious," he gasped +between coughing and laughing. "I never thought of that before. +Henceforth I will include in my household expenses all the paper I buy +and the houses I build. I shall have accounts like a king's to show." + +The Duke's hearty and uproarious mirth annoyed and piqued Calderón out +of all measure. + +"I really do not see what you are laughing at. The money goes out of the +cash-box under the head of expenditure. And, at any rate, Antonio, a +fool knows more of his own affairs than a wise man knows of his +neighbours'." + +The Duke's visits to his friend had of late been somewhat frequent. He +had been hovering round him a good deal to tempt him into the mining +speculation. The moment was drawing near when the sale must come on, and +meanwhile he was anxious to secure the co-operation of some of the more +important shareholders. Don Julian was one, not merely by reason of the +capital he represented, but by the position he held. He enjoyed the +reputation in the financial world of being a very cautious, or indeed +suspicious man; thus his name as participator in a speculation was a +guarantee of its security, and this was what Salabert required. So he +was anxious not to vex him seriously, and changed the subject. With the +curious suppleness and cunning which lay beneath his abrupt roughness, +he managed to put him in a good humour by praising his foresight in a +certain case when he would not be caught, reflecting on the folly of +some rival dealers, and implying Calderón's superior skill and +penetration. When he had got him into the right frame of mind he spoke, +for the third or fourth time, in vague terms, of the mining company. He +mentioned it as an unattainable vision, just to whet his friend's +appetite. + +"If they only could buy up the mine one of these days, what a stroke of +business that would be! He had never in his life met with a better. +Unfortunately the Government were not disposed to sell. However--damn it +all! By a little good management and steady perseverance, in time +perhaps--meanwhile what was wanted were a few men who could afford to +invest a good round sum. If they were not to be found in Spain they must +be sought elsewhere." + +At the mere notion of a speculation Calderón shrank as a snail does when +it is touched. And this was so big a thing, to judge from the vague +hints the Duke threw out, that he completely disappeared into his shell. +Then, when Salabert spoke rather more plainly, he turned gloomy and +dull, uneasy and suspicious, as if he expected to be bled there and then +of an exorbitant sum. + +When Requena had finished a long and rather incoherent speech, which was +almost a monologue, he abruptly rose: + +"Ta ta, Julianito, I am off to the Bank." + +He took out a fresh cigar, and without offering one to Calderón, who did +not smoke, he lighted it for form's sake; but he at once let it go out +and began chewing it as usual. + +Don Julian gave a sigh of relief. + +"Always in a state of feverish activity," said he with a smile, holding +out his hand. "Always on the track of money!" + +Just as he reached the door Calderón remembered that he might make +something out of this visit. + +"I say, Antonio, I have a heap of Londrès. Do you want them? I will let +you have them cheap." + +"No, I don't want any at present. What do you ask for them?" + +"Forty-seven." + +"Are there many of them?" + +"Eight thousand pounds in all." + +"Well, I really don't want them, but it is a good bargain. Good-bye." + +He went to the Bank, assisted at the meeting, and after cashing his +cheque for nine thousand dollars, went out with his friend Urreta, +another of the great Madrid bankers. On reaching the Puerta del Sol they +shook hands to part. + +"Which way are you going?" asked Salabert. + +"I am going to Calderón's office to see if he happens to be able to help +me to some Londrès." + +"Quite useless," said the other promptly. "I have just bought up all he +had." + +"That is unlucky. What did you give for them?" + +"Forty-seven ten." + +"Not very cheap. But I need them badly, so I should have taken them." + +"Do you really need them?" said Salabert, putting his arm on the other's +shoulders. + +"I do indeed." + +"Then I will be your Providence. How many do you want?" + +"A large quantity, at least ten thousand pounds." + +"Oh I cannot do that, but I can send you eight thousand this evening." + +Urreta's face beamed with a grateful smile. + +"My dear fellow, I cannot allow it. You want them yourself." + +"Not so much as you do, and even if I did, you know my regard for you. +You are the only Guipuzcoan of brains I ever met with," and as he spoke +he patted him affectionately on the shoulder. They shook hands once +more, Urreta pouring out a flood of grateful speeches, to which Salabert +replied with the rough frankness which so greatly enhanced the merits of +any service he might render; then they parted. + +The Duke instantly got into a coach from the stand. "Go to Calle de San +Felipe Neri, No.----." + +"Yes, Señor Duque." + +The Duke raised his head to look at the man. + +"So you know me?" and without waiting for a reply, he jumped in and shut +the door. + +"Julian, Julian," he shouted to his friend before opening the door into +Calderón's office. "I have come to do you a service. You are in luck, +you wretch! Send me home those Londrès." + +"Ha, ha!" exclaimed Julian with a triumphant smile. "So you want them?" + +"Yes, my dear fellow, yes. I always want the thing you want to get rid +of. Good-bye." + +And without going into the little office, he let go of the spring door +he had held open, and left. He desired the coachman to drive to a house +in one of the northern quarters of the city, and reclined in a corner, +munching his cigar and smoking with evident gratification. For our +banker felt as much satisfaction after committing this piece of +rascality, after cheating his friend of so many pesetas, as the +righteous man knows after doing an act of justice or charity. His +imagination, always on the alert when money might be made, wandered over +the various concerns in which he was engaged, and the vehicle meanwhile +carried him on towards the Hippodrome. More especially he dwelt on the +mines of Riosa; the longer he thought of Llera's scheme, the better it +pleased him. Still, it had its weak points, and he meditated on the +means of fortifying them. + +It was not yet late. Salabert had time still to pay one of those +unavowed visits which form an item in the social round of many a man +whose virtues are more conspicuous, and whose vices less blatant than +his. He dismissed the coach he had hired, and, his call paid, he walked +home. + +As soon as he found himself in his private room, he put his hand in his +pocket to take out his note-book. His face, which had shone with +satisfaction at the consciousness of carrying about with him the golden +key to every pleasure on earth, suddenly fell. A cloud of anxiety came +over it. He felt more thoroughly. The pocket-book was not there. He +tried all his other pockets. The same result. + +"Damnation," he muttered, "I have been robbed. Robbed of ten thousand +odd dollars. Curse my ill luck! If a day begins badly--three thousand +dollars gone in a bad debt, and now nearly eleven thousand in a lump! A +pretty morning's work I must say!" + +He started to his feet and rang the bell vehemently for Llera. When the +factotum appeared, he was walking up and down the room, strangely +excited for a man who owned so many millions. He explained the case to +the clerk. A torrent of words, growls, foul expletives, poured from his +lips, and he flung away his half-chewed cigar, a sign of excessive +disturbance. + +"Possibly, Señor, you have not been robbed," Llera suggested, "you may +have lost it. Where have you been?" + +But this was a question the Duke was not prepared to answer. + +"Damn it, what concern is that of yours?" he replied. "Do you suppose I +am likely to have lost eleven thousand dollars? That is to say, lost +them--of course I have. But some one else found them before they touched +the ground." + +"The best thing you can do, Señor Duque, is to let me go over the ground +wherever you have been." + +"I will go myself after luncheon. Go, if you have nothing else to +suggest but calling on all my acquaintances." + +Requena went downstairs, dismaying the house like a bombshell, not +indeed of powder or dynamite, since uproariousness was not part of his +nature, but of sulphuric acid or corrosive sublimate, which trickled +into every corner and annoyed and burnt every one in turn. His wife, his +lodge-keeper, his cook, Llera, and almost every one of his clerks, had +some coarse insult flung in their teeth, in the tone of cynical +brutality which he affected. After luncheon he was about to go out on +his quest, when a servant came to tell him that a hackney coachman +wished to speak with him. + +"What does he want?" + +"I do not know. He said he wanted to see the Duke." + +Salabert, with a sudden flash of intuition, said: + +"Show him up." + +The man who came in was the driver of the coach which had conveyed him +from Calderón's office to his mistress's house. The Duke looked at him +anxiously. + +"What is it?" + +"This, Señor Duque, which is your excellency's no doubt," said the man, +holding out the pocket-book. + +The Duke seized it, hastily opened it, and shaking out the pile of bank +notes it contained, counted them with the skill and rapidity of a +practised hand. When he had done, he said: + +"All right; there are none missing." + +The man, who had no doubt looked for some reward, stood still for a +minute or two. + +"It is all right, my good fellow, quite right. Many thanks." + +Then the poor man, with angry disappointment stamped on his face, turned +to go, muttering good-day. The Duke looked at him with cruel humour, and +before he had reached the door called after him with deliberate sarcasm: + +"Look here, my man, I give you nothing, because to so honest a fellow as +you the best reward is the satisfaction of having done right." + +The coachman, at once puzzled and vexed, looked at him with an +indescribable expression. His lips parted as if he were about to speak, +but he finally left the room without a word. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +PRECIPITANCY. + + +Raimundo Alcázar--for this was the name of the pertinacious youth who +had so provoked Clementina by following her when we first had the honour +of making her acquaintance--met the wrathful glance she had fired at him +as she went into her sister-in-law's house with perfect and resigned +submission. He waited for a moment to see whether she had gone thither +merely on a message, and finding she did not come out again, he placidly +walked away in the direction of the little Plaza de Santa Cruz. He +stopped in front of a flower-stall. The florist smiled as he drew near, +recognising him as an old customer, and took up a bouquet of white roses +and violets, which no doubt were awaiting him. He then went to the Plaza +Mayor, and took the tramcar for Carabanchel. At the turning which leads +to the Cemetery of San Isidro he got out and proceeded on foot. On +reaching the graveyard he hastily ascended the slope and went into the +new enclosure, where, as the law directs, the dead are laid in graves, +and not in long vaulted galleries. He went on with a swift step to a +tomb covered with a white marble slab, and enclosed by a little railing. +There he stopped. For some minutes he stood still, gazing at it. On the +stone, in black letters, was the name, _Isabel Martinez de Alcázar_. +Below the name, two dates--1842-1883--those, no doubt, of the birth and +death of the dead who slept below. A few faded flowers lay there, which +Raimundo carefully removed, and untying the bunch he had brought with +him, he scattered the fresh blossoms on the grave, and used the string +to tie up the dead ones. With these in one hand and his hat in the other +he again stood for some minutes contemplating the spot, with tears in +his eyes. Then he walked quickly away without a single curious glance at +the other sepultures. + +Raimundo Alcázar had lost his mother eight or nine months ago. He had +never known his father, or, rather, he had no recollection of him, since +he was but four years old at the time of his parent's death. His name, +too, had been Raimundo, and at the time of his death he had filled a +professor's chair at the University of Segovia. When he had first +married he had been a youth waiting for an appointment. Isabel's father, +a dealer in forged iron in the Calle de Esparteros, had in consequence +refused his consent, and only sanctioned their union when at last +Alcázar won the professorship above mentioned. He was a young fellow of +exceptional talents, and published some works on geology, the branch of +science to which he had devoted himself. His death, at the age of +thirty-two, was much lamented in the small circle to whom men of science +are known in Spain. Isabel, with her little son, returned to her +father's house in Madrid, and there, three months after her husband's +death, she gave birth to a daughter, who was baptised by the name of +Aurelia. + +Isabel was a remarkably handsome woman, and, as the only child of a man +who was supposed to be in easy circumstances, she did not lack for +suitors. But she refused every offer. Her friends called her romantic, +perhaps because she had more mind and heart than they could generally +boast of. She appreciated talent, and detested the prosaic beings who +almost exclusively constituted her father's social circle. She +worshipped the memory of her husband, whom she had adored while he +lived, as a man of superior talents; she treasured with the greatest +care every eulogy that had appeared in print on his works; the sole +desire and aim of her life was that her son should tread in his father's +footsteps, and become respected for his talents and eminence. Heaven +blessed her aspirations. At first she saw him growing up before her +eyes the living image of his father. Not in face only, but in gesture +and voice, he was exactly like him. Then the boy's progress at school +caused her the keenest joy. He was intelligent and studious. His masters +were always entirely satisfied with him. Every word of praise which came +to her ears, every mark of approbation written against his name, gave +the poor mother the most exquisite delight. Now she had no doubt that he +would inherit his father's gifts. + +She was stricken with remorse sometimes when she reflected how far from +equitably she divided her affection between her two children. Whatever +efforts she might make to preserve the equilibrium, she could not but +confess that she loved Raimundo much the best. Her devoted affection was +shown in constant petting and small cares, which pampered the boy and +weakened his character. She brought him up with excessive fondness. He, +on his part, loved her with such exclusive ardour that at times it was +almost a fever. Every time he had to leave the shelter of her petticoats +to go to school it cost him some tears. He insisted on her watching him +from the balcony, and before turning the corner of the street he looked +round twenty times to kiss his hand to her. Even when he was grown up +and a science-student, Isabel still kept up the habit of going out on +the balcony to wave him an adieu when he went to his lectures. Either by +nature, or perhaps in consequence of this rather effeminate education, +Raimundo was a timid boy, indifferent to the sports of his companions; +and he grew up a melancholy youth, and a serious and uncommunicative +man. He had scarcely any friends. At college he joined his +fellow-students in a walk before going in to lecture but as soon as it +was over he went home, and did not care to go out unless with his mother +and sister. + +Long before that, when he was no more than ten years old his grandfather +died. Thus, by the time he was sixteen, he had to play the part of the +man in the house. He took his mother to the theatre, accompanied her in +paying visits, and sometimes in the evening, when the weather was fine, +he took her out for a walk, giving her his arm like her husband or +sweetheart. Isabel's beauty did not desert her with years. Those who saw +them together never supposed they could be mother and son, but rather +sister and brother, if not a married pair. This was the cause of some +distress to the lad. As in Madrid men are not remarkable for respect for +the fair sex, he used to overhear, in spite of himself, complimentary +speeches, or even bold addresses from the passers-by to his mother. And +as he heard them, he felt a strange mixture of shame and pleasure, of +jealousy and pride; the position of a son in such a case is extremely +peculiar and embarrassing. + +Old Martinez, his grandfather, after retiring from business, had lost +all his savings. They had been invested partly in a gunpowder-making +company which had failed, and partly in Government stock. All he had to +leave was an income of from seven to eight thousand pesetas. + +On this the three lived very thriftily, though they did not lack the +necessaries of life. On a second floor in the Calle de Gravina, Raimundo +pursued his scientific studies. He hoped to become a professor, like his +father, and, seeing how brilliantly he passed every examination, no one +doubted that he soon would attain that position; but, instead of turning +his attention to geology, he preferred the study of zoology, and more +especially that of butterflies. He began making a collection, and +displayed so much eagerness and intelligence that, before long, he was +possessed of a very fine one. Before he had left college he was already +remarkable as an entomologist. The walls of his room were lined with +cabinets, containing the rarest and most precious specimens. For two +years he saved up his pocket-money to buy a microscope, and at last was +able to purchase a fairly good one, which was as useful as it was +delightful. The day he took his doctor's degree, when he was just +one-and-twenty, Isabel experienced one of those joys that mothers alone +can know. She embraced him, shedding a flood of tears. + +"Now, mamma," said he, "I am qualified to compete for a professorship. I +shall devote myself to preparing for it, and as soon as I succeed I +shall renounce anything you may be able to leave me in favour of +Aurelia. I have few wants, and can live on my salary." + +These generous words went to the mother's heart; she found fresh reason +every day for adoring this model son. + +Raimundo now plunged into his studies with ardour, working up the +special branches required without neglecting his entomology. Thanks to +this, and to the honoured name of his father, he was soon eminent among +men of science. He wrote some papers, corresponded with various foreign +_savants_, and had the satisfaction of receiving from them the most +encouraging praises. He was, it may be said, a happy man. He had no +desires for the impossible to devour his soul, no tormenting +love-affairs, or intrusive friends; he enjoyed the peace of home-life, +the love of his family, and the pure delights of science; his days +glided on in tranquillity and happiness. His mother's friends were +amazed at such virtuous simplicity. Had Raimundo no love entanglement? +Did he not care for women? And Isabel would reply with a smile of +evident satisfaction: + +"I do not know. I believe he has never yet thought of such a thing. He +is so tied to my apron-string that he is like a child of three. He would +find it hard, to be sure, to meet with a woman who would love him as I +do." + +And it was as she said. She kept him wrapped in such an atmosphere of +protection, of warm and loving care, as he could never have found with a +wife, however devoted she might be. Only mothers have this gift of +absolute and unwearying self-sacrifice, never hoping for or dreaming of +a return. Raimundo's every need of a practical kind was satisfied with a +refined completeness which few men enjoy. He had never known what it was +to have to think how he was fed, clothed, and shod, or to take any care +for necessaries such as many women do not understand. Every detail of +his life was foreseen and arranged for him. He might devote himself +wholly to the exercise of his intellect. If he complained of a taste in +his mouth, his mother was at his bedside early in the morning with an +effervescing saline draught; if his head ached there was a soothing +drink at bed-time. If he coughed in the night, ever so little, Isabel +could not rest till she had stolen into his room in her nightshift to +see that he had not thrown off his bedclothes. As soon as Aurelia was +old enough she too helped her mother in the task of averting every pain +and removing even the tiniest thorns from the young entomologist's path. + +Unhappily--though we might also say very naturally, since happiness +cannot last in this world--this blissful course of life came to a sudden +end. Isabel fell ill of bronchitis which she could not completely shake +off, either because she neglected it or because the physician had +hesitated to apply sufficiently severe treatment. It left her with a +catarrh of the lungs which weakened her greatly. Then, by the doctor's +advice, she went to the baths of Panticosa with Raimundo, leaving +Aurelia in the care of some relations. She rallied a little, but fell +ill again within a few days of returning to Madrid. She was then visibly +failing; so much so that her friends could plainly see that she was +dying. Never for a moment did such a notion enter her son's head. His +life was so bound up with hers that the two seemed as one. Things went +on as they almost always do with the sick who do not know that they are +dying. Isabel, though very weak, carried on the housekeeping with her +usual care. Raimundo, indeed, had entreated her, and then, taking +advantage of his influence over her, had commanded her to rest; but she, +evading his vigilance, and prompted by the invincible impulse which busy +natures feel to be doing something, would not give up her duties. One +day, when she was already almost dying, Raimundo found her on her knees +dusting the legs of a table. He was quite horrified, and, chiding her +affectionately, helped her up with many kisses. + +A pious friend, who came to see her, thought proper to hint to her that +she ought to confess. Isabel was painfully impressed; her son, coming +in, found her weeping, and flew into a rage, breaking out vehemently +against all such bigots. However, the sick woman, who was beginning to +understand her danger, insisted gently but firmly on the priest being +sent for. Raimundo, much annoyed, sent for the doctor to uphold him in +his refusal. The physician at first replied evasively, then he said that +it was at any rate being on the right side, that if strong people were +liable to sudden death much more were the sickly. + +But even now light did not dawn on the young man's apprehension. After +seeing the priest, Isabel went on as before, and this contributed to +keep up his delusion. She rose in the morning, ate at table with them, +went into the sitting-room on her son's arm, and spent the chief part of +the day in an armchair. At the same time she was so excessively thin +that those who saw her only at long intervals were quite shocked. And +yet she did not lose her beauty; on the contrary, it seemed to have +increased, her complexion was clearer and more delicate, and her eyes +brighter. + +One morning she said she would rather not get up. Raimundo sat down by +her bed reading a novel. She presently said: + +"I am uncomfortable. Lift me up a little; I have no strength." + +He rose to do it, and at that very instant his mother's head drooped on +one side and she was dead, without a sigh, without the smallest gesture +or sign of suffering--like a bird, to use a vulgar but expressive +phrase. + +The young man's despairing cry brought in the people of the house. + +Some relations took him and his sister away to their own home; in the +state of stupor in which he was, there was no difficulty in getting him +to go whithersoever they would. That same evening some of his college +friends came to see him and found him in fairly good spirits, which +amazed them, knowing the passionate devotion to his mother he had always +professed. He discussed scientific matters for a long time, expressing +himself with greater volubility than usual. This led them to suspect +that he was under the influence of some violent excitement, and the +suspicion was confirmed when he proposed to play at cards. They yielded, +but presently the young fellow began to talk quite at random. + +"What do you think of the game, mamma?" he asked of a lady who was +playing. + +All those present looked at each other with consternation and pity. + +After this he became quite incoherent. His excitement increased, he +began laughing so wildly that no one could doubt that it must end in a +violent nervous attack. And, in fact, when they least expected it, he +started from his seat, ran to the window, threw it open, and would have +flung himself from the balcony, if they had not stopped him. This ended +in acute hysterics, which happily were soon over, and then to collapse, +compelling him to remain in bed three or four days. + +Time at last exerted its soothing power. At the end of a fortnight he +was well again, though a prey to extreme dejection, from which his +relations and friends vainly strove to rouse him. + +His uncle proposed that the brother and sister should continue to live +with him, since Raimundo was young to be at the head of a house, and +especially to guard and guide Aurelia. He was now three-and-twenty and +she eighteen. But neither of them would listen to the plan. They would +live alone and together. They took third floor rooms in the Calle de +Serrano, very pretty and sunny, and thither they transferred their +furniture; once installed there they continued their former life, sadly, +no doubt, under the ever present remembrance of their mother, but calmly +and contentedly. Raimundo centred all his thoughts and care in Aurelia. +Anxious to fulfil his part as father and protector to the young girl, he +did for her what his mother had hitherto done for him, surrounding her +with kindness, and cherishing her with a tenderness which touched all +who saw them. Aurelia was not beautiful nor particularly clever, but +for her brother she felt the passionate adoration she had inherited from +her mother. Nevertheless, in the details of daily life the young man +sorely missed his mother. Aurelia did her utmost to prevent his feeling +her absence, but she was far from achieving the same delicate +anticipation of his needs. By degrees she became more expert in the +management of the house, and Raimundo, on his part, did not look for the +refined comfort of a past time. The feeling of guardianship, and the +consciousness of his own duties towards his sister, made him think less +of himself. If, on the other hand, some little attention from Aurelia +came to him as a surprise he accepted it as though from a child. Thus +their lives supplemented each other. + +They lived humbly; their rent came to twenty dollars; they kept a single +maid. Thus their little income of twelve hundred dollars was sufficient +for their needs. As it was derived from dividends on State securities +and shares in a manufactory, it was regularly paid. Raimundo was able to +dedicate himself with renewed ardour to his studies; he longed to fulfil +to his sister the promise he had made his mother, of renouncing his +share of their inheritance, and saving for her a little fortune which +might enable her to marry well. Ever since his illness he had gone twice +a week to lay flowers on his mother's grave; on Sundays he took Aurelia +with him. As a rule he went out very little. The studies requisite to +fit him to compete for a professorship on the one hand, and on the other +his passion as a collector and naturalist, absorbed almost the whole of +his time. It was a wonder indeed if he were seen in a café, and being in +mourning he did not go to the play. + +One day when he happened to be at a bookseller's in the Carrera San +Jeronimo, where he frequently amused himself by turning over new works +from abroad, an elegantly dressed woman came into the shop. Raimundo's +eyes dilated at the vision, resting on her with such a fixed look of +admiration, that she was fain to turn away. While she bought a few +French novels he contemplated her with rapture and emotion; the book he +was holding shook in his hand. As she went out he hastily laid it down +to follow her; but a carriage was waiting for her. The man-servant, hat +in hand, opened the door, and the horses instantly snatched her from his +sight. + +"What is it, Don Raimundo?" said the bookseller, as he came into the +shop again. "Are you struck by my fair customer?" + +The young man smiled to conceal his agitation, and replied with feigned +indifference: + +"Who could fail to notice such a beautiful creature? Who is she?" + +"Do not you know her? She is the wife of a banker named Osorio, and +Salabert's daughter." + +"Ah! Salabert's daughter! Then she lives in that palace in the Avenue de +Luchana?" + +"No, Señor. She lives in the Calle don Ramon de la Cruz." + +He wanted no more. Away he went. This lady bore a singular likeness to +his mother. The state of his mind, still grieving and sore, made the +resemblance seem to him greater than it really was, and it impressed him +vividly. A few minutes later he was walking up and down in front of the +Osorios' house; but he did not succeed in catching another glimpse of +the lady. The next day he went to walk in the Retiro, and there again he +met her. Thenceforth he watched and followed her with a constancy which +betrayed the strong hold she had on his feelings. Though he at no time +forgot his mother's face, Clementina Salabert brought it yet more +vividly before him, and this gave him a pathetic pain in which he +revelled, paradoxical as it may seem. But any one who has lost a loved +face from the world will understand it; there is a kind of luxury in +uncovering the wound, and renewing the pain and regret. Raimundo could +not gaze long at Clementina's features without feeling the tears on his +cheeks; and this, perhaps, was why he so constantly sought her. In her +face there was indeed a hardness and severity which his mother's had +never had; but when she smiled and all sternness vanished the +resemblance was really amazing. + +Our young man was well aware of the annoyance his pursuit caused her. At +the same time he could not help laughing to himself at her +misapprehension of the case. "If this lady could know," he would say to +himself, as he saw her lips curl with scorn, "why she fascinates me so +much, how great would her astonishment be!" A current of attraction, it +might be said of adoration, drew him to her. But for her forbidding +dignity, he might very possibly have addressed her, have explained to +her the strange consolation he derived from her presence. But Clementina +moved in so distant a sphere that he dreaded her contempt. It was enough +that she should so evidently scorn him for his joy in beholding her. On +the other hand, he had heard rumours greatly to her discredit; but he +took no pains to confirm them--in the first place, because they did not +concern him, and also because if they proved to be true he would be +compelled to think ill of her, and he could not bear that a woman so +like his mother should be, in fact, disreputable. He would know nothing, +he would be content to indulge, as often as he could, that strange +longing to revive his grief and move himself to tears. As he did not +live in fashionable society and could not go to the theatre to procure +this satisfaction, he had no choice but to haunt her in the streets or +the parks when she was out driving. He also attended Mass on Sundays at +the Jeronymite church, and there he could contemplate her at his ease +and leisure. + +He had told Aurelia of his discovery, but he had not pointed the lady +out to her. He was afraid lest Aurelia should not see the likeness so +clearly as he did, and should thus despoil him of his illusion. +Clementina went out walking two or three times a week, in the afternoon, +as she had done on the day when we made her acquaintance. Raimundo, from +the window of his study in the Calle de Serrano spied her approach, as +from an observatory, and when he discerned her from afar, down he went +to follow her as far as he could. This persecution vexed the lady all +the more, as it was at this hour that she went to visit her lover. Not +that it was a matter of any particular importance that this new +connection should become known, but for a remnant of shame which +survived in her. No woman, however unblushing, can bear to be seen +entering her lover's dwelling. + +Moreover, she knew, for she had heard it quite lately, that a husband +who, finding out his wife's guilt, kills her on the spot, is held +excused. Now, as she knew that Osorio hated her, she was afraid lest he +might take advantage of this excuse to get rid of her. These vague +terrors, added to that residue of decency, increased her rage against +Raimundo. Her violent and imperious temper rose in arms at this +unforeseen interference. She had not even paid any particular attention +to the young man's appearance. She hated him without troubling herself +to look at him. His indifference and submission to the utter contempt +which she did not attempt to conceal, was also an offence. It was +evident that this youngster was making game of her; if he were +love-stricken he could not possibly show so much serene cynicism. No +doubt he had discovered that he annoyed her, and meant to insult her out +of revenge. And beyond a doubt he succeeded perfectly. The turns she was +compelled to take in order to elude him, the visits she paid against her +will, and all the terrors his pursuit cost her, rendered him more odious +to her every day, and made her blood boil. She went out in the carriage, +drove to the Calatravas church, and there dismissed it; but Raimundo, +after being deprived for some days of the sight of her, committed the +extravagance of taking a hackney coach to keep up with her. + +This enraged her beyond measure, and she determined to put an end to the +intolerable persecution, though she did not know how. At first she asked +Pepe Castro to speak to the youth and threaten him; but on seeing how +coolly he took the proposal, she indignantly determined never to return +to the subject. Then she thought of addressing him herself in the +street, and desiring him, in a few words of freezing scorn, to annoy her +no more. But when the opportunity offered she dared not--though timidity +was not her besetting sin--the predicament seemed too delicate. + +She was still in this state of doubt and hesitancy, when one day, as she +went down the Calle de Serrano, happening to look up, she spied the +enemy on the look out, high above her. This suggested to her the idea of +asking his name and writing to him. And with the vehemence which +prompted all her actions she immediately went in, and inquired of the +porter: + +"Would you be so good as to tell me who lives on the third floor here?" + +"A lady and gentleman, both quite young; a brother and sister. They have +been here only four months; they are orphans. Not long since, it would +seem----" + +The woman, seeing so elegant a lady, was ready to be communicative; but +Clementina cut her short by asking: + +"What is the gentleman's name?" + +"Don Raimundo Alcázar." + +"Many thanks." And she hurried away. + +She went out into the street, but it struck her that writing to him +would have its disadvantages, and that a verbal explanation would really +be more satisfactory, since no one of her acquaintance could know +anything about it. For a moment she paused in doubt; then she abruptly +faced about and went in again. She passed the portress without saying a +word, and lightly ran upstairs. On reaching the third floor, in spite of +her determined spirit, her courage was somewhat dashed, and she was on +the point of retreating. But her proud and haughty temper spurred her +on, as she reflected that the young man must have seen her come in and +would suspect her repentance. + +There were two doors on the landing. One set of rooms, as Clementina had +observed, was to let, so she decided on knocking at the door on the +left, since there was a mat outside--plain proof that it was inhabited. + +A maid answered the summons, and Clementina asked for Don Raimundo +Alcázar. + +"I wish to see him" she added, on learning that he was at home. + +The girl showed her into the drawing-room, and as the visit struck her +as strange, she asked whether she should announce it to the Señorita. + +"No. Tell Don Raimundo I want to speak to him." + +He, meanwhile, was sitting in his study, in a state of extreme +agitation. On first seeing the lady enter the house, he had been +startled without exactly knowing why. He recovered himself on seeing her +depart, and was again excited when she came back. The idea that she +might be coming up to his rooms flashed across his mind, but he +immediately dismissed it as improbable. She must no doubt have come to +call on one of the residents on the first or second floor, who were +persons of fashion. Still, in spite of all reason, he could not be calm. +When he heard the door-bell, he was aghast; he could hardly get so far +as the ante-room, and before he could give the maid a sign, she had +opened the door, compelling him to beat a hasty retreat. He was tempted +to say he was not at home, even though the lady was in the sitting-room; +but, after all, he made up his mind to go to her, reflecting that he had +no rational motive for refusing. + +Raimundo had seen very little of the world. His mother's friends had +been few--relations and two or three families of acquaintance. He, on +his part, had done nothing to extend the circle, and, as has been said, +had formed no intimacies with any of his fellow-students, much less had +he any familiarity with the public or private entertainments of the +capital. His youth and early manhood had been happily spent at home, in +studying and arranging his butterflies. He knew life only from books. At +the same time Nature had bestowed on him a frank and simple temper, some +ease of speech, and a certain dignity of manner, which amply made up for +the polish and distinction produced by constant friction with the upper +ranks of society. + +He went into the drawing-room with perfect composure, nay, with a +lurking sense of hostility roused by the lady's eccentric proceeding. He +bowed low on entering. The situation was, in fact, so strange, that +Clementina, in spite of her pride, her experience, and her +indifference--it might almost be said her effrontery, was suddenly at a +loss. It was only by an effort that she recovered her spirit. + +"Here I am, you see," she said in a sharp tone, which was strangely +inappropriate and discourteous. + +"To what do I owe the honour of your visit?" replied Raimundo in a +rather tremulous voice. + +"Well--" she paused for a moment, "you owe it to the honour you do me of +following me everywhere like my shadow, as you have been doing these +past two months. Do you suppose that it can be agreeable to be haunted +whenever I appear in the street? In short, you have made me quite +nervous, and to avoid injury to my health I have taken the ridiculous +step of coming up here to beg you to cease your pursuit. If you have +anything interesting to say to me say it at once and have done." + +She spoke the words impetuously, as feeling herself in a false position, +and wishing to get out of it by an exaggerated display of annoyance. + +Raimundo looked at her in amazement, and this vexed Clementina, and +added to her vehemence. + +"Señora, I am grieved to the soul to think that I should have offended +you; nothing could be further from my intentions. If you could only know +the feelings your face arouses in me!" he stammered out. + +Clementina broke in: + +"If you are about to make me a declaration of love, you may save +yourself the trouble. I am married; and if I were not it would be just +the same." + +"No, Señora, I have no such confession to make," said the young +entomologist with a smile. "I will explain the matter. I can quite +understand your having misunderstood the sentiments which prompt me, +and it is natural that you should feel offended. How far you must be +from suspecting the truth! I have not fallen in love with you. If I had +I should certainly not follow you like a sort of street pirate--above +all, under the circumstances----" + +Here Raimundo looked grave, and paused. Then he added precipitately, in +a voice husky with emotion: + +"My mother died not long since, and you are wonderfully like her." + +He looked at her, as he spoke, with anxious attentiveness; there were +tears in his eyes, and it was only by a great effort that he checked a +sob. + +The confession roused Clementina's surprise and doubts. She stood still +gazing at him for her part with fixed inquiry. Raimundo understood what +must be passing in her mind, and opening the door into his study, he +said: + +"See for yourself. See if what I say is not the truth." + +The lady advanced a few steps, and saw on the wall facing her, above the +writing-table, an enlarged photograph of an exceptionally lovely woman, +who, no doubt, bore some resemblance to herself, though it was not so +striking as the young man fancied. The frame was wreathed with +immortelles. + +"We are somewhat alike," said she, after studying the portrait +attentively. "But this lady was far more beautiful than I." + +"No, not more beautiful. Her eyes were softer, and that gave her face an +indescribable charm. It was her pure and loving soul which shone through +them." + +He spoke with ardour, not heeding the want of gallantry the words +implied. Clementina's pride suffered all the more from the simplicity +and conviction of his tone; both contemplated the picture for a few +seconds in silence. Tears trembled in Raimundo's eyes. At last the lady +asked: + +"How old was your mother?" + +"Forty-one." + +"And I am five-and-thirty," she replied, with ill-disguised +satisfaction. + +Raimundo looked at her once more. + +"Yes, you are younger and handsomer. But my mother's complexion was +finer, though she was some years older. Her skin was as soft as satin, +and there was no worn look about her eyes; they were like a child's. It +was very natural. My mother's life was calm and uneventful; she had done +nothing to wear out her body or soul." + +He was quite unconscious of implying anything rude to the lady whom he +addressed. She was indeed exceedingly nettled, but she did not dare to +show it, for the youth's grief and perfect sincerity inspired her with +respect. She therefore changed the subject, glancing round the study, +with some curiosity. + +"You collect butterflies it would seem." + +"Yes, Señora, from my childhood, and I have succeeded in getting +together a very respectable number of varieties. I have some very +beautiful and curious species--look here." + +Clementina went to one of the cabinets. Raimundo eagerly opened it and +placed a tray in her hand full of lovely creatures of the most brilliant +hues. + +"They really are very pretty and strange. Of what use are they when you +have got them? Do you sell them?" + +"No, Señora," said he with a smile, "my object is purely scientific." + +"Ah!" And she glanced at him with surprise. Clementina had very little +sympathy with men of science, but they inspired her with a vague respect +mingled with awe, as beings of another race in whom some people +discerned superior merits. + +"Then you are a naturalist?" she inquired. + +"I am studying with that view. My father was a naturalist." + +While he displayed his precious collection--not without the +condescension with which the learned explain their labours to the +profane--he gave her some insight into his simple existence. As he spoke +of his mother's illness emotion again got the better of him, and the +tears rose to his eyes. Clementina listened with interest, looking +meanwhile at the drawers he placed before her, and speaking a few words +of admiration of the martyred insects, or of sympathy as Raimundo +related his mother's death. She affected to be cool and at her ease, but +she could not quite dissemble her embarrassment in the anomalous +situation to which her strange action had given rise. + +She released herself abruptly, as she did everything. She quite gravely +held out her hand to the young man, saying: + +"Many thanks for your kindness, Señor Alcázar. I am glad to find that I +have not been the object of such a pursuit as I had supposed. At the +same time, nevertheless, I beg you not to repeat it. I am married, you +see; it might be thought that I encouraged it, or had given you some +reason----" + +"Be quite easy, Señora. From the moment when I know that it annoys you +it shall cease. Forgive me on the score of the motive," and he pressed +her hand with a natural and frank sympathy, which achieved the conquest +of the lady. But she did not show it; on the contrary, she looked +sternly grave and turned to go. Raimundo followed her, and as he passed +her to open the door, he said with a smile of engaging candour: + +"I am but a nobody, Señora, but if some day you should wish to make use +of my insignificant services, you cannot imagine what pleasure it would +be to me!" + +"Thanks, thanks," said Clementina drily, without pausing. + +As they reached the door opening on the stairs, just as he was about to +open it, Raimundo caught sight of his sister's little head peeping +inquisitively into the passage. + +"Come here, Aurelia," said he. + +But the girl paid no heed and hastily withdrew. + +"Aurelia, Aurelia!" + +Very much against her will she came out into the anteroom, and +approached smiling and as red as a cherry. + +"This is the lady of whom I spoke to you as being so like mamma." + +Aurelia looked at her not knowing what to say, still smiling and +blushing. + +"Do you not think her very like?" + +"I do not see it," replied his sister after a moment's hesitation. + +"There, you see!" exclaimed Clementina, turning to him with a smile. "It +was only a fancy, an hallucination on your part." + +There was a touch of annoyance in her tone. Aurelia's advent made her +position more false than ever. + +"Never mind," said Raimundo, "I see the resemblance clearly, and that is +enough." + +The door was standing open. + +"So pleased," said Clementina, addressing Aurelia without offering her +hand, but with one of those frigid and condescending bows by which a +woman of fashion at once establishes the distance which divides her from +a new acquaintance. + +Aurelia murmured a few polite words. Raimundo went out on the landing to +take leave of her, repeating his polite and cordial speeches, which did +not seem to impress the lady, to judge from her grave reserve. She went +downstairs, dissatisfied with herself and full of obscure irritation. It +was not the first time, nor the second, that her impetuous nature had +placed her in such a ridiculous and anomalous position. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE SAVAGE CLUB OF MADRID. + + +At two in the afternoon about a dozen of the most constant habitués of +the Savage Club lay picturesquely scattered on the divans and easy +chairs of their large drawing-room. In one corner was a group formed of +General Patiño, Pepe Castro, Cobo Ramirez, Ramoncito Maldonado, and two +other members with whom we have no concern. Apart from these sat +Manolito Davalos, alone; and beyond him Pinedo with a party of friends. +The attitudes of these young men--for they were most of them +young--corresponded perfectly with the refinement which shone in every +revelation of the elegance of their minds. One had his head on the divan +and his feet on an armchair; another, while he curled his moustache with +his left hand, was stroking the calf of his leg below his trousers with +his right; one leaned back with his arms folded, and one condescended to +rest his exquisite boots on the red velvet seats of two chairs. + +This _Club de los Selvajes_ is a parody rather than a translation of the +English Savage Club. To be accurate, it is a translation of such +graceful freedom that it keeps up the true Spanish spirit in close +alliance with the British. In honour of its name, all the outward aspect +of the club is extremely English. The members always appear in full +dress every evening in the winter, in smoking jackets in the summer; the +servants wear knee-breeches and powder; there is a spacious and handsome +dining-room, a fencing court, dressing-rooms, bath-rooms, and a few +bed-rooms; the club has, too, its own stables, with carriage and saddle +horses for the use of the members. + +The Spanish character is revealed in various details of internal +management. The most remarkable feature is a general lack of ready +money, which gives rise to singular situations among the members +themselves, and in their relations to the outer world, producing a +complicated and beautiful variety which could nowhere be met with in any +other city in Christendom. It more especially leads to an immense and +inconceivable development of that powerful engine by which the +nineteenth century has achieved its grandest and most stupendous +efforts--Credit. Within the walls of the Madrid Savage Club there is as +much business done on credit as in the Bank of England. Not only do the +members lend each other money and gamble on credit, but they effect the +same transactions with the club itself viewed as a responsible entity, +and even with the club-porter, both as a functionary and as a man. + +Outside this narrow circle the _Savages_, carried away by their +enthusiasm for credit, bring it into play in their relations with the +tailor, the housekeeper, the coach-builder, the horse-dealer, and the +jeweller, not to mention transactions on a large scale with their banker +or landlord. Thanks to this inestimable element of economical science, +coin of the realm has become almost unnecessary to the members of the +club. Its function is beautifully fulfilled by an abstract and more +spiritual medium--promises to pay, verbal or written. They live and +spend as freely as their prototypes in London, without pounds sterling, +shillings, dollars, and pesetas, or anything of the kind. The superior +advantages of the Madrid Club in this respect are self-evident. + +Nor are they less in the cool and frank impertinence with which the +members treat each other. By degrees they have quite given up the polite +and ceremonious courtesy which characterises the solemn British +gentleman; their manners have gained in local colour approaching more +and more to those of the picturesque quarters of Madrid known as +Lavapiés and Maravillas. Nature, race, and opportunity are elements it +is impossible to resist, whether in politics or in social amusements. + +The club always begins to warm up after midnight, the fever is at its +height at about three in the morning, and then it begins to cool down +again. By five or six every one has gone piously to bed. During the day +the place is comparatively deserted. Two or three dozen of the members +drop in in the afternoon, before taking a walk, to colour their pipes. +Stupefied by sleepiness they speak but little. They need the excitement +of night to display their native talents in all their brilliancy. These +are concentrated for the time on the noble task of bringing a meerschaum +to a fine coffee-colour. If, as some assert, objects of art were once +objects of utility, so that the notion of art involves that of +usefulness, it must be confessed that, in the matter of their pipes, the +members of the Savage Club work like true artists. They have them sent +from Paris and London; on them are engraved the initials of the owner +with the count's or marquis's coronet, if the smoker has a right to it; +they keep them in elegant cases, and when they take them out to smoke, +it is with such care and so many precautions that the pipes become more +troublesome than useful. A "Savage" has been known to make himself ill +by smoking cigar after cigar solely for the pleasure of colouring his +mouthpiece sooner than his fellows. No one cares about the flavour of +the tobacco; the only important point is to draw the smoke in such a way +as to colour the meerschaum equally all over. Now and again taking out a +fine cambric handkerchief, the smoker will spend many minutes in rubbing +the pipe with the most delicate care, while his spirit reposes in sweet +abstraction from all earthly cares. + +Grave, dignified, and harmonious in grace, the most select of the +members of the club sucked and blew tobacco smoke from two till four in +the afternoon. There is something confidential and pensive in the task, +as in every artistic effort, which induces them to cast their eyes down +and fix their gaze so as to enjoy more entirely the pure vision of the +Idea which lies occult in every amber and meerschaum cigar-holder. In +this elevated frame of mind lounged our friend Pepe Castro, smoking a +pipe in the shape of a horse's leg, when the voice of Rafael Alcantara +roused him from his ecstasy by calling across the room: + +"Then you have actually sold the mare, Pepe?" + +"Some days ago." + +"The English mare?" + +"The English mare?" he echoed, looking up at his friend with reproachful +surprise. "No, my good fellow, the cross-bred." + +"Why, it is not more than two months since you bought her. I never +dreamed of your wanting to get rid of her." + +"You see I did," said the handsome dandy, affecting an air of mystery. + +"Some hidden defect?" + +"No defect can be hidden from me," replied Alcantara haughtily. And +every one believed him, for in this branch of knowledge he had no rival +in Madrid, unless it were the Duke de Saites, who had the reputation of +knowing more about horses than any other man in Spain. + +"Want of pace, then?" + +"No, nor that either." + +Rafael shrugged his shoulders, and turned to talk to his neighbours; he +was a ruddy youth, with a dissipated face and small greenish eyes full +of cruelty. Like some others who were to be seen at the club every day, +he frequented the company of the aristocracy without having the smallest +right. He was of humble birth, the son of an upholsterer in the Calle +Mayor. He had at an early age spent the little fortune which had come to +him from his father, and since then had lived by gambling and +borrowing. He owed money to every one in Madrid, and boasted of the +fact. + +The qualities for which he was still admitted to the best houses in the +capital were his courage and his cynicism. Alcantara was really brave; +he had fought three or four duels, and was always ready to fight again +on the slightest pretext. He was, too, perfectly audacious; he always +spoke in a tone of contempt, even to those who most deserved respect, +and was disposed to make game of any one and every one. These +characteristics had gained him great influence among his fellow +"Savages;" he was treated an equal by all, and was indispensable to +every ploy; but no one asked him for repayment of a loan. + +"Well, General, did you like Tosti's singing last night?" asked +Ramoncito of General Patiño. + +"Only in her ballad," replied the General, after skilfully blowing a +large cloud of smoke from a pipe made in the image of a cannon on its +gun carriage. + +"You do not mean that she was not good in the duet?" + +"Certainly I mean it." + +"Then, Señor, I simply do not understand you; to me she seemed sublime," +replied the young man, with some irritation. + +"Your opinion does you honour, Ramon. It is greatly to your credit," +said Cobo Ramirez, who never missed an opportunity of vexing his friend +and rival. + +"So I should think; that is as true as that you are the only person here +of any judgment. Look here, Cobo, the General may talk because he has +reasons for what he says--do you see? But you had better hold your +tongue, for you wear my ears out." + +"But mercy, man! Why does Ramon lose his temper so whenever you speak to +him?" asked the General laughing. + +"I do not know," said Cobo, with a whiff at his cigar, while he puckered +his face into a slightly sarcastic smile. "If I contradict him he is put +out, and if I agree with him it is no better." + +"Of course, of course! We all know that you are great at chaff. You need +make no efforts to show off before these gentlemen. But in the present +instance you have made a bad shot." + +"I am of the General's opinion. The duet was very badly sung," said +Cobo, with aggravating coolness. + +"What does it matter what you say, one way or the other?" cried +Maldonado, in a fury. "You do not know a note of music." + +"What then! I have all the more right to talk of music because I do not +strum on the piano as you do. At any rate, I am perfectly inoffensive." + +This led to a long dispute, eager and incoherent on Ramon's part, cool +and sarcastic on Cobo's; he delighted in putting his rival out of +patience. This afforded much amusement to all present, and they sided +with one or the other to prolong the entertainment. + +"Do you know that Alvaro Luna has a fight on hand this evening?" said +some one when they were beginning to tire of "Just tell me," and "Let me +tell you," from Cobo and Ramon. + +"So I heard," replied Pepe Castro, closing his eyes ecstatically as he +sucked at his cigar. "In the Escalona's gardens, isn't it?" + +"I think so." + +"Swords?" + +"Swords." + +"Another honourable scar!" said Leon Guzman from where he was sitting. + +"Rapiers." + +"Oh! that is quite another thing." + +And the whole party became interested in the duel. + +"Alvaro has but little practice. The Colonel will have the best of it; +he is the better man, and he fights with great energy." + +"Too much," said Pepe Castro, taking out his handkerchief, after +throwing away his cigar-end, and wiping the mouthpiece with extreme +care. + +Every one looked at him, for he had the reputation of being a first-rate +swordsman. + +"Do you think so?" + +"Yes, I do. Energy is a good thing up to a certain point; beyond that it +is dangerous, especially with rapiers. With the broadsword something may +be done by a rapid succession of attacks; it may at any rate bother the +adversary. But with pointed weapons you must keep a sharp look-out. +Alvaro is not much given to sword-play, but he is very cool, very keen, +and his lunge is perfection. The Colonel had better be careful." + +"The quarrel is about Alvaro's cousin?" + +"So it would seem." + +"What the devil can she matter to him?" + +"Pshaw! who knows!" + +"As he is not in love with her I do not understand." + +"Nothing is impossible." + +"The girl is a perfect minx! This summer at Biarritz, she and that +Fonseca boy behaved in such a way on the terrace of the Casino at night, +that they would have been worth photographing by a flash light!" + +"Why, Cobo, there, before he left, figured in some dissolving views in +the garden." + +"Alas! too true; that girl compromised me desperately," said Cobo in a +tone of comical despair. + +"Well, you had not much to lose. You lost your character by that affair +with Teresa," said Alcantara. + +"Beauty and misfortune always go hand in hand," Ramon added ironically. + +"_Et tu_, Ramon!" exclaimed Cobo with affected surprise. "Why the time +is surely coming when the birds will carry guns." + +"Well, gentlemen, I confess my weakness," said Leon Guzman. "I cannot go +near that girl without feeling ill." + +"And the damsel cannot be near so sweet and fair a youth as you without +feeling ill too," said Alcantara. + +"Do you want to flatter me, Rafael?" + +"Yes; into lending me the key of your rooms to-morrow, and not coming in +all the afternoon. I want it." + +"But there is a servant who devotes himself to water-colour painting +every afternoon." + +"I will give him two dollars to go and paint elsewhere." + +"And a lady opposite who spends all her time in looking out of her +window to see what is done or left undone in my rooms." + +"She will have a real treat! I will shut the Venetians.--I say, +Manolito, do you mean to pass the whole of your youth stretched on that +divan without uttering a word?" + +Davalos was in fact lying at full length in a gloomy and dejected manner +without even lifting his head to notice his friend's sallies. But on +hearing his name, he moved, surprised and annoyed. + +"If you were in my place you would feel little inclined for jesting, +Rafael," said he with a sigh. + +It should be said that the young Marquis, who had never had a very +brilliant intelligence, had now for some time been suffering from a +distinct cloud on his brain. He was slightly cracked, as it is vulgarly +termed. His friends were aware that this depression was all the result +of his rupture with Amparo, the woman who had since thrown herself on +the Duke's protection. She had, in a very short space, consumed his +fortune, but he still was desperately in love with her. They treated him +with a certain protecting kindness that was half satirical; but they +abstained from banter about his lady-love, unless occasionally by some +covert allusions, because whenever they touched on the subject, Manolo +was liable to attacks of fury resembling madness. He was hardly more +than thirty, but already bald, with a yellow skin, pale lips, and dulled +eyes. His sister-in-law had taken charge of his four little children. He +lived in an hotel on a pension allowed him by an old aunt whose heir he +was supposed to be; on the strength of this prospect some money-lenders +were willing to keep him going. + +"If I were in your shoes, Manolito, do you know what I would do? I would +marry that aunt." + +The audience laughed, for Manolo's aunt was a woman of eighty. + +"Well, well," said he, in a piteous voice, "you know very well that you +have not had to spend the morning fighting with unconscionable usurers +only to end by giving in--in the most shameful way," he added in an +undertone. + +"Don't talk to me! Don't you know, Manolo, that I have to get a new bell +for my front door once a month, because my duns wear it out? But I take +it philosophically." + +He went up to Davalos, and laying a hand on his shoulder, he said in so +low a voice that no one else could hear him: + +"Seriously, Manolo, I mean it, I would marry my aunt. What would you +lose by it? She is old--so much the better; she will die all the sooner. +As soon as you are married, you will have the management of her fortune, +and need not count up the years she still hopes to live. What you want, +like me, is hard cash. Make no mistake about that. If we had it, we +would get as fat as Cobo Ramirez. Besides, if you were rich, you could +make Amparo send Salabert packing--don't you see?" + +Davalos looked wide-eyed at his adviser, not sure whether he spoke in +jest or in earnest. Seeing no symptom of mockery in Alcantara's face, he +began to be sentimental; speaking of his former mistress with such +enthusiasm and reverence as might have made any one laugh. The scheme +did not seem to him preposterous; he began to discuss it seriously and +consider it from all sides. Rafael listened with well-feigned interest, +encouraging him to proceed by signs and nods. No one could have supposed +that he was simply fooling him, while from time to time, taking +advantage of a moment when Manolo gazed at the toes of his boots, +seeking some word strong enough to express his passion, Rafael was +making grimaces at the group, who looked on with amusement and +curiosity. + +The door of the room presently opened and Alvaro Luna came in. His +friends hailed him with affectionate pleasure. + +"Bravo! Bravo! Here is the condemned criminal." + +"How dismal he looks!" + +"Like a man on the brink of the grave!" + +The new-comer smiled faintly, and glanced round the room. Alvaro Luna, +Conde de Soto, was a man of about thirty-eight or forty, slightly built, +of medium height with hard, keen eyes and a bilious complexion. + +"Have any of you seen Juanito Escalona?" he asked. + +"Yes," said some one. "He was here half an hour ago. He told me that you +expected him, and that he would return punctually at a quarter to four." + +"Good, I will wait for him," was the answer, and Luna quietly came +forward, and sat down among the party. + +Then the chaff began again. + +"Here, let me feel your pulse," said Rafael, taking him by the wrist, +and pulling out his watch. + +The Count smiled and surrendered his hand. + +"Mercy, how frightful! a hundred and thirty. You might think he was +condemned to death." + +It was a pure invention. His pulse was quite normal, and Alcantara shook +his head at his friends in denial. The jest did not vex him. Conscious +of his own courage, and convinced that no one doubted it, he still +smiled as calmly as before. + +"Well, the funeral is at four to-morrow," said another. "I am sorry, +because I had promised to go out hunting with Briones." + +"And it is a long way to the cemetery at San Isidro," said a third. + +"No, no, my dear fellow. We will take him to the Great Northern station, +and carry him to Soto, the family Pantheon." + +This joking was not in good taste; however, Alvaro made no demur, +fearing perhaps that the least symptom of impatience might suggest a +doubt of his perfect coolness. Encouraged by his phlegmatic smile, the +"Savages" did not know when to leave off; the jest about the funeral was +repeated with variations. In point of fact he was getting tired of it; +but they could not move him from his cold and placid smile. He said very +little, and when he spoke it was in a few supercilious words. At last, +taking out his watch, he said: "It is three o'clock. Three-quarters of +an hour yet. Who is for a game of cards?" + +It was an excuse for releasing himself from these buzzing flies, and at +the same time showed his perfect coolness. Three of the men went with +him to the card-room. There the banter went on as it had done in the +drawing-room. + +"Look at him! How his hand shakes!" + +"To think that within an hour he will have ceased to breathe!" + +"I say, Alvaro, leave me Conchilla in your will." + +"I see no objection," said Alvaro, arranging his hand. + +"You hear, gentlemen, Conchilla is mine by the testator's will. What do +you call such a will as that, Leon?" + +"Nuncupatory," said Leon, who had picked up a few law terms in the +course of a lawsuit against some cousins. + +"Conchilla is mine, by nuncupatory bequest. Thank you, Alvaro. I will +see that she goes into mourning, and we will respect your memory so far +as may be. Have you any instructions to leave me?" + +"Yes, to give her a dusting every eight or ten days; if she does not get +a good cry once a week she falls ill." + +"Very good, it shall be done." + +"With a stick. She is used to a stick, and will not take a slapping." + +"Quite so." + +The fun grew broader and louder. Alvaro's imperturbability had the +happiest effect. He understood that beneath all this banter his friends +cared for him and appreciated his bravery. + +At this moment a servant came in who handed him a note on a silver +waiter. He took it and opened it with some interest. As he read it he +again smiled and handed it to the man next him. It was from the manager +of a Cemetery Company, offering his services and enclosing a prospectus +and price list. Some of the youngsters had amused themselves by getting +him to do it. But Luna did not take offence, and he seemed greatly +interested in his game. + +At last Juanito Escalona came to fetch him. After settling accounts he +rose. They all gathered round him. + +"Good luck to you, Alvaro!" + +"I cannot bear to think of your being run through." + +"Do not be absurd; there is no running through in the case. It will soon +be over, with nothing but a scratch." + +Jesting was now at an end, it was all good fellowship. Alvaro lighted a +cigar with perfect coolness, and said quite easily: "_Au revoir_, +gentlemen." + +There was a large infusion of true courage in this demeanour; but there +was also a touch of affectation, and deliberate effort. The younger +members of the Savage Club, though not much addicted to literature, are +nevertheless to a certain extent influenced by it. The class of work +they chiefly study is the _feuilleton_, and the fashionable novel. These +books set up an ideal of manhood, as the old tales of chivalry did +before them. Only in the old romances the model hero was he who +attempted achievements beyond his strength, out of noble ideas of +justice and charity, while in the modern story it is he who for fear of +ridicule abstains from all enthusiasm and generosity. The man who was +always risking his life for the cause of humanity is superseded by the +man who risks it for empty vanity or foolish pride. Swagger has taken +the place of chivalry. + +The party remained, talking of their friend's coolness. However, he was +not for long the subject of their praise, for the first rule of "high +tone" is never to show surprise, and the second is to discuss trifles at +some length and serious matters very briefly. The company presently +broke up, all the illustrious gentlemen going out to diffuse their +doctrines throughout Madrid--doctrines which may be summed up as +follows: "Man is born to sign I.O.U.'s and cultivate a waxed moustache. +Work, education, and steadiness are treason to the law of Nature, and +should be proscribed from all well-organised society." + +Maldonado, as usual, hung on to Pepe Castro's coat-tails. The reader is +already aware of the deep admiration he felt for his model. And Pepe +allowed himself to be admired with great condescension, initiating his +disciple now and then into the higher arcana of his enlightenment on the +subject of English horses and amber mouth-pieces. By degrees Ramon was +acquiring clear notions, not alone of these matters, but also of the +best manner of introducing French words into Spanish conversation. Pepe +Castro was a perfect master of the art of forgetting at a proper moment +some good Spanish word, and after a moment's hesitation bringing out the +French with an air of perfect simplicity. Ramoncito did the same, but +with less finish. He was also learning to distinguish Arcachon oysters +from others not of Arcachon; Château Lafitte from Château Margaux; the +chest-voice of a tenor from the head-voice; and Atkinson's tooth-paste +from every imitation. + +But, as yet, Ramon, like all neophytes, especially if they are prone to +exaltation and enthusiasm, exaggerated on the example of the teacher. In +shirt-collars, for instance. Because Pepe Castro wore them high and +stiff, was that any reason why Ramoncito should go about God's world +with his tongue hanging out, enduring all the preliminary tortures of +strangulation? And if Pepe Castro, in consequence of a nervous affection +he had suffered from all his life, constantly twitched his left +eyelid--a very graceful trick no doubt--what right had Ramon to spend +his time grimacing at people with his? Then, too, the young civilian +scented not only his handkerchief and beard but all his clothes, so that +from a distance of ten yards, it was almost enough to give you a sick +headache. And there was certainly nothing in the doctrines of his +venerated master to justify this detestable habit. + +But the noblest and loftiest precepts of a great man too often +degenerate, or are perverted, when put into practice by followers and +imitators. Pepe Castro, though he was aware of his disciple's +deficiencies and imperfections, did not cast them in his teeth. On the +contrary, with the magnanimity of a great nature, he showed his clemency +in pardoning and screening them. In his presence no one dared to make +game of Ramoncito's collars or grimaces. + +It was a little after four when the two "Savages" came out of the club, +buttoning their gloves. At the door stood de Castro's cart, which he +sent away after fixing an hour for his drive. He was first to pay a +visit by Ramoncito's request. They went down the Calle del Principe, +where the club was situated, not hurrying themselves, and looking +curiously at the women they met. They paused now and then to make some +important remark on this one's elegance, or that one's style; not as +bashful passers-by who gaze and sigh, but rather as Bashaws, who, in a +slave market, discuss the points of those exposed for sale. On the men +they bestowed no more than a contemptuous glance, or, as if that were +not enough, they shrouded themselves, so to speak, in a dense puff of +smoke, to show that they, Pepe and Ramon, belonged to a superior world, +and that if they were walking down the street, it was only in obedience +to a transient whim. Whenever Castro condescended to be seen on foot, +his face wore an expression of surprise that his presence was not hailed +by the populace with murmurs of admiration. + +Maldonado was the more talkative of the two. He expressed his opinion of +those who came and went, looking up at Castro with a smile, while his +friend remained grave and solemn, replying only in monosyllables and +vague grunts. Ramoncito, it may be noted, was as far below his companion +physically as mentally. When they walked out together they really looked +very like some learned professor shedding the dew of learning drop by +drop, and an ardent disciple greedy of knowledge. + +"By the way, where are we going?" asked Castro, vaguely, when they had +gone down three or four streets. + +"Why, were we not going to call on the Calderóns?" asked Ramon, timidly, +and a little disconcerted. + +"Ah! to be sure; I had forgotten." + +Maldonado kept silence, wondering in his heart at the singular faculty +of forgetfulness possessed by his friend. And they went along the +Carrera de San Jeronimo to the Puerta del Sol. + +"How are you getting on with Esperancita?" Castro condescended to +inquire, blowing a cloud of smoke, and stopping to examine a shop-front. + +Ramoncito suddenly turned very grave, almost pale, and began to stammer +a reply. + +"Just where I was. Sometimes up, sometimes down. One day she is very +sweet--well, not sweet--no; but any rate she speaks to me. Another day +she is as gloomy as the grave; hardly comes into the room before she is +gone again; scarcely notices me--as if I had offended her. Once, I +understood, she had some reason to be vexed, for at the opera I often go +to the Gamboas' box, and I fancy she had taken it into her head that I +was sweet on Rosaura. Can you imagine such folly? Rosaura! But I have +not been near them for this month past, and she is just the same, dear +boy, just the same. The other day I had her to myself in the little room +for a few minutes, and in the greatest haste I just managed to tell her +that I wanted to know where we were; for you see I cannot hang on for +ever. Well, she listened to me patiently. I must tell you that I was +altogether carried away, and hardly knew what I was saying. When I +ended, she assured me she had nothing to be vexed about, and fled to the +drawing-room. After that, would you not suppose that it was a settled +thing? Tell me, would not any man in my place suppose that he was on the +footing of a regular engagement? Nothing of the kind; two days after, +when I called, I tried to say a few words to her apart, as a lover may, +and she snubbed me--she froze me. So there I am. I do not know whether +she loves me, or ever will, and I have not the peace of mind to go about +my business, or do anything on earth but think of that confounded little +slut." + +"It seems to me," replied Castro, without diverting his attention from +the window before which they stood, "that the girl has begun the +attack." + +Ramoncito looked up at him with surprise and respect. + +"The attack?" said he. + +"Yes, the attack. In every battle the important point is to be the first +to attack. If at the moment when the adversary is about to advance, you +attack him with decision, you are almost sure to succeed; if you +hesitate, you are lost." + +As he uttered the last words, he turned away from the shop-window and +continued his majestic progress along the side-walk. Ramon did the same; +he had very imperfectly understood the application to his case of this +simile, derived from the art of fencing, but he abstained from asking +any explanation. + +"So that you think----" + +"I think that you are preposterously in love with the girl, and that she +knows it." + +"But then, Pepe, what reason can she have for refusing me?" Ramoncito +began in a fume, as if he were talking to himself. "What does the girl +expect? Her father is rich, but there are several children to divide the +money. Mariana is still young, and besides, you know what Don Julian is. +He would be torn in pieces sooner than part with a dollar. Honestly, +waiting for his death does not seem to me a very hopeful business. I am +not a nabob, but I have my own fortune; and it is my own, without +waiting for anybody to die. I can give her as much comfort and luxury as +she has at home--more!" he added, giving his head a determined shake. +"Then I have a political career before me. I may be Under-Secretary or +Minister some day when she least expects it. My family is better than +hers; my grandfather was not a shop-keeper like Don Julian's father. +Besides, she is no goddess; she is not one of those girls you turn +round to stare at, you know. Why should she give herself airs when I +take a fancy to her? Do you know who is at the bottom of it all? Why, +Cobo Ramirez, and such apes as he, who have turned her head for her. The +little fool expects a prince of the blood to come courting her, +perhaps!" + +Ramoncito denied his lady's beauty, a sure sign of his being deeply and +sincerely in love with her; his affection was not the offspring of +vanity. His excess of devotion led him to run her down. Castro reflected +that his companion's personal defects might have something to do with +his ill-success in this and some other affairs; but he did not express +the opinion. He thought it safer, as he closed his eyes and sucked his +cigar, to pronounce this general truth: + +"Girls are such idiots." + +Ramoncito, agreeing in principle, nevertheless persisted in driving the +application home. + +"She is a little goose. She does not know herself what she wants. I say, +Pepe, what would you do in my place?" + +Castro walked on in silence for a little way, staring up at the +balconies, wondering, no doubt, that all the world did not come out to +see him pass. Then, after two or three deep puffs at his cigar, he put +on a very grave and judicial air, and replied: "My dear fellow (pause), +in your place, I should begin by not being in love. Love is _pour les +bébés_, not for you and me." + +"That is past praying for," said the young deputy, looking so miserable +that it was quite sad to behold. + +"Well, then, if you cannot get over the ridiculous weakness, at any rate +do not let it be seen. Why do you try to convince Esperancita that you +are dying for her? Do you think that will do any good? Convince her of +the contrary, and you will see how much better the result will be." + +"What would you have me do?" asked Ramon anxiously. + +"Do not make such a show of your devotion, man; don't be so spoony. Do +not go to the house so often and gaze at her with eyes like a calf with +its throat cut. Contradict her when she talks nonsense; hint that you +have seen much nicer girls; give yourself a little consequence, and you +will see how matters will look up." + +"I cannot, Pepe, I cannot!" exclaimed Ramon, wiping his brow in excess +of anguish. "At first I could master myself, talk without embarrassment, +and flirt with other girls. Now, it is impossible. As soon as I am in +her presence, I grow confused and bewildered, and do not know what I am +saying, especially if I find her cross; every word she utters freezes +me. You cannot imagine how haughty she can be when she chooses. If I try +to talk to some one else, Esperanza has only to smile to bring me to her +side at once. I did once pass nearly a month, almost without speaking to +her; but at last it was too much for me. I would rather talk to her, +even when she ill-treats me, than to any one else in the world." + +The two young men walked on in silence, as though under the burden of +some great calamity. Pepe Castro was deep in thought. + +"You are lost, Ramon," he said at last, throwing away the end of his +cigar, and wiping the mouth-piece with his handkerchief, before putting +it by. "You are utterly done for. What you say has no sense in it. If +you had any notion of managing yourself, you would never have got into +such a mess. Women must always be treated with the toe of your boot; +then you get on all right." + +Having given utterance to these few but profound words he again pulled +up in front of a shop window. + +"Look," said he, "what a pretty dog-collar, it would just do for Pert if +I bought it." + +Ramon looked at the collar without heeding, completely absorbed in his +melancholy reflections. + +"Yes, Ramoncito," the young man went on, laying his arm on his +companion's shoulder, "you are altogether done for; still, I venture to +say that Esperanza will love you yet, if you only do as I tell you. Just +try my plan." + +"I will try; I must come out of this fix one way or another," replied +the youth pathetically. + +"Well, then, for the present you must go to the Calderón's not more than +once a week, or less. We will go together or meet there. You must not +find yourself alone with her, or in some weak moment you will undo +everything. You are not to talk much to Esperanza, but a great deal to +the other girls who may be present. Then you should sing the praises of +rosy cheeks, tall figures, fair skins--of everything, in short, that is +least like her, and be sure you are sufficiently enthusiastic. +Contradict her, and without seeming too much grieved. You are very +obstinate, and it does not do to discuss matters too much, a tone of +mild depreciation is far more effective. You had better glance at me +from time to time; I can give you some covert signals, and so you will +always be sure of your ground." + +And thus, by the time they had reached the door of the Calderóns' house, +Castro had expatiated on his masterly plan of campaign, with many +valuable hints and details. Only a marvellously lucid intellect, joined +to wide and rich experience, only the most subtle nature could have +entered so completely into the secret struggle to which Esperanza's +objection to Ramon had given rise in his soul. At the same time he was +the only person who could solve the riddle. Maldonado reached the young +lady's home in a state of comparative tranquillity. As to his inmost +purpose, it may be said that he had fully determined to assume the +utmost dignity he could put on, and to offer a bold resistance to +Esperanza's advance and attack. + +To begin with, he thought proper to put his hands in his pockets and +pinch his lips into an ironical and patronising simper. He thus entered +the little drawing-room where the banker's family were assembled, gently +shaking his head as though he could not hold it up for the weight of +many thoughts it contained. From the elegant to the coarse--as from the +sublime to the ridiculous--there is but a step, and it would be bold to +declare that Ramoncito, at the beginning of his interview with +Esperanza, always kept on the right side of the narrow rift. There is +some reason for supposing that he did not. What is, at any rate, quite +certain, is that the young lady did not immediately detect the change, +and when she did, it did not make so deep an impression as he had hoped. + +In the little sitting-room, when they were shown in, Mariana and +Esperancita, with Doña Esperanza, the grandmother, were seated at their +needlework; or, to be exact, Doña Esperanza and her grand-daughter were +at work, Mariana was lounging in her chair, her eyes fixed on vacancy, +and not moving a finger. Pepe Castro and Ramon, as being intimate with +the family, were made welcome without ceremony. After shaking +hands--excepting that Maldonado did not go through the ceremony with +Esperancita--they sat down; Esperanza quite unable to imagine why Ramon +intentionally neglected her, by way of a worthy beginning to the grand +course of unpleasant discipline by which he hoped to school his beloved. +Pepe took a chair next to Mariana, and Ramon next to Doña Esperanza. +Before seating himself he had a momentary weakness. Seeing Esperancita +sitting at some little distance from her mother, it seemed to him a +favourable opportunity for a few private words, and as he moved his +chair he hesitated; an expressive frown from Castro brought him to his +senses. + +"The sight of you is good for weary eyes, Pepe," said Esperancita, +fixing her smiling glance on the illustrious dandy. + +"They are beautiful eyes which see him now!" Ramon hastily put in. + +Castro, instead of replying, looked sternly at his friend, and the +deputy much abashed, went on to remedy his blunder. + +"Fine eyes are the rule in this family." + +"Thank you, Ramon. But you are beginning to be as false as all +politicians," said Mariana. + +"I do every one justice," replied he, blushing with delight at hearing +himself spoken of as a public personage. + +"Why, how long is it since I was here?" said Pepe to the girl. + +"A fortnight, at least. It was on a Monday; Pacita was here. And this is +Saturday; so you see--thirteen days." + +No one recollected so precisely when Maldonado had called last. Castro +accepted this proof of interest with entire indifference. + +"I did not think it was so long. How the time flies!" said he +profoundly. + +"Evidently. It flies for you--away from us." + +The young man smiled affably, and asked leave to light a cigar. Then he +said: + +"No. It flies fastest when I am with you." + +"Faster than with Clementina?" asked the girl in an innocent tone, which +betrayed no malice. But Castro looked at her gravely. His connection +with Osorio's wife had hitherto remained more or less a secret; and that +it should be known here, in her sister-in-law's house, disturbed him. +Esperancita blushed scarlet under his inquiring gaze. + +"Much the same," he said coolly. "We are very good friends." + +"Are you going there to-day?" asked Mariana, not observing this by-play. + +"Yes; Ramon and I are going--Saturday? Isn't it? And you?" + +"I am not inclined to go out. I have been suffering a little these few +days from sore throat." + +"Do not say you are ill, mamma," said Esperancita, pettishly; "say you +would rather go to bed early." Her mother looked at her with large, dull +eyes. + +"I have a relaxed throat, my dear." + +"How opportune!" exclaimed the girl, ironically. "I have not heard a +word about it till this moment." + +"If you wish to go," said Mariana, understanding at last, "your father +will take you." + +"You know very well that if you do not go, papa will not care to go +either." + +Her voice betrayed her irritation. A gleam of satisfaction lighted up +Ramon's face, and he shot a look of triumph at Pepe. It was when she +heard that he, too, was going that she had begun to wish to join the +party. + +The conversation now drifted into common-place, dwelling chiefly on the +most trivial subjects: the news of the day, or the singers at the opera. +Tosti's beauty was again discussed. Ramoncito, in the joy of his +triumph, dared to call it in question, and abused tall and, above all, +red-haired women. He admired only brunettes, round faces, a medium +stature, and black eyes--in short, Esperancita; there was no need to +name her. His friend Pepe, alarmed by this outburst, which was directly +opposed to all the plans of siege on which they had agreed, made a +series of grimaces for his guidance, and presently brought him back into +the right way; but he then went so far into the other extreme, and began +to contradict himself in so disastrous a manner, that the ladies +presently remarked it, and he got bewildered and tied himself into a +knot, from which he could not have extricated himself but for a timely +rescue by his friend and chief. + +To remedy the blunder to some extent he entered on a long account of the +sitting of the day before, with so many details that Mariana began to +yawn, like the simpleton she was, and Doña Esperanza devoted herself to +her embroidery, and made no secret of thinking of something else. +Esperancita at last made a sign to Castro to come and sit by her. He +obeyed, taking a low seat at her side. + +"Listen, Pepe," said she, in a low and tremulous voice. "Of late you +have been very sullen with me. I do not know whether I can have said +anything to vex you. If so, pray forgive me." + +"I do not know what you mean. I could never be vexed by anything that +such a sweet little person as you might say," replied the young man, +with the lordly smile of a Sultan. + +"I am glad it was a false alarm on my part. Many thanks for the +compliment, if you mean it--which I doubt. It would grieve me to the +heart to displease you in any way," and as she spoke she blushed up to +her ears. + +"But I hear you are very apt to be displeasing." + +"Oh, no!" + +"So my friend Ramon tells me." + +Esperancita's countenance clouded, and a deep line marked her childlike +brow. + +"I do not know why he should say so." + +"Your conscience does not prick you?" + +"Not in the least." + +"What a heart of stone!" + +"Why? If I have hurt his feelings it is his own fault." + +"So I told him. But I believe his complaint is in a fair way to be +cured, and that he will not again expose himself to your thrusts. He has +been more cheerful and less absent-minded these last few days." + +Castro was quite honestly doing his best for his friend. + +"I should be only too glad to hear it," said the girl, with perfect +simplicity. + +Castro sang the praises of his friend and earnestly recommended him to +Esperancita's good graces. But as he poured exaggerated eulogies into +the girl's ear, his tone of disdain and the satirical smile which +accompanied them somewhat weakened their effect. And even if it had not +been so, she would have received them with no less hostility. + +"Come, Pepe, you want to make a fool of me?" + +"Indeed, Esperancita, Ramon has a great future before him, and in time +may very likely be made Minister." + +The hero in question, meanwhile, was explaining, with his usual fluency, +to Mariana and her mother, how he had discovered an extensive fraud in +the custom-house returns on imported meat: three hundred and fifty hams +had been brought into the country, a few days since, smuggled in with +the cognisance of some of the officials. Ramoncito meant to bring these +men to justice without delay. Mariana implored him not to be too severe +with them; they were perhaps fathers of families, but she could not +mollify him. His sense of municipal rights was more rigid perhaps than +the muscles of his neck--to judge by the number of times he turned his +head to look where Pepe and Esperancita were talking. He was not +jealous; he had absolute confidence in his friend's loyalty; but he +wanted his beloved to hear him when he brought out certain phrases: "To +the bar of justice;" "I can no doubt obtain an adverse verdict;" "The +municipal law requires that they should be prosecuted," and so forth, so +that the angel of his heart might fully appreciate the high destiny in +store for her if she were united to so energetic an administrator. + +They now heard steps in the adjoining room, and a cough which they all +knew only too well. Doña Esperanza when she heard it hastily handed her +work to her daughter, or, to be exact, crammed it into Mariana's hands. + +When Calderón came in, his wife was stitching with affected diligence, +while her mother was sitting with her hands folded, as if she had not +stirred from her attitude for a long time. Ramon and Castro had scarcely +noticed the manoeuvre. The reason of it was that Calderón could not +forgive his wife her apathy and indolence, regarding these faults as +positive calamities, and himself as most unfortunate for having married +so inert a woman. Not that any work she might do mattered in the +household; but his vehemently laborious temperament asserted itself +against one so diametrically opposed to it. Mariana's limpness and +indifference irritated his nerves and gave rise to sharp discussions and +frequent squabbles. She feebly defended herself, declaring that her +parents had not brought her up to be a maid-of-all-work, since they had +enough to allow her to live like a lady. Whereupon Don Julian would turn +furious, and declare that it was the duty of every one to work, or at +any rate to do something; that total idleness was incomprehensible; that +it was a wife's duty to see that the property of the household was not +wasted, even if she could not add to it, &c. &c. And, finally, that the +mistress's incurable indolence was at the bottom of their domestic +discomfort. + +Doña Esperanza was very unlike her daughter; by nature she was active, +vigilant, and at least as avaricious as her son-in-law; she could never +sit a quarter of an hour without something to occupy her hands. In the +affairs of the house, indeed, she played no important part, because +Calderón took a pleasure in managing and ordering everything himself. +And this indicated a contradictory characteristic which must here be +mentioned for a full comprehension of his character. He complained that +his wife did not undertake the care of the house, and that he +consequently was compelled to manage it, but at the same time, though he +knew that his mother-in-law was both capable and willing, he would not +leave it to her. This gave rise to a suspicion that, even if Mariana had +been a prodigy of energy and method, he would no more have entrusted her +with the management of domestic affairs than with his business. His +suspicious and sordid nature made him prefer toil to rest; he would have +liked to possess a hundred eyes to watch over everything that belonged +to him. Doña Esperanza also lamented her daughter's incapacity, and +eagerly seconded her son-in-law's stinginess, helping him very +materially in his close vigilance. But while she herself found fault +with Mariana's apathy, she was her mother after all; she hated that +Calderón should blame her, and acutely felt their matrimonial +differences. Consequently, whenever she could avert one she did so, even +at the cost of some sacrifice, concealing Mariana's faults and +voluntarily taking them on herself. It was for this reason that she had +so precipitately handed to her the cushion she was embroidering. + +Don Julian came into the room reading the _feuilleton_ of _La +Correspondencia_, which he carefully preserved and stitched together. +Don Julian, strange as it may seem, was very fond of novels; but he only +read those which came out in the _Correspondencia_, or the religious +tales he gave his daughter who was at school. He had never been known to +go into a bookseller's of his own accord to buy one. And not only did he +read them, but he was very prone to weep over them. He was deeply +sentimental at the bottom of his heart; it was a weakness of his +constitution, like rheumatism or asthma. The misfortunes or poverty of +others touched him greatly; if he could have remedied them by any means +not involving any loss of money he would no doubt have done so at once. +Generous deeds made him shed tears of enthusiasm; but he thought himself +incapable of doing them--and he was right. And he made great efforts to +do violence to his instincts; he was by no means the least ready to give +of the rich men of Madrid. He set aside a fixed sum for the poor, and +entered it in his accounts as though they were his creditors. But when +once the monthly allowance was spent, he might, perhaps, have left a +poor wretch to die of hunger in the street and not have given him a +penny; not for want of feeling, but by reason of the strong hold figures +had over his mind. The idea of depriving himself of a peseta for any +other form of outlay than buying to sell was beyond his ken. Thus far +his almsgiving had superior merits to that of other men. + +As he now entered the little morning-room his face betrayed traces of +emotion. After greeting his visitors, he said, as he seated himself in +an arm-chair: + +"I have just read an exquisite chapter in this novel--quite exquisite! I +could not resist the temptation of bringing it in to read to these +ladies." + +He paused, not daring to propose it to Castro and Maldonado, though he +would have liked to do so. He was very fond of reading aloud, because he +did it fairly well, and Mariana took pleasure in hearing him; so far +they were well matched. + +"Read it, by all means, my dear; I do not think that Pepe and Ramon will +object," said his wife. + +Pepe bowed slightly; Ramoncito hastened to express enthusiastic +pleasure: he was devoted to fine passages, &c. From the father of his +inamorata he would have listened to the reading of a table of +logarithms. + +Don Julian wiped his spectacles, and, in a mild throat-voice which he +kept for such occasions, began to read the episode describing the +sufferings of a child lost in the streets of Paris. But his eyes +instantly grew dim and his voice began to break, till at length he was +so choked by emotion that he could scarcely be heard, and Ramon took the +paper and read on to the end. Castro, looking on at this absurdity, hid +a superior smile behind volumes of tobacco-smoke. + +The chapter being ended, every one praised it in the most flattering +terms. Mariana looked at her work, and observed that she would need a +piece of silk for the lining, since the cushion was nearly finished. +Doña Esperanza, to whom she made the remark, was of the same opinion. + +"Ramoncito," said she, "be so good as to ring that bell." + +The young civilian hastened to comply, and the lady's maid immediately +appeared. + +"I want you to go out and buy me a yard of silk," said her mistress. + +The girl, having taken her instructions, was about to depart on the +errand, when Don Julian, who was listening, stopped her. + +"Wait a moment," said he; "I will see if I do not happen to have the +thing you want." And he briskly left the room. In three minutes he +returned with an old umbrella in his hand. + +"Do not you think the silk of this umbrella might serve your purpose?" +he said. "It seems to me to be just the colour." + +Castro and Maldonado exchanged significant glances. Mariana blushed as +she took the umbrella. + +"It is, no doubt, the right colour," she said; "but it is full of holes; +it will not do." + +Esperancita pretended to be absorbed in her work, but her face was of +the colour of a poppy. Doña Esperanza alone took up the question and +discussed it seriously. Finally, the silk was rejected, to the chagrin +of the banker, who muttered various uncomplimentary remarks on the +management and economy of women. + +Ramon, by this time, could no longer endure the torments of Tantalus, to +which his friend's plans had condemned him; he never ceased gazing +across to the spot where Pepe and Esperancita were chatting. He began by +rising from his chair under pretence of moving about a little, and +walked to and fro. By degrees he approached the couple, and stood still +in front of them. + +"Well, Esperancita, is it long since you saw Pacita?" + +How absurd an excuse for addressing her! He himself was conscious of it, +and blushed as he spoke. Pepe flashed an indignant glance at him, but +either he did not see it, or he pretended not to see it. The girl +frowned, and replied, shortly, that she did not exactly recollect. This +would have been enough for most people, but Ramon would not take an +answer; on the contrary, he tried to prolong the conversation with +vacuous or irrelevant remarks, and even tried to wedge a chair in +between them and sit down; but Castro hindered him by covertly giving +him a fiercely expressive stamp on the toes, which brought him to his +senses. He continued his melancholy walk till, presently, he went back +to his seat by the two elder ladies. He was soon engaged in an animated +discussion with Calderón as to whether the paving of the streets should +be done by contract or managed by a commission. He would have been only +too glad to agree with his host; it was his interest to do so, since his +happiness or misery lay in his hands, but the obstinate and fractious +temper which Nature had bestowed on him led him to continue the +argument, though he saw that Calderón was heated, and within an ace of +being angry. Fortunately for him, before this point was reached, a +servant entered the room. + +"What is it, Remigio?" asked the banker. + +"A man, Señor--a friend of Pardo's--Señor Mudela's coachman--has come to +say that Señorito Leandro is not very well." + +"Bless me! What has happened to the boy? He is not accustomed to such +dissipation. He has spent all his life at school or tied to his mother's +apron-string. He must be taken away from this life of excitement.--And +what is the matter with him?" + +Leandro was Don Julian's nephew, the son of a sister who lived in La +Mancha. He had come to pay a visit to Madrid, and was leading a very +jolly life in the society of other youths of his own age. He had begged +his uncle to lend him his carriage for an excursion into the country. +Don Julian, anxious not to offend his sister, to whom it was his +interest to be civil, had granted the favour, though sorely against the +grain. + +"The sun and the dinner have upset him a little." + +"Pooh! an attack of indigestion. He will get over that!" + +"I think you ought to go to see him, Julian," said Mariana. + +"If it were necessary, of course I should go; but, so far, I see no +necessity. I say, Remigio, is he too ill to come here? Is he in bed?" + +"Well, Señor," said the man, turning his cap in his hands, and looking +down, as conscious that his news was serious, "the fact of the matter is +this--one of the mares, Primitiva, is knocked up." + +Calderón turned pale. + +"And she could not come home?" + +"No, Señor; she seems to be pretty bad, from what the Mudela's coachman +says. Of course, those youngsters know nothing about it, and they let +her drink her fill." + +Don Julian started up in the greatest agitation, and, without saying +another word, he left the room, followed by Remigio. The young men again +exchanged meaning looks. Esperancita happened to see this, and turned +scarlet. + +"Papa takes such things so much to heart!" said she. + +"How should he do otherwise, child?--a thoroughbred which cost him three +thousand dollars! It is a shame in Leandrito!" And for some minutes the +old lady gave expression to her wrath, which was almost as great as her +son-in-law's. Castro and Maldonado presently took leave. Mariana, who +had taken the disaster with much philosophy, asked them to dinner. + +"Stay and dine; it is too late now for a walk." + +"I cannot," said Castro; "I dine at your brother's." + +"Ah, to be sure; it is Saturday. I had forgotten. We will look in, if I +am no worse, at ten, when the cards begin." + +"Do you dine with Aunt Clementina every Saturday?" asked Esperancita in +a low voice, but with a peculiar intonation. The young dandy looked at +her for a moment. + +"Most Saturdays, since I dine with your Uncle Tomas." + +"Aunt Clementina is very pretty and very agreeable." + +"She is considered so," replied Castro, a little uneasy. + +"She has heaps of admirers. Are not you one of the most ardent of them?" + +"Who told you so?" + +"No one; I imagined it." + +"You imagined rightly. Your aunt is, in my opinion, one of the loveliest +and most elegant women of Madrid. Good-bye till this evening, +Esperancita." And he held out his hand with a condescending air, which +pained the poor child. She showed her annoyance by addressing Ramon, who +was standing a little apart. + +"And you, Ramon, why cannot you stay? Are you, too, going to dine at +Aunt Clementina's?" + +"I? Oh, no." + +"Then stay with us--do. We will take care not to bore you." + +"I--bored in your society!" exclaimed he, almost overcome with delight. + +"Well, you will stay, then--won't you? Let Pepe go if he has other +engagements." + +Ramoncito was about to accept with the greatest rapture, but Castro +began to make negative signs at him over the girl's head, and with such +vehemence that his hapless friend could only say, in a subdued voice: + +"No, I cannot either." + +"But why, Ramon, why?" + +"Because I have some business to attend to." + +"I am sorry." + +The young man was so deeply touched that he could scarcely murmur his +thanks, and he left the room almost at a snail's pace. As soon as he was +in the street Pepe complimented him eagerly, and assured him that his +firmness must lead to the best results. But he received these +congratulations with marked coldness, and preserved a stubborn silence +till he reached home, where his friend and guide left him, his head full +of gloomy presentiments and the blackness of night. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +DINNER AND CARDS AT THE OSORIOS'. + + +On the day after her visit to Raimundo, Clementina felt even more +ashamed and crestfallen at having paid it than at the moment when she +came down those stairs. Proud natures feel as much remorse for an action +which, in their opinion, has humiliated them, as the virtuous do when +they have failed in humility. In her inmost soul she confessed that she +had taken a false step. The youth's serenity and courtesy, while they +raised him in her eyes, irritated her vanity. What comments must he and +his sister have been making since her absurd and uninvited call! She +coloured to think of them. Not to see or to be seen by Alcázar from his +observatory, she ceased to go out on foot. The young man kept his word; +she saw no sign of him. + +But, why she knew not, his visage constantly rose before her eyes; he +was perpetually in her thoughts. Was it aversion that she felt? Or +resentment? Clementina could not honestly say that it was. There was +nothing in his face or behaviour to make him odious to her. Was it, on +the contrary, that his person had impressed her too favourably? Not at +all. She met every day other men of more attractive manners and of more +amusing conversation. So that it surprised as much as it provoked her to +find herself thinking about him. She never ceased protesting to herself +against this tendency, and reproaching herself for indulging it. + +One afternoon, some days after the scene just narrated, she decided on +taking a walk. Not to do so seemed to her cowardly; she was doing this +boy too much honour. As she passed the house where he lived she glanced +up at his window and saw him sitting there, as usual, with a book in his +hand. She immediately looked down, and crossed the road with stately +gravity; but after going a few steps, she felt a vague sense of +dissatisfaction with herself. In fact, not to bow to the young man, not +even to return his bow, was unmannerly, after his frank explanation and +the politeness with which he had shown her his fine collection of +butterflies. + +Next day she again went out on foot, and repaired her injustice of the +day before by looking steadily up at the window. Raimundo made her so +respectful a bow, with so candid a smile, that the beauty felt +flattered, and could not deny that the young fellow had singularly soft +eyes, which made him very attractive, and that his conversation, if not +remarkably elegant, showed a solid understanding and cultivated mind. +She ought to have seen all this at first, no doubt, but for some unknown +reason she had not. From this day forward she went out walking as +before. As she passed the house in the Calle de Serrano she never failed +to send a friendly nod to the upper window, or he to reply with eager +courtesy; and as the days went on these greetings became more and more +expressive. Without exchanging a word they were on quite intimate terms. + +Clementina made an attempt to analyse her feelings towards young +Alcázar. She was not in the habit of introspection. She vaguely thought +that it was an act of charity to show him some kindness. "Poor boy," she +said to herself, "how fond he was of his mother! What happiness to have +had so good and loving a son!" + +One afternoon when these greetings had been going on for more than a +month, Pepe Castro asked her: + +"I say, is it long since that red-haired boy left off following you +about?" + +Clementina was conscious of an unwonted shock, and coloured a little +without knowing why. + +"Yes; I have not seen him for at least a month." + +Why did she tell an untruth? Castro was so far from imagining that there +could be any acquaintance between this unknown devotee and his mistress +that he did not notice her blush, and changed the subject with complete +indifference. But to the lady herself, this strange shock and rising +flush were a vague revelation of what was taking place within her. The +first definite result of this revelation was that on quitting her +lover's house, instead of thinking of him, she reflected that Alcázar +kept his promise not to follow her with singular fidelity; the second +was, that as she stopped to look into a jeweller's window and saw a +butterfly brooch of diamonds, she said to herself that some of those she +had seen in her friend's collection were far more beautiful and +brilliant. The third effect came over her suddenly: on going into a +book-seller's to buy some French novels, it struck her, as she saw the +rows of books, that Pepe had certainly not read and would probably never +read, one of them. Hitherto she had admired his ignorance, now it seemed +ridiculous. + +Time went on and Señora de Osorio, tired of her fashionable existence, +and having tasted every emotion which comes in the way of a beautiful +and wealthy woman, began to find a quite peculiar pleasure in the +innocent greetings she exchanged almost every day with the youth at the +corner window. One afternoon, having dismissed her carriage to take a +turn in the Retiro Gardens, she met Alcázar and his sister in one of the +avenues. + +She bowed expressively; Raimundo saluted her with his usual respectful +eagerness; but Clementina observed that the girl bowed with marked +coolness. This occupied her thoughts and made her cross for the rest of +the day, since she was forced to confess more than ever that this was at +the bottom of her _malaise_ and melancholy. By degrees, and owing +chiefly to her fractious and capricious nature, this love-affair, which +might have died still-born, occupied her mind and became the germ of a +wish. Now in this lady, a wish was always a violent desire, above all +if there were any obstacle in her way. + +On a certain morning, after greeting Raimundo with the gesture peculiar +to Spanish ladies, of opening and shutting her hand several times and +going on her way, an involuntary impulse prompted her to look back once +more at the corner window. + +Raimundo was following her movements with a pair of opera glasses. She +blushed scarlet and hurried on, ashamed at the discovery. What had made +her guilty of such folly? What would the young naturalist think of her? +At the very least he would fancy that she was in love with him. But in +spite of the ferment in her brain, while she walked on as fast as she +could to turn down the next street and escape from his gaze, she was +less vexed with herself than she had been on other occasions. She was +ashamed, no doubt, but when she presently slackened her pace, a pleasant +emotion came over her, a light flutter at her heart such as she had not +felt for a long time. + +"I am going back to my girlhood," said she to herself, and she smiled. +And it amused her to study her own feelings. She was happy in this +return to the guileless agitations of her early youth. + +She was so absorbed in her meditations, that on reaching the Fountain of +Cybele, instead of going down the Calle de Alcalà, to go to Pepe Castro, +with whom she had an appointment, she turned about, as though she had +merely come for a walk. When she perceived it she stood still, +hesitating; finally she confessed to herself that she had no great wish +to keep the engagement. + +"I will go to see mamma," thought she. "It is days since I spent an hour +with her, poor thing." + +And she went on towards the Avenue de Luchana. She was in the happiest +mood. An organ was grinding out the drinking-song from _Lucrezia +Borgia_, and she stopped to listen to it; she who was bored at the Opera +by the most famous contralto! But music is the language of heaven, and +can only be understood when heaven has found a way into our heart. + +Coming towards her, down the Avenue de Recoletos, was Pinedo, the +remarkable personage who lived with one foot in the aristocratic world +and the other in the half-official world to which he really belonged. By +his side was a pretty young girl, no doubt his daughter, who was unknown +to Clementina: for Pinedo kept her out of the society he frequented, and +hid her as carefully as Triboulet hid his. The Señora de Osorio had +always treated Pinedo with some haughtiness, which, as we know, was not +unusual with her. But at this moment her happy frame of mind made her +expansive, and as Pinedo was passing her with his usual ceremonious bow, +the lady stopped him, and addressed him, smiling: + +"You, my friend, are a practical man; you too, I see, take advantage of +these morning hours to breathe the fresh air and take a bath of +sunshine." + +Pinedo, against both his nature and habit, was somewhat out of +countenance, perhaps because he had no wish to introduce his daughter to +this very smart lady. However, he replied at once, with a gallant bow: + +"And to take my chance of such unpleasing meetings as this one." + +Clementina smiled graciously. + +"You ought not to pay compliments even indirectly, with such a pretty +young lady by your side? Is she your daughter?" + +"Yes, Señora--Señora de Osorio," he added, turning to the girl, who +coloured with pleasure at hearing herself called pretty by this lady +whom she knew well by sight and by name. She was herself pale and +slender, with an olive complexion, small well-cut features, and soft +merry eyes. + +"I had heard that you had a very sweet daughter, but I see that +reputation has not done her justice." + +She blushed deeper than ever, and faintly murmured her thanks. + +"Come, Clementina, do not go on or she will begin to believe you. This +lady, Pilar," he continued to his daughter, "takes as much delight in +telling pleasant fibs as others do in telling unpleasant truths." + +"She is, I see, most amiable," said Pilar. + +"Do not believe him. Any one can see how pretty you are." + +"Oh, Señora----" + +"And tell me, tyrant father, why do you not give her a little more +amusement? Do you think that you have any right to be seen at every +theatre, ball and evening party, while you keep this sweet child under +lock and key? or do you fancy we care more about seeing you than her?" + +Poor Pinedo felt a pang which he tried to hide; Clementina had laid a +frivolous finger on the tenderest spot in his heart. His salary, as we +know, allowed him to live but very modestly; if he went into a class of +society which was somewhat above him, it was solely to secure his tenure +of an office which was the sole means of sustenance for himself and his +child. She knew nothing of this. Pinedo hoped to be able to marry her to +some respectable and hardworking man; she was never to see the world in +which she could not live, and which he himself despised with all his +heart, although from sheer force of habit perhaps he could not have +lived contentedly in any other. + +"She is still very young; she has time before her," he said, with a +forced smile. + +"Pooh, nonsense! I tell you, you are very selfish. How long is it since +you were at the Valpardos?" she went on to change the subject. + +"I was there on Monday; the Condesa asked much after you, and lamented +that you had quite deserted her." + +"Poor Anita! It is very true." + +Pinedo and Clementina then plunged into an animated and endless +discussion of the Valpardos and their parties. Pilar listened at first +with attention; but as the greater number of the persons named were not +known to her, she presently amused herself with looking about her, more +especially at the few passers-by who were to be seen there at that early +hour. + +"Papa," said she, taking advantage of a pause, "here comes that young +friend of yours who maintains his mother and sisters." + +Clementina and Pinedo looked round both at once, and saw Rafael +Alcantara approaching--the scapegrace youth whom we met in the Savage +Club. + +"Who maintains his mother and sisters?" echoed Clementina, much +surprised. + +"Yes, a very good young man, and a friend of papa's, called Rafael +Alcantara." + +The lady looked inquiringly at Pinedo, who gave her an expressive +glance. Not knowing what it could mean, but supposing that her friend +for some reason did not wish her to speak of Alcantara as he deserved, +she held her tongue. The young man as he passed them greeted them half +respectfully, half familiarly. Pinedo immediately held out his hand to +take leave. + +"This is Saturday you remember," said the lady. "Are you coming to +dinner?" + +"With much pleasure. My regards to Osorio." + +"And bring this dear little girl with you." + +"We will see, we will see," replied the official again, much +embarrassed. "If I cannot manage it to-day, some other time." + +"You must manage it, tyrant father. _Au revoir_ then, my dear." + +She took the girl by the chin, and kissed her on both cheeks, saying as +she did so: "I have long wished to make your acquaintance. I sadly want +some nice pretty girls in my drawing-room." + +And as she walked on, in better spirits than ever, she said to herself: +"What on earth can Pinedo be driving at by making a saint of that +good-for-nothing Alcantara?" + +With a light step, a colour in her cheeks, and her eyes sparkling as +they had done in her girlhood, she soon reached the gate of the large +garden in which her father's house stood. The porter hastened to open it +and rang the house-bell. She went in, and, contrary to her usual custom, +she smiled at the two servants in livery, who awaited her at the top of +the stairs. She went by them in silence, and straight on to her +stepmother's rooms, like one who has long been familiar with the place. + +The Duquesa at that moment was in council with the medical director of +an asylum for aged women which she had founded some time since in +concert with some other ladies. When the curtain was lifted and her +stepdaughter appeared she smiled affectionately. + +"It is you, Clementina! Come in, my child, come in." + +Clementina's heart swelled as she saw her mother's pale, thin face. She +hastened to her and kissed her effusively. + +"Are you pretty well, mamma? How did you sleep?" + +"Very well. But I look ill, don't I?" + +"Oh, no," her daughter hastily assured her. + +"Yes, yes. I saw it in the glass. But I feel well, only so miserably +weak; and, as I have completely lost my appetite, I cannot get any +stronger.--Then, as I understand, Yradier," she went on to the doctor, +who was standing in front of her, "you undertake to look after the +servants and the sick women, so that there may be no lack of due +consideration for the poor old things?" + +The doctor was a pleasant-looking young man with an intelligent +countenance. + +"Señora Duquesa," said he with decision, "I will do everything in my +power to prevent the pensioners having any complaints to make; but at +the same time, I must warn you that some may still reach your ears. You +cannot imagine the vexatiousness and spite of which some women are +capable. Without any cause whatever, simply to insult me and my +colleagues, they are capable of heaping insolence on us. And the more +attention we show them, the more airs they give themselves. I taste +their broth and their chocolate every day, and I have never found it +bad, as that old woman declared it to be. The hours are fixed and I have +never known the meals to be late. If you will make inquiries you will +convince yourself that the persons who have ground for complaint are the +poor servants, whom the old women treat shamefully." + +The doctor had become quite excited and spoke these words in a tone of +conviction. + +The lady smiled gently. + +"I believe you, I believe you, Yradier. Old women are very apt to be +troublesome." + +"Ah! Señora, that depends." + +"We are, for the most part. But it is in itself an infirmity, and should +excite compassion in those who suffer from it. I need not say so to you, +for you have a charitable soul. But I beg of you to entreat those who +are less forgiving, in my name, to be gentle and patient with the poor +old women." + +"I will, Señora, I will," replied Yradier, won by the lady's sweetness. +"We shall see you on Thursday then?" + +"I do not know whether my strength will allow of it." + +"Oh, yes, I will answer for it." And feeling that he was not wanted, the +young man then took his leave, pressing the lady's hand with affection +and respect which spoke in his eyes, while he bowed ceremoniously to +Clementina. + +As soon as he was gone, she, who had been gazing with pain at her +stepmother's worn features, and had been deeply moved by the goodness +which was revealed in every word she uttered, rose from her seat and, +kneeling down by Doña Carmen, took her thin white hands and kissed them +in a transport of feeling. The beauty, who to all the rest of the world +was so haughty, had a peculiar joy, not unlike the rapture of a mystic, +in humbling herself before her stepmother. Doña Carmen's voice acted +like a spell, stirring the dim sparks of virtue and tenderness which +still lived in her heart, and fanning them for a moment to reviving +heat. Then the elder lady gently removed her daughter's hat, and, laying +it on a chair, bent down to kiss her fondly on the forehead. + +"It is four days since you last came to see me, bad girl" + +"Yesterday I could not, mamma. I spent the whole day over my accounts, +doing sums. Oh, those hateful sums?" + +"But why do you do them? Is not your husband there?" + +"It is for fear of my husband that I do them. Do not you know that he +has become as stingy and miserly as his brother-in-law?" + +Doña Carmen knew that Osorio's affairs were not prospering, and that he +had lately lost heavily on the Bourse; but she dared not tell his wife +so. + +"Poor, dear child! To have to think of such things when you were born to +shine as a star in society." + +"This alone was wanting to make him absolutely detestable. If one could +but live one's life over again!" + +The tender look had gone out of her eyes, they were gloomy and fierce; a +deep frown puckered her statuesque brow, and in a husky tone she poured +out all her grievances and related the daily vexations which her husband +heaped upon her. To no one in the world but her stepmother would she +have confided them; and she could speak of them without a tear, while +Doña Carmen's weary eyes shed many as she listened. + +"My darling child! And I would have given my life to see you happy! How +blind we were, your father and I, to entrust you to such a man!" + +"My father, indeed! A man who has never found out that he has a saint in +his own house whom he ought to worship on his bended knees. When I +think----" + +"Hush, hush! He is your father," exclaimed Doña Carmen, laying a hand on +her lips. "I am quite happy. If your father has his faults, I have mine; +so I have no merit in forgiving him his if he on his part forgives me. +Do not let us discuss your father. Talk about yourself. You cannot think +how these money difficulties worry me; I am not accustomed to them. I +would set them right on the spot if I could; but, as you know, very +little money passes through my hands. I have to account to Antonio for +all I draw, and he is not easily hoodwinked. I might, to be sure, put +aside a few gold pieces for you; but my savings would not help you far. +However, I hope your difficulties will soon be over." + +The good woman paused, gazing sadly into vacancy; then, kissing her +daughter, who was still on her knees before her, she spoke into her ear +in a low voice, and went on: + +"Listen, child. I cannot live much longer, and I shall leave all I have +to you. Half of your father's fortune is mine, as I understand from the +family lawyer." + +Clementina felt a thrill, a shock, which a psychologist would find it +hard to define--a mixture of sorrow and surprise, with an undercurrent +of satisfaction. However, sorrow predominated; she kissed her stepmother +again and again. + +"What are you saying? Die! No, you are not to die! I want you much, much +more than your money. But for you I should have been a very wicked +woman--and I shall be, I fear, the day you cease to live. The only +moments when I feel any goodness in me are those I spend with you. I +fancy, mamma, that you infect me with some of your exquisite virtue." + +"There, there--flatter me no more," said Doña Carmen, again stopping her +mouth. "You think yourself worse than you are. You have a good heart. +What sometimes makes you seem bad is your pride. Is not that the truth?" + +"Yes, mamma, quite true. You do not know what pride is, or the miseries +it brings to those who feel it as I do. To be constantly thinking of +things which hurt me--to see enemies on all sides--to feel a look as +though it were the point of a dagger in my heart--to catch a word, and +turn it over and over in my brain till it almost makes me sick--to live +with my heart sore, my mind full of alarms--oh! how often have I envied +those who are as good and as humble as you. How happy should I be if I +had not a gloomy and suspicious temper and the pride which devours my +soul! And who knows," she went on after a pause, "that I might not have +been happier in some other sphere of life? If I had been poor, and had +married some hard-working and intelligent young fellow, my lot might +have been better. Obliged to help my husband, to take care of a +business, or attend to the details of the house, like other women who +labour and struggle, I might, perhaps, not have come to this. I ought to +have had a loving and patient husband--a man of talent, who could guide +me. As it is, mamma, accustomed as I am to luxury and the fashionable +world, I would gladly give it all up this very day and go to live in +some pleasant spot in the country, far from Madrid. I only want a little +love, and to keep you with me to teach me to feel and be good." + +Clementina's present mood was idyllic; she had been pleasantly impressed +by the simple home in the Calle de Serrano. In every woman, however +hardened, however immersed in love adventures, there remains an eclogue +in some corner of her brain which now and again comes to the surface. +Good Doña Carmen listened to her and encouraged her by her smiles, and +the younger lady's confidences lasted long. She recalled her early life, +when she came to tell her stepmother of the declarations made to her at +the ball of the night before, and to read her the _billets-doux_ of her +adorers. These reminiscences of the past made her happy. She was even +tempted to talk about Pepe Castro and Raimundo, and confess the childish +feelings which stirred her soul; but a feeling of respect withheld her. +Doña Carmen's leniency was indeed so excessive as to verge on folly; it +is very possible that, even if her stepdaughter had confessed her worst +sins, she would hardly have been scandalised. + +They breakfasted together, the Duke having gone to breakfast with a +Minister. Afterwards, having relieved and refreshed their spirits with +this long chat, they went together in the carriage to San Pascual's, +where they prayed a while; and then they drove to the Avenue of the +Retiro. They went home before dark, as the evening air was bad for Doña +Carmen, and Clementina must be home in good time. + +It was Saturday, the day on which the Osorios kept open house for dinner +and cards. Before going up to dress, Clementina looked round the +dining-room, studied the arrangement of the table, and ordered some +little alterations in the dishes of fruit which decked it. She sent for +the packet of _menus_--written on parchment paper with the Duke's +monogram stamped in gold--begged her husband's secretary to write the +name of a guest on each, and herself laid them in order on the table +napkins: herself and her husband opposite each other in the middle; to +the right and left of Osorio, two ladies in the seats of honour; to her +own right and left, two gentlemen; and then the rest of the party in +order of dignity, age, or her own preference for her guests. Then she +spoke a few words with the butler, and after giving him her +instructions, she went away. At the door she turned to look once more at +the table, and added: + +"Remove those strong-smelling flowers from the Marquesa de Alcudia's +place and give her camellias, or something else which has no scent." + +The pious Marquesa could not endure strong perfumes, being liable to +headache. Clementina, who hated her, showed more consideration for her +than for any of her friends; her ancient title, severe judgment, and +even her bigotry, made her respected, and her presence in a drawing-room +lent it prestige. + +Clementina went to her room, followed by Estefania, the coachman's sworn +foe. She put on a magnificent dress of creamy-white, cut low. She +usually wore a sort of _demi-toilette_ for these Saturday receptions, +with sleeves to the elbow. But this evening she was moved to display her +much-praised person in honour of a foreign diplomate who was to dine in +the house for the first time. While the maid was dressing her hair, her +mind wandered vaguely over the events of the day. She had not kept her +appointment with Pepe; he would certainly arrive in a rage. She pouted +her under lip disdainfully, and her eyes had a spiteful glitter, as if +to say: "And what do I care?" Then she remembered Raimundo's greeting +and that ill-starred look backwards, with a feeling of shame to which +her cheeks bore witness by a deepening colour. She called herself a +fool--heedless, mad. Happily for her, the young man seemed to be simple +and unpretending; otherwise he would at once have built wild castles in +the air. She thought of him a good deal, and with some tenderness. He +was, in fact, attractive and good-looking and had a way of speaking, at +once gentle and firm, which impressed her greatly; then his passionate +devotion to his mother's memory, his retired life, his strange mania for +butterflies, all helped to make him interesting. + +How many times Clementina had thought over all this during the last few +months it would be hard to say, but very often, beyond a doubt. Her +spirit, lulled by a slumberous sweetness, was sentimentally inclined. +That home on the third floor, that sunny study, that quiet and simple +life. Who knows! Happiness may dwell where we least expect to find it. A +heap of frippery, a handful of gems, a dish or two more on the table +cannot give it. But an odious reflection, which for some little time had +embittered all her dreams, flashed through her mind. She was growing +old--yes, old. She allowed herself no illusions. Estefania found it more +difficult every week to hide the silver threads among her golden hair. +Though she firmly resisted every temptation to apply any chemical +preparation to her beautiful tresses, she was beginning to think that +there would be no help for it. The candid, eager, happy love, of which +her adventure with young Alcázar had given her visions, was not for her. +Nothing was left for her, nor had been for some time, but the vapid, +vulgar inanities of aristocratic fops, all equally commonplace in their +tastes, their speech, and their unfathomable vanity. What connection +could there be between her and this boy but that of mother and son? She +sometimes wondered whether Raimundo's feelings towards her were quite +what he had described them in that first interview; but at this moment +she was sure that he had spoken the simple truth, that love was +impossible between a lad of twenty and a woman of seven-and-thirty--for +she was seven-and-thirty though she was wont to take off two years--at +any rate such love as she at this moment longed for. + +These reflections furrowed her brow, and with an effort she determined +to think of something else. Looking at her maid in the glass, she +noticed that the girl was deadly pale. She turned round to make sure, +and said: + +"Are you ill, child? You are very white." + +"Yes, Señora," said the girl in some confusion. + +"Do you feel the old sickness again?" + +"I think so." + +"Well, go and lie down, and send up Concha. It is very odd. I will send +for the doctor to-morrow, to see if he can do anything for you." + +"No, no, Señora," the girl hastened to exclaim. "It is nothing, it will +go off." + +A few minutes later the lady made her appearance in the drawing-room, +brilliantly beautiful. Osorio was there already, walking up and down the +room with his friend and almost daily visitor at dinner, Bonifacio. He +was a man of about sixty, solemn and starch, with a bald head, a yellow +face and black teeth. He had been Governor in various provinces, and now +held the post of chief of a Department of State. He talked little, and +never contradicted--the first and indispensable virtue of a man who +would fain dine well and spend nothing, and his dress-coat was +perennially adorned with the red cross of the order of Calatrava to +which he belonged. In his own house, the most conspicuous object was a +portrait of himself with a very tall plume in his cap and an amazingly +long white cloak over his shoulders. + +In one corner sat Pascuala, a widow with no perceptible income, whom +Clementina regarded partly as a friend, and partly as a companion to be +made use of, and with her, Pepa Frias, who had just arrived. As +Clementina passed the two men to shake hands with Pepa, her eyes met her +husband's in a flash like gloomy and ominous lightning. Osorio's face, +always dark and bilious, was really impressive by its ferocity. It was +only for an instant. The ladies exchanged a few words, and the men +joined them, the banker beginning to jest with his wife about her dress +in a tone of affectionate banter. + +"That is the way my wife wastes my money. My dear, though you may not +care to hear it, I may tell you that you grow stout at an alarming +rate." + +"Do not say so, Osorio, Clementina has the loveliest skin of any woman +in Madrid," said Pascuala. + +"I should think so. The enamelling she went through in Paris last spring +cost me a pretty penny." + +Clementina fell in with the jest, but she had great difficulty in acting +her part. Through the convulsive smiles which now and then lighted up +her face, and her brief enigmatical phrases, it was easy to see her +uneasiness, and even a spice of hatred. + +The door-bell rang frequently, and in a few minutes the drawing-room +held fifteen or twenty guests. The Marquesa de Alcudia brought none of +her daughters; they were rarely seen at the Osorios'. Then came the +Marquesa de Ujo, a woman who had been pretty, but was now much faded; as +languid as a South American, though she was a native of Pamplona, +somewhat romantic, by way of being _incomprise_, with literary tastes. +She had with her a daughter, taller than herself, and who must have been +fifteen at least, though her mother made her wear petticoats above her +ankles that she might not make her seem old. The poor girl endured the +mortification with a fairly good grace, though she blushed when any one +happened to look at her feet. + +Next came General Patiño, Conde de Morillejo; he never missed a +Saturday. Then the Baron and Baroness de Rag appeared; it was their +first dinner there, and Clementina devoted herself to them, heaping them +with attentions. The Baron was plenipotentiary of some great foreign +Power. The Minister of Arts and Agriculture, Jimenez Arbos, Pinedo, Pepe +Castro, and the Cotorrasos husband and wife--all came in together. + +At the last moment, when it wanted but a few minutes of seven, Lola +Madariaga and her husband arrived. This lady, though much younger than +Clementina, was her most intimate friend, and the confidant of all her +secrets. She dined with her three or four times a week, and hardly a day +passed without their driving out together. She could not be called +pretty, but her face was so animated, her eyes sparkled so sweetly, and +her lips parted in such a bewitching smile to show her little white +teeth, that she had always many admirers. As a girl she had been an +accomplished flirt, turning all the men's heads, loving to have them at +her feet, prodigal of those insinuating smiles alike to the son of a +duke or a humble employé, to the old man with a bald head and a bottle +nose, or the slender youth of twenty, to the rich or the poor, the noble +or the plebeian. Her coquetry equalised ranks and fortunes, uniting all +men in a holy brotherhood to bask in the bright light of her fine black +eyes, and adore the delicious dimples which a smile brought into her +cheek, with all the other gifts and graces which a merciful Providence +had bestowed on her. Since her marriage she still showed the same +inexhaustible benevolence towards the human race, but in a less +wholesale fashion--that is to say, towards one, or at most two, at a +time. Her husband was a Mexican, very rich, with traces of Indian blood +in his features. + +They had been in the room only a minute or two when they were followed +by Fuentes, a very lively little man, ugly and lean, and a good deal +marked by the small-pox. No one knew what he lived on; he was supposed +to have some small investments. He was to be seen in every drawing-room +of any pretensions, and had a seat at the best tables. His titles to +such preference lay in his being regarded as a brilliant and witty +talker, intelligent and agreeable. For more than twenty years he had +shone at the dinners and balls of Madrid, playing the part of first +funny man. Some of his jests had become proverbial; they were repeated +not only in drawing-rooms but in the cafés, and from thence were +exported to the provinces. Unlike most men of his stamp, he was never +ill-natured. His banter was not intended to wound, but only to amuse the +company, and excite admiration for his easy, quick, and subtle wit. The +utmost license he allowed himself was to seize on the ridiculous side of +some absent friend as the subject for an epigram, but never, or almost +never, at the cost of his credit. These qualities made him the idol of +his circle. No one thought a party complete unless Fuentes at least put +in an appearance in the course of the evening. + +"Ah, Fuentes! Here is Fuentes!" cried one and another, as he appeared, +and a number of hands were extended to greet him. Shaking the first he +happened to grasp, he turned to the mistress of the house, saying in a +dry voice which in itself had a comic effect: + +"Pardon me, Clementina, if I am a little late. On my way I was caught by +Perales. You know Perales; I need say no more. Then, when I escaped from +his clutches, at the corner by the War Office, I fell into those of +Count de Sotolargo, and he, you know, is saddled with fifty per cent. +handicap." + +"Why?" asked Lola Madariaga. + +"He stammers, Señora." + +All laughed, some loudly, others more discreetly. That the sally was not +impromptu was evident a mile off; but it produced the desired effect, +partly because it really was droll, and partly because it was a point of +honour with every one to laugh whenever Fuentes opened his lips. + +A moment later a servant in livery opened the door, and announced that +dinner was served. + +Osorio hastened to offer his arm to the Baroness de Rag, and led the way +to the dining-room. The Baron closed the procession, leading Clementina. +The servants all stood in a row, armed with napkins and headed by the +butler. Osorio marshalled each guest to his place, and they soon were +all seated. + +The table was elegantly and attractively laid. The light from two large +hanging lamps shone on bright-hued flowers and fruit, on a snowy cloth, +sparkling glass, and shining porcelain. This light, however, being +somewhat crude, did not do justice to the ladies; it gave everything the +sharpness of an image in a camera. To moderate the glare and produce a +more diffused light, Clementina had two large candelabra, with coloured +shades, placed at each end of the table. All the ladies were in low +dresses--some, like Pepa Frias, disgracefully _décolletées_. The +gentlemen were in evening dress with white ties. + +At first the conversation was only between neighbours. The Baroness de +Rag, a Belgian, with brown hair and light blue eyes, and rather stout, +was asking Osorio the Spanish names for the various objects on the +table. She had not been long in Spain, and was most anxious to learn the +language. Clementina and the Baron were talking French. Pepa Frias, who +was between Pepe Castro and Jimenez Arbos, said to Castro, in an +undertone: + +"What do you think of Lola's husband? Really, not so bad for a +Brazilian?" + +Castro smiled with his characteristic superciliousness. + +"He must have lassoed many cows in the Pampas?" + +"Till a cow lassoed him." + +"But that was not on the Pampas." + +"I know--in a public garden. That is no news." + +General Patiño, faithful to military tradition and his own instincts, +was laying siege in due form to the Marquesa de Ujo, who sat by him. + +"Pearls suit you to perfection, Señora. A smooth and slightly olive skin +like yours, betraying the warm blood and fire of the South, is +peculiarly set off by Oriental splendour." + +"Flattering me as usual, General. I wear pearls because they are the +best gems I happen to possess. If I had emeralds as fine as +Clementina's, I would leave my pearls in the jewel case," replied the +lady, showing a row of rather faulty teeth when she smiled, heightened +with a few bright spots of dentist's gold. + +"You would be in error. A pretty woman should always wear what becomes +her most. The Almighty is surely best pleased to view His finest works +at their best. Emeralds suit fair complexions; but you are like the +Xeres grape: amber-tinted, with a heady and intoxicating essence at the +core." + +"As it might be a raisin!" + +"No, no, Marquesa; no." + +The General eagerly repelled the charge and defended himself as +valiantly as though in front of the enemy. + +Meanwhile the servants were moving about handing various dishes, while +others, bottle in hand, murmured in the ear of each guest, "Sauterne, +Sherry, Margaux," in a hollow tone like that of a Carthusian monk +muttering his _memento mori_. + +"I drink nothing but iced champagne," Pepa Frias announced to the +servant behind her. + +"You need so much cooling," exclaimed Castro. + +"You surely knew that," said the widow with a meaning look. + +"To my sorrow!" + +"Why, are you tired of Clementina?" + +Fuentes was not happy under these conditions. It grieved him to lavish +his wit in a _tête-à-tête_, so he seized the first opportunity of +raising his voice and attracting the attention of the whole party. + +"I saw you in the Carrera de San Jeromino yesterday morning, Fuentes," +said the Condesa de Cotorraso, who sat three or four places lower down. + +"That depends on what you call the morning, Condesa." + +"It was about eleven, a little before or after." + +"Then allow me to dispute your statement. I am never out of bed till +two." + +"Till two!" exclaimed one and another. + +"That is going to an excess!" cried the Marquesa de Alcudia. + +"But it is an aristocratic excess. Who gets up earliest in Madrid? The +scavengers, porters, scullions. A little later you will see the shopmen +taking down their shutters, the old women going to early Mass, grooms +airing their masters' horses, and so forth. Next come the men of +business and office clerks, who do all the real work of the Government, +milliners' girls and the like. By about eleven you may meet a better +class, officers in the army, students, civilians of a higher grade, and +merchants. At noon you see the larger fry, heads of houses, bankers, and +land-owners; but it is not till two that Ministers of State, Directors, +Grandees of the realm and distinguished writers are to be seen in the +streets." + +The whole company were listening, greatly edified by this defence of +laziness, and feeling themselves in a position to laugh at it, saying in +an undertone: + +"That Fuentes! Oh, that Fuentes can talk any one down!" + +Then, simply for the pleasure of it, some one contradicted him. + +"But then, my dear fellow, you do not know the delights of getting up +early in the morning to breathe the fresh air and bathe in the +sunshine!" + +"I would sooner bathe in warm water with a little bottle of Kananga." + +"Can you deny that the sun is glorious?" + +"Glorious by all means, but just a little vulgar. I do not say that at +the creation of the world it may not have been a very striking thing, +worth getting up to look at; but you must admit that by this time it is +a little played out. Can there be anything more ridiculous in these +downright days than to call oneself Phoebus Apollo and drive a golden +chariot? And, after all, the sun has no intrinsic merits; it stays +blazing where God put it, while gas and the electric light represent the +brain-work of men of genius. They are the triumph of intelligence, a +record of the power of mind over matter, the sovereignty of intellect +throughout the universe. Besides, you can always see the sun for +nothing, and I have always had a horror of free exhibitions." + +The company were all in fits of laughter, and Fuentes, encouraged by +their mirth, outdid himself in paradoxes and ingenious quibbles, +obviously forcing his own hand now and then. He fell into the mistake of +certain over-praised actors: he did not know where to stop, and at last +became farcical. From the farcical to the gross is but a step, and +Fuentes not infrequently crossed the line. + +The Conde de Cotorraso persisted in his defence of the sun to encourage +his friend's ingenious abuse. It was the sun which gave vitality to all +nature, which warmed the earthly globe, and so forth. + +"As to the sun giving life, I deny it," replied Fuentes. "Madrid is much +more alive by night than by day, and, as to warming me, I much prefer +coke, which does not give rise to fevers. Come, Count, be frank now. +What particular merit can there be in a thing which, under all +circumstances, your valet must see before you do?" + +This was regarded as a final happy hit, and the subject was dropped. + +From talking of the sun they came to talking of the shade, and of the +shade of poisonous trees. The Marquesa de Ujo asked Lola's husband, the +Mexican, whose name was Ballesteros, whether the manchineel were a +native of his country. He replied that it was not, but that he had seen +it growing in Brazil. The lady inquired very particularly into its +properties, but she was greatly disenchanted on hearing that the shade +of the tree was not pernicious, and that it was only the acrid juice of +the fruit which was poisonous. + +"So that you do not die if you fall asleep under it?" + +"Señora, I did not fall asleep, don't you see? But I breakfasted under +one with a party of friends, and we were none the worse." + +"Well, then, how does Selika commit suicide in the _Africaine_ by lying +down in the shade of a manchineel?" + +"It is a fable, an invention of the poet's. It is a pretty idea but not +true." + +The Marquesa, quite disappointed by this realistic view of the matter, +refused altogether to accept it, and argued that possibly the +manchineels of India were not the same as the American kind. + +"Is it true, Ballesteros," asked Clementina, "that you have eight +hundred thousand cows?" + +"Oh, Señora, that is an exaggeration! My herds number three hundred +thousand at most." + +"If they were mine," said Fuentes, "I would build a tank as large as the +Retiro Gardens, and fill it with milk and sail a boat on it." + +"We make no use of the milk, Señor, nor of the butter. We sometimes dry +the meat for exportation, don't you see? But generally we only save the +skin. And the horns also are sold for various forms of manufacture." + +"Plague take him for a bore!" said Pepe Castro in a low voice, but loud +enough for Jimenez Arbos to hear where he sat by Pepa Frias, who was +taken with a fit of laughter which she had the greatest difficulty in +choking down. + +She addressed herself to Clementina to conceal her mirth as far as +possible: + +"Pass me the mustard, there's a trump," said she. + +"Trump, trump? What is a trump?" asked the Baroness de Rag, in her +eagerness to learn the language, and Osorio explained the use of the +word. + +Pepa addressed herself from time to time to Jimenez Arbos; a few brief +sentences in a low tone, which showed that they were on intimate terms, +and at the same time revealed a desire to be prudent. Her conversation +with Castro on her left was more animated. + +"Why don't you advise Arbos to eat more meat?" he asked her. + +"Why should I?" + +"Because he ought to eat meat to give him strength to endure the +fatigues of daily life." + +"To be sure," said the widow, sarcastically. "But do you take care of +yourself and leave others to settle their own affairs as Providence may +guide them." + +"Well, you see I manage to get fed." + +"Yes, but do not let it go to your brain, or one fine day, when you +least expect it, you may find yourself without a dinner." + +"Have I offended you?" said the young man, laughing as if he had heard +something very amusing. + +"No, my dear fellow, no. I mean what I say. For my part I cannot think +how Clementina can bear such a Narcissus as you." + +"Hush! hush! Be careful, Pepa, pray be careful!" cried Castro, with an +alarmed glance at the mistress of the house. + +"Do you know she is wonderfully artful. She has not looked at you once." + +Castro, who had been a good deal piqued these few days past by his +lady's coldness, smiled a forced smile and then knit his brows. Pepa did +not fail to observe this. + +"Look at the black cloud on Osorio's face; it is enough to frighten one! +And you are the guilty cause of it, you wretch!" + +"I! Oh, dear no! It is more likely to be some question of ready money +which makes him look so bilious. I hear he is ruined, or within an ace +of it." + +Pepa started visibly. + +"Who says so? Where did you hear that?" + +"Several persons have told me so." + +The widow turned sharply to Arbos on her other hand, and asked him in a +whisper: + +"Have you heard anything about Osorio's being ruined?" + +"Yes, I have heard it said that Osorio has for some time been buying for +a fall, and the market has gone up steadily," replied the official, with +a toss of his head suggesting a peacock, and there was a touch of +evident satisfaction in his tone. To a politician, buying for a fall is +a crime worthy of any punishment. "I do not know how much he may be let +in for at the next account; but if it is anything considerable, he is a +ruined man. Consols have gone up one per cent., by the end of the month +they may have risen to two." + +Pepa's good spirits had entirely disappeared. She sat looking at her +plate and listlessly using her fork to finish the slice of York ham she +had taken. The Minister, observing her gloomy silence, asked her: + +"Have you by any chance any money in his hands?" + +"By chance! No, by my own idiocy. Almost everything I possess is in his +hands." + +"The devil it is!" + +"Everything I have eaten has turned on my stomach; I believe I am going +to be ill," said the lady, who was as pale as a sheet. + +Arbos did his best to tranquillise her; perhaps it was not true: sudden +losses, like sudden fortunes, are always greatly exaggerated. Besides, +if any deposit were sacred to Osorio, it would surely be that of a lady +who had entrusted her money to him out of pure friendship. + +Though they were talking almost in a whisper, their grave looks and +earnest manner attracted the notice of General Patiño, who, turning to +the Marquesa de Ujo, said with singular perspicacity: + +"Just look at Pepa and Arbos, a summer cloud has fallen on them. Love is +a beautiful thing even in its transient torments!" + +Clementina meanwhile, with Lola and the Condera de Cotorraso, had been +discussing the effects of arsenic as a drug for beautifying the +complexion and skin. It was the first time Lola had heard of it, and she +was quite delighted, declaring that she would forthwith try this +miraculous elixir. + +"Good heavens, Lolita!" exclaimed Fuentes, "if, as you are, you cause +such havoc in masculine hearts, what will happen after you have followed +a regimen of arsenic for a few months? Señor Ballesteros, do not permit +her to take it; it is too cruel to the rest of us." + +"Come, come, friend Fuentes," said the pretty brunette, casting an +insinuating glance at Castro, for she had taken it into her head that +she would snatch him from Clementina, "are you trying to chaff me?" + +"Chaff, what is chaff?" the Baroness de Rag asked again. + +Bonifacio had for some moments been staring, without winking even, at +the Belgian lady. A few days since he had purchased a photograph of a +figure lounging in a hammock. He fancied that the Baroness strongly +resembled this picture, and was anxious to convince himself by a +prolonged study of what he could see whether what he could not see was +equally like it. + +The dinner could not end of course without a long discussion of the +opera, Gayarre and Tosti. Otherwise the meal could not have been +digested. The coffee was served in the dining-room, as was the custom of +the house. Then the ladies withdrew to the drawing-room, followed by +several of the men; others remained to smoke, but it was not long before +they joined the others. The dining-room was intolerably hot. + +Pepe Castro took advantage of the little stir as they left the +dining-room to ask Clementina: + +"Why did you not come this morning?" + +Clementina paused a second, and looked at him with a condescending +smile. "This morning?" she said. "I don't know." + +"You don't know?" said the lordly youth with a sovereign frown. + +"I don't know, I don't know," and she turned away still smiling a little +disdainfully. + +"You will come to-morrow?" + +"We will see," she replied, walking away. + +Castro felt that smile like a stab in his breast. He bit his under-lip, +muttering: "Coquetting, eh? You shall pay me for this, my beauty!" + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +AFTER DINNER. + + +There were already some fresh arrivals in the drawing-room, among them +Ramon Maldonado, and Pepa's daughter with her husband. In the adjoining +room, six tables were laid out for cards, and some of the company sat +down immediately to play _tresillo_. Others waited for their usual party +to appear. It was not long before the rooms were crowded. Don Julian +arrived with Mariana and Esperancita, Cobo Ramirez with Leon Guzman and +three or four others of the same kidney, General Pallarés, the Marquis +de Veneros, and several others, most of the men being merchants and +bankers. + +One of the last to arrive was the Duke de Requena, who was welcomed with +the same eager and flattering deference here as elsewhere. He came in +snuffling, smoking, spitting, insolently sure of the respect always paid +to his immense fortune. He spoke little and laughed less, expressed his +opinions with gross rudeness, and sat to be adored by the crowd of +ladies who gathered round him. His cheeks were more flabby, his eyes +more bloodshot, his lips blacker than ever. His whole appearance was so +hideous that Fuentes, pointing him out, remarked to Pinedo and Jimenez +Arbos: "There you see the Devil holding court among his witches at a +Sabbath." + +He was invited to join a party at _tresillo_, as usual, but declined. He +had caught sight of two bankers, whom he was eager to secure for the +affair of the Riosa Mines, and he also wanted to pay court for a few +minutes to Arbos. He had already contrived to get the mine put up to +sale by auction with all its lands and plant. A company had been formed +to buy it, but there was a difference of opinion among the directors; +some wanted to pay for it money down, and among these was Salabert, +while others wished to take advantage of the ten instalments allowed by +the Government. The difference in interest was of course enormous. + +The Duke made his way to speak to a Mr. Biggs, the representative of an +English house, which was largely interested in the company, and the head +of the party who were for payment by instalments. He put his arm over +his shoulder, and led him into the recess of a window, saying roughly: + +"Then you are bent on ruining us!" + +And he proceeded to discuss the matter with a bluntness which +disconcerted the Englishman. He replied to the Duke's brutal attack with +mild and courteous argument, and a fixed benevolent smile. The Duke only +spoke with added rudeness, which was in point of fact, very diplomatic. + +"I have no fancy for throwing away my money. It has cost me a great deal +of trouble to get it at all, you see; and in the long run I may very +likely be obliged to escape with my skin by getting out of the +business." + +"Señor Duque, it is no fault of mine," said Biggs, with a strong English +accent, "I must obey orders." + +"These orders are instigated by an old fox in Madrid that I know of." + +"Oh, Señor Duque! there is no old fox in the case," said Biggs, +laughing. + +And the banker could not get anything out of the Englishman, though he +left him much to think of. + +Pepa Frias, in great agitation, after ascertaining from various +authorities that Osorio's affairs were looking badly, was talking +matters over with Jimenez Arbos. Every one was of opinion that Osorio +could meet his engagements; he had a large capital, and though he had +lost heavily at the last few settlements, it was not supposed that he +could be seriously hit. It must, however, be added, that none of these +gentlemen gambled, as Osorio did, for differences in the market. With +him it had become a vice, and, in spite of the warnings of his friends +and colleagues, he could not control the passion which sooner or later +must inevitably bring him to ruin. + +Pepa was watching him closely, and with a woman's keen insight she +divined a troubled sea under his cold, quiet demeanour. Arbos was +soothing her in stilted and well turned phrases--for not even to his +mistress could he throw off the orator--while the widow herself was +meditating some means of salvation. Her plan was to give the alarm to +Clementina, and extract her promise to snatch Pepa's fortune from the +burning, if burning there must be, by pledging her own settlements. +Trusting much to her own diplomacy, and to her friend's reckless habits, +she grew somewhat calmer, and Arbos took advantage of her restored +serenity to exert the exceptional gifts of persuasion which Providence +had bestowed on him. + +Pepa recovered so far, in fact, as to sit down to cards with Clementina, +Pinedo, and Arbos. As she crossed the drawing-room, she saw in a corner +her daughter and son-in-law, sitting like two devoted turtle-doves. She +stopped to speak to them, and as her temper was not entirely pacified, +her tone was sharp. + +"Yesterday you were ready to call each other out, and to-day nothing +will part you! Come, children, do not sit together all the evening. You +should not be so spooney in company." + +Emilio was offended by her authoritative tone, the colour mounted to his +face, and he was on the point of answering his mother-in-law in the same +key, but she was gone into the card-room. So there he was left muttering +an oath, and saying that he had never been in the habit of taking a +scolding from any one, and he was not going to begin with his +mother-in-law, with other equally vehement and incoherent declarations, +which made Irenita look very doleful, and would have ended in tears if +he had not discovered it in time, and, giving her a loving little nip +inside her arm, asked her at the same time to let him have half of the +mint-drop she was sucking in her pretty mouth. And hereupon they fell to +cooing again, as if they had been in the virgin forest instead of +Osorio's drawing-room. + +A party of five or six young girls, and among them Esperancita, were +talking with a group of the younger men. Two of these were Cobo Ramirez +and our intelligent friend Ramon Maldonado. It would be difficult to +reduce to writing the ideas exchanged by these youthful talkers. They +must have been subtle, amusing, and pointed, if we may judge by the +mirth they gave rise to. At the same time the keen observer would have +detected the fact that the young ladies' gestures, appealing eyes, saucy +glances, and insinuating graces, even their shouts of laughter, had no +direct connection with what was said. + +For instance, a bland youth remarked: + +"I saw you, yesterday, Manolita, at San José's, confessing to Father +Ortega." + +The damsel addressed laughed heartily. + +"No, Paco, I am sure you did not see me." + +"Pilar," said another, "Where do you buy such pretty fans?" + +Pilar went into fits of laughter. + +"What a joke! And you--where did you buy such a hideous dog as you take +trotting at your heels?" + +"Hideous, yes. But a darling, you must own." + +Such speeches as these excited the most noisy merriment among the young +people. They talked loud, giggled and gesticulated. The girls especially +seemed to have swallowed quicksilver. Those who had good teeth showed +them incessantly; those who had not laughed behind their fans. But the +person who made most noise, and gave rise to most amusement was, beyond +a doubt, Leon Guzman. Manolita, a vixenish little thing, with black +eyes, and a wide mouth full of beautiful teeth, asked him what o'clock +it was. He, drawing out his watch, replied that it was a quarter past +ten. Then the Count produced his watch, and it appeared that it was +already nearly twelve. This subterfuge amused the girls immensely. +Manolita, especially, laughed till she was quite limp; the more she +tried to suppress her laughter the more convulsive she became. It was +very evident that there was in the speech, and beneath the common-place +and even stupid aspect of these gentlemen, a well-spring of humour, as +fresh as it was deep, such as only young people of from fifteen to +twenty can assimilate and enjoy. + +When this mirth had somewhat subsided Leon Guzman contrived with some +skill to move a little apart, and enter into conversation with +Esperancita. This deeply pained and vexed Ramon. For the last ten days +he had observed that the Conde de Agreda had cast admiring eyes in the +direction of the lady of his adoration. He regarded him as a more +dangerous rival than Cobo, being a man of much better position. Cobo, +indeed, as he could see, was making no way, and this had comforted him; +but now the aspect of affairs had changed. He could take no part in the +merriment of the group, but sat making calf's eyes at the damsel in the +most lamentable fashion. Esperancita, to his great consolation, was by +no means especially amiable to the Count; she seemed bored, indeed, and +depressed, looking very frequently towards the spot where Ramon himself +was sitting. Behind him, to be sure, were Pepe Castro and Lola, talking +with the greatest animation; but of this the young civilian was not +aware. + +When Leon moved, Ramon led him aside, and in a low tone made his plaint. +Leon was to know that he, Ramon Maldonado, was also paying attentions to +Esperancita, and was, in fact, hopelessly in love with her. It was a +blow he could not bear, that so intimate a friend should come in his +way. He pathetically reminded him of their childhood; their sports +together, their school-life; and ended by beseeching him, in a voice +broken by emotion, that unless he were really attached to Esperanza, he +would cease to make him jealous. To all this Leon listened, half +ashamed, and half impatient; to be rid of Ramon he promised all he +asked; and presently among his intimates he had a good laugh at the cost +of the low-born deputy. + +Requena, after explaining his schemes to Biggs, sat down to play cards +with the Condesa Cotorraso, the Mexican, and General Pallarés. But in a +few minutes he was snorting with rage over his bad hands. In spite of +his wealth he always played as eagerly as though it were of the greatest +importance to him, whether he lost or gained a few dollars. If luck was +against him, he got into a positively infernal temper, grumbling at his +antagonists, and almost insulting them. His daughter was not +unfrequently obliged to interfere and take his cards to play them in his +place. Just now, Clementina was playing at the next table, apparently to +her own satisfaction, and laughing at Pepa Frias for being silent and +absent-minded. + +"By the way, Pinedo, I had forgotten," said she, as she sorted the fan +of cards she held. "Why on earth did you try this morning to make your +little daughter believe that Alcantara, of all men, was a saint of +virtue?" + +"That is my secret," replied Pinedo. + +"Tell it, tell it!" cried Clementina and Pepa, both in the same breath. + +He let them beg and pray a little; then, after bidding them promise +solemnly that they would never reveal it, he told them that, having +observed a marked tendency in girls to fall in love with idlers and +evil-minded youths, and to reject those who were steady and +hard-working, he reversed the facts when talking of a scapegrace, in +order that his daughter might not fall into the hands of one of them. +When a well-conducted, hard-working young fellow went past, he always +spoke of him as a simpleton or a rogue; if, on the contrary, they met a +man like Alcantara, who deserved the worst character, he spoke of him in +the highest terms. + +Pepa, Clementina, and Arbos had paused in their game to smile at this +strange explanation. + +"And has this plan had the desired effect?" asked the Minister. + +"Admirably, up to the present time. It never occurs to my daughter even +to speak of those whom I have praised for their virtues. On the other +hand, she will sometimes say, with a smile: 'Do you know, papa, I met +that profligate young friend of yours. He is really very pleasant and +nice looking, as you must allow, and seems to be intelligent. What a +pity that he should not sober down.'" + +At this instant, Cobo Ramirez, who was wandering about, snorting like a +tired ox, came up to the table and asked what they were laughing at. No +one could be induced to tell. Pinedo signed to them to be silent, for he +was greatly afraid of Cobo's tongue. Pepe Castro, too, tired of trying +to rouse Clementina's jealousy by his behaviour to Lola without any +visible result, softly approached her table with an air of deep +melancholy. He posted himself behind Pepa Frias, resting his arms on the +back of her chair. Fuentes came up to say Good night. + +"Will you not take some chocolate?" asked Clementina, holding out her +hand. + +"How can you expect a man to drink chocolate when he has just had a +sonnet fired off in his face?" + +"Mariscal?" + +"The very man. In the dining-room--he lay in ambush." + +Mariscal was a young poet in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, who wrote +sonnets to the Virgin and odes to duchesses. "But I avenged myself like +a Barbary Moor. I introduced him to Cotorraso who is giving him a +lecture on oils. Look how the poor wretch is suffering!" + +The gamblers looked round, and saw, in fact, the two men in a corner +together. The Count was haranguing vehemently, and holding his victim by +the lapel of his coat. The unhappy poet, with a rueful countenance, +trying to give signals of distress by glances, stood like a man who is +being taken to prison. + +"Arbos, do you think I am sufficiently avenged?" + +He turned on his heel and hastily left the room, not to weaken the +effect of his sarcasm. Thus, every evening, he made his appearance at +two or three houses, where his wit and cleverness were the subject of +constant praise. + +The servants presently came with trays of chocolate and ices. Cobo +Ramirez seized a little Japanese table, carried it off into a corner, +sat down to it, and prepared to stuff. Pepa Frias looked about her, and +seeing General Patiño, called to him. + +"Here, General, take my cards, I am tired of playing. Hand yours over to +Pepe, Clementina, and let us go into the other room." + +The two gentlemen took their seats, and the ladies went towards the +drawing-room; but, on their way, Pepa said: + +"I want to speak with you on a matter of importance; let us go somewhere +else." + +Clementina stared with amazement. + +"Shall we go into the dining-room?" + +"No, we had better go up to your dressing-room." + +Her friend was more surprised than ever, but, shrugging her shoulders, +she said: "Just as you please; it must be something very serious." + +They went upstairs, Clementina imagining that her friend wished to speak +of Pepe Castro, and their relations to each other. And as, to tell the +truth, the subject had greatly lost its interest, she walked on feeling +very indifferent, not to say considerably bored. When they were alone in +the boudoir, Pepa took her hands, and looking her straight in the face, +she said: + +"Tell me, Clementina, do you know how your husband's affairs stand?" + +It was a home-thrust; Clementina, though she had no exact information, +had heard of her husband's losses, and of his increasing and delirious +passion for gambling. And in a discussion on money matters they had +recently had, he had frightened her in order to obtain her signature; +also she could see that he was every day more absent-minded and +depressed. But though she could give her thoughts to such matters for a +few minutes now and again, the complicated bustle of her life as a woman +of fashion, seconded by her dislike of all disagreeable subjects, soon +put them out of her head. It never for an instant occurred to her that +such losses might seriously affect her comfort or convenience, her +ostentatious display, or her caprices. Osorio's conduct gave her every +reason to continue in this faith, for he had never desired her to +retrench in her extravagance. But the viper was lurking at the bottom of +her heart, and at a lash like this from Pepa it began to gnaw. + +"My husband's affairs?" she stammered, as though she did not understand. +"I never heard. I do not inquire." + +"Well, I am told that he has been losing a great deal of money lately." + +"I dare say," exclaimed her friend, with a shrug of supreme contempt. + +"But you may find your hair singed, too, my dear. Is your own money +safe?" + +"I do not know what you are driving at. I tell you I know nothing of +business." + +"But in this case you had better gain some information." + +"But I tell you I do not trouble my head about it, and beg you will +change the subject." + +In proportion as Pepa was obstinate Clementina was reserved and haughty. +Her pride, always on the alert, led her to suppose that this lady had +plotted for this discussion on purpose to mortify her. + +"The thing is, my dear, as I feel bound to tell you, that your husband +does not speculate with his own money only," said the widow, driven to +bay. + +"Ah! Now I begin to see! You have a few hundred dollars in Osorio's +hands, and are afraid of losing them," said Clementina with a satirical +smile, and with difficulty swallowing down her wrath. + +Pepa turned pale. A surge of rage rose from her heart to her lips, and +she was on the point of casting her fortune over-board and simply +railing like a market woman--a style for which she was especially +gifted--but an instinct of self-interest, of self-preservation, checked +the outburst. If she were to quarrel with her friend, or even to offend +her, all hope of saving her capital would be lost. She perceived that +the better part was not to provoke her implacable nature, but to hope +that friendship, or even pride, might prompt her to an act of +generosity. With a great effort she controlled her annoyance at +Clementina's supercilious and arrogant gaze, and said, dejectedly: + +"Well, yes; I own it. Your husband has in his hands the whole of my +little possessions. If I lose it I shall be absolutely destitute. I do +not know what will become of me. I would rather beg than be dependent on +my son-in-law." + +"Beg! No, you need not do that. I will engage you as my companion in the +place of Pascuala," said Clementina scornfully, for her pride was by no +means propitiated. + +Pepa was more stung by this than she had ever been before, but still she +controlled herself. + +"Well, my dear," she said, again taking her hands with a caressing +gesture, "do not fling your millions in my teeth. If I come to worry you +about the matter, it is because I regard you as my best friend. I know, +of course, that there is a great deal of exaggeration, and that envy is +rampant. More than half that is said about Osorio's losses is probably +not true." + +"And even if it were, it really matters very little to me. Only to-day +my stepmother told me that she meant to leave me her whole fortune." + +Pepa's eyes opened very wide. + +"The Duchess! And she cannot have less than fifty million francs! Poor +soul! I am afraid she is very ill." + +"Pretty bad." + +At this moment arrogance had the upper hand in Clementina of every +instinct of affection. She spoke the two words "pretty bad" in a tone of +freezing indifference. + +The two ladies had soon come to a perfect understanding. Pepa, still +affecting an easy manner, flattered her friend in every possible way: +she was beautiful, rich, a model of elegance. Clementina allowed herself +to be flattered, inhaling the incense with intense satisfaction. In +return she promised Pepa that she should not lose a centime of her +capital. + +They went down the stairs with their arms round each other's waist, +chattering like a pair of magpies. As they reached the drawing-room +door, before parting, they embraced and kissed. + +And it did not occur to either of them that the embrace and kiss were +those of a corpse--the corpse of a good and generous woman. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +RAIMUNDO'S LOVE AFFAIRS. + + +Clementina's new love adventure went on in a manner no less childish +than pleasing for her. After the inopportune act of heedlessness which +had brought her to so much shame, she took care for some days not to +look up at Raimundo, though the greetings he waved her were more +expressive and affectionate than ever. This fancy--for it deserves no +better name--was, however, taking such deep root in her imagination that +she determined to indulge it again, and on each occasion she found the +young man's opera-glasses directed towards her. Finally, one day, as she +turned the corner, she kissed her hand to him. + +"Really, I have lost all sense of shame!" said she to herself, with a +blush. And it was so true that she did the same again whenever she went +by. + +But the situation, though romantic and novel, began to weigh upon her. +Her impetuous temperament would never allow her to enjoy the present in +peace; it drove her to seek further, to precipitate events; though not +unfrequently, instead of procuring her pleasure, they only left her +entangled in the ruins of the dream-palace she had raised. On this +occasion, however, she had better reason than usual for wishing to get +out of the predicament. It was altogether such a false position as to +verge on the ridiculous; and she owned as much to herself in her most +secret soul. + +"In point of fact, I am treating this boy like a dancing bear." + +But though she every day determined to put an end to the adventure by +going out no more on foot, or by passing by Raimundo's house without +looking up, bowing to him coldly at the utmost, she had not resolution +enough to carry out her purpose, nor even to cease sending her greeting +up to the corner window. One thing still puzzled her, and that was, that +the young man, seeing the evident tokens she had given of her change of +mind, and the rather humiliating proofs of her liking for him, had never +failed in his obedience--never followed her, nor attempted to meet her +out walking. This at last piqued her vanity; she thought he played his +new part with too much zeal. And thinking this she was sometimes quite +angry with him; but then as she went past and saw him so smiling, so +happy, so eager to bow to her, the black mood of her pride was +dispelled, and her heart was again full to overflowing, of sympathy for +the boy, and of the whimsical desire to love and to be loved by him. + +How would it all end? In nothing, probably. Nevertheless, she did her +utmost to carry on the affair, and bring it to some definite issue; of +that there is no doubt. And her wish being thwarted by causes which she +could not clearly understand, it grew, till by degrees it became a +fierce appetite. One afternoon, when disappointment and bitterness +possessed her breast, as she was walking down the Calle de Serrano, +seriously pondering on giving up this ridiculous adventure, as she +passed beneath the window, after bowing to the young man seated there, +she felt a handful of loose flowers fall upon her. She looked up, +understanding that it was he who had flung them, and gave him a smile of +tender gratitude. This shower refreshed her spirit and revived her +drooping fancy. Now she only thought of some way of bringing him nearer +to her. She thought of writing to beg his forgiveness for her visit and +her stern words, but it was too late for that. Then she fancied that +perhaps among her friends, particularly among journalists, there might +be some one who would know him, and by whom she might send him some +civil message. But this idea she dismissed as dangerous. She almost +thought of giving him some signal to come down to her, and explaining +herself verbally, but this again she did not dare. It was too +humiliating. + +Chance came to her aid, solving the dilemma to her satisfaction when she +least expected it. They met one evening at the theatre. Raimundo, whose +year of deep mourning was nearly at an end, now occasionally went out, +and he and his sister were in the stalls. Clementina was in a box just +above them. They exchanged bows, and then for some time there was a +cross-fire of glances and smiles, which attracted Aurelia's attention. + +"Who is it? Have you been meeting that lady again?" + +"No." + +"Then what is the meaning of your smiles? You seem to be intimate +friends." + +"I do not know," said the brother, somewhat embarrassed. "She is always +very friendly to me. Perhaps she thinks she offended me when she came to +our rooms, and wishes to mollify me." + +Between the first and second acts, a beautiful spray of camellia was +handed to Aurelia by a flower-seller. + +"From the lady in box number eleven." + +Aurelia looked up, and saw Clementina gazing and smiling at her. She and +Raimundo bowed their thanks, Aurelia blushing deeply. + +"Do not you think," said her brother, "that I ought to go upstairs and +thank her?" + +It was but natural. Raimundo, when the curtain next fell, left his +sister for a moment, and went up to the Osorios' box. A happy smile +beamed on Clementina's face as she saw the young man at the door. She +received him as an old friend, bade him sit down by her side, and began +a conversation in an undertone, completely neglecting Pascuala whom she +had brought with her. Happily for this lady, Bonifacio came in before +long; he never took a stall at any theatre where he knew that the +Osorios had a box. + +"I am glad to see that you have no grudge against me," said she in a low +voice, with an insinuating glance. "That is right. It shows you have +both a good heart and good sense. I must frankly confess that I was +utterly mistaken in my estimate of your conduct and character. I can +only assure you that when I came out of your house, I would gladly have +turned back to beg your pardon. If not in words, in looks and gestures I +have asked it many times since, as you will have understood." And she +proceeded, in the most masterly way, to give him three or four more +encouraging hints, which quite turned poor Raimundo's head--that is to +say, left him speechless, confused, and fascinated; just as she would +have him, in short. At the same time she skilfully accounted for the +rather singular display of liking for him which she herself was ashamed +to recall. + +Without leaving him time to reply, she inquired after his sister, his +health, and his butterflies. Raimundo answered briefly, not out of +indifference, but for lack of worldly ease of manner. But she was +nothing daunted, she became more and more affectionate, entangling him +in a perfect maze of flattering speeches and inviting glances. At the +moment when she was most fluent, it might almost be said inspired to +conquer her youthful adorer, suddenly, in the passage between the +stalls, Pepe Castro appeared on the scene, in evening dress, the ends of +his moustache waxed to needle points, the curls of his hair waving +coquettishly over his temples, his whole air easy, self-sufficient, and +scornful. He first cast his fascinating and Olympic eye over the stalls, +subjugating every marriageable damsel who happened to be occupying one, +and then, with the serene dignity of an eagle's soaring flight, he +raised it to box number eleven. He could not suppress a start of +surprise. Who was this with whom Clementina was on such intimate terms? +He did not know this young man. He brought his diminutive opera-glasses +to bear on him--no, he had never seen him in his life. Clementina, +conscious of her lover's surprise, after returning his greeting, became +doubly amiable to Raimundo, addressing herself solely to him, leaning +over to speak to him, and going through endless manoeuvres to attract +the attention of the illustrious "Savage." She felt a malignant glee in +doing this. Castro was now absolutely indifferent to her. Raimundo +returned Pepe's impertinent stare through his opera-glasses, by a +curious glance now and then, for he had not the honour of knowing the +"husband's bugbear!" + +Then reflecting that his sister would be losing patience, though he +could keep an eye on her from the box, he rose to depart. + +"We are friends, are we not?" said the lady, holding his hand. "Remember +me affectionately to your sister. I owe her, too, an apology for my +strange and unexpected visit. Tell her I shall call on her some day and +take her by surprise in the midst of her household cares. I take the +greatest interest in you both--a brother and sister, both so young--good +night, good night." + +When he found himself by his sister's side once more, feeling rather +bewildered, Aurelia said to him: + +"How very handsome that lady is! But still I cannot see that she is like +mamma." + +Raimundo, who at the moment had forgotten the likeness, was taken by +surprise. + +"Oh, there is a sort of look--an air," he stammered out. + +So now it was no more than an air. The young man was conscious of a +vague remorse. The impression Clementina now produced on his mind was +not that respectful devotion which had possessed him before they had +made acquaintance in so strange a manner. + +Pepe Castro, when he saw him in the stalls, simply stared at him, +hoping, perhaps to annihilate him. As he concluded that the red-haired +youth did not belong to the elevated sphere in which he himself moved, +it occurred to him--for his imagination was lively--that this might be +the youth of whose pertinacity Clementina had formerly complained. As +was but natural this did not prejudice him in Alcázar's favour. +Raimundo himself was too much absorbed in contemplating the Osorios' box +to notice his rival's determined stare, and Pepe, tired of it at last, +went up to join Clementina. He seated himself by her side in the very +place occupied shortly before by Alcázar, who, on seeing him there, was +aware of a strange _malaise_, an obscure dejection which he did not even +attempt to define. Nevertheless, he observed that the lady smiled a +great deal, and that the gentleman was very grave, also that she found +time to cast frequent glances in his direction, whereat her companion +grew more and more sullen and gloomy. + +"Have you noticed how that lady gazes down at you?" said Aurelia to her +brother. "She seems to have taken quite a fancy to you." + +"Nonsense!" he replied, turning very red. "Such a fellow as I am too! If +it were that gentleman who is sitting by her now." + +Aurelia protested, laughing, that her brother was far better looking +than that doll of a man, with pink cheeks like a ballet-dancer's. + +When the performance was over, Raimundo, not without a pang of jealousy, +found Clementina waiting in the lobby for her carriage, attended by this +same man. But she greeted him so eagerly, that Castro, who was becoming +uneasy, turned to give him a long and scrutinising stare. + +For some days after this, the young entomologist anxiously expected +Clementina to stop at the door, and come up to pay the promised visit. +But he was disappointed. The lady constantly went by with her light +brisk step, bowed as she approached, and before she turned the corner, +waved him an adieu. Every time she passed the door, Raimundo's heart +sank, and at last he grew angry. "Pshaw! She has forgotten all about +it," he said to himself. "I shall never, probably, speak to her again, +since we never by any chance meet anywhere." + +He did his best to assist chance, by going more often to the play, where +he never saw her. At the opera, he would certainly have found her, but +he never was so bold as to go there for fear she might think he had +renewed his pursuit. Why he had taken it into his head that she would +call at any one hour more than at another it is impossible to say. But +in the end his surprise and agitation were unbounded when one morning +Clementina really made her appearance. This time she asked for the +Señorita. Aurelia received her in the drawing-room, and immediately sent +for her brother. By the time he appeared the lady was sitting on the +sofa and chatting with the frank ease of an old acquaintance. + +"This visit is not to you, you understand," said she, giving him her +hand. + +"I should never have dared to imagine that it was," he replied, shyly +pressing her fingers. + +"There is no knowing. I do not think you conceited, but a woman must +always be on her guard." + +There was something not quite genuine in the candour of her jesting +tone. Her voice was slightly tremulous, and there was a pale circle +round her eyes, a sure sign of some emotion which weighs on the mind. +Her visit was short, but she found time to charm the young girl by her +delicate flattery and effusive offers. She made her promise to return +her visit soon; in the evening if she preferred to meet no one, and they +would have a long chat together. She would show Aurelia the house, and +some work she was doing. The girl's loneliness and youth had really made +an impression on her, and if, in fact, she bore some resemblance to +their mother, as Raimundo said, she felt she had some claim on her +affection. + +"Well, then, when you are bored here by yourself, come to my house--it +is such a little way--and we will bore each other. That will be a +variety, at any rate." + +Poor Aurelia, bewildered by her visitor's condescension and unfamiliar +worldly tone, could only smile in reply. When Clementina rose to go, she +said: + +"I rely on you, Alcázar, to see that your sister keeps her promise. As +for you--you can do as you please. I never press my society on a +_savant_, for I know one may be boring him when one least suspects it." + +She had quite recovered her balance, and spoke in an easy protecting +tone, with almost a maternal air. Even on the staircase she paused to +reiterate all her friendly advances. She would not allow Raimundo to +escort her to the house-door; she went down alone, leaving a trail of +perfume which he enjoyed more than his sister did. When their door was +closed on her, Aurelia did not speak; and she replied to her brother's +rapturous eulogies in so few words that his ardour was soon dashed. + +It was too true: the feeling of filial adoration which the young +professor had felt at first for the lady of his dreams was fast dying +away, or rather was being transformed into another, less saintly though +still akin to it. In him, as in every man who lives out of the society +of women, and exclusively devoted to study, the instincts of sex and the +revelation of the divine law of love were sudden and intense. On the +very next day he urged Aurelia to return Clementina's call, though he +expressed his wish with some timidity and hesitation. His sister, +however, insisted on the propriety of allowing some little time to +elapse, and he submitted. At length the visit was paid. Aurelia spent an +afternoon in the Señora's boudoir. Raimundo, after much deliberation, +did not venture to accompany her. + +Three or four days later Clementina again called to invite them both to +her box at the Opera that evening. It was a terrible joy. Raimundo had +not a dress coat, and Aurelia's wardrobe was not much better furnished. +However, they went. A relation lent Raimundo a coat, and Aurelia wore +the best she had. Next day Raimundo ordered a dress suit, of the first +tailor in Madrid; nor was this all: without saying anything to his +sister, he went to the box-office of the Opera-house and subscribed for +a stall as near as possible to the Osorios' box, and for the same +evenings. + +Thanks to Raimundo's efforts, the intimacy grew apace, though his +sister, while she spoke warmly of her new friend's kindness, opposed a +passive resistance to all familiarity with her. Do what she might, she +could not forget the extraordinary way in which their acquaintance had +begun, nor the sense of falsity with which Clementina had impressed her. +Raimundo, fully aware of all this, did his utmost by direct and indirect +means to conquer her suspicions. + +Aurelia was plain, rather than pretty, with sound common sense, and an +upright spirit. Her adoration for her brother, inherited from her +mother, did not blind her to the weak points in his character. He was +easily impressed and as easily led, and still very puerile. In fact, in +a certain sense, she represented the masculine and he the feminine +element in the house. He was easily moved to tears; she, with great +difficulty. He was liable to whimsical alarms and bewilderments, +amounting sometimes almost to hallucinations, her nervous system was +calm and well balanced; she was healthy and sound, he frail and placid. +During the months immediately following on his mother's death, Raimundo, +making a great effort, with the idea of being his sister's protector, +had shown more manliness and firmness; but, as time went on, his nature +reasserted itself, and he fell into his childish fancies and womanly +susceptibilities again, in proportion as she developed a resolute, +honest, and well-balanced character. + +It cost Clementina hardly an effort to fascinate and subjugate the young +naturalist. Sometimes the young people went to her, and sometimes she to +them; or she would fetch them to go to the theatre, or out driving with +her, and thus they soon met almost every day. The first evening that +Pepe Castro met Alcázar in the Osorios' drawing-room he perfectly +understood the situation, and it filled him with rage. + +"So this precious hussy is taking up with a baby!" he muttered between +his teeth. "They all come to such folly at last." + +He thought of insulting the boy and provoking him to fight; but he soon +saw that this could do him no good. What could he gain by it? +Absolutely nothing, for Clementina would only hate him the more, and the +scandal would betray his discomfiture--all the more ignominious for him, +as his successful rival was a boy, whom no one knew anything about. So +he came to the prudent conclusion that he would not wear his heart for +daws to peck at, but would for a while leave his mistress to her own +devices. By-and-by, perhaps, she would tire of playing with this pet +lamb and call the sheep back to the fold. + +Alcázar was not such a boy as Castro thought him; he was +three-and-twenty. But his face was so youthful and delicate that he did +not look more than eighteen. His health was variable and frail; +especially, since his mother's death, he had been liable to attacks of +the brain, when he lost sometimes his sight, and sometimes the power of +speech, complicated with other evils, but happily of very short +duration. He was a frequent prey to melancholy, ending in a violent +crisis and floods of tears, like a hysterical woman. He was terrified of +spiders; the sight of a surgical instrument gave him the horrors. +Sometimes he suffered acute anguish from a dread of going mad; at others +his fear was lest he should kill himself against his will. He never +would have any kind of weapon within reach, and for fear of throwing +himself from the balcony he always had his bedroom window locked at +night and placed the key in his sister's keeping: she was the only +witness and confidant of his vagaries. They were the outcome, partly of +his temperament, and partly of the effeminate training he had received. +But he kept them a secret, as every man does who suffers in this +way--many more than are ever suspected of it--and by constant +watchfulness he kept them under control, knowing how ridiculous a man +thus constituted must appear. + +It may easily be supposed what his fate must inevitably be when a woman +like Clementina--a beautiful and experienced coquette--had set her heart +on conquest. At first his extreme bashfulness kept him from +understanding the lady's aim and tactics. He took her gracious bows and +inviting smiles for the expression of her sympathy with their orphaned +loneliness. And when she had made friends with them, and shown him every +indication of her liking, when his sister even had given him a warning +hint, he still could not believe that there could be anything between +them beyond a more or less affectionate good-fellowship, protecting and +motherly on her side, devoted and ardent on his. However, the elixir of +love which Clementina shed drop by drop on his lips, as it were, made +its way to his heart. When he was least expecting it, he found that he +was madly in love. But the discovery filled him with bashful fears, and +he thought that he could never dare to declare it. Though his idol's +demeanour towards him, and constant demonstrations of sympathetic regard +were enough to justify any hopes on his part, it seemed to him so +strange as to be impossible that a shy and inexperienced man, devoid of +all worldly advantages, should find favour with so rich and so beautiful +a woman. Nor could he entirely free himself from the remorse which stung +him from time to time. It was her resemblance to his mother which had +first attracted him in Clementina. Was not his passion a profanation? + +But in spite of his remorse, of his timidity, and of his reason, +Raimundo felt himself every day more enslaved by this woman. Clementina, +to be sure, brought every weapon into play; and she had many at her +disposal. In proportion as she found her youthful adorer more bashful, +her own audacity and coolness increased. This is almost always the case, +but in the present instance, circumstances made the contrast all the +more conspicuous. Timidity in him amounted to a disease, a peculiarity +which he full well knew to be ridiculous while he could not overcome it; +on the contrary, the greater the efforts he made, the more his +nervousness betrayed itself. At first he could speak to her with +sufficient calmness, and could allow himself some little compliment or +jest, but he had now lost all his presence of mind, he could not go near +her without losing his head, nor take her hand without trembling; if she +did but look at him his cheeks tingled. + +Clementina could not help smiling at these innocent symptoms of love. +She was full of curiosity, and happy to find herself still handsome +enough to inspire the boy with such a passion. Sometimes she would amuse +herself by playing the fish, making him blush, and behaving with the +license and frivolity of a _grisette_. At others she affected to fall in +with his melancholy mood, making eyes at him like a school-girl; or, +again, she treated him with tender familiarity, inquiring into his life, +his work, and his thoughts, like a fond mother or elder sister. Then +Raimundo would recover his spirits a little, and dare to look the +goddess in the face. Clementina would occasionally cajole him by an +affectation of scientific tastes, going up to his study and covering the +table and the floor with his butterfly-boxes. This, which if any one +else had done it, would have brought the house about their ears, only +made the young naturalist smile. + +But by this time the lady's acquaintances were beginning to make remarks +on her last and most extravagant love-affair, assuming, of course, that +it had gone much further than was really the case. One Saturday evening +at the Osorios' house Pepa Frias ended by exclaiming to three or four of +the "Savages," with whom she had been discussing the matter: + +"You will see. Clementina will end by falling in love with a +Newfoundland dog or a journalist!" + +When Raimundo came into the room with his rosy, melancholy, cherubic +face, his diffident, embarrassed air, every one looked at him with +curiosity: there were smiles, murmurs, witticisms, and stupid remarks. +He was much discussed. In general, and especially by men, Clementina was +thought ridiculous; some of the ladies, however, looked more kindly on +the youth, thought his candid looks very attractive, and sympathised +with her whim. + +Thus our young friend was regarded as _amant en titre_ to Clementina +before he had dared to kiss her finger-tips, or even dreamed of it. He +was perfectly miserable if she was in the least disdainful, and was as +happy as an angel if she made the smallest show of affection. +Clementina was in no hurry to hear his declaration, though fully +determined that he should make it. It amused her to watch the progress +of the affair, noting the development of his passion, and the phenomena +to which it gave rise. She had had her fill of ravings, and thought it +delightful to be adored with this dumb devotion, and play the part of a +goddess. A mere glance was enough to turn this worshipper red or pale, a +word made him happy or reduced him to despair. + +Raimundo went to the Opera whenever Clementina was to be there; he went +up to pay his respects to her in her box, and often, by her invitation, +sat there during two or three acts. Then she would retire to the back of +the box and chat with him there, screened by the curtains. When she was +tired of this, or if some important scene was being sung on the stage, +she would lapse into silence, turn her back on her companion, and listen +to the performance. Raimundo, his ears full of the echo of her tones, +and his heart on fire from the ardour of her gaze, would also remain +silent, though, in truth, more attentive to the music in his brain than +to that performed for his delectation. Sure of not being seen, he could +contemplate the alabaster shoulders of his idol with religious +absorption, and bend down his head, on pretence of hearing better, to +breathe the perfume she used, shutting his eyes and allowing it to +intoxicate him. One evening he put his face so close to her head that he +actually dared to let his lips touch the heavy plaits of her beautiful +hair. No sooner had he done it than he was in great alarm lest +Clementina should have felt it; but she sat unmoved, listening +ecstatically to the music. At the same time, as the young man could see, +her eyes sparkled with a conscious smile. Encouraged by this success, +whenever she had her hair done in this particular way, he ventured, with +the greatest precaution, and after much hesitation, to press it to his +lips. The pleasure was so acute and delightful that it dwelt on his lips +for many days. + +But then, one evening--whether because she was out of temper or because +it was her pleasure to mortify him--she treated him with such contempt +all the time he was in the box, leaving him to entertain Pascuala while +she chatted with some more aristocratic youth of her acquaintance, that +poor Raimundo was thrown into despair. He had not even courage enough to +take leave; he stood, pale and crestfallen, a frown of anxiety furrowing +his brow. Clementina stole a glance at him from time to time. When the +other gentleman made his bow, Raimundo, too, was about to take leave. +The lady detained him, holding his hand. + +"Nay, wait a minute, Alcázar; I have something to say to you," and she +withdrew, as usual, to the back of the box and began chatting with all +her frank amiability. The young man breathed again; still, when she +turned away to listen to the music, he was so unstrung and confused that +he did not dare to kiss her hair, though it was plaited low, and the +opportunity was propitious. + +After a long pause Clementina suddenly turned on him and asked in a low +voice: + +"Why do you not kiss my hair, as you always do?" + +His amazement was quite a shock to him. All the blood rushed to his +heart, leaving him as pale as a corpse; then it mounted to his face, +turning it to the colour of a poppy. + +"I--your hair," he gasped abjectly. And he was forced to cling to a +chair-back to save himself from falling. + +"Do not be frightened, my dear fellow," she exclaimed, laying her hand +on his. "If I allowed it, that is sufficient proof that I did not +object." But seeing that he was gazing at her wildly, as if he did not +understand her, she added: "Perhaps you imagine that I did not know that +you care for me a little?" + +The young man gave a convulsive cry. + +"Yes, I have known it for some time," she went on in a still lower +voice, and speaking into his ear. "But there is something which you do +not know. And that is, that I care for you." + +Casting a hasty glance round the house, to make sure that they were not +observed, she took his hands in hers, and her breath was warm on his +cheek as she said: "Yes, I love you--beyond anything you can imagine." + +Clementina had not anticipated the effect of these words on her +susceptible and effeminate adorer. The violent emotions he had gone +through, and now the high tide of happiness, so completely upset him +that he began to cry like a child. She hastily drew him into a corner, +filling up the space between the curtains with her person. Her face was +radiant with happiness. + +Her conquest, in fact, had a novelty about it which quite enchanted her. +This lover was hardly more than a boy; nor was he one of the herd of +puppies and dandies whom she met at every turn, all cast in the same +mould, devoid of all originality, having all the same vices, the same +vanities, uttering almost the same jests. Raimundo was different from +these, not merely by his humble position and secluded life, nor even by +his talents and culture, but most of all by his character. How sweet a +nature was this boy's! How innocent, how sensitive, how refined, and yet +how impassioned! Accustomed as she was to the monotonous type of Pepe +Castros, every new psychological aspect, every burst of enthusiasm, +every alarm and every joy in her new friend, was to Clementina a +delightful surprise. She was never tired of studying his mind, and would +sometimes affect to doubt his love for her. + +"Do you really love me? Are you sure? Remember, I am an old woman; I +might be your mother." + +And Raimundo always replied with some fond caress and a tearful glance, +which revealed the depth of his devotion. + +From that memorable evening Raimundo could think of nothing but +Clementina. To him the whole world had shrunk into one person, and that +person a woman. Not only did he live and breathe for her, but he thought +of her all day and dreamed of her all night. At first the lady had +received him at her own house, but she, ere long, thought this unwise, +and they took rooms in a neighbouring Street, a small entresol, which +they furnished with taste. + +His life had undergone a complete change. From living in absolute +seclusion he suddenly came out into the world of fashion: theatres, +balls, dinners, riding-parties, and shooting expeditions. Clementina +bound him to her chariot, and exhibited him in every drawing-room as if +she were proud of him. For our young friend, with his delicate features, +gentle temper, and superior intelligence, became popular wherever he +went; no one stopped to ask whether he were rich or poor, noble or +plebeian. + +Aurelia sometimes accompanied him, but always against her will. Though +she dared not contravene her brother's line of conduct, it was easy to +see that she condemned it in her heart, and was out of her sphere at the +Osorios'. She had become taciturn and grave, and her eyes, when she bent +them on Raimundo, took a sad and gloomy expression, as though she feared +disaster. Clementina did all she could to win her, but she made no way +in the girl's affections; and under Aurelia's modest smiles and blushes +she fancied she could detect a vein of hostility which often +disconcerted her. + +Señora de Osorio persisted in the lavish expenditure she had always +indulged in, notwithstanding the rumours of imminent ruin which had so +greatly alarmed Pepa Frias. But the catastrophe did not come as had been +prophesied. The banker contrived to stave it off, giving it to be +understood by those who had money in his hands that there was nothing to +be got by falling on him tooth and nail, as they would not by such means +save one quarter of their capital. On the other hand, they had only to +wait to recover every penny. His wife must, ere long, come into an +immense fortune. His creditors listened to reason, kept their own +counsel as to the state of his affairs, and only stipulated that +Clementina's signature should be affixed, as well as her husband's, to +every renewed bill. Soon after, fortune favoured Osorio in the turns of +the money-market, and he was able to launch out once more, though men +of business looked askance at his dealings, and unanimously declared +that the crash was only deferred. His wife, feeling that she was safe at +any rate, thought no more of such unpleasant subjects. It was only when +she went to her father's house and saw Doña Carmen's pale, worn face, +that her heart throbbed with a feeling which she was loth to confess +even to herself, and which she strove to drown under the sound of +affectionate words and kisses. + +Raimundo's love was an extraordinary joy to her. She felt herself borne, +as she had never been before, on a wave of devoted and poetic passion +which rocked and soothed her. She was well content to play the goddess. +She enjoyed showing herself as now amiable and tender, and again gravely +terrible, putting her adorer to a thousand proofs, to make quite sure, +as she said, that he was indeed wholly hers. + +But the habit of dealing with men of a different stamp led her into +fatal mistakes, which grieved and hurt the youth. One day, in their own +little rooms, she said, with a smile: + +"I have a present for you, Mundo," as she called him for a pet name. + +She rose and took out of her muff a very pretty little note-book. + +"Oh, that is most sweet!" he exclaimed pressing it to his lips. "I will +always use it." + +But on opening it he was struck with consternation. It was full of +bank-notes. + +"You have forgotten to take the money out," he said handing her the +pocket-book. + +"I have not forgotten it. It is for you." + +"For me?" he said turning pale. + +"Do you not wish for it?" she said, somewhat abashed and blushing +scarlet. + +"No," he said firmly, "certainly not." + +Clementina dared not insist. She took the pocket-book, turned out the +bank-notes, and returned it to him. There was a pause of embarrassed +silence. Raimundo sat with his elbow on the table, his cheek in his +hand, serious and thoughtful. She watched him out of the corner of her +eyes, half angry and half curious. + +At last a bright smile lighted up her face. She rose from her seat, and +taking his head between her hands, she said gaily: + +"Well done! This action raises you in my esteem. Still, you may take +money from me without a blush. Am I not your mamma?" + +Raimundo said nothing; he only kissed the hands that had held him fast. +Money was never again spoken of between them. + +But still, in spite of his three-and-twenty years, there was something +childlike about the lad which was an infinite delight to his mistress. +It was due chiefly to his solitary and effeminate youth. He was very +easily taken in, and as easily amused; he never had those fits of black +boredom which afflict the spoilt worldling; he never uttered one of the +caustic and ironical speeches which are common even on a lover's lips. +His glee was effervescent and boyish to the verge of the ridiculous. He +thought it fun to play follow-my-leader behind Clementina in their +little lodgings, or to hide and startle her. He would entertain her with +conjuring tricks, which perhaps showed some intelligence; or they would +play at cards with absorbed attention, as though they were gambling for +large sums; or they would dance to the music of some grinding organ, +that had stopped within hearing. Then they would eat bon-bons for a +match, seeing who would get through most. One day he was bent on making +pine-apple ice; he declared that he was great at making ices. All the +apparatus was borrowed from a café in the neighbourhood, and after +stirring and turning for some time, he at last turned out an ugly and +untempting mass, which so greatly depressed him that Clementina actually +swallowed a large dose of the liquid. He was fond of mimicking the +accent and manner of any one he had met at her house; and this he did to +such perfection, that Clementina laughed with all her heart; nay, she +sometimes entreated him to cease, for it hurt her to laugh so much. +Raimundo had the gift of observing the most trifling peculiarities of +the persons he met, and imitating them to perfection. It was difficult +to believe that the person mimicked was not speaking. However, it was +only in the strictest confidence that he displayed this accomplishment. + +Sometimes if he was in a merry mood he would perform a Royal reception. +He hastily erected a throne in the middle of the room, on which +Clementina must sit. Then the Ministers and high political personages in +turn approached the Queen and spoke a short address. Clementina, who +knew them every one, could guess who each was from only a few words. +Raimundo, having often been present at the meetings of Congress, had +picked up the accent and gesture of each to the life. He was +particularly happy in his imitation of Jimenez Arbos, whom he knew well +from meeting him at the Osorios'. Of course, after each speech, he +kissed the sovereign's hand with a reverent bow, and resumed the paper +cocked-hat he had made for the occasion. These childish games amused the +lady, and helped to open a heart which had always been closed by pride +or ennui. She came away from their long interviews quite rejuvenescent, +her eyes sparkling, her step lighter, and ready to bestow a nod on +persons to whom as a rule she would vouchsafe only the coldest bow. + +And then Raimundo would amaze her by some inconceivably childish and +innocent proceeding. One day, when she noiselessly entered their +rooms--for each had a key--she found him industriously sweeping the +floor. He blushed to the ears with confusion, at being discovered. +Clementina, in fits of laughter, covered his face with kisses. + +"Really, child, you are too delightful!" she exclaimed. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +MATTERS OF BUSINESS. + + +It was a very busy morning in Salabert's counting-house. Some large +payments had to be made. The Duke himself had presided over the +transactions and helped the cashier to count the notes. In spite of the +many years he had spent in handling money, he could never part with a +large sum without his hand shaking a little. He was nervous now, and +absorbed, nibbling his cigar, but not spitting as usual, for his throat +was dry. More than once he checked the clerk, believing that he was +allowing two notes to pass for one, but on each occasion he was in +error; the man was very dexterous at his work. When it was all done, the +Duke withdrew to his private room, where he found waiting M. de Fayolle, +the great importer of foreign horses, which he supplied to all the +aristocracy of Madrid. + +"_Bon-jour, Monsieur_," said the Duke, clapping him roughly on the +shoulder. "Have you got another screw you want me to take off your +hands?" + +"Oh, Monsieur le Duc, the horses I sold you are not screws, not a bit of +it. You have the best cattle that ever passed through my stables," said +the Frenchman with a foreign accent and a servile smile. + +"All the cast-off rubbish from Paris is what you sell to me. But do not +suppose that I am taken in. I have known it a long time, Monsieur, a +very long time. Only I can never look in your cherubic and smiling face +without giving way." + +M. Fayolle was smiling at the moment, showing his large yellow teeth +from ear to ear. + +"The face is the mirror of the soul, Monsieur le Duc; you may rely on me +never to offer you anything but what is absolutely first-rate. Has +Apollyon turned out badly?" + +"Hm. So-so." + +"You must surely be jesting! I saw him in the street the other day, in +your phaeton. Every one turned round to look at him." + +For some minutes they discussed various horses which Requena had bought +of the Frenchman; he found fault with every one of them. Fayolle +defended them with the enthusiasm of a dealer and a connoiseur. +Presently, at a pause, he looked at his watch, saying: + +"I will not detain you any longer. I came for the settlement of that +last little account." + +The Duke's face clouded. Then he said half laughing and half angry: + +"Why, my good man, you are never happy unless you are getting money out +of me." + +At the same time he put his hand in his pocket and took out his +note-book. M. Fayolle still smiled, saying that he could not bear to ask +for it, knowing that the Duke was such a pauper, and that it would be +dreadful indeed to see him reduced to beggary, a delicate joke which +Requena did not seem to hear, being absorbed in counting out the paper. +He laid out seven notes of one hundred dollars each and handed them to +Fayolle, ringing a bell for a clerk to bring a form of receipt. Fayolle, +on his part, counted them, and then said: + +"You have made a mistake, Monsieur le Duc, the account is for eight +hundred dollars, and you have only given me seven." + +Salabert did not seem to have heard him. With his eyes half-closed, and +shifting his cigar from one corner of his mouth to the other, he sat +silent, looking at the pocket-book, after fastening it with an elastic +band. + +"This is one hundred dollars short," Fayolle reiterated. + +"What? Short? Count once more. It is impossible!" + +The horse-dealer counted. + +"Three thousand five hundred pesetas." + +"You see, I could not be wrong." + +"But the horse was to cost four thousand. That was a bargain." + +The Duke's face expressed the most candid surprise. + +"What! Four thousand pesetas? No, my friend, no. The horse was to be +three thousand five hundred. It was on that understanding that I bought +it." + +"Monsieur le Duc, you really are under a mistake," said Fayolle, now +quite grave. "You must remember that we finally agreed on four +thousand." + +"I remember all about it. It is you who have a bad memory. Here," he +added to a clerk who came in with the receipt-form, "go downstairs, one +of you, to the stables, and ask Benigno how much I told him I was to +give for Apollyon?" + +And at the same time, taking advantage of the moment when Fayolle looked +at the messenger, he made a significant grimace at the man. The +coachman's answer by the clerk was that the horse was to be three +thousand five hundred pesetas. + +Thereupon the dealer grew angry. He was quite positive that the bargain +had stood at eight hundred dollars, and it was in this belief that he +had delivered it. Otherwise the horse should never have left his stable. + +Requena allowed him to talk himself out, only uttering grunts of +dissent, without exciting himself in the smallest degree. Only when +Fayolle talked of having the horse back, he said in a lazy tone: + +"Then you evidently have some one in your eye who will give you eight +hundred, and you want to be off the bargain?" + +"Monsieur le Duc, I swear to you that it is nothing of the kind. Only I +am positive I am right." + +The banker was seized by an opportune fit of coughing; his eyes were +bloodshot, and his cheeks turned purple. Then he deliberately wiped his +mouth and rose, and said in his most boorish manner: + +"Bless me, man! Don't put yourself out over a few miserable pesetas." + +But he did not produce them. + +The Frenchman was willing to take back the horse, but this again he +failed to achieve. There was a short silence. Fayolle was within an ace +of flying out, and making a fool of himself. But he restrained himself, +reflecting that this would do no good, and that sueing the Duke would do +even less. Who would be counsel for the plaintiff against such a man as +Requena? So he resigned himself to his fate, and took his leave, the +Duke escorting him to the door with much politeness, and clapping him +affectionately on the shoulder. + +When the banker returned to his seat at the table, his eyes glistened +under his heavy eyelids with a smile of sarcastic triumph. A few minutes +after he again rang the bell. + +"Go and inquire whether the Duchess is alone, or if she has visitors," +he said to the man who answered it. And while the servant went on the +errand he sat motionless, leaning back in his chair, with his hands +folded, meditating. + +"Padre Ortega is with the Duchess," was the answer in a few minutes. + +Salabert "pshawed" impatiently, and sank into thought once more. He had +made up his mind to have a solemn discussion with his wife on ways and +means. Doña Carmen had never mentioned money to him in her life, and he +had never felt called upon to give her any account of his speculations +and business matters. He regarded himself as absolute master of his +fortune, and it never entered his head to think that she could make any +claims on it. A friend, however, had lately enlightened him on this +point. Speaking of Doña Carmen's feeble health, he had very naturally +inquired whether she had made her will, and this friend, who was a +lawyer, had at the same time mentioned the fact that, by the law of +Spain, half of the business and fortune was hers. + +This was a terrible shock to Salabert. He was frightened to watch his +wife's decline; at her death her relations would claim half of all he +had made, would poke their noses into his concerns, even the most +private. Horror! + +He consulted his lawyer. The simplest way of remedying the mischief, and +depriving these relations of their rights, was to induce his wife to +make a will in his favour. To the Duke this seemed the most natural +thing in the world, and in the interview he proposed, he intended to +suggest it to her as diplomatically as he could, so as not to alarm her +as to her own state of health. + +So he waited, arranging and looking over his papers, till he thought it +was time to send again to inquire whether the priest was gone. But just +as he was about to do so, the porter came in and told him that some +gentlemen wanted to see him, and among them Calderón. The banker was +much annoyed. + +"Did you say I was at home?" + +"Well, as you always are at home in the morning, Señor Duque----" + +"Damn you!" said the banker, with a furious scowl. But raising his voice +at once, and putting on the clumsy abruptness which he was so fond of +affecting: "Show them in, of course," he said, "show the gentlemen in." + +On this Calderón came in, followed by Urreta and two other bankers not +less well known in Madrid. They all looked grave, almost sinister. But +Salabert, paying no heed to their looks, began shaking hands and +slapping backs, making a great noise. "Good business! Very good +business, now to lock you all four up, and make you each pay a round sum +as ransom! Ha, ha! Why here, in my room, are the four richest rascals in +Madrid. Four gorged sharks! How is your rheumatism, Urreta? It strikes +me that you want thoroughly overhauling as much as I do. And you, +Manuel, how long do you expect to hold out? Your cousin, you see, is +looking out very sharp." + +The four gentlemen maintained a courteous reserve, and their extreme +gravity cut short this impertinent banter. The case was, in fact, a +serious one. About a year ago Salabert had sold them the business of a +railway from B---- to S----, which was already in full work, with all +the plant and rolling-stock. Though it had not been committed to +writing, it was fully understood by both parties that when the extension +from S---- to V---- should be put up for sale, as it was in connection +with the other line, Salabert should advance no claims, but leave it to +them to treat for it. Now, it had come to their knowledge that the Duke +had failed to keep his word, and had tried to jockey them in the most +barefaced way, by making a bid for the line. + +The first to speak was Calderón. + +"Antonio," he said, "we have come to quarrel with you very seriously." + +"Impossible! Quarrel with such an inoffensive creature as I am?" + +"You will remember that when we bought up your railway, you agreed, or +to be accurate, you solemnly promised, not to tender for the purchase of +the extension from S---- to V----." + +"Certainly I remember it, perfectly." + +"But we see with surprise that an offer from you----" + +"An offer from me!" exclaimed the Duke, in the greatest surprise, and +opening his prominent eyes very wide. "Who told you that cock-and-bull +story?" + +"It is not a cock-and-bull story. I, myself, saw your signature," said +the Marques de Arbiol. + +"My signature? Impossible." + +"My good friend, I tell you I saw it with my own eyes. 'Antonio +Salabert, Duke de Requena,'" replied Arbiol, very gravely. + +"It cannot be; it is impossible!" repeated the Duke, walking up and down +the room in the most violent excitement. "It must be a forgery." + +Arbiol smiled scornfully. + +"It bore your seal." + +"My seal?" he exclaimed, with ready parry. "Then the forgery was +committed in my own house. You cannot imagine what scoundrels I have +about me. I should need a hundred eyes." Foaming with rage, he rang the +bell. + +"Now we shall see; we will find out whether I have been deceived or no. +Send Llera in here," he said to the servant who appeared. "And all the +clerks--immediately, this instant!" + +Arbiol glanced at his companions, and shrugged his shoulders. But +Requena, though he saw this, did not choose to notice it; he went on +growling, snorting, uttering the most violent interjections, and walking +to and fro. Presently Llera made his appearance, followed by a group of +abject-looking clerks, ill-dressed and common. Salabert placed himself +in front of them, with his arms crossed, and said vehemently: + +"Look here, Llera, I mean to find out who is the scoundrel who presented +a tender, in my name, with a forged copy of my signature, for the +purchase of the S---- and V---- line of railway. Do you know anything of +the matter?" + +Llera, after looking him straight in the face, bent his head without +replying. + +"And you others, do you know anything about it? Heh, do you know +anything whatever?" + +The clerks in the same way stared at him; then they looked at Llera, and +they too bent their heads and stood speechless. + +Salabert, with well-feigned fury, eyed them all in turn, and at length +addressing his visitors: + +"You see," he said; "no one answers. The guilty man, or men, lurk among +them; for I suspect that more than one must be concerned. Do not be +afraid, I will give them a lesson, a terrible lesson. I will not rest +till I have them before the judge. Go," he added, to the delinquents, +"and those of you who are guilty may well quake. Justice will soon +overtake you." + +To judge by the absolute indifference with which this fulmination was +received, the criminals must have been hardened indeed. Each man went +back to his place and his work as though the sword of Nemesis were not +drawn to cut his throat. + +The bankers were half amused and half angry. At last one of the +quartette, biting his lips for fear of laughing outright, held out his +hand with a contemptuous gesture, saying: + +"Good-bye, Salabert--_au revoir_." + +The others followed his example without another word about the business +which had brought them. The Duke was not at all disconcerted; he +politely saw them to the head of the stairs, firing wrathful lightnings +at his clerks as he led his visitors through the office. On his return +he took not the slightest notice of the men; he walked down the room +like an actor crossing behind the scenes as he comes off the stage. + +Soon after this performance he went downstairs himself, to go to his +wife's room. He found her alone, reading a book of devotions. Doña +Carmen, who had always been pious, had of late given herself up almost +exclusively to religious exercises. Her failing strength cut her off +more and more from the outer world, and left her sadly submissive to the +priests who visited her. Salabert had never opposed this taste for +devotion; he regarded it with pitying indifference, as an innocent +mania. However, just lately, some rather large bounties of Doña Carmen's +had alarmed him, and he had felt obliged to give her a paternal lecture. +He was accustomed to find her submissive, unambitious, absolutely +indifferent to the result of his various speculations; he treated her as +a child, if not as a faithful dog, whose head he might now and then pat +kindly. The hapless woman never had interfered in his life, his toil, or +his vices. Though his mistresses and fearful extravagance were discussed +by all the rest of the world, Doña Carmen knew nothing of them, or +ignored them. Nevertheless, the Duke's last connection with Amparo had +distressed her more than any former one. This arrogant but low creature +delighted in annoying the Duchess in every possible way, which was what +none of her predecessors had done. If she went out driving with her +husband, Amparo would keep pace in her carriage and exchange significant +glances with Requena. When the good lady gently complained of such +conduct, Salabert would simply deny, not merely his smiles and ogling, +but all acquaintance with the woman: he only knew her by sight, he had +never spoken to her in his life. It was the same at the Opera; Amparo +would stare all the evening at the Duke's box. At bull-fights and at +races she made a display of reckless luxury which attracted general +attention. Certain well-intentioned friends, in their compassion for +Doña Carmen, kept her informed as to the enormous sums this woman was +costing the Duke by her extravagance and caprices. These constant +vexations, endured unconfessed to any one but her director, had told on +the lady's health, reducing her to a state of weakness which made it +seem a miracle that she was still alive. Salabert had something else to +do than to consider her sufferings. He thought that with the title of +Duchess, and such enormous wealth, in so splendid a house, Doña Carmen +ought to be the happiest woman on earth. + +"Well, how are you, old woman, how are you?" said he as he went in, in a +half rough and half kindly tone which betrayed his entire indifference. + +Doña Carmen looked up with a smile. + +"What, you? What miracle brings you here at this hour?" + +"I should have come earlier, but I was told that Father Ortega was with +you. How did you sleep? Pretty well? That's right. You are not so ill as +you fancy. Why do you let the priests come hanging about you as if you +were at the point of death?" + +"Do you suppose a priest is of no use but when one is dying?" + +"Of course priests about a house are indispensable to make it look +respectable," he answered, stretching himself in an easy chair, and +spreading out his legs. "Without a rag of black fustian, a newly +furnished palace like this is too gaudy. Still, in the long run, they +become a nuisance; they are never tired of begging; they have a swallow +like a whale's. I should like to buy sham ones made of wax or +papier-maché, they would answer every purpose." + +"There, there, Antonio. Do not talk so wildly. Any one who heard you +would take you for a heretic, and that you are not, thank God!" + +"What should I gain by being a heretic? That does not pay." Then +suddenly changing the subject, he said: "How is that caravansary of +yours in the Cuatro Caminos getting on?" + +He meant the asylum of which Doña Carmen was the chief benefactress. + +"It is doing very well, excepting that the Marquesa de Alcudia wishes to +retire, and we do not know whom to appoint as treasurer in her place." + +"It is always empty on the Sabbath, I suppose?" + +"Why?" said the lady, innocently. + +"They are all off to Seville on broomsticks, no doubt." + +"Bah! do not make game of the poor old things," said she, laughing. "You +and I are old folks, too." + +"Very true, very true," replied the banker, affecting serious +melancholy. "We are a pair of old puppets, and one fine day, when we +least expect it, we shall find ourselves removed to other quarters." + +He had discovered an opening for the subject he wished to discuss, and +had seized on it at once. + +"No," said his wife, "you are strong and hearty enough. You will live to +fight many a battle yet; but I, my dear, have but one foot in the +stirrup." + +"Nay, nay, we are both in the same plight. Once over the sixties there +is no knowing." + +"If such reflections did anything to bring you nearer God, and make you +labour in His service, I should be glad indeed." + +"Do you think I do nothing in His service, when I spend above five +thousand dollars in masses every year?" + +"Come, Antonio, do not talk like that." + +"My dear child, it is a very good thing to think of the next world, but +it is prudent, to say the least, to think of this world to. I have just +lately been considering that if you or I were to die, there would be no +end of complications for the survivor." + +"Why?" + +"Because husband and wife are not by law nearest of kin to each other, +and if by chance either of us died intestate, our relations would be a +perfect torment to the survivor." + +"For that there is an easy remedy. We make our wills and it is settled." + +"That is just what I have been thinking," said Salabert, endeavouring to +make a show of calm indifference, which he was far from feeling. "It +struck me that instead of our each making an independent will, we might +come to a mutual arrangement." + +"What is that?" + +"A will by which each is the heir to the other." + +Doña Carmen looked down at the book she still held, and did not +immediately answer. The Duke, somewhat uneasy, watched her narrowly from +under his eyelids, gnawing his cigar with impatience. + +"That is impossible," said she at last, very gravely. + +"What is impossible? And why?" he hastily asked, sitting upright in his +chair. + +"Because I intend to leave all I have, whether much or little, to your +daughter. I have promised her that I will." + +Salabert had never dreamed of stumbling on such an obstacle, he had +thought of the mutual bequest as a settled thing. He was equally +startled and vexed, but he immediately recovered himself, and assuming a +serious and dignified manner, he spoke: + +"Very good, Carmen. I have no wish to coerce you in the matter. You are +mistress of your possessions, and can leave them to whom you choose, +though you must remember that that fortune has been earned by me at the +cost of much toil. During the years of our married life, pecuniary +questions have never given rise to any differences between us, and I +sincerely wish that they never may. Money, as compared with the +feelings of the heart, is of no importance whatever. The thing that +pains me is the thought that any other person, even though it be my own +daughter, should have usurped my place in your affections." + +At these words his voice broke a little. + +"No, Antonio, no," Doña Carmen hastened to put in. "Neither your +daughter nor any one else can rob you of the affection due to you. But +you are rich enough without needing my fortune, and she wants it." + +"No. It is vain to try to soften the blow, I feel it in the depths of my +heart," replied Salabert in pathetic accents, and pressing one hand to +his left side. "Five-and-thirty years of married life, five-and-thirty +years of joys and griefs, of fears and hopes in common, have not availed +to secure me the foremost place in your affections. Nothing that can be +said will remedy that. I fancied that our union, the years of love and +happiness that we have spent together, might be closed by an act which +would crown our lives by making one of us inherit the whole of what we +have gained. The devotion of a husband and wife is never better +displayed than in a last will and testament." + +Requena's oratory had risen to a tone of moral dignity which, for a +moment, seemed to impress his wife. However, she replied with perfect +sweetness but unshaken firmness: + +"Though Clementina is not my own flesh and blood, I love her as if she +were. I have always regarded her as my own child, and it seems to me an +act of injustice to deprive a child of its share of an inheritance." + +"But, my dear," exclaimed the Duke vehemently, "for whom do you suppose +I want it but for my daughter? Make me your heir, and I pledge myself to +transmit it to her, not only undiminished but greatly augmented." + +Doña Carmen kept silence, but shook her head in negation. Her husband +rose as though emotion were quite too much for him. + +"Oh, yes! I understand! You cannot forgive me some little errors of +caprice and folly. You are taking advantage of this opportunity of +revenge. Very well, very well. Indulge your vengeance; but believe me +when I say that I have never loved any woman better than you. The heart +cannot be made to obey orders, Carmen; if I desired to tear your image +out of mine, my heart would answer: 'No, I cannot give it up without +breaking.' It is sad, very sad, to meet with so cruel a disenchantment +at the end of our lives. If you were to die to-morrow, which God forbid! +what worries and troubles must await me, besides the grief of losing the +wife I adore. Why I, a poor old man, might be compelled to quit the +house where I have lived so many years, which I built and beautified in +the hope of dying under its roof in your arms!" + +Requena's voice broke at judicious intervals, and his eyes filled with +tears. When he ceased speaking he sank into his armchair as though quite +crushed, pressing his handkerchief to his eyes. + +But Doña Carmen, though tender-hearted and sensitive, showed no signs of +emotion. On the contrary, she replied in a steady voice: + +"You know perfectly well that there is no truth in all that. I am not +capable of taking any revenge, nor, if I were, could there be any such +vengeance in leaving all I can to your daughter, who is mine solely by +the affection I bear to her." + +The Duke changed his tactics. He looked at his wife compassionately for +a few minutes, and then he said: + +"The greatest happiness you could confer on Clementina to show your +affection would be to get out of her way as soon as you can. Poor Osorio +is up to the ears in hot water. Now I understand why his creditors have +been so long-suffering. You no doubt have said something to his wife of +this will of yours, and as you are somewhat ailing they are looking for +your death like showers in May. Make no mistake about that." + +Doña Carmen at these cruel words turned even paler than she always was. +She clutched the arms of her chair with an effort to keep herself from +fainting. This that her husband had said was horrible, but only too +probable. He saw her agitation, and at once brought forward facts to +confirm his hypothesis. He drew a complete picture of Osorio's position, +pointing out how unlikely it was that his creditors should still give +him time if they had not some definite hope to count on; and this could +only be her own death. + +The unhappy woman at last spoke. Her words were almost sublime: + +"If, indeed, Clementina desires my death," she said, "then so do I, with +all my heart. Everything I can leave is for her." + +Salabert left the room in a towering rage, fighting like a bull assailed +by crackers, or an actor who has been hissed off the stage. + +Doña Carmen lay for some time motionless in the attitude in which he had +left her, her eyes fixed on vacancy. At last two tears dropped from her +eyes and slowly trickled down her cheeks. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +THE DUKE'S BALL. + + +Weeks and months went by. Clementina spent the summer at Biarritz as +usual. Raimundo followed her, leaving his sister in charge of some +relations, and only returned at the end of September. A storm had swept +over the orphan's dwelling which had completely wrecked its happiness. +Raimundo, entirely neglecting his methodical habits of study, had rushed +into the world of pleasure with the ardour of a novice. His sister, +amazed at such a change, remonstrated mildly but without effect. The +young man behaved with the petulance of a spoilt child, answering her +sharply, or if she spoke with sterner decision, melting into tears, +declaring that he was miserable, that she did not love him, that it +would have been better if he had died when his mother died, and so +forth. Aurelia saw that there was nothing for it but to suffer in +silence, and kept her fears and gloomy anticipations to herself. She +could too easily guess the cause of this change, but neither of them +ever made any allusion to it; Raimundo because he could not speak to his +sister of his connection with Clementina, and she because she could not +bear that he should suppose she even understood it. + +Meanwhile it led our young friend to great extravagance, far beyond what +his income allowed. To enable him to keep up with the lady's carriage as +she drove in the fashionable avenues, he bought a fine horse, after +taking some riding lessons. Theatres, flowers and gifts for his +mistress, amusements shared with his new friends of the Savage Club, +dress, trinkets, everything, in short, which a youth "about town" +thinks indispensable, cost him enormous sums in proportion to his +income. He was forced to touch his capital. This, as we know, was in the +form of shares in a powder manufactory, and in the funds. His mother had +kept her securities in an iron box inside her wardrobe. When she died, +the guardian she had appointed to her two children, examined the +documents and made due note of them, but as Raimundo was esteemed a very +steady young fellow of impeccable conduct, and as he had for some time +past presented and cashed the coupons, his uncle did not take the +securities out of his keeping, but left them in the box where he had +found them. And now Raimundo, needing money at any cost, and not daring +to borrow it of any one, broke his trust, for he was not yet of legal +age, and sold some of the securities. And the strange thing is, that +although he had hitherto lived so blamelessly, upright in thought and +honest in purpose, he did it without feeling any very deep remorse. His +passion had so completely stultified and altered him. + +Of course he did not do this without its leading to worse consequences. +His uncle, hearing of his extravagant expenditure, came to the house one +day, shut himself up with him in his study and attacked him point-blank: + +"We must settle accounts together, Raimundo. From what I am told, and +from what I can see, you are living at a rate which you cannot possibly +afford. This is a serious matter, and, as your trustee, I must know +where the money comes from, if not for your own sake, at any rate for +your sister's." + +Raimundo was greatly startled. He turned pale and muttered some +unintelligible words. Then finding himself at bay, at once perceiving +that his safety depended on this interview--that is to say, the safety +of his love affair--he did not hesitate to lie boldly. + +"Yes, uncle, it is true that I am spending a good deal, more than my +income would permit, no doubt. But you need not therefore conclude that +it is the capital I inherited from my parents." + +"Well, then?" + +"Well, then," said the young man, and his voice dropped as if he had +some difficulty in speaking, "I cannot tell you whence I get the money, +uncle, it is a matter of honour." + +His guardian was mystified. + +"Of honour! I do not know what that may mean. But listen to me, boy; I +cannot let the matter drop. My position is critical. If I do not take +proper care of your interests I may find myself called upon to pay up, +and there is no mercy for trustees." + +Raimundo remained silent for some seconds, at last, stammering and +hesitating, he said: + +"If you must know then I will tell you. You have heard perhaps of my +intimacy with a lady?" + +"Yes, I have heard something of a flirtation between you and Osorio's +wife." + +"Well, that explains the mystery," said the nephew, colouring violently. + +"So that, in point of fact, this woman"----said the elder, snapping his +thumb and finger. + +Raimundo bent his head and said no more, or, to be exact, his silence +said everything. The man who had indignantly refused his mistress's +bank-notes now confessed himself guilty of this humiliation, though +perfectly innocent, simply out of fear. + +His uncle was a vulgar mortal enough, who kept a shop in the Calle de +Carmen. His nephew's confession, far from rousing his indignation, +raised the youth in his esteem. + +"Well, my dear fellow! I am glad to see that you have hatched out at +last and are beginning to know the ways of the world. Ah, you rogue, how +quiet you have kept it!" + +But as he still remained in the study, betraying the remains of a +suspicion, Raimundo, with the audacity peculiar to women and weak men in +critical circumstances, said firmly enough: + +"My capital and my sister's are intact; I can show you the securities +this very minute." + +He took out the key and was going to fetch the box. His uncle stopped +him. + +"No need, my boy, no need. What for?" + +And thus he escaped as by a miracle from this dreadful predicament, +which might so easily have ended in a catastrophe. At the same time, his +triumph cost him many moments of bitter reflection, and a collapse of +mind and body which made him quite ill for a time. It is impossible to +break suddenly with all the traditions and ideas which constitute the +back-bone of our character without the acutest pain. + +At about this time a gentleman from Chili came to call on him; a +naturalist himself, and, like Raimundo, devoted to the study of +butterflies. He had last come from Germany, and was on his way home to +America; he had read some of the young man's scientific papers, and +having also heard of his fine collection, he would not pass through +Madrid without visiting it. Raimundo received him with great pleasure, +and some little shame; for some months he had scarcely thought of +scientific subjects, and had neglected his specimens. The South American +nevertheless found it extremely interesting and was full of intelligent +sympathy; he told him that he was commissioned by his Government to +recruit some young men of talent to fill the professors' chairs lately +created at Santiago in Chili. If Alcázar would emigrate one of them was +open to him. + +In any other circumstances Raimundo, who had no tie of blood excepting +his sister, would certainly have decided on this step. But as it was, +enmeshed by the toils of love, the proposal struck him as so absurd that +he could but smile with a trace of contempt, and he politely declined it +as though he were a millionaire, or a man at the head of Spanish +society. + +Then to pay for his journey to Biarritz, he was again obliged to sell +some shares in the funds. He carried five thousand francs with him, a +more than ample sum for his summer in France. But at the end of a few +days, led away by the example of his friends, he took to betting at the +Casino, on the game of racing with dice, and in two evenings he had lost +everything. Not being accustomed to these proceedings, the only thing he +could think of to help himself was to return to Madrid at once, sell +some more shares, and come back again. His fortune was dwindling from +day to day. By the beginning of the winter he had sacrificed several +thousand dollars; but this did not check his lavish expenditure. +Aurelia, who from some hints of her uncle, or suspicions of her own, +imagined that she knew from whom the money came, was melancholy and +distressed. Her eyes, as she looked at her brother, were full of grief +and pity, not unmingled with indignation. + +So matters went on till the Carnival. The Duchess of Requena's health +had been improved by some waters in Germany, to which her husband had +taken her in the autumn. No sooner had she made her will in favour of +her step-daughter, than he devoted himself to taking care of her, +knowing how important her existence was to him. The great speculator's +affairs meanwhile were progressing satisfactorily. He had bought the +mines at Riosa, as he had proposed, money down. From that moment he had +been waging covert war against the rest of the company, selling shares +at lower and lower prices, to depreciate their value. This had worked +entirely to his satisfaction. In a few months the price had fallen from +a hundred and twenty, at which they had stood just after the sale of the +property, to eighty-three. Salabert waited on from day to day to produce +a panic, by throwing a large number of them into the market, and so +bring the quotation down to forty. Then, by means of his agents in +Madrid, Paris, and London, he meant to buy up half the shares, _plus_ +one, and so to be master of the whole concern. + +It was at this time that, in order to serve his political ends, as well +as to gratify his native taste for display--in spite of his +counter-balancing avarice--he determined to give a fancy dress ball, in +his magnificent residence, inviting all the aristocracy, and securing +the presence of the royal family. Preparations were begun two months +beforehand. Although the palace was splendidly fitted up, he had some +rather heavy and over-large pieces of furniture removed from the +drawing-rooms, and replaced by others from Paris, of lighter and simpler +style. He got rid of some of the hangings, and purchased several +decorative works of art, which it must be owned were certainly lacking. +Three weeks before the day fixed for the ball he sent out the +invitations. Three weeks, he thought, were not too much to allow his +guests to prepare their costumes. Fancy dress was indispensable; +gentlemen to wear dominoes at the very least. The newspapers had soon +announced the ball to every town in Spain. + +As her stepmother took little interest in such things, and from her +delicate health was not able to play an active part in the preparations, +Clementina was the life and soul of the whole affair. She spent all her +days in her father's house, save only a few hours which she bestowed on +Raimundo. Osorio at this juncture took it into his head to have their +two little girls home from school, one ten and the other eleven years +old, to spend a few days with their parents; but the poor little things +had to return some days sooner than their father had promised, because +Clementina was so busy that she scarcely found time to speak to them. +This made their father so angry that, one day, without allowing them to +take leave of their mother, he put them into the carriage, and himself +accompanied them back to school. That evening, however, when Clementina +returned home, there was a violent quarrel between them on the subject. + +Raimundo, too, found himself neglected; still he looked forward with +childish delight to this entertainment, at which he meant to appear as a +court page. This was an idea suggested by Clementina. The model for his +dress was taken from a famous picture in the Senate-house. For herself, +she had fallen in love with a portrait of Margaret of Austria, the queen +of Philip III., painted by Pantoja. She ordered a black velvet dress, +very closely fitting, with pink silk slashings braided with silver; and +there can be no doubt that it was a costume singularly well adapted to +set off her fine and ample figure and the imposing beauty of her face. + +The Duke himself worked hard at the less ornamental details; the +erection, for instance, of a gallery for the musicians, which was to be +built up against the wall, between the two large drawing-rooms, and +embowered in shrubs and flowering plants; the arrangements for hats and +wraps, the laying of carpets, the removal of furniture, and so forth. +Salabert was a terribly hard overseer, a real driver of the workmen. He +never allowed them to rest, and expected them to be incessantly on the +alert. He never gave them a moment's peace, nor was satisfied with what +they did. + +One day a cabinet of carved ebony had to be moved, from a room where the +ladies were to sit to the card-room. The workmen, under the direction of +the master carpenter, were carrying it slung, while the Duke followed, +bidding them be careful, with an accompaniment of objurgations. + +"Damn it all, be quick. Move a little quicker, can't you, you snub-nosed +cur! Now, mind that chandelier!--lower Pepe, lower--lower, I say, you +ass! Damn it, now raise it again." + +As they went through the door, the head carpenter, seeing that they +might easily hurt themselves, called out: "Mind your fingers!" + +"Mind the mouldings! Curse your fingers," exclaimed the Duke. "Do you +think I care for your fingers, you louts?" + +And one of the men looked him in the face with an indescribable +expression of hatred and scorn. + +When the cabinet was in its place the Duke saw it fixed, and then went +to his room to brush off the dust. Soon after, he went down the grand +staircase, and getting into his carriage went out. + + * * * * * + +At last the great day arrived. The newspapers announced the ball for the +last time with a grand flourish of trumpets. The Duke de Requena had +spent a million of francs in preparations, they said, and they also gave +it to be understood that all the flowers had been sent from Paris. And +this was true. The Duke, born in Valencia, the loveliest garden of +Europe, ordered flowers from France for his ball to the amount of some +thousands of dollars. Camellias strewed the very floors in the ante-room +and passages; hundreds of exotic plants decorated the hall, the +corridors, and the rooms. An army of servants, in knee-breeches and a +gaudy livery, stood at every corner where they might be wanted. A +detachment of horse-guards was posted at the garden entrance to keep +order among the carriages, with the help of the police. The cloak-room, +erected for the occasion, was a luxurious apartment, where every +arrangement had been made to preserve the ladies' magnificent wraps, or +_sorties de bal_, as it is the fashion to call them, from being lost or +damaged. + +The grand staircase was a blaze of electric light, the hall and +dining-room were lighted with gas: the dancing-room with wax candles. +The sitting-rooms and card-room had oil-lamps with wide and elaborate +shades, and in these rooms fires were blazing cheerfully. + +Clementina received the company in the first drawing-room, close to the +ante-room. She took her stepmother's place here because Doña Carmen had +not sufficient strength to stand for so long. The Duchess sat in the +inner room, surrounded by friends. The Duke and Osorio, at the door +between the hall and ante-room, offered an arm to the ladies as they +arrived and conducted them to Clementina. + +This lady's costume set off her beauty, as she had intended, to the +greatest advantage. Her exquisite figure seemed even more finely moulded +in this close fitting dress, and her head, with its magnificent coppery +hair, rose above the black velvet like a queenly flower. King Phillip +III. would gladly have exchanged the real Margaret for such a +counterfeit. A rumour was current in the rooms, and made public next day +in the papers, that a hairdresser had come from Paris by the express +train to dress her head. + +The motley crowd soon began to fill the rooms. Every epoch of history, +every country of the world had sent representatives to Salabert's ball. +Moors, Jews, Chinese, Venetians, Greeks and Romans--Louis XIV. and the +Empire, Queens and slaves, nymphs and gipsies, Amazons and Sibyls, +grisettes and vestals, walked arm-in-arm, or stood chatting in groups, +and laughing with cavaliers of the last century, Flemings of the +fourteenth, pages and necromancers. Most of the men, however, had +adopted the Venetian doublet and short cloak. The orchestra had already +played two or three waltzes, but as yet no one was dancing. They awaited +the arrival of the Royal personages. + +Raimundo was wandering about the rooms with the familiarity of an +intimate friend, smiling at every one with the modest frankness which +made him singularly attractive, though strange to a society where cold, +not to say scornful, manners are regarded as the stamp of dignity and +rank. The young entomologist had been for some time living in a +delicious whirl, a sort of golden dream, such as humble natures are +often addicted to. His page's costume, of the date of Isabella the +Great, suited him well, and more than one pretty girl turned her head to +look at him. Now and then he made his way to where Clementina was on +duty, and without speaking they could exchange looks and smiles. On one +of these occasions he saw Pepe Castro, in the dress of a cavalier of the +Court of Charles I., approach to pay his respects. + +"How is this?" he said in her ear. "Are you not yet tired of your +cherub?" + +"I am never tired of what is good," said she with a smile. + +"Thank you," he replied, sarcastically. + +"There is nothing to thank me for; are you trying to pick a quarrel?" +And she turned away with a shrug of contempt to speak to the Condesa de +Cotorraso, who came in at the moment. + +Raimundo had watched this brief colloquy. Its confidential tone was a +stab to him. For a moment he did not move; Esperancita passed close in +front of him, but he did not see her. It was the child's first +appearance at a ball. She wore a pretty Venetian dress of a rich red +colour, cut low; her mother was magnificent as a Dutch burgomaster's +wife, in brown, embroidered with gold and silver, with a lace ruff and +necklace of diamonds and pearls. What pangs these costumes must have +cost her luckless husband! In the first instance, when this ball was +under discussion, he had supposed that some combination of old clothes +would answer their purpose, and had made no difficulties. When he saw +the dresses and the dressmaker's bill he was breathless. He was ready to +cry Thief! Woe befall that miserable Salabert and the hour in which he +had thought of this ball, and all the Venetian and Dutch ladies that had +ever lived! And what most weighed on his soul was the reflection that +these costly garments were to be worn for but one night. Four thousand +pesetas thrown into the gutter! as he repeated a hundred times a day. + +Esperancita looked at Alcázar, expecting him to bow; but seeing that he +was gazing elsewhere, she, too, looked round at the group about +Clementina, and immediately understood the situation. A cloud of +distress came over her, as over Raimundo. But suddenly her eyes +sparkled, and her whole ingenuous and insignificant little face was +lighted up, transfigured by an indefinable charm. Pepe Castro was coming +towards her. + +"Charming, charming!" murmured the Adonis in an absent way, as he bowed +affectedly. + +The girl blushed with delight. + +"Will you honour me with the first waltz?" + +At this very moment she found herself the centre of a group of young +men, all buzzing round Calderón's money-bags, and eager to compliment +his daughter. Among these was Cobo Ramirez. They were all pressing her +to give them a dance, each in turn signing the initials of his +illustrious name on Esperancita's card. Ramoncito, who was standing a +few yards off, did not join the little crowd--faithful to the advice +given him, now above a year ago, by his friend and adviser Castro; +though hitherto these tactics had proved unavailing, for Esperancita +remained insensible to his devotion. Still, he would not ascribe this to +any fault in the method, but to his lack of courage to follow it out +with sufficient vigour, without hesitancy or backsliding. If the girl +happened to look kindly at him, or speak to him more gently than usual, +farewell diplomacy! + +At this moment he was casting grim looks at the crowd which had gathered +round her, and vaguely replying to Cotorraso, who had of late taken a +most oppressive fancy to him, button-holing him wherever he met him, to +explain his new methods of extracting oil. The young deputy had not +gained in dignity from his showy dress and white wig, as a gentleman of +the eighteenth century: he looked for all the world like a footman. + +Suddenly there was a stir in the ante-room. The Royal party had arrived. +The company collected about the door-ways. The Duke and Duchess, +Clementina and Osorio, went to the outside steps to receive them, and +the music played the Royal March. The King and Queen came in, walking +slowly between the two ranks of guests, stopping now and then when they +saw any one known to them to bestow a gracious greeting. The recipient +of such honour bowed or curtsied to the ground, kissing the Royal hand +with grateful effusiveness. The ladies especially humbled themselves +with a rapture they could not conceal, and a gush of loyalty and +affection which brought the blood to their cheeks. + +The royal quadrille was immediately formed, and Clementina left her +place by the door to dance in it. The Sovereign led out the Duchess, who +made this great effort to please her husband. A triple row of spectators +stood round to look on. + +Salabert was in his glory. The waif, the beggar, from the market-place +of Valencia, was entertaining Royalty. His dull, fish like, dissipated +eyes glistened with triumph. This explosion of vanity had blown to the +winds all the sordid anxieties which the cost of the ball had caused +him--the deadly struggle with his own avarice. To-morrow perhaps the +scatered fragments might reunite to give him fresh torment; for the +moment, intoxicated with pride, he was drinking deep breaths of the +atmosphere of importance and power created by his wealth; his face was +flushed with a congestion of ecstatic vanity. + +"Only look at Salabert's radiant expression," said Rafael Alcantara to +Leon Guzman and some other intimates who were standing in a group. "Joy +transpires from every pore! Now is the moment to ask him for a loan of +ten thousand dollars." + +"Do you think you would get it?" + +"Yes, at six per cent., on good security," said the other. "But look, +look! Here comes Lola, the most fascinating and delightful creature who +has yet entered these rooms." And he raised his voice so as to be heard +by the lady in question. + +Lola sent him a smile of acknowledgment; and her husband, the Mexican of +the cows, who also had heard the remark, bowed with pleasure. She was +really very bewitchingly dressed, as a Louis XIV. Marquise, in rose +colour, embroidered with gold, and a yellow train, also embroidered. Her +hair was powdered, and round her throat was a black velvet ribbon with +silver pendants. + +When the Royal quadrille was ended, waltzing began. Pepe Castro came to +find Esperancita, who was walking with the youngest of the Alcudia +girls. It was the first time that they had either of them been present +at a ball, and they were perfectly happy as they looked out on the world +in its most holiday aspect, confiding their delightful impressions to +each other's private ear. He remained with them for a minute till a +partner came to claim Paz for the dance, and the two couples floated off +at the same time on the tide of waltzers. For Esperancita the world had +vanished. A delicious sense of joy and freedom, like that which a bird +might feel in flying if it had a soul, glowed in her heart and lapped +her in delight. It was the first time she had ever felt Pepe Castro's +arm round her waist. Swept away by him into the maëlstrom of couples, +she felt as though they were alone--he and she. And the music charmed +her ears and heart, giving sweet utterance to the ineffable gladness +which throbbed in every pulse. + +When they paused a moment to rest, her face so unmistakeably expressed +the supreme emotion of first love, that her aunt Clementina, happening +to pass on the arm of the President of Congress, could not help looking +at her with a half kindly, half mocking smile, which made the child +blush. Pepe Castro could scarcely get a word out of her. Delicious +excitement seemed to have stricken her dumb. The happiness which filled +her soul found an outlet, as so often happens, in a feeling of general +benevolence. The ball to her was a pure delight; all the men were +amusing; all the women were exquisitely dressed. Even Ramon, who came +by, was bedewed with some drops of this overflowing tide of gladness. + +"Are you not dancing, Ramon?" she inquired, with so inviting a smile +that the poor fellow was quite overcome with joy. + +"I have been kept talking by Cotorraso." + +"But find yourself a partner. Look, there is Rosa Pallarés, who is not +dancing." + +The smiling statesman hastened to invite the damsel in question, +thinking, with characteristic acumen, that Esperancita had selected her +for her plain face. Soothed by this flattering reflection he was quite +content to dance with the daughter of General Pallarés, of whom Cobo +Ramirez was wont to speak as "one of our handsomest scarecrows." He felt +as though he were doing his lady's bidding, and giving her indisputable +proof that her jealousy--if she were jealous--was unfounded. + +When the waltz was over, he returned to her, as a mediæval knight from +the tournay, to receive his guerdon at his mistress's hands. But, +inasmuch as there is no perfect happiness for any one in this world, at +the same moment Cobo Ramirez went up to Esperancita. They both sat down +by her and plied her with compliments and attentions. One took charge of +her fan, the other of her handkerchief; both tried to entertain her by +their remarks, and to flatter her vanity by their assiduity. It must in +truth be owned that if Ramon was the more earnest and solid talker, Cobo +was by far the more amusing. And yet Esperancita, against her wont, by +one of those unaccountable whims of a young girl, was for once inclined +to listen kindly to Ramoncito. The trio afforded a diverting subject for +contemplation. + +The servants moved about the rooms with trays of lemonade, ices, and +bonbons. Ramon called one of them to offer Esperancita a particular kind +of jelly which he knew she liked. At the same time he insisted on his +rival taking an ice. Cobo declined. Ramon pressed him so eagerly that +Alcantara and some other men who were standing near could not help +noticing it. + +"Look at Ramon trying to make Cobo eat an ice," said one. + +"He sees he is hot, and wants to be the death of him! Nothing can be +plainer," said Leon. + +Pepe Castro, as soon as he saw his partner safe in the hands of Ramirez +and Maldonado, had stolen away. As he wandered on he met Clementina. She +seemed to be in every place at once, returning every few minutes to +attend their Majesties, who had retired to a private room with the +Duchess and Requena, and the ladies and gentlemen of their suite. + +"I saw you dancing with my little niece," said the lady. "Why do you not +make up to her?" + +"To what end?" + +"To marry her." + +"Horror! Why, my dear, what have I done to you that you should wish me +so dreadful a fate?" + +"Come, come, listen to reason," said she, quite gravely, and assuming a +maternal air. "Esperancita is no beauty, but she is not disagreeable +looking. She is fresh and youthful, and is desperately in love with you, +that I know." + +"As you are," interrupted the other, with some bitterness. + +"As I am--but then she has not known you some sixteen years. Yes, she +loves you, I assure you, very truly. We women can see such things with +half a glance. Marry her; do not be foolish. Calderón is very rich." + +Before Castro could reply, she was gone. He stood there a few minutes +lost in thought; then he moved away slowly, making his way round the +rooms with a lazy strut, stopping to stare, with consummate +impertinence, at all the pretty women, like a Pasha in a slave-market. + +Lola had taken possession of Raimundo, and kept him at her side in one +corner of the sitting-room, where she laid herself out to conquer him by +every art of the coquette. This was the pretty brunette's favourite +amusement. No friend of hers could have a man in her train, without +Lola's endeavouring to snatch him from her. Handsome or ugly, forward or +shy, it mattered not; all she cared for was to gratify her incurable +craving for admiration, and her desire to triumph over every other +woman. Her eyes had a look of sweetness and innocence which deceived +every one; it was impossible to believe that behind those guileless orbs +there lurked a will as determined as it was astute. Alcázar thought her +very pretty, and most agreeable to talk to; but the fact of her being +Clementina's friend, and of her talking of scarcely anything else, had a +great deal to do with this impression. As he could neither dance nor +converse with the lady of his adoration, both for reasons of prudence +and because she was too much occupied with other duties, he consoled +himself by hearing Lola chatter about the details of her life. Every +trifle interested the youth; the dress she had worn at the French +Ambassador's ball, the incidents of a shooting-party at the Cotorrasos', +the scenes she had with her husband, &c. Lola's tactics were first to +gain his attention and captivate his sympathy, and then to win his +liking. + +When Clementina came into the room, they were deep in conversation. She +stood for an instant in the doorway, looking at them with surprise and +vexation. For some time past Lola had been out of her good graces. +Though Pepe Castro had ceased to interest her, when her friend had +attempted to win him from her, the proceeding had led to a certain +coolness between them. Now she perceived that Lola had cast her eyes on +Raimundo, and was flirting with him on every possible occasion. This +roused an impulse of hatred, which she had some difficulty in +dissembling. She gave them a fiercely indignant stare, and going into +the middle of the room, she said in a somewhat excited way: + +"Alcázar, you are wanted to dance. Are you too tired?" + +"Oh, no!" the young man hastened to reply, and he rose at once. "With +whom shall I dance?" + +Clementina made no answer. Lola had a satirical smile which exasperated +her. She turned to leave the room. + +"I am sorry to have disturbed you," she said coldly, as they went away +together. + +Raimundo looked at her in surprise. This tone was quite new to him. + +"Disturbed me? Not at all." + +"Yes, indeed; for you seemed to be enjoying yourself very much with your +companion," and then, unable to repress her temper any longer, she added +in a brusque tone: + +"Come with me." + +She led him to the dining-room, where the supper tables were laid +awaiting the guests. There, in the bay of a window, she poured out her +wrath. She loaded him with abuse, and announced definitely that all was +at an end between them. She even went so far as to shake him violently +by the arm. Alcázar was so amazed, so overwhelmed, as to be absolutely +incapable of speech. This saved him. Seeing dismay and grief painted on +his countenance, Clementina could not fail to perceive that her anger +had deceived her. Raimundo, at any rate, had not the faintest notion of +flirting. So, calming down a little, she accepted the denial he at last +found words to utter. + +"But it was solely to talk of you that I sat with her," he said. + +"To talk of me? Well, then, for the future, I will trouble you not to +talk about me. It is enough that you should love me and hold your +tongue." + +The servants who were passing in and out glanced at them with +significant grimaces. + +As they left the room they met Pepa Frias. The buxom widow was in the +best of humours; she had received many compliments. Her dress, a very +handsome one, cut immoderately low, was that of a foreign princess of +the time of Charles III., in silver brocade with gold embroidery, and a +blue velvet train. + +"My dear, I am as hungry as a wolf," she exclaimed as she came in. "When +are we to have supper? Ho, ho! so you are whispering in corners! +Prudence, Clementina, prudence! My dear child, I must positively have +something to eat or I shall drop. I can wait no longer." + +Clementina laughed and took her into a corner, where she had a plate +brought for her with some meat. Alcázar returned to the drawing-room, +very happy, but still tremulous from the painful emotion his mistress +had caused him. He had never before seen her in such a rage. + +Clementina's friendship with Pepa had been closer than ever since the +scene in the boudoir. The widow was convinced that the safety of her +fortune depended on this intimacy, and did all she could to consolidate +it. Thanks to this manoeuvre she had, in fact, already recovered +possession of a large part of it; nor was she now uneasy about the +remainder. She knew that Doña Carmen had made her will in her +step-daughter's favour, and though the Duchess had been rather stronger +lately, her death ere long was a certainty, for the doctors had +pronounced that nothing could save her but an operation, which she was +too weak to undergo. + +Pepa's cynical assurance was quite to Clementina's mind. They understood +each other perfectly. They were a pair of hussies, grisettes born into a +sphere of society for which Nature had never intended them. Pepa, of +course, had a better right there than Clementina, who bore the taint in +her blood. Pepa was an adventuress by predilection. + +"Look here, Clem," said she as she devoured a slice of galantine of +turkey. "Let that boy drop; he is not worth his salt. You have had +enough of him for a mere whim." + +"How do you know what he is worth?" replied Clementina laughing. + +"By his face, my dear. He has been your acknowledged lover for above a +year, and to this day he turns as red as a poppy whenever you look at +him." + +"That is exactly what I like him for." + +Pepa shrugged her shoulders. + +"Indeed? Well, I should find it intolerable." + +"And Arbos? How does he behave?" + +"Oh, he is a perfect goose, but at any rate he can keep his countenance. +If you tell him he is a great man, there is nothing he will not do for +you. He has found places for above a score of my connections. Then it is +very nice to have some influence in the political world, and see +deputies at one's feet. Yesterday, for instance, I had a visit from +Manricio Sala, who has set his heart on being made under-secretary. He +is quite certain, it would seem, that in that case Urreta would let his +daughter marry him." + +"Oh, I loathe politics!--Do you know, Irenita is quite sweet in that +_chasseresse_ costume." + +"Hm--too showy." + +"Not at all, it is extremely pretty. What has become of her husband? I +have not seen him since they came in." + +"Her husband! a precious specimen he is!" exclaimed Pepa, looking up in +her wrath. "Oh, what troubles come upon me, my dear, what troubles!" she +added with her mouth still full. + +"Maria Huerta?" asked Clementina in a confidential tone. + +"Who else?" muttered the widow as she gazed at the turkey on her plate. +Then suddenly she burst out: + +"He is a blackguard, a shameless scoundrel, who cannot even keep up +appearances for his wife's sake. He spends chief part of the day +waiting for her at the door of the church of San Pascual, and walks home +with her. And at the theatre he never takes his eyes off her. It is a +shame. He might have some decency. And my idiot of a daughter is madly +in love with him, a perfect fool about him, all the while. She does +nothing but cry, and show how jealous she is! Why, what does the wretch +want but to humiliate her? If I were in her place I would talk to him! +And I would give him such a box on the ear to finish with as would make +him wink!" + +The lady's indignation had not interfered with deglutition. + +"Heaven reward you, my dear," she said as she rose. "Now let us see if +this heart of mine will be quiet for a little while." For Pepa supposed +herself to suffer from a heart complaint which only a good meal would +relieve. + +A few minutes after they had quitted the dining-room Clementina gave the +word, and the supper-room was thrown open. The Royal party led the way, +attended by their suite and their host and hostesses. Salabert had +lavished his crowning efforts on the supper-room. The ceiling was hung +with glittering cloth of gold; the brilliant flowers and exotic fruits, +the sheen of silver and crystal, under the blaze of gas lights as +numerous as the stars of heaven, were dazzling with splendour. The +servants stood motionless in a row against the wall, solemn and +speechless. In two deep recesses burnt huge fires of logs, in beautiful +fire-places of carved oak, which decorated the wall almost to the +ceiling. All the food served at the Royal table had been brought from +Paris by a little regiment of cooks and scullions. The only exceptions +were fish, brought from the coast of Biscay, and a plum pudding, just +arrived from London. The meats were for the most part cold, but there +was hot clear soup for those who liked it. + +The Royalties did not remain many minutes in the supper-room. As soon as +they left, the tide of guests rushed in without much ceremony. The +sitting-rooms remained silent, abandoned to the servants, who with the +precision of soldiers, replaced the dwindling wax lights by fresh ones, +while the noise in the dining-room, of plates and glasses, and voices +and laughter, was almost bewildering. + +Cobo Ramirez deserted Esperancita for a while, leaving her on his +rival's hands, while he found a seat for himself at a little table in a +snug corner, to devour a plateful of ham and Hamburg beef. Ramoncito +naturally took advantage of this reprieve to show off his own poetical +frugality as compared with Cobo's prosaic gluttony, till Esperancita cut +the ground from under him by saying very spitefully to her friend +Pacita, who sat by her side: + +"For my part I like a man to be a great eater." + +"So do I," said Paz. "At any rate it shows that he has a good +digestion." + +"So have I," said Maldonado, crushed and vexed by the hostile tone the +young girls had adopted against him. Paz only smiled scornfully. + +General Patiño, tired of throwing his heavy shell at Calderón's torpid +spouse without producing the smallest sign of capitulation, had raised +the siege, to sit down before the Marquesa de Ujo; she had yielded at +the first fire, and thrown open every gate to the enemy. At the same +time, as a consummate strategist, the General had not lost sight of +Mariana, hoping that some happy accident might again lay her open to his +batteries. The newspapers had lately mentioned a rumour that he was to +be made Minister of War. This dignity would, no doubt, give him greater +influence and prestige, whenever he might choose to surprise the +stronghold. + +The Marquesa de Ujo was dressed à la Turque, and she played her part so +well that Alcantara declared he "longed to have a shot at her himself." +Her languor was so great that she could scarcely exert herself to +articulate, so that the General was obliged to assist her every minute +in the exhausting effort. While her far from perfect teeth nibbled a +cake or two--for her digestion did not allow of her eating anything +more solid--she uttered, or, to be exact, she exhaled a series of +exclamations over a new French novel. + +"What exquisite scenes! What a sweet book! When she says, 'Come in if +you choose; you can dishonour my body but not my soul.' And the duel, +when she receives the bullet that was to have killed her husband! How +beautiful it is!" + +Pepe Castro was prancing--forgive the word--round Lola Madariaga. She +was relating with a malicious smile the incident which had just occurred +when Clementina had found her sitting with Raimundo. She spoke as though +she had won the youth from her friend, with a scornful and patronising +air which would have been a shock to Clementina's pride if she could +have heard it. + +"Poor Clem! she is growing old, isn't she? But what a figure she has +still. Of course it is all done by tight-lacing, and it must do her a +mischief, sooner or later, but as yet---- Her face does not match her +figure, above all now that she has begun to lose her complexion so +dreadfully. She always had a very hard face." + +And all the time her insinuating soft eyes were fixed on Castro with +such inviting looks, as were really quite embarrassing. She had always +been told, and it was true, that she had a most innocent face, and to +make the most of it she assumed the expression of an idiot. + +Castro agreed to all she said, as much to flatter her as out of any +ill-feeling towards Clementina. When Clementina cast him off he had +consoled himself by paying attentions to Lola, in whom he really felt no +interest, though at the same time he had been careful not to let the +world know that he was discarded. + +"And do you believe that she is really in love with that school-boy?" + +"Who can tell! Clementina likes to be thought original. This last whim +is just like her. And look at that baby's sentimental gaze at her from +afar." + +Raimundo, who was standing at the end of one of the tables, never took +his eyes off his mistress while she moved to and fro, attending to the +requirements of those guests whom she most desired to please. From time +to time she bestowed on him a faint smile of recognition, which +transported him to the seventh heaven. + +Pepa Frias, who, having had her fill, could eat no more, was picking up +a fruit here and a bonbon there, while behind her chair stood Calderón, +Pinedo, Fuentes, and two or three more, laughing at her and with her. +But the widow was not to be caught napping; she could defend herself, +parrying and retorting with masterly skill. + +"Where do you have the gout, Pepa, did you say?" asked Pinedo. + +"In my feet, in my feet, where all your wits are." + +"What is the miniature in that brooch? Is it a family portrait?" + +"No, Fuentes," said she, as she handed it to him to look at. "It is a +mirror." + +The painting represented a monkey. + +All the others roared with laughter, attracting general attention. + +Soon after the dancing had recommenced the Royal party took their leave. +The same ceremony was observed as at their arrival; the guests in two +ranks on each side of the room, the Royal march played by the orchestra, +and the master of the house in attendance to the carriage door. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +AN UNWELCOME GUEST. + + +Clementina gave a sigh of relief. Walking slowly, with the delightful +sense of a difficult task happily accomplished, she made her way through +the rooms, smiling right and left, and shedding amiable speeches on +every friend she met. This splendid ball, the most magnificent perhaps +ever given in Madrid by a private individual, was almost exclusively her +work. Her father had provided the money, but the motive power, the taste +and planning, had been hers. She received the congratulations which +hailed her from all sides with a pleasing intoxication of flattered +vanity. Happiness stirred a craving for love, its inseparable associate. +She was possessed by a vehement wish to have a brief meeting, +_tête-à-tête_, with Raimundo, to speak and hear a few fond words, to +exchange a brief caress. She looked round for him among the crowd. + +He had been wandering about the rooms all the evening, generally alone. +He had looked forward to this ball with puerile anticipations of +delirious and unknown pleasures, for he had never been present at any of +these high festivals of wealth and fashion. The reality had not come up +to his hopes, as must always be the case. All this ostentation, all the +scandalous luxury displayed to his eyes, instead of exciting his pride, +wounded it deeply. Never had he felt so completely a stranger in the +world he had now for some months lived in. His thoughts, with their +natural tendency to melancholy, reverted to his modest home, where, by +his fault, necessaries would ere long be lacking; to his humble-minded +mother, who had never hesitated to fulfil the most menial tasks; to his +innocent sister, who had learned from her to be thrifty and +hard-working. Remorse gnawed at his heart. Then, too, he observed that +the young men of his acquaintance treated him here with covert +hostility. Many of them he had begun to regard as friends; they welcomed +him pleasantly, he played cards with them and sometimes joined in their +expeditions, but he clearly understood at last that he was no one, +nothing to them, but as Clementina's lover; and he could detect, or his +exaggerated sensitiveness made him fancy that he detected, in their +demeanour to him, a touch of scorn, which humiliated him bitterly. The +passionate devotion which Clementina professed for him compensated no +doubt for these miseries, and enabled him often to forget them, but this +evening his adored mistress, though she did not ignore him, was +necessarily out of his range. He endured the phase of feeling which a +mystic goes through when, as he expresses it, God has withdrawn His +guiding hand--intense weariness and the darkest gloom of spirit. He +danced dutiously two or three times, and talked a little to one and +another. Tired of it all, at last he withdrew into the quietest corner +of one of the rooms, sat down on a sofa and remained sunk in extreme +dejection. + +Clementina sought him for some few minutes, and was beginning to be out +of patience. She went into the card-room, and he started up to meet her +with a beaming countenance. All his melancholy had vanished on seeing +that she was in search of him. + +"If you would like two minutes' chat, come to the Duke's study," she +said, in rapid but tender accents. "It is on the right-hand side, at the +end of the corridor." She went thither, and Raimundo, to save +appearances, lingered for a few moments by one of the tables, watching +the game. + +Clementina made her way in and out of the rooms till she reached the +corridor, and hurried to the study, a handsome room, so called for mere +form, since the Duke always sat upstairs. It was a blaze of light, as +all the other rooms were. As she went in, she fancied she heard a +smothered sob, which filled her with surprise and apprehension. Looking +about her, she discovered, in a deep recess, a woman lying in a heap on +a divan, hiding her face in her handkerchief, and weeping violently. She +went up to her, and recognised her by her dress. It was Irenita. + +"Irene, my child, what is the matter?" she exclaimed, bending anxiously +over her. + +"Oh, forgive me, Clementina, I came here, hardly knowing what I was +doing. I am so miserable;" and the tears streamed down her face. + +"But what has happened then, my poor dear?" + +"Nothing, nothing," sobbed the girl. There was a short silence. +Clementina looked at her compassionately. + +"Come," she said, leaning over her, "It is Emilio. He has done something +to vex you this evening." + +Irene made no reply. + +"Do not break your heart over it, silly child. That will do nothing to +mend matters. However great the effort, try to seem indifferent. That is +the only way to prevent his despising you. Nay, there is a better way, +but I do not advise you to try it; there are things one cannot advise. +But still, even if you are in love with him, do not offer him your heart +to wring, for God's sake! Never let him know how unhappy he makes you, +or you are lost. Let him have his whim out, and he will come back to +you." + +Irene raised her face, bathed in tears. + +"But have you seen--do you know what he has done? It is dreadful." + +At this instant Clementina heard a step in the corridor, and suspecting +who it might be, she hastily went to look out, saying: "Wait till I shut +the door." + +She was only just in time; Raimundo arrived at the moment; she put her +finger to her lips, and signed to him to go away. Irene saw nothing of +it. + +When Clementina returned to her side, Irenita poured out, between sighs +and tears, the grievances her husband had heaped upon her that evening. +In the first place Emilio had chosen to come to the ball in a Hungarian +costume. As soon as she came in, she had perceived that Maria Huerta +also wore a Hungarian dress, and this, it must be owned, was a piece of +insolence, which more than one person had remarked upon. Then they had +danced together twice, and all the while, Emilio had never ceased +murmuring in her ear. He had waited on her like a servant the whole +evening, offering her ices and fruit with his own hands. Once, as he +handed her a plate, their fingers had met. Irenita had seen it with her +own eyes. Oh, it was monstrous! Irene only longed to kill herself. She +would rather die a thousand deaths than endure such torments. + +Clementina comforted her as best she could. Emilio loved her fondly, she +was sure; only men liked to show off in this way and prove their powers +of fascination. As their hearts were not engaged, there was nothing for +it but to let them go for a while, and then they returned to the wife +they really loved. + +Clementina would not take her to the ladies' cloak-room to have her hair +rearranged and to bathe her face; she led her up to the Duchess's +dressing-room, and in a few minutes they came down stairs again. Irenita +promised not to betray herself. When Clementina reported to Pepa all +that had passed, the widow flew into such a fury that she was with +difficulty hindered from rushing off to abuse her son-in-law. + +"Well, it is all the same," she said, with a shrug. "If I do not scratch +his face now, I will do it later. Come what may, I cannot allow that +scoundrel to be the death of my daughter; and as for that bare-faced +slut, she will not get off till I have spit in her face, and in her +husband's ugly phiz, too! A pretty state of things!" + +"Would it not be better to get rid of them altogether? Huerta is in +office. See if you cannot get him packed off somewhere as Governor?" + +"You are right. I will speak of it to Arbos at once; but as to that +precious son-in-law of mine, I will pay him out this very night, or my +name is not Pepa." + +The Duke, surrounded by a group of faithful flatterers, was inhaling +clouds of incense, growling out some gross witticism every now and then, +which was hailed with applause. The ladies were the most enthusiastic in +their admiration. Requena's genius for speculation dazzled them with +amazement, as though they would like to calculate how many new dresses +his millions would purchase. And he, usually so subservient, he--who, by +his own confession, had reached the position he held by dint of kicks +behind--lording it here among his worshippers, bullied them without +mercy. His coarse jests were flung at men and women alike; he gloried in +the brutal exercise of his power. And if these devotees were ready to +humble themselves so patiently for nothing--absolutely nothing--what +would they not have done if he had given largesse of his millions, if +the golden calf had begun to vomit dollars. + +In the card-room, whither he went after attending the retirement of +their Majesties, a crowd of speculators literally blocked him in. + +"How are the Riosa shares looking, Señor Duque?" one made so bold as to +ask. + +"Do not talk of them," grumbled the man of money, with a furious glare. + +Llera's scheme had been punctually carried out. The Duke, after buying +up a large number of shares, had set to work to produce a panic among +the shareholders. For some months he had been employing secret agents to +buy, and sell again immediately at a loss. Thanks to these tactics, the +quotations had fallen very low. He was now almost ready for his great +coup, buying up all he could get to throw them suddenly into the market, +and then securing half the shares, _plus_ one. + +"Everything cannot turn out well," said the man who had addressed him, +not without a smile of satisfaction. "You have always been so lucky." + +"The Duke does not owe his success to luck," said a stock-broker bent on +flattery, "but to his genius, his incomparable skill and acumen." + +"No doubt, no doubt," the other hastened to put in, snatching the +censer, as it were. "The Duke is the greatest financial genius of Spain. +I cannot understand why he has not the entire management of the +Treasury. If it is not placed in his hands, the country is past praying +for." + +"Well, if I tried to save it after the fashion of the Riosa Mining +Company, it would be a bad look out for the Spaniards," said the Duke, +in a sulky, mumbling voice. + +"Why, is it such a rotten concern?" + +"For the Government, no, damn it; but for me, after buying it at par, it +does not seem to be much of a success." + +And he cast all the blame of the transaction on his head clerk, that +idiot Llera, who had insisted on having a finger in that pie, in spite +of his, the Duke's, presentiments. + +"Ah! a man like you should never trust anything but his instincts," they +all declared. "When a man has a real genius for business--" And again +the word genius was on the lips of every idolater of the golden calf. + +Suddenly, at the door of the card-room, Clementina was seen, closely +followed by Osorio, Mariana, and Calderón. All four looked disturbed and +dismayed, and they all four fixed their eyes on Salabert, whom they +eagerly approached. + +"Papa, one word, one minute," said Clementina. + +Salabert quitted the group, of which he was the centre, and joined the +quartette in the further corner of the room. + +"That woman is here," said his daughter in an agitated whisper, but her +eyes flashed fire. + +"It is scandalous," said Osorio. + +"Some people have left already, and as soon as it is known every one +will go!" added Calderón, more calmly. + +"What woman?" asked Requena, opening his eyes very wide. + +Clementina explained in a tone of passionate scorn--a woman whom the +Duke was known to visit. It was Amparo. + +"What!" he exclaimed, with well acted surprise. "That hussy has dared to +come to this house? Who let her in? I will dismiss the door-keeper +to-morrow morning." + +"No. What you have to do is to dismiss her this instant!" cried +Clementina, stuttering with rage. + +"Of course, this instant! How dare she set foot in this house, and on +such an occasion? But how did she get in? A ball which began so well!" + +"She has a card, it would seem." + +"Then she has stolen it, or it is a forgery." + +"Well, well," said Clementina, who knew her father well enough to guess +that he had been cajoled into giving the invitation, a bounty which had +cost him nothing. "Settle the matter at once. She is in the +drawing-room. You must go and explain to her that she must have the +goodness to take herself off. Say what you choose, but at once. Before +any one discovers her--above all mamma." + +"No, my child, no. I know myself too well. I could not control my +indignation. We must do nothing to attract attention. Go yourself--go, +and get rid of her at once." + +This was enough for Clementina. Without another word she swiftly +returned to the drawing-room, her face pale and set, her lips quivering. +In a moment she discovered the foe. + +Certainly she was a handsome creature, magnificently dressed as Mary, +Queen of Scots, and her beauty was fuel to Clementina's wrath. After +wheedling Salabert to give her a card, it had occurred to the +_demi-mondaine_ that her appearance at the ball might cause a scandal, +but she longed to display herself in the costly costume she had chosen, +and taking a respectable-looking old friend as a chaperon, she went very +late, just to walk once or twice through the rooms. It was a bitter +surprise to find that even the men of her acquaintance, the members of +the Savage Club, here turned their backs and walked away. + +Her enjoyment, such as it was, was brief. Just as she was moving +forward, with a triumphant smile, to make her longed-for progress +through the rooms, she found herself face to face with Clementina, who, +without the slightest greeting, holding her head very high, laid her +hand on her shoulder, saying: + +"Have the kindness to listen to me." + +Mary Stuart turned pale, hesitated an instant, and then said with +resolute arrogance: + +"I have nothing to say to you. I came to see the master of the +house--the Duke de Requena." + +Margaret of Austria fixed a flashing eye on the rival queen, who met it +without blinking. Then, bending forward, she said in her ear: + +"If you do not come with me this instant I will call two men-servants to +turn you out of this house by force." + +The Queen of Scots was startled; still she was bold: + +"I wish to see the Duke," she said. + +"The Duke is not to be seen--by you. Follow me, or I call!" And she +looked round as though she were about to act on her threat. The intruder +turned very pale, and obeyed. + +The scene had, of course, been witnessed by several persons, but no one +dared follow the hostile queens. Clementina went straight into the +cloak-room. + +"This lady's wrap," she said. + +Not another word was spoken. A man-servant brought the cloak. Mary +Stuart put it on herself unaided, with trembling hands. She went forward +a few steps, and then suddenly turning round, she flashed a look of +mortal hatred at Margaret of Austria, who returned it with interest in +the shape of a contemptuous smile. + +It was foreordained of Heaven that the unhappy Queen of Scots should +always be a victim--first to her cousin, Elizabeth of England, and now +the Queen of Spain had turned her into the street. She found her duenna +in the carriage; she had prudently made her escape at the beginning of +the scene. + +What moral purification Requena's rooms may have gained by the eviction +of Mary Stuart it would be hard to say; but they certainly lost much +from the æsthetic point of view, for, beyond a doubt, she was lovely. + +The ball was coming to an end. Preparations were being made for the +final cotillon. The crowd had thinned; several persons went away before +the cotillon--elderly folk for the most part, who did not like late +hours. Among the young ladies there was the agitation and stir which +always precedes this last dance, when the most ceremonious ball assumes +an aspect of more intimate enjoyment. Art and fancy now step in to +eliminate every sensual element and make the waltz an innocent +amusement--a reminiscence of the fancy ballets which, in the fourteenth +century, entertained the Courts of France and England. And to many a +damsel this is the crowning scene of the first act in the little comedy +of love she has begun to perform. + +Pepe Castro, as we have seen, had laughed to scorn Clementina's +suggestion that he should pay his addresses to Calderón's daughter; but +it had not, therefore, fallen on stony ground. Though he talked and +danced with other girls, he did not fail to ask her to waltz more than +once. When the cotillon was being formed he went to Esperanza and asked +her to be his partner, though he knew very well that it would be +impossible, as the engagements for the last dance were always made as +soon as the young people arrived. However, it fell in with the scheme he +was plotting in his fertile brain. The girl had, in fact, promised the +dance to the Conde de Agreda, but, on Castro's invitation, her desire to +dance with him was so great that, with calm audacity, she accepted it. + +The Duchess selected the Condesa de Cotorraso to lead the cotillon, and +she took Cobo Ramirez for her partner. He was always welcome in a +ball-room as a most accomplished leader of cotillons; and on this +particular occasion he had held long conferences with Clementina as to +the arrangements for this dance. + +The circle of chairs was placed, and Pepe Castro went to lead out +Esperanza, who proudly took his arm. But they had not gone two steps +before Agreda intercepted them. + +"Why, Esperancita, I thought you had promised me the cotillon?" he said +in great surprise. + +The girl's audacity did not desert her--the courage of a love-sick maid. + +"You must, please, forgive me, Leon," said she, in a tone which the most +consummate actress might have envied. "When I accepted you I quite +forgot that I was engaged already to Pepe." + +The Count retired, murmuring a few polite words, which did not conceal +his annoyance. As soon as he was gone, Esperancita, frightened at the +compromising interest in Castro which she had thus betrayed, began with +many blushes to explain: + +"The real truth is that I had forgotten that I was engaged to Leon," she +said. "And as I had taken your arm--and besides, he is a most tiring +partner." + +Pepe Castro took no mean advantage of his triumph; his demeanour was +modest and grateful. Instead of courting her openly, he adopted a more +insinuating style, loading her with small attentions, establishing a +tone of easy confidence, and showing her all possible fondness without +breathing a word of love. Esperanza was supremely happy. She began to +believe herself adored; fancying that the sympathy and regard which had +always existed between Pepe and herself was at last turning to love. Her +heart beat high with joy. + +Ramoncita also was pleased at the substitution. Agreda had for some +little time been particularly antipathetic to him, almost as much so as +Cobo Ramirez, since he was beginning to be as jealous of the one as of +the other. Pepe, on the other hand, he regarded as his second self, +another and a superior Maldonado. All the affection Esperanza bestowed +on Pepe he accepted as a boon to himself. So to see her on his arm was +to him a touching sight, and as he went up to them to say a few +insignificant words he actually blushed with satisfaction. Pepe made a +knowing face, as much as to say: "Victory all along the line!" and the +young civilian felt that he was advancing with giant strides to the +fulfilment of his hopes and the apogee of his happiness. + +The cotillon was a worthy climax to this most successful ball. The +inventiveness of Cobo Ramirez, spurred by the magnitude of the occasion, +enchanted the dancers by the variety and ingenuity of its devices; he +kept them amused for more than an hour. A game with a hoop arranged in +the middle of the room absorbed every one's attention and earned him +much applause. He divided the gentlemen into two parties, who shot +alternately with arrows from pretty little gilt bows at the hoop +suspended by a ribbon from the ceiling. The winners were entitled to +dance with the partners of those they had defeated, while the humiliated +victim followed in their wake, fanning them as they waltzed. Then he had +planned another figure for the ladies; the successful fair left the room +and returned sitting in a car drawn by four servants dressed as black +slaves. In this she made a triumphal progress round the room, surrounded +by the rest. This and other not less remarkable and valuable inventions +had placed the fame of the heir of Casa Ramirez on a permanent and +illustrious footing. + +As soon as the cotillon was ended the company left--it was a noisy and +precipitate retreat. Every one crowded out to the vestibule and stairs, +talking at the top of their voices, laughing and calling, each louder +than the other, for their carriages. The extensive garden, lighted by +electricity, had a fantastic and unreal effect, like the scene in a +fairy cosmorama. The beams of intense white light, making the shadows +look black and deep, pierced the avenues of the park and lent it an +appearance of immense extent. Night was ended, the pale tints of dawn +were already grey in the East. It was intensely cold. The young +"Savages," wrapped in fur coats, were letting off the last crackers of +their wit in honour of the ladies who stood waiting, where their rich +and picturesque wraps glittered in the electric light. Horses stamping, +footmen shouting, the carriage-wheels, as they slowly came round to the +steps, grinding the gravel of the drive. Then there was the sound of +kisses, doors slammed, loud good-nights; and the noise of the vehicles, +as they drove off from the terrace steps, seemed by degrees to swallow +up all the others and carry them off to rest in the various quarters of +the town. + +Pepe Castro had kept close to Esperanza and was murmuring in her ear +till the last. The girl, muffled up to her eyes, was smiling without +looking at him. When at last the Calderón's carriage came up they shook +hands with a long pressure. + +"I hope you will not forget us for so long as usual; that you will come +to see us oftener," she said, leaving her hand in his. + +"Do you really wish that I should call more frequently?" said he, +looking at her as if he meant to magnetise her. + +"I should think I did!" As she spoke she coloured violently under her +comforter, and snatching away her hand followed her mother to the +carriage. + +Pepa Frias had said to her daughter: + +"When we go, child, I want Emilio to come with me. I am in such a state +of nerves that I cannot sleep till I have given him my mind. We must +have no more scandals, you see; I am going to propose an ultimatum. If +he persists, you must come back to me and he may go to the devil." + +She was in a great rage. Irene, though she would have liked to object to +this arrangement, for she adored her fickle husband, did not dare to +remonstrate; she submitted. When they were leaving, Pepa addressed her +son-in-law: + +"Emilio, do me the favour to see me home. I want to speak to you." + +"Hang it all!" thought the young fellow. + +"And Irene?" he said. + +"She can go alone. The bogueys won't eat her," replied Pepa tartly. + +"Worse and worse," Emilio reflected. + +And, in point of fact, Irenita, eyeing her mother and her husband with +fear and anxiety, went off alone in her carriage, leaving them together. + +As Pepa's brougham rolled away, Emilio, to disarm his mother-in-law, +tried, like the boy that he was, to divert the lightning by saying +something to please her. + +"Do you know," said he, "that I heard your praises loudly sung by the +President of the Council and some men who were with him? They admired +your costume immensely, but yet more your figure. They declared that +there was not a girl in the room to compare with you for freshness, that +your skin was like satin, and smoother and softer every day." + +"Good heavens, what nonsense! That is all gammon, Emilio. A few years +ago, I do not say----" + +"No, no, indeed; your complexion is proverbial in Madrid. What would +Irene give for a skin like her mother's!" + +"Is it better than Maria Huerta's?" asked she, in an ironical tone, +which betrayed, indeed, no very great annoyance. + +Pepa had, in fact, changed her plan of attack; she thought that +diplomacy would be more effective than a rating. + +"Listen to me," she went on, "I meant to give you a good scolding, +Emilio; to talk to you seriously, very seriously, and say a great many +hard things, but I cannot. I am so foolishly soft-hearted that I can +find excuses for every one. You have behaved so badly to Irenita this +evening, that she would be justified in leaving you altogether; but I do +not believe you are as bad as you seem, for you are nothing but a +perverse boy. I am sure you do not yourself appreciate the gravity of +your conduct." + +Pepa's whole sermon was pitched in the same persuasive key, and Emilio, +who had expected a severe lecture, was agreeably surprised. He listened +submissively, and then in a broken voice tried to exculpate himself. He +had flirted a little to be sure with Maria Huerta, but he swore he did +not care for her. It was a mere matter of pique and vanity. When his +engagement to Irene was announced, Maria had been heard to say, in +Osorio's house, that she could not understand how Irenita could bear to +marry that ugly slip of a boy. He had sworn she should eat her own +words--and so--and so--and that was all, on his word of honour, all. + +So Pepa was still further mollified; and what wonder if the young fellow +thought that this, and perhaps worse sins, were condoned by his +profligate mother-in-law. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +A PIOUS MATINÉE. + + +A few days after the ball, at eleven in the morning of a Friday in Lent, +the most elegant of "Savages" woke from his calm and sound slumbers, +fully determined to marry Calderón's little daughter. He opened his +eyes, glanced at the hippic decorations which ornamented the walls of +his room, stretched himself gracefully, drank a glass of lemonade which +stood by his bedside, and prepared to rise. It cannot be positively +asserted that the resolution had been formed during sleep, but it is +quite certain that it was the birth of a mysterious travail which he had +not consciously aided. When he went to bed Castro had only the vaguest +thoughts of this advantageous alliance; on waking, his determination to +sue for Esperanza's hand, by whatever process it had been elaborated, +was irrevocable. Let us congratulate the happy damsel, and for the +present devote our attention to studying the noble "Savage" in the act +of perfecting the beautiful object which Nature had achieved in creating +him. + +His servant had prepared his bath. After looking in the glass to study +the face of the day--his own--he took up some dumb-bells, and went +through a few exercises. Then taking a foil, he practised a score or so +of lunges, and finally he delivered a dozen or more punches on the pad +of a dynamometer. Having accomplished this, the moment was come for him +to step into the water. He was still splashing and sponging, when into +his room, unannounced, walked the poor crazy Marquis Manolo Davalos. + +"Pepe, I want to speak to you about a very important matter," said he, +with an air of mystery, his eyes wilder than ever. + +"Wait a minute; I am tubbing." + +"Then make haste; I am in a great hurry." + +Davalos rose from the chair into which he had dropped, and began walking +up and down the room with a sort of feverish agitation, to which his +friends had become accustomed. He could not remain still for five +minutes. Any one else going through half the exercise he took in the +course of the day would have been utterly exhausted before night. Castro +watched him at first with contemptuous raillery in his eye; but he grew +serious as he saw Manolo go up to the table and begin to play with a +neat little revolver which Castro kept by his bedside. + +"Look out there, Manolo! It is loaded." + +"So I see, so I see," said the other with a smile; and turning round +sharply, he added: "What do you think Madrid would say if I shot you +dead?" + +Pepe Castro felt a chill run down his spine, which was not altogether +attributable to the cold bath, and he laughed rather queerly. + +"And you know I could do it with impunity," his visitor went on, "as I +am said to be mad----." + +"Ha, ha, ha!" Castro laughed hysterically. + +He was no coward; on the contrary, he had a reputation for punctilio and +courage; but, like all fighting men, he liked a public. The prospect of +an inglorious death at the hands of a maniac did not smile on his fancy. +The example of Seneca, Marat, and other heroes who had been killed in +their bath did nothing to encourage him, possibly because he had never +heard of them. Davalos came towards him with the revolver cocked, +saying: + +"What will they say in town, eh? What will they say?" + +Castro was as cold as though he were up to his chin in ice instead of +water with the chill off. However, he had presence of mind enough to +say: + +"Lay down that revolver, Manolo. If you don't, you shall never see +Amparo again as long as you live." Amparo was the fair _demi-mondaine_ +whom we have already seen at the Duke's ball. She had ruined the +Marquis, a widower with young children, who had seriously intended to +marry the woman; and his brain, none of the strongest at any time, had +finally given way, when his family had interfered to protect him from +her rapacity. + +"Never again! Why not?" he asked, dejection painted on his face, as he +lowered the weapon. + +"Because I will not allow it; I will tell her never to let you inside +her doors." + +"Well, well, my dear fellow, do not be put out, I was only in fun," said +the lunatic, replacing the revolver on the table. + +Castro jumped out of the bath. No sooner was he wrapped in the turkish +towel, with which he dried himself, than he seized the weapon and locked +it away. Easy in his mind now, though annoyed by the fright his crazy +friend had given him, he began talking to him in a tone of contemptuous +ill-humour, while, standing before his glass, he lavished on his +handsome person, with the greatest respect, all the care due to its +merits. + +"Now, then, out with it, man, out with the great secret. One of your +fool's errands as usual, I suppose. I declare, Manolo, you ought not to +be allowed in the streets. You should go somewhere and be cured," he +said, as he rubbed his arms with some scented unguent which he selected +from the collection of pots and bottles of every size arrayed before +him. + +The Marquis put his hand in his pocket, took out his note-book, and from +it a letter in a woman's hand, saying with some solemnity: + +"She has just written me this note. I want you to read it." + +Pepe did not even turn his head to look at the document his friend held +out to him. Absorbed at the moment in blending the ends of his moustache +with his beard, he said in an absent-minded way: + +"And what does she want?" + +Davalos stared in surprise at the small interest he took in this +precious missive. + +"Shall I read it to you?" + +"If it is not very long." + +Manolo unfolded it as reverently as though it were the autograph of a +saint, and read with deep emotion: + + "MY DEAREST MANOLO.--Do me the favour to send me by the bearer two + thousand pesetas,[D] of which I am in urgent need. If you have not + so much about you, bring me the money this evening.--Always and + entirely yours, + + "AMPARO." + +"My word! She is a cool hand. I suppose you did not send the money?" + +"No." + +"Quite right." + +"Well, I had not got it. It is on purpose to see if you can help me that +I have come here." + +Castro turned round and contemplated his visitor with a look of surprise +and irritation. Then, addressing himself to his glass again, he said: + +"My dear Manolo, you are the greatest fool out. I am sure that when your +aunt dies you will let that hussy spend the money for you as she has +spent your own fortune." + +The Marquis was in a fury. + +"Do you know where the real wrong is?" he said. "It lies with my family, +who, without rhyme or reason, interfere to prevent my marrying her. As +my wife--as the mother of my motherless children--they would have been +happy, and so should I!" + +Castro stared at him in blank amazement. Tears stood on the Marquis's +pale cheeks. Pepe made a grimace of contemptuous pity, and went on +combing his moustache. After a few minutes' silence, he said: + +"I am very sorry, old fellow. I have not got two thousand pesetas; but +if I had I would not lend them to you for such a purpose, you may be +very sure." + +Davalos made no reply, but again paced the room. + +"Whom can I ask?" he suddenly said, stopping short. + +"Try Salabert," said Castro, with a short laugh. + +Manolo clenched his fists and ground his teeth; his eyes glared +ominously, and with a stride he went up to Pepe, who drew back a step, +and prepared to defend himself. + +"Such a speech is a gross insult!--an insult worthy of a bullet or a +sword thrust! You are a coward--in your own house!" + +His eyes started in a really terrific stare; but he did not succeed in +provoking his friend. He ultimately controlled himself with a great +effort, only flinging his hat on the floor with such violence as to +crush it. Castro stood perfectly still, as if turned to stone. So often +before he had jested with the crazy fellow, and said far rougher things, +without his ever dreaming of taking offence, and now, by pure chance, as +it seemed, he flew into this unaccountable rage. He tried to soothe him +by an apology, but Manolo did not listen. Though he had got past the +first impulse to struggle with him, he raged up and down like a caged +wild beast, muttering threats and gesticulating vehemently. However, he +soon broke down: + +"I should never have believed it of you, Pepe," he murmured in a broken +voice. "I should never have supposed that my best friend would so insult +me--so stab me to the heart." + +"But bless me, man----!" + +"Do not speak to me, Pepe. You have stabbed me with a word; leave me in +peace. God forgive you, as I forgive you! I am like a hare wounded by +the hunter, which runs to its form to die. Do not harry me any more; +leave me to die in peace." + +And the simile of the hare seemed to him so pathetic that he sank +sobbing into an arm-chair. At the same time he had a severe fit of +coughing, and Castro had to persuade him to drink a cup of lime-flower +tea. + + * * * * * + +By the time the luckless Marquis had a little recovered, Pepe had +achieved the adornment of his person, which he proceeded to take out +walking, very correctly and exquisitely dressed in a frock-coat. He +breakfasted at Lhardy's, looked in at the Club, and by three in the +afternoon or thereabouts bent his steps to the house of the Marquesa de +Alcudia, his aunt, in the Calle de San Mateo. This lady was, as we know, +very proud of her religion, and equally so, to say the least, of her +pedigree. Pepe was her favourite nephew, and, though his dissipated mode +of life disgusted her not a little, she had always treated him with much +affection, hoping to tempt him into the right way. In the Marquesa's +opinion, quarterings of nobility were as efficacious in their way as the +Sacrament of Ordination. Whatever villainies a noble might commit, he +was still a noble, as a priest is always a priest. + +Castro had thought of this devout lady as one likely to assist him in +his project. His instincts--which were more to be depended on than his +intelligence--told him that if the Marquesa undertook the negotiations +for his marriage with Esperancita she would undoubtedly succeed. She was +a person of much influence in fashionable society, and even more with +those persons who, like Calderón, had gained a place in it by wealth. + +The Alcudia's mansion was a gloomy structure, built in the fashion of +the last century--a ground floor with large barred windows and one floor +above; nothing more. But it covered a vast extent of ground, with a +neglected garden in the rear. The entrance was not decorative; the +outside steps rough-hewn to begin with, and much worn. The late +lamented Alcudia was proposing some repairs and improvements when death +interfered with his plans. His widow abandoned them, not so much out of +avarice as from intense conservatism, even in matters which most needed +reform. + +Within, the house was sumptuously fitted; the furniture was antique and +very handsome; the walls hung with splendid tapestry; and fine pictures +by the old masters graced the library and the oratory. This was indeed a +marvel of splendour. It stood at one corner of the building on the +ground floor, but was two storeys high, and as lofty, in fact, as a +church. The windows were filled with stained glass, like those of a +Gothic cathedral; the floor was richly carpeted; there was a small +gallery with an organ; and the altar, in the French taste, was +beautifully decorated. Over it hung an _Ecce Homo_, by Morales. It was +an elegant and comfortable little chapel, warmed by a large stove in the +cellar beneath. + +In the drawing-room Pepe found only the girls, busy with their +needlework. Their mother, they said, was in the study, writing letters. +So, after exchanging a few words with his cousins, he joined her there. + +"May I come in, aunt?" + +"Come in, come in. You, Pepe?" said the Marquesa, looking up at him over +the spectacles she wore for writing. + +"If I am interrupting you I will go away. I want to consult you," said +the young man, with a smile. + +He took a chair, and while his aunt went on writing with a firm, swift +hand, he meditated the exordium to the speech he was about to deliver. +At last the pen dashed across the paper with a strident squeak, no doubt +emphasising the writer's signature, and taking off her spectacles, she +said: + +"At your service, Pepe." + +Pepe looked at the floor, praying no doubt for inspiration, twirled his +moustache, cleared his throat and at last began with much solemnity. + +"Well, aunt, I do not know whether it is that God has touched my heart, +or merely that I am weary of my present mode of life; but at any rate +for some time past I have been taking to heart the advice you have so +often given me, and which goes hand in hand with my own wish to settle +down, to give up the bad habits which I have contracted for want of a +father to guide me, and yet more of a mother, like yourself. I am very +nearly thirty, and it is time to think of the name I bear. I owe a duty +to that, and to my calling as a Christian; for in all my excesses I have +never forgotten that I belong to an old Catholic family, and that +nowadays in Spain it is incumbent on our class to protect the cause of +religion and set a good example, as you do. The means I look to as an +encouragement to the change I feel within me is marriage." + +The penitent could not have chosen his words better in addressing his +aunt Eugenia. They made so good an impression that she rose from her +place and came to lay a hand on his shoulder, exclaiming: + +"You delight me, Pepito. You cannot imagine what pleasure you give me. +And you say you do not know whether God has touched your heart! How +could you have undergone this sudden change, if He had not inspired it? +It is the touch of God, indeed, my boy, the finger of God--and the noble +blood which runs in your veins. Have you chosen a wife?" + +The young man smiled and nodded. + +"Who is she?" + +"I had thought of Esperanza Calderón. What do you think of her?" + +"Nothing could be better. She is very well brought up, attractive, and I +love her as a child of my own. She has always been my Pacita's bosom +friend, as you know. Your choice is a most happy one." + +Castro smiled again with a gleam of mischief, as he went on: + +"You see, aunt, I would rather have married a girl of our own rank, But, +as you know, I am utterly ruined, and the daughters of good families +are not apt to have fortunes in these days. Those who have, would not +have anything to say to me, as I have nothing to offer but what they +already possess--a noble name. It is for this reason that I have chosen +one of no birth, but with a good fortune." + +"Very wise. And though we are compromising our dignity a little, we must +save the name from disgrace. And Esperanza is a thoroughly good girl. +She has been brought up among ourselves. She will always be a perfect +lady, and do you credit." + +The young man's face still wore that strange sarcastic smile. For a +minute or two he remained silent; then he said: + +"Do you know what we young fellows call a marriage of this kind?" + +"No--what?" + +"Eating dirt." + +The Marquesa smiled frigidly, but then, looking grave again, she +replied: + +"No, that cannot be said in this case, Pepe. I can answer for this girl +that she is worthy of a brilliant marriage. You will be a gainer. Are +you engaged? Have you spoken to her? I have had no communication----" + +"I have not said anything as yet I know that she does not dislike me; we +look kindly on each other, but nothing more. Before taking any definite +steps I decided that I would speak to you as the person of most weight +of our family in Madrid." + +"Very proper; you have behaved admirably. When marriage is in question +it is well to proceed with due caution and formality, for, after all, it +is a sacrament of the Church.[E] In better times than these no alliance +was ever contracted in the higher circles without consulting the opinion +of the heads of both houses. I thank you for your confidence in me, and +you may count on my approval." + +"And on your assistance? You see I am afraid of meeting with some +difficulties on her father's part. He loves hard cash. And to be frank, +I should not relish a refusal." + +The Marquesa sat meditating for a while. + +"Leave him to me. I will do my best to bring him to reason. But you must +promise to do nothing without consulting me. It is a delicate +negotiation, and will need prudence and skill." + +"I give you my word, aunt." + +"Above all be very careful with the little girl. Do not startle her." + +"I will do exactly what you bid me." + +They presently went together into the drawing-room, where some visitors +had arrived. + +On Friday afternoons during Lent, the Marquesa received those of her +friends who, like herself, would devote an hour or two to prayer and +religious exercises. There were the Marquesa de Ujo and her daughter, +still with her skirts far above her ankles, General Patiño, Lola +Madariaga and her husband, Clementina Osorio, with her faithful +companion Pascuala, and several others; and, above all, Padre Ortega. +As, in fact, the honours of the occasion were his, and he was director +of the entertainment, every one had gathered about him in the middle of +the room. Everyone talked louder than he did; the illustrious priest's +voice was always soft and subdued, as though he were in a sick room. But +as soon as he began to speak, silence instantly reigned--every one +listened with respectful attention. + +The Marquesa, on entering, kissed his hand with an air of submission, +and inquired affectionately after a cold from which he had been +suffering. + +"Oh! have you a cold, Father?" inquired several ladies at once. + +"A little, a mere trifle," replied the priest, with a smile of suave +resignation. + +"By no means a trifle," said the Marquesa. "Yesterday in church you +coughed incessantly." + +And she proceeded to give the minutest details of the reverend Father's +sufferings, omitting nothing which could make her account more graphic. +The priest sat smiling, with his eyes on the ground, saying: + +"Do not let it disturb you, the Marquesa is always over anxious. You +might think that I was in the last stage of consumption." + +"But, Father, you must take care of yourself, you really must take care +of yourself. You do too much. For the sake of religion you ought to +spare yourself a little." + +The whole party joined in advising him with affectionate interest. A +maiden of seven-and-thirty, a sportive, gushing thing, whose confessor +he was, even said, half seriously and half in jest: + +"Why, Father, if you were to die, what would become of me?" + +A sally which made the guests laugh, but somewhat disconcerted the very +proper director of souls. The Marquesa wished to hinder him this +afternoon from delivering the address with which he usually favoured +them; but he insisted. + +Meanwhile the room had been filling. Mariana Calderón had come in with +Esperancita, the Cotorrasos, Pepa Frias, and Irene. She, poor child, +looked pale and ailing; in fact, she had come straight from her room, to +which she had been confined for some days with a nervous attack. When +the party was large enough, the Marquesa invited them to retire to the +Oratory. The ladies took front places near the altar, chairs and stools +having been comfortably arranged for them, the gentlemen stood in the +background and were provided only with a velvet-pile carpet to kneel on. + +The meeting began by each one going through the prayers of the Rosary +after Padre Ortega. The ladies did this with edifying precision and +devotion, their ivory fingers, on which diamonds and emeralds twinkled +like stars, piously crossed or clasped, their pretty heads bent +low--they were quite bewitching. The Creator must surely hearken to +their prayers, if it were only out of gallantry. Not the least humble, +the least engaging and edifying figure of them all was Pepa Frias. A +black mantilla was most becoming to her russet hair and pink and white +complexion. The same may be said of Clementina, who was taller, with +more delicate features, and in no respect inferior in brilliancy and +beauty of colouring. The languid and artistic attitudes affected by the +fair devotees were no doubt intended to appeal to the Divine Will; but, +as a secondary end, they were no less certainly meant to edify the +escort of men who looked down on them. And, if by any chance there could +have been a Freethinker among them, what confusion and shame must have +possessed his soul on seeing that all that was most elegant and +distinguished of the _High-life_ of Madrid was enlisted in the service +of the Lord. + +Prayer being over, two of the ladies, accompanied by a baritone +"Savage," went up into the gallery, and while another gentleman played +the organ, they sang some of the finest airs from Rossini's _Stabat +Mater_. As they listened, the pious souls felt a vague craving for the +Opera house, for La Tosti and Gayarre, and confessed regretfully, in the +depths of their hearts, that the amateur performance promised them in +Heaven would be a stupendous and eternal bore. After the music came +Padre Ortega's homily or lecture. The priest was accommodated on a sort +of throne of ebony and marble in the middle of the chapel, the ladies +moved their chairs and cushions, so as to face him, and the gentlemen +formed an outer circle, and after a few moments of private meditation to +collect his ideas, he began in a gentle tone to speak a few slow and +solemn words, on the subject of the Christian Family. + +As we know, Father Ortega was a priest quite up to the mark of modern +civilisation, who kept his eye on the advance of rationalistic science +that he might pounce down on it and put it to rout. Positivism, +evolution, sociology, pessimism, were all familiar words to him, and did +not frighten him, as they did most of his colleagues. He was on intimate +terms with them, and fond of using them to confute the pretensions of +modern learning. What he esteemed to be his own strong ground, was the +demonstration of the perfect compatibility of science with faith, the +Harmony (with a capital H) between Religion and Philosophy. His +discourse on the Family was profound and eloquent. To Father Ortega, +that which constituted the Family was a reverence and love for +tradition, reverence and love for the past. "The Family is +Tradition--the tradition of its glory and of its name, of honour, +virtue, and heroism; and all these may be summed up in two words: +respect for elders--love and reverence, that is to say, for all that is +highest and most conservative in the race." + +Starting from this theorem, the preacher inveighed against revolution as +against a gale from hell, blowing down all that was old, and clearing +the ground for all that was new; against the barbarous hostility of our +time to the beliefs, the manners, the laws, the institutions, and the +glories of the past. + +"The banners of revolution are inscribed with the motto: 'Despise the +Elders,'" said he, "as though old creeds, old manners, old institutions, +old aristocracies--though like everything human, they fall far short of +perfection--did not represent the labours of our forefathers, their +intelligence, their triumphs, their soul, life, and heart. And this +being the case, how could revolutionary science, which casts its stupid +contumely on everything ancient and venerable, fail to besmirch even our +great ancestors with its scorn? One element of dissolution in the Family +was the attack on property, directed by the revolutionary faction. This +aggression was not merely adverse to the constitution of society, it was +still more directly hostile to that of the Family. Property, +inheritance, and the patrimony, what were they but the outcome of +reverence for our forefathers on the one hand, of love for our children +on the other? Property consolidates the present, the past, and the +future of the Family; it is the spot where it has grown up and spread; +the soil which, when the progenitors pass away, assures them of rest +beneath the tree of posterity, which shall grow up from it and call them +blessed!" + +Then, for above an hour, the learned Father proved the existence, on the +most solid foundations, of the Christian family. Its bases were +religion, tradition, and property. He spoke with decision, in a simple, +convincing style, and emphatic but correct language. His audience were +deeply attentive and docile, quite persuaded that it was the Holy Ghost +which spoke by the mouth of the reverend preacher, commanding them to +cherish tradition and religion, but, above all, property. The sublime +thought was so elevating that some of the gentlemen present felt +themselves united for all eternity to the Supreme Being by the sacred +tie of landed estate, and registered a vow to fight for it heroically, +and resist the passing of any law which, directly or indirectly, might +affect its integrity. + +When he ended he was rewarded by smiles of approbation and repressed +murmurs of enthusiasm. Every one spoke in a whisper, out of respect to +the sanctity of the spot. The bold damsel who just now had asked Father +Ortega what she could do without him, flew to kiss his hand, with a +succession of sounding smacks which made the rest of the company +exchange meaning smiles of amusement, and the priest drew it away with +evident annoyance. Once more, some ladies and gentlemen went up into the +gallery and executed, in every sense of the word, some religious music +by Gounod. Finally, all the saintly souls left the little chapel and +returned to the drawing-room. + +The Marquesa de Alcudia, a restless nature that knew no peace, at once +proceeded to carry out her promise to her nephew. He saw her take +Mariana aside; they quitted the room together. By-and-by they returned, +and Castro could see that he had been the subject of their parley by the +timid and affectionate glance bestowed on him by Esperancita's mother. +Then he saw his aunt retire with Padre Ortega into a corner where they +had a private consultation, and again he suspected that he was their +theme. The priest looked towards him two or three times with his vague, +short-sighted eyes. He had taken care not to go near Esperanza, but they +had exchanged smiles and looks from afar. The girl seemed surprised at +his sudden reserve; for the last few days Pepe had been assiduous. She +was beginning to be uneasy, and at last crossed the room to speak to +him. + +"You were not at the Opera last night; are you keeping Lent?" + +"Oh, no!" said he, with a laugh. "I had a little headache and went to +bed early." + +"I do not wonder. What could you expect? You were riding a horse in the +afternoon that did nothing but shy. He is a handsome beast, but much too +lively. At one moment I thought he would have you off." + +Castro smiled with a superior air, and the girl hastened to add: "I know +you are a fine horseman; but an accident may happen to any one." + +"What would you have done if I had been thrown?" he asked, looking her +straight in the face. + +"How do I know!" exclaimed the girl with a shrug, but she blushed +deeply. + +"Would you have screamed?" + +"What strange things you ask me," said Esperanza, getting hotter and +hotter. "I might perhaps--or I might not." + +Just then the Marquesa de Alcudia addressed her. + +"Esperanza, I want to speak to you." + +And as she passed her nephew she said in a low voice: + +"Prudence, Pepe! Asides are not in your part." + +Any less superior soul would have felt some anxiety at seeing the two +women leave the room together, some uneasiness as to the issue of this +all-important interview; but our friend was so far above the common +herd in this, as in other matters, that he could chatter with the +company with as much tranquillity as though his aunt and Esperanza had +gone to discuss the fashions. When they presently returned, Esperanza's +little face was in a glow, her eyes beaming with an expression of +submission and happiness, which, but for fear of committing a deadly sin +in Lent, we might compare to that of the Virgin Mary on the occasion +when she was visited by the Angel Gabriel. + +The meeting still preserved a sanctimonious tone. These chastened souls +could not forget that they were celebrating the Fasting in the +Wilderness. The young ladies round the piano piously abstained from +singing anything frivolous; their voices were modulated to the _Ave +Marias_ of Schubert and Gounod, and other songs no less redolent of +sacred emotion. They talked and laughed in subdued tones. If one of the +young men spoke a little recklessly the ladies would call him to order, +reminding him that on a Friday in Lent certain subjects were prohibited. +The Spirit of God must indeed have been present with the meeting if we +may judge from the resignation, the intense serenity, with which they +all seemed to endure existence in this vale of tears. A placid smile was +on every lip; the afternoon waned amid sacred song, mellifluous +exhortation, and subdued mirth. The newspapers reported next day, with +perfect truth, that these pious Fridays were quite delightful, and that +the Marquesa de Alcudia did the honours in the name of the Almighty with +exquisite grace. + +The party at length dispersed. All these souls, so blessed and refreshed +by faith, trooped out of the Alcudia Palace and made their way home, +where they sat down to dine on hot turtle soup, mayonnaise of salmon, +and salads of Brussels sprouts, beginning with prawns to sharpen their +appetites. But, indeed, the hours of silent prayer and communion with +the Divinity had already done this. Nothing is more effectual in giving +tone to the stomach than the sense of union with the Omnipotent, and the +hope that, albeit there are fire and eternal torments for pickpockets +and those misguided souls who do not believe in them, for all Christian +families--those, that is to say, who believe in property and in their +ancestors--there are certainly comfortable quarters in reserve, with an +eternity of salmon mayonnaise and prawns _à la Parisienne_. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +AN EXCURSION TO RIOSA. + + +The Duke de Requena had given the last shake to the tree; the orange +dropped into his hands golden and juicy. At a given moment his agents in +Paris, London, and Madrid, bought up more than half of the Riosa shares. +Thus the management, or, which was the same thing, the mine, was +practically his. Some who had suspected his game, declined to sell, +especially in Madrid, where the banker was well-known; and if he had not +made haste to take the decisive step, the price would undoubtedly have +become firmer. Llera scented the danger and gave the signal. It was a +happy day for the Asturian when he received the telegrams from Paris and +London. His hatchet-face was as radiant as that of a general who has +just won a great battle. His clumsy arms waved in the air like the sails +of a windmill, as he told the tale to the various men of business who +had come to the Duke's counting-house to ask the news. Loud Homeric +laughter shook his pigeon-breasted frame, he hugged his friends tightly +enough to choke them; and when the Duke asked him a question, he +answered even him with a touch of scorn from the heights of his triumph. + +And yet he was not to get the smallest percentage on this immense +transaction; not a single dollar of all the millions which were to come +out of that mine would remain in his hands. But what matter! His +calculations had proved correct; the scheme he had worked out with such +secrecy, perseverance, and wonderful energy and skill, had come to the +desired issue. His joy was that of the artist who has succeeded--a joy +compared with which all the other delights on earth are not worth a +straw. + +The Duke's satisfaction was of a different stamp. His vanity was indeed +flattered by this brilliant success; he honestly thought that he had +achieved an undertaking worthy to be recorded on marble and sung by +poets. A proceeding which was in truth no more than a swindling trick, +within the letter of the law, was by some strange aberration of the +moral faculty transfigured into a glorious display of intellectual +power--and that not alone in his own eyes, but in those of society at +large. To celebrate his success, and at the same time to see for himself +what improvements must be effected in the working of the mine to make it +as productive as he intended it should become, he planned an excursion +thither with the engineers and a party of his friends. At first they +were to be eight or ten; by degrees the number grew, and when the day +came round they formed a party of above fifty guests. This was chiefly +owing to Clementina, who was greatly fascinated by the notion of this +journey. Thus what had been in the Duke's mind a little friendly "day +out," had, under her manipulation, acquired the proportions of a public +event, a much talked-of and ostentatious progress, which for some days +absorbed the attention of the fashionable world. + +Salabert had a special train made up for his party; the servants and +provisions were despatched the day before. Everything was to be arranged +to receive them worthily. It was the middle of May, and beginning to be +hot. By nine in the morning the station of Las Delicias was crowded with +carriages, out of which stepped ladies and gentlemen, dressed for the +occasion; the women in smart costumes considered appropriate for a day +in the country, the men in morning suits and felt hats. But to these +apparently unpretending garments they had contrived to give a stamp of +individual caprice, distinguishing them, as was but right, from all the +shooting coats and wide-awakes hitherto invented. One had a flannel +suit, as white as snow, with black gloves and a black hat; another was +in the inconspicuous motley of the lizard, crowned by a blue hat with a +microscopic brim; a third had thought it an opportunity for turning out +in a black jersey suit, with a white hat, white gloves, and boots. Many +had hung a noble field-glass about their shoulders, by a leather strap, +that they might not miss the smallest details of the landscape, and +several flourished Alpine sticks, as if they were contemplating a +perilous clamber over cliffs and rocks. + +The special train included two saloon cars, a sleeping car, and a +luggage van. The cream of Madrid society proceeded to settle itself, +with the noisy glee befitting the occasion. There were more men than +women; the ladies had, indeed, for the most part, excused themselves, +not caring particularly for the prospect of visiting a mine. Still there +were enough to lend grace to the expedition, and at the same time to +subdue its tone a little. There were some whose fathers or husbands were +connected with the business: Calderón's wife and daughter, Mrs. Biggs, +Clementina, and others. There were some who had come out of friendship +for these--Mercedes and Paz Alcudia, for instance, who were inseparable +from Esperanza. There were more again who could never bear to be absent +from any ploy: Pepa Frias, Lola, and a few more. Among the men were +politicians, men of business, and titles new and old. As they got into +the train the servile assiduity of the station-clerks betrayed how great +an excitement was produced by the mere passage through the office of +these potentates and grandees. + +Last of all, and most potent of all, came the Duke de Requena, who, +taking out his handkerchief, waved it from a window as a signal for +departure. A whistle sounded, the engine responded with a long and noisy +yell, then, puffing and snorting, the train began to move its metallic +segments, and slowly quitted the station. The travellers waved their +hands from the windows in farewell greetings to those who had come to +see them off. + +Great was the excitement and clatter as the train flew across the +barren plains around Madrid. Every one talked and laughed at once, as +loud as possible, and what with this and the noise of the train, no one +could hear. By degrees a sort of chemical diffusion or elective affinity +took place. The Duke, seated in a coupé or compartment at the back of +the train, found himself the centre of a group of financial and +political magnates. Clementina, Pepa Frias, Lola, and some other women +formed another party, with such men as preferred a lighter and more +highly spiced style: Pinedo, Fuentes, and Calderón. The young men and +maidens were exchanging witticisms which seemed to afford them infinite +amusement. One of the incidents which most enchanted them was the +appearance of Cobo Ramirez at the window, in a guard's coat and cap, +demanding the tickets. Cobo, who had been in the foremost carriage, had +clambered along by the foot-board, not without some risk, since the +train was going at a tremendous speed. He was hailed with applause. + +Then the young people sent notes to their friends in the other saloon, +the young men inditing love-letters. The heir of Casa-Ramirez took +charge of them all, and went to and fro between the cars very nimbly, +considering his obesity. This amused them greatly for some time. The +love-letters, written in pencil, were read aloud, with much applause and +laughter. + +Raimundo was content to talk to the Mexican and Osorio. Osorio had +really taken a liking to him. Though but a boy in looks the banker +discerned that he was intelligent and well-educated, and among the +"Savages" such endowments as these conferred pre-eminence. The young man +had, too, succeeded in adapting himself very sufficiently to the +atmosphere which for the time he breathed. Not only was his dress +visibly modified by the refinements of fashion and good taste, but his +tone and manners had undergone a very perceptible change. In his +behaviour to Clementina he was still the timid lad, the submissive +slave, who hung on every word and gesture of his mistress; his love was +taking deeper root in his heart every day. But in social intercourse he +had accommodated himself to what he saw around him. He did all in his +power to repress the impulses of his loving and expansive nature. He +assumed a grave indifference, an almost disdainful calm; ridiculed +everything that was said in his hearing, unless it bore on the manners +and customs of the Savage Club; learned to speak in a joking, ironical +voice, like his fellow "Savages," and above all was on his guard against +ever uttering any scientific or philosophical notions, for he knew by +experience that this was the one unpardonable sin. He even kept his own +counsel when one of his new associates roused him to a feeling of warmer +sympathy and regard than the others. Affection is in itself so absurd +that it is wise to bury it in the depths of your soul, or you expose +yourself to some rebuff, even from the object of your affection. Such +things have been known. Thanks to his diligence, and to an +apprenticeship, which to him was a very cruel one, he extorted much more +respect, and was looked on as a man of consummate _chic_, a height of +happiness which it is given to few to attain to in this weary world +beneath the stars. + +When Cobo had made several journeys from one car to the other, in no +small danger, as the train was flying onwards, Lola, with a mischievous +look, first at Clementina and then at Alcázar, said to the young man: + +"Alcázar, will you venture to go to the next carriage, and ask the +Condesa de Cotorraso for her bottle of salts? I feel rather sea-sick." + +Now Raimundo was, as we know, but a frail creature, who had never gone +through the athletic training of these young aristocrats, his friends. +The scramble along the foot-boards at the pace at which the train was +going, which was to them mere child's play, was to him a service of real +danger. He was apt to turn giddy when only crossing a bridge or climbing +a tower. He was fully aware of this, and hesitated a moment; still, for +very shame he could but reply: + +"I will go at once, Señora," and he was about to act on her orders. + +But Clementina, whose brows had knit at her friend's preposterous +demand, stopped him, exclaiming: + +"You certainly shall not go, Alcázar. We will make Cobo go for it next +time he returns." + +The young man stood doubtful with his hand on the door; but Clementina +repeated more positively, colouring as she spoke: + +"You are not to go--not on any account." + +Raimundo turned to Lola with a bow. + +"Forgive me, Señora, to-day I am sworn to this lady's service. I will be +your slave some other day." + +And neither Lola's noisy laugh, nor the sarcastic smiles of the others, +could spoil the grateful emotion he experienced at his mistress's eager +interest. + +Ramon Maldonado was in the other saloon, where also were Esperanza and +her mother with some other ladies, whom he deliberately laid himself out +to charm by his discourse. He was giving them a full and particular +report, in the most parliamentary style he could command, of some +curious incidents in the last sitting. He was already master of all the +commonplace of civic oratory, and knew the technical cant very +thoroughly. He could talk of the order of the day, votes of confidence, +private bills, committees of supply, the previous question, obstruction, +suspension, and closure as if he himself were the patentee of this +elaborate outcome of human ingenuity. He knew the municipal bye-laws as +well as if he had invented them, and discussed questions of city dues, +sewage, weights and measures, and seizure of contraband, so that it was +a marvel to hear him. Finally, being a man of unfathomable ambition, he +had joined a party in opposition to the Mayor, a step which he hoped +might lead to his nomination as a member of the board of highways. + +For a long time past he had been waging a covert but determined struggle +against one Perez, another deputy not less ambitious than himself, for +this very appointment, in which he believed that his great gifts as an +innovator would shine with peculiar splendour. The various public +places of Madrid were awaiting the redeeming hand which might give them +fresh life and splendour, and the hand could be none other than that of +Maldonado. In the recesses of his brain, among a thousand other +portentous schemes, there was one so audacious that he dared not +communicate it to any one, while he was incubating it with the fondest +care, determined to fight for this child of his genius till his dying +day. This was no less than a plan for moving the fountain of Apollo from +the Prado to the Puerta del Sol. And a whippersnapper fellow like Perez, +a narrow-minded slow-coach, with no taste or spirit, dared to dispute +the place with him! + +At the moment when he was most absorbed in his narrative of how he had +concocted the most ingenious intrigue to secure a vote of censure on the +Mayor, Cobo--that inevitable spoilsport--came up, and after listening +for a minute, roughly attacked him, saying: + +"Come, Ramoncito, do not give yourself airs. We know very well that you +are a mere nobody in the House. Gonzalez can lead you by the nose +wherever he wants you to go." + +This was a cruel thrust at Maldonado, considering that it was before +Esperancita and several other ladies, old and young. Indeed it stunned +him as completely as if it had been a blow on the head with a cudgel. He +turned pale, his lips quivered, and he could not utter a word. At last +he gasped out: + +"I? Gonzalez? Leads me by the nose? Are you crazy? No one leads me by +the nose, much less Gonzalez, of all men!" + +He spoke the last words with intense scorn; he denied Gonzalez as Peter +denied his Master, out of base pride. His conscience told him that he +was not speaking truly, though no cock crew. Gonzalez was the +acknowledged leader of the civic minority, and at the bottom of his +heart, Ramon held him in great veneration. + +"Pooh! nonsense! Do you mean to tell me that Gonzalez cannot make you +work and dance like a puppet? Much good you dissidents would do if it +were not for him." + +On this Ramon recovered the use of his tongue, and to such good purpose, +that he poured out above a thousand words in the course of a few +minutes, with fierce vehemence, foaming and sputtering with rage. He +rebuked with indignation the monstrous comparison of himself with a +puppet, and fully explained the precise position held by Gonzalez in the +city council and that which he himself occupied. But he did it with such +frenzied excitement and gesticulation that the ladies looked at him in +amused surprise. + +"How eloquent he is! Who would have believed it of Ramoncito? Come, +Cobo, do not tease him any more; you will make him ill!" + +This compassionate tone stung Ramon to the quick. He was instantly +speechless, and for at least an hour he wrapped himself in silent +dignity. + +The train drew up at a small station in the midst of a wide stretch of +open moor, looking like a petrified sea; here the travellers were to +take their mid-day meal. The Duke's servants, sent on the day before, +had everything ready. Ramon devoted himself to the service of Esperanza, +and she allowed him to wait on her with a placid smile which turned his +head with joy. The reason of her condescension was that, by his aunt's +particular desire, Pepe Castro had not joined the party. The matrimonial +overtures, made under the greatest secrecy, required the utmost +prudence. As Maldonado was so intimate with the lord of her heart, +Esperanza felt a certain pleasure in keeping him at her side; at the +same time she avoided comment by talking to the Conde de Agreda or to +Cobo. Poor Ramon! How far he was from understanding these psychological +complications. + +They took their seats in the train once more, and went on their way +across interminable sunburnt plains, no one dreaming of examining the +landscape through those ponderous fieldglasses. They reached Riosa +shortly before dusk. + +The famous mines of Riosa are situated in a hollow between two low +ranges of hills, the spurs of a great mountain-chain, and are surrounded +on all sides by broken ground, knolls and downs of no great height, but +scarred and ravined in such a way as to look peculiarly barren and +melancholy. In the hollow stands a town dating from the remotest +antiquity. Our travellers did not invade it, they stopped about two +kilometres short of it, at a village named Villalegre, where the +engineers and miners have settled themselves with a view to avoiding the +mercurial and sulphurous fumes which slowly poison not the miners only, +but all the inhabitants of the neighbourhood. It is divided from the +mines by a ridge, and is a striking contrast to the mining town itself. +It is watered by a stream which makes it blossom like a garden, gay with +wild lilies, jasmine, and heliotrope, and, above all, with damask roses, +which have naturalised themselves there more completely than in any +other region of Spain. The aromatic fragrance of thyme and fennel +perfumes and purifies the air. + +The most flowery plot in all the settlement belonged to the company, at +about three hundred yards from the village. A handsome stone building +stood in the midst of a garden, this was the residence of the +head-manager, and the central office of the mines; round it, at some +little distance, were several smaller dwellings, each with its little +garden, occupied by clerks, and by some of the operatives; but most of +these lived at Riosa. + +There was no station at Villalegre, the train stopped where it crossed +the road leading to the chief town of the province. Here carriages were +in waiting to convey them to the head office, a drive of about ten +minutes. At the park gate, and along the road, a crowd had gathered, +which hailed the visitors with very faint enthusiasm. These were the men +off their turn of work, whom the director had sent for from Riosa for +the purpose. They were all pallid and earth-stained, their eyes were +dull, and even from a distance it was easy to detect in their movements +a certain indecision, which, when seen closer, was a very perceptible +trembling. The smart party of visitors drove close past this mob of +ghosts--for such they seemed in the fading evening grey--the eyes of +beauty and fashion met those of the miners, and from that contact not a +spark of sympathy was struck. Behind the forced and melancholy smile of +the labourers, a keen eye could very plainly detect hostility. Requena's +little procession drove by in silence; these fine folks were visibly +uneasy; they were very grave, not without a touch of alarm. The ladies +involuntarily shrunk closer to the men, and as they turned in at the +gates there was a murmur of "Good heavens! what faces!" and a sigh of +relief at having escaped from the deep mysterious gaze of those haggard +eyes. Rafael Alcantara alone was so bold as to utter a jesting remark. + +"Well," said he, "the sovereign people are not attractive looking in +these parts." + +The manager introduced the clerks to Salabert, each by name. They were +almost all natives of other parts of the country, healthy, smiling young +fellows, with nothing noticeable about them, and the superintendents no +less so. The only man of them all who attracted any attention was a +delicate-looking man, with a pale face, and thin black moustache, whose +steady dark eyes looked at the fashionable visitors with such piercing +determination as bordered on insolence. Without knowing why, those who +met his gaze felt vaguely uncomfortable, and were glad to look away. The +manager introduced him as the doctor attached to the mines. + +Rooms had been found for all the party, some in the director's house, +and others in those of the humbler residents. When they had taken a +little rest, they all met in the director's drawing-room, and from +thence they marched arm-in-arm, in solemn procession, to the office +board-room, which had been transformed into a dining-room. Here the Duke +gave them a magnificent dinner. Nothing was missing of the most refined +and aristocratic entertainment; the plate and china, the cooking, and +the service were all perfection. While they dined the grounds were +lighted up with Venetian lamps, and on rising from table, every one +rushed to the window to admire the effect, which was dazzlingly +beautiful. An orchestra, concealed in an arbour, played national airs +with great spirit. The whole party, panting from the heat of the room, +which was intense, and tempted by the brilliant spectacle, went out to +wander about the gardens; the younger men carried off the girls to a +grass-plot, close to the band, and there began to dance. Cobo Ramirez +presently joined the group. + +"Do you know what you remind me of?" he shouted. "A party of commercial +travellers in some suburban café!" + +This comparison seemed to hurt their feelings deeply; the dancing lost +its attractions for the fashionable juveniles, and soon ceased +altogether. However, as their hearts were set on Terpsichorean delights, +it occurred to them to transfer the music to the board room, where they +continued their devotions to the Muse, free from the dreadful burden +which Cobo had laid on their conscience. + +The festivities were carried on till late. Fireworks were presently let +off, having been brought expressly from Madrid. The various couples +wandered about the gravelled paths, enjoying the coolness of the night, +made fragrant by the scent of flowers. There was but one dark blot on +their perfect enjoyment. When they went near the gate, they saw a crowd +outside, of labourers, women, and children, who had come from Riosa, on +hearing of the great doings--the same haggard creatures, hollow-eyed and +gloomy, as they had met on arriving. So they took care not to go too +near the fence, but to remain in the paths and alleys near the middle of +the garden. Lola, only, who prided herself on being charitable, and who +was president, secretary, and treasurer of no less than three societies, +was brave enough to speak to them, and even to distribute some small +silver money; but out of the darkness came obscene abuse and insults, +which compelled her to retreat. Cotorraso, when he heard of it, was in a +great rage. + +"And these Bedouin savages are to have rights and liberties! Let them +first be made decent, civil, and well-behaved, and then we will talk +about it." + +The law of elective affinity had drawn together Raimundo Alcázar and a +man who was somewhat out of his element in this riotous company. This +gentleman, with whom he was walking, was between fifty and sixty years +of age, short and thin, with a white moustache and beard, and prominent +eyes, with a somewhat absent gaze through his spectacles. His name was +Don Juan Peñalver; he held a chair of philosophy at the University, and +had been in the Ministry. He enjoyed a high and deserved reputation for +learning, and for a dignity of character rare in Spain. This naturally +brought him into ill-odour with the "Savages," who affected to treat him +with contemptuous familiarity. It is obvious that nothing can be more +offensive to the average "Savage" than Philosophy. Peñalver's +intellectual superiority and fame was a stab to their pride. Their scorn +did not trouble him; he was by nature cheerful, warm-hearted, and +absent-minded; he was incapable of discriminating the various shades of +social manner, and, in fact, had not been much seen in the world since +retiring from political life to devote himself exclusively to science. +He had joined this expedition to oblige his brother-in-law, Escosura, +who held a large number of shares in the Riosa mines. Of late years he +had been an ardent student of natural science, as the surest way of +combatting the metaphysical idealism to which he had devoted his early +life. It was with real pleasure that he found himself accidentally +thrown into the company of a youth so well-informed on scientific +matters as Raimundo. The rest of the party bored him past endurance, so +taking Alcázar by the arm, without inquiring whether he wanted him or +no, he began discussing physiology. + +Raimundo was in a fit of despondency and gloom. He had observed that +this Escosura had been definitively making love to Clementina; he was +quite shameless in his attentions to her wherever he happened to meet +her, and affected to ignore her connection with Raimundo. Both in mind +and person Escosura was the exact opposite of his brother-in-law +Peñalver. He was tall and stout, with a burly person and noisy manners; +rich, of some influence politically, a vehement orator, with a voice so +unusually sonorous that, according to his enemies, it was to that he +owed his parliamentary successes. He was a man of about forty, and had +never been Minister, though he asserted that he should soon be in +office. Clementina had already repelled his addresses several times, and +this Raimundo knew, and was proud of his own triumph. At the same time +he could not divest himself of some anxiety whenever, as at this moment, +he saw them talking together. + +They were sitting in a summer-house with several other persons, but +conversing apart with great animation. Each time he and Peñalver went +past them, his heart swelled with a pang; he scarcely heard, or even +tried to hear, the learned disquisition his companion was pouring into +his ear. Clementina could read in his anxious gaze how much he was +suffering, and after watching him for a little while she rose and joined +the two men, saying with a smile: + +"And what plot are you two sages hatching?" + +"You flatter me," said the younger with a modest bow. "The only sage +here is Señor Peñalver." + +"Well, Señor Peñalver can bestow a lecture on the Condesa de Cotorraso, +who is anxious to make his acquaintance, while you come with me to see a +Gothic cathedral which is about to explode in fireworks," and she put +her hand through her lover's arm. + +Alcázar was happy again. He did not even speak to her of the anguish he +had suffered but a moment ago; on other occasions when he had made such +a confession it had only led to double pain, for Clementina would answer +him in a tone of light banter which wounded him to the heart. They +watched the wonderful, blazing cathedral till it was burnt out; the +gentle pressure of her hand, the scent--always the same--which hung +about her sweet person were too much for the young man, who was +predisposed to be overcome by the proof of affection his beloved had +just given him. She, who knew him well, as she felt him press her arm +more closely, looked in his face, sure that she should see tears in his +eyes. In fact, Raimundo was silently weeping. On finding himself +detected, he smiled in a shamefaced way. + +"Still such a baby!" she exclaimed, giving him a caressing little pinch. +"Pepa is right when she says you are like a school-girl in a convent. +Come, let us walk about; some one might see your face." + +They went into a more retired part of the garden. From one spot in the +grounds they could see a very curious landscape. The full moon lighted +up the crest of the nearest hill, which divided Villalegre from Riosa, +making it look like the ruins of a castle. Clementina wished to see it +closer, so they went out by one of the side-gates, where no one was to +be seen, and slowly wandered on--the knoll was barren of vegetation, a +pile of boulders, in fact, of fantastic shapes, looking precisely like a +mass of ruins. It was not till they were close to it that they could +convince themselves of the truth. + +When the lady had satisfied her curiosity, they returned round the +outside of the park, to enter by the opposite gate. On this side there +were still a few knots of people. Before reaching the gate, at a corner +of the road darkened by the shade of some trees, Clementina stumbled +over an object, and nearly fell. She screamed aloud, for on looking down +she saw a human creature lying at her feet. Raimundo took out a match, +and found that it was a boy of ten or twelve fast asleep. They picked +him up, and set him on his feet. The little fellow opened his eyes and +stared at them in alarm. Then, as if by a sudden inspiration, he +snatched the stick Raimundo was carrying, and began to move it slowly up +and down, as though he were fulfilling some very difficult task. +Clementina and her lover looked on in amazement, unable to guess what +this could mean. A few workmen collected round them, and one with a +horse-laugh exclaimed: + +"It is one of the boys from the pumps! Go it, my boy, work away! A tough +job, isn't it?" + +And his companions burst into brutal laughter, crying out to the poor +little somnambulist: + +"Go at it! Keep it up! Harder, boy, harder, the water is rising!" + +And the unhappy boy redoubled his imaginary efforts with more and more +energy. He was a weakly creature, with a white face, quite +expressionless with sleep, and his ragged rough hair gave him the look +of a wraith. The savage glee of the workmen, who looked on at the +pitiable scene, made a very painful impression on Raimundo. He took the +child in his arms, shook him gently to wake him, kissed him kindly on +the forehead, and taking a dollar out of his purse, gave it to the lad, +and then went on with Clementina. The working men ceased their laughter, +and one of them said in a tone of envy: + +"Well, you have not worked hard for your day's pay." + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +LIFE UNDERGROUND. + + +At one in the morning the party broke up. + +They were to reassemble at nine, to set out in a body on a visit of +inspection to the mines; and the programme was carried out, not indeed +with punctuality, which in Spain is an impossibility, but with no more +than an hour's delay. They set out for Riosa, in carriages, at ten; of +course a diminished party. They alighted at the outskirts of the town +and crossed it on foot, producing, as may be supposed, no small +excitement. The women crowded to the doors and windows, staring with +eager curiosity at this splendid procession of ladies and gentlemen, +arrayed in clothes such as they had never seen in their lives. Like +their husbands, brothers, and sons, these women were pale and +sickly-looking, their features pinched, their eyes dull, their hands and +feet stunted. The visitors also saw a few men suffering from constant +trembling. + +"What is the matter? Why do those men tremble so?" asked Esperancita +anxiously. + +"They have the palsy," said one of the clerks. + +"What is the palsy?" + +"They get it by working in the mines." + +"Do many of them get it?" + +"All of them," said the doctor, who had heard the question. "Mercurial +palsy attacks all who work in the mines." + +"And why do they work there, then?" asked the girl, with much +simplicity. + +"It is their mania!" said the doctor, with a peculiar smile. + +"For my part I think the fresh air up here is much better to breathe +than the foul air down below." + +"Why, of course. I would be anything rather than a miner." + +They came out at length on a small open space, where some workmen were +busy erecting an artistic pedestal of marble. + +"This is the pedestal for the statue of the Duke," said the manager of +the mines, in a loud voice. + +"Ah, ah! They are going to put up a statue to you?" said one and +another, gathering round the great man. He shrugged his shoulders with a +deprecating gesture. + +"I am sure I don't know. Some absurd notion that has been started in the +miners' wine-shops, I suppose." + +"No, indeed, Señor Duque," exclaimed the manager, whose duty it had been +to start the idea which Llera had suggested to him at a hint from +Salabert himself. "No, indeed. The town of Riosa is anxious to erect a +monument of its gratitude and respect to a noble patron who, in the most +critical circumstances, did not hesitate to risk an enormous sum in the +purchase of a half-ruined undertaking, and so to save it from utter +disaster." + +"What a beautiful thing it is to do good!" exclaimed Lola, in a voice +full of feeling; and her pretty eyes rested admiringly on Requena. + +Every one complimented him; though many of those present knew the +meaning of this magnificent sacrifice. They looked at the work for a +minute or two, and then proceeded on their way. The mines were close to +the town, on the further side. Outwardly they looked like a manufactory +on a small scale, with a few tall chimneys vomiting black smoke. There +was nothing to betray their colossal value. The party went into the +buildings and over the premises where the subsidiary processes of the +works were carried on, and which included carpenters' sheds and forges, +the engineers' office and private room, &c. But what impressed them all +was the sad and sickly appearance of the operatives. They were all +broken with decrepitude, and the Condesa de Cotorraso could not help +saying: + +"Only old men seem to be employed." + +The manager smiled. "They are not old, though they look so, Señora." + +"But they are all wrinkled, and their eyes are sunken and dim." + +"There is not a man of forty among them. Those whom you see at work here +are too far gone to work underground. We employ them up here, but they +get less wages." + +"And does it take long in the mines to reduce them to this condition?" +asked Ramon. + +"Not long, not long," murmured the manager, and he went on: "Such as you +see them, they are always eager to get back to the mine again. The pay +for outside work is so small." + +"What do they get?" + +"A peseta a day; six reales at most."[F] + +They next visited the smelting-houses. The Duke had gone on first with +the English engineer, whom he had engaged to report on the improvements +needed to make the works pay. In these sheds they saw huge furnaces, +piles of cinnabar and stores of mercury. + +The furnaces consist of a retort in which the cinnabar is placed with +the combustibles for calcining it. From this retort earthenware +condensers rise, branching off into pipes communicating with each other. +In these pipes the vapours of mercury which rise from the furnace are +reduced by condensation to the liquid state; and the quicksilver is +precipitated and flows out by holes in the lower face of the pipes. But +as a large amount of sooty matter remains, containing particles of +metal, it is necessary to remove and clean the condensers one by one. +This is the work of boys, of from ten to fifteen, who, for seven or +eight hours at a time, breathe an atmosphere charged with mercurial +poison. They next visited the stores and the shed where the mineral is +weighed for sale. And everywhere the operatives wore the same appearance +of decrepitude. + +The manager now proposed that they should inspect the hospital. Some +refused, but Lola, who never missed an opportunity of displaying her +benevolent sentiments, set the example, and most of the ladies followed +her, with a few of the men. The Duke excused himself, as he was busy +with the engineers, who were giving him their opinion on the state of +the furnaces. + +The hospital was outside the precincts of the mines, near the +burial-ground--no doubt to accustom the inmates to the idea of death, +and also, perhaps, that if the mercurial vapours proved ineffectual to +kill them, those of the graveyard might finish the task. It was an old +building, tumble-down, damp, and gloomy. It was only sheer shame which +hindered the ladies from turning back from the threshold. The doctor, +who had undertaken to guide them, showed them into the different rooms, +and displayed the dreadful panorama of human suffering. Most of the poor +wretches were dressed, and sitting on their beds or on chairs. Their +drawn, corpse-like faces were objects of terror; their bodies shook with +incessant trembling, as though they were stricken with a common panic. +Fear and pity were painted on the fresh faces of their visitors; and the +doctor smiled his peculiar smile, looking at them boldly with his large, +black eyes. + +"Not a pleasing picture, is it?" said he. + +"Poor creatures! And are they all miners?" + +"Yes, all. The atmosphere they live in, vitiated by mercurial vapours, +and the insufficient supply of fresh air, inevitably produce not only +this trembling from acute or chronic mercurial poisoning--which is the +most conspicuous result--but pulmonary catarrh of an aggravated type, +dysentery, tuberculosis, mercurial irritation of the stomach, and many +other diseases which either shorten their lives or render them incapable +of labour after a few years spent under ground." + +"Poor things--poor creatures!" repeated his hearers. + +The little party who had followed his guidance listened to him with +attention and sympathy. Never had they seen anything so terrible. +Labour--a penalty in itself--was here complicated with poisoning; and +with sincere emotion, full of the best intentions, they suggested means +of alleviating the misery of the sufferers. Some declared that a good +hospital ought to be erected; others suggested a shop, on charitable +principles, where the workmen could obtain good food at a cheap rate; +others urged that the children should not be employed at all; others +again that the labourers should be allowed to work for only a very +limited time. + +The doctor smiled and shook his head. + +"All this would be admirable, no doubt; I quite agree with you. But +then, as I can but tell you, it would not be a paying business." + +They distributed some money among the sick, visited the chapel, where +again they left some money to procure a new robe for the Holy Infant, +and at last got out of the dismal place. To breathe the fresh air once +more was almost intoxicating, and they laughed and talked as they made +their way back to join the rest of the party. + +The engineers were explaining to Salabert a new process of sublimation +which might be adopted, and by which not only would the production be +vastly increased, but the residue would be utilised. This was effected +by condensers formed of chambers of very thin brickwork in the lower +part of the funnel carrying off the vapour, and of wood and glass above. +A furnace to which these were fitted could be kept constantly going. The +Duke listened attentively, took notes, raised objections, mastered the +details of the business, and finally his keen nose scented enormous +profits. + +As the ladies came up he gallantly postponed the discussion. + +"Well, how are my sick getting on, ladies? The sun has shone on them +to-day," said he. + +"Badly, Duke, very badly. The hospital leaves much to be desired." + +And with one accord they complained of the defects of the building, +painting it in the blackest colours, and proposing improvements to make +it comfortable. + +The Duke listened with smiling indifference and the half-ironical +attention we give to a coaxing child. + +"Very well, very well; we will have it all seen to. But you will allow +me to set the business on its feet first--eh, Regnault?" + +The superintendent bowed with an insinuating smile. + +"And the men must work shorter hours," said the Condesa de Cebal. + +"And they really must be better paid," added Lola. + +"And they ought to have cottages built for them at Villalegre," said +another. + +"Ha, ha, ha," shouted the Duke, with a burst of coarse laughter. "And +why not bring Gayarre and Tosti here to entertain them in the evening? +They must be dreadfully dull here, I should think, in the evenings!" + +The ladies smiled timidly. + +"But really, Duke, you should not make fun of it; it is a serious +matter," said the Condesa de Cebal. + +"Serious! I believe you, Condesa. It has cost me three million dollars +already. Do you think three millions are not a serious matter?" + +His fair advisers looked at each other, dazzled by the enormous sums +this man could handle. + +"But do you not expect to get some interest on your millions?" asked +Lola, who flattered herself she knew something of business. + +The Duke again roared with laughter. + +"Oh no, Señora, of course not. I shall leave that in the road for the +first passer by. Interest indeed!" Then suddenly turning serious, he +went on: "Who the devil has been putting this nonsense into your heads? +I tell you, ladies, that what is lacking here--sadly lacking--is sound +morality. Make the workman soundly moral, and all the evils you have +seen will disappear. Let him give up drink, give up gambling, give up +wasting his wages, and all these effects of the mercury will disappear. +It is self-evident,"--and he appealed to some of the gentlemen who had +joined the group--"How can a man resist the effects of mining when his +body, instead of food, be it what it may, contains a gallon of bad +brandy? I am perfectly convinced that the majority of those on the sick +list are confirmed drunkards. Do you know, gentlemen, that in Riosa +thrift is a thing unknown--thrift, without which prosperity and comfort +are an impossibility?" + +This was a maxim the Duke had frequently heard in the senate; he +reiterated it with much emphasis and conviction. + +"But how do you expect thrift on two pesetas[G] a day?" the Condesa +ventured to demur. + +"There is no difficulty at all," said the Duke. "Thrift is a matter of +principle, the principle of saving something out of to-day's enjoyment +to avoid the needs of to-morrow. Two pesetas to a workman are like two +thousand to you. Cannot you save something out of two thousand? Well, so +can he out of two. Say he has less, fifteen centimes, ten, five. The +point is to put something aside, and that, however little, is to the +good." + +"Merciful Heaven!" the Condesa sighed, "What I do not understand is how +any one can live on two pesetas, much less save." + +The engineers of the works invited the party to inspect the machine-room +and laboratory. There was here a remarkably fine microscope, which +attracted general attention. The doctor was the person who used it most, +devoting much of his time to investigations in histology. The manager +requested him to show the Duke's guests some of his preparations. First +he exhibited some diatoms--the ladies were charmed by their various +forms; he also showed them specimens of the animalcule which wrought +the destruction of the famous bridge at Milan; they could not cease +marvelling that so minute a creature should be able to demolish so huge +a structure. + +"And think of the myriads of these creatures which must have laboured to +produce such an effect," said an engineer. + +Quiroga, so the doctor was called, ended by showing them a drop of +water. One by one they all looked at the invisible world revealed by the +microscope. + +"I see one animal larger than the others," said the Duke, as he applied +one of his prominent eyes to the tube of the instrument. + +"And you will see all the others fly before him," said the doctor. + +"Very true." + +"That is a rotifer. He is the shark of the drop of water." + +"Look yourself a minute, it seems to me that he is hiding behind +something that looks like seaweed." + +"You may call it seaweed. Perhaps he is hiding to catch his prey." + +"Yes, yes. Now he has rushed out on a much smaller creature. It is gone, +he must have eaten it." + +And the Duke looked up, beaming with satisfaction at having seen this +strange microscopic tragedy. + +Quiroga looked at him with his bold gaze, and said with that eternal +ironical smile of his: + +"It is the same all the world over. In the drop of water as in the +ocean--everywhere the big fish swallow the small fry." + +The Duke's smile faded away. He gave a side glance at the doctor, whose +mysterious countenance showed no change, and said abruptly: + +"You must all be tired of science. Let us go to luncheon." + + * * * * * + +The crowning attraction of the expedition which had brought all this gay +company away from their luxurious homes to so comfortless and barren a +region, was a plan for breakfasting, or rather lunching, at the bottom +of the mine. When Clementina had mentioned this at one of her card +parties it gave rise to a perfect burst of enthusiasm. + +"How very original! How odd! How delightful!" The ladies especially were +most eager about it. + +By the Duke's advice, they all had provided themselves with elegant +waterproof cloaks and high boots, for water oozed into the mine in many +places, and made deep puddles. Only the evening before, however, several +had taken fright at the immediate prospect, and had given up the +expedition. The Duke had been obliged to order two meals, one in the +mine and one above ground. The braver party who persisted in their +purpose were not more than eight or ten. These had brought their +waterproofs and leggings. + +The whole party now gathered round one of the mouths of the mine known +as San Gennaro's pit. Near this shaft there was a building used for +inspecting and weighing the ore, and there the ladies and gentlemen +changed their boots and put on their wrappers. On seeing them thus +prepared for the worst, almost all the ladies declared that they would +after all go down with their friends. A messenger was forthwith sent to +Villalegre for the rest of the waterproofs. + +The cage, worked up and down by steam, had been prepared for the +reception of this elegant company. It had two floors, on each of which +eight persons could stand. It had been lined with baize, and a few brass +rings had been fitted to hold on by. The director, the Duke, and the +valiant ladies who had come prepared, went down first. Orders were given +to the engineer to send the lift down very slowly. It began to move, at +first rising a few inches, and then descending with a jerk; then, +suddenly, it seemed to be swallowed in the shaft. The women smothered a +cry and stood speechless and pale. The walls of the shaft were dark, +rough-hewn, and streaming with water; in each division of the cage a +miner with a palsied hand held up a lantern. All, excepting the manager +and the miners accustomed to the motion, had an uneasy feeling in the +stomach, and a vague apprehension which made them incapable of speech, +and they clenched their hands very tightly as they clung to the rings. + +"The first gallery," said the manager, as they passed a black opening. + +But no one made any remark. This suspension in the abyss, over the +unknown void, paralysed their tongues and almost their power of thought. + +"The second gallery," said the manager again as they passed another +yawning hole. And thus he continued till they came to the ninth. There +they heard the sound of voices and saw that the gallery was lighted up. + +"We shall take our luncheon here. But first we will go down to the +eleventh gallery to see the works." + +When they had gone past the tenth, he shouted as loud as he could: + +"Are the brakes on?" + +And a voice from below replied: + +"No!" + +"Put them on at once," he called down. + +"It cannot be done," was the answer. + +"What, why? The brakes, I say; put on the brakes." + +And with a very red face, almost convulsed with excitement, he still +shouted like a madman, while the cage slowly went down, down. + +A cold chill fell on every heart. In the upper compartment some of the +women began to utter piercing shrieks. In the lower room a few screams +were heard and all clung tightly to the men's arms. Some fainted. It was +a moment of indescribable alarm. They all thought this was their dying +hour. + +And still the manager kept shouting: "The brakes, put on the brakes." + +And the voices below, more and more distinct, replying: "It cannot be +done." + +When they firmly believed that they were rushing into the nether void +the cage quietly stopped. They heard a peal of loud laughter, and their +terrified eyes beheld, by the tremulous light of tallow candles, a party +of miners whose grinning faces suddenly assumed an expression of the +utmost alarm and dismay. + +"What is all this? What is the meaning of this piece of foolery?" asked +the manager, jumping out of the lift in a rage and going up to them. + +The men respectfully took off their hats and one of them with a +shame-faced smile stammered out: + +"Begging your pardon, Señor, we thought it was a lot of the men, and we +wanted to give 'em a fright." + +"Did not you know that we were coming down?" he angrily asked. + +"We thought the gentlefolks were going to stop at number nine, where all +the fine doings are to be----" + +"You thought, and you thought; you should not think such stupid things." + +The Duke recovered the use of his tongue. + +"But do you know, my good fellows, that you were playing a very rough +and ready joke on your fellow workmen! Making them fancy they were +rushing to their death!" + +"Their death!" echoed the miner who had first spoken. + +"No, Señor Duque," said the manager, "if they had not put the breaks on +we should only have been up to our waists in water." + +"Is that all?" + +"Would you have liked a bath in dirty water?" + +"Well, of course it would not have been a pleasant dip. But to see you +in such a state of frenzy made us all think we were being killed +outright. What do you say, ladies?" + +The ladies were relieving their minds by exclamations; some crying and +some laughing. Two who had fainted received every attention, their +temples were bathed with cold water, and the Condesa de Cotorraso's +salts were brought into requisition. At last they recovered their +senses, and the rest congratulated themselves on having escaped from +such fearful peril, for they could not bear to think that there had been +none. They looked forward to exciting the sympathy of their friends at +home by the narrative of this horrible adventure, and believed +themselves the heroines of a story in the style of Jules Verne. + +The spectacle which presented itself to their eyes when they could bring +themselves to look at it, was not less grand than fantastic. Huge +vaulted arches diverged in every direction, lighted only by the pale +light of a few candles placed at wide intervals. To and fro in these +galleries, with incessant toil, a crowd of labourers were constantly +moving, their gigantic shadows dancing in the dim, flickering light. +Their shouts echoed to the accompaniment of creaking trolley-wheels, and +they seemed possessed with the idea of accomplishing some mysterious +task in a very short time. In some of the galleries the walls were lined +with crystals of native mercury, glittering as though they were covered +with silver. On the other side of these walls, dull regular blows might +be heard, and on going a few yards into the openings which had been +formed here and there, they could see at the end, in an illuminated +cavern, four or five pale, melancholy men hewing out the ore with their +pick-axes. Whenever they stopped to rest it could be seen that their +limbs shook with the palsy, characteristic of mercurial poisoning. + +It would have been easy to fancy oneself translated to the world of +gnomes, and the scene of their mysterious labours. Man burrows in the +earth with incessant toil like the mole, tunnelling it in every +direction; but he poisons himself as he eats it away. The gods could get +rid of the human rat without the aid of the cat. + +Suddenly Lola gave a piercing shriek, which made every one look round, +but she immediately burst out laughing. A driplet of water from the roof +had trickled down her back. Every one laughed at the accident, but the +mirth was not very genuine. At these depths every one was aware of a +vague uneasiness, even fear, which they strove to conceal. The cage +brought down another large party, but the third time it was almost +empty, for the rest of the company had preferred to be deposited in the +ninth gallery, feeling no particular interest in the mining operations. +Those who had come to the bottom were unfeignedly desirous of finding +themselves as soon as possible in more commodious quarters. They asked +the manager again and again whether they were safe, if there was no fear +of the vault falling in. + +"Oh, no," said the manager with a smile. "Only private mines fall in. +This was a Government concern, and everything was done with lavish +security." + +"I have been in mines where we have had to send a party of men down to +dig the miners out," said one of the engineers. + +"How shocking!" exclaimed the ladies in chorus. + +At last they got into the cage again and were carried up to number nine. +Here the scene was very different. It was a long time since this gallery +had been worked, and part of it had been enlarged to form a chamber, +which had been enclosed, boarded, and carpeted; it might have been a +room in a palace. The roof and walls were hung with waterproof cloth and +adorned with trophies of mining. A table was magnificently laid for +fifty or more, and the place was brilliantly illuminated by means of +lustres with hundreds of wax lights. In short every refinement of luxury +and elegance had been lavished here, so that it was difficult to +persuade oneself that this dining-room was in the depths of a mine, +three hundred mètres below the surface of the earth. + +The guests took their seats with a sense of excitement, a combination of +pleased admiration and vague alarm, which was written on their smiling +but pale faces. The servants in livery stood in a row as if they had +been at home in Madrid. As the first course was handed round, a band, +hidden away in an adjoining gallery of the mine, struck up a charming +waltz tune, and the sounds, softened by distance, had a delightful and +soothing effect. + +The ladies, their eyes glistening, tremulous with excitement, repeated +again and again: "How original, how amusing, I am so glad I came, what a +delightful idea of Clementina's!" + +Then they tried to be calm and talk of indifferent subjects; but no one +succeeded. The sense of so many tons of earth overhead weighed on their +consciousness through it all. Nay, with some of the men it was the same, +though some were perfectly calm. + +Raimundo was, no doubt, the man who thought least of his immediate +surroundings; he was entirely absorbed in his moral predicament. +Clementina, in spite of her professions and promises, was carrying on a +hot flirtation with Escosura. They were placed side by side, exactly +opposite to where he sat. He could see them talking eagerly, and +laughing frequently; he saw him devoted, obsequious, lavish of +compliments and attentions; he saw her complacent, smiling, and +accepting his civilities with pleasure. And though from time to time she +bestowed on Raimundo a loving look in compensation, he could only regard +it as an alms--the crust bestowed on a beggar to save him from death. +What did he care whether he were on the face or in the centre of the +earth, or even if it should fall in and crush him like a fly. + +Another person to whom this geographical question was a matter of +supreme indifference was Ramoncito, though from the opposite point of +view. Esperanza was most amiable to him, perhaps because she thought she +could thus the better endure the absence of Pepe Castro. The young +deputy, beside himself with joy, never stirred an inch further from her +side, or for a moment longer than appearances demanded. Triumphantly +happy, he cast occasional glances of condescending grace on the rest of +the company, and when his eyes fell on Calderón's financial face his +emotion was visible; he could hardly forbear from addressing him as +"Papa." + +As the meal progressed, the superincumbent earth weighed less heavily +on their souls. Heady wines warmed their blood, and talk revived their +spirits. Every one had forgotten the mine as completely as if they had +been sitting in an ordinary handsome dining-room. Rafael Alcantara was +amusing himself by making Peñalver drunk. Encouraged by the laughter of +his companions, who looked on, he did his utmost to befool the +philosopher, addressing him in a loud voice with extreme familiarity, +winking at his allies each time he made some blunder, taking base +advantage, in short, of the worthy gentleman's benevolent and +unsuspicious temper. He had taken upon himself to avenge the whole body +of illustrious pipe-colouring youth for the intellectual pre-eminence +for which the great thinker was noted. + +When dessert was served Escosura rose to propose a toast. He was an +object of respect to the "Savages," partly from his corpulence and his +vehement temper, but chiefly by reason of his money. He considered +himself an orator. In a strong, ringing voice, he pronounced a panegyric +on the Duke, whom he repeatedly designated as "that financial genius." +He enlarged on labour, capital, and production; and went on to +politics--his strong point. From the depths of the quicksilver mine he +shot terrific darts at the Ministry, which had failed to give him a +portfolio at the last change of Cabinet. + +Salabert replied with much hesitancy, thanking him with grovelling +self-abasement. "No merit of his own beyond industry and honesty had +raised him to the proud position he held (murmured applause). The +nation, the sovereign who had ennobled him, had ennobled a son of toil. +By struggling all his life against a tide of difficulties, he had +succeeded in collecting a handful of money. This money now enabled him +to maintain some thousands of workmen. This was his best reward +(applause). He begged to propose the health of the ladies, whose courage +had brought down to this subterranean hole, and who would leave behind +them, a fragrance of charity and joy, which would live for ever in the +hearts of the mining-folk." + +At this instant, simultaneously with the pop of several champagne corks, +a tremendous detonation was heard, making the bravest turn pale. + +"There is nothing to be alarmed at," said the manager. "They are +exploding the borings. It is always done at this hour." + +It was in truth an impressive moment. The noise of each explosion, +multiplied and repeated by a thousand echoes, was enough to make the +stoutest heart quake with faint alarms. Every one was suddenly silenced, +listening for some seconds, with absorbed anxiety, to the rolling +thunders which shook the earth. The table quivered, and the glasses and +dishes rattled and tinkled. + +At this moment, the doctor rose from his chair, and after steadily +eyeing the guests all round with his dark gaze, he raised his glass and +spoke: + +"Our illustrious host, the Duke of Requena, has just told us, with a +modesty which does him credit, that the whole secret of his great +fortune lies in industry and honesty. He must permit me to doubt it. The +Duke de Requena represents something more than those vulgar qualities; +he represents force. Force! the sustaining factor of the Universe. + +"Force is very unequally distributed among organic beings; some have a +larger and others a smaller share. And in the ceaseless struggle which +goes on among them, the weakest perish, the fittest and strongest +survive. Let us, then, adore in our Amphitryon the incarnation of Force. +Thanks to the force with which Nature has endowed him, he has been able +to subjugate and utilise the smaller share of thousands of individuals +who unconsciously serve his ends; thanks to that force, he has +accumulated his vast capital. + +"As I look round on this distinguished company, I observe with pleasure +that all who compose it have also been endowed with a good proportion of +this force, either congenital or inherited, and I can but congratulate +them with all my heart. The only essential thing in the world we live +in, is to have been born fit for the struggle. We must crush if we +would escape being crushed. And, I may add, I also congratulate myself +on standing here face to face with so many chosen of the gods on whom +Providence has set the seal of happiness." + +"Hear him, my dear!" whispered Pepa Frias to Clementina. "This is +Mephistopheles' toast, I think." + +Clementina smiled faintly. In fact, the doctor's pale, refined face, +with the black hair brushed off his forehead, and, above all, his black +eyes, in spite of an assumption of innocence, were full of a bitter +irony not unworthy of Mephistopheles. + +He went on: + +"Slavery has existed in every age under one form or another. There have +always been men designated by fate to live in the refined atmosphere of +intellectual enjoyments, in the cultivation of the arts, in luxury and +splendour, and the pleasure to be derived from the society of +intelligent and educated persons; while others again are fated to +procure them the means of such an existence by rude and painful toil. +The pariahs laboured for the Brahmins, the helots for the Spartans, the +slaves for the Romans, the villeins for their feudal lords. And is it +not the same to this day? Of what avail are laws to abolish slavery? The +men who work in the depths of this mine, and inhale the poison which +kills them, are slaves, though not by law--by want of bread. The result +is the same. It is the law of Nature, and so no doubt a holy and +venerable law, that some must suffer for others to enjoy life. You, +ladies, are the descendants of the noble Roman ladies who sent their +slaves to these mines to procure them vermilion to beautify their faces, +and of the Arabs, who used it to decorate the minarets of their palaces +at Cordova and Seville. Ladies, I drink to you, my soul possessed by +admiration and respect, as the representatives of all that is choicest +on earth--Love, Beauty, and Pleasure." + +Though the pledge was gallant enough, it seemed uncanny; some muttered +disapproval, and the hostile feeling against the young doctor visibly +increased. There were one or two who hinted, in an undertone, that this +low fellow was making game of them. Rafael Alcantara was eager to pick a +quarrel with him, but he read in the doctor's eyes that he would not +escape without some serious annoyance, and he preferred to pocket the +affront. The ladies regarded him with more benevolence. They thought him +"quite a character." The doctor's speech had certainly left an +unpleasant impression, which Fuentes failed to dissipate, though he +brought out his most original paradoxes. + +"Ladies and gentlemen," said he, "I do not propose a toast because I am +not an orator. I hope that ere long this will be recognised as an +honourable distinction in Spain; that when such an individual goes by in +the street it will be said of him with respect: 'he is not an orator;' +as we already say: 'he wears no order of merit.'" + +The ladies applauded and laughed at the joke. But whether from the +doctor's words, or whether they were again oppressed by vague fears, +they were all conscious of an uneasy feeling. Every one was cheered when +it was announced that the cage was ready to carry them up. Those who +remained to the last, heard, as they started, a distant chorus, which +came nearer as they rose, till it sounded close by them, and then +mysteriously died away below them without their having seen any one. The +effect was most whimsical. The words they heard were those of an +Andalucian boat song: + + Up the river, and up the river, + Water will never run up to the town; + Down the river, and down the river, + All the world is bound to run down. + +The engineer remarked in explanation: + +"A party of miners, going down in the cage which serves as a +counterpoise to this one." + +"I told you so, Condesa," exclaimed Salabert in a triumphant tone. "If +they are in spirits to sing, they cannot be so miserable as you fancy." + +The lady was silent for a moment, then she said, with a melancholy +smile: + +"It is not a very mirthful ditty, Duke." + +This was going on in the upper compartment. In the lower division, +Escosura observed in a scornful tone to the chief engineer: + +"Do you know that your young doctor was so rash as to give us a taste of +his materialistic views?" + +"Materialistic! I do not know that he is a Materialist. What he prides +himself on being--and the miners worship him for it--is a Socialist." + +"Worse and worse." + +"To tell the truth," said Peñalver, with a sigh, "it is impossible to +come up from the bottom of a mine without having caught a little of the +infection." + +At nine in the evening, after dining at Villalegre, the party returned +to Madrid, by special train. They all set out well content with the +excursion. They hoped to amaze their friends by their account of the +underground banquet. The only unhappy person was Raimundo. The +alternations of joy and anguish which Clementina's flirtation occasioned +him had quite quenched his spirit. At last, seeing him so sad and +exhausted, his mistress was merciful. She made him sit by her in the +train, and without scandalising a party who were cured of all such +weakness, she talked to him all the evening, and finally dropped asleep +with her head on his shoulder. + +Though a sleeping-car formed part of the train, it was not in favour. +Most of the travellers preferred remaining in the saloons. Towards +morning, however, sleep overcame them all, and they succumbed where they +sat, in a variety of attitudes, some of them by no means graceful. + +Ramon Maldonado was on a pinnacle of triumph and happiness. Esperancita, +to judge by appearances, must certainly love him. He felt lifted above +the earth, not merely by the natural superiority of his soul, but by the +ecstasy of joy. His ugly little face was as radiant as a god's. Farewell +for ever to the struggles and obstacles which had hitherto embittered +his life. Free henceforth from the service of sorrow, as are the +immortals, he gloried in his apotheosis, majestically serene. + +He, too, had seated himself next the idol of his heroic heart, and for +some hours sat talking to her in dulcet tones--of English cobs, and of +the great pitched battles which were being constantly fought in the +municipal council, and in which he bore an active part; till the +innocent child, soothed by the monotonous and insinuating discourse, +closed her eyes, with her head thrown back against the cushion. + +Maldonado remained awake, wide awake, thinking of his happiness. +Rosy-fingered Aurora, stepping over the ridge of the distant Sierra, and +flying swiftly across the wide plain, peeped through the blinds of the +carriages, diffusing a dim and subdued light, and still he was hugging +himself in contentment. + +Esperancita opened her eyes and smiled at him with a tender smile which +thrilled the deepest fibres of his lyric soul. At this instant a lark +began to sing. In Ramoncito the god was each moment growing more +distinct from the man; intoxicated with love and happiness he murmured +into the girl's ear, in a voice tremulous with emotion, a few incoherent +and ardent phrases, the expression of the divine madness. Esperanza shut +her eyes again--to hear that music better? + +When he had exhausted all the superlatives in the dictionary to describe +his passion, the poetic young civilian thought to achieve the task of +conquest by showing the damsel, as in a vision, all the glories he could +shed upon her: "He was an only son, his parents had an income of a +hundred and ten thousand reales[H] a year; at the next ensuing elections +he intended to stand as candidate for Navalperal, where his family had +estates, and if only he had the support of the Government he was certain +to succeed. Then, as the Conservative party were greatly in need of new +blood, he believed he should soon get an appointment as under secretary, +and--who could tell?--by-and-by, at a change of Ministry, find himself +entrusted with a portfolio." + +The girl still kept her eyes shut. Ramoncito, more and more excited, +when he had ended this catalogue of brilliant prospects, bent over her +and whispered in impassioned tones: "Do you love me, dearest, do you +love me?" + +No answer. + +"Tell me, do you love me?" + +Esperancita, without opening her eyes, answered curtly: + +"No." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +A DEPARTING SOUL. + + +A few weeks after this excursion, Doña Carmen's disease suddenly grew +much worse. The physicians, indeed, had no doubt that her end was +drawing near. She was in a state of complete prostration. Her face was +so thin, that there seemed to be nothing left but the skin, and the +large, sad, kind eyes, which rested with strange intensity on all who +came near her, as if trying to read in theirs the terrible secret of +death. And in view of her death, a thousand sordid feelings surged up in +the minds of those who ought most to have sorrowed over it. Salabert +reflected with indignation on the inheritance which was to pass to his +daughter. He made fresh efforts to induce his wife to revoke her will, +but without success. For the first time in her life, Doña Carmen showed +great firmness of character. Though she was incapable of a revengeful +sentiment, she perhaps felt bound by her desire to close her existence +by an act of justice. A life of abject submission, during which she had +never opposed the smallest obstacle to her husband's will, to his +money-making schemes, or his illicit passions, had surely earned her the +privilege of asserting her rights on her death-bed, and gratifying the +impulses of her heart. + +Osorio kept silent watch, with concealed greed, over the progress of her +malady, looking to its termination as the end of his own difficulties. +Doña Carmen would be released from her earthly husk, and he from his +creditors. Clementina herself, the object of the tender soul's devoted +affection, could not help rejoicing over the prospect of so many +millions which were to drop into her hands. She did her best to silence +her desires, and subdue her impatience; but, in spite of herself, a +tempting fiend made her heart give a little leap of gladness, every time +the anticipation flashed through her brain. + +It was with infernal astuteness that Salabert set to work to infuse +distrust into his wife's mind. Sometimes by insinuation, and sometimes +by brutally broad hints, he poured the poison of suspicion into her +soul. Clementina and Osorio were looking for her death, as for flowers +in May. What airs they would give themselves when they had paid all +their debts! And then they would live and enjoy themselves on her money. + +The poor woman said nothing, indignant at these base innuendoes. But, +nevertheless, in her soul, broken and saddened by suffering, the keen +point of this envenomed dart festered deeply, though she strove to +conceal her anguish. Every time Clementina came to see her--and towards +the end this was twice a day--her stepmother's eyes would rest on hers +in mute interrogation, trying to read in them the thoughts in the brain +behind. This intent gaze embarrassed the younger woman, making her feel +a perturbation, which, though slight, occasionally betrayed itself. + +As her malady increased, this anxiety on Doña Carmen's part became +almost a mania. In the isolation of soul in which she lived, Clementina +represented the one link of affection which bound her to life. It was +because her stepdaughter had always been cold and haughty to every one +else, that she had never doubted the sincerity of her love for her, and +it had made her happy and proud. It had sufficed to indemnify her for +the scornful indifference with which every one else had treated her. +Now, the horrible doubt which had been forced upon her, filled her heart +with bitterness. Such a spirit of goodness and love as her own craved to +believe in goodness and love. The uprooting of this last belief made her +heart bleed with anguish. + +One evening they were alone together; Doña Carmen, motionless in her +deep arm-chair, with her head thrown back on the pillows, was listening +to Clementina, who was reading aloud the pious history of the apparition +of the Virgin of la Salette. Her thoughts wandered from the narrative; +they were disturbed as usual by the fatal doubt, which tortured her more +than even her acute physical sufferings. She could not take her eyes off +Clementina's fair head, with the fixed look of divination peculiar to +dying persons, as though she could read what was passing within, but +without gaining the certainty she longed for. More than once, when the +reader glanced up, she met that dull, grief-stricken gaze, and hastily +looked down again with a sudden sense of uneasiness. A desire, a whim, +had blazed up in the sick woman's mind, a feverish yearning such as +dying creatures feel. She longed to hear her stepdaughter quench, by +some gentle word, the fearful pain of that burning doubt. Again and +again the question hovered on her lips; invincible shame kept her from +uttering it. + +"Lay down the book, child, you are tired," she said at last. And her +voice came trembling from her throat, as though she had said something +very serious. + +"You are, perhaps, of listening. I am not. I have a strong throat." + +"God preserve it to you, my child," replied Doña Carmen tenderly, as she +looked at her. + +There was a brief silence. + +"Do you know what I have been told?" she asked finally, with an effort, +and her voice was so low that the last syllables were scarcely audible. + +Clementina, who was about to read again, raised her head. The few drops +of blood left in Doña Carmen's emaciated body suddenly rushed to her +face and tinged it with a faint flush. + +"I was told--that you wish for my death." + +Clementina's rich blood now mounted in a tide to her cheeks and dyed +them crimson. The two women looked at each other for a moment in +confusion. At last it was the younger who exclaimed, with a dark frown: + +"I know who told you that!" + +And as she spoke the blood faded from her face again like a sudden fall +of the tide. Her stepmother's retreated to her weary heart. She bent her +head with its white hairs, and said: + +"If you know, do not utter his name." + +"Why not?" cried her wrathful stepdaughter. "When a father, with no +motive whatever, solely for the sake of a few dollars, can insult his +daughter and make a martyr of his wife, he has no right to claim either +affection or respect. I say it, and I do not care who hears me. It is an +infamous calumny! My father is a man who knows no God, no love but +money. I knew that your will had alienated his love for me--if indeed he +ever had any." + +"Oh!" + +"Yes, I knew it perfectly. But I never could have believed that it would +lead him to do anything so vile as to calumniate me so cruelly. I +confess to you that I have always loved you the most--oh, yes, much, +much the most! I have no hesitation in saying so. Nay, I will say more: +I have never really loved any one but you and my children. If this will +is the cause of your doubting my love for you, destroy it, undo it, +revoke it. Your love and your peace of mind are far dearer to me than +your money." + +Her voice thrilled with indignation. Her eyes were sternly fixed on +vacancy, as though she could evoke the figure of her father and crush +him to powder. At the moment she was ardently sincere. Doña Carmen's dim +eyes grew bright with contentment as her daughter spoke. At last they +glittered through tears as she exclaimed: + +"I trust you, my child--I believe you! Ah, you cannot think what good +you have done me!" + +She seized her hands and kissed them fondly. Clementina exclaimed, as if +ashamed: + +"No, no, mamma! It is I who----" And she threw her arms round her neck. + +They held each other in a warm embrace, shedding silent tears. It was +one of the few occasions in her life when Clementina wept from tender +feeling, and not from vexation of spirit. + +But during the remaining days, though the memory of this scene was +lively with them both, so, too, was that of the suspicion which had led +to it. Clementina felt herself humbled in her stepmother's presence. Her +attentions and endearments were now and then a little forced; she tried +to efface the impression she still read in Doña Carmen's eyes. Then, +again, fearing this might lead her to doubt her sincerity, she would +suddenly cut them short, and assume a cold indifference. In short, a +current of disquietude flowed between the two women, and caused them +both much suffering, though in different ways, whenever they were +together. + +At last Doña Carmen took to her bed, never again to rise. Clementina +spent the whole day by her side. The terrible end was near. One morning, +between two and three, two of the Duke's servants gave the alarm to the +Osorios. The Duchess was dying, and asked repeatedly for her daughter. +Clementina hastily dressed and flew to the Requena Palace as fast as her +horses could carry her. Osorio went with her. As they alighted they met +the Duke, with an expression of scornful gloom. + +"You are in time--oh, you are in time!" he growled, and he turned away +without another word. + +Clementina fancied the words were spoken with a malevolent sneer, and +bit her lips with rage. The pitiable scene that met her eyes as she +approached Doña Carmen's bedside pacified her for the moment. The poor +woman's face was stamped by the hand of death; pale as a corpse, the +nose pinched and white, the eyes glassy and sunk in a livid circle. +Standing by her side was a priest, exhorting her to repentance. Of what? +Her faithful maid, Marcella, stood at the foot of the bed crying +bitterly, her face hidden in her handkerchief; and two other maids in +the background looked on at the pathetic picture, frightened rather +than sorrowful. The physician was writing a prescription at a table in +the corner. + +On seeing her daughter the Duchess turned to look in her face with an +anxious expression, and held out a hand to her. + +"Come close, child," she said, in a fairly strong voice. And she took +Clementina's right hand in her own thin, waxen hands, and said, with a +fearful fixity of gaze: + +"I am dying, my child, dying. Do you not see it? Only so long as you are +not glad of it." + +"Mamma, dear mamma!" + +"Say that you are not glad," she earnestly insisted, without ceasing to +look in her daughter's eyes. + +"Mamma, mamma, for God's sake!" cried Clementina, both bewildered and +alarmed. + +"Say that you are not glad!" she repeated, with increased energy, even +raising her head with a great effort, and looking sternly at her. + +"No, my beloved mother, no. If I could save your life at the cost of my +own I swear to you I would do so." + +The dying woman's dim eyes softened; she laid her head on the pillow, +and, after a short silence, she said, in a weak, quavering voice: + +"You would be very ungrateful--very ungrateful. Your poor mother has +loved you dearly. Kiss me, do not cry. I am not sorry to leave this +world. What hurt me was the thought that you, child of my +heart--you--oh, horrible to think of! How it has tortured me!" + +The priest here interposed, desiring her to turn her mind from worldly +thoughts. The sick woman listened with humility, and devoutly echoed the +prayers he spoke in a loud voice. The doctor and the Duke came close to +the bed, but, seeing that Doña Carmen was breathing her last, the +physician took Requena by the arm to lead him out of the room. Doña +Carmen's glazing eye wandered round the little group till it rested on +Clementina, to whom she signed to come closer. + +"God bless you, my child," she said, with a gaze fixed on the ceiling. +"You are right to be glad at my death." + +"Mamma, mamma, what are you saying?" cried Clementina, in horror. + +"I am glad, too, glad that my death should be an advantage to you. If I +could have given you all while I lived, I would have done it. It is sad, +is it not, that I should have to die to make you happy? I should have +liked to see you happy. Good-by; good-by. Think sometimes of your poor +mamma." + +"Mother, dearest mother!" sobbed the younger woman, dropping on her +knees with a burst of tears. "I do not want you to die, no, no. I have +been very wicked, but I have always loved you, have always respected +you." + +"Do not be foolish," said the dying woman, smiling with an effort, and +laying her hand on the fair head. "I am not sorry if you are glad. And +what does it matter? I die content to know that you will owe some +happiness to me. Remember my old women in the asylum, be kind to them, +and to Marcella, my good Marcella. Farewell, all of you. Forgive me any +faults----" + +Her voice failed, her breathing was hard and painful. The sobs of +Clementina and Marcella were the only other sound. The Duke, trembling +and shocked, was at last persuaded to leave the room. + +Doña Carmen spoke no more. Her eyes closed, her lips parted, she lay +quite still. Now and then she half raised her eyelids and looked fondly +at her step-daughter who remained kneeling. The priest read on in a +quavering nasal voice prayer after prayer. + +Thus died the Duchess de Requena. Let her depart in peace. + + * * * * * + +For some days after, Clementina and her husband, in spite of their +inextinguishable aversion, held long and repeated conferences. The great +question of the inheritance united their interests for a while. +Clementina went every morning and evening to see her father, and Osorio +too was a frequent visitor; they both were lavish of attentions to the +old man, took pity on his loneliness, and made much of him. There was an +affectionate familiarity in their demeanour which was highly becoming in +a son and daughter who make it their duty to cherish a venerable parent +in his old age. The Duke, on his part, accepted their care, watching +them with an expression which was ironical rather than grateful. When +their backs were turned to leave him, he gazed after them, slowly +closing his eyes, and turned his cigar-stump between his teeth, while +his lips sketched a sarcastic smile, which did not die away for some few +seconds. + +But everything went on as before. Although the Duchess's will was +incontrovertible, Salabert never said a word on money matters. He +continued to manage the whole of the fortune, and engaged in various +concerns with calm despotism. But his daughter and son-in-law were not +so calm. They began, on the contrary, to be greatly disturbed, to +express their opinions to each other with crude vehemence, and to lay +plots to provoke an explanation. Clementina thought that Osorio should +speak to her father. He considered it her part to apply to him in +dutiful terms for an explanation, before formulating a complaint. After +some days of hesitation the wife finally made up her mind to say a few +words to her father, though not without some embarrassment, since she +knew his temper and her own too. + +"Well, papa," said she, with affected lightness, finding him alone in +his room, "when are you going to talk over money matters with me?" + +"Money matters? Why should I?" he replied in a tone of surprise, and +looking at her with such an air of innocence that she longed to slap his +face. + +"Why should you? Because it will have to be done, to put me in +possession of my property. Am I not mamma's sole legatee?" she answered +in the same cheerful tone, but there was a very perceptible quaver in +her voice. + +"Ah, to be sure!" exclaimed the Duke, with a flourish of the hand to +dismiss the subject. "We will talk of that later--much later." + +Clementina turned pale. Her blood seemed to curdle with rage. Her lips +quivered, and she was on the point of saying something violent. + +"Still, it would be as well that we should come to an understanding," +she murmured in a low voice. + +"Not at all, not at all. I cannot discuss it now. When I have time and +am in the humour I will think about it." + +He spoke with such decision and indifference that his daughter had no +choice but either to give the reins to her tongue and quarrel violently +with her father, or to go. After a moment's hesitation she went. She +turned on her heel, and, without a word of leave-taking, she quitted the +room and went off in her carriage, in such a state of excitement that +she was trembling from head to foot. + +As soon as she reached home she shut herself up in her own room and gave +vent to her fury. She wept, she stamped, she tore her clothes, and broke +various articles of crockery. Osorio too flew into a rage, and declared +he would bring Salabert to book. But nothing came of it all, excepting a +letter, in which respectfully enough, he required his father-in-law to +give him an account of the state of his business, that the preliminaries +of an estimate might be arrived at. Salabert simply did not answer. They +wrote another; again no reply. They ceased going to the house. +Clementina would not go for fear of a scandal. Osorio, on his part, +considering the relations that subsisted between him and his wife, did +not feel that he had the moral position which would entitle him to lay +formal claim to her fortune. + +In this predicament they consulted certain persons of weight, friends of +the Duke, and requested them to mediate. This was done; they had various +interviews with the old man, and after much consultation a friendly +meeting was agreed on, to avoid bringing the matter into a court of law. +The meeting was held, after some objections on Clementina's part, at +her father's house. Besides the interested parties, there were present +Father Ortega, the Conde de Cotorraso, Calderón, and Jimenez Arbos. + +The proceedings were opened by Arbos--no longer in the Ministry, but a +member of the Opposition--who made a speech in a conciliatory key, +urging them to agree rather than present to the public the spectacle of +a quarrel on money matters between a father and daughter--a spectacle +which, in view of the position they held, must be both painful and +discreditable. The next to speak was Father Ortega, who, in the unctuous +and persuasive accents which characterised him, first bestowed on both +parties a plentiful lather of preposterous encomiums, and then appealed +to their Christian feelings, representing how bad an example they would +set, and painting the sweets of loving-kindness and self-sacrifice, +ending by promises of eternal life and glory. + +Clementina replied. She had no wish but to continue in the same friendly +relations with her father as had hitherto subsisted, and to achieve that +end she was prepared to do all in her power. The curt, dry tone in which +she spoke, and the scowl which accompanied her words, gave no strong +evidence of sincerity. However, the Duke seemed greatly moved. + +"Arbos," he began, "Father, my friends, and my children; you all know me +well. To me, without domestic life, there is no possibility of +happiness. After the terrible blow I have so lately suffered, my +daughter is all that is left to me. On her centre all my hopes, my +affections, and my pride. For her I have toiled, have struggled +indefatigably, have accumulated the capital I possess. I may say that I +have never cared for money but for the sake of my wife, now in glory, +and my daughter--to see them living in comfort and luxury. As you know, +I could always have lived on a few coppers a day. And now that I am old, +all the more so. What can I want with millions? Ere long, I too must +take the train for the other side--Eh, Julian? And you too.--Who then +can suppose that I should ever quarrel over a handful of dollars with +my dear and only daughter? The whole thing has been a mistake. I wanted +time to put my affairs in order; that was all. And if you, my child, +ever could imagine anything else, I can only tell you this: everything +in this house is yours, and always has been. Take it whenever you +choose. Take it, my child, take it. I can do with nothing." + +As he pronounced the last words with visible emotion, they all were able +to shed a tear. Every one was deeply moved and eager with conciliatory +exhortation. Father Ortega gently pushed Clementina into her father's +arms; and though she was the least agitated of the party, she allowed +him to embrace her. + +He clasped her to his heart for some minutes, and when he released her +dropped into his arm-chair, with his handkerchief to his eyes, quite +overcome by so much emotion. + +After so pathetic a scene no one could allude to money. The meeting +broke up with fervid hand-pressing and warm mutual congratulations on +the happy issue of their diplomacy. But Osorio and his wife got into +their carriage, grave and sullen, and exchanged not a single word on the +drive home. Only as they reached their own door, Clementina said: + +"Well, we shall see how the farce ends." + +Osorio shrugged his shoulders. + +"We have seen the end, I suspect." + +And he was right. + +The Duke never paid them a cent., and never again spoke of his +daughter's fortune. He was very affectionate, and constantly had them to +dine with him, complaining of his loneliness. Now and then he spoke of +transactions he was engaged in, but not a word of paying them their +share. Clementina was at last so much provoked that she suddenly ceased +going to the house. They then took to exchanging notes. Nothing was to +be got out of her father but ambiguous replies and vague hopes. Finally +they decided on taking legal steps, and a lawsuit began, which was a +source of endless satisfaction to the faculty. + +This was an end of all joy or comfort for Clementina. She lived in a +state of perpetual ferment, watching the progress of the litigation with +anxious interest, communicating with the lawyers, and trying to exert +some influence which might counterbalance the Duke's. He, on his part, +took the matter much more calmly, conducted it with maddening acumen, +taking advantage of her displays of violence to represent her in the +eyes of the world as a greedy and unnatural daughter. At the same time, +among his intimate acquaintances, he would now and then give utterance +to some sarcastic or cynical speech which, when it reached her ears, +made her wild with rage. The struggle became more desperate every day, +while, on the other hand, Osorio's creditors, deceived in their hopes, +began to press him very hard, and threatened to bring him to ruin. The +torments, the tempers, the wretched state of things in the Osorio +household may be easily imagined. + +This discomfort, and it might be called misery, extended to the hapless +Raimundo. Clementina, torn soul and body by a tumult of other passions, +found no leisure for the blandishments of love. The minutes she could +spare for them were every day briefer and less calm. The gay +_tête-à-têtes_ and merry devices of a former time were over for ever. +The lady no longer found any amusement in laughing at her boyish lover. +She did not seem even to remember the childish pleasures in which they +had delighted. She could talk of nothing now but the lawsuit. Her nerves +were in such a state of tension that an inadvertent word might put her +into a furious rage. And, besides all this, in her vehement desire for +triumph over her father, she flirted more than ever with Escosura, who +had just come into office; and this, as may be supposed, was what most +distressed the young naturalist. + +One day, when she was rather more fond than usual, she said in loving +accents: + +"You are still jealous of Escosura, Raimundo? But it is quite a mistake. +I do not care a straw for the man." + +"Yes, so you have often told me, and yet----" + +"There is no 'and yet' in the case, fastidious youth!" she interrupted, +gently pulling his ear. "I never loved, and never could love any one but +you. But--here comes the but--you alas! are not in power, though you +deserve to be more than any one I know. My fortune, as you know, is at +the mercy of the law, and I may be told any day that I am a beggar. +Accustomed as I am to comfort and luxury, you may imagine how much I +should relish this. And my pride, too, would suffer, for I am the object +of much invidious feeling; people hate me without knowing why. In short, +I should be laughed at, and that I could not endure. My father has a +great many supporters. Men count on him for services, though he is +utterly incapable of a kindness, and they are afraid of him too. Now I, +though on intimate terms with all the official circle of Madrid, have +not one true friend to take a real interest in my affairs, or dare to +show a bold front to my father. And so, you see, I must try to make one. +Now imagine this friend to be Escosura, and imagine me to break with you +before the eyes of the world, though still you are the one and only man +I can ever love. What do you think of the arrangement? Can you regard it +as acceptable?" + +Raimundo coloured crimson at this strange and humiliating proposition. +For a minute or two he made no reply, but at last he said, between anger +and contempt: + +"It strikes me as simply infamous and indecent." + +The furrow, the fateful furrow, which appeared on Clementina's brow +whenever passion stirred her stormy soul, was ominously deep. She +abruptly rose, and after looking at him hard, with an expression of +scornful rage, she said in icy tones: + +"You are right. Such an arrangement could not meet your views! We had +better part, once for all." And she turned to go. + +Raimundo was confounded. + +"Clementina!" he cried as she reached the door. + +"What is it?" said she, as coldly as before, and looking round. + +"Listen, one moment, for God's sake! I spoke under an impulse of +jealousy, not meaning to wound you. How could I ever mean to hurt you +when I love you, adore you as a creature of another sphere?" and he +poured out words of tenderness and worship. + +Clementina listened without moving from her attitude of haughty +indifference, and would not melt till she saw him utterly humbled, on +his knees before her, beseeching for the scheme he had stigmatised as +infamous and indecent as a favour to himself. + +At this time Clementina received a blow which almost made her ill. Her +father brought the audacious woman to whom he had given a card for his +ball to live in the palace, and this extraordinary proceeding became the +talk of all Madrid. Every one believed that Salabert was out of his +mind. And then a rumour got afloat that he was about to marry Amparo, +and amazement and indignation filled the soul of Society. + +But an unforeseen accident interfered with this alliance. At a meeting +of the shareholders of the Riosa mines it was the Duke's part, as +chairman, to give an account of his management, and propose certain +measures for the advantage of the company. He usually fulfilled such +functions with great brevity and lucidity; he was, above all else, a man +of business, and had no fancy for rambling speeches or more words than +were absolutely necessary. But now, to the surprise of his audience, +among whom there were many bankers and official personages, he began a +rambling address quite foreign to the matter. + +He wandered from his subject and began giving explanations of his +conduct as a public character, sketched a complete biography of himself, +dwelling on a thousand insignificant details; sang his own praises in +the most barefaced way, putting himself forward as the model of a +logical politician, and of disinterested self-sacrifice; spoke of his +services to the nation by his loans to the Government in the hour of +need, and to the cause of humanity by his co-operation in the founding +of hospitals, schools, and asylums; finally having the audacity to +assert that the Home for Old Women was his work. + +The shareholders looked at one another in bewilderment, muttering not +very complimentary comments on the orator's condition of mind. When he +had finished the catalogue of his own merits and proclaimed himself, +_urbi et orbi_, the greatest man in Spain, he began an invective against +his enemies, describing himself as the victim of persistent and +deliberate persecution, of a thousand intrigues plotted to discredit +him, and in which various political and financial magnates were +implicated. In confirmation of this statement he read, in loud, fierce +tones, certain articles from a paper published in the district where the +Riosa mines were situated, and which, according to him, constituted a +gross and shameful attack. What they actually said amounted to this: +That Salabert was not a man of such mark as to be worthy to have a +statue. + +His hearers, more and more wearied and indignant, now said, though still +in under-tone: "The man is crazy! The man is mad!" + +As he read on, his face grew purple; it was usually pale, it now looked +as if he were being strangled. Suddenly, before he had finished, he fell +back senseless in his chair. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +A DARKENED MIND. + + +After this attack Requena's mental faculties were perceptibly weakened, +as every one could discern who saw him. He suffered from strange +illusions; his speech was slow and even less intelligible than of old. +He was full of fancies and whims. It was said that he had given his +mistress vast sums of money; that he flew into a rage over the merest +trifles, and shrieked and raved like a mad creature, going so far as to +inflict bodily injuries on his servants and attendants; that he ate +voraciously, and would say the most horrible things to his daughter. His +sullen and vindictive temper had become violent and malignant. + +In business matters, however, his faculties showed no signs of deserting +him, nor had the mainspring of his nature, avarice, run down. His +affairs, to be sure, for the most part went on by themselves, and he +still had Llera, whose talents as a speculator had gained in astuteness. +Where the derangement, or rather the weakness of his mind, was most +conspicuous, was in his domestic affairs. His mistress reigned supreme, +and as in Madrid there is no lack of social parasites, there were plenty +of hangers-on to sing her praises. She gave tea and card parties, and +though the society she collected left much to be desired in point of +quality, in appearance it made as good a show as that of many another +wealthy house. There were Grandees of Castile who honoured her with +their presence, among them Manolo de Davalos, as mad and as much in love +as ever. + +The lawsuit between the Duke and his daughter ran its lengthy course, +each party more obstinate and more virulent every day. In fact, to +Clementina, it had resolved itself into a personal struggle with Amparo. +The thing which she and Osorio most dreaded was that her father should +commit himself to the marriage which was openly prognosticated. If he +did, this hussy, an ex-flower-girl, would flaunt the ducal coronet, and +treat with them on equal terms. Though society at first would have +nothing to say to her, everything is forgotten in time, and Amparo would +presently be regarded as a Duchess indeed. Happily for them, though +Salabert was very submissive to her vagaries, they heard that the Duke +had positively refused to marry her, and that when she endeavoured to +coerce him, there were violent scenes between them. Whether all that the +servants reported were true or no, there was no doubt that she was +urgent and he obstinate. But though her attacks continued to be +fruitless, Clementina and Osorio lived "between the devil and the deep +sea." The Duke was pronounced to be suffering from creeping paralysis. +Under these circumstances, after consulting several eminent lawyers, +they determined to petition the Court for a decree pronouncing him +incompetent or incapable of managing his own affairs. He had, lately, it +was said, had a fresh attack, which had left him quite imbecile. This +report seemed to be confirmed by his never leaving the house, and by his +most intimate friends being refused admittance to see him. It was under +these circumstances that, either from some sudden impulse of her +impetuous nature, or because some of her acquaintances had suggested it +to her, Clementina determined to deal a decisive blow, which would at +once put an end to the litigation and to all the difficulties bound up +with it. + +"My father is shut up," said she, "I will go and turn that woman out of +the house." + +Her husband tried to dissuade her, but in vain. + +One morning, therefore, she drove to her father's palace. The porter, on +opening the gate to the Señora Clementina, was at once amazed and +pleased; for though she was neither so smooth-tongued nor so liberal as +the ex-florist, a sense of justice led the Duke's household to respect +his daughter and contemn his mistress. The haughty lady, without looking +at the man, merely said: + +"Well, Rafael?" and went quickly up the steps. + +"How is papa?" she asked of the servant who met her in the hall. + +He was too much astonished to be able to reply. + +"Well, fellow!" she repeated impatiently, "Where is papa? In the office, +or in his study?" + +"I beg your pardon, Señora; the Duke is well. I think he is in his +study." + +At this juncture, a waiting-maid, who had caught sight of her from the +end of a passage, and heard her inquiries, flew off to warn the Señora, +while Clementina hastened up the stairs to the first-floor. But before +she could reach her father's room, the lady in possession stood in her +path, looking straight into her face, with flashing eyes. + +"Where are you going?" she asked, in a voice husky with excitement. + +"Who are you?" asked Clementina, lifting her head with supreme disdain, +and looking down on her. + +"I am the mistress of this house," was the reply, but the speaker turned +pale. + +"The sick nurse, you should say. I never heard that there was a mistress +here." + +"What! Have you come to insult me in my own house?" exclaimed Amparo, +setting her arms akimbo, as if she still were on the market-place. + +"No. I have come to turn you out, before the police arrive and do it for +me." + +Her antagonist made a movement, as though she would fall on her and rend +her; but she checked herself, and began to scream as loud as she could: +"Pepe, Gregorio, Anselmo! Come here, come all! Turn this insolent +creature out of the house! She is insulting me." + +Some of the servants came at her call; but they stood confused and +motionless, contemplating this strange scene. At the same moment the +door of the Duke's room was opened, and Salabert stood before them in a +dressing-gown and cap. He had grown terribly old in a few weeks. His +eyes were dull, his face colourless, his cheeks pendant and flabby. + +"What is all this? What is the matter?" he asked thickly. On seeing his +daughter, he staggered back a step. + +"This woman," cried Amparo, in a yell of vulgar rage, "after having you +declared an idiot, comes here to insult me!" + +"Papa, do not heed her," said Clementina, going up to him. + +But her father drew back, and holding out his trembling hands he +exclaimed: "Go--go away! Do not come near me!" + +"Listen to me, papa." + +"Do not come near me, wicked, ungrateful child!" repeated the Duke, in a +quavering voice, but with melodramatic emphasis. + +"Yes, leave this house, shameless creature," added the woman, encouraged +by the old man's attitude. "Dare you show your face here, after treating +your father so?" + +Clementina stood petrified, colourless, staring at them with a look of +terror rather than anger. For an instant she was on the point of +fainting away; everything seemed to be whirling round her. But her pride +enabled her to make a supreme effort; she stood rooted to the spot, and +incapable of moving, as white as a marble statue. Then she turned on her +heel slowly, for fear of falling, and reached the stairs, down which she +went, almost tottering at each step. Her father, spurred by Amparo's +cries, followed her to the top of the flight, repeating with increasing +fury: + +"Go--go. Leave my house!" And he held up a tremulous hand in theatrical +menace. + +His mistress, meanwhile, poured forth a string of abuse with an +accompaniment of gestures, sarcastic laughter and gibes, learnt and +remembered from her early experience. + +By the time Clementina had reached the garden, her cheeks were tingling. +She leaned against the pedestal of one of the lamps for a minute to +recover herself, and then ran like a mad creature to the gate, where her +carriage was waiting; she sprang into it and burst into tears. On +reaching home she was lifted out in a miserable state, and helped up to +her room by two maids. When Osorio came up, it was only in broken and +incoherent sentences that she could tell him what had occurred. + +She kept her bed for eight or ten days in a state of utter prostration, +and she rose from it at last so possessed by the desire for revenge, +that she really seemed to have gone mad. + +The lawsuit, under the hot breath of her malice, was fanned to an +imposing blaze. It was regarded in Madrid as a matter of public +interest. The opinions of the most distinguished physicians, Spanish and +foreign, were taken on both sides as to the Duke's mental incapacity. On +one part he was pronounced an idiot, so hopelessly childish that there +was nothing to be done with him; on the other it was asserted that he +was mending steadily, his mind clearer every day, and his intellect a +marvel of acumen and sound sense. And on one point all the authorities +concurred--namely, in requiring enormous fees. The press took sides with +one or the other party. Clementina subsidised one or two papers. Amparo +had bribed others, for the Duke, as a matter of fact, was incompetent to +direct the case. And through their columns the two women, more or less +disguised, contrived to hurl insolence at one another, reviving, in an +allegorical dress, an extensive selection of scandalous tales. + +In this warfare the daughter had the worst chance. She could not be so +liberal as the mistress, who sowed bank-notes broadcast. On the other +hand, Clementina had the support of her husband's creditors, and of her +friend Pepa Frias--who was indefatigable in her visits to the doctors, +the lawyers, and the newspaper editors--the Condesa de Cotorraso, the +Marquesa de Alcudia, her brother-in-law, Calderón, General Patiño and +Jimenez Arbos; and, more helpful than all these, as in duty bound, her +lover _en titre_, Escosura. He, holding a post of high importance, had +no small influence on the course of the lawsuit. + +What a life of excitement, anxiety, and misery! Clementina could not +eat, she could not sleep. She was always holding conferences with +lawyers and judges, always writing letters. Even at her parties and +dinners, nothing else was talked about, till at length the more +indifferent of her acquaintance rebelled, and ceased to come. To others, +however, she communicated some of her own flame; they became her ardent +partisans, and brought or carried reports, volunteered advice, broke out +in cries of indignation whenever Amparo was even mentioned. And although +Clementina's haughty temper prevented her being a favourite in Madrid +society, as she stood forth, after all, as the representative of justice +and decency, her cause found most supporters. To this her antagonist's +folly contributed, for she paraded herself and her splendour everywhere, +with the imbecile and degraded old man. + +The Duke was in fact perishing before their eyes. After a stage of +excitement and violence, when he had behaved like a madman, came a +period of nervous prostration; by degrees he became almost idiotic. He +lost his wits so completely that he could not even understand business. +Everything was left to Llera. This would have been all right, but that +Amparo would interfere and do all kinds of mischief. She took the +greatest pains, however, to hide Salabert's condition; on days when he +was over excitable or incoherent, she kept him in his room. It was only +when he was calm and rational that she ventured to take him out, and +then never allowed him to talk to any one. But her efforts were not +always successful. Salabert went out by himself on various pretences, +and amply betrayed his deranged condition. On one occasion he was found +outside the town at four in the morning. Another time he went into a +jeweller's shop, and after ordering some trinkets he pocketed some +others, believing he had not been observed. The jeweller had seen it, +however, but he said nothing, knowing the millionaire. He sent the bill +in to Amparo, who hastened to pay it, and went in person to beg that the +matter should not be divulged. In short, before long it was established +beyond a doubt, in spite of the contending evidence of physicians, that +the Duke was absolutely _non compos_; and it was said that the lawsuit +would be decided in that sense. + +Two days before the decision was made public, Amparo vanished from the +Requena palace, after sacking it very completely, and carrying off with +her many objects of great value. Her savings already amounted to several +thousand dollars, and in anticipation of disaster she had drawn the +money out of the Bank of Spain and placed it in foreign securities. She +was afterwards heard of in France, and a few months later it was +reported in Madrid that she had married the crazy Marquis. + + * * * * * + +On the very day of Amparo's flight--for it may be called a +flight--Clementina and her husband took possession of the Requena +palace. She found her father in a pitiable state of total imbecility. He +spoke as though they had met but the day before and nothing of any +importance had occurred, he asked for Amparo, and sometimes mistook his +daughter for her. The daughter's heart, it must be owned, was not +severely wrung. This catastrophe by no means satisfied the bitterness +which possessed her soul when she recalled all the wretchedness she had +endured. Her vengeance was incomplete, for Amparo was rich and content. +She longed to prosecute her as a criminal, while Osorio, satisfied with +the enormous fortune which had dropped into his hands, did not regard +her thefts as worth a thought. + +The Duke de Requena, the famous financier who for twenty years had been +the wonder and admiration of the banking world in Spain and abroad, the +man who had been so much discussed by the public and the press, was ere +long, in his own house--now the Osorio palace--a useless and worthless +chattel. To avoid comment, or to be more secure as to his condition, or +perhaps out of some dim fear lest he should recover, the Osorios did not +send him to a lunatic asylum; they had him cared for at home. Salabert +was no more than a child. He thought of nothing but his meals. He spoke +very little, but sat hour after hour, looking at his nails or rubbing +one hand over the other, now and then uttering some strange, +inarticulate cry. He was in the charge of an attendant, who, when he was +tiresome, would fly in a rage and slap him. But the person he held in +most respect, it may be said in real awe, was his daughter. It was +enough for Clementina to frown and speak a scolding word; he submitted +at once. For his son-in-law, on the other hand, he did not care a pin. + +When his attendant found him quiet and went to amuse himself for an hour +with the other servants, the crazy old man would wander about the house, +more especially to gaze in the mirrors. His principal mania was for +picking up pieces of bread and storing them in a corner of his room, +where they lay till they were mouldy. When the pile was too large the +servants cleared it away in baskets and flung it out on the dust-heap. +Then when he missed it he was furious, and his keeper had to use strong +measures to pacify him. One morning, soon after the Osorios' +breakfast--the old man ate alone in his own room--three or four of the +servants were together in the great dining-room, cleaning the plate and +putting it away in the side-board cupboards. They were in high spirits +and playing games, hitting each other with the long loaves they had +taken up for sticks, running round the table and laughing loudly. Their +mistress was upstairs and could not hear them. Suddenly the old imbecile +appeared on the scene, with the tray on which he was wont to carry off +the broken pieces as a precious booty to his room. He had on a greasy +old shooting coat, and his head was bare. And, in spite of its white +hairs, that head was not venerable; the yellow unshaven cheeks, the +colourless, loose lips, the stony, expressionless eyes had no trace of +the beauty of old age, but only the decrepitude of vice, which is always +repulsive, and the stamp of idiotcy which is always terrible. + +Seeing so many persons, he paused a moment, but he made up his mind to +come in, and went straight to the drawers of the side-board, where he +began an eager search, picking up every scrap he found there and +collecting them on the tray. The servants watched him with amusement. + +"Hunt away, old fellow!" cried one. "When are you going to ask us to try +the broth, daddy?" + +The old man made no reply, he was much too busy. + +"The broth, sir," said another, "you had better ask us to share a ten +dollar-note." + +"I shall not ask you," mumbled the Duke with some irritation, "I shall +only ask Anselmo." + +"Oh yes, we know why you ask Anselmo, it is because he keeps the stick! +Never fear, if that is all, you shall ask me too." + +The others all shouted with laughter, and the youngest, a boy of about +sixteen, seeing him with his tray filled, and about to depart, slipped +behind him and, giving him a jerk, upset all the bits, which were +scattered on the floor. The Duke's rage was terrific, with yells of rage +he went down on his knees to pick them up again, while the servants +applauded the joke. As soon as he had collected them all again on his +tray, and was shuffling off as fast as he could to escape from their +rough fun, the same fellow again came behind him and snatched it away. +The madman's frenzy was indescribable; gnashing his teeth and glaring +with fury, he rushed on the lad, but the others seized him. The poor +lunatic began to utter cries which were anything rather than human. + +At this moment Clementina's voice was heard in high wrath: + +"What is the matter? What are you doing to papa?" + +The servants let him go, and vanished from the room. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +A PASSION BURNT OUT. + + +Raimundo's love affairs hung only by a thread. In these latter days +Clementina, entirely absorbed by her triumph and thirst for revenge, had +hardly given him a thought. They still met frequently, for the young man +did not cease to visit her, but their love-passages were fewer every +day. If he timidly complained of her neglect, the lady excused herself +on the score of Escosura's jealousy. It was in vain that she had tried +to persuade him that she was "off with the old love." "And you see," she +said "if he finds out that I have deceived him, he will have good cause +for a furious scene." + +Raimundo was so utterly lost that he admitted, or feigned to admit, this +reasoning as valid. Through this abject humiliation he still contrived +to be happy in the illusion that his idol preferred him, loved him best +at the bottom of her heart, that she only flirted with the Minister for +the sake of her lawsuit. Clementina fostered this belief by sending him +from time to time, when she could forget her vexations, a few lines +appointing a meeting, "to-day at four," or "this afternoon in our +rooms." And at these interviews she would make him as happy as of old by +swearing eternal fidelity. + +But all joys are brief in this world; Raimundo's were brief indeed. The +very next day, after some such meeting, he would find his mistress as +cold as marble, disdainful of him, and, what was worse, absorbed in +conversation with Escosura, in a recess of the drawing-room. He had +innocently believed that the end of the lawsuit would restore his +happiness, that Clementina, no longer needing the great man's help, +would again be wholly his. But his hopes were blown to the winds like +smoke. The lawsuit was decided in her favour, but far from dismissing +her official cavalier, she showed him greater respect and affection. + +One morning, two months after the close of the business, he received a +note from Clementina, saying: + +"Meet me at two this afternoon." + +His heart leaped for joy. It was more than a fortnight since Clementina +had given him rendezvous at their little _entresol_. By one o'clock he +was there to wait for her, and as soon as he saw her from afar he ran to +open the door with as much agitation as though she had been a queen, and +far more tender devotion. She seemed grateful and affectionate, and +accepted his passionate caresses with gracious kindness. + +But after they had chatted for about an hour, as they sat side by side +on the sofa, she looked at him with a slow, compassionate gaze, and +said: + +"Do you know, Mundo, that this is the last time we shall ever sit here +alone together?" + +The youth looked at her in speechless amazement; he did not, he would +not, understand. + +"Yes, I cannot keep up this mystery any longer. Escosura is very +indignant, and with reason. Besides, I am ashamed--it is horrible of me. +And, after all, you have nothing to complain of. I have always been nice +to you. If I ever loved a man truly, it was you, and the proof of it is +that it has lasted so long. But nothing in this world can last for ever, +and as matters stand we had better part. You see, Mundo, I am growing +old--you are but a boy. If I did not break with you, sooner or later you +would throw me over. Such is life. Though you still think me handsome, +these are but the last remains of beauty. I must bid farewell to all the +follies we have indulged in together, but I shall always look back on +them with pleasure. I swear to you that you will always symbolise to me +the happiest period of my life. So now, henceforth, we will still be +good friends. It will always be a satisfaction to me to be able to serve +you, for I owe you many hours of happiness." + +The young man listened to this cruel speech, motionless and stricken. +His face was perfectly colourless. + +"Do you mean it?" he said at last, in a husky voice. + +"Yes, my dear boy, yes. I mean it," she replied, with the same sad, +patronising smile. + +"It is impossible! It cannot be!" he exclaimed vehemently, and starting +to his feet he looked down on her with a mixture of horror and +indignation. + +This expression in his eyes roused her pride. + +"But you will see that it can be!" she retorted with a touch of irony +which was the height of cruelty. + +He stood frozen for a moment, gazing at her with intense anguish, then +he fell on his knees at her feet, with clasped hand, imploring her: + +"For God's sake, do not kill me! Do not kill me!" + +Clementina's face softened, and her voice broke a little. + +"Come, Mundo," said she, "do not be a baby. Get up. This had to come. +You will find other women far more worthy than I." + +But the young man held her knees clasped, kissing them in a frenzy of +grief, his whole frame shaken by sobs. + +"This is horrible, horrible, horrible!" he kept saying. "Oh! what have I +done that you should kill me with misery?" + +"Come, come," she said, gently stroking his hair. "Get up, be +reasonable. Do you not see that this is ridiculous?" + +"What do I care?" he cried, his face hidden in her silk skirts. "For you +I would be ridiculous in the eyes of the whole world." + +Clementina tried to soothe him, but without any emotion or pity. There +is no wild beast more cruel than a woman whose love is satiated. She let +his grief have its way for a while, and when he grew calmer she rose. + +"I am grateful to you for all this feeling, Mundo. I, too, have gone +through a terrible struggle before I could make up my mind to part." + +"It is false!" cried Raimundo, still kneeling, with his elbows on the +sofa. "If you still loved me, you could not be so cruel, so base." + +Clementina stood silent for a minute, looking at his shoulders in great +irritation. At last, touched by pity, she said: + +"I forgive you the insult in consideration of the agitation you are in. +Though you may abuse me you will still be able to think of me with +affection; and even when you have quite forgotten me, the memory of your +face and the happy hours we have passed together will remain engraved on +my heart. But now we must come to an explanation," she added, in a +sterner tone. "Let us be worthy of each other, Raimundo. You must, +please, take a hackney coach to your house and bring me back every line +I ever wrote to you, that we may burn them. I have none of yours; you +know I always destroyed them immediately." + +Raimundo did not stir. After waiting a few moments she went up behind +him, leaned over him, and laid her hands on his cheeks, saying kindly: + +"Foolish boy! Am I the only woman in the world?" + +He thrilled at the touch of those soft hands, and, turning suddenly, +seized them and covered them with kisses, pressed them to his heart, +laid them on his brow. + +"Yes, Clementina, the only woman; or, if there are others, I do not know +them--I do not want to know them. But is it true? Is it true that you do +not love me?" + +And his tearful eyes looked up at her with such an expression of woe +that she could not but lie. + +"I never said I did not love you, but only that we can meet no +more--like this." + +"It is the same thing." + +"No, it is not the same thing, foolish boy. I may love you, and yet, in +consequence of special circumstances, I may not be able--we cannot have +everything we wish for in this world." And she wandered into incoherent +argument and specious reasoning, which she knew was false, and could not +utter without hesitancy; the same commonplaces, repeated in different +words, trying to give them the weight they lacked by emphasis and +gesticulation. + +But Raimundo was not listening. In a few minutes he rose, dried away his +tears, and left the room without a word. Clementina watched him in +surprise. + +"I will wait for you," she called after him into the passage. + +Twenty minutes later he returned, carrying a parcel. + +"Here are your letters," he said with apparent calm, but his voice was +thick and his face deadly pale. + +Clementina glanced at him keenly, not without some uneasiness. But she +controlled herself, and said simply: + +"Thank you very much, Mundo. Now, we will burn them, if you please, in +the kitchen." + +He made no reply. They went together to the cold, unfurnished kitchen, +which no one ever used, and Clementina, with her own hand, laid the +packet on the hearth. But suddenly, just as she was about to strike the +match which Raimundo had given her, she paused. Then she said, with a +smile: + +"Do you know that this is dreadfully prosaic? To burn my love-letters on +a kitchen hearth! It seems to me that they might have a more romantic +end. Shall we go and burn them in the fields? That will give us a last +walk together and a fitter parting." + +"As you please," he said, in a scarcely audible voice. + +"Very well. Fetch a carriage." + +"I kept one." + +"Then come." + +Raimundo took up the packet of letters, and together they quitted the +room whither they were never to return. + +The hackney-coach carried them along the road to the eastward. It was an +afternoon in Spring, misty and fresh. Clementina had closed the blinds +for fear of being seen; but when they were outside the Alcalá gate she +asked Raimundo to let them down. Unluckily the moment was inopportune, +for at that very moment they met an open carriage, in which sat Pepe +Castro with Esperancita Calderón, now his wife. She had barely time to +lean back in the corner and cover her face with her hand, and even so +was not sure that they had not recognised her. + +Raimundo, by a great effort, had recovered some self-control, but not +completely. Clementina did all she could to divert his mind, talking to +him, like a friend, of indifferent matters, of their acquaintances, and +taking it for granted that he would continue to visit at her house. When +Castro and his wife had gone past she discussed them with much +animation. + +"You see, I was right, Mundo. They have not been married three months, +and Pepe and his father-in-law are squabbling over money matters. No one +knows Calderón better than I. If he does not die before long, the poor +children will be dreadfully hard up, for they will never get any money +out of him." + +Raimundo replied to her remarks, affecting a calm demeanour, but there +was a peculiar accent in his voice which the lady could not help +noticing. It seemed foggy, as though it had passed through many tears. + +At last, in a very deserted spot, they bid the driver stop, and got out. + +"Wait for us here; we are going for a little walk," Raimundo explained. + +But then observing a doubtful glance in the man's eyes, he turned back +when he had gone a few steps, and taking out a five-dollar note he +handed it to him saying: + +"You can give me the change presently." + +They turned off from the high road and wandered away over the dreary +deserted fields which stretch away to the east of Madrid. The ground is +slightly undulating, but burnt and barren, cutting the horizon with a +long level line--not a house, not a tree was in sight. Clementina's +dainty shoes sank in the dust as they walked on in silence. Raimundo had +no spirit to talk, and she, too, was oppressed by the sadness of the +little drama, to which that of the landscape contributed; she had enough +good feeling not to speak a word. Now and then she looked back to assure +herself whether they could still be seen from the high road. When she +thought they had gone far enough she stopped. + +"Why should we go any further?" she said. "Will not this place do?" + +Raimundo also stopped, but made no answer. He dropped the parcel on the +ground and looked away--far away to the horizon. Clementina untied it, +looked with some curiosity at her letters, all carefully preserved in +the envelopes; then she made a little heap of them, and after waiting a +minute or two for Raimundo to look round, finding that he did not move, +she said: + +"Give me a match." + +The young man obeyed, and gave it her lighted, in perfect silence. Then +he looked away again while Clementina set fire to the papers, and +watched them burn one by one. The process took some minutes, and she had +to turn the blazing fragments with her gloved hands to prevent their +remaining half-burnt. Now and then she cast a half uneasy, half pitying +glance at her lover, who stood as motionless and absorbed as a sailor +studying the signs of the weather. + +When nothing remained but black ashes, Clementina rose from her stooping +posture, waited a moment, not liking to intrude on Raimundo's deep +abstraction, and at last, with a cloud of tender pathos on her beautiful +face, hastily looked about her, went up to him, and laying her arm on +his shoulder, said in a fond tone: + +"And now that we are alone for the last time, shall we not bid each +other a loving farewell?" + +"How ought we to part?" he replied, looking at her and making a great +effort to smile. + +"So!" she exclaimed, and she threw her arms round his neck, and covered +his face with passionate kisses. + +Raimundo stood rigid. He let her kiss him many times, like an inert +creature, and then his knees failed, and with a heartrending cry: + +"Oh Clementina, this is death!" he fell senseless on the ground. + +She was terribly frightened. There was no one to help; no water near. +She raised his head, resting it on her lap, fanned him with her hat, and +held a scent-bottle she had with her under his nose. He presently opened +his eyes, and could soon stand up. He was ashamed of his weakness. +Clementina was most affectionate and helpful. As soon as she saw that he +was in a state to walk, she took his arm and said: + +"Let us go." + +And she tried to amuse him by talking of a little dance she meant to +give, to which she urgently pressed him to come; he was on no account to +fail her. + +"And on Saturdays, as usual, you know. You are to be sure not to desert +me. In my house you will always be what you have been--my friend; and in +my heart, so long as I live, you will fill the dearest place." + +Raimundo's only answer was a forced smile. + +Thus they made their way back to the spot where they had left the coach. +As they drove back, still she talked, while he, as they got nearer to +the town, turned even paler than before; nor could he even smile. + +Seeing him thus, with despair in every feature, Clementina at last +ceased talking so lightly, and, moved with pity, she again kissed him +tenderly. But he shrank from her touch; he gently pushed her away, +saying: + +"Leave me alone--leave me. You only hurt me more." + +Two tears rose to his eyes and remained there without falling. At last +they dried away, or returned to the hidden fount whence they had sprung. + +They reached the Alcalá gate once more. Clementina bid the driver stop +at the corner of the Calle de Serrano: + +"You had better get out here. You are close to your own house." + +Raimundo, speechless, opened the door. + +"Till Saturday, Mundo. Do not fail me. You know I shall look for you." +And she grasped his hand tightly. + +He, without looking at her, merely said: + +"Good-bye." + +He sprang out. The lady saw him walk up the street, staggering like a +drunken man, and he did not once look round. + +THE END. + +PRINTED BY BALLANTYNE, HANSON AND CO. LONDON AND EDINBURGH + + * * * * * + +Heinemann's International Library. + + +EDITOR'S NOTE. + +There is nothing in which the Anglo-Saxon world differs more from the +world of the Continent of Europe than in its fiction. English readers +are accustomed to satisfy their curiosity with English novels, and it is +rarely indeed that we turn aside to learn something of the interior life +of those other countries the exterior scenery of which is often so +familiar to us. We climb the Alps, but are content to know nothing of +the pastoral romances of Switzerland. We steam in and out of the +picturesque fjords of Norway, but never guess what deep speculation into +life and morals is made by the novelists of that sparsely peopled but +richly endowed nation. We stroll across the courts of the Alhambra, we +are listlessly rowed upon Venetian canals and Lombard lakes, we hasten +by night through the roaring factories of Belgium; but we never pause to +inquire whether there is now flourishing a Spanish, an Italian, a +Flemish school of fiction. Of Russian novels we have lately been taught +to become partly aware, but we do not ask ourselves whether Poland may +not possess a Dostoieffsky and Portugal a Tolstoï. + +Yet, as a matter of fact, there is no European country that has not, +within the last half-century, felt the dew of revival on the +threshing-floor of its worn-out schools of romance. Everywhere there has +been shown by young men, endowed with a talent for narrative, a vigorous +determination to devote themselves to a vivid and sympathetic +interpretation of nature and of man. In almost every language, too, this +movement has tended to display itself more and more in the direction of +what is reported and less of what is created. Fancy has seemed to these +young novelists a poorer thing than observation; the world of dreams +fainter than the world of men. They have not been occupied mainly with +what might be or what should be, but with what is, and, in spite of all +their shortcomings, they have combined to produce a series of pictures +of existing society in each of their several countries such as cannot +fail to form an archive of documents invaluable to futurity. + +But to us they should be still more valuable. To travel in a foreign +country is but to touch its surface. Under the guidance of a novelist of +genius we penetrate to the secrets of a nation, and talk the very +language of its citizens. We may go to Normandy summer after summer and +know less of the manner of life that proceeds under those gnarled +orchards of apple-blossom than we learn from one tale of Guy de +Maupassant's. The present series is intended to be a guide to the inner +geography of Europe. It offers to our readers a series of spiritual +Baedekers and Murrays. It will endeavour to keep pace with every truly +characteristic and vigorous expression of the novelist's art in each of +the principal European countries, presenting what is quite new if it is +also good, side by side with what is old, if it has not hitherto been +presented to our public. That will be selected which gives with most +freshness and variety the different aspects of continental feeling, the +only limits of selection being that a book shall be, on the one hand, +amusing, and, on the other, wholesome. + +One difficulty which must be frankly faced is that of subject. Life is +now treated in fiction by every race but our own with singular candour. +The novelists of the Lutheran North are not more fully emancipated from +prejudice in this respect than the novelists of the Catholic South. +Everywhere in Europe a novel is looked upon now as an impersonal work, +from which the writer, as a mere observer, stands aloof, neither blaming +nor applauding. Continental fiction has learned to exclude, in the main, +from among the subjects of its attention, all but those facts which are +of common experience, and thus the novelists have determined to disdain +nothing and to repudiate nothing which is common to humanity; much is +freely discussed, even in the novels of Holland and of Denmark, which +our race is apt to treat with a much more gingerly discretion. It is not +difficult, however, we believe--it is certainly not impossible--to +discard all which may justly give offence, and yet to offer to an +English public as many of the masterpieces of European fiction as we can +ever hope to see included in this library. It will be the endeavour of +the editor to search on all hands and in all languages for such books as +combine the greatest literary value with the most curious and amusing +qualities of manner and matter. + +EDMUND GOSSE. + + +Recent Publications. + +=A MARKED MAN=. 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By ADA CAMBRIDGE. + + THE THREE MISS KINGS. By ADA + CAMBRIDGE. Seventh Thousand. + + NOT ALL IN VAIN. By ADA CAMBRIDGE. + Fifth Thousand. + + DAUGHTERS OF MEN. By HANNAH + LYNCH, Author of "The Prince of the + Glades," &c. + + A ROMANCE OF THE CAPE FRONTIER. + By BERTRAM MITFORD, + Author of "Through the Zulu Country," + &c. + + 'TWEEN SNOW AND FIRE. A Tale + of the Kafir War of 1877. By BERTRAM + MITFORD. + + DONALD MARCY. By ELIZABETH + STUART PHELPS, Author of "The + Gates Ajar," &c. + + THE MASTER OF THE MAGICIANS. + By ELIZABETH STUART PHELPS and + HERBERT D. WARD. + + THE AVERAGE WOMAN. By WOLCOTT + BALESTIER. With an Introduction + by HENRY JAMES. + + THE ATTACK ON THE MILL, and + other Sketches of War. By EMILE + ZOLA. With an Essay on the short stories + of M. Zola, by Edmund Gosse. + + WRECKAGE: Seven Studies. By + HUBERT CRACKANTHORPE. + + MADEMOISELLE MISS, and other + Stories. By HENRY HARLAND, + Author of "Mea Culpa," &c. + + FROM WISDOM COURT. By HENRY + SETON MERRIMAN and STEPHEN + GRAHAM TALLENTYRE. With 30 Illustrations + by E. COURBOIN. 3s. 6d. + + THE OLD MAIDS' CLUB. By I. + ZANGWILL, Author of "The Bachelor's + Club." With Illustrations by F. H. + TOWNSEND. 3s. 6d. + +London: WM. HEINEMANN, 21 Bedford Street, W.C. + + * * * * * + +The following typographical errors were corrected by the etext +transcriber: + +with s look of proud disdain=>with a look of proud disdain + +he passed for an accompished soldier=>he passed for an accomplished +soldier + +same!" exclamed Cobo=>same!" exclaimed Cobo + +to see the prudish marquesa.=>to see the prudish Marquesa. + +knowlege of human nature=>knowledge of human nature + +saying with determined forboding=>saying with determined foreboding + +Like some other who were to be seen at the club every day=>Like some +others who were to be seen at the club every day + +when she illtreats me=>when she ill-treats me + +Baro nwas=>Baron was + +Pepe Frias announced to the servant behind her=>Pepa Frias announced to +the servant behind her + +Hand your's over to Pepe=>Hand yours over to Pepe + +very place occupied shortly before y=>very place occupied shortly before +by + +"Antonio," he said, "We have come to quarrel with you very +seriously."=>"Antonio," he said, "we have come to quarrel with you very +seriously." + +the foremost place in you affections=>the foremost place in your +affections + +borethe taint=>bore the taint + +"Becaue I will not allow it;=>"Because I will not allow it; + +he was by nature cheerful, warm-heated, and absent-minded=>he was by +nature cheerful, warm-hearted, and absent-minded + +never stired an inch further=>never stirred an inch further + +exclamed Salabert in a triumphant=>exclaimed Salabert in a triumphant + +stand as canditate for Navalperal=>stand as candidate for Navalperal + +rejoicing ever the prospect of so many millions=>rejoicing over the +prospect of so many millions + +indignant at these base inuendoes=>indignant at these base innuendoes + +On seeing her daugher the Duchess turned=>On seeing her daughter the +Duchess turned + +greetings and and smiles=>greetings and smiles + +he said in in a lazy tone=>he said in a lazy tone + +but she repelled him with with=>but she repelled him with + +who do all the the real work=>who do all the real work + +far above her ancles=>far above her ankles + + * * * * * + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[A] About £400. + +[B] Above 19,000,000 of dollars; about £4,000,000 sterling. + +[C] About £600. + +[D] About £80. + +[E] In the Roman Catholic Church. + +[F] From 10d. to 1s. 3d. + +[G] 1s. 7d.; its purchasing value is probably at least half as much +again. + +[H] About £1100. + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Froth, by Armando Palacio Valdés + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FROTH *** + +***** This file should be named 38411-8.txt or 38411-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/8/4/1/38411/ + +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) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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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: Froth + +Author: Armando Palacio Valdés + +Translator: Clara Bell + +Release Date: December 26, 2011 [EBook #38411] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FROTH *** + + + + +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) + + + + + + +</pre> + +<hr class="full" /> + +<p class="cb">FROTH</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="" +style="border:2px dotted gray;padding:3%; +text-align:center;margin:3% auto 3% auto;max-width:50%;"> +<tr><td><a href="#INTRODUCTION">Introduction.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#CHAPTER_I">Chapter I., </a> +<a href="#CHAPTER_II">II., </a> +<a href="#CHAPTER_III">III</a> +<a href="#CHAPTER_IV">IV., </a> +<a href="#CHAPTER_V">V., </a> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VI">VI., </a> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VII">VII., </a> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">VIII., </a> +<a href="#CHAPTER_IX">IX., </a> +<a href="#CHAPTER_X">X., </a> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XI">XI., </a> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XII">XII., </a> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">XIII., </a> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">XIV</a> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XV">XV., </a> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">XVI., </a> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XVII">XVII., </a> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XVIII">XVIII.</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#transcriber">etext transcriber's note</a></td></tr> +<tr><td><a href="#FOOTNOTES">Footnotes</a></td></tr> +</table> + +<div class="boxx"> +<p class="c"><b>Heinemann's International Library.</b></p> + +<p class="c"><b>Edited by EDMUND GOSSE.</b></p> + +<p class="c"><i>Crown 8vo</i>, <i>in paper covers</i>, 2<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i>, <i>or cloth limp</i>, 3<i>s.</i> 6<i>d.</i></p> + +<p class="nind"><i>IN GOD'S WAY.</i> By <span class="smcap">Björnstjerne Björnson</span>.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Translated from the Norwegian by Elizabeth</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Carmichael.</span><br /> + +<i>PIERRE AND JEAN.</i> By <span class="smcap">Guy de Maupassant</span>.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Translated from the French by Clara Bell.</span><br /> + +<i>THE CHIEF JUSTICE.</i> By <span class="smcap">Karl Emil<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Franzos</span>. Translated from the German by Miles</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Corbet.</span><br /> + +<i>WORK WHILE YE HAVE THE LIGHT.</i> By<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><span class="smcap">Count Lvof Tolstoï</span>. Translated from the Russian</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">by E. J. Dillon, Ph.D.</span><br /> + +<i>FANTASY.</i> By <span class="smcap">Matilde Serao</span>. Translated<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">from the Italian by Henry Harland and Paul Sylvester.</span><br /> + +<i>FROTH.</i> By <span class="smcap">Armando Palacio Valdés</span>.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Translated from the Spanish by Clara Bell.</span><br /> + +<i>THE COMMODORE'S DAUGHTERS.</i> By<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><span class="smcap">Jonas Lie</span>. Translated from the Norwegian by H. L.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Brækstad and Gertrude Hughes.</span><br /> +</p> + <p class="c">Other Volumes will be announced later.<br /> + Each Volume contains a specially written<br /> + Introduction by the Editor.</p> + +<p class="c">London:<br /> +WILLIAM HEINEMANN, <span class="smcap">21 Bedford St., W.C.</span></p> +</div> + +<h1>F<small> R O T H</small></h1> + +<p class="cb">A NOVEL<br /> +<br /><br /><br /> +BY<br /> +<br /> +ARMANDO PALACIO VALDÉS<br /> +<br /> +<small>TRANSLATED FROM THE SPANISH<br /> +<br /> +BY</small><br /> +<br /> +C L A R A B E L L<br /> +<br /><br /><br /><br /> +LONDON<br /> +WILLIAM HEINEMANN<br /> +1891<br /> + +(<i>All rights reserved</i>)</p> + +<h2><a name="INTRODUCTION" id="INTRODUCTION"></a>INTRODUCTION.</h2> + +<p class="nind">A<small>CCORDING</small> to the Spanish critics, the novel has flourished in +Spain during only two epochs—the golden age of Cervantes +and the period in which we are still living. That unbroken +line of romance-writing which has existed for so long a time +in France and in England, is not to be looked for in the +Peninsula. The novel in Spain is a re-creation of our own +days; but it has made, since the middle of the nineteenth +century, two or three fresh starts. The first modern Spanish +novelists were what are called the <i>walter-scottistas</i>, although +they were inspired as much by George Sand as by the author +of <i>Waverley</i>. These writers were of a romantic order, and +Fernan Caballero, whose earliest novel dates from 1849, was +at their head. The Revolution of September, 1868, marked +an advance in Spanish fiction, and Valera came forward as the +leader of a more national and more healthily vitalised species +of imaginative work. The pure and exquisite style of Valera +is, doubtless, only to be appreciated by a Castilian. Something +of its charm may be divined, however, even in the English +translation of his masterpiece, <i>Pepita Jimenez</i>. The mystical +and aristocratic genius of Valera appealed to a small audience; +he has confided to the world that when all were praising but +few were buying his books.</p> + +<p>Far greater fecundity and a more directly successful appeal +to the public, were, somewhat later, the characteristics of Perez +y Galdos, whose vigorous novels, spoiled a little for a foreign +reader by their didactic diffuseness, are well-known in this +country. In the hands of Galdos, a further step was taken by +Spanish fiction towards the rejection of romantic optimism and +the adoption of a modified realism. In Pereda, so the Spanish +critics tell us, a still more valiant champion of naturalism was +found, whose studies of local manners in the province of Santander +recall to mind the paintings of Teniers. About 1875 +was the date when the struggle commenced in good earnest +between the schools of romanticism and realism. In 1881 +Galdos definitely joined the ranks of the realists with his +<i>La Desheredada</i>. An eminent Spanish writer, Emilio +Pardo Bazan, thus described the position some six years +ago: "It is true that the battle is not a noisy one, and +excites no great warlike ardour. The question is not taken +up amongst us with the same heat as in France, and this from +several causes. In the first place, the idealists with us do not +walk in the clouds so much as they do in France, nor do the +realists load their palette so heavily. Neither school exaggerates +in order to distinguish itself from the other. Perhaps +our public is indifferent to literature, especially to printed +literature, for what is represented on the stage produces more +impression."</p> + +<p>This indifference of the Spanish reading public, which has +led a living novelist to declare that a person of good position +in Madrid would rather spend his money on fireworks or on +oranges than on a book, has at length been in a measure +dissipated by a writer who is not merely admired and distinguished, +but positively popular, and who, without sacrificing +style, has conquered the unwilling Spanish public. This is +Armando Palacio Valdés, who was born on the 4th of October, +1853, in a hamlet of Asturias, called Entralgo, where his +family had at one time a mansion which has now disappeared. +The family spent only the summer there; the remainder of +the year they passed in Avilés, the maritime town which +Valdés describes under the name of Nieva in his novel <i>Marta +y Maria</i>. From Asturias he went, when still a youth, up to +Madrid to study the law as a profession. But even in the +lawyer's office, his dream was to become a man of letters. +His ambition took the form of obtaining at some university +a chair of political economy, to which science he had, or +fancied himself to have, at that time, a great proclivity.</p> + +<p>Before terminating his legal studies, the young man published +several articles in the <i>Revista Europea</i> on philosophical and +religious questions. These articles attracted the attention of +the proprietor of that review, and Valdés presently joined +the staff. Next year he became editor. He was at the +head of the <i>Revista Europea</i>, at that time the most important +periodical in Spain from a scientific point of view, for several +years. During that time he published the main part of those +articles of literary criticism, particularly on contemporary poets +and novelists, which have since been collected in several +volumes—<i>Los Oradores del Ateneo</i> ("The Orators of the +Athenæum"); <i>Los Novelistas Españoles</i> ("The Spanish +Novelists"); <i>Un Nuevo Viaje al Parnaso</i> ("A New Journey +to Parnassus"), sketches of the living poets of Spain; and, in +particular, a very bright collection of review articles, published +in conjunction with Leopoldo Alas, <i>La Literatura</i> en 1881 +("Spanish Literature in 1881"). These gave Valdés a +foremost rank among the critics of the day. He wrote no +more criticism, or very little; he determined to place himself +amongst those whose creative work demands the careful consideration +of the best judges.</p> + +<p>Soon after he took the direction of the <i>Revista</i>, Valdés +wrote his first novel, <i>El Señorito Octavio</i>, which was not +published until 1881. In 1883 he brought out his <i>Marta y +Maria</i>, a book which, I know not why, is called "The Marquis +of Peñalta" in its English version. This novel enjoyed an +extraordinary success, and had more of the graphic and +sprightly manner by which Valdés has since been distinguished, +than the books which immediately followed it. Spanish +critics, indeed, remembering the wonderful freshness of <i>Marta +y Maria</i>, still often speak of it as the best of Valdés' stories. +In this same year, 1883, he married, on the day when he +completed his thirty years, a young lady of sixteen. His +marriage was a honeymoon of a year and a half, of which <i>El +Idílio de un Enfermo</i> ("The Idyl of an Invalid"), a short novel +of 1884, portrays the earlier portion. His wife died early in +1885, leaving him with an infant son to be, as he says, "my +illusion and my fascination." His subsequent career has been +laborious and systematic. He has published one novel every +year. In 1885 it was <i>José</i>, a shorter tale of sea-faring life on +the stormy coast of the author's native province. About the +same time appeared a collection of short stories, called <i>Aguas +Fuertes</i> ("Strong Waters").</p> + +<p>It was not until 1886, however, that Valdés began to +rank among the foremost novelists of Europe. In that +year he published his great story, <i>Riverita,</i> one of the +characters in which, a charming child, became the heroine +of his next book, <i>Maximina,</i> 1887. Of this character he +writes to me: "My Maximina in these two books is but a +pale reflection of that being from whom Providence parted me +before she was eighteen years of age. In these novels I have +painted a great part of my life." A Sevillian novice, who has +helped to care for Maximina in Madrid, reigns supreme in a +succeeding novel, <i>La Hermana San Sulpício</i> ("Sister San +Sulpicio"), 1889. But between these two last there comes a +massive novel, describing the adventures of a journalist who +founds a newspaper in the provincial town of Sarrió, by which +Santander seems to be intended. This book is called <i>El +Cuarto Poder</i> ("The Fourth Power"), and was published in +1888. To these must now be added <i>La Espuma</i> ("Froth"), +of which a translation is here given. When these words +are published, the original will just have appeared in +Madrid. It is by the kindness of the author, in supplying +us with a set of proof-sheets, that I am able to speak of a +book which even the critics of Madrid have not yet seen +in Spanish.</p> + +<p>In <i>La Espuma</i> Valdés has reverted from those country +scenes and those streets of provincial cities which he has +hitherto loved best to paint, and has given us a sternly satiric +picture of the frothy surface of fashionable life in Madrid. +From the illusions of the poor, pathetic and often beautiful, he +has turned to the ugly cynicism of the wealthy. With his +passion for honesty and simplicity, his heart burns within him +at the parade and hollowness which he detects in aristocratic +and bureaucratic Madrid. One conceives that, like his own +Raimundo, he has been invited to enter it, has taken his fill of +its pleasures, and has found his mouth filled with ashes. His +talent for portraiture was never better employed. If he is +occasionally tempted to commit the peculiarly Spanish fault of +exaggeration—scarcely a fault there, where the shadows are so +black and the colours so flaring—he has resisted it in his more +important characters. The brutality of the Duke de Requena, +the sagacity and urbanity of Father Ortega, the saintly sweetness +of the Duchess, the naïveté of Raimundo, the sphinx-like +charm of Clementina de Osorio, with her mysterious sweetness +and duplicity, these are among the salient points of characterisation +which stand out in this powerful book. <i>La Espuma</i> +is a cry from the desert to those who wear soft raiment in +kings' palaces. It is the ruthless tearing aside of the conventions +by a Knox or a Savonarola. It is stringent satire, yet +tempered with an artist's moderation, with a naturalist's self-suppression.</p> + +<p>Those exquisite descriptions of Nature in which Valdés +sparingly illuminates the pages of his country-novels, must not +be looked for here. There is nothing in <i>La Espuma</i> like the +splendid approach to Seville in <i>La Hermana San Sulpício</i>, or the +noble picture of the Asturian sea-board, ravaged by the ocean, in +<i>José</i>. The desolation of the mining district, at the close of the +book, is all that we can compare with these. But one descriptive +gift of Valdés, his power of rendering with sustained vivacity +a varied social scene, was never better exemplified than by +the dinner-party at the Osorios', by Salabert's ball to Royalty, +in which Clementina ejects the <i>demi-mondaine</i>, or by the scene +in Pepe's dressing-room when the mad Marquis wants to shoot +him. The absence of sensational emphasis of every kind is +notable. This is the result of severe self-training on the +novelist's part. He has confessed himself displeased with the +end of his own <i>Riverita</i> as too theatrical, and in the prologue +to <i>La Hermana San Sulpício</i>, he wears a white sheet, and holds +a penitential candle for a too stagey episode in <i>El Cuarto +Poder</i>. No charge of this kind can be brought against <i>La +Espuma</i>. It is closely studied from life, and is careful not to +affront the modesty of nature, which loves an occasional tragic +catastrophe, but loathes the artifice of a smartly constructed +plot.</p> + +<p>Of the author of so many interesting books but little has yet +been told to the public. In a private letter to myself, the +eminent novelist gives a brief sketch of his mode of life, so +interesting that I have secured his permission to translate and +print it here:—"Since my wife died," Señor Valdés writes, +"my life has continued to be tranquil and melancholy, dedicated +to work and to my son. During the winters, I live in +Asturias, and during the summers, in Madrid. I like the +company of men of the world better than that of literary folks, +because the former teach me more. I am given up to the +study of metaphysics. I have a passion for physical exercises, +for gymnastics, for fencing, and I try to live in an evenly-balanced +temper, nothing being so repugnant to me as affectation +and emphasis. I find a good deal of pleasure in going to +bull-fights (although I do not take my son to the Plaza dressed +up like a miniature <i>torero</i>, as an American writer declares I +do), and I cultivate the theatre, because to see life from the +stage point of view helps me in the composition of my +stories."</p> + +<p class="r">EDMUND GOSSE.</p> + +<p><a name="page_001" id="page_001"></a> +<a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a></p> + +<h1>F R O T H</h1> + +<h2>CHAPTER I.<br /><br /> +<small>DRAMATIS PERSONÆ</small></h2> + +<p class="nind">A<small>T</small> three in the afternoon the sun was pouring its rays on the +Calle de Serrano, bathing it in bright orange light which hurt +the eyes of those who went down the left-hand side where the +houses stood closest. But as the cold was intense the pedestrian +was not eager to cross to the other pavement in search of +shade, preferring to face the sunbeams which, though blinding, +were at any rate warming. At this hour, tripping slowly and +daintily along, her muff of handsome otter-skin held up to +shade her eyes, an elegantly dressed woman was making her +way down the street, leaving behind her a wake of perfume +which the shopmen standing at their doors sniffed up with +enjoyment, as they gazed in rapture at the being who exhaled +such a delightful fragrance.</p> + +<p>For the Calle de Serrano, albeit the widest and handsomest +in Madrid, has an essentially provincial stamp; little traffic, +shops devoid of display, and dedicated for the most part to the +sale of the necessaries of life, children playing in front of the +houses, door-keepers seated in committee and discussing +matters at the top of their voices with the unemployed +butchers' boys, fishmongers, and grocers. Hence a well-dressed +woman could not pass unremarked, as she might in +the more central parts of the town. The glances of the<a name="page_002" id="page_002"></a> +passers-by, as well as of the loungers, rested on her with +pleasure; the women commented on the quality of the +clothes she wore, and horrible jests were uttered by the +dreadful apprentices, provoking their companions to outbursts +of brutal glee. One of the most ruffianly and greasy looking +threw out as she passed one of those coarse remarks which +would bring the colour to the smooth cheek of an English +Miss, and make her call the policeman, and almost exact +an apology. But our valiant Spanish lady, her soul above +prudery, did not even wince, but went on her triumphant way +with the dainty and hesitating step of a woman who rarely sets +foot in the dust of the highway.</p> + +<p>For that hers was a triumphant progress there could be +no doubt; no one could look at her without admiration, not so +much of her luxurious attire, as of the severe beauty of her face +and the distinction of her figure. She was five-and-thirty at +least. There was something extremely original in the type of +her features. Her complexion was clear and dark, her eyes, +blue, her hair coppery red. Such a strange mingling of +different races is rarely seen in a face: if it showed a stronger +dash of one than another, it was of the Italian. It was one of +those faces which suggest an English lady burnt under a +Neapolitan sun. In some of Raphael's pictures we see heads +which may give some notion of our fair pedestrian.</p> + +<p>Her predominant expression at the present moment was one +of proud disdain, to which perhaps the sun contributed by +making her knit her smooth and delicate brows. There was +not, it must be confessed, any sweetness in this face; its firm +and regular lines betrayed a haughty spirit devoid of tenderness; +those blue eyes had not the limpid serenity which lends +perfect harmony to a certain virginal style of countenance, +occasionally seen and admired in Spain, but more frequently +in the north of Europe. They were made to express the +tumult of vehement and violent passions, among which ardent +love might, perhaps, have its turn, but never that humble and +silent devotion which would consent to die unspoken.<a name="page_003" id="page_003"></a></p> + +<p>She wore a high red hat, and a short thin veil, also red, +reaching only to her lips. The hue of this veil contributed to +lend her face that singular tinge which caught the eye of every +one who met her. Her wrapper was a handsome fur cloak, +over a dress of the same shade as her hat, with an overskirt +of lace or grenadine such as was then the fashion.</p> + +<p>She held up her muff, as has been said, to shade her eyes, +and kept her eyes fixed on the ground as one who does not +care to see or heed anything which may come in her way. +Consequently, till she came to the Calle de Jorge Juan, she +did not detect the presence of a young man, who, keeping pace +with her on the opposite side of the way, gazed at her with +even more admiration than curiosity. But on reaching the +corner, without knowing why, she raised her head, and her +eyes met those of her admirer. A very perceptible shade of +annoyance clouded her face; she frowned with greater severity, +and the haughty expression of her eyes was more +marked than before. She walked a little faster, and, on +reaching the Calle de Villanueva, she stood still, and looked +down the street, hoping, no doubt, to see a tramcar. The youth +dared not do the same; he went on his way, not without sending +certain eager and significant glances after the graceful +figure, to which she vouchsafed no notice. The car at last +arrived; the lady stepped in, showing, as she did so, a pretty +foot shod in a kid boot, and took her seat in the farthest +corner. Finding herself safe from indiscreet observation, her +eyes by degrees grew more serene, and rested with indifference +on the few persons who were with her in the vehicle; still the +cloud of anxious thought did not altogether disappear from her +face, nor the touch of disdain which lent dignity to her +beauty.</p> + +<p>Her youthful admirer had not resigned himself to losing +sight of her. He went on confidently down the Calle de +Villanueva; but as the tramcar went by he nimbly caught it +up, and got on the step without being observed. And contriving +to place himself where the lady could not see him,<a name="page_004" id="page_004"></a> +behind other persons standing on the platform, he was able to +gaze at her by stealth, with an enthusiasm which would have +made any looker-on smile.</p> + +<p>For the difference between their ages was considerable. +Our young friend looked about eighteen; his face was as +beardless, as fresh and as rosy as a girl's, his hair red, his eyes +blue, gentle, and melancholy. Though he wore an overcoat +and a felt hat, his appearance was that of a gentleman; he was +in the deepest mourning, which contrasted strongly with the +fairness of his complexion. Under the magnetic influence of +a firm gaze, which we all have experienced, our heroine ere +long turned her eyes to the spot whence the young man fired +darts of passionate admiration. Her face grew dark again, +and her lips twitched with impatience, as though the poor +boy's adoration was an aggression. And she began to show +signs of feeling ill at ease in the coach, turning her pretty head +now this way and now that, with an evident desire to escape. +However, she did not alight till they reached the church of +San José, where she stopped the car and got out, passing her +persecutor with a look of proud disdain, which might have +annihilated him.</p> + +<p>He must have been a very bold man, or quite devoid of +shame, to jump out after her as he did, and follow her along +the Calle del Caballero de Gracia, taking the opposite side-walk +to be able to stare more at his ease on the face which had so +taken possession of him. The lady proceeded at a leisurely +pace, and every man who passed her turned to gaze. Her +step was that of a goddess who condescends to quit her throne +of clouds for an hour, to rejoice and fascinate mortal men, +who, as they behold her, are enraptured and stumble in their +walk.</p> + +<p>"Merciful Virgin, what a woman!" exclaimed a young +officer in a loud voice, clinging to his companion as if he were +about to faint with surprise.</p> + +<p>The fair one could not help smiling very slightly, and the +flash of that smile seemed to light up her exceptional loveliness.<a name="page_005" id="page_005"></a> +Presently two gentlemen in an open carriage bowed respectfully +to her, and she responded with an almost imperceptible +nod. When she reached the corner where the streets part by +San Luis she hesitated and paused, looking in every direction, +and again catching sight of the red-haired youth, she turned +her back on him with marked contempt, and went on at a +more rapid pace down the Calle de la Montera, where her +appearance caused the same excitement in the passers-by. +Three or four times she stopped in front of the shop windows, +though evidently she did so less out of curiosity than in consequence +of the nervous state into which the youth's unrelenting +pursuit had plunged her.</p> + +<p>Near the Puerta del Sol, to avoid him no doubt, she made +up her mind to go into Marbini's jewel shop. Seating herself +with an air of indifference, she raised her veil a little, and began +to examine without much attention the latest importations in +gems which the shopman displayed before her. She could not +have done worse by way of releasing herself from the observations +of her boyish admirer, since he could pursue them at +his leisure and with the greatest ease through the plate glass +windows, and did so with a persistency which enraged her +more and more every minute.</p> + +<p>In point of fact, the elegantly decorated shop, glittering in +every corner with precious stones and metals, was a worthy +shrine for her beauty, the setting best fitted for so delicate a +gem. And so the youth was thinking, to judge from the impassioned +ecstasy of his eyes and the statue-like fixity of his +attitude. At last, unable any longer to control her irritation, +the lady abruptly rose, and with a brief "Good morning" to +the attendant, who treated her with extraordinary deference, +she quitted the shop, and set off as fast as she could walk, +towards the Puerta del Sol.</p> + +<p>Here she stopped; then she went a little way towards a +hackney cab, as though intending to take it; but, suddenly +changing her mind, she turned with a determined step towards +the Calle Mayor, still escorted by the youth at no great distance.<a name="page_006" id="page_006"></a> +Half-way down the street she vanished into a handsome house, +not without sending a hasty but furious glance at her follower, +who took it with perfect and wonderful coolness. The porter +who was standing in the portico, gravely clipping his bushy +black whiskers, hastily pulled off his braided cap, made her a +low bow, and flew to open the glass door to the staircase, +pressing, as he did so, the button of an electric bell. She +slowly mounted the carpeted steps, and by the time she +reached the first floor the door was already open, and a servant +in livery was awaiting her.</p> + +<p>The house was that of the Excellentisimo Señor Don Julian +Calderón, the head of the banking firm of Calderón Brothers, +who occupied the whole of the first floor, with a staircase apart +from that which led to the rest of the apartments, let to other +persons. This Calderón was the son of another Calderón, +well known, in the commercial circles of Madrid, as a wholesale +importer of hides and leather, by which he had made a +good fortune, and in the later years of his life he had greatly +augmented it by devoting himself, not to trade alone, but also +to circulating and discounting bills of exchange. He being +dead, his son Julian followed in his footsteps, without deviating +from them in any particular, managing with his own property +that of his two sisters—both married, one to a medical man, +and the other to a landowner of La Mancha. He, too, had +been married for some years to the daughter of a wealthy +merchant of Zaragoza, Don Tomas Osorio by name; the +father of the well-known Madrid banker, whose house in +the Salamanca quarter of the town, Calle de D. Ramon de +la Cruz, was kept upon a princely footing. The handsome +lady who had just entered the Calderón's house was this +banker's wife, and consequently the sister-in-law of Señora +de Calderón.</p> + +<p>She passed in front of the servant without waiting to be +announced, walking on as one who had a right there; crossed +three or four large, elegantly decorated rooms, and, pulling +aside with her own hand the rich velvet curtain with its embroidered<a name="page_007" id="page_007"></a> +fringing, entered a much smaller drawing-room where +several persons were sitting.</p> + +<p>In the seat nearest to the fire reclined the mistress of the +house; a woman of some forty years, stout, with regular features, +and large black eyes, but devoid of sparkle; her skin was +fair, her hair chestnut, and remarkably soft and fine. By her, +in a low easy chair, sat another lady, a complete contrast in +every respect; brunette, slight, delicate, and full of excessive +vivacity, not only in her keen, bright eyes, but in her whole +person. This was the Marquesa de Alcudia, of one of the first +families in Spain. The three young girls, who sat in a row on +straight chairs, were her daughters, all very like her in physique +though they did not imitate her restlessness, but remained +motionless and silent, their eyes cast down with such an affectation +of modesty and composure that it was easy to see in +what severe order they were kept by their lively and nervous +mamma. To one of them every now and then the daughter of +the house spoke in an undertone. She was a child of thirteen +or fourteen, with round cheeks, small eyes, a turn-up nose, and +scars in the throat which argued a delicate constitution. Her +hair was plaited into a long tail tied at the end with a ribbon, +as was that of the youngest Alcudia, with whom she carried on +a subdued and intermittent conversation. This young lady +and her sisters wore fanciful hats, all alike, while Esperanza +Calderón sat with her little round head uncovered, and wore a +blue morning frock much too short for a girl of her age.</p> + +<p>Facing the Señora, and lounging, like her, in an arm-chair, +was General Patiño, Conde de Morillejo. He was between +fifty and sixty years of age, but his eyes sparkled with all the +fire of youth; his grey hair was carefully dressed, and large +moustaches à la Victor Emmanuel, a pointed beard and aquiline +nose, gave him a gallant and attractive appearance. He was +the ideal of a veteran aristocrat. By him sat Calderón, a man +of about fifty, stout, with a fat florid face, graced with short +grey whiskers, his eyes round, vacant, and dull. Not far from +him was an elderly woman, his mother-in-law, but quite unlike<a name="page_008" id="page_008"></a> +her daughter in face and figure; so thin, that she was no more +than skin and bone, dark, and with deep-set, penetrating eyes, +every feature stamped with intelligence and decision. Talking +to her was Pinedo, the occupant of the third-floor rooms. His +moustache showed no grey hairs, but it was easy to see that it +was dyed; his face was that of a man verging on the sixties; +a good-humoured face too, with prominent eyes full of eager +movement—those of an observant character; he was dressed +with care and elegance, his whole person exquisitely clean.</p> + +<p>On seeing the beautiful lady in the doorway, the whole party +showed some excitement; all rose, excepting the mistress of the +house, on whose placid face a faint smile of pleasure showed +dimly.</p> + +<p>"Ah! Clementina! What a miracle to see you here!"</p> + +<p>The lady in question went forward with a smile, and, while +she embraced the ladies and shook hands with the gentlemen, +she replied to her sister-in-law's affectionate reproach.</p> + +<p>"Come, come. Fit the cap to your own head—you who +never come to my house above once in six months."</p> + +<p>"I have my children to think of, my dear."</p> + +<p>"What an excuse; I ask you! I, too, have children."</p> + +<p>"Yes, at Chamartin."</p> + +<p>"Well, but having sons does not hinder you from going to +the opera or out driving."</p> + +<p>Clementina seated herself between her sister-in-law and the +Marquesa de Alcudia; the rest resumed their seats.</p> + +<p>"Oh, my dear!" Señora de Calderón went on, "if you +could have seen what a cold I caught at the play the other +night. It was all the fault of that goose Ramon Maldonado; +with all his bowing and scraping he could not manage to shut +the door of the box. The draught pierced my very bones."</p> + +<p>"Happy was that draught!" remarked General Patiño with +a gallant smile.</p> + +<p>Every one else smiled, excepting the lady addressed, who +gazed at him in amazement, opening her eyes very wide.</p> + +<p>"How—happy?" said she.<a name="page_009" id="page_009"></a></p> + +<p>The General had to explain that it was a covert compliment, +and not till then did she reward him with a smile.</p> + +<p>"And was not Gayarre delightful?" said Clementina.</p> + +<p>"Admirable, as he always is," replied Señora de Calderón.</p> + +<p>"He seems to me to want style of manner," the General +suggested.</p> + +<p>"Oh no, General, I beg your pardon——" And they went +off into a discussion as to whether the famous tenor had or had +not the actor's art, whether he dressed well or ill. The ladies +were all on his side; the men were against him.</p> + +<p>From the tenor they went on to the soprano.</p> + +<p>"She is altogether charming," said the General, with the +confidence and conviction of a connoisseur.</p> + +<p>"Oh! delicious," exclaimed Calderón.</p> + +<p>"Well, for my part I regard the Tosti as extremely commonplace. +Do you not think so, Clementina?"</p> + +<p>Clementina agreed.</p> + +<p>"Do not say so, pray, Marquesa," the General hastened to +put in, glancing as he spoke at Señora de Calderón. "The +mere fact that a woman is tall and stout does not make her +commonplace if she holds herself proudly and has a distinguished +manner."</p> + +<p>"I do not say so, General; do not make such a mistake," +replied the Marquesa, with some vehemence. But she proceeded +to criticise the grace and fine figure of the soprano +with much humour and some little temper.</p> + +<p>The argument became general, and the issue proved the +reverse of the former discussion; the men were favourable to +the actress and the ladies adverse. Pinedo summed up by +saying in a grave and solemn tone, which, however, betrayed +some covert meaning, "A fine figure is more essential to a +woman than to a man."</p> + +<p>Clementina and the General exchanged significant glances. +The Marquesa frowned sternly at the dandy, and then hastily +looked at her daughters, who sat with their eyes downcast, in +the same rigid and expressionless attitude as before. Pinedo<a name="page_010" id="page_010"></a> +himself was quite unmoved, as though he had said the most +natural thing in the world.</p> + +<p>"For my part, friend Pinedo, it seems to me that a man too +should have a good figure," said slow-witted Señora de Calderón.</p> + +<p>As she spoke a faint gasp was heard as of laughter hardly +controlled. It was the youngest of the Alcudia girls, at whom +her mother shot a pulverising look, and the damsel's face +immediately resumed its original expression of timidity and +propriety.</p> + +<p>"That is a matter of opinion," replied Pinedo with a +respectful bow.</p> + +<p>This Pinedo, who occupied one of the apartments on the +third floor of the house, the whole belonging to Señor de Calderón, +held a place of some importance in one of the public +offices. The changes of political administration did not affect +his tenure; he had friends of every party, and had never +thrown himself into the scale for either. He lived as a man +of the world; was received at the most aristocratic houses in +the metropolis; was on terms of intimacy with almost every +one who figured in finance or politics; was an early member +of the Savage Club (<i>Club de los Salvajes</i>), where he delighted +in making fun every evening with the young aristocrats who +assembled there, and who treated him with a familiarity which +not rarely degenerated into rudeness. He was a genial and +intelligent man, with considerable knowledge and experience +of the world; tolerant towards every form of vanity from sheer +contempt for all; and nevertheless, under the exterior of a +courteous and inoffensive creature, he had in the depths of his +nature a power of satire which enabled him to take vengeance +quite gracefully, by some incisive and opportune phrase, for +the impertinence of his young friends the juveniles of the club, +who professed an affection for him mingled with contempt and +fear.</p> + +<p>No one knew whence he had sprung, though it was regarded +as beyond doubt that he was of humble birth. Some declared<a name="page_011" id="page_011"></a> +that he was the son of a butcher at Seville; others said that +in his youth he had been a waif on the beach at Malaga. All +that was positively known was that, many years since, he had +come to Madrid as hanger-on to an Andalucian of rank, who, +after dissipating his fortune, blew his brains out. Under his +protection Pinedo had made a great many useful acquaintances; +he came to know and be known by everybody who was anybody, +and was popular with all. He had the tact to efface +himself when he crossed the path of a pompous and overbearing +man, letting him pass first; he gave rise to no jealousies, and +this is a certain means of exciting no hostility. At the same +time his cleverness, and his caustic wit, which he always kept +within certain bounds, were a constant amusement at social +meetings, and sufficed to give him a certain importance which +he otherwise would not have enjoyed.</p> + +<p>His family consisted of one daughter aged eighteen, and +named Pilar. His wife, whom no one had known, had died +many years before. His salary amounted to forty thousand +reals,<a name="FNanchor_A_1" id="FNanchor_A_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_A_1" class="fnanchor">[A]</a> on which the father and daughter lived very thriftily in +the third-floor rooms which Calderón let to them for twenty-two +dollars a month. Pinedo's chief outlay was on "appearances"; +that is to say, as he moved in a rank of society above +his own he was obliged to dress well and frequent the theatres. +Understanding the necessity for keeping up his acquaintances—the +pillars on which his continuance in office rested—he +indulged in such expenses without hesitation, pinching himself +in other departments of domestic economy. Thus he lived in +a state of stable equilibrium; his position enabled him to +move in the society of the great, while they unconsciously +helped to keep him in his position. No Minister could venture +to dismiss a man whom he would inevitably meet at every +evening party and ball in the capital. As Pinedo had +occasionally had the honour of speaking with Royalty, certain +sayings of his were current in fashionable drawing-rooms, +where they enjoyed a fame out of all proportion to their merits,<a name="page_012" id="page_012"></a> +since, as a rule, there is a conspicuous lack of wit in most +drawing-rooms; he was a good shot with pistol or rifle, and +possessed a voluminous library on the culinary arts. The very +highest personages were flattered when they heard that Pinedo +had praised their cook.</p> + +<p>"How long is it since you were at the Colegio, Pacita?" +asked Esperanza of the youngest de Alcudia, in an undertone.</p> + +<p>"On Friday last. Do not you know that mamma takes us +to confession every Friday? And you?"</p> + +<p>"It is at least three weeks since I was there. Mamma and +I confess once a month."</p> + +<p>"And is Father Ortega satisfied with that?"</p> + +<p>"He says nothing about it to me. I do not know whether +he does to mamma."</p> + +<p>"He would say nothing to her; he knows better than to +put his foot in it. Have you seen the Mariani girls?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; I met them in the Retiro Gardens a few days ago."</p> + +<p>"Do you know that Maria is engaged?"</p> + +<p>"She did not tell me."</p> + +<p>"Yes. In the cavalry, a son of Brigadier Arcos. Such a +queer-looking fellow; not ugly, but his legs tremble when he +walks, as if he had just come out of the hospital. You see, +as the brigadier is her mamma's most devoted—it is all in +the family."</p> + +<p>"And you? Do you keep it up with your cousin?"</p> + +<p>"I really cannot tell you. On Monday he went off in a +huff and has not been to the house since. My cousin is not +what he seems; he is no simpleton, but a very presuming +fellow; if you give him an inch he takes an ell. If I did not +keep a very sharp look out there is no knowing to what lengths +he would go at the pace he makes. Do you know that the +other day he insisted on kissing me?"</p> + +<p>Esperanza gazed at her, smiling and curious. Pacita put +her mouth close to Esperanza's ear and whispered a few words.</p> + +<p>"Mercy!" exclaimed the girl, turning scarlet.<a name="page_013" id="page_013"></a></p> + +<p>"As I tell you, child. Of course I told him he was a +horrid wretch, and I would not touch him with a pair of tongs. +He went off very much nettled, but he will come back."</p> + +<p>"Your cousin rides very well. I saw him on horseback +yesterday."</p> + +<p>"It is the only thing he can do. Books make him idiotic. +He has been examined six times already in Roman law, and +has failed to pass every time."</p> + +<p>"What does that matter!" exclaimed Esperanza, with a +scorn which might have made Heinecius turn in his grave. +And she went on, "Did Madame Clément make those hats?"</p> + +<p>"No. Mamma had them bought in Paris by Señora de +Carvajal, who arrived on Saturday."</p> + +<p>"They are very pretty."</p> + +<p>"Yes, prettier than any Madame Clément makes."</p> + +<p>Little Esperanza de Calderón, though plain enough, was +nevertheless not without attractions, consisting partly perhaps +in her youth, and partly in her mouth, on which, with its full +fresh lips and even white teeth, sensuality had already set its +seal. The youngest of the Alcudias was a delicate creature, +all bones and eyes.</p> + +<p>At this point another lady was shown in—a woman of forty +or more, pretty still, though painted, and marked with lines +left by a life of dissipation rather than by years.</p> + +<p>"Here is Pepa Frias," said Mariana—the Señora de Calderón—with +a smile.</p> + +<p>"Quite right; here is Pepa Frias," said the lady so named, +with an affectation of bad humour. "A woman who is not in +the very least ashamed to set foot in this house." The company +all laughed.</p> + +<p>"You would suppose by my appearance that I had come +out of the workhouse? That I had no home of my own? +But I have. Calle de Salesas, Number 60—first floor. That +is to say, the landlord has—but I pay him, which is more than +all your tenants do, I am very sure. Oh! Pinedo, I beg your +pardon, I did not see you. And I am at home on Saturdays<a name="page_014" id="page_014"></a>—it +is not so hot as you are here, oof! And I give chocolate +and tea and conversation and everything—just as you do here."</p> + +<p>And while she spoke she went from one to another shaking +hands with a look of fury. But as every one knew her for an +oddity they took it as a joke and laughed.</p> + +<p>She was a woman of substantial build, her hair artificially +red, her eyes rather prominent, but handsome, her lips rosy +and sensual—a decidedly attractive woman, in short, who had +had, and, in spite of advancing years, still had, many devoted +admirers.</p> + +<p>"What there is not at my house," she went on to Señora +de Calderón, giving her a sounding kiss on each cheek, "is a +woman so graceless and so insignificant as you. For, of course, +I am not come to see you, but my dear Señor Don Julian, +who now and then comes to wish me good evening, and tell +me the latest prices of stocks. And <i>à propos</i> to prices, +Clementina, tell your husband to hold his hand till I give him +notice. No, you had better say nothing about it. I will call +at your house this evening."</p> + +<p>"But, child, how you are always loaded with papers about +shares and stocks!" exclaimed Mariana.</p> + +<p>"And so would you be if you had not such an energetic +husband, who heats his head over them that you may keep +yours cool and easy."</p> + +<p>"Come, come, Pepa, do not be calling me names, or you +will make me blush," said Calderón.</p> + +<p>"I am saying no more than the truth. You may imagine +that it is pure joy to be always thinking whether shares are +going up or down, and writing letters and endorsements, and +walking to and from the bank."</p> + +<p>"I imagine, Pepa," said the General, with a gallant smile, +"that, from all I hear, you have a perfect talent for business."</p> + +<p>"You imagine! That is an event!"</p> + +<p>"I have not so much imagination as you, but I have some," +retorted the General, somewhat put out by the laugh Pepa's +speech had raised.<a name="page_015" id="page_015"></a></p> + +<p>Pepa enjoyed the reputation in society of being a very +funny person, though, in fact, her wit was hardly to be distinguished +from audacity. Speaking always with an affectation +of anger, calling things bluntly by their names, however coarse +they might be, saying the most insolent things without respect +of persons—these were the characteristics which had won her +a certain popularity. She had been left a widow while still +young, with two children, a boy who had entered the navy +and was at sea, and a girl who had now been married +about a year. Her husband had been a merchant, and in +his later years had gambled successfully on the Bourse. +At that time Pepa had caught the same passion, and, as +a widow, she had cultivated it. Prudence, or more probably +the timidity which generally hampers a woman in such +a business, had hitherto saved her from the ruin which, as +a rule, inevitably overtakes gamblers. She had somewhat +impaired her fortune, but still enjoyed a very enviable competency.</p> + +<p>"Pepa, the matter is going on famously," said Pinedo. +"Zaragoza wishes to have one volcano, and at Coruña the +authorities have decided on making two, one on the east and +one on the west of the town."</p> + +<p>"I am glad; I am delighted. So that the shares will not +be put on the market?"</p> + +<p>"No; the syndicate has ample security that they will be +at three hundred before the month is out."</p> + +<p>The few who were in the joke laughed at this. The rest +stared at them with intense curiosity.</p> + +<p>"What is all this about volcanoes, Pepa?" asked Señora de +Calderón.</p> + +<p>"Señora, a society has been formed for establishing volcanoes +in various districts."</p> + +<p>"Indeed. And of what use are volcanoes?"</p> + +<p>"For warming, and as decorative objects."</p> + +<p>Every one understood the joke excepting the lymphatic +mistress of the house, who still inquired into the details of the<a name="page_016" id="page_016"></a> +affair with continued interest, her friends laughing till Calderón, +half amused and half annoyed, exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"Why, my dear, do not be so simple. Do you not see +that it is a joke between Pepa and Pinedo?"</p> + +<p>The couple protested, affecting the greatest gravity. But +Pepa whispered in her friend's ear: "Mariana is such a +simpleton that for the last three months that carpet-knight, +the General, has been making love to her and she has never +found it out."</p> + +<p>Pepa was not far wrong in styling General Patiño a carpet-knight. +In spite of his swagger, his somewhat damaged +features and his martial airs, Patiño was but a sham veteran. +He had got his promotion without losing a drop of blood—first +as military instructor to one of the princes, then as +member of various scientific committees, and finally as holding +a place under the Minister of War; cultivating the favour of +political personages; returned as deputy several times; senator +at last and a member of the Supreme Court of Naval and +Military Jurisdiction, he had never been on the field of battle +excepting in pursuit of a revolutionary general, and then with +the firm determination never to come up with him.</p> + +<p>As he had travelled a little and boasted of having seen +every implement in the arts of war, he passed for an accomplished +soldier. He subscribed to two or three scientific reviews; +when his profession was under discussion he would quote a +few German authorities, and he spoke in an emphatic tone +and a deep chest voice which impressed his audience. But in +fact the reviews were always left to lie open on his table, and +the German names, though correctly pronounced, were no +more than empty sounds to him. He piqued himself on being +a soldier of the modern school, and for this reason he was +never seen in his uniform. He was fond of the arts, especially +of music, and was a regular subscriber to the Opera House +and the Conservatorium Quartetts. He was fond of flowers, +too, and of women—more especially of his neighbour's wife; +insatiable in tasting the fruits of other men's gardens. His<a name="page_017" id="page_017"></a> +life glided on in simple contentment, in watering the gardenias +in his little garden—Calle de Ferraz—and making love to his +friends' wives.</p> + +<p>This he did as one who makes it his business, and in the +most business-like way. He devoted all his mind to it, and +all the powers of his considerable intelligence, as a man must +who means to achieve anything great or profitable in this +world. His strategical knowledge, which he had never had +occasion to display in the battle-field, served him a good turn +in storming the fair ones of the metropolis. First he established +a blockade with languishing glances, appearing at the theatre, +in the parks, in the churches frequented by the lady; where-ever +she went Patiño's shining new hat, gleaming in the air, +proclaimed the ardent and respectful passion of its owner. +Then he narrowed the <i>cordon</i>, making himself intimate in the +house, bringing bonbons to the children, buying them toys +and picture-books, taking them out to breakfast occasionally +and bribing the servants by opportune gifts. Then came +the attack; by letter or by word of mouth. And here our +General displayed a daring, an intrepidity, which contrasted +splendidly with the prudence and skill of the siege. Such a +combination of talents have always characterised the great +captains of the world: Alexander, Cæsar, Hernan Cortés, +Napoleon.</p> + +<p>Years did not avail to cool his ardour for great enterprises, +nor to diminish his extraordinary faculties; or, to be accurate, +what he lost in energy he gained in art; thus the balance was +preserved in this privileged nature. But since fortune—as many +philosophers have taught us—refuses her aid to the old, in +spite of his skill the General had of late experienced certain +repulses which he could not ascribe to any defect of foresight +or courage, but only to the vagaries of fate. Two young wives +in succession had snubbed him severely. But, as is always +the case with men of real genius, in whom reverses do not +produce any womanly weakness, but, on the contrary, only +prompt them to concentrate and brace their spirit and power,<a name="page_018" id="page_018"></a> +Patiño did not weep like Augustus over his legions. But he +meditated, and meditated long. And his meditations were +rich in results; a new scheme of tactics, wonderful as all his +schemes were, rose up from the labour of his lofty thoughts. +Taking stock very accurately of his means of attack, and +calculating with admirable precision the amount of resistance +which the fair foe could offer, he perceived that he could no +longer besiege new citadels, where the fortifications were always +comparatively recent, but only those which, being ancient, +were beginning to show weak spots. Such keen penetration +in planning the attack and such skill in execution as the +General could bring to bear, promised him certain victory. +And in fact, as a result of this new and sure plan of action, +first one and then another of the most seasoned and mature +beauties of the capital surrendered to his siege, and at the +feet of these silver-haired Venuses he won the reward due to +his prudence and courage.</p> + +<p>Like Hannibal of Carthage Patiño could vary his tactics as +circumstances required, according to the position and temperament +of the enemy. Certain strongholds demanded severity, +a display of the means of coercion; in other cases craftier +measures were needed, a stealthy and noiseless approach. +One fair enemy preferred the martial and manly aspect of the +conquering hero: she would listen with delight to the history +of the famous days of Garrovillas and Jarandilla, when he was +in pursuit of the rebels. Another took pleasure in hearing +him discourse in his highest style of oratory and richest chest +notes on political and military problems. A third, again, went +into ecstasies over his interpretation of some famous melody of +Mozart's or Schumann's, on the violoncello. For our hero +played the 'cello remarkably well, and it must be confessed +that this elegant instrument had helped him considerably in +his most successful achievements. He brought out the notes +in a quite irresistible manner, revealing very clearly that, in +spite of his dashing and bellicose temperament, he had an +impressionable heart, alive to the blandishments of love. And<a name="page_019" id="page_019"></a> +lest the long-drawn notes should not express this with absolute +clearness, they were corroborated by eyes upturned till they +disappeared in their sockets at each impassioned or pathetic +point of the melody—eyes which really could not fail of their +effect on any beauty, however stony-hearted.</p> + +<p>Pepa's malicious insinuation was not unfounded. The +gallant general had for some time past been turning his guns +on Señora de Calderón without her showing any signs of being +aware of it. Never in the course of his many and brilliant +campaigns had he met with a similar case. To bombard a +citadel for several months, to pelt it with shell as big as your +head—and to see it as undisturbed, as sound asleep, as though +they had been pellets of paper! When the General came out, +point-blank, with some perfervid address Mariana smiled +complacently.</p> + +<p>"Hush, wretch! A nice specimen you must have been in +your day!"</p> + +<p>Patiño would bite his lips with annoyance. In his day! +He who fancied his day was still at its noon! But his +amazing diplomatic talent enabled him to dissimulate, and +smile in bland reply.</p> + +<p>"How much did you give for that bracelet?" Pacita +inquired of Esperanza, who was wearing a very pretty and +fanciful trinket.</p> + +<p>"The General gave it me a few days ago."</p> + +<p>"Indeed! The General evidently makes you a great many +presents then?" said her friend, with a slightly ironical tone +which the girl did not understand.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes. He is very kind. He is always giving us things. +He gave my little sister a beautiful locket to wear at her +neck."</p> + +<p>"And does he make presents to your mamma?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sometimes."</p> + +<p>"And what does your papa say?"</p> + +<p>"Papa!" exclaimed Esperanza, opening her eyes in surprise, +"What should he say?"<a name="page_020" id="page_020"></a></p> + +<p>Pacita, without replying, called the attention of one of her +sisters.</p> + +<p>"Mercedes, look what a pretty bracelet the General has +given to Esperanza."</p> + +<p>The second of the Alcudias abandoned her rigidity for a +moment, and taking Esperanza's arm examined the bracelet +with interest.</p> + +<p>"It is very pretty. And the General gave you that?" she +asked, exchanging a meaning glance with her sister.</p> + +<p>"Here comes Ramoncito," said Esperanza, looking towards +the door.</p> + +<p>"Ah! Ramoncito Maldonado."</p> + +<p>A tall young man, slight and thin, very pale, with black +whiskers which encroached on his nose, in the style adopted +by his Majesty the King, and, following his example, by many +of the youthful aristocracy, came into the room with a smile +and proceeded to greet the company without any sign of +shyness, taking their hands with a slight shake, and pressing +them to his breast in the affected style which, a few years since, +was the correct thing among the coxcombs of Madrid society. +As he came in he filled the room with some penetrating scent.</p> + +<p>"Heavens, what a poisonous atmosphere!" Pepa exclaimed +in an undertone, after shaking hands with him. "What a +puppy that fellow is!"</p> + +<p>"Hallo! Old boy!" exclaimed this youngster, coolly +taking Pinedo by the beard. "What were you doing yesterday? +Pepe Castro called on you——"</p> + +<p>"Pepe Castro called on me! So much honour overwhelms +me!"</p> + +<p>Such familiarity on Maldonado's part to a man already of +mature age and venerable appearance was somewhat startling. +But all the gilded youth of the Savage Club treated Pinedo in +the same way without his taking offence at it.</p> + +<p>"And here is Mariana," Pinedo went on, "who has just +been abusing you; and with reason."</p> + +<p>"Indeed."<a name="page_021" id="page_021"></a></p> + +<p>"Do not believe him, Ramoncito," exclaimed Señora de +Calderón, much surprised.</p> + +<p>"Oh, and Pepa too."</p> + +<p>"You, Pepa?" asked the youth, trying to appear indifferent, +but in fact somewhat uneasy; for Pepa de Frias was very +generally feared, and not without cause.</p> + +<p>"I? Oh yes, and I will have it out with you. What do you +mean by soaking yourself with scent? Do you hope to +subdue us all through our olfactory organs?"</p> + +<p>"I only wish I could subdue you through any organ, Pepa."</p> + +<p>The retort was generally acceptable. There was a spontaneous +burst of laughter, led by Pacita. Her mother bit her +lip with rage and whispered to the daughter next her to tell +the second, to communicate to the youngest that she was a +shameless minx, and that she would hear more of it when she +got home.</p> + +<p>"Well said, boy! Shake hands on it!" exclaimed Pepa, +holding out her hand to Ramoncito. "That is the first +sensible speech I ever heard you make. Generally you only +talk nonsense."</p> + +<p>"Thank you very much."</p> + +<p>"There is nothing to thank me for."</p> + +<p>"We have just read the question you put in the Assembly, +Ramoncito," said Señora de Calderón, trying by amiability to +discredit Pinedo's accusation.</p> + +<p>"Pshaw! Half a dozen words!"</p> + +<p>"Every one must make a beginning, young man," said Calderón, +with a patronising air.</p> + +<p>"No, no. That is not the way to begin," said Pinedo, gravely, +"You begin by dissentient murmurs; next come interruptions"—"That +is inaccurate; prove it, prove it; you are misinformed"—"Then +you go on to appeals and questions. Next +comes the explaining of your own vote, or the defence of some +incidental motion. Finally a speech on some great financial +question. So you see Ramon is at the third stage, that of +appeals and questions."<a name="page_022" id="page_022"></a></p> + +<p>"Thanks, Pinedito, thanks!" replied the young man, somewhat +piqued. "Then, having reached that stage, I appeal to +you not to be so devilish clever."</p> + +<p>"I declare! That too is not so bad," exclaimed Señora de +Frias in a tone of surprise. "Why Ramoncito, you are sparkling +with wit!"</p> + +<p>The youthful deputy found himself a seat between the daughter +of the house and Pacita de Alcudia who parted reluctantly +to make room for his chair. Maldonado, a man of good +family, not altogether devoid of fortune, and recently elected +member of the Chamber, had for some time been paying his +addresses to Esperanza de Calderón. It was in the opinion +of their friends a very suitable match. Esperanza would be +richer than Ramoncito, since Don Julian's business was soundly +established on an extensive scale; still, the young man, who +was by no means a beggar, had begun his political career with +credit. The young girl's parents neither opposed nor encouraged +his advances—Calderón, with the dignity and superiority +which money gives, hardly troubled himself as to who might +profess an attachment to his daughter, satisfied with the certainty +that when the time came for marrying her she would +have no lack of suitors. Indeed, five or six young fellows of +the most elegant and superfine society in Madrid buzzed in the +parks, at evening parties, and at the theatre, round the wealthy +heiress, like drones round a beehive.</p> + +<p>Ramon had many rivals, some of them men of position. +But this did not trouble him so greatly as that the damsel, +by nature so subdued, and usually so silent and shy, with +him was saucy and at her ease, allowing herself sundry +more or less harmless little jests, and blunt answers, and +grimaces, which amply proved that she did not take him +seriously. And for this reason, Pepe Castro, his friend and +confidant, constantly told him that he should make himself +more scarce, that he should seem less eager and less anxious, +that a woman was the better for being treated with a little +contempt.<a name="page_023" id="page_023"></a></p> + +<p>Now Pepe Castro was not merely his friend and confidant, +but his model for every action of social or private life. The +verdicts he pronounced on persons, horses, politics—of which +however he rarely spoke at all—shirts and walking-sticks were +to the young deputy incontrovertible axioms. He copied his +dress, his walk, his laugh. If Castro appeared on a Spanish +mare, Ramon sold his English cob to buy such another +as his friend's; if he took to a military salute, raising his hand +to the side of his head, in a few days Ramon saluted like a recruit; +if he set up a flirtation with a shop-girl, it was not long +before our youth was haunting the low quarters of the city, in +search of her fellow. Pepe Castro combed all his hair forward +to hide a patch that was prematurely bald; Ramon, who had a +fine head of hair, also combed his hair forward; nay, he would +very willingly have imitated the baldness to appear more <i>chic</i>.</p> + +<p>However, in spite of all this devout imitation of his model, +he could not obey him in the matter of his incipient passion. +And for this reason: strange as it may seem, Ramoncito was +beginning really to care for the girl. Love is but rarely a single-minded +impulse; various other passions often contribute to +suggest it and vivify it: vanity, avarice, sensuality, and ambition. +Still it is hardly to be distinguished from the real thing; +it inspires the same watchful care, and causes the same doubts +and torments; the touch-stone lies in unselfishness and constancy. +Else it is very easy to mistake them. Ramon believed +himself to be sincerely in love with Esperanza, and perhaps he +was justified, for he admired her and thought of her night and +day, he sought every opportunity of pleasing her, and hated +his rivals mortally. However he might try to follow the advice +of the infallible Pepe and to conceal his devotion, or at any +rate the ardour of his feelings, he could not succeed. He had +begun to court her out of self-interest with all the unconcern +of a man whose heart is free, and the young lady's disdainful +indifference had quickly brought him to thinking of +her constantly, and feeling himself confused and fascinated in +her presence. Then the rivalry of other suitors had fired his<a name="page_024" id="page_024"></a> +blood and his desire to win her hand as soon as possible. And +in deference to the truth it must be said that he had <i>almost</i> +forgotten Calderón's thousands, and was <i>almost</i> disinterested +in his attachment.</p> + +<p>"So you really made a speech in the Chamber, Ramon?" +asked Pacita. "And what did you say?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing! Half a dozen words about the service of the +bridges," replied the young man, with an air of affected modesty.</p> + +<p>"Can ladies go to the Chamber?"</p> + +<p>"Why not?"</p> + +<p>"Because I should so much like to hear a debate one day. +And Esperanza, too, I am sure."</p> + +<p>"No, no. Not I," Esperanza hastily put in.</p> + +<p>"Nonsense, child; do not make any pretence. Do not you +want to hear your lover speak?"</p> + +<p>Esperanza turned as red as a poppy and burst out: "I have +no lover, and do not wish for one."</p> + +<p>Ramon, too, coloured scarlet.</p> + +<p>"Paz, what horrible things you say," Esperanza went on, in +indignant confusion. "If you say any such thing again I will go +away and leave you."</p> + +<p>"I beg your pardon, my dear," said the malicious little +thing, enchanted at having put her friend and the deputy to +such confusion. "I quite thought—so many people say—Well, +if it is not Ramon it is Federico."</p> + +<p>Maldonado frowned.</p> + +<p>"Neither Federico nor any one else. Leave me in peace. +Look, here comes Father Ortega. Get up!"<a name="page_025" id="page_025"></a></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II.<br /><br /> +<small>MORE OF THE ACTORS.</small></h2> + +<p class="nind">A <small>TALL</small> priest, still young, with a full, pale face, blue eyes, and +the vague gaze of short sight, was standing in the doorway. +Every one rose. The Marquesa was the first to come forward +and kiss his hand. After her, her daughters did the same, and +then Mariana and the other ladies.</p> + +<p>"Good-evening, Father." "Delighted to see you, Father." +"Sit here, Father." "No, no, not there; come near the fire, +Father."</p> + +<p>The men shook hands with him affectionately and respectfully. +The priest's voice, as he returned their greetings, was +sweet and very low, as though there were a sick person in the +adjoining room; his smile was grave, patronising, and insinuating. +He had an air of having been dragged from his cell +and his books with extreme difficulty—of coming hither much +against his will, simply to do some good to the Calderóns, +whose spiritual director he was, by the mere contact of his +learned and virtuous person. His clothes and robe were fine +and well cut; his shoes of patent leather with silver buckles; +his stockings of silk.</p> + +<p>Every one complimented him enthusiastically on a sermon +he had delivered the day before at the Oratory Del +Caballero de Gracia. He merely smiled, and murmured +sweetly: "I am only glad, ladies, if you derived any benefit +from it."</p> + +<p>Padre Ortega was no common priest—at any rate, in the +opinion of the fashionable society of the metropolis, among<a name="page_026" id="page_026"></a> +whom he had a large following. Without being a meddler, he +was a constant guest in the houses of persons of distinction. +He did not love to make a noise, or attract the attention of +the company to himself; he neither made jokes nor allowed +joking; he had none of the frank, gossiping temper which is +commonly found in those priests who are addicted to social +intercourse. If he had any love of intrigue it must have been +of a different type to that usually seen in the world. Discreet +and affable, modest, grave, and silent in society, effacing himself +completely and mingling with the crowd, he stood out in +full relief when he mounted the pulpit, as he very frequently +did. Then he expressed himself with amazing ease and +fluency; he did not move his audience to emotion, and never +attempted it, but he displayed very remarkable talents, and a +distinction rare among his order.</p> + +<p>For he was one of those very few ecclesiastics who are—or +who at any rate seem to be—up to the mark of modern +science. Instead of the moral platitudes, the empty and +absurd declamation, which are hurled by his brethren against +science and logic, his sermons boldly rose to the level of the +literature of the day; he invariably ended by proving directly +or indirectly that there is no essential incompatibility between +the advance of science and the dogmas of the Church. He +would discourse of evolution, of transmutation, of the struggle +for existence; would quote Hegel sometimes, allude to the +Malthusian theory of population, to the antagonism of Labour +and Capital; and from each in turn would deduce something +in support of Catholic doctrine; to meet new modes of attack +new weapons must be employed. He even confessed himself +an advocate, in principle, of Darwin's theories—a fact which +surprised and alarmed some of his more timid friends and +penitents, although at the same time it enhanced their respect +and admiration. When he addressed himself to women only, +he avoided all erudition which might bore them, adopted a +worldly tone, spoke of their little parties and balls, their dress +and their fashions like an adept, and drew similes and arguments<a name="page_027" id="page_027"></a> +from social life. This delighted his fair audience, and +brought them to his feet.</p> + +<p>He was the director of many of the principal families of +Madrid, and in this capacity he showed exquisite discretion +and tact, treating each one with due regard to his or her temperament +and past and present position. When he met with a +woman like the Marquesa de Alcudia, devout, enthusiastic, +and fervent, the shrewd priest pressed the keys firmly, was +exacting and imperious, inquired into the smallest domestic +details, and laid down the law. In the Alcudia's household +not a step was taken without his sanction; and in such cases, +as though he enjoyed exerting his power, he adopted a stern +and grave demeanour which, under other circumstances, was +quite foreign to him.</p> + +<p>If he had to do with a family of worldlings, indifferent to +the Church, he played with a lighter hand, was benign and +tolerant, requiring them only to conform outwardly, and refrain +from setting a bad example. He did all he could to consolidate +the beautiful alliance which in our days has been concluded +between religion and fashion; every day he found +some new means to this end, some derived from the French, +some the offspring of his own brain. On certain days of the +year he would collect an evening congregation of ladies of his +acquaintance in the chapel or oratory of some noble house. +Then there were delightful <i>matinées</i>, when he would extemporise +a prayer, some accomplished musician would play the +harmonium, he himself would speak a short friendly address, +and then discuss religious questions with the ladies present; +those who chose might confess, and, to conclude, the party +would adjourn to the dining-room, where they took tea,—and +changed the subject.</p> + +<p>When any member of one of these families died, Padre +Ortega had his name inserted on the letters of formal announcement, +as Spiritual Director, requesting the prayers of the +faithful for the departed soul; and then he would distribute +printed pamphlets of souvenirs or memoirs, with prayers in<a name="page_028" id="page_028"></a> +which he besought the Supreme Redeemer, in persuasive and +honeyed words, that by this or that special feature of His +most Holy Passion, he would forgive Count T—— or Baroness +M—— the sin of pride or avarice, or what not; but, as a rule, +not the sin to which the deceased had been most prone, for +the worthy father had no mind to cause a scandal or hurt the +feelings of the family. He also undertook the business of +arranging for the acquisition of the greatest possible number +of indulgences, for the Papal benediction <i>in articulo mortis</i>, for +the prayers of any particular sisterhood, and so forth. Those +who were his friends and of his flock, might be quite certain +of not departing for the other world unprovided with good +introductions. What we do not know is how far they proved +useful in the sight of God: whether He passed them with a +superscription in blue pencil as an ambassador does, or whether, +like the lady in the story, He asked: "And you, Padre +Ortega—who introduces you?"</p> + +<p>When he had exchanged a few polite words with every +person present, with such courtesy as was due to the position +of each, the Marquesa de Alcudia took possession of him, +carrying him off into a corner of the room, where, seated face +to face in two armchairs, they began a conversation in an +undertone, as though she were making confession. The priest, +his elbow resting on the arm of his seat, and his shaven chin +in his hand, listened to her with downcast eyes, in an attitude +of humility; now and then he put in a measured word to +which the lady listened with respect and submission; though +she immediately returned to the charge, gesticulating vehemently, +but without raising her voice.</p> + +<p>Soon after the ecclesiastic, a youth had made his appearance—a +fat youth, very round and rosy, with little whiskers which +came but just below his ears, his eyes deep set in flesh, +and a fine fresh colour in his cheeks. His clothes looked too +tight for him; his voice was hoarse, and he seemed to produce +it with difficulty. Ramon Maldonado's face clouded over as +he came in. This new-comer was the heir of the Conde de<a name="page_029" id="page_029"></a> +Casa-Ramirez, and one of the suitors for the first born of the +house of Calderón. Jacobo—or Cobo Ramirez, as he was +generally called, was regarded as a comic personage for the +same reasons as Pepa Frias, but with less foundation. He too +displayed great freedom of speech, cynical disrespect of +persons, even of the most respectable, and an almost incredible +degree of ignorance. His jests were the coarsest and grossest +which decent people could by any means endure. Sometimes, +indeed, they hit the nail on the head, that is to say, he had a +happy thought; but as a rule his sallies were purely and +unmitigatedly indecent.</p> + +<p>And yet the company were pleased to see him. A smile of +satisfaction lighted up every face but that of Ramoncito.</p> + +<p>"I say, Calderón," he exclaimed as he came in, without any +sort of preliminary greeting; "how do you manage to have +such good-looking boys for your servants? As I came in, in +the dim light, by the mezzo-soprano voice I heard, I took one +of them for a girl."</p> + +<p>"Nonsense, man," said the banker, laughing.</p> + +<p>"I tell you I did, man, not that I care if you have as many +Romeos as you please. Is your friend Pinazo coming this +evening?"</p> + +<p>All understood the allusion; almost every one burst out +laughing.</p> + +<p>"No, no, he is not coming," replied Calderón, choking with +laughter.</p> + +<p>"What are they laughing at, Pacita?" asked Esperanza, in +a low voice.</p> + +<p>"I do not know," she replied with perfect sincerity, shrugging +her shoulders; "Cobo has said something horrid no doubt. I +will ask Julia by-and-bye; she will be sure to know."</p> + +<p>They both looked at the eldest of the three sisters, but she +sat unmoved and stiff, with downcast eyes as usual; nevertheless +the corners of her mouth quivered with a faint smile of +comprehension which showed that her youngest sister's confidence +in her profound intuition was amply justified.<a name="page_030" id="page_030"></a></p> + +<p>"Hallo! Ramoncillo!" said Cobo, going up to Maldonado, +and patting him familiarly on the cheek. "Always the same +sweet and seductive youth?"</p> + +<p>The tone was half affectionate and half ironical, which the +other took very much amiss.</p> + +<p>"Not to compare with you; but getting on," replied +Ramoncito.</p> + +<p>"No, no, you are the beauty of the two—let these young +ladies decide. You are a little too thin perhaps, especially of +late, but you will double your weight as soon as you have got +over this."</p> + +<p>"I have nothing to get over. And after all, no one can run +to as many pounds as you," retorted Ramon, much nettled.</p> + +<p>"You have more graces."</p> + +<p>"Come, that will do; do not come talking such nonsense +here, for it is very bad form, especially in the presence of these +young ladies."</p> + +<p>"Why must you two always be quarrelling?" exclaimed +Pepa Frias. "Have done with this squabbling, or the world +will not be wide enough to hold you both."</p> + +<p>"No, the place that is not wide enough for these two, is +Calderón's house," said Pinedo, in an undertone.</p> + +<p>"Nothing of the kind," Cobo exclaimed, in a cheerful voice +"friends who quarrel are the best friends—eh old fellow?"</p> + +<p>And taking Ramoncito's head between his hands, he +shook it affectionately. Maldonado pushed him away crossly.</p> + +<p>"Have done, have done; you are too rough."</p> + +<p>Cobo and Maldonado were intimate friends. They had +known each other from infancy, they had been at school +together; then in the world of fashion they had kept up a +close acquaintance, chiefly at the club which both frequented +regularly. As they followed the same profession, that, namely, +of "men about town," on horseback, on foot, or in a carriage, +as they visited the same houses, and met everywhere and +every day, their mutual confidence was unlimited. At the +same time, they were always on terms of mild hostility, for<a name="page_031" id="page_031"></a> +Cobo had a true contempt for Ramon, and Ramon, suspecting +the fact, was constantly on his guard. This hostility did not +exclude liking; they were insolent to each other, and would +quarrel for hours on end, but afterwards they would drive out +together, just as if nothing had occurred, and arrange to meet +at the theatre. Maldonado took everything Cobo said quite +seriously, and Cobo delighted in contradicting him whenever +he spoke, till he had succeeded in putting him out of patience.</p> + +<p>But all affection vanished from the moment when they had +both cast their eyes on Esperanza de Calderón; hostility alone +remained. Their relations were apparently the same as before, +they met every day at the club, often walked out, and went +hunting together, but at the bottom of their hearts they hated +each other. Each spoke ill of the other behind his back; +Cobo, of course, with more wit than Ramon, because, with or +without good reason, he had a real and sincere contempt for +his rival.</p> + +<p>"Come, you are just like my daughter and her husband," +said Señora de Frias.</p> + +<p>"Not so bad, not so bad, Pepa!" Ramirez put in, with +affected horror.</p> + +<p>"What a shameless fellow you are!" exclaimed the lady, +trying to control her laughter, which ill-matched her affectation +of wrath. "They are just like you two, for they are always +squabbling and making it up again."</p> + +<p>And then she went on to describe in racy terms her daughter's +married life. She and her husband alike were a couple of +children, dear children, but quite insupportable. If he did not +hand her a dish as quickly as she expected, or had not poured +her out a glass of water; if his shirt-buttons were off, or his +clothes not brushed; or if there was too much oil in the salad, +there were frightful rows. They were both equally susceptible +and touchy. Sometimes they did not exchange a word for a +week at a time, and to carry on the affairs of life they would +write little notes to each other in the most distant terms: +"Asuncion has asked me to go with her to the play at eight<a name="page_032" id="page_032"></a> +o'clock. Is there any objection to my going?" she would +write, and leave the note on his study-table.</p> + +<p>"You may go wherever you choose," he would reply in the +same way.</p> + +<p>"What will you have for dinner, to-morrow; do you like +pickled tongue?"</p> + +<p>"You ought to know by this time that I never eat tongue. +Do me the favour to order the cook to get some fish; but +not fresh anchovies, as we had them the other day; and desire +her not to burn the fritters."</p> + +<p>Neither of them chose to give way to the other, so that this +nonsense would go on indefinitely, till she, Pepa, took them +both by the ears, gave them a piece of her mind and obliged +them to make it up. Then they went to the other extreme in +their reconciliation.</p> + +<p>"Do you know, Pepa, that I should not care to be there at +the moment of reconciliation?" said Cobo, with another outburst +of malignant vulgarity.</p> + +<p>"Nor I, my friend," she replied with a sigh of resignation, +that was very laughable. "But, what can I do? I am a +mother-in-law, which is the lowest function one can fill in +this world, and I must endure that penance and many more +of which you know nothing."</p> + +<p>"I can imagine them."</p> + +<p>"You cannot possibly imagine them."</p> + +<p>"But then, my dear, it would be a great joy to me, to see +my children friends once more," said the gentle Mariana, in +her slow, drawling, lethargic way. "There is nothing more +odious than a quarrelsome couple."</p> + +<p>"And to me, too—when the scene is over," replied Pepa, +exchanging smiles with Cobo Ramirez and Pinedo.</p> + +<p>"How gladly would I make friends with you, Mariana, on +the same terms," said the insinuating general, in a low voice, +taking advantage of a moment when Calderón's wife stooped +down to stir the fire with an enamelled iron poker. At the +same time, as if he wished to take it from her, and save her<a name="page_033" id="page_033"></a> +the trouble, the General's fingers were laid on the lady's, and +without exceeding the truth, may be said to have lightly +pressed them.</p> + +<p>"Make friends?" said she, in her usual voice. "But first +we should have to quarrel, and thank God we have not done +that."</p> + +<p>The old beau did not venture to reply; he laughed awkwardly +with an uneasy glance at Calderón. If he persisted, +this simpleton was capable of repeating aloud the audacious +speech he had just made.</p> + +<p>"Of course," Pepa went on, "I interfere as little as possible +in their disputes. I hardly ever go to their house even—Pah! +I loathe playing the part of mother-in-law."</p> + +<p>"Well, Pepa, I only wish you were my mother-in-law," said +Cobo, with a meaning look into her eyes.</p> + +<p>"Good! I will tell my daughter; she will be much +flattered."</p> + +<p>"No, it has nothing to do with your daughter! It is that—that +I should like you to interfere in my concerns."</p> + +<p>"Stuff and nonsense! Cease your compliments," replied the +lady, half vexed. But a symptom of a smile which curled her +lips showed nevertheless that the speech had pleased her.</p> + +<p>Ramoncito now brought the conversation back to the opera—the +hare which runs in every fashionable meeting in Madrid. +The opera is, indeed, to the subscribers, no mere amusement, +but an institution. It is not, however, a love of music which +makes it a constant subject of discussion, but the fact that they +have nothing else to think about. To Ramoncito Maldonado, +to Señora de Calderón, and to hundreds of others, the world is +divided into two classes: those who subscribe to the opera and +those who do not. The former alone really and completely +represent the essential part of humanity.</p> + +<p>Gayarre and Tosti once more came under discussion. Those +of the party who had just come in gave their opinion on the +merits as well as on the physical advantages or defects of the +two singers.<a name="page_034" id="page_034"></a></p> + +<p>Ramoncito began to tell Esperanza and Paz in a low voice +how that he had last evening been presented to La Tosti in her +dressing-room. A very amiable and refined woman; she had +received him with wonderful graciousness and friendliness. +She had heard much of him—Ramoncito—and had been most +anxious to know him personally. When she was told that he +was a member of the Assembly she was amazed to think of his +having risen to such a position while still so young. "So +absurd you know; it would seem that in other countries +it is the custom only to elect old men.—She is even handsomer +near than from a distance—a skin like velvet, exquisite +teeth; then a splendid figure—a noble bust, and such arms!"</p> + +<p>Vanity had made the young man not only a blunderer—for +it is a well-known rule that in courting one woman it is never +wise to praise another too vehemently—but a little over free +in speaking to two such young girls. They looked at each +other and smiled; their eyes sparkling with mischievous fun, +which the young deputy did not detect.</p> + +<p>"And tell me now, Ramon, did you not make her a declaration +on the spot?" Pacita inquired.</p> + +<p>"Certainly not," replied he, seeing through the ironical +meaning of the question.</p> + +<p>"Then you will."</p> + +<p>"Never! I love another lady." And as he spoke he shot a +languishing glance at Esperanza. The young girl suddenly +turned serious.</p> + +<p>"Really? Tell me, tell me——."</p> + +<p>"It is a secret."</p> + +<p>"Well, we can keep a secret. You will not tell, will you, +Esperanza?"</p> + +<p>And the mischievous little thing looked slily at her friend, +enjoying her vexation and Ramoncito's discomfiture.</p> + +<p>"I do not want to know anything about it."</p> + +<p>"There, Ramon, do you hear? Esperanza does not want +to hear anything about your love affairs. I know why, though +I shall not say."<a name="page_035" id="page_035"></a></p> + +<p>"What a silly thing you are, child," exclaimed Esperanza, +now really angry.</p> + +<p>The young man, flattered by these hints from an intimate +friend, nevertheless thought it well to change the subject, for +he saw that Esperanza was seriously annoyed.</p> + +<p>"But you must not believe that it would be so very difficult +to make a declaration to La Tosti, and for her to respond to it. +Ask Pepe Castro; you can depend on what he says about it."</p> + +<p>"But Pepe Castro is not you," said Esperanza, with marked +disdain.</p> + +<p>Maldonado fell from the celestial spaces where he had been +soaring. This pointed speech, uttered in a tone of contempt, +touched him to the quick. For, as it happened, the transcendent +superiority of Pepe Castro was one of the few truths +which dwelt in his mind as absolutely indisputable. There +might be doubts as to Homer's, but as to Pepito's—none. +The certainty of never rising, however much he might try, to +the supreme height of elegance, indifference, contempt, and +sovereign scorn of all creation, which characterised his admired +friend, humiliated him and made him miserable.</p> + +<p>Esperanza had laid her finger on the wound which was +threatening his existence. He could not reply; the shock was +so great.</p> + +<p>Clementina was depressed and uneasy. As soon as she had +entered her sister-in-law's drawing-room, she had sought a +pretext for leaving; but she could find none. She was compelled +to let some little time elapse; the minutes seemed ages. +She had chatted for a few moments with the Marquesa de +Alcudia, but that lady had quitted her when Father Ortega +had come in. Her sister was appropriated by General Patiño, +who was giving her an elaborate account of the mode of rearing +and feeding nightingales in captivity. The two Alcudia girls, +who sat next to her, might have been wax dolls, they were so +stiff and motionless, answering only in monosyllables to the +few questions she addressed to them. By degrees a sort of +obscure irritation took possession of her; to a woman of her<a name="page_036" id="page_036"></a> +temperament it was a matter of minutes only before she would +cast all conventionality to the winds and take an abrupt +departure. But on hearing the name of Pepe Castro, she looked +up eagerly, and listened with keen interest. At Ramoncito's +abrupt allusion to him she suddenly turned pale; however, she +immediately recovered herself, and, joining in the conversation +with a smile, she said: "Nay, nay, Ramon, do not be malignant. +We poor women, if you begin to talk of us——!"</p> + +<p>"I speak ill of none who do not deserve it, Clementina," +replied the youth, encouraged by the rope thus thrown out for +him.</p> + +<p>"You men discuss us all. It strikes me that your friend +Pepe Castro is not a man to bite his tongue out rather than +sully a woman's reputation."</p> + +<p>"But, indeed, Clementina, I never yet found him out in a +falsehood. All Madrid knows him for a favourite with +women."</p> + +<p>"I cannot imagine why!" exclaimed the lady, with a disdainful +pout.</p> + +<p>"I am no connoisseur in male beauty," said the young man, +laughing at his own phrase, "but everybody says that Pepito +is handsome."</p> + +<p>"Pshaw! That is a matter of individual taste. Pacita, who +is his relation, will excuse me—but I, who am one of the +'everybody' do not say so."</p> + +<p>"It is quite true," said Esperanza timidly, "that Pepito is +not considered bad-looking. Besides he is very elegant and +<i>distingué</i>. Do you not think so?" And she turned to Pacita, +colouring slightly as she spoke. Clementina glanced at her +with a penetrating and singular expression which deepened the +blush.</p> + +<p>"What are you talking about?" asked Cobo Ramirez, joining +the little circle.</p> + +<p>He hardly ever sat down. He liked wandering from group +to group, breathing as hard as an ox, and firing some audacious +remark at each in turn. Ramoncito's brow darkened at his<a name="page_037" id="page_037"></a> +rival's approach. Cobo did not fail to perceive it and looked +at him with a slight sneer.</p> + +<p>"Well, Ramoncito? Tell me, how do you contrive to keep +these ladies so well amused? I was just saying to Pepa that +you really sparkle with wit."</p> + +<p>"No, indeed. How should I sparkle when you monopolise +it?" said the deputy, with some irritation.</p> + +<p>"Well, well, my son, if you are afraid of me I will go."</p> + +<p>An ironical smile, both bitter and triumphant, beamed on +Ramoncito's sharp features. He had the enemy in a trap. It +should be said that, a few days since, a learned discussion had +given rise to a decision by an expert philologist that <i>afraid</i> was +wrong and <i>afeard</i> alone was right.</p> + +<p>"My dear Cobo," he exclaimed, throwing himself back in +his chair and gazing at him with ironical amazement. "Before +you talk in the presence of persons of quality you might +learn to speak your mother-tongue. I mean—it seems to +me——"</p> + +<p>"Well?" said the other, in surprise.</p> + +<p>"That no one now says <i>afraid</i> but <i>afeard</i>, my dear Cobo. +I give you the information for your satisfaction and future +guidance."</p> + +<p>Ramon's manner as he spoke was so arrogant, and his +smile so impertinent that Cobo, disconcerted for a moment, +asked in a fury:</p> + +<p>"And why afeard rather than afraid?"</p> + +<p>"Because it is so—because I say so! That is why," +replied the other, not ceasing to smile with increasing sarcasm, +and casting a triumphant look at Esperanza.</p> + +<p>The two rushed into an animated and violent discussion. +Cobo held his own, maintaining with great spirit that no one +ever said <i>afeard</i>, that he had never heard the word in his life, +and that he was in the habit of talking to educated persons. +The young and scented deputy answered him briefly, still +smiling impertinently, and sure of his triumph. The more +angry Cobo became, the more Ramon gloated over his humiliation<a name="page_038" id="page_038"></a> +in the presence of the damsel to whom they both were +paying court. But the tables were turned when Cobo, +thoroughly provoked and seeing himself beaten, called General +Patiño to the rescue.</p> + +<p>"Come here, General; you who are eminent as an authority—Do +you think it correct to say <i>afeard</i>?"</p> + +<p>The General, greatly flattered by this opportune mouthful +of honey, replied, addressing Maldonado in a tone of paternal +instruction:</p> + +<p>"No, Ramoncito, no. You are mistaken. Such a word as +<i>afeard</i> was never heard of."</p> + +<p>The young man jumped in his chair. Suddenly abandoning +all irony, and his eyes flashing, he began to exclaim that they +did not know what they were talking about, that it would seem +that the best authorities were liars, and so on, and so on—that +he was quite certain he was right, and that he wanted a +dictionary forthwith.</p> + +<p>"To tell you the truth," said Don Julian, scratching his +head, "the dictionary I used to possess has disappeared. I +do not know who can have taken it. But it seems to me—I +agree with the General—that we say afraid and not afeard."</p> + +<p>This fresh blow was too much for Maldonado; pale already, +and tremulous with vexation, he uttered a last cry of despair.</p> + +<p>"But <i>afeard</i> is derived from <i>fear</i>, gentlemen!"</p> + +<p>"Fear or small beer, it is all the same!" exclaimed Cobo, +with an insolent peal of laughter. "Confess now that you +have put your foot in it, and promise not to do it any more."</p> + +<p>Maldonado's disgust and rage knew no bounds. He +struggled on a few minutes with incoherent words and gestures; +but as the only reply to his energetic protests were laughter +and sarcasm, he resigned himself to an attitude of dignity and +scorn, chewing the cud of bitterness, his lips quivering, his +looks grim, a snort of indignation now and again inflating +his nostrils. Cobo remained unmoved, taking every opportunity +that offered for shooting a poisoned dart of repartee at the +foe, which enchanted the girls and made their elders smile<a name="page_039" id="page_039"></a> +soberly. No one in this world ever hungered and thirsted for +justice as did Ramoncito at this moment.</p> + +<p>The arrival of another visitor ended, or at any rate, suspended, +his torments. The Duke of Requena was announced. +His entrance produced an agitation which sufficiently indicated +his consequence. Calderón went forward to receive him, +offering him both hands with much effusion. All the men rose +in haste, and left their seats to meet him with smiles and +gestures expressive of the reverence he inspired. The ladies +turned their heads to greet him with curiosity and respect, and +Pepa Frias rose to shake hands with him. Even Father +Ortega deserted his Marquesa and went forward with a submissive +and engaging bow, smiling at him with his bright eyes +behind the strong spectacles for short sight which he wore. +For a few minutes the only words to be heard in the room +were "Señor Duque," "Señor Duque"—"Oh Señor Duque!"</p> + +<p>The object of all these attentions was a short, stout man +with a lividly-pale face, prominent squinting eyes, white hair, +and a grizzled moustache as stiff and harsh as the quills of a +porcupine. His lips were thick and mobile, stained by the +juice of a cigar which he held, not lighted, between his teeth, +incessantly passing it from one corner of his mouth to the +other. He might be about sixty years of age, more rather +than less. He was wrapped in a magnificent loose fur coat, +which he had not removed in the ante-room, having a cold. +But on setting foot in the little drawing-room, the heat struck +him as unpleasant, and hardly replying to the greetings +and smiles which hailed him from all sides, he only muttered +rudely, in the hoarse, thick voice characteristic of men with a +short neck: "Poof! a perfect furnace!" And he added a +Valencian expletive more vehement than choice. At the same +time he unbuttoned his overcoat. Twenty hands were laid on +it to help him to take it off, which somewhat hindered the +process.</p> + +<p>And now, in the Calderón's drawing-room, was repeated the +scene which has oftener than any other been performed in<a name="page_040" id="page_040"></a> +this world, of the Israelites in the desert worshipping the +Golden Calf. The new-comer was no less a person than Don +Antonio Salabert, Duke of Requena—the famous Salabert, +the richest of the rich in Spain, one of the colossal figures of +finance, and, beyond a doubt, the most famous for the extent +and importance of his transactions. He was a native of +Valencia. No one had ever heard of his family. Some said +he had been a mere waif in the streets; others that he had +begun as a footman to some banker, and had risen to be a +sort of messenger and errand man, others that he had been an +adventurer under Cabrera in the first civil war, and that the origin +of his fortunes was a valise full of gold, of which he had +robbed a traveller. Some even went so far as to credit him +with having belonged to one of the notorious troops of banditti +who infested Spain just after the war. He, however, explained +the growth of his fortune—which amounted to no less than +four hundred millions of reales<a name="FNanchor_B_2" id="FNanchor_B_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_B_2" class="fnanchor">[B]</a>—in the simplest and most +graphic way. When he was angry with any of his clerks—as +very frequently happened—and found that they took +offence at his gross abuse, he would say to them, shouting like +a possessed creature: "Do you know how I came by my +money? By taking many a kick behind. Nothing but kicks +will ever help you up the ladder. Do you understand?"</p> + +<p>It must be confessed that there was something a little vague +about this explanation, but the authority with which it was +delivered gave it irrefragable value. Assuming it as the basis +of the inquiry, we might perhaps be able to form a just +estimate of the character and the achievements of the wealthy +banker.</p> + +<p>"Hallo, little lady," said he, going up to Clementina and +taking her by the chin as if she were a child. "You here? +I did not see your carriage below."</p> + +<p>"No, Papa; I came on foot."</p> + +<p>"You are a wonder. You can take mine if you like."</p> + +<p>"No, I would rather walk. I have been out of spirits lately."<a name="page_041" id="page_041"></a></p> + +<p>The duke had turned his back on all the company, and was +talking to his daughter with as much affability as he was capable +of. He rarely saw her. Clementina was his natural daughter, +the child of a woman of the lowest type, as he himself had +probably been. Afterwards, when he was already beginning +to be rich, he had married a young girl of the middle class, by +whom he had no family. This lady, whose health since her +marriage had been extremely delicate, had agreed, or to be +exact, had herself proposed that her husband's daughter should +come to live with her. Clementina had therefore been brought +up at home, and was loved as a daughter by her father's wife, +whom she loved and respected as a mother. Since her marriage +she had paid her frequent visits; but as her father was +always busy, she did not go into his rooms, but left her mother's—for +so she called her—only to quit the house. Excepting +on days when there was some great dinner or reception, or +when she met him by chance in the street or at a friend's +house, they never talked together.</p> + +<p>After inquiring for her husband and sons, the duke, without +sitting down, turned to talk to Calderón and Pepe Frias. He +was a man of common and provincial appearance; he rarely +smiled, and when he did, it was so faintly as to be hardly perceptible. +He was in the habit of calling things by their names, +and addressing every one without any formula of courtesy, +saying things to their face which might have seemed grossly +rude, but that he knew how to give them a tone of friendly +bluntness which deprived them of their sting. He was not +loquacious; he generally stood silently chewing the end of his +cigar and studying his interlocutor with his squinting and +impenetrable eyes. When he talked it was with a factitious +and cunning simplicity which was not unattractive, but through +it pierced the old man, the Valencian foundling, shrewd, sarcastic, +crafty and uncommunicative.</p> + +<p>Pepa Frias began to talk of money matters; on this subject +the widow was inexhaustible. She wanted to know everything, +was afraid of being taken in, always greedy of large<a name="page_042" id="page_042"></a> +profit, and comically terrified at the idea of a depreciation of +the Stocks she held. She would have every detail repeated to +satiety.</p> + +<p>"Should she sell Bank Stock and buy Cubas? What was +the Government going to do about entailed estates? She had +heard rumours! Would money be dearer at the next settlement? +Would it not be better to sell at once, and make +thirty centimes, than to wait till the end of the month?"</p> + +<p>To her Salabert's words were as the Delphic oracle; the +banker's fame acted like a charm. But, unluckily, the Duke—like +every oracle, ancient or modern—was wont to answer +ambiguously. Often his only reply was a grunt, which might +mean assent, dissent, or doubt; while the words, which now +and then made their way between the cigar and his moist, +stained lips, were obscure, brief, and frequently unintelligible. +Besides, every one knew that he was not to be trusted, +that he loved to put his friends on the wrong track, and see +them get a tumble in some bad speculation. Nevertheless, +Pepa persisted in hoping to wring from that great mind the +secret of the hidden Pactolus, playfully taking him by the +lapels of his coat, calling him old fellow, old fox, Sphinx, +glorying in her audacity, which amounted to a flirtation. But +the banker was not to be cajoled. He humoured her mood, +answering her with grunts, or with some coarse joke at which +Calderón would laugh, though he felt in no laughing mood as +he noted the frequency of the duke's expectorations on his +carpet; for the munching of his cigar gave rise to the necessity, +and he was not accustomed to note what he was doing. +Calderón was as much irritated, and annoyed as if his visitor +had spit in his face. The third time it happened he could +contain himself no longer; with his own hands he fetched a +spittoon. Salabert gave him a mocking glance and winked at +Pepa.</p> + +<p>Calderón, now easier in his mind, became quite loquacious, +and endeavoured to reply instead of the Duke, and advise +Pepa as to her investments; but though he was a man of<a name="page_043" id="page_043"></a> +prudence and experience in such matters, the widow did not +value his counsels, nor would she listen to them. When all +was said and done, there was an enormous gulf between him +and Salabert—the one an ordinary stock-broker, the other a +genius of banking. The Duke, no doubt, assented inarticulately +to the opinions of the master of the house, but Pepa +would none of them.</p> + +<p>Salabert presently left them to themselves, and seated himself +on the arm of a chair in a lounging attitude, which he alone +would have ventured on. Instead of being disliked for his +coarse rudeness, his bad manners contributed not a little to +his prestige and to the idolatrous reverence which was paid +him in society. Having left the spittoon behind him, he +again expectorated on the carpet with a malicious pleasure +which was visible through his imperturbable mask of good +humour. Calderón on his part frowned gloomily once more, +till at length, with a heroic determination to ignore the conventionalities, +he once more fetched the spittoon, but less +boldly than before, for he only pushed it along with his foot. +Pepa, meanwhile, seated herself on the other arm, and went +on coaxing the Duke till at last he paid more attention to her. +He glanced at her several times from head to foot, dwelling +with satisfaction on her figure, which was round and shapely. +Altogether Pepa was a fresh-looking and attractive woman. +In a few minutes the banker leaned over her without much +delicacy, and, putting his face so close to hers, that he +almost seemed to touch her cheek with his lips, he said in +a whisper:</p> + +<p>"Have you many Osuñas?"</p> + +<p>"A few—yes——"</p> + +<p>"Sell at once."</p> + +<p>Pepa looked him straight in the eyes, and, taking the advice +as meant, she said no more. A few minutes later it was she +who put her face across to the banker's, and asked him mysteriously:</p> + +<p>"And what shall I buy?"<a name="page_044" id="page_044"></a></p> + +<p>"Entailed estate," he replied in the same tone.</p> + +<p>Just now a lady and gentleman came in, a young couple, +both under the middle height, smiling, and lively.</p> + +<p>"Here are my young people," said Pepa.</p> + +<p>They were, in fact, a pleasing pair; well matched, with +attractive, candid faces, and so young that they really looked +like a couple of children. They shook hands with every one +in turn, and every face beamed with the affectionate protecting +feeling which they could not fail to inspire.</p> + +<p>"Here is your mother-in-law, Emilio. What a vexatious +meeting, eh?" said Pepa to the young man.</p> + +<p>"Mother-in-law! No, no. Mamma, mamma," replied he, +pressing her hand affectionately.</p> + +<p>"Heaven reward you!" replied the lady, with a comical +sigh of gratitude.</p> + +<p>Once more the company settled into their seats. The young +couple sat down by the mistress of the house. Clementina +had left her seat, and was talking to Maldonado; Pepe Castro's +name recurred frequently in their conversation. Meanwhile +Cobo was improving the opportunity, and making +Pacita laugh with his impertinence; but although he hoped +that Esperanza might receive his jests with equal favour, this +was not the case. The young lady was grave and absent-minded, +and evidently trying to overhear what Ramoncito and +Clementina were saying; Pinedo had remained standing, and +was doing the civil to the Duke; and the General, seeing his +adored one in eager conversation with the new comers—tired, +too, of finding that his elaborately disguised compliments were +not understood, nor even his poetical allusions—followed his +example. The Marquesa and the priest still sat whispering +vehemently to each other in a corner, she more and more +humble and insinuating, sitting at the very edge of her chair, +and bending forward to make herself heard; he every minute +more grave and rigid, closing his eyes from time to time as if +he were in the confessional.</p> + +<p>"What a pair of babies!" said Pepa to Mariana, alluding to<a name="page_045" id="page_045"></a> +the young couple. "Is it not a shame to think of such children +being married? How much better they would be playing +with their tops!"</p> + +<p>The young people in question laughed, and looked lovingly +at each other.</p> + +<p>"They play with them still, at spare moments," said Cobo +Ramirez in a childish squeak.</p> + +<p>"Don't talk nonsense!" cried Pepa, turning on him fiercely. +"Have they told you what they play at?"</p> + +<p>Cobo and Mariana exchanged a significant look. Irenita, +the young wife, coloured deeply.</p> + +<p>"You are growing old, Pepa. Remember you are a grandmother," +said Mariana.</p> + +<p>"And such a grandmother!" exclaimed Cobo in an +undertone, intended to be heard only by the lady concerned. +She glanced at him, half smiling and half vexed, showing that +she had heard, and was on the whole pleased. Cobo affected +innocence.</p> + +<p>"Is your quarrel over?" said the widow, turning to her +children. "And how long will peace last? Mercy, what a +squabbling pair. Look here, I will go to your house no more, +for when I find you sulking I long to take a broomstick and +break it over your shoulders."</p> + +<p>The whole company turned round to look at the husband +and wife, who were smiling beatifically. This time they both +blushed. But in spite of the gravity which remained +stamped on Emilio's features, it was clear that his mother-in-law's +free and easy sallies did not altogether displease him.</p> + +<p>General Patiño, at Señora de Calderón's request, pressed +the button of an electric bell. A servant came in to whom his +mistress gave a sign, and five minutes later he reappeared with +two others, carrying trays with cups, tea, cakes and biscuits. +There was a stir of satisfaction; a change of attitude in all the +party, and the sparkle in their eyes of the animal pleased to +satisfy a craving of nature. Esperanza hastened to leave her +friend and Ramirez, and proceeded to help her mother in the<a name="page_046" id="page_046"></a> +task of pouring out tea for the company. Ramoncito took +advantage of the moment when the young girl offered him a +cup, to observe in an aside that he was much surprised at her +finding any pleasure in listening to the nonsensical or unseemly +speeches of Cobo Ramirez. Esperanza looked at him somewhat +abashed, but she replied that she had heard no nonsense; +that Cobo was very pleasant and amiable. Ramoncito, in his +lowest and most pathetic tones, protested against such an +opinion, and persisted in running down his friend, till Cobo's +suspicions were aroused, and he came up, jesting as usual. +On this our illustrious deputy grew sullen once more, and +drew in his horns; it only remained for Cobo to bring out some +piece of insulting nonsense to turn the laugh against his rival.</p> + +<p>This was the moment for discussing literature; a stage +which always supervenes in every afternoon or evening party +in Madrid. General Patiño mentioned a new play which had +just been brought out with great success, and raised some +objections to it, chiefly on the ground of certain scenes being +too highly coloured. Mariana declared that on no account, +then, would she go to see it; and all agreed in anathematising +the immorality which nowadays is the delight of play-writers. +Naturalism was becoming a curse. Cobo Ramirez, who had +taken tea and then more tea, and had eaten a fabulous quantity +of sandwiches and biscuits, told the company that he had +lately read a novel entitled "Le Journal d'une Dame"—in +French of course—which was precious, charming, the most +delightful thing he had ever read. For in literature Cobo—strange +to say—was all for refinement, spirituality and delicacy. +It was of no use to talk to him of those dreary books which +dwell on the number of times a bricklayer stretches himself +when he gets out of bed—or of biscuits and cakes a young +gentleman can eat at afternoon tea—or describe the birth of +a child and other such horrors. Novels ought to deal with +pleasant things since they are written to give pleasure. And +all this he pronounced with decision, snorting like a war-horse +as he talked. All the audience agreed with him.<a name="page_047" id="page_047"></a></p> + +<p>But this literary lecture was prematurely cut short by the +arrival of another visitor, a man, neither tall nor short, nor +stout nor thin, square shouldered and dapper, sallow, and +wearing a black beard so thick and curly that it looked like a +false one. This was no less a personage than the Minister of +Public Works, a member of the Cabinet. He carried his head +so high that the back of it was almost lost between his shoulders, +and his half-closed eyes flashed self-confident and patronising +gleams from between his long black lashes. Till the age of +two-and-twenty he had carried his head as nature intended; +but from the day when he had been made vice-president of the +section of Civil and Canon Law in the Academy of Jurisprudence, +he had begun to hold it higher and higher, by slow +and majestic degrees, as the moon rises over the sea on the +stage at the opera-house, that is to say by slight and frequent +jerks with a rope. He was elected a provincial member—a +little jerk; then deputy to the Cortes—another little jerk; +Governor of a district, and another little jerk; Director +General of a department—another; President of the Committee +of Ways and Means—another; Member of the Cabinet—yet +another. But now the rope was at an end. If they had made +him heir to the throne, Jimenez Arbos could not have held +his large head a tenth of an inch higher.</p> + +<p>His entrance on the scene produced some little sensation, +but not such as that of the Duke of Requena. He, whose +puffy, sensual face could not conceal the scorn he felt for the +Assembly, nevertheless hurried to greet him with a deference +and servility which amazed every one, all the more by comparison +with the rough discourtesy he usually displayed in +social intercourse. The Minister, on his part, distributed hand-shakings +with an air of abstraction which was positively offensive. +It was only when he greeted Pepa Frias that he showed +any signs of animation. The widow asked him in a familiar +tone:</p> + +<p>"How is it that you are in evening dress?"</p> + +<p>"I am on my way to dine at the French Embassy."<a name="page_048" id="page_048"></a></p> + +<p>"And then home?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>This dialogue, carried on very rapidly in a low voice, was +noticed by the Duke, who went up to Pinedo and asked him +mysteriously, with an expressive sign: "I say—Arbos and +Pepa Frias?"</p> + +<p>"These two months past, at least."</p> + +<p>The gaze which the banker now bestowed on the widow +was widely different from his former glances. He was more +attentive, more respectful, keener, and presently somewhat +meditative. Calderón had approached the Minister and was +talking to him with polite attention; Salabert joined them. +But the great man was not inclined to talk of business, or +perhaps he was afraid of the financier; the press had thrown +out some malevolent hints as to Requena's transactions with +the Government. So in a few minutes the Duke attached +himself, instead, to Pepa Frias, and stood chatting with her in +a corner of the room.</p> + +<p>Clementina was growing more and more impatient, longing +vehemently to get away. Still, she would not go, for fear her +father should insist on accompanying her. The Minister was +the first to depart, taking leave with the same impressive +absent-mindedness, never looking at the person he addressed, +but up at the ceiling. The Duke meanwhile had quite taken +possession of the widow, displaying such effusive gallantry +that he might have been about to make her a declaration of +love. The General, observing this, said to Pinedo:</p> + +<p>"Look how eager the Duke has become! He is certainly +making love to Pepa."</p> + +<p>"No," replied the other very gravely. "He is making love +to the transfer of the Riosa Mining Company."</p> + +<p>At this moment Pepa Frias announced in a loud voice that +she was going.</p> + +<p>"Where are you off to, next?" asked the banker.</p> + +<p>"To Lhardy's shop, to buy some Italian sausages."</p> + +<p>"I will take you there."<a name="page_049" id="page_049"></a></p> + +<p>"Do—and I will treat you to some little tarts."</p> + +<p>The Duke was delighted to accept the invitation.</p> + +<p>"Come along, too, child?" she added to her daughter.</p> + +<p>Clementina waited only five minutes longer. As soon as +she felt sure of not overtaking her father on the stairs, she +rose, and, under the pretext of having forgotten some commission, +she also took leave.<a name="page_050" id="page_050"></a></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III<br /><br /> +<small>SALABERT'S DAUGHTER.</small></h2> + +<p class="nind">C<small>LEMENTINA</small> descended the stairs in some anxiety, and on +setting foot in the street, breathed a sigh of relief. She went +off at a brisk pace down the Calle del Siete de Julia, across +the Plaza Mayor, and on through the Calle de Atocha. On +reaching this, she suddenly remembered the youth who had +previously followed her, and turned her head in anxiety. No +one. There was nothing to alarm her. No one was in pursuit. +At the door of one of the best houses in the street she stopped, +looked hastily and stealthily both ways, and went in. A hardly +perceptible sign of inquiry to the porter, was answered by +his hand to his cap. She flew to the back staircase, to escape +any unpleasant meeting no doubt, and ran up in such a hurry +that on reaching the second floor she was quite breathless, and +pressed one hand to her heart. With the other, she knocked +twice at one of the doors, which was instantly and noiselessly +opened; she rushed in as if the enemy were at her heels.</p> + +<p>"Better late than never," said a young man who had opened +it, and who carefully shut it again.</p> + +<p>He was a man of eight-and-twenty or thirty, above the +middle height, slightly built, with delicate and regular features, +a colour in his cheeks, a moustache curled up at the ends, a +pointed chin-tuft, and black hair carefully parted down the +middle. He looked like a toy soldier—that is to say, he was +of the effeminate military type. His face was not unlike those +of the dolls on which tailors display ready-made clothing, and +was not less unpleasing and repulsive. He wore a pearl-grey<a name="page_051" id="page_051"></a> +velvet morning jacket, elaborately braided, and slippers of the +same material and colour, with initials embroidered in gold. +It was evident at a glance that he was one of those men who +care greatly for the decoration of their person; who touch up +every detail with as much finish and attention as a sculptor +bestows on a statue; who believe that curling and gumming +their moustaches is a sacred and bounden duty; who accept +the fact that the Supreme Creator has bestowed on them a +fascinating presence, and do their best to improve on His work.</p> + +<p>"How late you are!" he exclaimed once more, fixing on her +face a conventional gaze of sad reproach.</p> + +<p>The lady rewarded him with a gracious smile, saying at the +same time in a tone of raillery, "It is never too late if luck +comes at last."</p> + +<p>She took his hand and pressed it fondly; then, still holding +it, she led him along the passages to a small room which +seemed to be the young man's study. It was a luxurious den, +artistically decorated; the walls were hung with dark blue +plush curtains, held up by rings on a bronze rod under the +cornice; there were arm-chairs of various shapes and sizes, a +writing-table in walnut-wood ornamented with wrought-iron, +and by the side of it a book-stand with a few books—about +two dozen perhaps. Suspended by silken cords from the ceiling, +and against the walls, were horse-trappings and several +saddles, common and military, with their stirrups hanging +down; curbs of many ages and lands, whips, fine woollen horse-cloths +richly embroidered, gold and silver spurs, all very handsome +and in perfect order. The hippic tastes of the owner of +this "study" were no less evident in the corridor which led to +it from the door; everywhere there were portraits of horses +saddled or stripped. Even on the writing-table, the inkstand, +paper-weights, and paper-knife were decorated with horse-shoes +stirrups, or whips. Through an arch with columns, only half-closed +by a handsome tapestry curtain representing a youth in +powder kneeling to a lady <i>à la Pompadour</i>, a handsome +mahogany bedstead with a canopy was visible.<a name="page_052" id="page_052"></a></p> + +<p>On reaching this little room the lady let herself drop gracefully +into a pretty little lounging chair, and went on in a light +jesting tone: "So you are not glad to see me?"</p> + +<p>"Very. But I should have been glad to see you sooner. I +have been waiting for you above an hour and a half."</p> + +<p>"And what then? Is it such a sacrifice to wait an hour and a +half for the woman who adores you? Have you not read how +Leander swam every evening across the Hellespont to see his +beloved? No, you have never read that nor anything else. +Well, I believe that knowledge would not suit you. Books +would spoil that pretty colour in your cheeks, and undermine +the strength and agility with which you ride and drive. Besides, +some men were born only to be handsome and strong and to +amuse themselves, and you are one of them."</p> + +<p>"Come, come. It seems to me that you regard me as an +idiot ignorant even of my alphabet?" exclaimed the young +man somewhat piqued and distressed, as he stood in front +of her.</p> + +<p>"No, my dear, no!" she replied, laughing, and seizing one +of his hands she kissed it with a sudden impulse of tenderness. +"Now you are insulting me. Do you think I could love an +idiot? Take this," she went on, taking off her hat. "Put +my hat on the bed with the greatest care. Now come here, +wretch that you are. You are so touchy that you forget you +began by being rude to me. An hour and a half! What +then? Come close; kneel down; wait till I pull your hair +for you."</p> + +<p>But the young man, instead of obeying her, drew up a +smoking chair, and perched himself on it in front of her.</p> + +<p>"Do you know what kept me? Why that tiresome boy who +followed me again."</p> + +<p>And as she spoke she suddenly grew serious: a well-defined +frown puckered her pretty brows.</p> + +<p>"It is insufferable," she went on. "I do not know what to +do. Whenever I stir, morning or evening, this shadow haunts +me. I had to take refuge at Mariana's; then, having gone there<a name="page_053" id="page_053"></a> +I had no choice but to stay a little while. Papa came in, and +to avoid his escorting me home I had to wait till he went first. +So you see."</p> + +<p>"A pretty fellow is that boy!" exclaimed the man, with a +laugh.</p> + +<p>"Very much so! It would be very amusing if he found out +where I come, and every one were to hear of it, and it were to +reach my husband's ears. Laugh away, laugh away!"</p> + +<p>"Why not? Who but you would think of objecting to so +platonic an admirer? Have you had any note from him? +Has he ever spoken a word to you?"</p> + +<p>"That would not matter in the least. It is the persecution +which jars on my nerves. He is just such a boy as would be +capable out of mere spite, if he detected me entering this +house, of writing an anonymous letter. And you know the +peculiar position in which I stand with regard to my +husband."</p> + +<p>"There is not a chance of it. Those who write anonymous +notes are not admirers, but envious women. Shall I meet him +face to face and give him a fright?"</p> + +<p>"How can you ask such a question!" exclaimed Clementina, +indignantly. "Listen Pepe, you are a man of feeling, and have +plenty of intelligence, but you sadly lack a little more delicacy +to enable you to understand certain things. You should give +rather less time to your club and your horses, and cultivate +your mind a little."</p> + +<p>"Is that your opinion?" cried Pepe, angered extremely +by this reproof.</p> + +<p>"Well, if you wish that I should not tell you such things, +there are others which you should not say."</p> + +<p>Pepe Castro shrugged his shoulders scornfully, and rose +from his chair. He paced the room two or three times with an +air of abstraction, and stopped at last in front of a little picture +which he took down to dust it with his handkerchief. Clementina +watched him with anger in her eyes. She suddenly +started to her feet as if moved by a spring; but then, controlling<a name="page_054" id="page_054"></a> +her petulance, she quietly went into the adjoining room, +took her hat off the bed, and began to put it on in front of a +looking-glass, very deliberately, though the slight trembling of +her hands still betrayed the annoyance she was repressing.</p> + +<p>"There," she presently exclaimed, in a tone of indifference, +"I am going. Do you want anything out?"</p> + +<p>The young man turned round, and exclaimed with surprise: +"Already!"</p> + +<p>"Already," replied she with affected determination.</p> + +<p>Castro went up to her, put his arm round her neck, and +raising the red veil with the other hand, kissed her on the +temple.</p> + +<p>"It is always the same," said he. "I get the broken head +and you want to wear the bandage."</p> + +<p>"What is that you are saying?" she replied in some confusion. +"I am going because I have another visit to pay +before dinner."</p> + +<p>"Come Clementina, you cannot make believe, even if you +wish it. You must understand that I cannot listen to insults +and laugh, and you insult me at every moment."</p> + +<p>"I really do not understand you; I do not know what +insults or make believe you allude to," she replied, with +affected innocence.</p> + +<p>Pepe tried coaxingly to take her hat off again, but she repelled +him with an imperious gesture. He then put his +arm round her waist and led her to the sofa; he sat down and +taking her hands kissed them again and again with passionate +affection. She stood upright and would not be softened. +However, he was so vehement and so humble in his endearments, +that at last she snatched away her hands and exclaimed, +half laughing, but still half vexed:</p> + +<p>"Have done, have done: I am tired of your whining—like +a Newfoundland dog! You are abject. I would be torn in +pieces before I would humiliate myself like that."</p> + +<p>She took her hat off, and went herself to place it on the bed.</p> + +<p>"When a man is as much in love as I am," replied the youth<a name="page_055" id="page_055"></a> +somewhat abashed, "he does not regard anything as a humiliation."</p> + +<p>"Really and truly, boy?" said she, smiling and taking him by +the chin with her slender pink fingers; "I do not believe it. +You are not the stuff that lovers are made of. Well, I will +put you to the proof. If I told you to do a thing that might +cost you your life, or, which is worse, your honour—a few +years in prison—would you do it?"</p> + +<p>"I should think so!"</p> + +<p>"Well then—well then, I want you to kill my husband."</p> + +<p>"How barbarous!" he exclaimed in dismay, opening his +eyes very wide.</p> + +<p>The lady looked at him steadily for a few minutes with +scrutinising, sarcastic eyes. Then with a sharp laugh, she +exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"You see, miserable man, you see! You are a fine gentleman +of Madrid, a member of the <i>Savage Club</i>. Neither for +me nor any other woman would you exchange your dress-coat +and white waistcoat for a prison uniform."</p> + +<p>"You have such strange ideas."</p> + +<p>"Well, well. Go on in the way which your pusillanimous +nature points out to you, and do not get into mischief. You +will understand that I only spoke in jest; but it has confirmed +me in the opinion I had already formed."</p> + +<p>"But if you have so poor an opinion of my devotion, I do +not know why you should love me," said the young man, again +somewhat piqued.</p> + +<p>"Why I love you? For the same reason for which I do +everything—Caprice. I saw you one day in the Park of the +Retiro, breaking in a horse splendidly, and I took a fancy to +you. Then, two months later, I saw you at the fencing gallery +at Biarritz, crossing foils with a Russian, and that finally +bewitched me. I got you introduced to me, I did my best to +please you—I did in fact please you—and here we are."</p> + +<p>Pepe made up his mind to endure with patience her half +cynical tone of raillery, and by dint of talking she presently<a name="page_056" id="page_056"></a> +dropped it. Clementina when she was content, was affectionate +and gay, and ready to yield to impulses of generosity; her +face, as singular as it was beautiful, never indeed softened to +sweetness, but it had a kind, maternal expression which was +very attractive. But if her nerves were irritated, and her +opinions or wishes were crossed, the under-current of pride, +obstinacy and even cruelty, which lay beneath, came to the +surface, and her blue eyes shot flashes of fierce sarcasm or +fury.</p> + +<p>Pepe Castro, who was neither illustrious nor clever, had +nevertheless the art of amusing her with the gossip of society, +and innuendoes against those persons for whom she had a +marked antipathy. The means were coarse but the effect was +excellent. The Condesa de T——, a lady whom Clementina +hated mortally for some displeasure she had once done her, +was desperately hard up; she had gone to borrow of Z—— +the old banker, who had granted the loan, but at a percentage +which had made the lady stare. The Marqués de L——, and +his wife, for whom also she had an aversion, had, before he +was in office, given entertainments to the electors at their +country house, with splendid banquets; but as soon as he was +made Minister, though they still gave parties there was no <i>buffet</i>. +Julita R——, a very pretty girl who, again, was no favourite +with the haughty lady, had been turned out of doors by the +M—— s for having been found in their son's room—a lad of +fifteen. This and much more of the same kind fell from the +lips of the generous youth, with a scornful humour which put +the fair one into a better temper. This was Pepe Castro's sole +talent of an intellectual character; his other accomplishments +were purely physical.</p> + +<p>The clouds had cleared from Clementina's brow. She was +now loquacious, smiling, and lavish of caresses; during the +hour she remained with her lover, he was amply indemnified +for the stabs she had given him on first arriving, as happy as +their <i>tête-à-tête</i> could make him.</p> + +<p>It had already long since become dusk. The youth lighted<a name="page_057" id="page_057"></a> +the two lamps on the chimney-piece, without calling the servant—his +only servant, and the only living soul with him in +his rooms.</p> + +<p>Pepe Castro was the son of a noble house of Arragon; +his elder brother bore a well-known title, and his sister had +married into a family of rank. He had been educated at +Madrid; at the age of twenty he lost his father. For a time +he lived with his elder brother, but it was not long before they +quarrelled, since the elder, who was economical to avarice, +could not endure Pepe's wasteful extravagance. He then +tried living under his sister's roof, but at the end of a few +months incompatibility of temper between himself and his +brother-in-law led to such violent disputes, that it was said in +the Madrid clubs and drawing-rooms that they had cuffed and +cudgelled each other soundly; a duel was only prevented by +the interference of some of the more respectable members of +the family. Then, after living for some time at an hotel, he +decided on furnishing rooms. He engaged a servant, had his +breakfast brought in from an eating-house, and dined sometimes +at Lhardy's and sometimes with one or another of his +numerous friends. His stables were in the immediate neighbourhood, +Calle de las Urosa, and were not ill-furnished: two +saddle horses, one English and one cross-bred; two teams, +one foreign and one Spanish; a Berline, a cart, a mail-phaeton, +and a break; it was a channel through which his fortune was +rapidly running away, though it was not the principal one. He +had, in fact, left the greater portion on the gaming-tables at +the club, and by no means a small part bad been grabbed by +certain smart damsels, whom he had promoted in a few hours +to the rank of fashionable courtesans. This, however, was a +fact he always denied, thinking it might diminish his prestige +as a lady-killer; but it is nevertheless a fact, like everything +else herein set down.</p> + +<p>All this is as much as to say that Pepe Castro was at this +moment a ruined man; nevertheless, he went on living in the +same comfort and style. His losses and his borrowing cost<a name="page_058" id="page_058"></a> +him a great deal: loans from his brother on the mortgage of +estate he could not sell, post-obits to merciless usurers on his +prospects from an old and infirm uncle, accepted for three +times their cash value; jewels given him by his sister, who +could not give him money; exorbitant charges run up by the +importers of carriages and horses; bills with the tailor, the +perfumer; with Lhardy, the restaurant-keeper, with every one +in short.</p> + +<p>It seemed impossible that a man could live easy in such a +tangle of toils and nets. And nevertheless, our young gentleman +enjoyed the same beautiful serenity of mind and lightness +of heart as many others of his comrades and acquaintances, +who, as we shall have occasion to see, were no less ruined, +though less fascinating.</p> + +<p>"I have a surprise in store for you," said Clementina, as +she again put on her hat and tidied her hair in front of the +glass.</p> + +<p>The handsome puppy sniffed the air, like a hound that +scents game, and he went up to Clementina.</p> + +<p>"If it is a pleasant one let me see it."</p> + +<p>"Yes, and no less if it is an unpleasant one, rude boy. Everything +I can do ought to be pleasant to you."</p> + +<p>"No doubt, no doubt.—Let me see," he went on, trying to +conceal his eagerness.</p> + +<p>"Very well; bring me my muff."</p> + +<p>Castro flew to obey. Clementina, when she had it in her +hands, sat down on the sofa with an affectation of calm, and +flourishing it in the air, she exclaimed: "Now you will not +guess what I have in this muff?"</p> + +<p>Her eyes were bright with glee and pride at the same time. +Castro's sparkled with anxiety; the colour mounted to his +cheeks, and he replied in a tone between assertion and inquiry:</p> + +<p>"Fifteen thousand pesetas."<a name="FNanchor_C_3" id="FNanchor_C_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_C_3" class="fnanchor">[C]</a></p> + +<p>The lady's triumphant expression instantly changed to one +of wrath and disgust.<a name="page_059" id="page_059"></a></p> + +<p>"Go—go away—Pig!" she furiously cried, giving him a +hard box on the ear with the handsome muff. "You think of +nothing but money. You have not a grain of delicacy."</p> + +<p>"I thought——" The change in Pepe's face was no less +marked; it was more gloomy than night.</p> + +<p>"Of money, yes; I tell you so. Well then, no. Nothing +of the kind. Nothing but a little tie-pin, which—fool that I +am—I bought at Marbini's as I came along, to show you that +I am always thinking of you."</p> + +<p>"And I thank you from the bottom of my heart, my sweet +pigeon," said the young man, making a supreme effort to recover +from his sudden dejection, and producing, as a result, a forced +and bitter smile. "Why do you fly into such pets? Give it +me. But I know what a bad opinion you have of me."</p> + +<p>Clementina would not give him her present. Pepe begged +for it humbly; still there was in his entreaties a shade of +coldness, which to the keen intuition of a woman, betrayed +very plainly the disappointment at the bottom of his soul.</p> + +<p>"No, no! My poor little pin that you despise so—I can +see it in your face. It shall go into the box where I keep +memorials of the dead."</p> + +<p>She rose from her seat and pulled down her veil. Pepe +was pressing in his endeavours to be attentive, and to mollify +her wrath. At last, when she had almost reached the door, +she suddenly turned about and drew out of her muff a neat +little jewel-box, which she gave to her lover, looking him +straight in the face meanwhile.</p> + +<p>The young man's eyes opened, resting on the box with an +expression of delight; then they met those of his mistress. +They gazed at each other for a minute, she with a look +of mischievous triumph, he with gratitude and suppressed joy.</p> + +<p>"I always said so! No one in the world knows what love +means, but you, my darling. Come here; let me thank you, +let me worship you on my knees."</p> + +<p>He dragged her to the sofa, made her sit down, and falling +on his knees, kissed her gloved hands with rapture.<a name="page_060" id="page_060"></a></p> + +<p>"Mercy, what madness!" cried the lady quite bewildered. +"What a whirlwind round a trifle."</p> + +<p>"It is not for the money, my darling, not for the money; +but because you have such an original way of doing things. +Because you are such a trump, such an angel!" He clasped +her knees, he grovelled before her, and kissed her feet—or, to +be exact, her boots.</p> + +<p>"What an abject thing you are, Pepe!" said she, laughing.</p> + +<p>"I don't care what you call me; I am yours, your slave till +death. I owe you not only happiness, but honour. You +cannot think what I have gone through these two days, over +that cursed debt!" he said, in a voice of genuine emotion.</p> + +<p>"And will you go and gamble any more, eh? Gamble, +and lose it all, you wretch," said she, tumbling his hair and +spoiling the beautiful parting down the middle.</p> + +<p>"No—I swear it on my word of honour."</p> + +<p>"On your word, and on your money, wretched man? +Well, I am off," she added, with a fond little pat, and she +went to look at the clock on the chimney-piece. "Mercy! +How late it is—I must fly. Good-bye."</p> + +<p>She ran to the door, waving her hand to her lover, without +looking at him. He could only clutch it, and kiss the tips of +her fingers.</p> + +<p>He rushed to open the door for her, but her hand was +already on the lock; indeed, she was in a fury, because her +feeble efforts would not turn it.</p> + +<p>"By-bye—till Saturday!" said she, in a whisper.</p> + +<p>"Till the day after to-morrow."</p> + +<p>"No, no—till Saturday."</p> + +<p>She ran downstairs with the same cautious haste as she had +used in coming up, nodded imperceptibly to the porter, and +went out. She walked as far as the Plaza del Angel; there +she took a hackney coach to drive home.</p> + +<p> +<br /> +</p> + +<p>It was now past six; the lights in the shops had been +blazing for an hour or more. She sat as far back in the corner<a name="page_061" id="page_061"></a> +as she could and gazed without interest or curiosity at the +streets she passed through. Her face had resumed its characteristic +expression of scornful haughtiness, qualified by a certain +degree of disdain and absent-mindedness.</p> + +<p>Her refined elegance, her arrogant mien, and, above all, the +severe majesty of her exceptional beauty stamped Clementina +beyond question as one of the most <i>distinguées</i> women of +Madrid. At the same time, though she was recognised as such, +figuring in all the drawing-rooms of the aristocracy, in all the +lists of fashionable persons which the papers publish on the +day after a ball, a race, or any other entertainment, by birth-right +she was far from belonging to such a set. Her origin +could not have been more humble. Her mother had been an +Irish girl, the mistress of a cooper, who had landed at Valencia +in search of work. Her name was Rosa Coote; she was +extraordinarily handsome, and would have been even more so +if she had cared for dressing or adorning her person; but the +squalor in which the illicit home was kept had made her +neglectful and dirty. The Valencia waif and the handsome +Irish girl came to an understanding behind the cooper's back. +Salabert was quite young and a brisk youth; he was not, like +the girl's present protector, a victim to drunkenness. Rosa +abandoned her former lover to go off with him. Within a few +months, Salabert, who saw an opening for going to Cuba as +steward on board a steamboat, in his turn deserted her. The +Irishwoman, expecting then the birth of the offspring of this +connection, wandered about for some time without any protector +or means of living till she became acquainted with a +carpenter, who ultimately made her his lawful wife. Clementina +grew up as an intruder in this new home. Her mother was a +violent and irascible creature, with bursts of tenderness which +she kept exclusively for her legitimate children. Clementina +she seemed to hate, and avenged on her her father's offence +with cruel injustice.</p> + +<p>A fearful childhood was that of Clementina.</p> + +<p>If some details of it could but have been known in Madrid;<a name="page_062" id="page_062"></a> +if, only in some brief vision, the scenes through which this +proudest and most arrogant of dames had passed could have +been placed before the eyes of her fashionable acquaintance, +who would have envied her? What tortures, what refinement +of cruelty! At the age of four or five she was made the +watchful nurse of two brothers younger than herself, and if she +neglected the smallest particular of her duties the punishment +followed at once, but not such punishment as was due—a slap, +or her ears pulled. No, it was premeditated to hurt her as +much and as long as possible; after flogging her with a strap +the wounds were washed with vinegar, she was made to tread +for hours on hard peas, to wear shoes that pinched her feet, to +go without water, she was thrashed with nettles.</p> + +<p>More than once, on hearing the hapless child's outcries, the +neighbours had intervened and had remonstrated with the +unnatural mother. But nothing ever came of it beyond a +noisy discussion, in which the passionate Irishwoman, in +sputtering Valencian, poured out her wrath on the gossips of +the quarter, and afterwards vented her fury on the cause of the +squabble. She was always declaring that she would send the +child to the workhouse, but this was opposed by the carpenter, +who prided himself on being a kind-hearted and merciful man, +and who sometimes interfered to mitigate her punishment, +though he generally left it to his wife "to correct her daughter," +as he said to the neighbours who blamed him. His educational +notions clashed with his more kindly instincts, and when they +got the upper hand, alas, for the poor little girl!</p> + +<p>Certain details of these horrible torments were sickening. +On one occasion Clementina had been to the well and broken +the pitcher. It was the third within a month. The child dared +not go home, and sought refuge with a neighbour. The woman +took her to her mother, but did not leave her till she had +extorted a promise that she should not be punished. And in +point of fact her mother did not punish her by any ordinary +process of chastisement; her cries might have led to a disturbance. +She formed the diabolical idea of holding the girl's<a name="page_063" id="page_063"></a> +head over a foul sink, till she was half asphyxiated and fainted +away. The worst days for the wretched child were when she +had dropped asleep at her prayers. The cruel Irishwoman +was a bigot, and this offence she never forgave. On one occasion, +she beat her so mercilessly for repeating her prayers half +asleep before going to bed, that the carpenter, who was peacefully +eating his supper in the kitchen, heard her cries, and went +up to the bedroom, where he rescued her from her mother, who +would otherwise perhaps have been the death of her.</p> + +<p>This course of incredible cruelties ended at last in one which +led to the interference of justice. The unnatural mother, at +her wit's end how to torture the girl, burnt her legs with a +candle. A neighbour happening to hear of it told others, and +the scandal in the quarter produced a stir; they appealed to +justice, informed against the Irishwoman, and the crime being +proved, she was condemned to six months' imprisonment, while +the girl was placed in an asylum.</p> + +<p>About a year later Salabert came to Valencia, not yet a +potentate, but with some money. On hearing what had occurred +he went to see his daughter at the school for poor girls, whence +he removed her to one where he paid for her education, and at +long intervals went to see her. His generous deed was highly +lauded, and he knew how to make it tell, setting himself up in +the eyes of those who knew him as a living model of paternal +devotion, in shining contrast to the brutality of his deserted +mistress.</p> + +<p>Not long after, he married, and settled in Madrid. His wife +was the daughter of a dealer in iron bedsteads and spring +mattresses, in the Calle Mayor. She was plain and sickly, but +gentle and affectionate, with fifty thousand dollars for her +portion. At the end of three or four years of married life, +finding her health increasingly delicate, Doña Carmen lost all +hope of having any children, and knowing that her husband +had an illegitimate daughter in a Convent at Valencia, she +proposed, with rare generosity, to have her at home and treat +her as their child. Salabert accepted gladly; he went to<a name="page_064" id="page_064"></a> +fetch Clementina, and thenceforward a complete change came +over the girl's fate.</p> + +<p>She was at this time aged fourteen, and already a marvel of +beauty, a happy combination of the refined and delicate +northern type with the severer beauty of the Valencian women. +Undeveloped as yet, in consequence of the cruel experiences +of her childhood followed by the quiet routine of a convent, +under this change of climate and mode of life she acquired in +two or three years the commanding stature and majestic proportions +we have seen. Her moral nature left much more to +be desired. Her temper was irritable, obstinate, scornful, and +gloomy. Whether she was born with these characteristics or +they were the result of the misery and sufferings of her wretched +infancy it would be hard to decide. In the convent, where she +was never ill-treated, she was not much loved by her teachers +or her companions; her character was suspicious, and her heart +devoid of tenderness. Her companions' troubles not only did +not touch her; but brought a cruel smile to her lips, which filled +them with aversion. Then, from time to time, she had fits of +fury, which made her both feared and hated. On one occasion, +when a young girl had spoken to her in offensive terms, she had +clutched her by the throat and nearly strangled her. And it +was quite impossible afterwards to induce her to beg pardon, +as the mother superior required her to do; she preferred a +month of solitary confinement rather than humble herself.</p> + +<p>The first months of her life in her father's house were a +period of trial for kind Doña Carmen. Instead of a bright +young creature, grateful for the immense favour she had done +her, she found herself confronted with a little heartless savage, +devoid of affection or docility, extravagant and capricious to +the last degree, who never laughed heartily excepting when a +servant had an accident, or a groom was kicked by a horse. +But the good woman did not lose courage. With the unfailing +instinct of a generous heart she understood that if no love +could spring from the soil it was because nothing had been +sown in it but the seeds of hate. The softer affections exist in<a name="page_065" id="page_065"></a> +every human soul, as electricity exists in every body; but to +detect them, to rouse a response, they must be treated for a +length of time with a strong current of kindness. This was +what Doña Carmen did to her stepdaughter. For six months +she kept her in a warm atmosphere of affection, a close net of +delicate thoughtfulness, and unfailing proofs of lively and +loving interest. At last Clementina, who had begun by being +first disdainful and then indifferent, who would pass hours +together locked in her own room and never go near her +stepmother but when she was sent for, who never had made +any advances, but lived in absolute reserve, suddenly succumbed, +feeling the vital and mysterious throb which binds +human beings to each other, as it does all the bodies of the +created universe. The change was strange and violent, like +everything else in that strangely compounded temperament. +At the most unlooked-for moment she fell on her knees before +Doña Carmen, professing such deep respect, such passionate +affection, that the good woman was amazed, and had great +difficulty in believing in her sincerity. The revelation of +lovingkindness had burst at length on the girl's soul; her icy +heart had melted under the motherly warmth of the large-hearted +woman; the divine essence of love henceforth had a +home where hitherto the essence of Satan alone had dwelt.</p> + +<p>It was a perfect miracle. Instead of spending her life in +her room, she would never leave her stepmother's; she now +called her "Mamma" with a fervour, a joy, a determination, +such as are only to be seen in the devout when they appeal +to the Virgin. And Clementina's feeling for her father's wife +was in truth devotion. Amazed to find that so gentle, so +tender a being could exist in this world, she was never tired of +gazing at her, as though she had dropped from heaven. She +would read her thoughts in her eyes, anticipate her smallest +wishes, let no one serve her but herself; and, like every lover, +insisted on the exclusive possession of the object of her affection. +The slightest sign of disapproval on Doña Carmen's part was +enough to disconcert her and plunge her into the deepest grief.<a name="page_066" id="page_066"></a> +The haughty creature, who had made herself generally odious, +would humble herself with intense satisfaction before her stepmother. +It was the humiliation of the mystic prostrated by an +irresistible spiritual impulse. When she felt the good woman's +hand caress her face she fancied it was the touch of God Himself, +and hardly dared to touch those thin, transparent fingers +with her lips.</p> + +<p>But it was only to her stepmother that she had so entirely +changed. To all else, including her father, she still displayed +the same scornful coldness, the same proud and obstinate +temper. If now and again she seemed sweeter and more +tractable, it was due, not to her own will, but to some express +command of Doña Carmen's; and as soon as this command was +at an end, or forgotten, she was the same malevolent being once +more. The servants hated her for the insufferable pride which +she showed as soon as she realised her position as her father's +heiress, and for her total lack of compassion if they did wrong.</p> + +<p>The greatest sufferer was the English governess whom her +father had engaged for her. She was an elderly woman, but +she had a mania for dressing and tricking herself out like a girl. +This harmless weakness was so constantly the theme of Clementina's +mockery, that only necessity could have made the +poor woman endure it. All the secrets of her toilet were +mercilessly revealed for the amusement of the servants, and her +physical defects, mimicked by the young lady's waiting-maid, +were the laughing-stock of the kitchen. On a certain grand +occasion, a day when there was a dinner-party, Clementina +hid the old maid's false teeth, which she had left on the +dressing-table after washing them. Her discomfiture may be +imagined. But she took an innocent revenge by calling her +"<i>Señorita Capricho</i>" and setting her as an exercise to translate +from English into French certain maxims and aphorisms of +scorching application, as: "Pride is the leprosy of the soul; +a proud girl is a leper whom all should avoid with horror." +"Those who do not respect their seniors can never hope to +be respected," and the like.<a name="page_067" id="page_067"></a></p> + +<p>Clementina laughed at these innuendoes; sometimes she +would even dare to substitute some phrase of her own for +that of her governess. Where she should have translated: +"There is nothing so odious and contemptible as haughtiness +in the young," she would write: "There is nothing so +ridiculous and laughable as presumption in the old." Miss, +as she was called, took offence, and complained to Doña +Carmen, who would appeal to her stepdaughter, reproving +her gently, and Clementina, seeing her grieved and annoyed, +would smoothe her brow and kiss her lovingly. And all was +well till next time. In fact Miss Anna and the servants +were no doubt in the right when they said that the Señora +would be the ruin of the girl. Doña Carmen, living in fearful +solitude of soul, was so captivated and gratified by the warm +affection her stepdaughter was always ready to lavish on her +that she had no eyes for her faults, and even if she had, would +not have found the courage to correct them.</p> + +<p>At eighteen Clementina was one of the loveliest and wealthiest +women of Madrid. Her father's fortune grew like the +scum of yeast. He was regarded as one of the great bankers +of the city, and was not known to have any other heir, nor +was it likely that he would have one. The young aristocrats +of family or wealth—the best known members of the <i>Savage +Club</i>—began to flutter about her with the most pressing and +eager attentions. If she appeared at a party a group of men +fenced her round; if she went to church, another and a larger +party stood in a row awaiting her exit; if she drove out in the +Castellana Avenue, a cavalcade of admirers galloped beside her +carriage as a guard of honour; at the theatre pairs of opera-glasses +were invariably fixed upon her. The name of Clementina +Salabert was to be heard in all the conversations of the +gilded youth of Madrid, to be seen in print in every drawing-room +chronicle, and was registered in the capital as that of one +of the brightest stars of the firmament of fashion. She took up +and dropped one lover after another without a thought, thus +earning the reputation of a flirt and feather-brain. But this<a name="page_068" id="page_068"></a> +never interferes with a girl's chance of adorers; on the contrary, +the self-love of men prompts them to pay great attentions to +women of that stamp, in the hope, born of vanity, of being the +nail to fix the weather-cock. Nor did she suffer any serious +damage from a coarse and malignant rumour which, all through +Madrid, connected her in a strange friendship with a young +and famous bull-fighter. In this affair Doña Carmen's simplicity +and weakness played a leading part. Not only did the +good lady allow the man to visit at her house, and sit at her +table, but she even accompanied the pair in public on more +than one occasion. This, and her having cheered him at the +death of several bulls, gave scandal—as busy in the capital as +in the provinces—sufficient pretext for an attack on the envied +beauty. But as it could bring forward nothing but bold suspicion +and vague conjecture, and as, on the other side, there +were positive facts which far outweighed them, the calumny +did not diminish the number of her adorers. Its only use was +as an outlet for the bile of some rejected one.</p> + +<p>At this age, and often after, Clementina's manners betrayed +a strong infusion of Bohemianism—of the free and +easy airs and sarcastic coolness of the adventuresses of Madrid. +A similar tendency may be observed, in a more or less exaggerated +form, in all the upper circles of Madrid Society; it +is a mark which distinguishes it from that of other countries. +And in this tendency, which is everywhere conspicuous from +the palace to the hovel, there is some good; it is not wholly +evil. In the first place it implies a protest against the perpetual +falsehood which the increasing refinement and complication +of social formalities inevitably entail. Propriety of +conduct and moderation of language are highly praiseworthy +no doubt, but in an exaggerated form they result in the cold +courtesy of a <i>diplomate</i> at a foreign Court. Men and women, +crushed under the weight of so much formality, become artificial +beings, puppets, whose acts and words are all set forth in +a programme. To exclude liberty and familiarity from society +is to undermine human nature; to prohibit frankness of speech<a name="page_069" id="page_069"></a> +is to destroy the charm which ought to exist in all human +intercourse.</p> + +<p>Moreover, an instinct of equality underlies this assertion of +freedom, and cannot fail to make it attractive to every lover of +Nature and truth. A lady is not a bundle of fine clothes, of +foregone conclusions and ready-made phrases; she is, above +all else, a woman in whom culture has, or ought to have, +tempered impetuosity of character and impulses of vanity, but +not to have impaired the genuineness of Nature by transforming +her in society into a cold dry doll, devoid of grace and +originality. It must not be supposed that the perfect refinement +and elegance proper to the scenes where the upper +classes meet are unknown in Madrid. They are constantly +observed by almost every Spanish woman of family; but, +happily, they are united with the vivacity, grace, and spontaneity +of the Spanish race, making our fair ones, in the opinion +of impartial observers, the most accomplished, gracious, and +agreeable women in Europe—excepting, perhaps, the French.</p> + +<p>Clementina had a somewhat exaggerated taste for this freedom +of word and action. She had acquired it no one knows +how—by contagion in the atmosphere perhaps—since women +in her position are not in the habit of spending their time with +the commoner sort. She had had a waiting maid, born and +brought up in Maravillas, and it was from her, in her moments +of excitement, that Clementina picked up the greater part +of her slang and sayings. Then came her friendship with the +<i>torero</i> above-mentioned; an acquaintance with various young +men who cultivated that style; the lower class of theatres, +where the manners and customs of the lower classes of the +Madrid populace are set on the stage—not without grace; +and her intimacy with Pepe Frias, and some other fast women +of fashion, finally gave her the full Bohemian flavour. She +was an enthusiast for bull-fights. It was a perfect marvel if +she missed one, sitting in her private box with the orthodox +white mantilla and red carnations. And she would discuss the +chances, and fulminate criticisms, and bestow applause; and<a name="page_070" id="page_070"></a> +was regarded by the <i>habitués</i> as a keen and eager connoisseur. +The national sport, exciting and bloody, was quite after her +mind, violent and indomitable as she was by nature. When +she saw other women covering their eyes or showing weakness +over the fortunes of the arena, she laughed sardonically, as +doubting the genuineness of their horror.</p> + +<p>Among the many adorers and suitors who successively and +rapidly rose and fell in her favour, there was one who succeeded +in securing her notice, at any rate, for a rather longer time than +the rest. His name was Tomas Osorio. He was a young man +of twenty-eight or thirty, rich, small and delicate, with a +pleasing face and a lively, determined temper. Either of +deliberate purpose, or from genuine independence of character, +he made a deeper impression than his peers. When he first +paid attention to her he did not cringe nor completely abdicate +his own will. In some differences on important points in the +course of his long courtship—for it lasted not less than two +years—he firmly maintained his dignity. He was, like her, +irritable, haughty and scornful; purse-proud too, and with a +spiteful wit which stood him in good stead with women. +Thanks to these qualities, Clementina did not tire of him so +soon as of the rest. But at the end of the two years, within a +few days of the marriage, it was broken off in a very public +and almost scandalous manner. All Madrid was talking of it, +and commentary was endless. The conclusion arrived at was +that it was the gentleman who had taken the first steps towards +the rupture, and this report, whether true or false, reached +Clementina's ears, and was such a stab to her pride that she +was almost ill with rage.</p> + +<p>Another year went by. She had other suitors, off and on, +and Osorio, on his part, courted other damsels. But in both, +notwithstanding, the memory of the past survived. She was +burning for revenge. So long as that man was going about the +world, so perfectly content as he seemed, she felt herself +humiliated. He, on the contrary, in spite of his affected +indifference, was still consumed by love, or rather by desire.<a name="page_071" id="page_071"></a> +Clementina had captivated his senses, had pierced his flesh, +and, do what he would, he could not extract the dart. She +was always in his thoughts, always before his eyes, provoking +his passion. The longer the time that elapsed the fiercer the +fire burned within him, and the greater were the effort and the +anguish of keeping up a haughty and indifferent demeanour +when they happened to meet. Clementina, with a penetration +common in women, had no difficulty in guessing that her +former love still cherished a secret passion for her, and felt a +malicious joy. Thenceforward she dressed and adorned herself +for him alone—to bewitch him, to fascinate him, to make +him drain the bitter cup of jealousy.</p> + +<p>From this moment dated her fame as an elegant woman. +Clementina was indeed, in this matter, a great artist. She +knew how to dress so that her clothes should never by their +colour or quality attract attention to the prejudice of her face. +Understanding that what a woman wears should be not a +uniform, but an adornment to set off the perfections which +nature has bestowed upon her, she was no blind slave of +fashion; when she thought it unbecoming to her beauty she +boldly defied it or modified it. She avoided glaring hues, a +profusion of trimmings, and elaborate styles of hair-dressing; +she regarded and treated her person as a statue. Hence a +certain tendency, constantly evident in her costume, towards +drapery, and amplitude of flowing folds. Her fine, majestic +figure gained greatly by this style of dress, which, though it +became rather pronounced after her marriage, was never exaggerated +beyond the limits of good taste. She was fond of +wearing white, and this, with a simple manner of dressing her +hair like that of the Milo Venus, made her appear in the drawing-rooms +of Madrid like a beautiful Greek statue. One thing +she did which, though highly censurable from a moral point of +view, is not so as a matter of art. She wore her dresses very +low. Her bust was superb; it might have been moulded by +the Graces to turn the head of a god. The vain desire to display +her beauty, unchecked by the wholesome control of a<a name="page_072" id="page_072"></a> +mother, led her on more than one occasion to incur the severest +comments of society. Poor Doña Carmen, besides knowing +nothing of social custom, was so lenient to her stepdaughter's +fancies and caprices, that she accepted them as quite reasonable, +and as undoubted evidence of her indisputable elegance +and taste.</p> + +<p>However, her vanity brought its own punishment. On one +occasion when she made her appearance at a ball given by the +Alcudias, the Marquesa said as she greeted her:</p> + +<p>"Very pretty, very nice, Clementina. Your dress is lovely; +but it is too low, my dear. Come with me and let us set it +right."</p> + +<p>She took the girl up to her room and, with motherly kindness, +arranged some gauzy material to cover what really ought not +to be displayed. Clementina managed to conceal her mortification, +ascribing the fault to the dressmaker; but she felt so +humiliated by the lecture, and the pitying smile which accompanied +it, that she never again could endure to see the prudish +Marquesa.</p> + +<p>Under this constant fanning Osorio's flame waxed fiercer +and fiercer, and he could no longer keep it to himself. At +last he confided in his sister, who was fairly intimate with the +young lady; he begged her to sound the way, and ascertain +whether he might once more make advances without fear of a +rebuff. Mariana undertook the commission. Clementina +heard her with ill-disguised triumph, but sat demure until +Señora de Calderón had poured out all her story, and assured +her that Tomas was burning with devotion. Then she replied +ambiguously, and with laughter: "She would think it over. +She was deeply aggrieved by the reports that had been spread +as to their rupture, but at any rate, he was not to give up all +hope."</p> + +<p>She did reflect seriously as to the means of satisfying the +demands of her wounded pride, and at the end of a few days +she announced to Mariana her ultimatum. If she was to +consent to give her hand to Osorio, he must beg it of her<a name="page_073" id="page_073"></a> +parents on his knees, in the presence of such witnesses as she +might choose.</p> + +<p>Such a preposterous idea would never have occurred to any +Spanish woman of pure race, and only the admixture of +British blood could have led her to conceive of such a monstrous +refinement of arrogance.</p> + +<p>When Osorio was informed of the conditions imposed by his +ex-<i>fiancée</i> he flew into a violent rage, and swore defiantly that +he would be cut in pieces before he would suffer such degradation. +The matter dropped, and things went on as before. +But as, in spite of his utmost efforts, the serpent of desire +gnawed at his heart with increasing virulence, the poor wretch +at the end of two months had fallen into utter dejection; he +was really dying of love; he could not tear himself from +Madrid, and once more he besought his sister to open negotiations. +Clementina, quite sure of having him in her power, was +inflexible; either he must pass beneath these strange Caudine +forks, or there was no hope.</p> + +<p>And Osorio submitted.</p> + +<p>What could he do?—The extraordinary ceremony was +carried out one evening at the lady's residence. On reaching +the house Osorio found assembled about a score of women +whom Clementina had chosen from among the most envious +of her acquaintances, or those who had been most malignant +as to the cause of their former quarrel. He adopted the best +conduct he possibly could in such a case: grave and solemn, +with a certain ease of language and manner, betraying a +suspicion of irony, as if he were performing a comedy for the +benefit of a crazy person. He gave a brief preliminary sketch +of their former engagement; confessed himself to blame; +praised Clementina in extravagant terms—with so little moderation +indeed that he seemed to be speaking sarcastically—and +professed himself unworthy to aspire to her hand. Finally +declaring that as she was so worthy to be adored, and the joy +of winning her so great, he thought it but a small thing to ask +her of her parents on his knees. At the same time he fell<a name="page_074" id="page_074"></a> +on one knee. Doña Carmen hastened to raise him, and embraced +him effusively. Clementina even pressed his hand, +better pleased by the grace and dignity with which he had got +through the ordeal, than gratified in her conceit. In truth, on +this occasion she felt for him, what she never felt again, a tiny +spark of love. If any one suffered humiliation from this scene +it was she herself, from the light and easy dignity with which +her lover carried it off. But this was a trifle; a woman enjoys +nothing more keenly and deeply than the superiority of the +man who mollifies her. Clementina was happy that evening.</p> + +<p>But though Osorio had come so well out of the ordeal, he +never forgave her the intention to humiliate him; he was as +proud as she. The insane passion she had inspired for a time +smothered every other. His honeymoon was as brief as it +was delicious. The shock of two such characters, both equally +obstinate and proud, was inevitable. It soon came in the form +of a series of petty annoyances which instantly extinguished +the feeble sparks of affection which her husband had struck in +the young wife's heart. In him passion survived longer. The +knowledge each had of the other made them cautious, for fear +of a more formidable collision which must have led to disaster. +But this too came at last. Report said that Osorio, tired of +his wife's indifference and scorn, had insulted her beyond forgiveness. +Whether or no the story as it was told was true in +all its details, their union at any rate was practically at an end +for ever. Osorio forfeited his own right to interfere with his +wife on the score of conduct, and could only look on while +Clementina unblushingly and confessedly accepted the attentions +of every man who offered them. He certainly, to parry +the ridicule to which he was thus exposed, threw himself into +excesses of dissipation, raising women from the lowest ranks +to figure as his mistresses.</p> + +<p>At home the husband and wife spoke no more to each +other than was absolutely necessary. To escape the discomfort +of a <i>tête-à-tête</i> at table, they always had some guest. +In public they made a show of the most natural and friendly<a name="page_075" id="page_075"></a> +relations; Osorio would sometimes go late to fetch his wife from +the theatre or party to which she had been. But every one +understood the facts of the case. Clementina, as a rule, would +go out on her lover's arm; they would stand talking in the +lobby in the sight of all the world, while waiting for the carriage; +she stepped in; before it drove off they would yet exchange a +few confidential and incoherent remarks interrupted by gay +laughter. Morality—fashionable morality—was satisfied, so +long as the lover did not drive off in the same carriage, though +a few minutes later they might meet again at some rendezvous.</p> + +<p>When Clementina reached home it was half-past six o'clock. +The driver whistled; the porter came out of his lodge and +opened the gate first, and then the door of the hackney coach. +He paid the man. The lady, without uttering a syllable, went +through the garden, which though small was exquisitely kept, and +up the outside steps of white marble, screened by a verandah, +which extended across half the front of the house. The house +itself was not very large, but handsome and artistic, of white +stone and fine brickwork. It had been built by Osorio about +four or five years since. As the plans had been fully discussed +and considered, the rooms were well arranged, and this made it +more comfortable than his brother-in-law's, though that was +three or four times as large.</p> + +<p>She asked a servant in the anteroom: "Where is Estefania?"</p> + +<p>"It is some time since I last saw her, Señora."</p> + +<p>She crossed a magnificent hall, lighted by two large lamps +with polished vases borne by bronze statues, went along the +corridor, and up the stairs leading to the first floor, meeting +no one on her way. At the door of the drawing-room leading +to her boudoir, she met Fernando, a page of fourteen in a +smart livery.</p> + +<p>"Estefania?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"She must be in the kitchen."</p> + +<p>"Tell her to come up at once."</p> + +<p>She entered the boudoir, and going up to a long mirror +resting on two pillar-feet of gilt wood, she took off her hat.<a name="page_076" id="page_076"></a> +The room was a small one, hung with blue satin bordered +with wreaths in <i>carton-pierre</i>. On the chimney-piece, covered +also with blue satin, stood a clock and two fine candelabra, +the work of a silversmith of the last century. The carpet was +white with a blue border; in the middle of the room there +was a <i>causeuse</i> upholstered in gold colour, the armchairs were +gilt, two large feather pillows lay on the floor. In one corner +was the mirror, in another a <i>Pompadour</i> writing-table of inlaid +wood; in the other two were columns covered with velvet, to +support the lamps which now lighted the room. On one side +this room opened into Clementina's drawing-room, and then +into her bedroom. On the other side, a door led into a small +drawing-room, where she was at home to her friends on +Tuesday afternoons, and where cards were played at night by an +intimate circle. Only a few very confidential friends were +ever admitted to her boudoir, calling at the hours when she +was "Not at home." Here those long and secret colloquies +were held which women so greatly relish, in which they pour +out their whole mind, with swift transition from the profoundest +depths to the frivolities of the day and details of dress and +fashion.</p> + +<p>Within a few seconds of her taking off her hat Estefania +came in. She was a pale young girl, with pretty black eyes; +dressed suitably to her rank but with care and finish; over her +skirt she wore a holland apron trimmed with white edging.</p> + +<p>"You might have been ready for me, child. Where had +you hidden yourself?" said her mistress, in a tone at once +cross and indifferent.</p> + +<p>"I was in the kitchen. I went to put a few stitches into +Teresa's skirt; she had torn it on a nail," replied the girl, with +affected servility.</p> + +<p>Clementina made no reply, absorbed, no doubt, in thought. +Standing in front of the mirror to take off her cloak, she gazed +at herself with the perennial interest which a pretty woman +feels in her own face.</p> + +<p>"Did you go to Escobar's?" she asked at length.<a name="page_077" id="page_077"></a></p> + +<p>"Yes, Señora."</p> + +<p>"And what did he say?"</p> + +<p>"That he has no silk so thick of that colour, but that he +would send for it if the Señora wishes."</p> + +<p>"Turura! That journey won't kill him! And to the milliner's?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, they will send the caps on Saturday."</p> + +<p>"Did you inquire after Father Miguel?"</p> + +<p>"No, I had not time. It is such a long way."</p> + +<p>"A long way! Why, did you not go in the carriage?"</p> + +<p>"No, Señora. Juanito said that the mare was not shod."</p> + +<p>"Then why did he not put in one of the Normandy +horses?"</p> + +<p>"I do not know. Whenever you tell me to take the +carriage he finds some excuse."</p> + +<p>"So it seems. Never mind, child; I will see to it. What +next, Señor Juanito, with your masterful airs?"</p> + +<p>But as she glanced up at the maid's face in the glass she +thought she noticed something strange about her eyes, and +turned round to see her better. In fact, Estefania's eyes were +red with weeping.</p> + +<p>"You have been crying, child?"</p> + +<p>"I—no, Señora, no."</p> + +<p>The denial was evidently a subterfuge. The lady had not to +press her much to make her confess even the cause of her +tears.</p> + +<p>"The head cook, Señora," she whimpered out, "who used +to take my part—when I say anything he bursts out laughing +or says something rude, and the others, of course, as they are +jealous because you are good to me, and to flatter the cook—the +others laugh too; and because I said I should tell you, he +said all manner of horrid things, and turned me out of the +kitchen."</p> + +<p>"Turned you out! And who is he to turn you out?" exclaimed +her mistress vehemently. "Tell him to come here. I +must give him a rowing, as well as Juanito, it seems! If we<a name="page_078" id="page_078"></a> +do not take care, the servants will rule this house instead of +the masters."</p> + +<p>"Señora, I dare not. If you would send Fernando!"</p> + +<p>"Do as you please, but bring him here."</p> + +<p>She had worked herself up into high wrath at the girl's story. +Estefania was her favourite, whom she petted above all the +other servants, and made the confidant of many of her secrets. +The girl's fawning and flattery had won her heart so completely +that, without being aware of it, she had allowed a large +part of her will to go with it. It was, in fact, Estefania who +ruled the house, since she ruled its mistress. The servant who +could not win her good graces might prepare sooner or later to +lose his place. And what happened was the necessary result +in all such cases: the mistress's favourite was hated by all the +rest of the household, not only from envy—the disgraceful +passion which exists, in a greater or less degree, in every +human being—but also because the nature that is hypocritical +and time-serving to superiors, is inevitably haughty and +malevolent to inferiors.</p> + +<p>The <i>chef</i>, on being called by Fernando, to whom Estefania +gave the message, soon made his appearance at the door of +the boudoir wearing the insignia of his office, to wit, a clean +apron and cap, both as white as snow. He was a man of +about thirty, with a fresh and not bad-looking face, and large +black whiskers. The frown on his brow and the anxious +expression in his eyes betrayed that he knew why he had been +sent for. Clementina had seated herself on the ottoman. +Estefania withdrew into a corner, and when the cook came in +she fixed her eyes on the floor.</p> + +<p>"I hear, Cayetano, that after behaving very rudely to my +maid, you turned her out of the kitchen. I have, therefore, +sent for you to tell you that I will not allow any servant to +behave badly to another; nor are you permitted to turn any +one out so long as you are in my house."</p> + +<p>"Señora, I did nothing to her. It is she who treats us +all badly—teasing one and nagging at another, till there<a name="page_079" id="page_079"></a> +is no peace," the cook replied, with a strong Gallician +accent.</p> + +<p>"Well, even if she teases one and nags at another, you have +not any right to insult her. She is to tell me, and there is an +end of it," replied his mistress sharply, and mimicking his +accent.</p> + +<p>"But you see——"</p> + +<p>"I see nothing. You hear what I say; there is an end of +it," and she waved her hand imperiously.</p> + +<p>The cook, with his face scarlet and quivering with rage, +stood without stirring for a few seconds. Then, before he +withdrew, he boldly fixed his wrathful gaze on the girl, who +kept her eyes on the carpet with a bland hypocrisy which +betrayed the triumph of her self-importance.</p> + +<p>"Tell-tale!" he said, spitting out the words rather than +speaking them.</p> + +<p>The lady rose from her seat, and, bursting with rage at this +want of respect, she exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"How dare you insult her before my face? Go, instantly. +Get out of my sight!"</p> + +<p>"Señora, what I say is, that the fault is hers."</p> + +<p>"So much the better. Go!"</p> + +<p>"We will all go—out of the house, Señora. We can none +of us put up with that impudent minx!"</p> + +<p>"You go forthwith, as though you had never come! You +may find yourself another place, for I will never allow any +servant to get the upper hand of me."</p> + +<p>The cook, in some dismay at this prompt dismissal, again +stood rooted to the spot; but, suddenly recovering himself, he +turned on his heel, saying with dignity:</p> + +<p>"Very well, Señora, I will."</p> + +<p>But when he was gone Clementina still muttered: "An +insolent fellow is that Gallician! I don't believe any one but +I gets such servants!"</p> + +<p>Then, suddenly pacified by a new idea, she said:</p> + +<p>"Come, now, I must dress; it is getting late."<a name="page_080" id="page_080"></a></p> + +<p>She went into her dressing-room, followed by Estefania, +who, contrary to what might have been expected, looked grave +and gloomy. Clementina hurriedly began to remove her +walking-dress and change it for a simple dinner-dress, such as +she wore at home to receive a few friends in the evening—always +very light in hue, and cut open at the throat, though +with long sleeves. At a sign from the mistress the maid +brought out a "crushed-strawberry" pink dress from the large +wardrobe with mirrors, which lined all one side of the room. +Before putting it on she arranged her hair, and exchanged her +bronze kid boots for shoes to match the dress. The pale girl +meanwhile never opened her lips; her face grew every moment +sadder and more anxious. At last, on her knees to put on her +mistress's shoes, she raised beseeching eyes to her face and +said timidly:</p> + +<p>"Señora, may I entreat you—not to send Cayetano +away?"</p> + +<p>Clementina looked at her in amazement.</p> + +<p>"Is that it? After you yourself——"</p> + +<p>"The thing is," said Estefania, turning as red as her complexion +would allow, "if you send him away the others will +take offence."</p> + +<p>"And what does that matter?"</p> + +<p>But the girl insisted very earnestly with urgent and persuasive +entreaties. For a time the lady refused, but as the matter +was unimportant, and she perceived, not without surprise, the +interest and even anxiety of her favourite for the cook's +reprieve, she presently yielded, desiring Estefania to make the +necessary explanations. On this the girl's face immediately +cleared; she was as bright as a bird, and began to help her +mistress to dress very deftly and briskly.</p> + +<p>Two taps at the door made them both start.</p> + +<p>"Who is there?" called the lady.</p> + +<p>"Are you dressing, Clementina?" was asked from outside.</p> + +<p><a name="page_081" id="page_081"></a>It was her husband's voice. Her surprise was not the +less; Osorio very rarely came to her rooms when she was +alone.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I am dressing. Is there any one downstairs?"</p> + +<p>"As usual—Lola, Pascuala and Bonifacio. I want to speak +to you. I will wait for you here in the drawing-room."</p> + +<p>"Very well; I will come."</p> + +<p>Until her toilet was complete Clementina spoke no more; +her expression was one of gloomy anticipation, which her +maid could not fail to observe. Her fingers, as she gave the +last touches to the folds of her skirt, trembled a little, like +those of a young lady dressing for her first ball.</p> + +<p>Osorio was, in fact, waiting for her in the little drawing-room +beyond the boudoir. He was lounging at his ease in an +arm-chair, but, on seeing his wife, he rose, and dropped the +end of the cigar he was smoking into the spittoon. Clementina +saw that he was paler than usual. He was the same neat +and dapper little man, with a bad complexion, as when he had +married; but in the course of these twelve years his temper +had been greatly spoiled. He had many wrinkles on his face, +his hair and beard were streaked with grey, and his eyes had +lost their brightness. He closed the door which his wife had +left open, and going up to her said, with affected ease: "My +cashier handed me to-day a cheque from you, for fifteen thousand +pesetas. Here it is."</p> + +<p>He took out his pocket-book, and from it a half-sheet of +scented satin paper which he held out to her. She looked at +it for a moment with a grave and gloomy face, but did not +wince. She said not a word.</p> + +<p>"A fortnight ago he gave me one for nine thousand. Here +it is." The same proceedings, the same silence.</p> + +<p>"Last month there were three: one for six thousand, one +for eleven thousand, and one for four thousand. Here they +are."</p> + +<p>Osorio flourished the handful of papers before his wife's +eyes; then, as this did not unlock her lips, he asked: "Do +you acknowledge it?"<a name="page_082" id="page_082"></a></p> + +<p>"Acknowledge what?" she said, shortly.</p> + +<p>"That these documents are correct."</p> + +<p>"They are, no doubt, if they bear my signature. I have a +bad memory, especially for money matters."</p> + +<p>"A happy gift," he replied with an ironical smile, as he +went through the papers in his pocket-book. "I, too, have +often tried to forget them. Unfortunately my cashier makes +it his business to refresh my memory. Well," he went on as +his wife said no more, "I came up solely to ask you a +question—namely: Do you suppose that things can go on like +this?"</p> + +<p>"I do not understand."</p> + +<p>"I will explain. Do you suppose that you can go on +drawing on my account every few days such sums as these?"</p> + +<p>Clementina, who had been pale at first, had coloured +crimson.</p> + +<p>"You know better than I."</p> + +<p>"Why better? You ought to know the amount of your +fortune."</p> + +<p>"Well, but I do not know," she replied, sharply.</p> + +<p>"Nothing can be more simple. The six hundred thousand +dollars which your father paid over when we were married, being +invested in real estate, produce, as you may see by the books, +about twenty-two thousand dollars a year. The expenses of +the house, without counting my private outlay, amounts to +about three times as much. You can surely draw your own +conclusions."</p> + +<p>"If you are vexed at your money being spent you can sell +the houses," said Clementina with scornful brevity, her colour +fading to paleness again.</p> + +<p>"But if they were sold I should none the less be responsible +for the whole value. You know that?"</p> + +<p>"I will sign you any paper you like, saying that I hold you +responsible for nothing."</p> + +<p>"That is not enough, my dear. The law will never release +me from responsibility for your fortune, so long as I have any<a name="page_083" id="page_083"></a> +money. Moreover, if you spend it in pleasure"—and he +emphasised the word—"it may be all very well for you, but +deplorable for me, because I shall still be compelled to supply +you with—necessaries."</p> + +<p>"To keep me, in short?" she said with a bitter intonation.</p> + +<p>"I wished to avoid the word; but it is no doubt exact."</p> + +<p>Osorio spoke in an impertinent and patronising tone, which +piqued his wife's pride in every possible way. Ever since the +violent differences which had led to their separation under the +same roof, they had had no such important interview as this. +When, in the course of daily life, they came into collision, +matters were smoothed over with a short explanation, in which +both parties, without compromising their pride, used some +prudence for fear of a scandal. But the present question +touched Osorio in a vital part. To a banker money is the +chief fact in life.</p> + +<p>His personal pride, too, had suffered greatly in the last few +years, though he had not confessed it. It was not enough to +feign indifference and disdain of his wife's misconduct; it was +not enough to pay her back in her own coin, by flaunting his +mistresses in her face and making a parade of them in public. +Both fought with the same weapons, but a woman can inflict +with them far deeper wounds than a man. The misery he +suffered from his wife's disreputable life did not diminish as +time went on; the gulf which parted them grew wider and +deeper. And so revenge was ready to seize this opportunity +by the forelock.</p> + +<p>Clementina looked him in the face for a moment. Then, +shrugging her shoulders and with a contemptuous curl of her +lips, she turned on her heel and was about to leave the +room. Osorio stepped forward between her and the door.</p> + +<p>"Before you go you must understand that the cashier has +my orders to pay you no cheques that do not bear my signature."</p> + +<p>"I understand."<a name="page_084" id="page_084"></a></p> + +<p>"For your regular expenses I will allow a fixed sum on +which we will agree. But I can have no more surprises on +the cash-box."</p> + +<p>Clementina, who had been about to quit the room by the +ante-chamber, turned to go to her boudoir. Before leaving +the room she held the curtain a moment in her hand, and +facing her husband she said, with concentrated rage, "In that +you are as mean a cur as your brother-in-law, only he never +made believe, like you, to be generous."</p> + +<p>She dropped the curtain, and slammed the door in his +face.</p> + +<p>Osorio made as though to follow her; but he instantly +stopped short and yelled, rather than spoke, so she might hear +him:</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes! I am a mean cur, because I do not choose to +maintain a crew of hungry puppies. I leave that to the hags +who choose to pet them!"</p> + +<p>This brutal speech seemed to have eased his mind, for his +lips wore a smile of triumphant sarcasm.</p> + +<p>Five minutes later they were both in the dining-room, +laughing and jesting with a small party of guests.<a name="page_085" id="page_085"></a></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.<br /><br /> +<small>HOW THE DUKE DE REQUENA REWARDED VIRTUE.</small></h2> + +<p class="nind">"L<small>ET</small> me see, let me see. Explain yourself."</p> + +<p>"Señor Duque, the matter is as clear as possible. I spoke +with Regnault to-day. If the furnaces are altered, a few roads +made, and proper machinery set up, the mine can be made to +yield half as much again as it now does. It may be as much +as sixty thousand flasks of mercury. The outlay needed to +produce these results would not exceed a hundred to a hundred +and fifty thousand dollars."</p> + +<p>"That seems to me a great deal."</p> + +<p>"A great deal for such a result?"</p> + +<p>"No, that seems to me a great many flasks."</p> + +<p>"But I have no doubt that what Regnault says is true. He +is an intelligent and practical engineer. He worked for six +years in California; and, indeed, the English engineer said +the same."</p> + +<p>The persons holding this discourse were Requena and his +secretary, or head-clerk, or whatever he called himself, since +he had no particular style or title in the household. He was +known only by his name—Llera. He was an Asturian, tall +and bony, with a colourless, hard-featured face, enormously +long arms and legs, and large hands and feet. His manner +was rough and awkward; his eyes, which were fine, had a +frank, honest look, and were bright with energy and +intelligence. He was an indefatigable, an amazing worker. +No one knew when he ate or slept. When he made his +appearance at eight in the morning, he brought with him as<a name="page_086" id="page_086"></a> +much work ready done as most men get through in a day, and +at midnight he might often still be seen in his office, pen +in hand.</p> + +<p>Salabert, having the gift of judging men, without which no +one makes a great success in the world, had discovered Llera's +intelligence and character after employing him for a short +while as an underling, and without giving him any showy position—which +was not at all his way—he made him a responsible one, +by accumulating in his hands all the most important business of +the house. He very soon was the great banker's confidential +man, the soul of the business. His laborious industry put all +the other employés to shame, and Salabert took advantage of +it to load him with work after regular hours. Llera was at the +same time his private secretary, his steward, the head clerk of +the office, the inspector of all the works he had in construction, +and the agent in most of his transactions. And for doing all +this inconceivable amount of work—more than four men of +average industry would have got through—he paid him six +thousand pesetas a year. The man thought himself well paid, +remembering that only six years ago he was earning but twelve +hundred and fifty.</p> + +<p>Every day, before taking his morning walk and paying his +round of business calls, Requena looked into Llera's office, +made inquiries as to things in general, and chatted with him +for a longer or shorter time according to circumstances.</p> + +<p>The Duke's offices were at the top of his palace in the +Avenue de Luchana, a magnificent mansion, standing in the +midst of a garden which for extent was worthy to be called a +park. In the spring the dense foliage of the fine old trees +almost hid the white tops of the turrets; in winter the numbers +of firs and evergreens which grew there, still gave it a pleasant +verdure. It was the meeting-place of all the birds in that +quarter of the city. The entrance to the house was up a +large flight of marble steps; above the ground floor, where the +reception-rooms were, and the dining-room, there were three +storeys, and the Duke's offices, which were not large, filled part<a name="page_087" id="page_087"></a> +only of the upper floor. They were large enough for Salabert, +who conducted his affairs from thence, with the help of a +dozen expert clerks.</p> + +<p>The luxury displayed in the house was amazing; the furniture +and fittings were almost priceless. This was not in +keeping with the avarice with which the master was generally +credited; but this and other contradictions will be explained +as we become better acquainted with his character, which was +curious enough to be well worthy of study.</p> + +<p>The kitchens were in the basement, roomy and well-fitted; +the dining-room, at the back of the house, opened into a conservatory +of vast dimensions, filled with exotic shrubs and +flowers, where water was laid on to form little pools and water-falls +of charming effect and imitating nature as closely as +possible. The picture-gallery was in a separate building at +the end of the garden, and in another some of the servants +slept, but not all.</p> + +<p>The Duke, occupying the only chair in Llera's office, while +the secretary stood in front of him twirling a large pair of +scissors used for cutting paper, turned his wet cigar three or +four times from one corner of his mouth to the other, and +made no reply to the clerk's last words. At last he growled +rather than said:</p> + +<p>"Humph! The Ministry grows more pig-headed every day."</p> + +<p>"What does that matter. You know the secret of making +it give way. Telegraph to Liverpool, and within a fortnight +the price of mercury will have fallen from sixty to forty dollars +the flask."</p> + +<p>About four years since, Requena, at Llera's suggestion and +advice, had formed a company or syndicate for buying up all +the mercury which should come into the market. Thanks to +these tactics, the price of this product had gone up wonderfully. +The company had now an enormous stock in hand at Liverpool; +Llera's scheme was to throw this into the market at a +given moment and so produce a great fall in the price, which +would frighten the Government. This, which was to be done<a name="page_088" id="page_088"></a> +at the moment when the Government was about to repay a +loan of fifteen million dollars borrowed ten years since of +a foreign house, would reduce them to selling the mines of +Riosa. If Requena was then prepared to pull the affair through +at the sacrifice of a few thousands, to subsidise the press, and +bribe certain individuals, he might be certain of success. This +project, conceived of by Llera, and matured by the Duke, +had run its due course, and was now near the final <i>coup</i>.</p> + +<p>"Well, we shall see," said the rich man, and after meditating +a few minutes he went on: "When the mines are for sale it +will be necessary to form another company. The Mercury +Syndicate will not serve our turn."</p> + +<p>"Of course!"</p> + +<p>"The thing is that I do not want to sink more than eight +million pesetas in this concern."</p> + +<p>"That is a different matter," said Llera, becoming very +serious. "It does not seem to me possible to keep the control +of such a business with so small a stake in it. The management +will slip into other hands, and the profits will soon be +reduced to so much per cent., more or less—that is to say, a +mere nothing."</p> + +<p>"Very true, very true," mumbled Salabert, again falling into +deep thought. Llera too remained silent and pensive.</p> + +<p>"I have already explained to you the only way of keeping +the concern in your own hands," said he.</p> + +<p>This way consisted in securing a sufficiently large number of +shares in the mine which the company was to purchase, and +to go on buying up as many as possible; then to throw them +into the market at so low a price as to alarm the shareholders. +Thus to buy and sell at a loss for some time was Llera's plan +for bringing down the price of the shares, when he could acquire +half the shares <i>plus</i> one, for much less money, and be master of +the whole concern.</p> + +<p>To Salabert this was not so clear as to his clerk. His +intellect was keen and far-seeing, but he lacked breadth of +view and initiative, though those who saw him boldly undertake<a name="page_089" id="page_089"></a> +ventures of vast scope were apt to think that he had them. +The first conception, the mother idea, of a new concern scarcely +ever originated in his brain. It came to him from outside; but +once sown there it germinated and developed as it would have +done in no other in Spain. By degrees he analysed it, or +rather dissected it, laying bare its inmost fibres, contemplating +it from all sides; and once convinced that it would prove +advantageous, he launched it with the rare and surprising +audacity which had so greatly deceived the public as to his +gifts as a speculator. He was perfectly convinced that when +once he had made up his mind to an enterprise, vacillation +must be fatal. Still, this boldness proceeded not from his temperament +but from reflection; it was the outcome of extreme +astuteness.</p> + +<p>Otherwise he was by nature timid, and this weakness, instead +of diminishing under the almost invariable success of his undertakings, +increased as time went on. Avarice is always suspicious +and full of alarms, and Salabert grew more and more +avaricious. Also, as a man grows older, it is a rule without +exceptions, that pessimism soaks into his mind. Our banker, +accustomed to grand results from his speculations, regarded +any concern in which the profits were small as altogether +deplorable; if by any chance they were <i>nil</i>, or he even lost a +trifle, he thought it a matter for serious lamentation. Thus, +but for Llera, with his bold temperament and fertile imagination, +the Duke de Requena would not, for some years past, have +ventured on any concern of even moderate extent. On the +other hand, what he had lost in dash and resource he had +made good by really astounding tact and skill, and a knowledge +of men which can be acquired only by years of unremitting +study. Thus it may be said that he and Llera complemented +each other to perfection.</p> + +<p>Salabert's sagacity and knowledge of human nature sometimes +erred by excess; now and then he was caught in his own +trap. In his dealings with men, studying them always from +the point of view of substantial interest, he had formed so poor<a name="page_090" id="page_090"></a> +an opinion of them, that it became monstrous, and led him +into serious mistakes. Perhaps, after all, what he saw in others +was no more than the reflection of himself; to this error we +are all liable. To him every man and woman had a price; +a cheap conscience or a dear one, but all alike for sale. Of +late years his faith in bribery had become a passion. If he +came across any one who would not yield to money, he never +suspected it could be in good faith, but only supposed the +price was higher than his bid.</p> + +<p>One of Llera's hardest tasks was to get such schemes of +bribery out of his master's head when he had to do with men +who would have rejected it with indignation. If he were +engaged in a law-suit, the first thing he thought of was how +much it would cost him to bribe the judge who would decide +it; if he were concerned in a government transaction, he +calculated the sum to be handed over to the Minister, or the +Under-Secretary, or the Councillors of State. Unluckily, he +not unfrequently made practical use of the black-lead he had +always ready to disfigure the face of humanity with.</p> + +<p>Requena had absolutely no moral sense, and never had +known what it was. His life, as a nameless waif in Valencia, +had been characterised by a series of tricks and dodges, and +such a lively inventiveness of means for extracting coin from +his fellow-creatures, as made him worthy to compare with the +favourite heroes of Spanish romance. In fact the name of one +of them, <i>El picaro Guzman</i>, had actually been bestowed on +Salabert as a nickname by some wags of his acquaintance, but +they kept it to themselves.</p> + +<p>It was told of him with apparent truth that when he was in +Cuba, whither he went to seek his fortune, he bought a tavern +with all its furniture, including a negro woman who managed +the business. This negress, for all the time he remained, was his +servant, his housekeeper, his slave and his concubine, by whom +he had several children. When he had saved some thousands of +dollars to return to Spain, he squared his petty accounts by selling +the tavern, the furniture, the black woman, and the children.<a name="page_091" id="page_091"></a></p> + +<p>Then he took army contracts, speculated in tobacco, +government loans and tenders for roads; these he sometimes +sold again at a premium, and sometimes carried out the works +without any regard to the conditions of the contract. But in +all he did he displayed his wonderful capacity, his practical +sagacity, and so large a development of the organ of acquisitiveness, +as made him a man of mark among bankers.</p> + +<p>He was not disagreeable to deal with, though, unlike most men +who aspire to wealth or power, his manners were not smooth +nor his language choice. He was brusque rather than courteous, +but he was keen in the distinction of persons, and could +be very civil when he must. The natural abruptness of his +manners served him well to disguise the subtle astuteness of +his mind. That blunt, straightforward air, that exaggerated +freedom and provincial rusticity, could only cover a frank and +loyal heart. To the outside world he was the perfect type of +the old Castilian school, freespoken, downright and impertinent. +He would be loquacious or taciturn as suited his +purpose, expressed himself with real or affected difficulty—which, +no one ever could discover—could sometimes jest with +some wit, but with unfailing coarseness, and was wont to say +such detestable things to the face of friend or foe as made +him a terror in drawing-rooms. The importance his wealth +conferred on him had encouraged this defect: he talked to +most people, even to ladies, with a plainness which verged on +cynicism and grossness.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, when he came across a person of political +importance whom he desired to propitiate, this bluntness +vanished and became flattery that was almost servile. But +the farce, however well played, deceived no one. The Duke +of Requena was regarded as a very wily old fox; no one +believed a word he said, or allowed himself to be deluded by +that blunt <i>bonhomie</i>. Those who had dealings with him were +on their guard even when feigning confidence and satisfaction. +Still, as always happens with a man who has succeeded in +raising himself, the faults which every one recognised—or to<a name="page_092" id="page_092"></a> +be exact, his ill-fame—did not hinder his neighbours from +respecting him, talking to him hat in hand and with a smile +on their lips, even when they had no need of him. Men not +unfrequently humble themselves for the mere pleasure of it. +Salabert well knew this innate tendency of the human spine +to bend, and took unfair advantage of it. Many men in quite +independent circumstances not only took from him impertinence +which they would have thought intolerable in their +oldest friend, but even sought his society.</p> + +<p> +<br /> +</p> + +<p>"We will see, we will see," he repeated, when Llera +recapitulated the scheme for getting sole control of the +mines. "You are too full of fancies. Your head is too hot. +That does not do in business. We must take care not to get +into the same scrape as we did with the granaries."</p> + +<p>By Llera's advice the banker had constructed granaries in +some of the principal towns of Spain, and they had not +proved such a success as had been hoped. However, as the +undertaking had been on a moderate scale the losses, too, had +not been great. But the Duke, who had bewailed them as +though they had been enormous, and had not spared his +secretary much gross insult, was always reminding him of the +disaster. It served him as a weapon when he wished to +depreciate Llera's schemes, though he would afterwards avail +himself of them, and owed to them considerable additions to +his wealth. By such means he kept him in subjection, ignorant +of his real value, and ready to undertake any task however +disagreeable.</p> + +<p>Llera, though somewhat mortified by this reminder, still insisted +that the transaction now under consideration would +infallibly succeed if it were conducted on the lines he had +suggested. Salabert abruptly closed the discussion by changing +the subject. He briefly inquired into the business of the +day. The loss of some money he had advanced for a relation +in Valencia put him into a frantic rage; he stamped and fumed +like a bull stung by the darts, called himself a thousand fools,<a name="page_093" id="page_093"></a> +and actually had the face to declare, in Llera's presence, that +his good nature would be the ruin of him. The whole loss +amounted to about four or five thousand dollars. The form +of loan which Requena adopted to his most intimate friends +was this: he paid the sum usually in paper, demanding six +per cent. on the securities deposited, and besides this he himself +cut off the coupons, and claimed the dividends. So +that the securities, instead of bringing in the net interest, yielded +him six per cent. more. These were the dealings to which he +was prompted, not by interest, but by kindness of heart!</p> + +<p>He left Llera's office in a state of fury, went to the counting-room, +and learning there that it was necessary to draw on the +bank for nine thousand dollars in currency, he himself took +charge of the cheque, after having signed it; he would have to +go there to a meeting of directors, and it would be no trouble +to him as he passed to get it cashed.</p> + +<p>He went out on foot, as was his custom in the morning. +The birds were singing in the beautiful trees which bordered the +walks. It was quite clear that they had incurred no bad debts. +The Duke cursed their foolish trick of singing, and would not +listen to their gleeful trills. He walked on slowly with a +gloomy scowl, taking no notice of the greetings of the gardeners +and the gate-keeper, biting his huge cigar with more than +usual viciousness. In the street, however, his face somewhat +recovered its tone. He had a pleasant and useful meeting +with the President of the Council of State, who likewise was +fond of an early walk, and who bowed to him in the Avenue +de Recoletos; they stood talking for a few minutes, and he +availed himself of the opportunity of recommending to the +President, with the intentional bluntness which he affected, +the prospectus of certain salt-marshes in which he was interested. +Then, at a deliberate pace, gazing with his prominent, +guileless eyes at the passers by, and more especially at the +fresh damsels hastening home from market with their baskets +loaded, and their cheeks rosy from the effort, he proceeded to +the Bank of Spain. Numbers of persons lifted their hats to<a name="page_094" id="page_094"></a> +him, now and again he paused for a moment, shook hands +with one or another, and after exchanging a few words with an +acquaintance, went on his way.</p> + +<p>It was still early. Before reaching the Bank, it occurred to +him that he would go to see his friend and connection Calderón, +whose warehouse and counting-house were in the Calle de +San Felipe Neri, still in the state in which his father had left +them—that is to say, very poverty-stricken, not to say dirty and +squalid. In these quarters, where the light filtered in through +panes darkened by dust and protected by clumsy ironwork, +and where the smell of hides was perfectly sickening, old +Calderón with mechanical regularity had accumulated dollar +on dollar, till several piles of a million each had formed there. +His son Julian had made no change. Though he was one of +the wealthiest bankers in Madrid he had not given up the +hide warehouse and the small profits which this business +brought in—small as compared with those on securities and +stocks which the banking house dealt in.</p> + +<p>Calderón was a banker of a different type from Salabert. +He was of an essentially conservative temper, timid in speculation, +always preferring small profits to large when there was +any risk. His intelligence was somewhat limited, cautious, +hesitating and circumspect. Every new undertaking struck +him as madness. When he saw a friend embarking on one +he smiled maliciously, and congratulated himself on the +superior shrewdness with which he was gifted; if it turned out +well he would shake his head, saying with determined foreboding: +"Those who laugh last, laugh longest." At home +he was parsimonious, nay stingy to a scandal; and though +the house was kept on a comparatively luxurious footing, this +was partly the result of his wife's entreaties, and the raillery of +his friends, but even more of his conviction, slowly formed, +that some external prestige was indispensable, if he was to +compete with the numbers of skilful financiers established in +the capital. But after having bought good furniture, he insisted +on such care being taken of it, such refinements of<a name="page_095" id="page_095"></a> +precaution on the part of the servants and his wife and +children, that they were really the slaves of these costly +possessions. Then with regard to the carriage, it is impossible +to imagine the anxieties and agitations without end which it +cost him. Every time the coachman told him that a horse +wanted shoeing it was a fresh worry. He had a pair of French +mares of some value, and he loved them as he loved his +children, or more. He drove them out of an evening; but +never to go to the theatre for fear of cold; he would rather see +his wife walk or take a hired carriage than expose them to any +risk. And if one of them really fell ill, there are no words for +our banker's state of mind; anxiety and dejection were written +in his face. He went frequently to see the animal, patted and +petted her, and would often assist the coachman and the vet. +in applying the remedies, however unpleasant. Till the +invalid had recovered no one in the house had any peace.</p> + +<p>As a husband he was most officious; but in this he was +hardly to blame. His wife's apathy was such that if he had +not taken charge of the kitchen accounts and the store-cupboard +keys, God knows how the house would have been kept. +Mariana did nothing and gave no orders. Any other woman +would have felt humiliated by finding herself obliged to refer +to her husband at every moment for the most trifling details of +domestic life, but she took it quite as a matter of course, and +found it most convenient, when Calderón's stinginess did not +make itself too pressingly felt. Her part was that of a child in +the house, and she was quite content to play it.</p> + +<p>The person who sometimes dumbly rebelled against the +exclusive centralisation of all administrative power in the +master's hands was Mariana's mother, the diminutive lady +with deep set eyes, of whom mention was made in the first +chapter. Her protests indeed were neither frequent nor +lengthy. At heart she and her son-in-law were in perfect +agreement. The old woman, the widow of a provincial +merchant, who herself had helped in saving his capital, was +even more devoted to order and economy than Calderón<a name="page_096" id="page_096"></a> +himself—that is to say, more sordidly thrifty. For this reason +she never would have endured to live with her son; his expensive +tastes, and, yet more, Clementina's extravagance and +disreputable caprices enraged her, and would have embittered +every moment of her life. In Calderón's house she was +inspector or spy over the servants, and she filled the part to +admiration. Her son-in-law could rest in confidence, and +thanks to this and to his expectation that Mariana would be +enriched by her will, he showed far more consideration for +her than for his wife.</p> + +<p>Salabert was at heart not less covetous than Calderón, and +hardly less timid; but his intellect was very superior, his +cowardice was counterbalanced by a strong infusion of bounce, +and his avarice by a profound knowledge of mankind. He +knew very well that the paraphernalia and ostentation of +wealth have a marked influence on the minds of the most +indifferent, and contribute in a great measure to inspire the confidence +without which no important enterprise can prosper. +Hence the luxury in which he lived—his palace, his servants, +and the famous balls he occasionally gave to the fashionable +world of Madrid. For Calderón he had a profound contempt, +though at the same time his society put him into a good +humour. As he contemplated his friend's inferiority he swelled +in his own esteem, regarding himself as a greater man than he +really was, and deriving from it the liveliest satisfaction. He +not only judged himself to have more cleverness and astuteness—the +only superior qualities he really possessed—but, to +be, by comparison, generous and liberal, almost a prodigy.</p> + +<p>Panting and puffing he went into the dark warehouse in the +Calle de San Felipe Neri, producing the usual effect of +amazing, crushing, annihilating the clerks of the house, to +whom the Duke de Requena was not merely the greatest man +in Spain, but a quite supernatural being. His visit impressed +them with the same reverence and enthusiasm, awe and adoration, +as the appearance of the Mikado arouses in the Japanese. +And if they did not prostrate themselves with their foreheads<a name="page_097" id="page_097"></a> +in the dust, they coloured up to their ears, and for some +minutes they could not put pen to paper, nor attend to the +requirements of a customer. They looked at each other with +awe-stricken eyes, repeating in an undertone, what indeed +they all knew: "The Duke!" "The Duke!"</p> + +<p>The Duke passed in, as usual when he by chance called +there, without vouchsafing them a glance, and made his way +to the little room where Calderón sat. Long before reaching +him, he began shouting: "Caramba, Julian! When do you +mean to get out of this hole? This is not a banking-house, it +is a stye. Are you not ashamed to be seen here? Poof! +Do you skin the beasts here, or what? The stink is intolerable."</p> + +<p>Calderón's private room was beyond the front office, a mere +closet, separated from the rest by a partition of painted wood, +with a spring door. Thus he could hear all that his friend was +saying, before Salabert reached him.</p> + +<p>"What do you expect, man?" said he, somewhat nettled at +his clerks being made the confidants of this philippic. "We +are not all dukes, trampling millions under foot."</p> + +<p>"Millions! Does it need millions to keep an office clean +and comfortable? You had better confess that you cannot +bear to spend a peseta in making yourself decent. I have told +you many times, Julian, you are poor, and you will be poor all +your days. I should be richer with a thousand pence than +you with a thousand dollars—because I know how to spend +them."</p> + +<p>Calderón grumbled a protest and went on with his work. +The Duke, without taking his hat off, dropped into the only +easy chair, covered with white buckskin, or which ought to +have been white, for it was of a doubtful hue now, between +yellow and greenish-grey, with black patches where heads and +hands were wont to rest. There were besides three or four +stools covered with the same material, in the same state, a +book-case full of bundles of papers, a small cash-box, an +ancient walnut-wood writing-table covered with oil-cloth, and<a name="page_098" id="page_098"></a> +behind the table a greasy, shabby arm-chair in which the head +of the house sat enthroned. This small room was lighted by +a barred window, to ward off the prying looks of passers-by; +there were blinds, which, being the cheapest and commonest +of their kind, had this peculiarity, that one was much too wide +and the other so short that it did not cover the lower pane by +at least a quarter.</p> + +<p>"Why in the world don't you quit this blessed leather-shop, +which is not worthy of a man of your position and fortune?"</p> + +<p>"Fortune—fortune!" muttered Calderón with his eyes still +fixed on the paper he was writing on. "People talk of my +fortune I know, but if I were compelled to liquidate, who +knows what would come of it?"</p> + +<p>Calderón never confessed his wealth; he loved to crawl; any +allusion to his riches annoyed him beyond measure. Salabert, +on the contrary, loved to flourish his millions in the face of the +world, and play the nabob, at the smallest possible cost of +course.</p> + +<p>"Besides," Calderón went on with some acerbity, "every one +looks at what comes in and never thinks of what goes out. +Our expenses are greater every day. Have you any idea, +now, of what our private expenditure has been this year? +Come."</p> + +<p>"Nothing much," replied Requena, with a depreciating +smile.</p> + +<p>"Nothing much? Why it amounts to more than seventy-five +thousand dollars, and we are only in November."</p> + +<p>"What do you say?" exclaimed the Duke greatly astonished. +"Impossible!"</p> + +<p>"As I tell you."</p> + +<p>"Come, come; do not try to throw dust in my eyes, Julian. +Unless you include in the seventy-five thousand the cost of +the house you are building in Calle Homo de la Mata."</p> + +<p>"Why, of course."</p> + +<p>At this Salabert burst into such a fit of laughing that he +seemed about to choke; the cigar dropped out of his mouth,<a name="page_099" id="page_099"></a> +his face, usually so pale, turned so red as to be alarming, and +the fit of coughing which ensued was so violent that it threatened +him with congestion.</p> + +<p>"My dear fellow, I thank you! That is really delicious," he +gasped between coughing and laughing. "I never thought of +that before. Henceforth I will include in my household +expenses all the paper I buy and the houses I build. I shall +have accounts like a king's to show."</p> + +<p>The Duke's hearty and uproarious mirth annoyed and piqued +Calderón out of all measure.</p> + +<p>"I really do not see what you are laughing at. The money +goes out of the cash-box under the head of expenditure. And, +at any rate, Antonio, a fool knows more of his own affairs than +a wise man knows of his neighbours'."</p> + +<p>The Duke's visits to his friend had of late been somewhat +frequent. He had been hovering round him a good deal to +tempt him into the mining speculation. The moment was +drawing near when the sale must come on, and meanwhile he +was anxious to secure the co-operation of some of the more +important shareholders. Don Julian was one, not merely by +reason of the capital he represented, but by the position he +held. He enjoyed the reputation in the financial world of +being a very cautious, or indeed suspicious man; thus his name +as participator in a speculation was a guarantee of its security, +and this was what Salabert required. So he was anxious not +to vex him seriously, and changed the subject. With the +curious suppleness and cunning which lay beneath his abrupt +roughness, he managed to put him in a good humour by +praising his foresight in a certain case when he would not be +caught, reflecting on the folly of some rival dealers, and implying +Calderón's superior skill and penetration. When he +had got him into the right frame of mind he spoke, for the +third or fourth time, in vague terms, of the mining company. +He mentioned it as an unattainable vision, just to whet his +friend's appetite.</p> + +<p>"If they only could buy up the mine one of these days,<a name="page_100" id="page_100"></a> +what a stroke of business that would be! He had never in +his life met with a better. Unfortunately the Government +were not disposed to sell. However—damn it all! By a +little good management and steady perseverance, in time +perhaps—meanwhile what was wanted were a few men who +could afford to invest a good round sum. If they were not to +be found in Spain they must be sought elsewhere."</p> + +<p>At the mere notion of a speculation Calderón shrank as a snail +does when it is touched. And this was so big a thing, to judge +from the vague hints the Duke threw out, that he completely +disappeared into his shell. Then, when Salabert spoke rather +more plainly, he turned gloomy and dull, uneasy and suspicious, +as if he expected to be bled there and then of an exorbitant +sum.</p> + +<p>When Requena had finished a long and rather incoherent +speech, which was almost a monologue, he abruptly rose:</p> + +<p>"Ta ta, Julianito, I am off to the Bank."</p> + +<p>He took out a fresh cigar, and without offering one to +Calderón, who did not smoke, he lighted it for form's sake; +but he at once let it go out and began chewing it as usual.</p> + +<p>Don Julian gave a sigh of relief.</p> + +<p>"Always in a state of feverish activity," said he with a +smile, holding out his hand. "Always on the track of +money!"</p> + +<p>Just as he reached the door Calderón remembered that he +might make something out of this visit.</p> + +<p>"I say, Antonio, I have a heap of Londrès. Do you want +them? I will let you have them cheap."</p> + +<p>"No, I don't want any at present. What do you ask for +them?"</p> + +<p>"Forty-seven."</p> + +<p>"Are there many of them?"</p> + +<p>"Eight thousand pounds in all."</p> + +<p>"Well, I really don't want them, but it is a good bargain. +Good-bye."</p> + +<p>He went to the Bank, assisted at the meeting, and after<a name="page_101" id="page_101"></a> +cashing his cheque for nine thousand dollars, went out with +his friend Urreta, another of the great Madrid bankers. On +reaching the Puerta del Sol they shook hands to part.</p> + +<p>"Which way are you going?" asked Salabert.</p> + +<p>"I am going to Calderón's office to see if he happens to be +able to help me to some Londrès."</p> + +<p>"Quite useless," said the other promptly. "I have just +bought up all he had."</p> + +<p>"That is unlucky. What did you give for them?"</p> + +<p>"Forty-seven ten."</p> + +<p>"Not very cheap. But I need them badly, so I should +have taken them."</p> + +<p>"Do you really need them?" said Salabert, putting his arm +on the other's shoulders.</p> + +<p>"I do indeed."</p> + +<p>"Then I will be your Providence. How many do you +want?"</p> + +<p>"A large quantity, at least ten thousand pounds."</p> + +<p>"Oh I cannot do that, but I can send you eight thousand +this evening."</p> + +<p>Urreta's face beamed with a grateful smile.</p> + +<p>"My dear fellow, I cannot allow it. You want them yourself."</p> + +<p>"Not so much as you do, and even if I did, you know my +regard for you. You are the only Guipuzcoan of brains I ever +met with," and as he spoke he patted him affectionately on the +shoulder. They shook hands once more, Urreta pouring out +a flood of grateful speeches, to which Salabert replied with the +rough frankness which so greatly enhanced the merits of any +service he might render; then they parted.</p> + +<p>The Duke instantly got into a coach from the stand. "Go +to Calle de San Felipe Neri, No.——."</p> + +<p>"Yes, Señor Duque."</p> + +<p>The Duke raised his head to look at the man.</p> + +<p>"So you know me?" and without waiting for a reply, he +jumped in and shut the door.<a name="page_102" id="page_102"></a></p> + +<p>"Julian, Julian," he shouted to his friend before opening +the door into Calderón's office. "I have come to do you a +service. You are in luck, you wretch! Send me home those +Londrès."</p> + +<p>"Ha, ha!" exclaimed Julian with a triumphant smile. "So +you want them?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, my dear fellow, yes. I always want the thing you +want to get rid of. Good-bye."</p> + +<p>And without going into the little office, he let go of the +spring door he had held open, and left. He desired the +coachman to drive to a house in one of the northern quarters +of the city, and reclined in a corner, munching his cigar and +smoking with evident gratification. For our banker felt as +much satisfaction after committing this piece of rascality, after +cheating his friend of so many pesetas, as the righteous man +knows after doing an act of justice or charity. His imagination, +always on the alert when money might be made, wandered +over the various concerns in which he was engaged, and the +vehicle meanwhile carried him on towards the Hippodrome. +More especially he dwelt on the mines of Riosa; the longer he +thought of Llera's scheme, the better it pleased him. Still, it +had its weak points, and he meditated on the means of +fortifying them.</p> + +<p>It was not yet late. Salabert had time still to pay one of +those unavowed visits which form an item in the social round +of many a man whose virtues are more conspicuous, and +whose vices less blatant than his. He dismissed the coach he +had hired, and, his call paid, he walked home.</p> + +<p>As soon as he found himself in his private room, he put his +hand in his pocket to take out his note-book. His face, which +had shone with satisfaction at the consciousness of carrying +about with him the golden key to every pleasure on earth, +suddenly fell. A cloud of anxiety came over it. He felt +more thoroughly. The pocket-book was not there. He tried +all his other pockets. The same result.</p> + +<p>"Damnation," he muttered, "I have been robbed. Robbed<a name="page_103" id="page_103"></a> +of ten thousand odd dollars. Curse my ill luck! If a day +begins badly—three thousand dollars gone in a bad debt, and +now nearly eleven thousand in a lump! A pretty morning's +work I must say!"</p> + +<p>He started to his feet and rang the bell vehemently for +Llera. When the factotum appeared, he was walking up and +down the room, strangely excited for a man who owned so +many millions. He explained the case to the clerk. A +torrent of words, growls, foul expletives, poured from his lips, +and he flung away his half-chewed cigar, a sign of excessive +disturbance.</p> + +<p>"Possibly, Señor, you have not been robbed," Llera suggested, +"you may have lost it. Where have you been?"</p> + +<p>But this was a question the Duke was not prepared to +answer.</p> + +<p>"Damn it, what concern is that of yours?" he replied. "Do +you suppose I am likely to have lost eleven thousand dollars? +That is to say, lost them—of course I have. But some one +else found them before they touched the ground."</p> + +<p>"The best thing you can do, Señor Duque, is to let me go +over the ground wherever you have been."</p> + +<p>"I will go myself after luncheon. Go, if you have nothing +else to suggest but calling on all my acquaintances."</p> + +<p>Requena went downstairs, dismaying the house like a bombshell, +not indeed of powder or dynamite, since uproariousness +was not part of his nature, but of sulphuric acid or corrosive +sublimate, which trickled into every corner and annoyed and +burnt every one in turn. His wife, his lodge-keeper, his cook, +Llera, and almost every one of his clerks, had some coarse +insult flung in their teeth, in the tone of cynical brutality +which he affected. After luncheon he was about to go out on +his quest, when a servant came to tell him that a hackney +coachman wished to speak with him.</p> + +<p>"What does he want?"</p> + +<p>"I do not know. He said he wanted to see the Duke."</p> + +<p>Salabert, with a sudden flash of intuition, said:<a name="page_104" id="page_104"></a></p> + +<p>"Show him up."</p> + +<p>The man who came in was the driver of the coach which +had conveyed him from Calderón's office to his mistress's +house. The Duke looked at him anxiously.</p> + +<p>"What is it?"</p> + +<p>"This, Señor Duque, which is your excellency's no doubt," +said the man, holding out the pocket-book.</p> + +<p>The Duke seized it, hastily opened it, and shaking out the +pile of bank notes it contained, counted them with the skill +and rapidity of a practised hand. When he had done, he +said:</p> + +<p>"All right; there are none missing."</p> + +<p>The man, who had no doubt looked for some reward, stood +still for a minute or two.</p> + +<p>"It is all right, my good fellow, quite right. Many thanks."</p> + +<p>Then the poor man, with angry disappointment stamped on +his face, turned to go, muttering good-day. The Duke looked +at him with cruel humour, and before he had reached the door +called after him with deliberate sarcasm:</p> + +<p>"Look here, my man, I give you nothing, because to so +honest a fellow as you the best reward is the satisfaction of +having done right."</p> + +<p>The coachman, at once puzzled and vexed, looked at him +with an indescribable expression. His lips parted as if he +were about to speak, but he finally left the room without a +word.<a name="page_105" id="page_105"></a></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V.<br /><br /> +<small>PRECIPITANCY.</small></h2> + +<p class="nind">R<small>AIMUNDO</small> A<small>LCÁZAR</small>—for this was the name of the pertinacious +youth who had so provoked Clementina by following her +when we first had the honour of making her acquaintance—met +the wrathful glance she had fired at him as she went into +her sister-in-law's house with perfect and resigned submission. +He waited for a moment to see whether she had gone thither +merely on a message, and finding she did not come out again, +he placidly walked away in the direction of the little Plaza de +Santa Cruz. He stopped in front of a flower-stall. The florist +smiled as he drew near, recognising him as an old customer, +and took up a bouquet of white roses and violets, which no +doubt were awaiting him. He then went to the Plaza Mayor, +and took the tramcar for Carabanchel. At the turning which +leads to the Cemetery of San Isidro he got out and proceeded +on foot. On reaching the graveyard he hastily ascended the +slope and went into the new enclosure, where, as the law +directs, the dead are laid in graves, and not in long vaulted +galleries. He went on with a swift step to a tomb covered +with a white marble slab, and enclosed by a little railing. +There he stopped. For some minutes he stood still, gazing +at it. On the stone, in black letters, was the name, <i>Isabel +Martinez de Alcázar</i>. Below the name, two dates—1842-1883—those, +no doubt, of the birth and death of the dead who +slept below. A few faded flowers lay there, which Raimundo +carefully removed, and untying the bunch he had brought +with him, he scattered the fresh blossoms on the grave, and<a name="page_106" id="page_106"></a> +used the string to tie up the dead ones. With these in one +hand and his hat in the other he again stood for some +minutes contemplating the spot, with tears in his eyes. Then +he walked quickly away without a single curious glance at the +other sepultures.</p> + +<p>Raimundo Alcázar had lost his mother eight or nine months +ago. He had never known his father, or, rather, he had no +recollection of him, since he was but four years old at the time +of his parent's death. His name, too, had been Raimundo, +and at the time of his death he had filled a professor's chair at +the University of Segovia. When he had first married he had +been a youth waiting for an appointment. Isabel's father, a +dealer in forged iron in the Calle de Esparteros, had in consequence +refused his consent, and only sanctioned their union +when at last Alcázar won the professorship above mentioned. +He was a young fellow of exceptional talents, and published +some works on geology, the branch of science to which he had +devoted himself. His death, at the age of thirty-two, was +much lamented in the small circle to whom men of science +are known in Spain. Isabel, with her little son, returned to +her father's house in Madrid, and there, three months after her +husband's death, she gave birth to a daughter, who was baptised +by the name of Aurelia.</p> + +<p>Isabel was a remarkably handsome woman, and, as the only +child of a man who was supposed to be in easy circumstances, +she did not lack for suitors. But she refused every offer. Her +friends called her romantic, perhaps because she had more +mind and heart than they could generally boast of. She +appreciated talent, and detested the prosaic beings who almost +exclusively constituted her father's social circle. She worshipped +the memory of her husband, whom she had adored +while he lived, as a man of superior talents; she treasured with +the greatest care every eulogy that had appeared in print on +his works; the sole desire and aim of her life was that her son +should tread in his father's footsteps, and become respected +for his talents and eminence. Heaven blessed her aspirations.<a name="page_107" id="page_107"></a> +At first she saw him growing up before her eyes the living +image of his father. Not in face only, but in gesture and +voice, he was exactly like him. Then the boy's progress at +school caused her the keenest joy. He was intelligent and +studious. His masters were always entirely satisfied with him. +Every word of praise which came to her ears, every mark of +approbation written against his name, gave the poor mother +the most exquisite delight. Now she had no doubt that he +would inherit his father's gifts.</p> + +<p>She was stricken with remorse sometimes when she reflected +how far from equitably she divided her affection between her +two children. Whatever efforts she might make to preserve +the equilibrium, she could not but confess that she loved +Raimundo much the best. Her devoted affection was shown +in constant petting and small cares, which pampered the boy +and weakened his character. She brought him up with excessive +fondness. He, on his part, loved her with such exclusive +ardour that at times it was almost a fever. Every time he had +to leave the shelter of her petticoats to go to school it cost +him some tears. He insisted on her watching him from the +balcony, and before turning the corner of the street he looked +round twenty times to kiss his hand to her. Even when he +was grown up and a science-student, Isabel still kept up the +habit of going out on the balcony to wave him an adieu when +he went to his lectures. Either by nature, or perhaps in consequence +of this rather effeminate education, Raimundo was +a timid boy, indifferent to the sports of his companions; and +he grew up a melancholy youth, and a serious and uncommunicative +man. He had scarcely any friends. At college he +joined his fellow-students in a walk before going in to lecture +but as soon as it was over he went home, and did not care to +go out unless with his mother and sister.</p> + +<p>Long before that, when he was no more than ten years old +his grandfather died. Thus, by the time he was sixteen, he +had to play the part of the man in the house. He took his +mother to the theatre, accompanied her in paying visits, and<a name="page_108" id="page_108"></a> +sometimes in the evening, when the weather was fine, he took +her out for a walk, giving her his arm like her husband or +sweetheart. Isabel's beauty did not desert her with years. +Those who saw them together never supposed they could be +mother and son, but rather sister and brother, if not a married +pair. This was the cause of some distress to the lad. As in +Madrid men are not remarkable for respect for the fair sex, he +used to overhear, in spite of himself, complimentary speeches, +or even bold addresses from the passers-by to his mother. +And as he heard them, he felt a strange mixture of shame and +pleasure, of jealousy and pride; the position of a son in such a +case is extremely peculiar and embarrassing.</p> + +<p>Old Martinez, his grandfather, after retiring from business, +had lost all his savings. They had been invested partly in a +gunpowder-making company which had failed, and partly in +Government stock. All he had to leave was an income of +from seven to eight thousand pesetas.</p> + +<p>On this the three lived very thriftily, though they did not lack +the necessaries of life. On a second floor in the Calle de +Gravina, Raimundo pursued his scientific studies. He hoped +to become a professor, like his father, and, seeing how brilliantly +he passed every examination, no one doubted that he +soon would attain that position; but, instead of turning his +attention to geology, he preferred the study of zoology, and +more especially that of butterflies. He began making a collection, +and displayed so much eagerness and intelligence that, +before long, he was possessed of a very fine one. Before he +had left college he was already remarkable as an entomologist. +The walls of his room were lined with cabinets, containing the +rarest and most precious specimens. For two years he saved +up his pocket-money to buy a microscope, and at last was able +to purchase a fairly good one, which was as useful as it was +delightful. The day he took his doctor's degree, when he was +just one-and-twenty, Isabel experienced one of those joys that +mothers alone can know. She embraced him, shedding a flood +of tears.<a name="page_109" id="page_109"></a></p> + +<p>"Now, mamma," said he, "I am qualified to compete for a +professorship. I shall devote myself to preparing for it, and +as soon as I succeed I shall renounce anything you may be +able to leave me in favour of Aurelia. I have few wants, and +can live on my salary."</p> + +<p>These generous words went to the mother's heart; she +found fresh reason every day for adoring this model son.</p> + +<p>Raimundo now plunged into his studies with ardour, working +up the special branches required without neglecting his entomology. +Thanks to this, and to the honoured name of his +father, he was soon eminent among men of science. He +wrote some papers, corresponded with various foreign <i>savants</i>, +and had the satisfaction of receiving from them the most +encouraging praises. He was, it may be said, a happy man. +He had no desires for the impossible to devour his soul, no +tormenting love-affairs, or intrusive friends; he enjoyed the +peace of home-life, the love of his family, and the pure delights +of science; his days glided on in tranquillity and happiness. +His mother's friends were amazed at such virtuous simplicity. +Had Raimundo no love entanglement? Did he not care for +women? And Isabel would reply with a smile of evident +satisfaction:</p> + +<p>"I do not know. I believe he has never yet thought of such +a thing. He is so tied to my apron-string that he is like a +child of three. He would find it hard, to be sure, to meet +with a woman who would love him as I do."</p> + +<p>And it was as she said. She kept him wrapped in such an +atmosphere of protection, of warm and loving care, as he could +never have found with a wife, however devoted she might be. +Only mothers have this gift of absolute and unwearying self-sacrifice, +never hoping for or dreaming of a return. Raimundo's +every need of a practical kind was satisfied with a refined completeness +which few men enjoy. He had never known what +it was to have to think how he was fed, clothed, and shod, or +to take any care for necessaries such as many women do not +understand. Every detail of his life was foreseen and arranged<a name="page_110" id="page_110"></a> +for him. He might devote himself wholly to the exercise of +his intellect. If he complained of a taste in his mouth, his +mother was at his bedside early in the morning with an effervescing +saline draught; if his head ached there was a soothing +drink at bed-time. If he coughed in the night, ever so little, +Isabel could not rest till she had stolen into his room in her +nightshift to see that he had not thrown off his bedclothes. +As soon as Aurelia was old enough she too helped her mother +in the task of averting every pain and removing even the tiniest +thorns from the young entomologist's path.</p> + +<p>Unhappily—though we might also say very naturally, since +happiness cannot last in this world—this blissful course of life +came to a sudden end. Isabel fell ill of bronchitis which she +could not completely shake off, either because she neglected it +or because the physician had hesitated to apply sufficiently +severe treatment. It left her with a catarrh of the lungs which +weakened her greatly. Then, by the doctor's advice, she went +to the baths of Panticosa with Raimundo, leaving Aurelia in +the care of some relations. She rallied a little, but fell ill again +within a few days of returning to Madrid. She was then visibly +failing; so much so that her friends could plainly see that she +was dying. Never for a moment did such a notion enter her +son's head. His life was so bound up with hers that the two +seemed as one. Things went on as they almost always do with +the sick who do not know that they are dying. Isabel, though +very weak, carried on the housekeeping with her usual care. +Raimundo, indeed, had entreated her, and then, taking advantage +of his influence over her, had commanded her to rest; but +she, evading his vigilance, and prompted by the invincible +impulse which busy natures feel to be doing something, would +not give up her duties. One day, when she was already almost +dying, Raimundo found her on her knees dusting the legs of a +table. He was quite horrified, and, chiding her affectionately, +helped her up with many kisses.</p> + +<p>A pious friend, who came to see her, thought proper to hint +to her that she ought to confess. Isabel was painfully impressed;<a name="page_111" id="page_111"></a> +her son, coming in, found her weeping, and flew into +a rage, breaking out vehemently against all such bigots. However, +the sick woman, who was beginning to understand her +danger, insisted gently but firmly on the priest being sent for. +Raimundo, much annoyed, sent for the doctor to uphold him +in his refusal. The physician at first replied evasively, then he +said that it was at any rate being on the right side, that if strong +people were liable to sudden death much more were the sickly.</p> + +<p>But even now light did not dawn on the young man's apprehension. +After seeing the priest, Isabel went on as before, and +this contributed to keep up his delusion. She rose in the +morning, ate at table with them, went into the sitting-room on +her son's arm, and spent the chief part of the day in an armchair. +At the same time she was so excessively thin that those +who saw her only at long intervals were quite shocked. And +yet she did not lose her beauty; on the contrary, it seemed to +have increased, her complexion was clearer and more delicate, +and her eyes brighter.</p> + +<p>One morning she said she would rather not get up. Raimundo +sat down by her bed reading a novel. She presently +said:</p> + +<p>"I am uncomfortable. Lift me up a little; I have no +strength."</p> + +<p>He rose to do it, and at that very instant his mother's head +drooped on one side and she was dead, without a sigh, without +the smallest gesture or sign of suffering—like a bird, to use a +vulgar but expressive phrase.</p> + +<p>The young man's despairing cry brought in the people of +the house.</p> + +<p>Some relations took him and his sister away to their own +home; in the state of stupor in which he was, there was no +difficulty in getting him to go whithersoever they would. That +same evening some of his college friends came to see him and +found him in fairly good spirits, which amazed them, knowing +the passionate devotion to his mother he had always professed. +He discussed scientific matters for a long time, expressing himself<a name="page_112" id="page_112"></a> +with greater volubility than usual. This led them to +suspect that he was under the influence of some violent excitement, +and the suspicion was confirmed when he proposed to +play at cards. They yielded, but presently the young fellow +began to talk quite at random.</p> + +<p>"What do you think of the game, mamma?" he asked of a +lady who was playing.</p> + +<p>All those present looked at each other with consternation +and pity.</p> + +<p>After this he became quite incoherent. His excitement +increased, he began laughing so wildly that no one could doubt +that it must end in a violent nervous attack. And, in fact, when +they least expected it, he started from his seat, ran to the +window, threw it open, and would have flung himself from the +balcony, if they had not stopped him. This ended in acute +hysterics, which happily were soon over, and then to collapse, +compelling him to remain in bed three or four days.</p> + +<p>Time at last exerted its soothing power. At the end of a +fortnight he was well again, though a prey to extreme dejection, +from which his relations and friends vainly strove to rouse +him.</p> + +<p>His uncle proposed that the brother and sister should continue +to live with him, since Raimundo was young to be at the +head of a house, and especially to guard and guide Aurelia. +He was now three-and-twenty and she eighteen. But neither +of them would listen to the plan. They would live alone and +together. They took third floor rooms in the Calle de Serrano, +very pretty and sunny, and thither they transferred their furniture; +once installed there they continued their former life, +sadly, no doubt, under the ever present remembrance of their +mother, but calmly and contentedly. Raimundo centred all +his thoughts and care in Aurelia. Anxious to fulfil his part as +father and protector to the young girl, he did for her what his +mother had hitherto done for him, surrounding her with +kindness, and cherishing her with a tenderness which touched +all who saw them. Aurelia was not beautiful nor particularly<a name="page_113" id="page_113"></a> +clever, but for her brother she felt the passionate adoration she +had inherited from her mother. Nevertheless, in the details +of daily life the young man sorely missed his mother. Aurelia +did her utmost to prevent his feeling her absence, but she was +far from achieving the same delicate anticipation of his needs. +By degrees she became more expert in the management of the +house, and Raimundo, on his part, did not look for the refined +comfort of a past time. The feeling of guardianship, and the +consciousness of his own duties towards his sister, made him +think less of himself. If, on the other hand, some little attention +from Aurelia came to him as a surprise he accepted it as +though from a child. Thus their lives supplemented each +other.</p> + +<p>They lived humbly; their rent came to twenty dollars; +they kept a single maid. Thus their little income of twelve +hundred dollars was sufficient for their needs. As it was +derived from dividends on State securities and shares in a +manufactory, it was regularly paid. Raimundo was able to +dedicate himself with renewed ardour to his studies; he longed +to fulfil to his sister the promise he had made his mother, of +renouncing his share of their inheritance, and saving for her a +little fortune which might enable her to marry well. Ever +since his illness he had gone twice a week to lay flowers on his +mother's grave; on Sundays he took Aurelia with him. As a +rule he went out very little. The studies requisite to fit him +to compete for a professorship on the one hand, and on the other +his passion as a collector and naturalist, absorbed almost the +whole of his time. It was a wonder indeed if he were seen in +a café, and being in mourning he did not go to the play.</p> + +<p>One day when he happened to be at a bookseller's in the +Carrera San Jeronimo, where he frequently amused himself by +turning over new works from abroad, an elegantly dressed +woman came into the shop. Raimundo's eyes dilated at the +vision, resting on her with such a fixed look of admiration, +that she was fain to turn away. While she bought a few French +novels he contemplated her with rapture and emotion; the<a name="page_114" id="page_114"></a> +book he was holding shook in his hand. As she went out he +hastily laid it down to follow her; but a carriage was waiting +for her. The man-servant, hat in hand, opened the door, and +the horses instantly snatched her from his sight.</p> + +<p>"What is it, Don Raimundo?" said the bookseller, as he +came into the shop again. "Are you struck by my fair +customer?"</p> + +<p>The young man smiled to conceal his agitation, and +replied with feigned indifference:</p> + +<p>"Who could fail to notice such a beautiful creature? Who +is she?"</p> + +<p>"Do not you know her? She is the wife of a banker named +Osorio, and Salabert's daughter."</p> + +<p>"Ah! Salabert's daughter! Then she lives in that palace +in the Avenue de Luchana?"</p> + +<p>"No, Señor. She lives in the Calle don Ramon de la +Cruz."</p> + +<p>He wanted no more. Away he went. This lady bore a +singular likeness to his mother. The state of his mind, still +grieving and sore, made the resemblance seem to him greater +than it really was, and it impressed him vividly. A few +minutes later he was walking up and down in front of the +Osorios' house; but he did not succeed in catching another +glimpse of the lady. The next day he went to walk in the +Retiro, and there again he met her. Thenceforth he watched +and followed her with a constancy which betrayed the strong +hold she had on his feelings. Though he at no time forgot +his mother's face, Clementina Salabert brought it yet more +vividly before him, and this gave him a pathetic pain in which +he revelled, paradoxical as it may seem. But any one who +has lost a loved face from the world will understand it; there +is a kind of luxury in uncovering the wound, and renewing the +pain and regret. Raimundo could not gaze long at Clementina's +features without feeling the tears on his cheeks; and +this, perhaps, was why he so constantly sought her. In her +face there was indeed a hardness and severity which his<a name="page_115" id="page_115"></a> +mother's had never had; but when she smiled and all sternness +vanished the resemblance was really amazing.</p> + +<p>Our young man was well aware of the annoyance his pursuit +caused her. At the same time he could not help laughing to +himself at her misapprehension of the case. "If this lady could +know," he would say to himself, as he saw her lips curl with +scorn, "why she fascinates me so much, how great would her +astonishment be!" A current of attraction, it might be said of +adoration, drew him to her. But for her forbidding dignity, he +might very possibly have addressed her, have explained to her +the strange consolation he derived from her presence. But +Clementina moved in so distant a sphere that he dreaded her +contempt. It was enough that she should so evidently scorn +him for his joy in beholding her. On the other hand, he +had heard rumours greatly to her discredit; but he took no +pains to confirm them—in the first place, because they did not +concern him, and also because if they proved to be true he +would be compelled to think ill of her, and he could not bear +that a woman so like his mother should be, in fact, disreputable. +He would know nothing, he would be content to indulge, as +often as he could, that strange longing to revive his grief and +move himself to tears. As he did not live in fashionable +society and could not go to the theatre to procure this satisfaction, +he had no choice but to haunt her in the streets or the +parks when she was out driving. He also attended Mass on +Sundays at the Jeronymite church, and there he could contemplate +her at his ease and leisure.</p> + +<p>He had told Aurelia of his discovery, but he had not pointed +the lady out to her. He was afraid lest Aurelia should not see +the likeness so clearly as he did, and should thus despoil him of +his illusion. Clementina went out walking two or three times +a week, in the afternoon, as she had done on the day when we +made her acquaintance. Raimundo, from the window of his +study in the Calle de Serrano spied her approach, as from an +observatory, and when he discerned her from afar, down he +went to follow her as far as he could. This persecution vexed the<a name="page_116" id="page_116"></a> +lady all the more, as it was at this hour that she went to visit +her lover. Not that it was a matter of any particular importance +that this new connection should become known, but +for a remnant of shame which survived in her. No woman, +however unblushing, can bear to be seen entering her lover's +dwelling.</p> + +<p>Moreover, she knew, for she had heard it quite lately, that a +husband who, finding out his wife's guilt, kills her on the spot, +is held excused. Now, as she knew that Osorio hated her, +she was afraid lest he might take advantage of this excuse to +get rid of her. These vague terrors, added to that residue of +decency, increased her rage against Raimundo. Her violent +and imperious temper rose in arms at this unforeseen interference. +She had not even paid any particular attention to +the young man's appearance. She hated him without troubling +herself to look at him. His indifference and submission to the +utter contempt which she did not attempt to conceal, was also +an offence. It was evident that this youngster was making +game of her; if he were love-stricken he could not possibly +show so much serene cynicism. No doubt he had +discovered that he annoyed her, and meant to insult her out +of revenge. And beyond a doubt he succeeded perfectly. +The turns she was compelled to take in order to elude him, +the visits she paid against her will, and all the terrors his +pursuit cost her, rendered him more odious to her every day, +and made her blood boil. She went out in the carriage, drove +to the Calatravas church, and there dismissed it; but +Raimundo, after being deprived for some days of the sight of +her, committed the extravagance of taking a hackney coach to +keep up with her.</p> + +<p>This enraged her beyond measure, and she determined +to put an end to the intolerable persecution, though she +did not know how. At first she asked Pepe Castro to speak +to the youth and threaten him; but on seeing how coolly +he took the proposal, she indignantly determined never to +return to the subject. Then she thought of addressing him<a name="page_117" id="page_117"></a> +herself in the street, and desiring him, in a few words of +freezing scorn, to annoy her no more. But when the opportunity +offered she dared not—though timidity was not her +besetting sin—the predicament seemed too delicate.</p> + +<p>She was still in this state of doubt and hesitancy, when one +day, as she went down the Calle de Serrano, happening to +look up, she spied the enemy on the look out, high above her. +This suggested to her the idea of asking his name and writing +to him. And with the vehemence which prompted all her +actions she immediately went in, and inquired of the +porter:</p> + +<p>"Would you be so good as to tell me who lives on the third +floor here?"</p> + +<p>"A lady and gentleman, both quite young; a brother and +sister. They have been here only four months; they are +orphans. Not long since, it would seem——"</p> + +<p>The woman, seeing so elegant a lady, was ready to be communicative; +but Clementina cut her short by asking:</p> + +<p>"What is the gentleman's name?"</p> + +<p>"Don Raimundo Alcázar."</p> + +<p>"Many thanks." And she hurried away.</p> + +<p>She went out into the street, but it struck her that writing to +him would have its disadvantages, and that a verbal explanation +would really be more satisfactory, since no one of her acquaintance +could know anything about it. For a moment she paused +in doubt; then she abruptly faced about and went in again. +She passed the portress without saying a word, and lightly ran +upstairs. On reaching the third floor, in spite of her determined +spirit, her courage was somewhat dashed, and she was on the +point of retreating. But her proud and haughty temper +spurred her on, as she reflected that the young man must +have seen her come in and would suspect her repentance.</p> + +<p>There were two doors on the landing. One set of rooms, as +Clementina had observed, was to let, so she decided on knocking +at the door on the left, since there was a mat outside—plain +proof that it was inhabited.<a name="page_118" id="page_118"></a></p> + +<p>A maid answered the summons, and Clementina asked for +Don Raimundo Alcázar.</p> + +<p>"I wish to see him" she added, on learning that he was at +home.</p> + +<p>The girl showed her into the drawing-room, and as the visit +struck her as strange, she asked whether she should announce +it to the Señorita.</p> + +<p>"No. Tell Don Raimundo I want to speak to him."</p> + +<p>He, meanwhile, was sitting in his study, in a state of extreme +agitation. On first seeing the lady enter the house, he had +been startled without exactly knowing why. He recovered +himself on seeing her depart, and was again excited when she +came back. The idea that she might be coming up to his +rooms flashed across his mind, but he immediately dismissed it +as improbable. She must no doubt have come to call on one +of the residents on the first or second floor, who were persons +of fashion. Still, in spite of all reason, he could not be calm. +When he heard the door-bell, he was aghast; he could hardly +get so far as the ante-room, and before he could give the maid +a sign, she had opened the door, compelling him to beat a +hasty retreat. He was tempted to say he was not at home, +even though the lady was in the sitting-room; but, after all, he +made up his mind to go to her, reflecting that he had no rational +motive for refusing.</p> + +<p>Raimundo had seen very little of the world. His mother's +friends had been few—relations and two or three families of +acquaintance. He, on his part, had done nothing to extend +the circle, and, as has been said, had formed no intimacies with +any of his fellow-students, much less had he any familiarity with +the public or private entertainments of the capital. His youth +and early manhood had been happily spent at home, in studying +and arranging his butterflies. He knew life only from books. +At the same time Nature had bestowed on him a frank and +simple temper, some ease of speech, and a certain dignity of +manner, which amply made up for the polish and distinction +produced by constant friction with the upper ranks of society.<a name="page_119" id="page_119"></a></p> + +<p>He went into the drawing-room with perfect composure, nay, +with a lurking sense of hostility roused by the lady's eccentric +proceeding. He bowed low on entering. The situation was, +in fact, so strange, that Clementina, in spite of her pride, her +experience, and her indifference—it might almost be said her +effrontery, was suddenly at a loss. It was only by an effort that +she recovered her spirit.</p> + +<p>"Here I am, you see," she said in a sharp tone, which was +strangely inappropriate and discourteous.</p> + +<p>"To what do I owe the honour of your visit?" replied +Raimundo in a rather tremulous voice.</p> + +<p>"Well—" she paused for a moment, "you owe it to the +honour you do me of following me everywhere like my shadow, +as you have been doing these past two months. Do you +suppose that it can be agreeable to be haunted whenever I +appear in the street? In short, you have made me quite +nervous, and to avoid injury to my health I have taken the +ridiculous step of coming up here to beg you to cease your +pursuit. If you have anything interesting to say to me say it +at once and have done."</p> + +<p>She spoke the words impetuously, as feeling herself in a +false position, and wishing to get out of it by an exaggerated +display of annoyance.</p> + +<p>Raimundo looked at her in amazement, and this vexed +Clementina, and added to her vehemence.</p> + +<p>"Señora, I am grieved to the soul to think that I should +have offended you; nothing could be further from my intentions. +If you could only know the feelings your face arouses +in me!" he stammered out.</p> + +<p>Clementina broke in:</p> + +<p>"If you are about to make me a declaration of love, you may +save yourself the trouble. I am married; and if I were not it +would be just the same."</p> + +<p>"No, Señora, I have no such confession to make," said the +young entomologist with a smile. "I will explain the matter. +I can quite understand your having misunderstood the sentiments<a name="page_120" id="page_120"></a> +which prompt me, and it is natural that you should feel +offended. How far you must be from suspecting the truth! +I have not fallen in love with you. If I had I should certainly +not follow you like a sort of street pirate—above all, under the +circumstances——"</p> + +<p>Here Raimundo looked grave, and paused. Then he added +precipitately, in a voice husky with emotion:</p> + +<p>"My mother died not long since, and you are wonderfully +like her."</p> + +<p>He looked at her, as he spoke, with anxious attentiveness; +there were tears in his eyes, and it was only by a great effort +that he checked a sob.</p> + +<p>The confession roused Clementina's surprise and doubts. +She stood still gazing at him for her part with fixed inquiry. +Raimundo understood what must be passing in her mind, and +opening the door into his study, he said:</p> + +<p>"See for yourself. See if what I say is not the truth."</p> + +<p>The lady advanced a few steps, and saw on the wall facing +her, above the writing-table, an enlarged photograph of an +exceptionally lovely woman, who, no doubt, bore some resemblance +to herself, though it was not so striking as the +young man fancied. The frame was wreathed with immortelles.</p> + +<p>"We are somewhat alike," said she, after studying the +portrait attentively. "But this lady was far more beautiful +than I."</p> + +<p>"No, not more beautiful. Her eyes were softer, and that +gave her face an indescribable charm. It was her pure and +loving soul which shone through them."</p> + +<p>He spoke with ardour, not heeding the want of gallantry the +words implied. Clementina's pride suffered all the more from +the simplicity and conviction of his tone; both contemplated +the picture for a few seconds in silence. Tears trembled in +Raimundo's eyes. At last the lady asked:</p> + +<p>"How old was your mother?"</p> + +<p>"Forty-one."<a name="page_121" id="page_121"></a></p> + +<p>"And I am five-and-thirty," she replied, with ill-disguised +satisfaction.</p> + +<p>Raimundo looked at her once more.</p> + +<p>"Yes, you are younger and handsomer. But my mother's +complexion was finer, though she was some years older. Her +skin was as soft as satin, and there was no worn look about +her eyes; they were like a child's. It was very natural. My +mother's life was calm and uneventful; she had done nothing +to wear out her body or soul."</p> + +<p>He was quite unconscious of implying anything rude to the +lady whom he addressed. She was indeed exceedingly +nettled, but she did not dare to show it, for the youth's grief +and perfect sincerity inspired her with respect. She therefore +changed the subject, glancing round the study, with some +curiosity.</p> + +<p>"You collect butterflies it would seem."</p> + +<p>"Yes, Señora, from my childhood, and I have succeeded in +getting together a very respectable number of varieties. I +have some very beautiful and curious species—look here."</p> + +<p>Clementina went to one of the cabinets. Raimundo eagerly +opened it and placed a tray in her hand full of lovely creatures +of the most brilliant hues.</p> + +<p>"They really are very pretty and strange. Of what use are +they when you have got them? Do you sell them?"</p> + +<p>"No, Señora," said he with a smile, "my object is purely +scientific."</p> + +<p>"Ah!" And she glanced at him with surprise. Clementina +had very little sympathy with men of science, but they +inspired her with a vague respect mingled with awe, as beings +of another race in whom some people discerned superior +merits.</p> + +<p>"Then you are a naturalist?" she inquired.</p> + +<p>"I am studying with that view. My father was a naturalist."</p> + +<p>While he displayed his precious collection—not without the +condescension with which the learned explain their labours<a name="page_122" id="page_122"></a> +to the profane—he gave her some insight into his simple +existence. As he spoke of his mother's illness emotion again +got the better of him, and the tears rose to his eyes. +Clementina listened with interest, looking meanwhile at the +drawers he placed before her, and speaking a few words of +admiration of the martyred insects, or of sympathy as +Raimundo related his mother's death. She affected to be +cool and at her ease, but she could not quite dissemble her +embarrassment in the anomalous situation to which her strange +action had given rise.</p> + +<p>She released herself abruptly, as she did everything. She +quite gravely held out her hand to the young man, saying:</p> + +<p>"Many thanks for your kindness, Señor Alcázar. I am glad +to find that I have not been the object of such a pursuit as I +had supposed. At the same time, nevertheless, I beg you +not to repeat it. I am married, you see; it might be thought +that I encouraged it, or had given you some reason——"</p> + +<p>"Be quite easy, Señora. From the moment when I know +that it annoys you it shall cease. Forgive me on the score of +the motive," and he pressed her hand with a natural and frank +sympathy, which achieved the conquest of the lady. But she +did not show it; on the contrary, she looked sternly grave and +turned to go. Raimundo followed her, and as he passed her +to open the door, he said with a smile of engaging candour:</p> + +<p>"I am but a nobody, Señora, but if some day you should +wish to make use of my insignificant services, you cannot +imagine what pleasure it would be to me!"</p> + +<p>"Thanks, thanks," said Clementina drily, without pausing.</p> + +<p>As they reached the door opening on the stairs, just as he +was about to open it, Raimundo caught sight of his sister's little +head peeping inquisitively into the passage.</p> + +<p>"Come here, Aurelia," said he.</p> + +<p>But the girl paid no heed and hastily withdrew.</p> + +<p>"Aurelia, Aurelia!"</p> + +<p>Very much against her will she came out into the anteroom, +and approached smiling and as red as a cherry.<a name="page_123" id="page_123"></a></p> + +<p>"This is the lady of whom I spoke to you as being so like +mamma."</p> + +<p>Aurelia looked at her not knowing what to say, still smiling +and blushing.</p> + +<p>"Do you not think her very like?"</p> + +<p>"I do not see it," replied his sister after a moment's hesitation.</p> + +<p>"There, you see!" exclaimed Clementina, turning to him +with a smile. "It was only a fancy, an hallucination on your +part."</p> + +<p>There was a touch of annoyance in her tone. Aurelia's +advent made her position more false than ever.</p> + +<p>"Never mind," said Raimundo, "I see the resemblance +clearly, and that is enough."</p> + +<p>The door was standing open.</p> + +<p>"So pleased," said Clementina, addressing Aurelia without +offering her hand, but with one of those frigid and condescending +bows by which a woman of fashion at once +establishes the distance which divides her from a new +acquaintance.</p> + +<p>Aurelia murmured a few polite words. Raimundo went out +on the landing to take leave of her, repeating his polite and +cordial speeches, which did not seem to impress the lady, to +judge from her grave reserve. She went downstairs, dissatisfied +with herself and full of obscure irritation. It was not +the first time, nor the second, that her impetuous nature had +placed her in such a ridiculous and anomalous position.<a name="page_124" id="page_124"></a></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI.<br /><br /> +<small>THE SAVAGE CLUB OF MADRID.</small></h2> + +<p class="nind">A<small>T</small> two in the afternoon about a dozen of the most constant +habitués of the Savage Club lay picturesquely scattered on the +divans and easy chairs of their large drawing-room. In one +corner was a group formed of General Patiño, Pepe Castro, +Cobo Ramirez, Ramoncito Maldonado, and two other members +with whom we have no concern. Apart from these sat +Manolito Davalos, alone; and beyond him Pinedo with a +party of friends. The attitudes of these young men—for they +were most of them young—corresponded perfectly with the refinement +which shone in every revelation of the elegance of +their minds. One had his head on the divan and his feet on +an armchair; another, while he curled his moustache with his +left hand, was stroking the calf of his leg below his trousers +with his right; one leaned back with his arms folded, and one +condescended to rest his exquisite boots on the red velvet seats +of two chairs.</p> + +<p>This <i>Club de los Selvajes</i> is a parody rather than a translation +of the English Savage Club. To be accurate, it is a +translation of such graceful freedom that it keeps up the true +Spanish spirit in close alliance with the British. In honour of +its name, all the outward aspect of the club is extremely +English. The members always appear in full dress every +evening in the winter, in smoking jackets in the summer; the +servants wear knee-breeches and powder; there is a spacious +and handsome dining-room, a fencing court, dressing-rooms, +bath-rooms, and a few bed-rooms; the club has, too, its own<a name="page_125" id="page_125"></a> +stables, with carriage and saddle horses for the use of the +members.</p> + +<p>The Spanish character is revealed in various details of +internal management. The most remarkable feature is a +general lack of ready money, which gives rise to singular +situations among the members themselves, and in their relations +to the outer world, producing a complicated and beautiful +variety which could nowhere be met with in any other +city in Christendom. It more especially leads to an immense +and inconceivable development of that powerful engine by +which the nineteenth century has achieved its grandest and +most stupendous efforts—Credit. Within the walls of the +Madrid Savage Club there is as much business done on credit +as in the Bank of England. Not only do the members lend +each other money and gamble on credit, but they effect the +same transactions with the club itself viewed as a responsible +entity, and even with the club-porter, both as a functionary +and as a man.</p> + +<p>Outside this narrow circle the <i>Savages</i>, carried away by +their enthusiasm for credit, bring it into play in their +relations with the tailor, the housekeeper, the coach-builder, +the horse-dealer, and the jeweller, not to mention transactions +on a large scale with their banker or landlord. +Thanks to this inestimable element of economical science, +coin of the realm has become almost unnecessary to the +members of the club. Its function is beautifully fulfilled +by an abstract and more spiritual medium—promises to +pay, verbal or written. They live and spend as freely as +their prototypes in London, without pounds sterling, shillings, +dollars, and pesetas, or anything of the kind. The superior +advantages of the Madrid Club in this respect are self-evident.</p> + +<p>Nor are they less in the cool and frank impertinence with +which the members treat each other. By degrees they have +quite given up the polite and ceremonious courtesy which +characterises the solemn British gentleman; their manners<a name="page_126" id="page_126"></a> +have gained in local colour approaching more and more to +those of the picturesque quarters of Madrid known as Lavapiés +and Maravillas. Nature, race, and opportunity are elements it +is impossible to resist, whether in politics or in social amusements.</p> + +<p>The club always begins to warm up after midnight, the +fever is at its height at about three in the morning, and then +it begins to cool down again. By five or six every one has +gone piously to bed. During the day the place is comparatively +deserted. Two or three dozen of the members drop in +in the afternoon, before taking a walk, to colour their pipes. +Stupefied by sleepiness they speak but little. They need the +excitement of night to display their native talents in all their +brilliancy. These are concentrated for the time on the +noble task of bringing a meerschaum to a fine coffee-colour. +If, as some assert, objects of art were once objects of utility, so +that the notion of art involves that of usefulness, it must be +confessed that, in the matter of their pipes, the members of the +Savage Club work like true artists. They have them sent from +Paris and London; on them are engraved the initials of the +owner with the count's or marquis's coronet, if the smoker has +a right to it; they keep them in elegant cases, and when they +take them out to smoke, it is with such care and so many +precautions that the pipes become more troublesome than +useful. A "Savage" has been known to make himself +ill by smoking cigar after cigar solely for the pleasure of +colouring his mouthpiece sooner than his fellows. No one +cares about the flavour of the tobacco; the only important +point is to draw the smoke in such a way as to +colour the meerschaum equally all over. Now and again +taking out a fine cambric handkerchief, the smoker will +spend many minutes in rubbing the pipe with the most delicate +care, while his spirit reposes in sweet abstraction from +all earthly cares.</p> + +<p>Grave, dignified, and harmonious in grace, the most select +of the members of the club sucked and blew tobacco smoke<a name="page_127" id="page_127"></a> +from two till four in the afternoon. There is something +confidential and pensive in the task, as in every artistic effort, +which induces them to cast their eyes down and fix their gaze +so as to enjoy more entirely the pure vision of the Idea which +lies occult in every amber and meerschaum cigar-holder. In +this elevated frame of mind lounged our friend Pepe Castro, +smoking a pipe in the shape of a horse's leg, when the voice of +Rafael Alcantara roused him from his ecstasy by calling across +the room:</p> + +<p>"Then you have actually sold the mare, Pepe?"</p> + +<p>"Some days ago."</p> + +<p>"The English mare?"</p> + +<p>"The English mare?" he echoed, looking up at his friend +with reproachful surprise. "No, my good fellow, the cross-bred."</p> + +<p>"Why, it is not more than two months since you bought +her. I never dreamed of your wanting to get rid of +her."</p> + +<p>"You see I did," said the handsome dandy, affecting an +air of mystery.</p> + +<p>"Some hidden defect?"</p> + +<p>"No defect can be hidden from me," replied Alcantara +haughtily. And every one believed him, for in this branch of +knowledge he had no rival in Madrid, unless it were the Duke +de Saites, who had the reputation of knowing more about +horses than any other man in Spain.</p> + +<p>"Want of pace, then?"</p> + +<p>"No, nor that either."</p> + +<p>Rafael shrugged his shoulders, and turned to talk to his +neighbours; he was a ruddy youth, with a dissipated face and +small greenish eyes full of cruelty. Like some others who +were to be seen at the club every day, he frequented the +company of the aristocracy without having the smallest right. +He was of humble birth, the son of an upholsterer in the +Calle Mayor. He had at an early age spent the little fortune +which had come to him from his father, and since then had<a name="page_128" id="page_128"></a> +lived by gambling and borrowing. He owed money to every +one in Madrid, and boasted of the fact.</p> + +<p>The qualities for which he was still admitted to the best +houses in the capital were his courage and his cynicism. +Alcantara was really brave; he had fought three or four duels, +and was always ready to fight again on the slightest pretext. +He was, too, perfectly audacious; he always spoke in a tone of +contempt, even to those who most deserved respect, and was +disposed to make game of any one and every one. These +characteristics had gained him great influence among his fellow +"Savages;" he was treated an equal by all, and was indispensable +to every ploy; but no one asked him for repayment of a +loan.</p> + +<p>"Well, General, did you like Tosti's singing last night?" +asked Ramoncito of General Patiño.</p> + +<p>"Only in her ballad," replied the General, after skilfully +blowing a large cloud of smoke from a pipe made in the image +of a cannon on its gun carriage.</p> + +<p>"You do not mean that she was not good in the duet?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly I mean it."</p> + +<p>"Then, Señor, I simply do not understand you; to me she +seemed sublime," replied the young man, with some irritation.</p> + +<p>"Your opinion does you honour, Ramon. It is greatly to +your credit," said Cobo Ramirez, who never missed an opportunity +of vexing his friend and rival.</p> + +<p>"So I should think; that is as true as that you are the only +person here of any judgment. Look here, Cobo, the General +may talk because he has reasons for what he says—do you +see? But you had better hold your tongue, for you wear my +ears out."</p> + +<p>"But mercy, man! Why does Ramon lose his temper so +whenever you speak to him?" asked the General laughing.</p> + +<p>"I do not know," said Cobo, with a whiff at his cigar, +while he puckered his face into a slightly sarcastic smile. "If +I contradict him he is put out, and if I agree with him it is no +better."<a name="page_129" id="page_129"></a></p> + +<p>"Of course, of course! We all know that you are great at +chaff. You need make no efforts to show off before these +gentlemen. But in the present instance you have made a bad +shot."</p> + +<p>"I am of the General's opinion. The duet was very badly +sung," said Cobo, with aggravating coolness.</p> + +<p>"What does it matter what you say, one way or the other?" +cried Maldonado, in a fury. "You do not know a note of +music."</p> + +<p>"What then! I have all the more right to talk of music +because I do not strum on the piano as you do. At any rate, +I am perfectly inoffensive."</p> + +<p>This led to a long dispute, eager and incoherent on Ramon's +part, cool and sarcastic on Cobo's; he delighted in putting his +rival out of patience. This afforded much amusement to all +present, and they sided with one or the other to prolong the +entertainment.</p> + +<p>"Do you know that Alvaro Luna has a fight on hand this +evening?" said some one when they were beginning to tire of +"Just tell me," and "Let me tell you," from Cobo and +Ramon.</p> + +<p>"So I heard," replied Pepe Castro, closing his eyes ecstatically +as he sucked at his cigar. "In the Escalona's gardens, +isn't it?"</p> + +<p>"I think so."</p> + +<p>"Swords?"</p> + +<p>"Swords."</p> + +<p>"Another honourable scar!" said Leon Guzman from where +he was sitting.</p> + +<p>"Rapiers."</p> + +<p>"Oh! that is quite another thing."</p> + +<p>And the whole party became interested in the duel.</p> + +<p>"Alvaro has but little practice. The Colonel will have the +best of it; he is the better man, and he fights with great +energy."</p> + +<p>"Too much," said Pepe Castro, taking out his handkerchief,<a name="page_130" id="page_130"></a> +after throwing away his cigar-end, and wiping the mouthpiece +with extreme care.</p> + +<p>Every one looked at him, for he had the reputation of being +a first-rate swordsman.</p> + +<p>"Do you think so?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I do. Energy is a good thing up to a certain point; +beyond that it is dangerous, especially with rapiers. With the +broadsword something may be done by a rapid succession of +attacks; it may at any rate bother the adversary. But with +pointed weapons you must keep a sharp look-out. Alvaro is +not much given to sword-play, but he is very cool, very keen, +and his lunge is perfection. The Colonel had better be careful."</p> + +<p>"The quarrel is about Alvaro's cousin?"</p> + +<p>"So it would seem."</p> + +<p>"What the devil can she matter to him?"</p> + +<p>"Pshaw! who knows!"</p> + +<p>"As he is not in love with her I do not understand."</p> + +<p>"Nothing is impossible."</p> + +<p>"The girl is a perfect minx! This summer at Biarritz, she +and that Fonseca boy behaved in such a way on the terrace of +the Casino at night, that they would have been worth photographing +by a flash light!"</p> + +<p>"Why, Cobo, there, before he left, figured in some dissolving +views in the garden."</p> + +<p>"Alas! too true; that girl compromised me desperately," +said Cobo in a tone of comical despair.</p> + +<p>"Well, you had not much to lose. You lost your character +by that affair with Teresa," said Alcantara.</p> + +<p>"Beauty and misfortune always go hand in hand," Ramon +added ironically.</p> + +<p>"<i>Et tu</i>, Ramon!" exclaimed Cobo with affected surprise. +"Why the time is surely coming when the birds will carry guns."</p> + +<p>"Well, gentlemen, I confess my weakness," said Leon +Guzman. "I cannot go near that girl without feeling ill."</p> + +<p>"And the damsel cannot be near so sweet and fair a youth +as you without feeling ill too," said Alcantara.<a name="page_131" id="page_131"></a></p> + +<p>"Do you want to flatter me, Rafael?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; into lending me the key of your rooms to-morrow, +and not coming in all the afternoon. I want it."</p> + +<p>"But there is a servant who devotes himself to water-colour +painting every afternoon."</p> + +<p>"I will give him two dollars to go and paint elsewhere."</p> + +<p>"And a lady opposite who spends all her time in looking +out of her window to see what is done or left undone in my +rooms."</p> + +<p>"She will have a real treat! I will shut the Venetians.—I +say, Manolito, do you mean to pass the whole of your youth +stretched on that divan without uttering a word?"</p> + +<p>Davalos was in fact lying at full length in a gloomy and +dejected manner without even lifting his head to notice his +friend's sallies. But on hearing his name, he moved, surprised +and annoyed.</p> + +<p>"If you were in my place you would feel little inclined for +jesting, Rafael," said he with a sigh.</p> + +<p>It should be said that the young Marquis, who had never had +a very brilliant intelligence, had now for some time been suffering +from a distinct cloud on his brain. He was slightly cracked, +as it is vulgarly termed. His friends were aware that this depression +was all the result of his rupture with Amparo, the woman +who had since thrown herself on the Duke's protection. She +had, in a very short space, consumed his fortune, but he still +was desperately in love with her. They treated him with a +certain protecting kindness that was half satirical; but they +abstained from banter about his lady-love, unless occasionally +by some covert allusions, because whenever they touched on the +subject, Manolo was liable to attacks of fury resembling madness. +He was hardly more than thirty, but already bald, with a +yellow skin, pale lips, and dulled eyes. His sister-in-law had +taken charge of his four little children. He lived in an hotel +on a pension allowed him by an old aunt whose heir he was +supposed to be; on the strength of this prospect some money-lenders +were willing to keep him going.<a name="page_132" id="page_132"></a></p> + +<p>"If I were in your shoes, Manolito, do you know what I +would do? I would marry that aunt."</p> + +<p>The audience laughed, for Manolo's aunt was a woman of +eighty.</p> + +<p>"Well, well," said he, in a piteous voice, "you know very +well that you have not had to spend the morning fighting with +unconscionable usurers only to end by giving in—in the most +shameful way," he added in an undertone.</p> + +<p>"Don't talk to me! Don't you know, Manolo, that I have +to get a new bell for my front door once a month, because +my duns wear it out? But I take it philosophically."</p> + +<p>He went up to Davalos, and laying a hand on his +shoulder, he said in so low a voice that no one else could +hear him:</p> + +<p>"Seriously, Manolo, I mean it, I would marry my aunt. +What would you lose by it? She is old—so much the better; +she will die all the sooner. As soon as you are married, you +will have the management of her fortune, and need not count +up the years she still hopes to live. What you want, like me, +is hard cash. Make no mistake about that. If we had it, we +would get as fat as Cobo Ramirez. Besides, if you were rich, +you could make Amparo send Salabert packing—don't you +see?"</p> + +<p>Davalos looked wide-eyed at his adviser, not sure whether +he spoke in jest or in earnest. Seeing no symptom of mockery +in Alcantara's face, he began to be sentimental; speaking of +his former mistress with such enthusiasm and reverence as +might have made any one laugh. The scheme did not seem +to him preposterous; he began to discuss it seriously and +consider it from all sides. Rafael listened with well-feigned +interest, encouraging him to proceed by signs and nods. No +one could have supposed that he was simply fooling him, while +from time to time, taking advantage of a moment when Manolo +gazed at the toes of his boots, seeking some word strong enough +to express his passion, Rafael was making grimaces at the +group, who looked on with amusement and curiosity.<a name="page_133" id="page_133"></a></p> + +<p>The door of the room presently opened and Alvaro Luna +came in. His friends hailed him with affectionate pleasure.</p> + +<p>"Bravo! Bravo! Here is the condemned criminal."</p> + +<p>"How dismal he looks!"</p> + +<p>"Like a man on the brink of the grave!"</p> + +<p>The new-comer smiled faintly, and glanced round the room. +Alvaro Luna, Conde de Soto, was a man of about thirty-eight +or forty, slightly built, of medium height with hard, keen eyes +and a bilious complexion.</p> + +<p>"Have any of you seen Juanito Escalona?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Yes," said some one. "He was here half an hour ago. +He told me that you expected him, and that he would return +punctually at a quarter to four."</p> + +<p>"Good, I will wait for him," was the answer, and Luna +quietly came forward, and sat down among the party.</p> + +<p>Then the chaff began again.</p> + +<p>"Here, let me feel your pulse," said Rafael, taking him by +the wrist, and pulling out his watch.</p> + +<p>The Count smiled and surrendered his hand.</p> + +<p>"Mercy, how frightful! a hundred and thirty. You might +think he was condemned to death."</p> + +<p>It was a pure invention. His pulse was quite normal, and +Alcantara shook his head at his friends in denial. The jest did +not vex him. Conscious of his own courage, and convinced +that no one doubted it, he still smiled as calmly as before.</p> + +<p>"Well, the funeral is at four to-morrow," said another. "I am +sorry, because I had promised to go out hunting with Briones."</p> + +<p>"And it is a long way to the cemetery at San Isidro," said +a third.</p> + +<p>"No, no, my dear fellow. We will take him to the Great +Northern station, and carry him to Soto, the family Pantheon."</p> + +<p>This joking was not in good taste; however, Alvaro made +no demur, fearing perhaps that the least symptom of impatience +might suggest a doubt of his perfect coolness. Encouraged +by his phlegmatic smile, the "Savages" did not know when to +leave off; the jest about the funeral was repeated with variations.<a name="page_134" id="page_134"></a> +In point of fact he was getting tired of it; but they +could not move him from his cold and placid smile. He said +very little, and when he spoke it was in a few supercilious +words. At last, taking out his watch, he said: "It is three +o'clock. Three-quarters of an hour yet. Who is for a game +of cards?"</p> + +<p>It was an excuse for releasing himself from these buzzing +flies, and at the same time showed his perfect coolness. +Three of the men went with him to the card-room. There +the banter went on as it had done in the drawing-room.</p> + +<p>"Look at him! How his hand shakes!"</p> + +<p>"To think that within an hour he will have ceased to +breathe!"</p> + +<p>"I say, Alvaro, leave me Conchilla in your will."</p> + +<p>"I see no objection," said Alvaro, arranging his hand.</p> + +<p>"You hear, gentlemen, Conchilla is mine by the testator's +will. What do you call such a will as that, Leon?"</p> + +<p>"Nuncupatory," said Leon, who had picked up a few law +terms in the course of a lawsuit against some cousins.</p> + +<p>"Conchilla is mine, by nuncupatory bequest. Thank you, +Alvaro. I will see that she goes into mourning, and we will +respect your memory so far as may be. Have you any instructions +to leave me?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, to give her a dusting every eight or ten days; if she +does not get a good cry once a week she falls ill."</p> + +<p>"Very good, it shall be done."</p> + +<p>"With a stick. She is used to a stick, and will not take a +slapping."</p> + +<p>"Quite so."</p> + +<p>The fun grew broader and louder. Alvaro's imperturbability +had the happiest effect. He understood that beneath +all this banter his friends cared for him and appreciated his +bravery.</p> + +<p>At this moment a servant came in who handed him a note +on a silver waiter. He took it and opened it with some +interest. As he read it he again smiled and handed it to the<a name="page_135" id="page_135"></a> +man next him. It was from the manager of a Cemetery +Company, offering his services and enclosing a prospectus and +price list. Some of the youngsters had amused themselves by +getting him to do it. But Luna did not take offence, and he +seemed greatly interested in his game.</p> + +<p>At last Juanito Escalona came to fetch him. After settling +accounts he rose. They all gathered round him.</p> + +<p>"Good luck to you, Alvaro!"</p> + +<p>"I cannot bear to think of your being run through."</p> + +<p>"Do not be absurd; there is no running through in the +case. It will soon be over, with nothing but a scratch."</p> + +<p>Jesting was now at an end, it was all good fellowship. +Alvaro lighted a cigar with perfect coolness, and said quite +easily: "<i>Au revoir</i>, gentlemen."</p> + +<p>There was a large infusion of true courage in this demeanour; +but there was also a touch of affectation, and +deliberate effort. The younger members of the Savage Club, +though not much addicted to literature, are nevertheless to a +certain extent influenced by it. The class of work they +chiefly study is the <i>feuilleton</i>, and the fashionable novel. +These books set up an ideal of manhood, as the old tales +of chivalry did before them. Only in the old romances the +model hero was he who attempted achievements beyond his +strength, out of noble ideas of justice and charity, while in the +modern story it is he who for fear of ridicule abstains from all +enthusiasm and generosity. The man who was always risking +his life for the cause of humanity is superseded by the man +who risks it for empty vanity or foolish pride. Swagger has +taken the place of chivalry.</p> + +<p>The party remained, talking of their friend's coolness. +However, he was not for long the subject of their praise, for +the first rule of "high tone" is never to show surprise, and the +second is to discuss trifles at some length and serious matters +very briefly. The company presently broke up, all the illustrious +gentlemen going out to diffuse their doctrines throughout +Madrid—doctrines which may be summed up as follows:<a name="page_136" id="page_136"></a> +"Man is born to sign I.O.U.'s and cultivate a waxed moustache. +Work, education, and steadiness are treason to the law +of Nature, and should be proscribed from all well-organised +society."</p> + +<p>Maldonado, as usual, hung on to Pepe Castro's coat-tails. +The reader is already aware of the deep admiration he felt for +his model. And Pepe allowed himself to be admired with +great condescension, initiating his disciple now and then into +the higher arcana of his enlightenment on the subject of +English horses and amber mouth-pieces. By degrees Ramon +was acquiring clear notions, not alone of these matters, but +also of the best manner of introducing French words into +Spanish conversation. Pepe Castro was a perfect master of +the art of forgetting at a proper moment some good Spanish +word, and after a moment's hesitation bringing out the French +with an air of perfect simplicity. Ramoncito did the same, +but with less finish. He was also learning to distinguish +Arcachon oysters from others not of Arcachon; Château +Lafitte from Château Margaux; the chest-voice of a tenor +from the head-voice; and Atkinson's tooth-paste from every +imitation.</p> + +<p>But, as yet, Ramon, like all neophytes, especially if they are +prone to exaltation and enthusiasm, exaggerated on the example +of the teacher. In shirt-collars, for instance. Because Pepe Castro +wore them high and stiff, was that any reason why Ramoncito +should go about God's world with his tongue hanging out, +enduring all the preliminary tortures of strangulation? And +if Pepe Castro, in consequence of a nervous affection he had +suffered from all his life, constantly twitched his left eyelid—a +very graceful trick no doubt—what right had Ramon to spend +his time grimacing at people with his? Then, too, the young +civilian scented not only his handkerchief and beard but all +his clothes, so that from a distance of ten yards, it was almost +enough to give you a sick headache. And there was certainly +nothing in the doctrines of his venerated master to justify this +detestable habit.<a name="page_137" id="page_137"></a></p> + +<p>But the noblest and loftiest precepts of a great man too +often degenerate, or are perverted, when put into practice by +followers and imitators. Pepe Castro, though he was aware +of his disciple's deficiencies and imperfections, did not cast +them in his teeth. On the contrary, with the magnanimity of +a great nature, he showed his clemency in pardoning and +screening them. In his presence no one dared to make game +of Ramoncito's collars or grimaces.</p> + +<p>It was a little after four when the two "Savages" came out of +the club, buttoning their gloves. At the door stood de Castro's +cart, which he sent away after fixing an hour for his drive. He +was first to pay a visit by Ramoncito's request. They went +down the Calle del Principe, where the club was situated, not +hurrying themselves, and looking curiously at the women they +met. They paused now and then to make some important +remark on this one's elegance, or that one's style; not as +bashful passers-by who gaze and sigh, but rather as Bashaws, +who, in a slave market, discuss the points of those exposed for +sale. On the men they bestowed no more than a contemptuous +glance, or, as if that were not enough, they shrouded +themselves, so to speak, in a dense puff of smoke, to show that +they, Pepe and Ramon, belonged to a superior world, and that +if they were walking down the street, it was only in obedience +to a transient whim. Whenever Castro condescended to be +seen on foot, his face wore an expression of surprise that his +presence was not hailed by the populace with murmurs of +admiration.</p> + +<p>Maldonado was the more talkative of the two. He expressed +his opinion of those who came and went, looking up at Castro +with a smile, while his friend remained grave and solemn, +replying only in monosyllables and vague grunts. Ramoncito, +it may be noted, was as far below his companion physically +as mentally. When they walked out together they really +looked very like some learned professor shedding the dew of +learning drop by drop, and an ardent disciple greedy of +knowledge.<a name="page_138" id="page_138"></a></p> + +<p>"By the way, where are we going?" asked Castro, vaguely, +when they had gone down three or four streets.</p> + +<p>"Why, were we not going to call on the Calderóns?" asked +Ramon, timidly, and a little disconcerted.</p> + +<p>"Ah! to be sure; I had forgotten."</p> + +<p>Maldonado kept silence, wondering in his heart at the +singular faculty of forgetfulness possessed by his friend. And +they went along the Carrera de San Jeronimo to the Puerta del +Sol.</p> + +<p>"How are you getting on with Esperancita?" Castro condescended +to inquire, blowing a cloud of smoke, and stopping +to examine a shop-front.</p> + +<p>Ramoncito suddenly turned very grave, almost pale, and +began to stammer a reply.</p> + +<p>"Just where I was. Sometimes up, sometimes down. One +day she is very sweet—well, not sweet—no; but any rate she +speaks to me. Another day she is as gloomy as the grave; +hardly comes into the room before she is gone again; scarcely +notices me—as if I had offended her. Once, I understood, she +had some reason to be vexed, for at the opera I often go to +the Gamboas' box, and I fancy she had taken it into her head +that I was sweet on Rosaura. Can you imagine such folly? +Rosaura! But I have not been near them for this month past, +and she is just the same, dear boy, just the same. The other +day I had her to myself in the little room for a few minutes, +and in the greatest haste I just managed to tell her that I +wanted to know where we were; for you see I cannot hang +on for ever. Well, she listened to me patiently. I must tell +you that I was altogether carried away, and hardly knew what +I was saying. When I ended, she assured me she had nothing +to be vexed about, and fled to the drawing-room. After that, +would you not suppose that it was a settled thing? Tell me, +would not any man in my place suppose that he was on the +footing of a regular engagement? Nothing of the kind; two +days after, when I called, I tried to say a few words to her +apart, as a lover may, and she snubbed me—she froze me. So<a name="page_139" id="page_139"></a> +there I am. I do not know whether she loves me, or ever will, +and I have not the peace of mind to go about my business, or +do anything on earth but think of that confounded little slut."</p> + +<p>"It seems to me," replied Castro, without diverting his +attention from the window before which they stood, "that the +girl has begun the attack."</p> + +<p>Ramoncito looked up at him with surprise and respect.</p> + +<p>"The attack?" said he.</p> + +<p>"Yes, the attack. In every battle the important point is to +be the first to attack. If at the moment when the adversary +is about to advance, you attack him with decision, you are +almost sure to succeed; if you hesitate, you are lost."</p> + +<p>As he uttered the last words, he turned away from the +shop-window and continued his majestic progress along the +side-walk. Ramon did the same; he had very imperfectly +understood the application to his case of this simile, derived +from the art of fencing, but he abstained from asking any +explanation.</p> + +<p>"So that you think——"</p> + +<p>"I think that you are preposterously in love with the girl, +and that she knows it."</p> + +<p>"But then, Pepe, what reason can she have for refusing +me?" Ramoncito began in a fume, as if he were talking to +himself. "What does the girl expect? Her father is rich, +but there are several children to divide the money. Mariana +is still young, and besides, you know what Don Julian is. He +would be torn in pieces sooner than part with a dollar. +Honestly, waiting for his death does not seem to me a very +hopeful business. I am not a nabob, but I have my own +fortune; and it is my own, without waiting for anybody to +die. I can give her as much comfort and luxury as she has +at home—more!" he added, giving his head a determined +shake. "Then I have a political career before me. I may +be Under-Secretary or Minister some day when she least +expects it. My family is better than hers; my grandfather +was not a shop-keeper like Don Julian's father. Besides, she<a name="page_140" id="page_140"></a> +is no goddess; she is not one of those girls you turn round to +stare at, you know. Why should she give herself airs when I +take a fancy to her? Do you know who is at the bottom of it +all? Why, Cobo Ramirez, and such apes as he, who have +turned her head for her. The little fool expects a prince of +the blood to come courting her, perhaps!"</p> + +<p>Ramoncito denied his lady's beauty, a sure sign of his +being deeply and sincerely in love with her; his affection was +not the offspring of vanity. His excess of devotion led him to +run her down. Castro reflected that his companion's personal +defects might have something to do with his ill-success in this +and some other affairs; but he did not express the opinion. +He thought it safer, as he closed his eyes and sucked his +cigar, to pronounce this general truth:</p> + +<p>"Girls are such idiots."</p> + +<p>Ramoncito, agreeing in principle, nevertheless persisted in +driving the application home.</p> + +<p>"She is a little goose. She does not know herself what she +wants. I say, Pepe, what would you do in my place?"</p> + +<p>Castro walked on in silence for a little way, staring up at +the balconies, wondering, no doubt, that all the world did not +come out to see him pass. Then, after two or three deep puffs +at his cigar, he put on a very grave and judicial air, and +replied: "My dear fellow (pause), in your place, I should +begin by not being in love. Love is <i>pour les bébés</i>, not for +you and me."</p> + +<p>"That is past praying for," said the young deputy, looking +so miserable that it was quite sad to behold.</p> + +<p>"Well, then, if you cannot get over the ridiculous weakness, +at any rate do not let it be seen. Why do you try to convince +Esperancita that you are dying for her? Do you think that +will do any good? Convince her of the contrary, and you will +see how much better the result will be."</p> + +<p>"What would you have me do?" asked Ramon anxiously.</p> + +<p>"Do not make such a show of your devotion, man; don't +be so spoony. Do not go to the house so often and gaze at<a name="page_141" id="page_141"></a> +her with eyes like a calf with its throat cut. Contradict her +when she talks nonsense; hint that you have seen much nicer +girls; give yourself a little consequence, and you will see how +matters will look up."</p> + +<p>"I cannot, Pepe, I cannot!" exclaimed Ramon, wiping +his brow in excess of anguish. "At first I could master +myself, talk without embarrassment, and flirt with other girls. +Now, it is impossible. As soon as I am in her presence, I +grow confused and bewildered, and do not know what I am +saying, especially if I find her cross; every word she utters +freezes me. You cannot imagine how haughty she can be +when she chooses. If I try to talk to some one else, +Esperanza has only to smile to bring me to her side at once. +I did once pass nearly a month, almost without speaking to her; +but at last it was too much for me. I would rather talk to her, +even when she ill-treats me, than to any one else in the world."</p> + +<p>The two young men walked on in silence, as though under +the burden of some great calamity. Pepe Castro was deep in +thought.</p> + +<p>"You are lost, Ramon," he said at last, throwing away the +end of his cigar, and wiping the mouth-piece with his handkerchief, +before putting it by. "You are utterly done for. +What you say has no sense in it. If you had any notion of +managing yourself, you would never have got into such a mess. +Women must always be treated with the toe of your boot; then +you get on all right."</p> + +<p>Having given utterance to these few but profound words +he again pulled up in front of a shop window.</p> + +<p>"Look," said he, "what a pretty dog-collar, it would just do +for Pert if I bought it."</p> + +<p>Ramon looked at the collar without heeding, completely +absorbed in his melancholy reflections.</p> + +<p>"Yes, Ramoncito," the young man went on, laying his arm +on his companion's shoulder, "you are altogether done for; +still, I venture to say that Esperanza will love you yet, if you +only do as I tell you. Just try my plan."<a name="page_142" id="page_142"></a></p> + +<p>"I will try; I must come out of this fix one way or another," +replied the youth pathetically.</p> + +<p>"Well, then, for the present you must go to the Calderón's +not more than once a week, or less. We will go together or +meet there. You must not find yourself alone with her, or in +some weak moment you will undo everything. You are not +to talk much to Esperanza, but a great deal to the other girls +who may be present. Then you should sing the praises of +rosy cheeks, tall figures, fair skins—of everything, in short, that +is least like her, and be sure you are sufficiently enthusiastic. +Contradict her, and without seeming too much grieved. You +are very obstinate, and it does not do to discuss matters too +much, a tone of mild depreciation is far more effective. You +had better glance at me from time to time; I can give you some +covert signals, and so you will always be sure of your ground."</p> + +<p>And thus, by the time they had reached the door of the +Calderóns' house, Castro had expatiated on his masterly plan +of campaign, with many valuable hints and details. Only a +marvellously lucid intellect, joined to wide and rich experience, +only the most subtle nature could have entered so completely +into the secret struggle to which Esperanza's objection to +Ramon had given rise in his soul. At the same time he was +the only person who could solve the riddle. Maldonado +reached the young lady's home in a state of comparative tranquillity. +As to his inmost purpose, it may be said that he had +fully determined to assume the utmost dignity he could put +on, and to offer a bold resistance to Esperanza's advance and +attack.</p> + +<p>To begin with, he thought proper to put his hands in his +pockets and pinch his lips into an ironical and patronising +simper. He thus entered the little drawing-room where the +banker's family were assembled, gently shaking his head as +though he could not hold it up for the weight of many thoughts +it contained. From the elegant to the coarse—as from the +sublime to the ridiculous—there is but a step, and it would +be bold to declare that Ramoncito, at the beginning of his<a name="page_143" id="page_143"></a> +interview with Esperanza, always kept on the right side of the +narrow rift. There is some reason for supposing that he did +not. What is, at any rate, quite certain, is that the young +lady did not immediately detect the change, and when she did, +it did not make so deep an impression as he had hoped.</p> + +<p>In the little sitting-room, when they were shown in, +Mariana and Esperancita, with Doña Esperanza, the grandmother, +were seated at their needlework; or, to be exact, Doña +Esperanza and her grand-daughter were at work, Mariana was +lounging in her chair, her eyes fixed on vacancy, and not moving +a finger. Pepe Castro and Ramon, as being intimate with the +family, were made welcome without ceremony. After shaking +hands—excepting that Maldonado did not go through the +ceremony with Esperancita—they sat down; Esperanza quite +unable to imagine why Ramon intentionally neglected her, by +way of a worthy beginning to the grand course of unpleasant +discipline by which he hoped to school his beloved. Pepe +took a chair next to Mariana, and Ramon next to Doña +Esperanza. Before seating himself he had a momentary weakness. +Seeing Esperancita sitting at some little distance from +her mother, it seemed to him a favourable opportunity for a +few private words, and as he moved his chair he hesitated; an +expressive frown from Castro brought him to his senses.</p> + +<p>"The sight of you is good for weary eyes, Pepe," said +Esperancita, fixing her smiling glance on the illustrious +dandy.</p> + +<p>"They are beautiful eyes which see him now!" Ramon +hastily put in.</p> + +<p>Castro, instead of replying, looked sternly at his friend, +and the deputy much abashed, went on to remedy his +blunder.</p> + +<p>"Fine eyes are the rule in this family."</p> + +<p>"Thank you, Ramon. But you are beginning to be as false +as all politicians," said Mariana.</p> + +<p>"I do every one justice," replied he, blushing with delight +at hearing himself spoken of as a public personage.<a name="page_144" id="page_144"></a></p> + +<p>"Why, how long is it since I was here?" said Pepe to the +girl.</p> + +<p>"A fortnight, at least. It was on a Monday; Pacita +was here. And this is Saturday; so you see—thirteen +days."</p> + +<p>No one recollected so precisely when Maldonado had called +last. Castro accepted this proof of interest with entire indifference.</p> + +<p>"I did not think it was so long. How the time flies!" said +he profoundly.</p> + +<p>"Evidently. It flies for you—away from us."</p> + +<p>The young man smiled affably, and asked leave to light a +cigar. Then he said:</p> + +<p>"No. It flies fastest when I am with you."</p> + +<p>"Faster than with Clementina?" asked the girl in an innocent +tone, which betrayed no malice. But Castro looked at +her gravely. His connection with Osorio's wife had hitherto +remained more or less a secret; and that it should be known +here, in her sister-in-law's house, disturbed him. Esperancita +blushed scarlet under his inquiring gaze.</p> + +<p>"Much the same," he said coolly. "We are very good +friends."</p> + +<p>"Are you going there to-day?" asked Mariana, not observing +this by-play.</p> + +<p>"Yes; Ramon and I are going—Saturday? Isn't it? And +you?"</p> + +<p>"I am not inclined to go out. I have been suffering a little +these few days from sore throat."</p> + +<p>"Do not say you are ill, mamma," said Esperancita, pettishly; +"say you would rather go to bed early." Her mother +looked at her with large, dull eyes.</p> + +<p>"I have a relaxed throat, my dear."</p> + +<p>"How opportune!" exclaimed the girl, ironically. "I have +not heard a word about it till this moment."</p> + +<p>"If you wish to go," said Mariana, understanding at last, +"your father will take you."<a name="page_145" id="page_145"></a></p> + +<p>"You know very well that if you do not go, papa will not +care to go either."</p> + +<p>Her voice betrayed her irritation. A gleam of satisfaction +lighted up Ramon's face, and he shot a look of triumph at +Pepe. It was when she heard that he, too, was going that she +had begun to wish to join the party.</p> + +<p>The conversation now drifted into common-place, dwelling +chiefly on the most trivial subjects: the news of the day, or +the singers at the opera. Tosti's beauty was again discussed. +Ramoncito, in the joy of his triumph, dared to call it in question, +and abused tall and, above all, red-haired women. He +admired only brunettes, round faces, a medium stature, and +black eyes—in short, Esperancita; there was no need to name +her. His friend Pepe, alarmed by this outburst, which was +directly opposed to all the plans of siege on which they had +agreed, made a series of grimaces for his guidance, and presently +brought him back into the right way; but he then went +so far into the other extreme, and began to contradict himself +in so disastrous a manner, that the ladies presently remarked +it, and he got bewildered and tied himself into a knot, from +which he could not have extricated himself but for a timely +rescue by his friend and chief.</p> + +<p>To remedy the blunder to some extent he entered on a long +account of the sitting of the day before, with so many details +that Mariana began to yawn, like the simpleton she was, and +Doña Esperanza devoted herself to her embroidery, and made +no secret of thinking of something else. Esperancita at last +made a sign to Castro to come and sit by her. He obeyed, +taking a low seat at her side.</p> + +<p>"Listen, Pepe," said she, in a low and tremulous voice. +"Of late you have been very sullen with me. I do not know +whether I can have said anything to vex you. If so, pray +forgive me."</p> + +<p>"I do not know what you mean. I could never be vexed +by anything that such a sweet little person as you might say," +replied the young man, with the lordly smile of a Sultan.<a name="page_146" id="page_146"></a></p> + +<p>"I am glad it was a false alarm on my part. Many thanks +for the compliment, if you mean it—which I doubt. It would +grieve me to the heart to displease you in any way," and as +she spoke she blushed up to her ears.</p> + +<p>"But I hear you are very apt to be displeasing."</p> + +<p>"Oh, no!"</p> + +<p>"So my friend Ramon tells me."</p> + +<p>Esperancita's countenance clouded, and a deep line marked +her childlike brow.</p> + +<p>"I do not know why he should say so."</p> + +<p>"Your conscience does not prick you?"</p> + +<p>"Not in the least."</p> + +<p>"What a heart of stone!"</p> + +<p>"Why? If I have hurt his feelings it is his own fault."</p> + +<p>"So I told him. But I believe his complaint is in a fair +way to be cured, and that he will not again expose himself to +your thrusts. He has been more cheerful and less absent-minded +these last few days."</p> + +<p>Castro was quite honestly doing his best for his friend.</p> + +<p>"I should be only too glad to hear it," said the girl, with +perfect simplicity.</p> + +<p>Castro sang the praises of his friend and earnestly recommended +him to Esperancita's good graces. But as he poured +exaggerated eulogies into the girl's ear, his tone of disdain and +the satirical smile which accompanied them somewhat weakened +their effect. And even if it had not been so, she would have +received them with no less hostility.</p> + +<p>"Come, Pepe, you want to make a fool of me?"</p> + +<p>"Indeed, Esperancita, Ramon has a great future before him, +and in time may very likely be made Minister."</p> + +<p>The hero in question, meanwhile, was explaining, with his +usual fluency, to Mariana and her mother, how he had discovered +an extensive fraud in the custom-house returns on +imported meat: three hundred and fifty hams had been brought +into the country, a few days since, smuggled in with the cognisance +of some of the officials. Ramoncito meant to bring<a name="page_147" id="page_147"></a> +these men to justice without delay. Mariana implored him not +to be too severe with them; they were perhaps fathers of +families, but she could not mollify him. His sense of municipal +rights was more rigid perhaps than the muscles of his +neck—to judge by the number of times he turned his head to +look where Pepe and Esperancita were talking. He was not +jealous; he had absolute confidence in his friend's loyalty; but +he wanted his beloved to hear him when he brought out +certain phrases: "To the bar of justice;" "I can no doubt +obtain an adverse verdict;" "The municipal law requires that +they should be prosecuted," and so forth, so that the angel of +his heart might fully appreciate the high destiny in store for her +if she were united to so energetic an administrator.</p> + +<p>They now heard steps in the adjoining room, and a cough +which they all knew only too well. Doña Esperanza when she +heard it hastily handed her work to her daughter, or, to be +exact, crammed it into Mariana's hands.</p> + +<p>When Calderón came in, his wife was stitching with affected +diligence, while her mother was sitting with her hands folded, +as if she had not stirred from her attitude for a long time. +Ramon and Castro had scarcely noticed the manœuvre. The +reason of it was that Calderón could not forgive his wife her +apathy and indolence, regarding these faults as positive calamities, +and himself as most unfortunate for having married so +inert a woman. Not that any work she might do mattered in +the household; but his vehemently laborious temperament +asserted itself against one so diametrically opposed to it. +Mariana's limpness and indifference irritated his nerves and +gave rise to sharp discussions and frequent squabbles. She +feebly defended herself, declaring that her parents had not +brought her up to be a maid-of-all-work, since they had enough +to allow her to live like a lady. Whereupon Don Julian would +turn furious, and declare that it was the duty of every one to +work, or at any rate to do something; that total idleness was +incomprehensible; that it was a wife's duty to see that the +property of the household was not wasted, even if she could<a name="page_148" id="page_148"></a> +not add to it, &c. &c. And, finally, that the mistress's incurable +indolence was at the bottom of their domestic discomfort.</p> + +<p>Doña Esperanza was very unlike her daughter; by nature +she was active, vigilant, and at least as avaricious as her son-in-law; +she could never sit a quarter of an hour without something +to occupy her hands. In the affairs of the house, indeed, she +played no important part, because Calderón took a pleasure in +managing and ordering everything himself. And this indicated +a contradictory characteristic which must here be mentioned +for a full comprehension of his character. He complained that +his wife did not undertake the care of the house, and that he +consequently was compelled to manage it, but at the same +time, though he knew that his mother-in-law was both capable +and willing, he would not leave it to her. This gave rise to a +suspicion that, even if Mariana had been a prodigy of energy +and method, he would no more have entrusted her with the +management of domestic affairs than with his business. His +suspicious and sordid nature made him prefer toil to rest; he +would have liked to possess a hundred eyes to watch over +everything that belonged to him. Doña Esperanza also lamented +her daughter's incapacity, and eagerly seconded her son-in-law's +stinginess, helping him very materially in his close vigilance. +But while she herself found fault with Mariana's apathy, she +was her mother after all; she hated that Calderón should blame +her, and acutely felt their matrimonial differences. Consequently, +whenever she could avert one she did so, even at the +cost of some sacrifice, concealing Mariana's faults and voluntarily +taking them on herself. It was for this reason that she had so +precipitately handed to her the cushion she was embroidering.</p> + +<p>Don Julian came into the room reading the <i>feuilleton</i> of <i>La +Correspondencia</i>, which he carefully preserved and stitched +together. Don Julian, strange as it may seem, was very fond +of novels; but he only read those which came out in the <i>Correspondencia</i>, +or the religious tales he gave his daughter who was +at school. He had never been known to go into a bookseller's +of his own accord to buy one. And not only did he read them,<a name="page_149" id="page_149"></a> +but he was very prone to weep over them. He was deeply +sentimental at the bottom of his heart; it was a weakness of +his constitution, like rheumatism or asthma. The misfortunes +or poverty of others touched him greatly; if he could have +remedied them by any means not involving any loss of money +he would no doubt have done so at once. Generous deeds +made him shed tears of enthusiasm; but he thought himself +incapable of doing them—and he was right. And he made +great efforts to do violence to his instincts; he was by no +means the least ready to give of the rich men of Madrid. He +set aside a fixed sum for the poor, and entered it in his +accounts as though they were his creditors. But when once +the monthly allowance was spent, he might, perhaps, have left +a poor wretch to die of hunger in the street and not have given +him a penny; not for want of feeling, but by reason of the +strong hold figures had over his mind. The idea of depriving +himself of a peseta for any other form of outlay than buying to +sell was beyond his ken. Thus far his almsgiving had superior +merits to that of other men.</p> + +<p>As he now entered the little morning-room his face betrayed +traces of emotion. After greeting his visitors, he said, as he +seated himself in an arm-chair:</p> + +<p>"I have just read an exquisite chapter in this novel—quite +exquisite! I could not resist the temptation of bringing it in +to read to these ladies."</p> + +<p>He paused, not daring to propose it to Castro and Maldonado, +though he would have liked to do so. He was very +fond of reading aloud, because he did it fairly well, and +Mariana took pleasure in hearing him; so far they were well +matched.</p> + +<p>"Read it, by all means, my dear; I do not think that Pepe +and Ramon will object," said his wife.</p> + +<p>Pepe bowed slightly; Ramoncito hastened to express enthusiastic +pleasure: he was devoted to fine passages, &c. +From the father of his inamorata he would have listened to +the reading of a table of logarithms.<a name="page_150" id="page_150"></a></p> + +<p>Don Julian wiped his spectacles, and, in a mild throat-voice +which he kept for such occasions, began to read the episode +describing the sufferings of a child lost in the streets of Paris. +But his eyes instantly grew dim and his voice began to break, +till at length he was so choked by emotion that he could +scarcely be heard, and Ramon took the paper and read on to +the end. Castro, looking on at this absurdity, hid a superior +smile behind volumes of tobacco-smoke.</p> + +<p>The chapter being ended, every one praised it in the most +flattering terms. Mariana +looked at her work, and observed +that she would need a piece of silk for the lining, since the +cushion was nearly finished. Doña Esperanza, to whom she +made the remark, was of the same opinion.</p> + +<p>"Ramoncito," said she, "be so good as to ring that bell."</p> + +<p>The young civilian hastened to comply, and the lady's maid +immediately appeared.</p> + +<p>"I want you to go out and buy me a yard of silk," said her +mistress.</p> + +<p>The girl, having taken her instructions, was about to depart +on the errand, when Don Julian, who was listening, stopped +her.</p> + +<p>"Wait a moment," said he; "I will see if I do not happen +to have the thing you want." And he briskly left the room. +In three minutes he returned with an old umbrella in his +hand.</p> + +<p>"Do not you think the silk of this umbrella might serve +your purpose?" he said. "It seems to me to be just the +colour."</p> + +<p>Castro and Maldonado exchanged significant glances. Mariana +blushed as she took the umbrella.</p> + +<p>"It is, no doubt, the right colour," she said; "but it is full +of holes; it will not do."</p> + +<p>Esperancita pretended to be absorbed in her work, but her +face was of the colour of a poppy. Doña Esperanza alone +took up the question and discussed it seriously. Finally, the +silk was rejected, to the chagrin of the banker, who muttered<a name="page_151" id="page_151"></a> +various uncomplimentary remarks on the management and +economy of women.</p> + +<p>Ramon, by this time, could no longer endure the torments of +Tantalus, to which his friend's plans had condemned him; he +never ceased gazing across to the spot where Pepe and Esperancita +were chatting. He began by rising from his chair +under pretence of moving about a little, and walked to and +fro. By degrees he approached the couple, and stood still in +front of them.</p> + +<p>"Well, Esperancita, is it long since you saw Pacita?"</p> + +<p>How absurd an excuse for addressing her! He himself was +conscious of it, and blushed as he spoke. Pepe flashed an indignant +glance at him, but either he did not see it, or he pretended +not to see it. The girl frowned, and replied, shortly, +that she did not exactly recollect. This would have been +enough for most people, but Ramon would not take an answer; +on the contrary, he tried to prolong the conversation with +vacuous or irrelevant remarks, and even tried to wedge a chair +in between them and sit down; but Castro hindered him by +covertly giving him a fiercely expressive stamp on the toes, +which brought him to his senses. He continued his melancholy +walk till, presently, he went back to his seat by the two +elder ladies. He was soon engaged in an animated discussion +with Calderón as to whether the paving of the streets should +be done by contract or managed by a commission. He +would have been only too glad to agree with his host; it was +his interest to do so, since his happiness or misery lay in his +hands, but the obstinate and fractious temper which Nature +had bestowed on him led him to continue the argument, +though he saw that Calderón was heated, and within an ace +of being angry. Fortunately for him, before this point was +reached, a servant entered the room.</p> + +<p>"What is it, Remigio?" asked the banker.</p> + +<p>"A man, Señor—a friend of Pardo's—Señor Mudela's coachman—has +come to say that Señorito Leandro is not very +well."<a name="page_152" id="page_152"></a></p> + +<p>"Bless me! What has happened to the boy? He is not +accustomed to such dissipation. He has spent all his life at +school or tied to his mother's apron-string. He must be taken +away from this life of excitement.—And what is the matter with +him?"</p> + +<p>Leandro was Don Julian's nephew, the son of a sister who +lived in La Mancha. He had come to pay a visit to Madrid, +and was leading a very jolly life in the society of other youths +of his own age. He had begged his uncle to lend him his +carriage for an excursion into the country. Don Julian, +anxious not to offend his sister, to whom it was his interest +to be civil, had granted the favour, though sorely against the +grain.</p> + +<p>"The sun and the dinner have upset him a little."</p> + +<p>"Pooh! an attack of indigestion. He will get over that!"</p> + +<p>"I think you ought to go to see him, Julian," said +Mariana.</p> + +<p>"If it were necessary, of course I should go; but, so far, I +see no necessity. I say, Remigio, is he too ill to come here? +Is he in bed?"</p> + +<p>"Well, Señor," said the man, turning his cap in his hands, +and looking down, as conscious that his news was serious, +"the fact of the matter is this—one of the mares, Primitiva, is +knocked up."</p> + +<p>Calderón turned pale.</p> + +<p>"And she could not come home?"</p> + +<p>"No, Señor; she seems to be pretty bad, from what the +Mudela's coachman says. Of course, those youngsters know +nothing about it, and they let her drink her fill."</p> + +<p>Don Julian started up in the greatest agitation, and, without +saying another word, he left the room, followed by Remigio. +The young men again exchanged meaning looks. Esperancita +happened to see this, and turned scarlet.</p> + +<p>"Papa takes such things so much to heart!" said she.</p> + +<p>"How should he do otherwise, child?—a thoroughbred which +cost him three thousand dollars! It is a shame in Leandrito!"<a name="page_153" id="page_153"></a> +And for some minutes the old lady gave expression to her +wrath, which was almost as great as her son-in-law's. Castro +and Maldonado presently took leave. Mariana, who had +taken the disaster with much philosophy, asked them to +dinner.</p> + +<p>"Stay and dine; it is too late now for a walk."</p> + +<p>"I cannot," said Castro; "I dine at your brother's."</p> + +<p>"Ah, to be sure; it is Saturday. I had forgotten. We +will look in, if I am no worse, at ten, when the cards +begin."</p> + +<p>"Do you dine with Aunt Clementina every Saturday?" +asked Esperancita in a low voice, but with a peculiar intonation. +The young dandy looked at her for a moment.</p> + +<p>"Most Saturdays, since I dine with your Uncle Tomas."</p> + +<p>"Aunt Clementina is very pretty and very agreeable."</p> + +<p>"She is considered so," replied Castro, a little uneasy.</p> + +<p>"She has heaps of admirers. Are not you one of the most +ardent of them?"</p> + +<p>"Who told you so?"</p> + +<p>"No one; I imagined it."</p> + +<p>"You imagined rightly. Your aunt is, in my opinion, one +of the loveliest and most elegant women of Madrid. Good-bye +till this evening, Esperancita." And he held out his hand +with a condescending air, which pained the poor child. She +showed her annoyance by addressing Ramon, who was standing +a little apart.</p> + +<p>"And you, Ramon, why cannot you stay? Are you, too, +going to dine at Aunt Clementina's?"</p> + +<p>"I? Oh, no."</p> + +<p>"Then stay with us—do. We will take care not to bore +you."</p> + +<p>"I—bored in your society!" exclaimed he, almost overcome +with delight.</p> + +<p>"Well, you will stay, then—won't you? Let Pepe go if he +has other engagements."</p> + +<p>Ramoncito was about to accept with the greatest rapture,<a name="page_154" id="page_154"></a> +but Castro began to make negative signs at him over the +girl's head, and with such vehemence that his hapless friend +could only say, in a subdued voice:</p> + +<p>"No, I cannot either."</p> + +<p>"But why, Ramon, why?"</p> + +<p>"Because I have some business to attend to."</p> + +<p>"I am sorry."</p> + +<p>The young man was so deeply touched that he could scarcely +murmur his thanks, and he left the room almost at a snail's +pace. As soon as he was in the street Pepe complimented +him eagerly, and assured him that his firmness must lead to +the best results. But he received these congratulations with +marked coldness, and preserved a stubborn silence till he +reached home, where his friend and guide left him, his head +full of gloomy presentiments and the blackness of night.<a name="page_155" id="page_155"></a></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII.<br /><br /> +<small>DINNER AND CARDS AT THE OSORIOS'.</small></h2> + +<p class="nind">O<small>N</small> the day after her visit to Raimundo, Clementina felt even +more ashamed and crestfallen at having paid it than at the +moment when she came down those stairs. Proud natures +feel as much remorse for an action which, in their opinion, has +humiliated them, as the virtuous do when they have failed in +humility. In her inmost soul she confessed that she had taken +a false step. The youth's serenity and courtesy, while they +raised him in her eyes, irritated her vanity. What comments +must he and his sister have been making since her absurd and +uninvited call! She coloured to think of them. Not to see +or to be seen by Alcázar from his observatory, she ceased to go +out on foot. The young man kept his word; she saw no sign +of him.</p> + +<p>But, why she knew not, his visage constantly rose before +her eyes; he was perpetually in her thoughts. Was it aversion +that she felt? Or resentment? Clementina could not honestly +say that it was. There was nothing in his face or behaviour to +make him odious to her. Was it, on the contrary, that his +person had impressed her too favourably? Not at all. She +met every day other men of more attractive manners and of +more amusing conversation. So that it surprised as much as +it provoked her to find herself thinking about him. She never +ceased protesting to herself against this tendency, and reproaching +herself for indulging it.</p> + +<p>One afternoon, some days after the scene just narrated, she +decided on taking a walk. Not to do so seemed to her<a name="page_156" id="page_156"></a> +cowardly; she was doing this boy too much honour. As she +passed the house where he lived she glanced up at his window +and saw him sitting there, as usual, with a book in his hand. +She immediately looked down, and crossed the road with +stately gravity; but after going a few steps, she felt a vague +sense of dissatisfaction with herself. In fact, not to bow +to the young man, not even to return his bow, was unmannerly, +after his frank explanation and the politeness with +which he had shown her his fine collection of butterflies.</p> + +<p>Next day she again went out on foot, and repaired her +injustice of the day before by looking steadily up at the +window. Raimundo made her so respectful a bow, with so +candid a smile, that the beauty felt flattered, and could not +deny that the young fellow had singularly soft eyes, which +made him very attractive, and that his conversation, if not +remarkably elegant, showed a solid understanding and cultivated +mind. She ought to have seen all this at first, no +doubt, but for some unknown reason she had not. From this +day forward she went out walking as before. As she passed +the house in the Calle de Serrano she never failed to send a +friendly nod to the upper window, or he to reply with eager +courtesy; and as the days went on these greetings became +more and more expressive. Without exchanging a word they +were on quite intimate terms.</p> + +<p>Clementina made an attempt to analyse her feelings towards +young Alcázar. She was not in the habit of introspection. +She vaguely thought that it was an act of charity to show him +some kindness. "Poor boy," she said to herself, "how fond +he was of his mother! What happiness to have had so good +and loving a son!"</p> + +<p>One afternoon when these greetings had been going on for +more than a month, Pepe Castro asked her:</p> + +<p>"I say, is it long since that red-haired boy left off following +you about?"</p> + +<p>Clementina was conscious of an unwonted shock, and coloured +a little without knowing why.<a name="page_157" id="page_157"></a></p> + +<p>"Yes; I have not seen him for at least a month."</p> + +<p>Why did she tell an untruth? Castro was so far from +imagining that there could be any acquaintance between this +unknown devotee and his mistress that he did not notice her +blush, and changed the subject with complete indifference. +But to the lady herself, this strange shock and rising flush were +a vague revelation of what was taking place within her. The +first definite result of this revelation was that on quitting her +lover's house, instead of thinking of him, she reflected that +Alcázar kept his promise not to follow her with singular +fidelity; the second was, that as she stopped to look into +a jeweller's window and saw a butterfly brooch of diamonds, +she said to herself that some of those she had seen in her +friend's collection were far more beautiful and brilliant. The +third effect came over her suddenly: on going into a book-seller's +to buy some French novels, it struck her, as she saw the +rows of books, that Pepe had certainly not read and would +probably never read, one of them. Hitherto she had admired +his ignorance, now it seemed ridiculous.</p> + +<p>Time went on and Señora de Osorio, tired of her fashionable +existence, and having tasted every emotion which comes in the +way of a beautiful and wealthy woman, began to find a quite +peculiar pleasure in the innocent greetings she exchanged +almost every day with the youth at the corner window. One +afternoon, having dismissed her carriage to take a turn in the +Retiro Gardens, she met Alcázar and his sister in one of the +avenues.</p> + +<p>She bowed expressively; Raimundo saluted her with his +usual respectful eagerness; but Clementina observed that the +girl bowed with marked coolness. This occupied her thoughts +and made her cross for the rest of the day, since she was +forced to confess more than ever that this was at the bottom +of her <i>malaise</i> and melancholy. By degrees, and owing chiefly +to her fractious and capricious nature, this love-affair, which +might have died still-born, occupied her mind and became the +germ of a wish. Now in this lady, a wish was always a<a name="page_158" id="page_158"></a> +violent desire, above all if there were any obstacle in her +way.</p> + +<p>On a certain morning, after greeting Raimundo with the +gesture peculiar to Spanish ladies, of opening and shutting her +hand several times and going on her way, an involuntary +impulse prompted her to look back once more at the corner +window.</p> + +<p>Raimundo was following her movements with a pair of +opera glasses. She blushed scarlet and hurried on, ashamed +at the discovery. What had made her guilty of such folly? +What would the young naturalist think of her? At the very +least he would fancy that she was in love with him. But in +spite of the ferment in her brain, while she walked on as fast +as she could to turn down the next street and escape from his +gaze, she was less vexed with herself than she had been on +other occasions. She was ashamed, no doubt, but when she +presently slackened her pace, a pleasant emotion came over +her, a light flutter at her heart such as she had not felt for a +long time.</p> + +<p>"I am going back to my girlhood," said she to herself, and +she smiled. And it amused her to study her own feelings. She +was happy in this return to the guileless agitations of her early +youth.</p> + +<p>She was so absorbed in her meditations, that on reaching the +Fountain of Cybele, instead of going down the Calle de Alcalà, +to go to Pepe Castro, with whom she had an appointment, she +turned about, as though she had merely come for a walk. +When she perceived it she stood still, hesitating; finally she +confessed to herself that she had no great wish to keep the +engagement.</p> + +<p>"I will go to see mamma," thought she. "It is days since +I spent an hour with her, poor thing."</p> + +<p>And she went on towards the Avenue de Luchana. She was +in the happiest mood. An organ was grinding out the drinking-song +from <i>Lucrezia Borgia</i>, and she stopped to listen to it; she +who was bored at the Opera by the most famous contralto!<a name="page_159" id="page_159"></a> +But music is the language of heaven, and can only be +understood when heaven has found a way into our heart.</p> + +<p>Coming towards her, down the Avenue de Recoletos, was +Pinedo, the remarkable personage who lived with one foot in +the aristocratic world and the other in the half-official world +to which he really belonged. By his side was a pretty young +girl, no doubt his daughter, who was unknown to Clementina: +for Pinedo kept her out of the society he frequented, and hid +her as carefully as Triboulet hid his. The Señora de Osorio +had always treated Pinedo with some haughtiness, which, as we +know, was not unusual with her. But at this moment her happy +frame of mind made her expansive, and as Pinedo was passing +her with his usual ceremonious bow, the lady stopped him, and +addressed him, smiling:</p> + +<p>"You, my friend, are a practical man; you too, I see, take +advantage of these morning hours to breathe the fresh air and +take a bath of sunshine."</p> + +<p>Pinedo, against both his nature and habit, was somewhat out +of countenance, perhaps because he had no wish to introduce +his daughter to this very smart lady. However, he replied at +once, with a gallant bow:</p> + +<p>"And to take my chance of such unpleasing meetings as this +one."</p> + +<p>Clementina smiled graciously.</p> + +<p>"You ought not to pay compliments even indirectly, with +such a pretty young lady by your side? Is she your +daughter?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, Señora—Señora de Osorio," he added, turning to the +girl, who coloured with pleasure at hearing herself called pretty +by this lady whom she knew well by sight and by name. She +was herself pale and slender, with an olive complexion, small +well-cut features, and soft merry eyes.</p> + +<p>"I had heard that you had a very sweet daughter, but I see +that reputation has not done her justice."</p> + +<p>She blushed deeper than ever, and faintly murmured her +thanks.<a name="page_160" id="page_160"></a></p> + +<p>"Come, Clementina, do not go on or she will begin to +believe you. This lady, Pilar," he continued to his daughter, +"takes as much delight in telling pleasant fibs as others do in +telling unpleasant truths."</p> + +<p>"She is, I see, most amiable," said Pilar.</p> + +<p>"Do not believe him. Any one can see how pretty you +are."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Señora——"</p> + +<p>"And tell me, tyrant father, why do you not give her a +little more amusement? Do you think that you have any +right to be seen at every theatre, ball and evening party, +while you keep this sweet child under lock and key? or do you +fancy we care more about seeing you than her?"</p> + +<p>Poor Pinedo felt a pang which he tried to hide; Clementina +had laid a frivolous finger on the tenderest spot in his heart. +His salary, as we know, allowed him to live but very modestly; +if he went into a class of society which was somewhat above +him, it was solely to secure his tenure of an office which was +the sole means of sustenance for himself and his child. She +knew nothing of this. Pinedo hoped to be able to marry her +to some respectable and hardworking man; she was never to +see the world in which she could not live, and which he himself +despised with all his heart, although from sheer force of +habit perhaps he could not have lived contentedly in any other.</p> + +<p>"She is still very young; she has time before her," he said, +with a forced smile.</p> + +<p>"Pooh, nonsense! I tell you, you are very selfish. How +long is it since you were at the Valpardos?" she went on to +change the subject.</p> + +<p>"I was there on Monday; the Condesa asked much after +you, and lamented that you had quite deserted her."</p> + +<p>"Poor Anita! It is very true."</p> + +<p>Pinedo and Clementina then plunged into an animated and +endless discussion of the Valpardos and their parties. Pilar +listened at first with attention; but as the greater number of +the persons named were not known to her, she presently<a name="page_161" id="page_161"></a> +amused herself with looking about her, more especially at the +few passers-by who were to be seen there at that early hour.</p> + +<p>"Papa," said she, taking advantage of a pause, "here comes +that young friend of yours who maintains his mother and +sisters."</p> + +<p>Clementina and Pinedo looked round both at once, and saw +Rafael Alcantara approaching—the scapegrace youth whom we +met in the Savage Club.</p> + +<p>"Who maintains his mother and sisters?" echoed Clementina, +much surprised.</p> + +<p>"Yes, a very good young man, and a friend of papa's, called +Rafael Alcantara."</p> + +<p>The lady looked inquiringly at Pinedo, who gave her an +expressive glance. Not knowing what it could mean, but +supposing that her friend for some reason did not wish her to +speak of Alcantara as he deserved, she held her tongue. The +young man as he passed them greeted them half respectfully, half +familiarly. Pinedo immediately held out his hand to take leave.</p> + +<p>"This is Saturday you remember," said the lady. "Are +you coming to dinner?"</p> + +<p>"With much pleasure. My regards to Osorio."</p> + +<p>"And bring this dear little girl with you."</p> + +<p>"We will see, we will see," replied the official again, much +embarrassed. "If I cannot manage it to-day, some other +time."</p> + +<p>"You must manage it, tyrant father. <i>Au revoir</i> then, my +dear."</p> + +<p>She took the girl by the chin, and kissed her on both cheeks, +saying as she did so: "I have long wished to make your +acquaintance. I sadly want some nice pretty girls in my +drawing-room."</p> + +<p>And as she walked on, in better spirits than ever, she said to +herself: "What on earth can Pinedo be driving at by making +a saint of that good-for-nothing Alcantara?"</p> + +<p>With a light step, a colour in her cheeks, and her eyes +sparkling as they had done in her girlhood, she soon reached<a name="page_162" id="page_162"></a> +the gate of the large garden in which her father's house stood. +The porter hastened to open it and rang the house-bell. She +went in, and, contrary to her usual custom, she smiled at the +two servants in livery, who awaited her at the top of the +stairs. She went by them in silence, and straight on to her +stepmother's rooms, like one who has long been familiar with +the place.</p> + +<p>The Duquesa at that moment was in council with the +medical director of an asylum for aged women which she had +founded some time since in concert with some other ladies. +When the curtain was lifted and her stepdaughter appeared +she smiled affectionately.</p> + +<p>"It is you, Clementina! Come in, my child, come in."</p> + +<p>Clementina's heart swelled as she saw her mother's pale, thin +face. She hastened to her and kissed her effusively.</p> + +<p>"Are you pretty well, mamma? How did you sleep?"</p> + +<p>"Very well. But I look ill, don't I?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, no," her daughter hastily assured her.</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes. I saw it in the glass. But I feel well, only so +miserably weak; and, as I have completely lost my appetite, I +cannot get any stronger.—Then, as I understand, Yradier," she +went on to the doctor, who was standing in front of her, +"you undertake to look after the servants and the sick women, +so that there may be no lack of due consideration for the poor +old things?"</p> + +<p>The doctor was a pleasant-looking young man with an +intelligent countenance.</p> + +<p>"Señora Duquesa," said he with decision, "I will do everything +in my power to prevent the pensioners having any +complaints to make; but at the same time, I must warn you +that some may still reach your ears. You cannot imagine the +vexatiousness and spite of which some women are capable. +Without any cause whatever, simply to insult me and my +colleagues, they are capable of heaping insolence on us. And +the more attention we show them, the more airs they give +themselves. I taste their broth and their chocolate every day,<a name="page_163" id="page_163"></a> +and I have never found it bad, as that old woman declared it +to be. The hours are fixed and I have never known the meals +to be late. If you will make inquiries you will convince yourself +that the persons who have ground for complaint are the +poor servants, whom the old women treat shamefully."</p> + +<p>The doctor had become quite excited and spoke these words +in a tone of conviction.</p> + +<p>The lady smiled gently.</p> + +<p>"I believe you, I believe you, Yradier. Old women are +very apt to be troublesome."</p> + +<p>"Ah! Señora, that depends."</p> + +<p>"We are, for the most part. But it is in itself an infirmity, +and should excite compassion in those who suffer from it. I +need not say so to you, for you have a charitable soul. But I +beg of you to entreat those who are less forgiving, in my name, +to be gentle and patient with the poor old women."</p> + +<p>"I will, Señora, I will," replied Yradier, won by the lady's +sweetness. "We shall see you on Thursday then?"</p> + +<p>"I do not know whether my strength will allow of it."</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, I will answer for it." And feeling that he was +not wanted, the young man then took his leave, pressing the +lady's hand with affection and respect which spoke in his eyes, +while he bowed ceremoniously to Clementina.</p> + +<p>As soon as he was gone, she, who had been gazing with +pain at her stepmother's worn features, and had been deeply +moved by the goodness which was revealed in every word she +uttered, rose from her seat and, kneeling down by Doña +Carmen, took her thin white hands and kissed them in a transport +of feeling. The beauty, who to all the rest of the world +was so haughty, had a peculiar joy, not unlike the rapture of a +mystic, in humbling herself before her stepmother. Doña +Carmen's voice acted like a spell, stirring the dim sparks of +virtue and tenderness which still lived in her heart, and +fanning them for a moment to reviving heat. Then the elder +lady gently removed her daughter's hat, and, laying it on a +chair, bent down to kiss her fondly on the forehead.<a name="page_164" id="page_164"></a></p> + +<p>"It is four days since you last came to see me, bad girl"</p> + +<p>"Yesterday I could not, mamma. I spent the whole day +over my accounts, doing sums. Oh, those hateful sums?"</p> + +<p>"But why do you do them? Is not your husband there?"</p> + +<p>"It is for fear of my husband that I do them. Do not +you know that he has become as stingy and miserly as his +brother-in-law?"</p> + +<p>Doña Carmen knew that Osorio's affairs were not prospering, +and that he had lately lost heavily on the Bourse; but +she dared not tell his wife so.</p> + +<p>"Poor, dear child! To have to think of such things when +you were born to shine as a star in society."</p> + +<p>"This alone was wanting to make him absolutely detestable. +If one could but live one's life over again!"</p> + +<p>The tender look had gone out of her eyes, they were gloomy +and fierce; a deep frown puckered her statuesque brow, and +in a husky tone she poured out all her grievances and related +the daily vexations which her husband heaped upon her. To +no one in the world but her stepmother would she have confided +them; and she could speak of them without a tear, +while Doña Carmen's weary eyes shed many as she listened.</p> + +<p>"My darling child! And I would have given my life to see +you happy! How blind we were, your father and I, to entrust +you to such a man!"</p> + +<p>"My father, indeed! A man who has never found out that +he has a saint in his own house whom he ought to worship on +his bended knees. When I think——"</p> + +<p>"Hush, hush! He is your father," exclaimed Doña Carmen, +laying a hand on her lips. "I am quite happy. If your +father has his faults, I have mine; so I have no merit in +forgiving him his if he on his part forgives me. Do not let +us discuss your father. Talk about yourself. You cannot +think how these money difficulties worry me; I am not accustomed +to them. I would set them right on the spot if I +could; but, as you know, very little money passes through my +hands. I have to account to Antonio for all I draw, and he is<a name="page_165" id="page_165"></a> +not easily hoodwinked. I might, to be sure, put aside a few +gold pieces for you; but my savings would not help you far. +However, I hope your difficulties will soon be over."</p> + +<p>The good woman paused, gazing sadly into vacancy; then, +kissing her daughter, who was still on her knees before her, +she spoke into her ear in a low voice, and went on:</p> + +<p>"Listen, child. I cannot live much longer, and I shall leave +all I have to you. Half of your father's fortune is mine, as I +understand from the family lawyer."</p> + +<p>Clementina felt a thrill, a shock, which a psychologist would +find it hard to define—a mixture of sorrow and surprise, with +an undercurrent of satisfaction. However, sorrow predominated; +she kissed her stepmother again and again.</p> + +<p>"What are you saying? Die! No, you are not to die! I +want you much, much more than your money. But for you I +should have been a very wicked woman—and I shall be, I fear, +the day you cease to live. The only moments when I feel any +goodness in me are those I spend with you. I fancy, mamma, +that you infect me with some of your exquisite virtue."</p> + +<p>"There, there—flatter me no more," said Doña Carmen, +again stopping her mouth. "You think yourself worse than +you are. You have a good heart. What sometimes makes you +seem bad is your pride. Is not that the truth?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, mamma, quite true. You do not know what pride is, +or the miseries it brings to those who feel it as I do. To be +constantly thinking of things which hurt me—to see enemies +on all sides—to feel a look as though it were the point of a +dagger in my heart—to catch a word, and turn it over and over +in my brain till it almost makes me sick—to live with my heart +sore, my mind full of alarms—oh! how often have I envied +those who are as good and as humble as you. How happy +should I be if I had not a gloomy and suspicious temper and +the pride which devours my soul! And who knows," she went +on after a pause, "that I might not have been happier in some +other sphere of life? If I had been poor, and had married +some hard-working and intelligent young fellow, my lot might<a name="page_166" id="page_166"></a> +have been better. Obliged to help my husband, to take care +of a business, or attend to the details of the house, like other +women who labour and struggle, I might, perhaps, not have +come to this. I ought to have had a loving and patient husband—a +man of talent, who could guide me. As it is, mamma, +accustomed as I am to luxury and the fashionable world, I +would gladly give it all up this very day and go to live in some +pleasant spot in the country, far from Madrid. I only want a +little love, and to keep you with me to teach me to feel and be +good."</p> + +<p>Clementina's present mood was idyllic; she had been pleasantly +impressed by the simple home in the Calle de Serrano. +In every woman, however hardened, however immersed in love +adventures, there remains an eclogue in some corner of her +brain which now and again comes to the surface. Good Doña +Carmen listened to her and encouraged her by her smiles, and +the younger lady's confidences lasted long. She recalled her +early life, when she came to tell her stepmother of the declarations +made to her at the ball of the night before, and to read +her the <i>billets-doux</i> of her adorers. These reminiscences of the +past made her happy. She was even tempted to talk about Pepe +Castro and Raimundo, and confess the childish feelings which +stirred her soul; but a feeling of respect withheld her. Doña +Carmen's leniency was indeed so excessive as to verge on +folly; it is very possible that, even if her stepdaughter had +confessed her worst sins, she would hardly have been scandalised.</p> + +<p>They breakfasted together, the Duke having gone to breakfast +with a Minister. Afterwards, having relieved and refreshed +their spirits with this long chat, they went together in the carriage +to San Pascual's, where they prayed a while; and then +they drove to the Avenue of the Retiro. They went home +before dark, as the evening air was bad for Doña Carmen, and +Clementina must be home in good time.</p> + +<p>It was Saturday, the day on which the Osorios kept open +house for dinner and cards. Before going up to dress, Clementina<a name="page_167" id="page_167"></a> +looked round the dining-room, studied the arrangement +of the table, and ordered some little alterations in the dishes +of fruit which decked it. She sent for the packet of <i>menus</i>—written +on parchment paper with the Duke's monogram stamped +in gold—begged her husband's secretary to write the name of a +guest on each, and herself laid them in order on the table napkins: +herself and her husband opposite each other in the middle; to +the right and left of Osorio, two ladies in the seats of honour; +to her own right and left, two gentlemen; and then the rest of +the party in order of dignity, age, or her own preference for +her guests. Then she spoke a few words with the butler, and +after giving him her instructions, she went away. At the door +she turned to look once more at the table, and added:</p> + +<p>"Remove those strong-smelling flowers from the Marquesa +de Alcudia's place and give her camellias, or something else +which has no scent."</p> + +<p>The pious Marquesa could not endure strong perfumes, being +liable to headache. Clementina, who hated her, showed more +consideration for her than for any of her friends; her ancient +title, severe judgment, and even her bigotry, made her respected, +and her presence in a drawing-room lent it prestige.</p> + +<p>Clementina went to her room, followed by Estefania, the +coachman's sworn foe. She put on a magnificent dress of +creamy-white, cut low. She usually wore a sort of <i>demi-toilette</i> +for these Saturday receptions, with sleeves to the elbow. But +this evening she was moved to display her much-praised person +in honour of a foreign diplomate who was to dine in the house +for the first time. While the maid was dressing her hair, her +mind wandered vaguely over the events of the day. She had +not kept her appointment with Pepe; he would certainly arrive +in a rage. She pouted her under lip disdainfully, and her eyes +had a spiteful glitter, as if to say: "And what do I care?" +Then she remembered Raimundo's greeting and that ill-starred +look backwards, with a feeling of shame to which her +cheeks bore witness by a deepening colour. She called herself +a fool—heedless, mad. Happily for her, the young man seemed<a name="page_168" id="page_168"></a> +to be simple and unpretending; otherwise he would at once +have built wild castles in the air. She thought of him a good +deal, and with some tenderness. He was, in fact, attractive +and good-looking and had a way of speaking, at once gentle +and firm, which impressed her greatly; then his passionate +devotion to his mother's memory, his retired life, his strange +mania for butterflies, all helped to make him interesting.</p> + +<p>How many times Clementina had thought over all this during +the last few months it would be hard to say, but very often, +beyond a doubt. Her spirit, lulled by a slumberous sweetness, +was sentimentally inclined. That home on the third floor, that +sunny study, that quiet and simple life. Who knows! Happiness +may dwell where we least expect to find it. A heap of +frippery, a handful of gems, a dish or two more on the table +cannot give it. But an odious reflection, which for some little +time had embittered all her dreams, flashed through her mind. +She was growing old—yes, old. She allowed herself no illusions. +Estefania found it more difficult every week to hide the silver +threads among her golden hair. Though she firmly resisted +every temptation to apply any chemical preparation to her +beautiful tresses, she was beginning to think that there would +be no help for it. The candid, eager, happy love, of which +her adventure with young Alcázar had given her visions, was +not for her. Nothing was left for her, nor had been for some +time, but the vapid, vulgar inanities of aristocratic fops, all +equally commonplace in their tastes, their speech, and their +unfathomable vanity. What connection could there be between +her and this boy but that of mother and son? She sometimes +wondered whether Raimundo's feelings towards her were quite +what he had described them in that first interview; but at +this moment she was sure that he had spoken the simple truth, +that love was impossible between a lad of twenty and a woman +of seven-and-thirty—for she was seven-and-thirty though she +was wont to take off two years—at any rate such love as she at +this moment longed for.</p> + +<p>These reflections furrowed her brow, and with an effort she<a name="page_169" id="page_169"></a> +determined to think of something else. Looking at her maid +in the glass, she noticed that the girl was deadly pale. She +turned round to make sure, and said:</p> + +<p>"Are you ill, child? You are very white."</p> + +<p>"Yes, Señora," said the girl in some confusion.</p> + +<p>"Do you feel the old sickness again?"</p> + +<p>"I think so."</p> + +<p>"Well, go and lie down, and send up Concha. It is very odd. +I will send for the doctor to-morrow, to see if he can do anything +for you."</p> + +<p>"No, no, Señora," the girl hastened to exclaim. "It is +nothing, it will go off."</p> + +<p>A few minutes later the lady made her appearance in the +drawing-room, brilliantly beautiful. Osorio was there already, +walking up and down the room with his friend and almost +daily visitor at dinner, Bonifacio. He was a man of about +sixty, solemn and starch, with a bald head, a yellow face and +black teeth. He had been Governor in various provinces, and +now held the post of chief of a Department of State. He +talked little, and never contradicted—the first and indispensable +virtue of a man who would fain dine well and spend +nothing, and his dress-coat was perennially adorned with the +red cross of the order of Calatrava to which he belonged. In +his own house, the most conspicuous object was a portrait of +himself with a very tall plume in his cap and an amazingly +long white cloak over his shoulders.</p> + +<p>In one corner sat Pascuala, a widow with no perceptible income, +whom Clementina regarded partly as a friend, and partly +as a companion to be made use of, and with her, Pepa Frias, who +had just arrived. As Clementina passed the two men to shake +hands with Pepa, her eyes met her husband's in a flash like +gloomy and ominous lightning. Osorio's face, always dark +and bilious, was really impressive by its ferocity. It was only +for an instant. The ladies exchanged a few words, and the +men joined them, the banker beginning to jest with his wife +about her dress in a tone of affectionate banter.<a name="page_170" id="page_170"></a></p> + +<p>"That is the way my wife wastes my money. My dear, +though you may not care to hear it, I may tell you that you +grow stout at an alarming rate."</p> + +<p>"Do not say so, Osorio, Clementina has the loveliest skin +of any woman in Madrid," said Pascuala.</p> + +<p>"I should think so. The enamelling she went through in +Paris last spring cost me a pretty penny."</p> + +<p>Clementina fell in with the jest, but she had great difficulty +in acting her part. Through the convulsive smiles which now +and then lighted up her face, and her brief enigmatical +phrases, it was easy to see her uneasiness, and even a spice of +hatred.</p> + +<p>The door-bell rang frequently, and in a few minutes the +drawing-room held fifteen or twenty guests. The Marquesa +de Alcudia brought none of her daughters; they were rarely +seen at the Osorios'. Then came the Marquesa de Ujo, a +woman who had been pretty, but was now much faded; as +languid as a South American, though she was a native of +Pamplona, somewhat romantic, by way of being <i>incomprise</i>, +with literary tastes. She had with her a daughter, taller than +herself, and who must have been fifteen at least, though her +mother made her wear petticoats above her ankles that she +might not make her seem old. The poor girl endured the +mortification with a fairly good grace, though she blushed +when any one happened to look at her feet.</p> + +<p>Next came General Patiño, Conde de Morillejo; he never +missed a Saturday. Then the Baron and Baroness de Rag +appeared; it was their first dinner there, and Clementina +devoted herself to them, heaping them with attentions. The +Baron was plenipotentiary of some great foreign Power. The +Minister of Arts and Agriculture, Jimenez Arbos, Pinedo, +Pepe Castro, and the Cotorrasos husband and wife—all came +in together.</p> + +<p>At the last moment, when it wanted but a few minutes of +seven, Lola Madariaga and her husband arrived. This lady, +though much younger than Clementina, was her most intimate<a name="page_171" id="page_171"></a> +friend, and the confidant of all her secrets. She dined with +her three or four times a week, and hardly a day passed +without their driving out together. She could not be called +pretty, but her face was so animated, her eyes sparkled so +sweetly, and her lips parted in such a bewitching smile to show +her little white teeth, that she had always many admirers. As +a girl she had been an accomplished flirt, turning all the men's +heads, loving to have them at her feet, prodigal of those +insinuating smiles alike to the son of a duke or a humble +employé, to the old man with a bald head and a bottle nose, or +the slender youth of twenty, to the rich or the poor, the noble +or the plebeian. Her coquetry equalised ranks and fortunes, +uniting all men in a holy brotherhood to bask in the bright +light of her fine black eyes, and adore the delicious dimples +which a smile brought into her cheek, with all the other gifts +and graces which a merciful Providence had bestowed on her. +Since her marriage she still showed the same inexhaustible +benevolence towards the human race, but in a less wholesale +fashion—that is to say, towards one, or at most two, at a time. +Her husband was a Mexican, very rich, with traces of Indian +blood in his features.</p> + +<p>They had been in the room only a minute or two when they +were followed by Fuentes, a very lively little man, ugly and +lean, and a good deal marked by the small-pox. No one knew +what he lived on; he was supposed to have some small investments. +He was to be seen in every drawing-room of any pretensions, +and had a seat at the best tables. His titles to such +preference lay in his being regarded as a brilliant and witty +talker, intelligent and agreeable. For more than twenty years +he had shone at the dinners and balls of Madrid, playing the +part of first funny man. Some of his jests had become proverbial; +they were repeated not only in drawing-rooms but +in the cafés, and from thence were exported to the provinces. +Unlike most men of his stamp, he was never ill-natured. His +banter was not intended to wound, but only to amuse the +company, and excite admiration for his easy, quick, and subtle<a name="page_172" id="page_172"></a> +wit. The utmost license he allowed himself was to seize on +the ridiculous side of some absent friend as the subject for an +epigram, but never, or almost never, at the cost of his credit. +These qualities made him the idol of his circle. No one +thought a party complete unless Fuentes at least put in an +appearance in the course of the evening.</p> + +<p>"Ah, Fuentes! Here is Fuentes!" cried one and another, as +he appeared, and a number of hands were extended to greet +him. Shaking the first he happened to grasp, he turned to the +mistress of the house, saying in a dry voice which in itself had +a comic effect:</p> + +<p>"Pardon me, Clementina, if I am a little late. On my way +I was caught by Perales. You know Perales; I need say no +more. Then, when I escaped from his clutches, at the corner +by the War Office, I fell into those of Count de Sotolargo, and +he, you know, is saddled with fifty per cent. handicap."</p> + +<p>"Why?" asked Lola Madariaga.</p> + +<p>"He stammers, Señora."</p> + +<p>All laughed, some loudly, others more discreetly. That the +sally was not impromptu was evident a mile off; but it produced +the desired effect, partly because it really was droll, and +partly because it was a point of honour with every one to laugh +whenever Fuentes opened his lips.</p> + +<p>A moment later a servant in livery opened the door, and +announced that dinner was served.</p> + +<p>Osorio hastened to offer his arm to the Baroness de Rag, +and led the way to the dining-room. The Baron closed the +procession, leading Clementina. The servants all stood in a +row, armed with napkins and headed by the butler. Osorio +marshalled each guest to his place, and they soon were all +seated.</p> + +<p>The table was elegantly and attractively laid. The light +from two large hanging lamps shone on bright-hued flowers +and fruit, on a snowy cloth, sparkling glass, and shining porcelain. +This light, however, being somewhat crude, did not do +justice to the ladies; it gave everything the sharpness of an<a name="page_173" id="page_173"></a> +image in a camera. To moderate the glare and produce a +more diffused light, Clementina had two large candelabra, with +coloured shades, placed at each end of the table. All the +ladies were in low dresses—some, like Pepa Frias, disgracefully +<i>décolletées</i>. The gentlemen were in evening dress with +white ties.</p> + +<p>At first the conversation was only between neighbours. The +Baroness de Rag, a Belgian, with brown hair and light blue +eyes, and rather stout, was asking Osorio the Spanish names for +the various objects on the table. She had not been long in +Spain, and was most anxious to learn the language. Clementina +and the Baron were talking French. Pepa Frias, who was +between Pepe Castro and Jimenez Arbos, said to Castro, in an +undertone:</p> + +<p>"What do you think of Lola's husband? Really, not so bad +for a Brazilian?"</p> + +<p>Castro smiled with his characteristic superciliousness.</p> + +<p>"He must have lassoed many cows in the Pampas?"</p> + +<p>"Till a cow lassoed him."</p> + +<p>"But that was not on the Pampas."</p> + +<p>"I know—in a public garden. That is no news."</p> + +<p>General Patiño, faithful to military tradition and his own +instincts, was laying siege in due form to the Marquesa de +Ujo, who sat by him.</p> + +<p>"Pearls suit you to perfection, Señora. A smooth and +slightly olive skin like yours, betraying the warm blood and +fire of the South, is peculiarly set off by Oriental splendour."</p> + +<p>"Flattering me as usual, General. I wear pearls because +they are the best gems I happen to possess. If I had +emeralds as fine as Clementina's, I would leave my pearls in +the jewel case," replied the lady, showing a row of rather +faulty teeth when she smiled, heightened with a few bright +spots of dentist's gold.</p> + +<p>"You would be in error. A pretty woman should always +wear what becomes her most. The Almighty is surely best<a name="page_174" id="page_174"></a> +pleased to view His finest works at their best. Emeralds suit +fair complexions; but you are like the Xeres grape: amber-tinted, +with a heady and intoxicating essence at the core."</p> + +<p>"As it might be a raisin!"</p> + +<p>"No, no, Marquesa; no."</p> + +<p>The General eagerly repelled the charge and defended himself +as valiantly as though in front of the enemy.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the servants were moving about handing various +dishes, while others, bottle in hand, murmured in the ear of +each guest, "Sauterne, Sherry, Margaux," in a hollow tone like +that of a Carthusian monk muttering his <i>memento mori</i>.</p> + +<p>"I drink nothing but iced champagne," Pepa Frias +announced to the servant behind her.</p> + +<p>"You need so much cooling," exclaimed Castro.</p> + +<p>"You surely knew that," said the widow with a meaning +look.</p> + +<p>"To my sorrow!"</p> + +<p>"Why, are you tired of Clementina?"</p> + +<p>Fuentes was not happy under these conditions. It grieved +him to lavish his wit in a <i>tête-à-tête</i>, so he seized the first +opportunity of raising his voice and attracting the attention of +the whole party.</p> + +<p>"I saw you in the Carrera de San Jeromino yesterday +morning, Fuentes," said the Condesa de Cotorraso, who sat +three or four places lower down.</p> + +<p>"That depends on what you call the morning, Condesa."</p> + +<p>"It was about eleven, a little before or after."</p> + +<p>"Then allow me to dispute your statement. I am never out +of bed till two."</p> + +<p>"Till two!" exclaimed one and another.</p> + +<p>"That is going to an excess!" cried the Marquesa de +Alcudia.</p> + +<p>"But it is an aristocratic excess. Who gets up earliest in +Madrid? The scavengers, porters, scullions. A little later you +will see the shopmen taking down their shutters, the old women +going to early Mass, grooms airing their masters' horses, and so +forth. Next come the men of business and office clerks, who<a name="page_175" id="page_175"></a> +do all the real work of the Government, milliners' girls and +the like. By about eleven you may meet a better class, +officers in the army, students, civilians of a higher grade, and +merchants. At noon you see the larger fry, heads of houses, +bankers, and land-owners; but it is not till two that Ministers +of State, Directors, Grandees of the realm and distinguished +writers are to be seen in the streets."</p> + +<p>The whole company were listening, greatly edified by this +defence of laziness, and feeling themselves in a position to +laugh at it, saying in an undertone:</p> + +<p>"That Fuentes! Oh, that Fuentes can talk any one down!"</p> + +<p>Then, simply for the pleasure of it, some one contradicted +him.</p> + +<p>"But then, my dear fellow, you do not know the delights of +getting up early in the morning to breathe the fresh air and +bathe in the sunshine!"</p> + +<p>"I would sooner bathe in warm water with a little bottle of +Kananga."</p> + +<p>"Can you deny that the sun is glorious?"</p> + +<p>"Glorious by all means, but just a little vulgar. I do not +say that at the creation of the world it may not have been a +very striking thing, worth getting up to look at; but you must +admit that by this time it is a little played out. Can there be +anything more ridiculous in these downright days than to call +oneself Phœbus Apollo and drive a golden chariot? And, after +all, the sun has no intrinsic merits; it stays blazing where God +put it, while gas and the electric light represent the brain-work +of men of genius. They are the triumph of intelligence, a record +of the power of mind over matter, the sovereignty of intellect +throughout the universe. Besides, you can always see the sun +for nothing, and I have always had a horror of free exhibitions."</p> + +<p>The company were all in fits of laughter, and Fuentes, +encouraged by their mirth, outdid himself in paradoxes and +ingenious quibbles, obviously forcing his own hand now and +then. He fell into the mistake of certain over-praised actors:<a name="page_176" id="page_176"></a> +he did not know where to stop, and at last became farcical. +From the farcical to the gross is but a step, and Fuentes not +infrequently crossed the line.</p> + +<p>The Conde de Cotorraso persisted in his defence of the sun +to encourage his friend's ingenious abuse. It was the sun +which gave vitality to all nature, which warmed the earthly +globe, and so forth.</p> + +<p>"As to the sun giving life, I deny it," replied Fuentes. +"Madrid is much more alive by night than by day, and, as to +warming me, I much prefer coke, which does not give rise to +fevers. Come, Count, be frank now. What particular merit +can there be in a thing which, under all circumstances, your +valet must see before you do?"</p> + +<p>This was regarded as a final happy hit, and the subject was +dropped.</p> + +<p>From talking of the sun they came to talking of the shade, +and of the shade of poisonous trees. The Marquesa de Ujo +asked Lola's husband, the Mexican, whose name was Ballesteros, +whether the manchineel were a native of his country. He +replied that it was not, but that he had seen it growing in Brazil. +The lady inquired very particularly into its properties, but she +was greatly disenchanted on hearing that the shade of the tree +was not pernicious, and that it was only the acrid juice of the +fruit which was poisonous.</p> + +<p>"So that you do not die if you fall asleep under it?"</p> + +<p>"Señora, I did not fall asleep, don't you see? But I +breakfasted under one with a party of friends, and we were +none the worse."</p> + +<p>"Well, then, how does Selika commit suicide in the <i>Africaine</i> +by lying down in the shade of a manchineel?"</p> + +<p>"It is a fable, an invention of the poet's. It is a pretty idea +but not true."</p> + +<p>The Marquesa, quite disappointed by this realistic view of +the matter, refused altogether to accept it, and argued that +possibly the manchineels of India were not the same as the +American kind.<a name="page_177" id="page_177"></a></p> + +<p>"Is it true, Ballesteros," asked Clementina, "that you have +eight hundred thousand cows?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, Señora, that is an exaggeration! My herds number +three hundred thousand at most."</p> + +<p>"If they were mine," said Fuentes, "I would build a tank as +large as the Retiro Gardens, and fill it with milk and sail a boat +on it."</p> + +<p>"We make no use of the milk, Señor, nor of the butter. We +sometimes dry the meat for exportation, don't you see? But +generally we only save the skin. And the horns also are sold +for various forms of manufacture."</p> + +<p>"Plague take him for a bore!" said Pepe Castro in a low +voice, but loud enough for Jimenez Arbos to hear where he sat +by Pepa Frias, who was taken with a fit of laughter which she +had the greatest difficulty in choking down.</p> + +<p>She addressed herself to Clementina to conceal her mirth as +far as possible:</p> + +<p>"Pass me the mustard, there's a trump," said she.</p> + +<p>"Trump, trump? What is a trump?" asked the Baroness +de Rag, in her eagerness to learn the language, and Osorio +explained the use of the word.</p> + +<p>Pepa addressed herself from time to time to Jimenez Arbos; +a few brief sentences in a low tone, which showed that they +were on intimate terms, and at the same time revealed a desire +to be prudent. Her conversation with Castro on her left was +more animated.</p> + +<p>"Why don't you advise Arbos to eat more meat?" he asked +her.</p> + +<p>"Why should I?"</p> + +<p>"Because he ought to eat meat to give him strength to +endure the fatigues of daily life."</p> + +<p>"To be sure," said the widow, sarcastically. "But do you +take care of yourself and leave others to settle their own affairs +as Providence may guide them."</p> + +<p>"Well, you see I manage to get fed."</p> + +<p>"Yes, but do not let it go to your brain, or one fine day,<a name="page_178" id="page_178"></a> +when you least expect it, you may find yourself without a +dinner."</p> + +<p>"Have I offended you?" said the young man, laughing as if +he had heard something very amusing.</p> + +<p>"No, my dear fellow, no. I mean what I say. For my +part I cannot think how Clementina can bear such a Narcissus +as you."</p> + +<p>"Hush! hush! Be careful, Pepa, pray be careful!" cried +Castro, with an alarmed glance at the mistress of the house.</p> + +<p>"Do you know she is wonderfully artful. She has not looked +at you once."</p> + +<p>Castro, who had been a good deal piqued these few days past +by his lady's coldness, smiled a forced smile and then knit his +brows. Pepa did not fail to observe this.</p> + +<p>"Look at the black cloud on Osorio's face; it is enough +to frighten one! And you are the guilty cause of it, you +wretch!"</p> + +<p>"I! Oh, dear no! It is more likely to be some question of +ready money which makes him look so bilious. I hear he is +ruined, or within an ace of it."</p> + +<p>Pepa started visibly.</p> + +<p>"Who says so? Where did you hear that?"</p> + +<p>"Several persons have told me so."</p> + +<p>The widow turned sharply to Arbos on her other hand, and +asked him in a whisper:</p> + +<p>"Have you heard anything about Osorio's being ruined?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I have heard it said that Osorio has for some time been +buying for a fall, and the market has gone up steadily," replied +the official, with a toss of his head suggesting a peacock, and +there was a touch of evident satisfaction in his tone. To a +politician, buying for a fall is a crime worthy of any punishment. +"I do not know how much he may be let in for at the next +account; but if it is anything considerable, he is a ruined man. +Consols have gone up one per cent., by the end of the month +they may have risen to two."</p> + +<p>Pepa's good spirits had entirely disappeared. She sat<a name="page_179" id="page_179"></a> +looking at her plate and listlessly using her fork to finish the +slice of York ham she had taken. The Minister, observing her +gloomy silence, asked her:</p> + +<p>"Have you by any chance any money in his hands?"</p> + +<p>"By chance! No, by my own idiocy. Almost everything +I possess is in his hands."</p> + +<p>"The devil it is!"</p> + +<p>"Everything I have eaten has turned on my stomach; I +believe I am going to be ill," said the lady, who was as pale +as a sheet.</p> + +<p>Arbos did his best to tranquillise her; perhaps it was not +true: sudden losses, like sudden fortunes, are always greatly +exaggerated. Besides, if any deposit were sacred to Osorio, it +would surely be that of a lady who had entrusted her money to +him out of pure friendship.</p> + +<p>Though they were talking almost in a whisper, their grave +looks and earnest manner attracted the notice of General +Patiño, who, turning to the Marquesa de Ujo, said with +singular perspicacity:</p> + +<p>"Just look at Pepa and Arbos, a summer cloud has fallen +on them. Love is a beautiful thing even in its transient +torments!"</p> + +<p>Clementina meanwhile, with Lola and the Condera de +Cotorraso, had been discussing the effects of arsenic as a drug +for beautifying the complexion and skin. It was the first +time Lola had heard of it, and she was quite delighted, +declaring that she would forthwith try this miraculous elixir.</p> + +<p>"Good heavens, Lolita!" exclaimed Fuentes, "if, as you +are, you cause such havoc in masculine hearts, what will +happen after you have followed a regimen of arsenic for a few +months? Señor Ballesteros, do not permit her to take it; it +is too cruel to the rest of us."</p> + +<p>"Come, come, friend Fuentes," said the pretty brunette, +casting an insinuating glance at Castro, for she had taken it +into her head that she would snatch him from Clementina, +"are you trying to chaff me?"<a name="page_180" id="page_180"></a></p> + +<p>"Chaff, what is chaff?" the Baroness de Rag asked again.</p> + +<p>Bonifacio had for some moments been staring, without +winking even, at the Belgian lady. A few days since he had +purchased a photograph of a figure lounging in a hammock. +He fancied that the Baroness strongly resembled this picture, +and was anxious to convince himself by a prolonged study of +what he could see whether what he could not see was equally +like it.</p> + +<p>The dinner could not end of course without a long discussion +of the opera, Gayarre and Tosti. Otherwise the meal +could not have been digested. The coffee was served in +the dining-room, as was the custom of the house. Then the +ladies withdrew to the drawing-room, followed by several of +the men; others remained to smoke, but it was not long before +they joined the others. The dining-room was intolerably hot.</p> + +<p>Pepe Castro took advantage of the little stir as they left the +dining-room to ask Clementina:</p> + +<p>"Why did you not come this morning?"</p> + +<p>Clementina paused a second, and looked at him with a +condescending smile. "This morning?" she said. "I don't +know."</p> + +<p>"You don't know?" said the lordly youth with a sovereign +frown.</p> + +<p>"I don't know, I don't know," and she turned away still +smiling a little disdainfully.</p> + +<p>"You will come to-morrow?"</p> + +<p>"We will see," she replied, walking away.</p> + +<p>Castro felt that smile like a stab in his breast. He bit his +under-lip, muttering: "Coquetting, eh? You shall pay me +for this, my beauty!"<a name="page_181" id="page_181"></a></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII.<br /><br /> +<small>AFTER DINNER.</small></h2> + +<p class="nind">T<small>HERE</small> were already some fresh arrivals in the drawing-room, +among them Ramon Maldonado, and Pepa's daughter with her +husband. In the adjoining room, six tables were laid out for +cards, and some of the company sat down immediately to play +<i>tresillo</i>. Others waited for their usual party to appear. It was +not long before the rooms were crowded. Don Julian arrived +with Mariana and Esperancita, Cobo Ramirez with Leon +Guzman and three or four others of the same kidney, General +Pallarés, the Marquis de Veneros, and several others, most of +the men being merchants and bankers.</p> + +<p>One of the last to arrive was the Duke de Requena, who was +welcomed with the same eager and flattering deference here +as elsewhere. He came in snuffling, smoking, spitting, insolently +sure of the respect always paid to his immense +fortune. He spoke little and laughed less, expressed his +opinions with gross rudeness, and sat to be adored by the +crowd of ladies who gathered round him. His cheeks were +more flabby, his eyes more bloodshot, his lips blacker than +ever. His whole appearance was so hideous that Fuentes, +pointing him out, remarked to Pinedo and Jimenez Arbos: +"There you see the Devil holding court among his witches at +a Sabbath."</p> + +<p>He was invited to join a party at <i>tresillo</i>, as usual, but +declined. He had caught sight of two bankers, whom he was +eager to secure for the affair of the Riosa Mines, and he also +wanted to pay court for a few minutes to Arbos. He had<a name="page_182" id="page_182"></a> +already contrived to get the mine put up to sale by auction +with all its lands and plant. A company had been formed to +buy it, but there was a difference of opinion among the directors; +some wanted to pay for it money down, and among these +was Salabert, while others wished to take advantage of the +ten instalments allowed by the Government. The difference +in interest was of course enormous.</p> + +<p>The Duke made his way to speak to a Mr. Biggs, the +representative of an English house, which was largely interested +in the company, and the head of the party who were for +payment by instalments. He put his arm over his shoulder, +and led him into the recess of a window, saying roughly:</p> + +<p>"Then you are bent on ruining us!"</p> + +<p>And he proceeded to discuss the matter with a bluntness +which disconcerted the Englishman. He replied to the Duke's +brutal attack with mild and courteous argument, and a fixed +benevolent smile. The Duke only spoke with added rudeness, +which was in point of fact, very diplomatic.</p> + +<p>"I have no fancy for throwing away my money. It has +cost me a great deal of trouble to get it at all, you see; and +in the long run I may very likely be obliged to escape with my +skin by getting out of the business."</p> + +<p>"Señor Duque, it is no fault of mine," said Biggs, with a +strong English accent, "I must obey orders."</p> + +<p>"These orders are instigated by an old fox in Madrid that I +know of."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Señor Duque! there is no old fox in the case," said +Biggs, laughing.</p> + +<p>And the banker could not get anything out of the Englishman, +though he left him much to think of.</p> + +<p>Pepa Frias, in great agitation, after ascertaining from various +authorities that Osorio's affairs were looking badly, was talking +matters over with Jimenez Arbos. Every one was of opinion +that Osorio could meet his engagements; he had a large +capital, and though he had lost heavily at the last few settlements, +it was not supposed that he could be seriously hit. It<a name="page_183" id="page_183"></a> +must, however, be added, that none of these gentlemen gambled, +as Osorio did, for differences in the market. With him it had +become a vice, and, in spite of the warnings of his friends and +colleagues, he could not control the passion which sooner or +later must inevitably bring him to ruin.</p> + +<p>Pepa was watching him closely, and with a woman's keen +insight she divined a troubled sea under his cold, quiet demeanour. +Arbos was soothing her in stilted and well turned +phrases—for not even to his mistress could he throw off the +orator—while the widow herself was meditating some means of +salvation. Her plan was to give the alarm to Clementina, and +extract her promise to snatch Pepa's fortune from the burning, +if burning there must be, by pledging her own settlements. +Trusting much to her own diplomacy, and to her friend's reckless +habits, she grew somewhat calmer, and Arbos took advantage +of her restored serenity to exert the exceptional gifts of +persuasion which Providence had bestowed on him.</p> + +<p>Pepa recovered so far, in fact, as to sit down to cards with +Clementina, Pinedo, and Arbos. As she crossed the drawing-room, +she saw in a corner her daughter and son-in-law, sitting +like two devoted turtle-doves. She stopped to speak to them, +and as her temper was not entirely pacified, her tone was +sharp.</p> + +<p>"Yesterday you were ready to call each other out, and to-day +nothing will part you! Come, children, do not sit together +all the evening. You should not be so spooney in company."</p> + +<p>Emilio was offended by her authoritative tone, the colour +mounted to his face, and he was on the point of answering his +mother-in-law in the same key, but she was gone into the card-room. +So there he was left muttering an oath, and saying that +he had never been in the habit of taking a scolding from any one, +and he was not going to begin with his mother-in-law, with +other equally vehement and incoherent declarations, which +made Irenita look very doleful, and would have ended in tears +if he had not discovered it in time, and, giving her a loving +little nip inside her arm, asked her at the same time to let him<a name="page_184" id="page_184"></a> +have half of the mint-drop she was sucking in her pretty mouth. +And hereupon they fell to cooing again, as if they had been in +the virgin forest instead of Osorio's drawing-room.</p> + +<p>A party of five or six young girls, and among them Esperancita, +were talking with a group of the younger men. Two of +these were Cobo Ramirez and our intelligent friend Ramon +Maldonado. It would be difficult to reduce to writing the +ideas exchanged by these youthful talkers. They must have +been subtle, amusing, and pointed, if we may judge by the +mirth they gave rise to. At the same time the keen observer +would have detected the fact that the young ladies' gestures, +appealing eyes, saucy glances, and insinuating graces, even their +shouts of laughter, had no direct connection with what was said.</p> + +<p>For instance, a bland youth remarked:</p> + +<p>"I saw you, yesterday, Manolita, at San José's, confessing +to Father Ortega."</p> + +<p>The damsel addressed laughed heartily.</p> + +<p>"No, Paco, I am sure you did not see me."</p> + +<p>"Pilar," said another, "Where do you buy such pretty +fans?"</p> + +<p>Pilar went into fits of laughter.</p> + +<p>"What a joke! And you—where did you buy such a +hideous dog as you take trotting at your heels?"</p> + +<p>"Hideous, yes. But a darling, you must own."</p> + +<p>Such speeches as these excited the most noisy merriment +among the young people. They talked loud, giggled and gesticulated. +The girls especially seemed to have swallowed +quicksilver. Those who had good teeth showed them incessantly; +those who had not laughed behind their fans. But +the person who made most noise, and gave rise to most amusement +was, beyond a doubt, Leon Guzman. Manolita, a +vixenish little thing, with black eyes, and a wide mouth full of +beautiful teeth, asked him what o'clock it was. He, drawing +out his watch, replied that it was a quarter past ten. +Then the Count produced his watch, and it appeared that it +was already nearly twelve. This subterfuge amused the girls<a name="page_185" id="page_185"></a> +immensely. Manolita, especially, laughed till she was quite +limp; the more she tried to suppress her laughter the more +convulsive she became. It was very evident that there was in +the speech, and beneath the common-place and even stupid +aspect of these gentlemen, a well-spring of humour, as fresh as +it was deep, such as only young people of from fifteen to +twenty can assimilate and enjoy.</p> + +<p>When this mirth had somewhat subsided Leon Guzman contrived +with some skill to move a little apart, and enter into +conversation with Esperancita. This deeply pained and vexed +Ramon. For the last ten days he had observed that the Conde +de Agreda had cast admiring eyes in the direction of the lady +of his adoration. He regarded him as a more dangerous rival +than Cobo, being a man of much better position. Cobo, indeed, +as he could see, was making no way, and this had +comforted him; but now the aspect of affairs had changed. +He could take no part in the merriment of the group, but sat +making calf's eyes at the damsel in the most lamentable fashion. +Esperancita, to his great consolation, was by no means especially +amiable to the Count; she seemed bored, indeed, and +depressed, looking very frequently towards the spot where +Ramon himself was sitting. Behind him, to be sure, were Pepe +Castro and Lola, talking with the greatest animation; but of +this the young civilian was not aware.</p> + +<p>When Leon moved, Ramon led him aside, and in a low +tone made his plaint. Leon was to know that he, Ramon +Maldonado, was also paying attentions to Esperancita, and was, +in fact, hopelessly in love with her. It was a blow he could +not bear, that so intimate a friend should come in his way. He +pathetically reminded him of their childhood; their sports together, +their school-life; and ended by beseeching him, in a +voice broken by emotion, that unless he were really attached +to Esperanza, he would cease to make him jealous. To all this +Leon listened, half ashamed, and half impatient; to be rid of +Ramon he promised all he asked; and presently among his intimates +he had a good laugh at the cost of the low-born deputy.<a name="page_186" id="page_186"></a></p> + +<p>Requena, after explaining his schemes to Biggs, sat down +to play cards with the Condesa Cotorraso, the Mexican, and +General Pallarés. But in a few minutes he was snorting with +rage over his bad hands. In spite of his wealth he always +played as eagerly as though it were of the greatest importance +to him, whether he lost or gained a few dollars. If luck was +against him, he got into a positively infernal temper, grumbling +at his antagonists, and almost insulting them. His daughter +was not unfrequently obliged to interfere and take his cards to +play them in his place. Just now, Clementina was playing at +the next table, apparently to her own satisfaction, and laughing +at Pepa Frias for being silent and absent-minded.</p> + +<p>"By the way, Pinedo, I had forgotten," said she, as she +sorted the fan of cards she held. "Why on earth did you +try this morning to make your little daughter believe that +Alcantara, of all men, was a saint of virtue?"</p> + +<p>"That is my secret," replied Pinedo.</p> + +<p>"Tell it, tell it!" cried Clementina and Pepa, both in the +same breath.</p> + +<p>He let them beg and pray a little; then, after bidding them +promise solemnly that they would never reveal it, he told +them that, having observed a marked tendency in girls to fall +in love with idlers and evil-minded youths, and to reject +those who were steady and hard-working, he reversed the +facts when talking of a scapegrace, in order that his daughter +might not fall into the hands of one of them. When a well-conducted, +hard-working young fellow went past, he always +spoke of him as a simpleton or a rogue; if, on the contrary, +they met a man like Alcantara, who deserved the worst character, +he spoke of him in the highest terms.</p> + +<p>Pepa, Clementina, and Arbos had paused in their game to +smile at this strange explanation.</p> + +<p>"And has this plan had the desired effect?" asked the +Minister.</p> + +<p>"Admirably, up to the present time. It never occurs to +my daughter even to speak of those whom I have praised for<a name="page_187" id="page_187"></a> +their virtues. On the other hand, she will sometimes say, with +a smile: 'Do you know, papa, I met that profligate young +friend of yours. He is really very pleasant and nice looking, +as you must allow, and seems to be intelligent. What a pity +that he should not sober down.'"</p> + +<p>At this instant, Cobo Ramirez, who was wandering about, +snorting like a tired ox, came up to the table and asked what +they were laughing at. No one could be induced to tell. +Pinedo signed to them to be silent, for he was greatly afraid +of Cobo's tongue. Pepe Castro, too, tired of trying to rouse +Clementina's jealousy by his behaviour to Lola without any +visible result, softly approached her table with an air of deep +melancholy. He posted himself behind Pepa Frias, resting +his arms on the back of her chair. Fuentes came up to say +Good night.</p> + +<p>"Will you not take some chocolate?" asked Clementina, +holding out her hand.</p> + +<p>"How can you expect a man to drink chocolate when he +has just had a sonnet fired off in his face?"</p> + +<p>"Mariscal?"</p> + +<p>"The very man. In the dining-room—he lay in ambush."</p> + +<p>Mariscal was a young poet in the Ministry for Foreign +Affairs, who wrote sonnets to the Virgin and odes to duchesses. +"But I avenged myself like a Barbary Moor. I introduced +him to Cotorraso who is giving him a lecture on oils. Look +how the poor wretch is suffering!"</p> + +<p>The gamblers looked round, and saw, in fact, the two men +in a corner together. The Count was haranguing vehemently, +and holding his victim by the lapel of his coat. The unhappy +poet, with a rueful countenance, trying to give signals of distress +by glances, stood like a man who is being taken to prison.</p> + +<p>"Arbos, do you think I am sufficiently avenged?"</p> + +<p>He turned on his heel and hastily left the room, not to +weaken the effect of his sarcasm. Thus, every evening, he +made his appearance at two or three houses, where his wit +and cleverness were the subject of constant praise.<a name="page_188" id="page_188"></a></p> + +<p>The servants presently came with trays of chocolate and +ices. Cobo Ramirez seized a little Japanese table, carried it +off into a corner, sat down to it, and prepared to stuff. Pepa +Frias looked about her, and seeing General Patiño, called to +him.</p> + +<p>"Here, General, take my cards, I am tired of playing. +Hand yours over to Pepe, Clementina, and let us go into the +other room."</p> + +<p>The two gentlemen took their seats, and the ladies went +towards the drawing-room; but, on their way, Pepa said:</p> + +<p>"I want to speak with you on a matter of importance; let +us go somewhere else."</p> + +<p>Clementina stared with amazement.</p> + +<p>"Shall we go into the dining-room?"</p> + +<p>"No, we had better go up to your dressing-room."</p> + +<p>Her friend was more surprised than ever, but, shrugging her +shoulders, she said: "Just as you please; it must be something +very serious."</p> + +<p>They went upstairs, Clementina imagining that her friend +wished to speak of Pepe Castro, and their relations to each +other. And as, to tell the truth, the subject had greatly lost +its interest, she walked on feeling very indifferent, not to say +considerably bored. When they were alone in the boudoir, +Pepa took her hands, and looking her straight in the face, +she said:</p> + +<p>"Tell me, Clementina, do you know how your husband's +affairs stand?"</p> + +<p>It was a home-thrust; Clementina, though she had no +exact information, had heard of her husband's losses, and of +his increasing and delirious passion for gambling. And in a +discussion on money matters they had recently had, he had +frightened her in order to obtain her signature; also she could +see that he was every day more absent-minded and depressed. +But though she could give her thoughts to such matters for a +few minutes now and again, the complicated bustle of her life +as a woman of fashion, seconded by her dislike of all disagreeable<a name="page_189" id="page_189"></a> +subjects, soon put them out of her head. It never for +an instant occurred to her that such losses might seriously +affect her comfort or convenience, her ostentatious display, or +her caprices. Osorio's conduct gave her every reason to +continue in this faith, for he had never desired her to retrench +in her extravagance. But the viper was lurking at the bottom +of her heart, and at a lash like this from Pepa it began to +gnaw.</p> + +<p>"My husband's affairs?" she stammered, as though she did +not understand. "I never heard. I do not inquire."</p> + +<p>"Well, I am told that he has been losing a great deal of +money lately."</p> + +<p>"I dare say," exclaimed her friend, with a shrug of supreme +contempt.</p> + +<p>"But you may find your hair singed, too, my dear. Is your +own money safe?"</p> + +<p>"I do not know what you are driving at. I tell you I know +nothing of business."</p> + +<p>"But in this case you had better gain some information."</p> + +<p>"But I tell you I do not trouble my head about it, and beg +you will change the subject."</p> + +<p>In proportion as Pepa was obstinate Clementina was reserved +and haughty. Her pride, always on the alert, led her +to suppose that this lady had plotted for this discussion on +purpose to mortify her.</p> + +<p>"The thing is, my dear, as I feel bound to tell you, that your +husband does not speculate with his own money only," said +the widow, driven to bay.</p> + +<p>"Ah! Now I begin to see! You have a few hundred +dollars in Osorio's hands, and are afraid of losing them," said +Clementina with a satirical smile, and with difficulty swallowing +down her wrath.</p> + +<p>Pepa turned pale. A surge of rage rose from her heart to +her lips, and she was on the point of casting her fortune over-board +and simply railing like a market woman—a style for +which she was especially gifted—but an instinct of self-interest,<a name="page_190" id="page_190"></a> +of self-preservation, checked the outburst. If she were to +quarrel with her friend, or even to offend her, all hope of +saving her capital would be lost. She perceived that the +better part was not to provoke her implacable nature, but to +hope that friendship, or even pride, might prompt her to an +act of generosity. With a great effort she controlled her +annoyance at Clementina's supercilious and arrogant gaze, and +said, dejectedly:</p> + +<p>"Well, yes; I own it. Your husband has in his hands the +whole of my little possessions. If I lose it I shall be absolutely +destitute. I do not know what will become of me. I +would rather beg than be dependent on my son-in-law."</p> + +<p>"Beg! No, you need not do that. I will engage you as my +companion in the place of Pascuala," said Clementina scornfully, +for her pride was by no means propitiated.</p> + +<p>Pepa was more stung by this than she had ever been before, +but still she controlled herself.</p> + +<p>"Well, my dear," she said, again taking her hands with a +caressing gesture, "do not fling your millions in my teeth. If +I come to worry you about the matter, it is because I regard +you as my best friend. I know, of course, that there is a +great deal of exaggeration, and that envy is rampant. More +than half that is said about Osorio's losses is probably not +true."</p> + +<p>"And even if it were, it really matters very little to me. +Only to-day my stepmother told me that she meant to leave +me her whole fortune."</p> + +<p>Pepa's eyes opened very wide.</p> + +<p>"The Duchess! And she cannot have less than fifty million +francs! Poor soul! I am afraid she is very ill."</p> + +<p>"Pretty bad."</p> + +<p>At this moment arrogance had the upper hand in Clementina +of every instinct of affection. She spoke the two words +"pretty bad" in a tone of freezing indifference.</p> + +<p>The two ladies had soon come to a perfect understanding. +Pepa, still affecting an easy manner, flattered her friend in<a name="page_191" id="page_191"></a> +every possible way: she was beautiful, rich, a model of +elegance. Clementina allowed herself to be flattered, inhaling +the incense with intense satisfaction. In return she promised +Pepa that she should not lose a centime of her capital.</p> + +<p>They went down the stairs with their arms round each +other's waist, chattering like a pair of magpies. As they +reached the drawing-room door, before parting, they embraced +and kissed.</p> + +<p>And it did not occur to either of them that the embrace and +kiss were those of a corpse—the corpse of a good and generous +woman.<a name="page_192" id="page_192"></a></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX.<br /><br /> +<small>RAIMUNDO'S LOVE AFFAIRS.</small></h2> + +<p class="nind">C<small>LEMENTINA'S</small> new love adventure went on in a manner no +less childish than pleasing for her. After the inopportune act +of heedlessness which had brought her to so much shame, she +took care for some days not to look up at Raimundo, though +the greetings he waved her were more expressive and affectionate +than ever. This fancy—for it deserves no better name—was, +however, taking such deep root in her imagination that +she determined to indulge it again, and on each occasion she +found the young man's opera-glasses directed towards her. +Finally, one day, as she turned the corner, she kissed her hand +to him.</p> + +<p>"Really, I have lost all sense of shame!" said she to herself, +with a blush. And it was so true that she did the same again +whenever she went by.</p> + +<p>But the situation, though romantic and novel, began to +weigh upon her. Her impetuous temperament would never +allow her to enjoy the present in peace; it drove her to seek +further, to precipitate events; though not unfrequently, instead +of procuring her pleasure, they only left her entangled in the +ruins of the dream-palace she had raised. On this occasion, +however, she had better reason than usual for wishing to get +out of the predicament. It was altogether such a false position +as to verge on the ridiculous; and she owned as much to +herself in her most secret soul.</p> + +<p>"In point of fact, I am treating this boy like a dancing +bear."<a name="page_193" id="page_193"></a></p> + +<p>But though she every day determined to put an end to the +adventure by going out no more on foot, or by passing by Raimundo's +house without looking up, bowing to him coldly at +the utmost, she had not resolution enough to carry out her +purpose, nor even to cease sending her greeting up to the +corner window. One thing still puzzled her, and that was, that +the young man, seeing the evident tokens she had given of her +change of mind, and the rather humiliating proofs of her liking +for him, had never failed in his obedience—never followed her, +nor attempted to meet her out walking. This at last piqued +her vanity; she thought he played his new part with too much +zeal. And thinking this she was sometimes quite angry with +him; but then as she went past and saw him so smiling, so +happy, so eager to bow to her, the black mood of her pride +was dispelled, and her heart was again full to overflowing, of +sympathy for the boy, and of the whimsical desire to love and +to be loved by him.</p> + +<p>How would it all end? In nothing, probably. Nevertheless, +she did her utmost to carry on the affair, and bring it to +some definite issue; of that there is no doubt. And her wish +being thwarted by causes which she could not clearly understand, +it grew, till by degrees it became a fierce appetite. One +afternoon, when disappointment and bitterness possessed her +breast, as she was walking down the Calle de Serrano, seriously +pondering on giving up this ridiculous adventure, as she passed +beneath the window, after bowing to the young man seated +there, she felt a handful of loose flowers fall upon her. She +looked up, understanding that it was he who had flung them, +and gave him a smile of tender gratitude. This shower refreshed +her spirit and revived her drooping fancy. Now she +only thought of some way of bringing him nearer to her. She +thought of writing to beg his forgiveness for her visit and +her stern words, but it was too late for that. Then she +fancied that perhaps among her friends, particularly among +journalists, there might be some one who would know him, and +by whom she might send him some civil message. But this<a name="page_194" id="page_194"></a> +idea she dismissed as dangerous. She almost thought of giving +him some signal to come down to her, and explaining herself +verbally, but this again she did not dare. It was too humiliating.</p> + +<p>Chance came to her aid, solving the dilemma to her satisfaction +when she least expected it. They met one evening at the +theatre. Raimundo, whose year of deep mourning was nearly +at an end, now occasionally went out, and he and his sister +were in the stalls. Clementina was in a box just above them. +They exchanged bows, and then for some time there was a cross-fire +of glances and smiles, which attracted Aurelia's attention.</p> + +<p>"Who is it? Have you been meeting that lady again?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Then what is the meaning of your smiles? You seem to +be intimate friends."</p> + +<p>"I do not know," said the brother, somewhat embarrassed. +"She is always very friendly to me. Perhaps she thinks she +offended me when she came to our rooms, and wishes to +mollify me."</p> + +<p>Between the first and second acts, a beautiful spray of +camellia was handed to Aurelia by a flower-seller.</p> + +<p>"From the lady in box number eleven."</p> + +<p>Aurelia looked up, and saw Clementina gazing and smiling +at her. She and Raimundo bowed their thanks, Aurelia +blushing deeply.</p> + +<p>"Do not you think," said her brother, "that I ought to go +upstairs and thank her?"</p> + +<p>It was but natural. Raimundo, when the curtain next fell, +left his sister for a moment, and went up to the Osorios' box. +A happy smile beamed on Clementina's face as she saw the +young man at the door. She received him as an old friend, +bade him sit down by her side, and began a conversation in an +undertone, completely neglecting Pascuala whom she had +brought with her. Happily for this lady, Bonifacio came in +before long; he never took a stall at any theatre where he +knew that the Osorios had a box.<a name="page_195" id="page_195"></a></p> + +<p>"I am glad to see that you have no grudge against me," said +she in a low voice, with an insinuating glance. "That is right. +It shows you have both a good heart and good sense. I must +frankly confess that I was utterly mistaken in my estimate of +your conduct and character. I can only assure you that when +I came out of your house, I would gladly have turned back to +beg your pardon. If not in words, in looks and gestures I +have asked it many times since, as you will have understood." +And she proceeded, in the most masterly way, to give him three +or four more encouraging hints, which quite turned poor Raimundo's +head—that is to say, left him speechless, confused, +and fascinated; just as she would have him, in short. At the +same time she skilfully accounted for the rather singular +display of liking for him which she herself was ashamed to +recall.</p> + +<p>Without leaving him time to reply, she inquired after his +sister, his health, and his butterflies. Raimundo answered +briefly, not out of indifference, but for lack of worldly ease of +manner. But she was nothing daunted, she became more and +more affectionate, entangling him in a perfect maze of flattering +speeches and inviting glances. At the moment when she was +most fluent, it might almost be said inspired to conquer her +youthful adorer, suddenly, in the passage between the stalls, +Pepe Castro appeared on the scene, in evening dress, the ends +of his moustache waxed to needle points, the curls of his hair +waving coquettishly over his temples, his whole air easy, self-sufficient, +and scornful. He first cast his fascinating and +Olympic eye over the stalls, subjugating every marriageable +damsel who happened to be occupying one, and then, with +the serene dignity of an eagle's soaring flight, he raised it to +box number eleven. He could not suppress a start of surprise. +Who was this with whom Clementina was on such +intimate terms? He did not know this young man. He +brought his diminutive opera-glasses to bear on him—no, he +had never seen him in his life. Clementina, conscious of her +lover's surprise, after returning his greeting, became doubly<a name="page_196" id="page_196"></a> +amiable to Raimundo, addressing herself solely to him, +leaning over to speak to him, and going through endless +manœuvres to attract the attention of the illustrious "Savage." +She felt a malignant glee in doing this. Castro was now +absolutely indifferent to her. Raimundo returned Pepe's impertinent +stare through his opera-glasses, by a curious glance +now and then, for he had not the honour of knowing the +"husband's bugbear!"</p> + +<p>Then reflecting that his sister would be losing patience, +though he could keep an eye on her from the box, he rose +to depart.</p> + +<p>"We are friends, are we not?" said the lady, holding his +hand. "Remember me affectionately to your sister. I owe +her, too, an apology for my strange and unexpected visit. Tell +her I shall call on her some day and take her by surprise in +the midst of her household cares. I take the greatest interest +in you both—a brother and sister, both so young—good +night, good night."</p> + +<p>When he found himself by his sister's side once more, +feeling rather bewildered, Aurelia said to him:</p> + +<p>"How very handsome that lady is! But still I cannot see +that she is like mamma."</p> + +<p>Raimundo, who at the moment had forgotten the likeness, +was taken by surprise.</p> + +<p>"Oh, there is a sort of look—an air," he stammered out.</p> + +<p>So now it was no more than an air. The young man was +conscious of a vague remorse. The impression Clementina +now produced on his mind was not that respectful devotion +which had possessed him before they had made acquaintance +in so strange a manner.</p> + +<p>Pepe Castro, when he saw him in the stalls, simply stared at +him, hoping, perhaps to annihilate him. As he concluded +that the red-haired youth did not belong to the elevated +sphere in which he himself moved, it occurred to him—for his +imagination was lively—that this might be the youth of whose +pertinacity Clementina had formerly complained. As was but<a name="page_197" id="page_197"></a> +natural this did not prejudice him in Alcázar's favour. Raimundo +himself was too much absorbed in contemplating the +Osorios' box to notice his rival's determined stare, and Pepe, +tired of it at last, went up to join Clementina. He seated +himself by her side in the very place occupied shortly before by +Alcázar, who, on seeing him there, was aware of a strange +<i>malaise</i>, an obscure dejection which he did not even attempt +to define. Nevertheless, he observed that the lady smiled a +great deal, and that the gentleman was very grave, also that +she found time to cast frequent glances in his direction, +whereat her companion grew more and more sullen and +gloomy.</p> + +<p>"Have you noticed how that lady gazes down at you?" +said Aurelia to her brother. "She seems to have taken quite +a fancy to you."</p> + +<p>"Nonsense!" he replied, turning very red. "Such a fellow +as I am too! If it were that gentleman who is sitting by her +now."</p> + +<p>Aurelia protested, laughing, that her brother was far better +looking than that doll of a man, with pink cheeks like a +ballet-dancer's.</p> + +<p>When the performance was over, Raimundo, not without a +pang of jealousy, found Clementina waiting in the lobby for +her carriage, attended by this same man. But she greeted him +so eagerly, that Castro, who was becoming uneasy, turned to +give him a long and scrutinising stare.</p> + +<p>For some days after this, the young entomologist anxiously +expected Clementina to stop at the door, and come up to pay +the promised visit. But he was disappointed. The lady +constantly went by with her light brisk step, bowed as she +approached, and before she turned the corner, waved him an +adieu. Every time she passed the door, Raimundo's heart +sank, and at last he grew angry. "Pshaw! She has forgotten +all about it," he said to himself. "I shall never, probably, +speak to her again, since we never by any chance meet anywhere."<a name="page_198" id="page_198"></a></p> + +<p>He did his best to assist chance, by going more often to +the play, where he never saw her. At the opera, he would +certainly have found her, but he never was so bold as to go +there for fear she might think he had renewed his pursuit. +Why he had taken it into his head that she would call at any +one hour more than at another it is impossible to say. But +in the end his surprise and agitation were unbounded when +one morning Clementina really made her appearance. This +time she asked for the Señorita. Aurelia received her in the +drawing-room, and immediately sent for her brother. By the +time he appeared the lady was sitting on the sofa and +chatting with the frank ease of an old acquaintance.</p> + +<p>"This visit is not to you, you understand," said she, giving +him her hand.</p> + +<p>"I should never have dared to imagine that it was," he replied, +shyly pressing her fingers.</p> + +<p>"There is no knowing. I do not think you conceited, but +a woman must always be on her guard."</p> + +<p>There was something not quite genuine in the candour of her +jesting tone. Her voice was slightly tremulous, and there was +a pale circle round her eyes, a sure sign of some emotion which +weighs on the mind. Her visit was short, but she found time +to charm the young girl by her delicate flattery and effusive +offers. She made her promise to return her visit soon; in the +evening if she preferred to meet no one, and they would have +a long chat together. She would show Aurelia the house, and +some work she was doing. The girl's loneliness and youth had +really made an impression on her, and if, in fact, she bore some +resemblance to their mother, as Raimundo said, she felt she +had some claim on her affection.</p> + +<p>"Well, then, when you are bored here by yourself, come to +my house—it is such a little way—and we will bore each other. +That will be a variety, at any rate."</p> + +<p>Poor Aurelia, bewildered by her visitor's condescension and +unfamiliar worldly tone, could only smile in reply. When +Clementina rose to go, she said:<a name="page_199" id="page_199"></a></p> + +<p>"I rely on you, Alcázar, to see that your sister keeps her +promise. As for you—you can do as you please. I never +press my society on a <i>savant</i>, for I know one may be boring +him when one least suspects it."</p> + +<p>She had quite recovered her balance, and spoke in an easy +protecting tone, with almost a maternal air. Even on the staircase +she paused to reiterate all her friendly advances. She +would not allow Raimundo to escort her to the house-door; +she went down alone, leaving a trail of perfume which he enjoyed +more than his sister did. When their door was closed +on her, Aurelia did not speak; and she replied to her brother's +rapturous eulogies in so few words that his ardour was soon +dashed.</p> + +<p>It was too true: the feeling of filial adoration which the +young professor had felt at first for the lady of his dreams was +fast dying away, or rather was being transformed into another, +less saintly though still akin to it. In him, as in every man +who lives out of the society of women, and exclusively devoted +to study, the instincts of sex and the revelation of the divine +law of love were sudden and intense. On the very next day +he urged Aurelia to return Clementina's call, though he expressed +his wish with some timidity and hesitation. His sister, +however, insisted on the propriety of allowing some little time +to elapse, and he submitted. At length the visit was paid. +Aurelia spent an afternoon in the Señora's boudoir. Raimundo, +after much deliberation, did not venture to accompany her.</p> + +<p>Three or four days later Clementina again called to invite +them both to her box at the Opera that evening. It was a +terrible joy. Raimundo had not a dress coat, and Aurelia's +wardrobe was not much better furnished. However, they went. +A relation lent Raimundo a coat, and Aurelia wore the best she +had. Next day Raimundo ordered a dress suit, of the first +tailor in Madrid; nor was this all: without saying anything to +his sister, he went to the box-office of the Opera-house and subscribed +for a stall as near as possible to the Osorios' box, and +for the same evenings.<a name="page_200" id="page_200"></a></p> + +<p>Thanks to Raimundo's efforts, the intimacy grew apace, +though his sister, while she spoke warmly of her new friend's +kindness, opposed a passive resistance to all familiarity with +her. Do what she might, she could not forget the extraordinary +way in which their acquaintance had begun, nor the sense of +falsity with which Clementina had impressed her. Raimundo, +fully aware of all this, did his utmost by direct and indirect +means to conquer her suspicions.</p> + +<p>Aurelia was plain, rather than pretty, with sound common +sense, and an upright spirit. Her adoration for her brother, +inherited from her mother, did not blind her to the weak +points in his character. He was easily impressed and as easily +led, and still very puerile. In fact, in a certain sense, she +represented the masculine and he the feminine element in the +house. He was easily moved to tears; she, with great difficulty. +He was liable to whimsical alarms and bewilderments, amounting +sometimes almost to hallucinations, her nervous system +was calm and well balanced; she was healthy and sound, he +frail and placid. During the months immediately following on +his mother's death, Raimundo, making a great effort, with +the idea of being his sister's protector, had shown more +manliness and firmness; but, as time went on, his nature reasserted +itself, and he fell into his childish fancies and womanly +susceptibilities again, in proportion as she developed a resolute, +honest, and well-balanced character.</p> + +<p>It cost Clementina hardly an effort to fascinate and subjugate +the young naturalist. Sometimes the young people went +to her, and sometimes she to them; or she would fetch them +to go to the theatre, or out driving with her, and thus they soon +met almost every day. The first evening that Pepe Castro met +Alcázar in the Osorios' drawing-room he perfectly understood +the situation, and it filled him with rage.</p> + +<p>"So this precious hussy is taking up with a baby!" he muttered +between his teeth. "They all come to such folly at last."</p> + +<p>He thought of insulting the boy and provoking him to fight; +but he soon saw that this could do him no good. What could<a name="page_201" id="page_201"></a> +he gain by it? Absolutely nothing, for Clementina would only +hate him the more, and the scandal would betray his discomfiture—all +the more ignominious for him, as his successful +rival was a boy, whom no one knew anything about. So he +came to the prudent conclusion that he would not wear his +heart for daws to peck at, but would for a while leave his +mistress to her own devices. By-and-by, perhaps, she would +tire of playing with this pet lamb and call the sheep back to +the fold.</p> + +<p>Alcázar was not such a boy as Castro thought him; he was +three-and-twenty. But his face was so youthful and delicate +that he did not look more than eighteen. His health was +variable and frail; especially, since his mother's death, he +had been liable to attacks of the brain, when he lost sometimes +his sight, and sometimes the power of speech, complicated +with other evils, but happily of very short duration. He was +a frequent prey to melancholy, ending in a violent crisis and +floods of tears, like a hysterical woman. He was terrified of +spiders; the sight of a surgical instrument gave him the horrors. +Sometimes he suffered acute anguish from a dread of going +mad; at others his fear was lest he should kill himself against +his will. He never would have any kind of weapon within reach, +and for fear of throwing himself from the balcony he always +had his bedroom window locked at night and placed the key +in his sister's keeping: she was the only witness and confidant +of his vagaries. They were the outcome, partly of his temperament, +and partly of the effeminate training he had received. +But he kept them a secret, as every man does who suffers in +this way—many more than are ever suspected of it—and by +constant watchfulness he kept them under control, knowing +how ridiculous a man thus constituted must appear.</p> + +<p>It may easily be supposed what his fate must inevitably be +when a woman like Clementina—a beautiful and experienced +coquette—had set her heart on conquest. At first his extreme +bashfulness kept him from understanding the lady's aim and +tactics. He took her gracious bows and inviting smiles for the<a name="page_202" id="page_202"></a> +expression of her sympathy with their orphaned loneliness. +And when she had made friends with them, and shown him +every indication of her liking, when his sister even had given +him a warning hint, he still could not believe that there could +be anything between them beyond a more or less affectionate +good-fellowship, protecting and motherly on her side, devoted +and ardent on his. However, the elixir of love which Clementina +shed drop by drop on his lips, as it were, made its way +to his heart. When he was least expecting it, he found that he +was madly in love. But the discovery filled him with bashful +fears, and he thought that he could never dare to declare it. +Though his idol's demeanour towards him, and constant demonstrations +of sympathetic regard were enough to justify any +hopes on his part, it seemed to him so strange as to be impossible +that a shy and inexperienced man, devoid of all worldly +advantages, should find favour with so rich and so beautiful a +woman. Nor could he entirely free himself from the remorse +which stung him from time to time. It was her resemblance +to his mother which had first attracted him in Clementina. +Was not his passion a profanation?</p> + +<p>But in spite of his remorse, of his timidity, and of his reason, +Raimundo felt himself every day more enslaved by this woman. +Clementina, to be sure, brought every weapon into play; and +she had many at her disposal. In proportion as she found +her youthful adorer more bashful, her own audacity and coolness +increased. This is almost always the case, but in the +present instance, circumstances made the contrast all the +more conspicuous. Timidity in him amounted to a disease, +a peculiarity which he full well knew to be ridiculous while he +could not overcome it; on the contrary, the greater the +efforts he made, the more his nervousness betrayed itself. At +first he could speak to her with sufficient calmness, and could +allow himself some little compliment or jest, but he had now +lost all his presence of mind, he could not go near her without +losing his head, nor take her hand without trembling; if she +did but look at him his cheeks tingled.<a name="page_203" id="page_203"></a></p> + +<p>Clementina could not help smiling at these innocent symptoms +of love. She was full of curiosity, and happy to find +herself still handsome enough to inspire the boy with such a +passion. Sometimes she would amuse herself by playing the +fish, making him blush, and behaving with the license and +frivolity of a <i>grisette</i>. At others she affected to fall in with his +melancholy mood, making eyes at him like a school-girl; or, +again, she treated him with tender familiarity, inquiring into +his life, his work, and his thoughts, like a fond mother or elder +sister. Then Raimundo would recover his spirits a little, and +dare to look the goddess in the face. Clementina would +occasionally cajole him by an affectation of scientific tastes, +going up to his study and covering the table and the floor +with his butterfly-boxes. This, which if any one else had done +it, would have brought the house about their ears, only made +the young naturalist smile.</p> + +<p>But by this time the lady's acquaintances were beginning +to make remarks on her last and most extravagant love-affair, +assuming, of course, that it had gone much further than was +really the case. One Saturday evening at the Osorios' house +Pepa Frias ended by exclaiming to three or four of the +"Savages," with whom she had been discussing the matter:</p> + +<p>"You will see. Clementina will end by falling in love with +a Newfoundland dog or a journalist!"</p> + +<p>When Raimundo came into the room with his rosy, melancholy, +cherubic face, his diffident, embarrassed air, every one +looked at him with curiosity: there were smiles, murmurs, +witticisms, and stupid remarks. He was much discussed. In +general, and especially by men, Clementina was thought +ridiculous; some of the ladies, however, looked more kindly +on the youth, thought his candid looks very attractive, and +sympathised with her whim.</p> + +<p>Thus our young friend was regarded as <i>amant en titre</i> to +Clementina before he had dared to kiss her finger-tips, or even +dreamed of it. He was perfectly miserable if she was in the +least disdainful, and was as happy as an angel if she made the<a name="page_204" id="page_204"></a> +smallest show of affection. Clementina was in no hurry to hear +his declaration, though fully determined that he should make +it. It amused her to watch the progress of the affair, noting +the development of his passion, and the phenomena to which +it gave rise. She had had her fill of ravings, and thought it +delightful to be adored with this dumb devotion, and play the +part of a goddess. A mere glance was enough to turn this +worshipper red or pale, a word made him happy or reduced +him to despair.</p> + +<p>Raimundo went to the Opera whenever Clementina was to be +there; he went up to pay his respects to her in her box, and +often, by her invitation, sat there during two or three acts. +Then she would retire to the back of the box and chat with +him there, screened by the curtains. When she was tired of +this, or if some important scene was being sung on the stage, +she would lapse into silence, turn her back on her companion, +and listen to the performance. Raimundo, his ears full of +the echo of her tones, and his heart on fire from the ardour of +her gaze, would also remain silent, though, in truth, more +attentive to the music in his brain than to that performed for +his delectation. Sure of not being seen, he could contemplate +the alabaster shoulders of his idol with religious absorption, +and bend down his head, on pretence of hearing better, to +breathe the perfume she used, shutting his eyes and allowing it +to intoxicate him. One evening he put his face so close to her +head that he actually dared to let his lips touch the heavy +plaits of her beautiful hair. No sooner had he done it than he +was in great alarm lest Clementina should have felt it; but +she sat unmoved, listening ecstatically to the music. At the +same time, as the young man could see, her eyes sparkled with +a conscious smile. Encouraged by this success, whenever she +had her hair done in this particular way, he ventured, with the +greatest precaution, and after much hesitation, to press it to his +lips. The pleasure was so acute and delightful that it dwelt +on his lips for many days.</p> + +<p>But then, one evening—whether because she was out of<a name="page_205" id="page_205"></a> +temper or because it was her pleasure to mortify him—she +treated him with such contempt all the time he was in the box, +leaving him to entertain Pascuala while she chatted with some +more aristocratic youth of her acquaintance, that poor Raimundo +was thrown into despair. He had not even courage +enough to take leave; he stood, pale and crestfallen, a frown +of anxiety furrowing his brow. Clementina stole a glance at +him from time to time. When the other gentleman made his +bow, Raimundo, too, was about to take leave. The lady +detained him, holding his hand.</p> + +<p>"Nay, wait a minute, Alcázar; I have something to say to +you," and she withdrew, as usual, to the back of the box and +began chatting with all her frank amiability. The young man +breathed again; still, when she turned away to listen to the +music, he was so unstrung and confused that he did not dare +to kiss her hair, though it was plaited low, and the opportunity +was propitious.</p> + +<p>After a long pause Clementina suddenly turned on him and +asked in a low voice:</p> + +<p>"Why do you not kiss my hair, as you always do?"</p> + +<p>His amazement was quite a shock to him. All the blood +rushed to his heart, leaving him as pale as a corpse; then +it mounted to his face, turning it to the colour of a poppy.</p> + +<p>"I—your hair," he gasped abjectly. And he was forced +to cling to a chair-back to save himself from falling.</p> + +<p>"Do not be frightened, my dear fellow," she exclaimed, +laying her hand on his. "If I allowed it, that is sufficient +proof that I did not object." But seeing that he was gazing +at her wildly, as if he did not understand her, she added: +"Perhaps you imagine that I did not know that you care for +me a little?"</p> + +<p>The young man gave a convulsive cry.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I have known it for some time," she went on in a still +lower voice, and speaking into his ear. "But there is something +which you do not know. And that is, that I care for +you."<a name="page_206" id="page_206"></a></p> + +<p>Casting a hasty glance round the house, to make sure that +they were not observed, she took his hands in hers, and her +breath was warm on his cheek as she said: "Yes, I love you—beyond +anything you can imagine."</p> + +<p>Clementina had not anticipated the effect of these words on +her susceptible and effeminate adorer. The violent emotions +he had gone through, and now the high tide of happiness, so +completely upset him that he began to cry like a child. She +hastily drew him into a corner, filling up the space between +the curtains with her person. Her face was radiant with +happiness.</p> + +<p>Her conquest, in fact, had a novelty about it which quite +enchanted her. This lover was hardly more than a boy; nor +was he one of the herd of puppies and dandies whom she met +at every turn, all cast in the same mould, devoid of all originality, +having all the same vices, the same vanities, uttering +almost the same jests. Raimundo was different from these, +not merely by his humble position and secluded life, nor even +by his talents and culture, but most of all by his character. +How sweet a nature was this boy's! How innocent, how sensitive, +how refined, and yet how impassioned! Accustomed as +she was to the monotonous type of Pepe Castros, every new +psychological aspect, every burst of enthusiasm, every alarm +and every joy in her new friend, was to Clementina a delightful +surprise. She was never tired of studying his mind, and +would sometimes affect to doubt his love for her.</p> + +<p>"Do you really love me? Are you sure? Remember, I am +an old woman; I might be your mother."</p> + +<p>And Raimundo always replied with some fond caress and a +tearful glance, which revealed the depth of his devotion.</p> + +<p>From that memorable evening Raimundo could think of +nothing but Clementina. To him the whole world had shrunk +into one person, and that person a woman. Not only did he +live and breathe for her, but he thought of her all day and +dreamed of her all night. At first the lady had received him +at her own house, but she, ere long, thought this unwise, and<a name="page_207" id="page_207"></a> +they took rooms in a neighbouring Street, a small entresol, +which they furnished with taste.</p> + +<p>His life had undergone a complete change. From living in +absolute seclusion he suddenly came out into the world of +fashion: theatres, balls, dinners, riding-parties, and shooting +expeditions. Clementina bound him to her chariot, and exhibited +him in every drawing-room as if she were proud of +him. For our young friend, with his delicate features, gentle +temper, and superior intelligence, became popular wherever he +went; no one stopped to ask whether he were rich or poor, +noble or plebeian.</p> + +<p>Aurelia sometimes accompanied him, but always against her +will. Though she dared not contravene her brother's line of +conduct, it was easy to see that she condemned it in her heart, +and was out of her sphere at the Osorios'. She had become +taciturn and grave, and her eyes, when she bent them on Raimundo, +took a sad and gloomy expression, as though she +feared disaster. Clementina did all she could to win her, but +she made no way in the girl's affections; and under Aurelia's +modest smiles and blushes she fancied she could detect a vein +of hostility which often disconcerted her.</p> + +<p>Señora de Osorio persisted in the lavish expenditure she had +always indulged in, notwithstanding the rumours of imminent +ruin which had so greatly alarmed Pepa Frias. But the catastrophe +did not come as had been prophesied. The banker +contrived to stave it off, giving it to be understood by those +who had money in his hands that there was nothing to be got +by falling on him tooth and nail, as they would not by such +means save one quarter of their capital. On the other hand, +they had only to wait to recover every penny. His wife must, +ere long, come into an immense fortune. His creditors +listened to reason, kept their own counsel as to the state of his +affairs, and only stipulated that Clementina's signature should +be affixed, as well as her husband's, to every renewed bill. +Soon after, fortune favoured Osorio in the turns of the money-market, +and he was able to launch out once more, though men<a name="page_208" id="page_208"></a> +of business looked askance at his dealings, and unanimously +declared that the crash was only deferred. His wife, feeling +that she was safe at any rate, thought no more of such unpleasant +subjects. It was only when she went to her father's +house and saw Doña Carmen's pale, worn face, that her heart +throbbed with a feeling which she was loth to confess even to +herself, and which she strove to drown under the sound of +affectionate words and kisses.</p> + +<p>Raimundo's love was an extraordinary joy to her. She felt +herself borne, as she had never been before, on a wave of +devoted and poetic passion which rocked and soothed her. +She was well content to play the goddess. She enjoyed +showing herself as now amiable and tender, and again gravely +terrible, putting her adorer to a thousand proofs, to make +quite sure, as she said, that he was indeed wholly hers.</p> + +<p>But the habit of dealing with men of a different stamp led +her into fatal mistakes, which grieved and hurt the youth. +One day, in their own little rooms, she said, with a smile:</p> + +<p>"I have a present for you, Mundo," as she called him for a +pet name.</p> + +<p>She rose and took out of her muff a very pretty little note-book.</p> + +<p>"Oh, that is most sweet!" he exclaimed pressing it to his +lips. "I will always use it."</p> + +<p>But on opening it he was struck with consternation. It was +full of bank-notes.</p> + +<p>"You have forgotten to take the money out," he said handing +her the pocket-book.</p> + +<p>"I have not forgotten it. It is for you."</p> + +<p>"For me?" he said turning pale.</p> + +<p>"Do you not wish for it?" she said, somewhat abashed and +blushing scarlet.</p> + +<p>"No," he said firmly, "certainly not."</p> + +<p>Clementina dared not insist. She took the pocket-book, +turned out the bank-notes, and returned it to him. There was +a pause of embarrassed silence. Raimundo sat with his elbow<a name="page_209" id="page_209"></a> +on the table, his cheek in his hand, serious and thoughtful. +She watched him out of the corner of her eyes, half angry and +half curious.</p> + +<p>At last a bright smile lighted up her face. She rose from +her seat, and taking his head between her hands, she said +gaily:</p> + +<p>"Well done! This action raises you in my esteem. Still, +you may take money from me without a blush. Am I not +your mamma?"</p> + +<p>Raimundo said nothing; he only kissed the hands that +had held him fast. Money was never again spoken of between +them.</p> + +<p>But still, in spite of his three-and-twenty years, there was +something childlike about the lad which was an infinite delight +to his mistress. It was due chiefly to his solitary and effeminate +youth. He was very easily taken in, and as easily +amused; he never had those fits of black boredom which +afflict the spoilt worldling; he never uttered one of the caustic +and ironical speeches which are common even on a lover's lips. +His glee was effervescent and boyish to the verge of the +ridiculous. He thought it fun to play follow-my-leader behind +Clementina in their little lodgings, or to hide and startle her. +He would entertain her with conjuring tricks, which perhaps +showed some intelligence; or they would play at cards with +absorbed attention, as though they were gambling for large +sums; or they would dance to the music of some grinding +organ, that had stopped within hearing. Then they would eat +bon-bons for a match, seeing who would get through most. One +day he was bent on making pine-apple ice; he declared that he +was great at making ices. All the apparatus was borrowed from +a café in the neighbourhood, and after stirring and turning for +some time, he at last turned out an ugly and untempting mass, +which so greatly depressed him that Clementina actually +swallowed a large dose of the liquid. He was fond of mimicking +the accent and manner of any one he had met at her house; +and this he did to such perfection, that Clementina laughed<a name="page_210" id="page_210"></a> +with all her heart; nay, she sometimes entreated him to cease, +for it hurt her to laugh so much. Raimundo had the gift of +observing the most trifling peculiarities of the persons he met, +and imitating them to perfection. It was difficult to believe +that the person mimicked was not speaking. However, it +was only in the strictest confidence that he displayed this +accomplishment.</p> + +<p>Sometimes if he was in a merry mood he would perform a +Royal reception. He hastily erected a throne in the middle of +the room, on which Clementina must sit. Then the Ministers +and high political personages in turn approached the Queen +and spoke a short address. Clementina, who knew them +every one, could guess who each was from only a few words. +Raimundo, having often been present at the meetings of +Congress, had picked up the accent and gesture of each to the +life. He was particularly happy in his imitation of Jimenez +Arbos, whom he knew well from meeting him at the Osorios'. +Of course, after each speech, he kissed the sovereign's hand +with a reverent bow, and resumed the paper cocked-hat he had +made for the occasion. These childish games amused the +lady, and helped to open a heart which had always been closed +by pride or ennui. She came away from their long interviews +quite rejuvenescent, her eyes sparkling, her step lighter, and +ready to bestow a nod on persons to whom as a rule she would +vouchsafe only the coldest bow.</p> + +<p>And then Raimundo would amaze her by some inconceivably +childish and innocent proceeding. One day, when she noiselessly +entered their rooms—for each had a key—she found him +industriously sweeping the floor. He blushed to the ears with +confusion, at being discovered. Clementina, in fits of laughter, +covered his face with kisses.</p> + +<p>"Really, child, you are too delightful!" she exclaimed.<a name="page_211" id="page_211"></a></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X.<br /><br /> +<small>MATTERS OF BUSINESS.</small></h2> + +<p class="nind">I<small>T</small> was a very busy morning in Salabert's counting-house. +Some large payments had to be made. The Duke himself had +presided over the transactions and helped the cashier to count +the notes. In spite of the many years he had spent in handling +money, he could never part with a large sum without his hand +shaking a little. He was nervous now, and absorbed, nibbling +his cigar, but not spitting as usual, for his throat was dry. +More than once he checked the clerk, believing that he was +allowing two notes to pass for one, but on each occasion he +was in error; the man was very dexterous at his work. When +it was all done, the Duke withdrew to his private room, where +he found waiting M. de Fayolle, the great importer of foreign +horses, which he supplied to all the aristocracy of Madrid.</p> + +<p>"<i>Bon-jour, Monsieur</i>," said the Duke, clapping him roughly +on the shoulder. "Have you got another screw you want me +to take off your hands?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, Monsieur le Duc, the horses I sold you are not screws, +not a bit of it. You have the best cattle that ever passed +through my stables," said the Frenchman with a foreign accent +and a servile smile.</p> + +<p>"All the cast-off rubbish from Paris is what you sell to me. +But do not suppose that I am taken in. I have known it a +long time, Monsieur, a very long time. Only I can never +look in your cherubic and smiling face without giving way."</p> + +<p>M. Fayolle was smiling at the moment, showing his large +yellow teeth from ear to ear.<a name="page_212" id="page_212"></a></p> + +<p>"The face is the mirror of the soul, Monsieur le Duc; you +may rely on me never to offer you anything but what is absolutely +first-rate. Has Apollyon turned out badly?"</p> + +<p>"Hm. So-so."</p> + +<p>"You must surely be jesting! I saw him in the street the +other day, in your phaeton. Every one turned round to look at +him."</p> + +<p>For some minutes they discussed various horses which +Requena had bought of the Frenchman; he found fault with +every one of them. Fayolle defended them with the enthusiasm +of a dealer and a connoiseur. Presently, at a pause, he +looked at his watch, saying:</p> + +<p>"I will not detain you any longer. I came for the settlement +of that last little account."</p> + +<p>The Duke's face clouded. Then he said half laughing and +half angry:</p> + +<p>"Why, my good man, you are never happy unless you are +getting money out of me."</p> + +<p>At the same time he put his hand in his pocket and took out +his note-book. M. Fayolle still smiled, saying that he could not +bear to ask for it, knowing that the Duke was such a pauper, +and that it would be dreadful indeed to see him reduced to +beggary, a delicate joke which Requena did not seem to hear, +being absorbed in counting out the paper. He laid out seven +notes of one hundred dollars each and handed them to Fayolle, +ringing a bell for a clerk to bring a form of receipt. Fayolle, +on his part, counted them, and then said:</p> + +<p>"You have made a mistake, Monsieur le Duc, the account +is for eight hundred dollars, and you have only given me +seven."</p> + +<p>Salabert did not seem to have heard him. With his eyes +half-closed, and shifting his cigar from one corner of his mouth +to the other, he sat silent, looking at the pocket-book, after +fastening it with an elastic band.</p> + +<p>"This is one hundred dollars short," Fayolle reiterated.</p> + +<p>"What? Short? Count once more. It is impossible!"<a name="page_213" id="page_213"></a></p> + +<p>The horse-dealer counted.</p> + +<p>"Three thousand five hundred pesetas."</p> + +<p>"You see, I could not be wrong."</p> + +<p>"But the horse was to cost four thousand. That was a +bargain."</p> + +<p>The Duke's face expressed the most candid surprise.</p> + +<p>"What! Four thousand pesetas? No, my friend, no. The +horse was to be three thousand five hundred. It was on that +understanding that I bought it."</p> + +<p>"Monsieur le Duc, you really are under a mistake," said +Fayolle, now quite grave. "You must remember that we +finally agreed on four thousand."</p> + +<p>"I remember all about it. It is you who have a bad +memory. Here," he added to a clerk who came in with the +receipt-form, "go downstairs, one of you, to the stables, and +ask Benigno how much I told him I was to give for Apollyon?"</p> + +<p>And at the same time, taking advantage of the moment when +Fayolle looked at the messenger, he made a significant grimace +at the man. The coachman's answer by the clerk was that +the horse was to be three thousand five hundred pesetas.</p> + +<p>Thereupon the dealer grew angry. He was quite positive +that the bargain had stood at eight hundred dollars, and it was +in this belief that he had delivered it. Otherwise the horse +should never have left his stable.</p> + +<p>Requena allowed him to talk himself out, only uttering grunts +of dissent, without exciting himself in the smallest degree. +Only when Fayolle talked of having the horse back, he said +in a lazy tone:</p> + +<p>"Then you evidently have some one in your eye who will +give you eight hundred, and you want to be off the bargain?"</p> + +<p>"Monsieur le Duc, I swear to you that it is nothing of the +kind. Only I am positive I am right."</p> + +<p>The banker was seized by an opportune fit of coughing; +his eyes were bloodshot, and his cheeks turned purple. Then +he deliberately wiped his mouth and rose, and said in his most +boorish manner:<a name="page_214" id="page_214"></a></p> + +<p>"Bless me, man! Don't put yourself out over a few +miserable pesetas."</p> + +<p>But he did not produce them.</p> + +<p>The Frenchman was willing to take back the horse, but +this again he failed to achieve. There was a short silence. +Fayolle was within an ace of flying out, and making a fool of +himself. But he restrained himself, reflecting that this would +do no good, and that sueing the Duke would do even less. +Who would be counsel for the plaintiff against such a man as +Requena? So he resigned himself to his fate, and took his +leave, the Duke escorting him to the door with much politeness, +and clapping him affectionately on the shoulder.</p> + +<p>When the banker returned to his seat at the table, his eyes +glistened under his heavy eyelids with a smile of sarcastic +triumph. A few minutes after he again rang the bell.</p> + +<p>"Go and inquire whether the Duchess is alone, or if she has +visitors," he said to the man who answered it. And while the +servant went on the errand he sat motionless, leaning back in +his chair, with his hands folded, meditating.</p> + +<p>"Padre Ortega is with the Duchess," was the answer in a +few minutes.</p> + +<p>Salabert "pshawed" impatiently, and sank into thought +once more. He had made up his mind to have a solemn +discussion with his wife on ways and means. Doña Carmen +had never mentioned money to him in her life, and he had +never felt called upon to give her any account of his speculations +and business matters. He regarded himself as absolute +master of his fortune, and it never entered his head to think +that she could make any claims on it. A friend, however, had +lately enlightened him on this point. Speaking of Doña +Carmen's feeble health, he had very naturally inquired whether +she had made her will, and this friend, who was a lawyer, had +at the same time mentioned the fact that, by the law of Spain, +half of the business and fortune was hers.</p> + +<p>This was a terrible shock to Salabert. He was frightened to +watch his wife's decline; at her death her relations would<a name="page_215" id="page_215"></a> +claim half of all he had made, would poke their noses into his +concerns, even the most private. Horror!</p> + +<p>He consulted his lawyer. The simplest way of remedying +the mischief, and depriving these relations of their rights, was +to induce his wife to make a will in his favour. To the Duke +this seemed the most natural thing in the world, and in the +interview he proposed, he intended to suggest it to her as +diplomatically as he could, so as not to alarm her as to her +own state of health.</p> + +<p>So he waited, arranging and looking over his papers, till he +thought it was time to send again to inquire whether the +priest was gone. But just as he was about to do so, the +porter came in and told him that some gentlemen wanted to +see him, and among them Calderón. The banker was much +annoyed.</p> + +<p>"Did you say I was at home?"</p> + +<p>"Well, as you always are at home in the morning, Señor +Duque——"</p> + +<p>"Damn you!" said the banker, with a furious scowl. But +raising his voice at once, and putting on the clumsy abruptness +which he was so fond of affecting: "Show them in, of course," +he said, "show the gentlemen in."</p> + +<p>On this Calderón came in, followed by Urreta and two +other bankers not less well known in Madrid. They all looked +grave, almost sinister. But Salabert, paying no heed to their +looks, began shaking hands and slapping backs, making a +great noise. "Good business! Very good business, now to +lock you all four up, and make you each pay a round sum as +ransom! Ha, ha! Why here, in my room, are the four richest +rascals in Madrid. Four gorged sharks! How is your +rheumatism, Urreta? It strikes me that you want thoroughly +overhauling as much as I do. And you, Manuel, how long do +you expect to hold out? Your cousin, you see, is looking out +very sharp."</p> + +<p>The four gentlemen maintained a courteous reserve, and +their extreme gravity cut short this impertinent banter. The<a name="page_216" id="page_216"></a> +case was, in fact, a serious one. About a year ago Salabert had +sold them the business of a railway from B—— to S——, which +was already in full work, with all the plant and rolling-stock. +Though it had not been committed to writing, it was fully understood +by both parties that when the extension from S—— to +V—— should be put up for sale, as it was in connection with +the other line, Salabert should advance no claims, but leave it +to them to treat for it. Now, it had come to their knowledge +that the Duke had failed to keep his word, and had tried to +jockey them in the most barefaced way, by making a bid for +the line.</p> + +<p>The first to speak was Calderón.</p> + +<p>"Antonio," he said, "we have come to quarrel with you +very seriously."</p> + +<p>"Impossible! Quarrel with such an inoffensive creature as +I am?"</p> + +<p>"You will remember that when we bought up your railway, +you agreed, or to be accurate, you solemnly promised, not to +tender for the purchase of the extension from S—— to V——."</p> + +<p>"Certainly I remember it, perfectly."</p> + +<p>"But we see with surprise that an offer from you——"</p> + +<p>"An offer from me!" exclaimed the Duke, in the greatest +surprise, and opening his prominent eyes very wide. "Who +told you that cock-and-bull story?"</p> + +<p>"It is not a cock-and-bull story. I, myself, saw your signature," +said the Marques de Arbiol.</p> + +<p>"My signature? Impossible."</p> + +<p>"My good friend, I tell you I saw it with my own eyes. +'Antonio Salabert, Duke de Requena,'" replied Arbiol, very +gravely.</p> + +<p>"It cannot be; it is impossible!" repeated the Duke, walking +up and down the room in the most violent excitement. "It +must be a forgery."</p> + +<p>Arbiol smiled scornfully.</p> + +<p>"It bore your seal."</p> + +<p>"My seal?" he exclaimed, with ready parry. "Then the<a name="page_217" id="page_217"></a> +forgery was committed in my own house. You cannot imagine +what scoundrels I have about me. I should need a hundred +eyes." Foaming with rage, he rang the bell.</p> + +<p>"Now we shall see; we will find out whether I have been +deceived or no. Send Llera in here," he said to the servant +who appeared. "And all the clerks—immediately, this instant!"</p> + +<p>Arbiol glanced at his companions, and shrugged his shoulders. +But Requena, though he saw this, did not choose to notice it; +he went on growling, snorting, uttering the most violent interjections, +and walking to and fro. Presently Llera made his +appearance, followed by a group of abject-looking clerks, ill-dressed +and common. Salabert placed himself in front of +them, with his arms crossed, and said vehemently:</p> + +<p>"Look here, Llera, I mean to find out who is the scoundrel +who presented a tender, in my name, with a forged copy of my +signature, for the purchase of the S—— and V—— line of +railway. Do you know anything of the matter?"</p> + +<p>Llera, after looking him straight in the face, bent his head +without replying.</p> + +<p>"And you others, do you know anything about it? Heh, do +you know anything whatever?"</p> + +<p>The clerks in the same way stared at him; then they looked +at Llera, and they too bent their heads and stood speechless.</p> + +<p>Salabert, with well-feigned fury, eyed them all in turn, and +at length addressing his visitors:</p> + +<p>"You see," he said; "no one answers. The guilty man, or +men, lurk among them; for I suspect that more than one must +be concerned. Do not be afraid, I will give them a lesson, a +terrible lesson. I will not rest till I have them before the judge. +Go," he added, to the delinquents, "and those of you who +are guilty may well quake. Justice will soon overtake you."</p> + +<p>To judge by the absolute indifference with which this fulmination +was received, the criminals must have been hardened +indeed. Each man went back to his place and his work as +though the sword of Nemesis were not drawn to cut his throat.<a name="page_218" id="page_218"></a></p> + +<p>The bankers were half amused and half angry. At last one +of the quartette, biting his lips for fear of laughing outright, +held out his hand with a contemptuous gesture, saying:</p> + +<p>"Good-bye, Salabert—<i>au revoir</i>."</p> + +<p>The others followed his example without another word about +the business which had brought them. The Duke was not at +all disconcerted; he politely saw them to the head of the stairs, +firing wrathful lightnings at his clerks as he led his visitors +through the office. On his return he took not the slightest +notice of the men; he walked down the room like an actor +crossing behind the scenes as he comes off the stage.</p> + +<p>Soon after this performance he went downstairs himself, to go +to his wife's room. He found her alone, reading a book of +devotions. Doña Carmen, who had always been pious, had of +late given herself up almost exclusively to religious exercises. +Her failing strength cut her off more and more from the outer +world, and left her sadly submissive to the priests who visited +her. Salabert had never opposed this taste for devotion; he +regarded it with pitying indifference, as an innocent mania. +However, just lately, some rather large bounties of Doña +Carmen's had alarmed him, and he had felt obliged to give her +a paternal lecture. He was accustomed to find her submissive, +unambitious, absolutely indifferent to the result of his various +speculations; he treated her as a child, if not as a faithful dog, +whose head he might now and then pat kindly. The hapless +woman never had interfered in his life, his toil, or his vices. +Though his mistresses and fearful extravagance were discussed +by all the rest of the world, Doña Carmen knew nothing of them, +or ignored them. Nevertheless, the Duke's last connection with +Amparo had distressed her more than any former one. This +arrogant but low creature delighted in annoying the Duchess +in every possible way, which was what none of her predecessors +had done. If she went out driving with her husband, Amparo +would keep pace in her carriage and exchange significant glances +with Requena. When the good lady gently complained of +such conduct, Salabert would simply deny, not merely his<a name="page_219" id="page_219"></a> +smiles and ogling, but all acquaintance with the woman: he +only knew her by sight, he had never spoken to her in his life. +It was the same at the Opera; Amparo would stare all the +evening at the Duke's box. At bull-fights and at races she +made a display of reckless luxury which attracted general +attention. Certain well-intentioned friends, in their compassion +for Doña Carmen, kept her informed as to the enormous sums +this woman was costing the Duke by her extravagance and +caprices. These constant vexations, endured unconfessed to +any one but her director, had told on the lady's health, reducing +her to a state of weakness which made it seem a miracle that +she was still alive. Salabert had something else to do than to +consider her sufferings. He thought that with the title of +Duchess, and such enormous wealth, in so splendid a house, +Doña Carmen ought to be the happiest woman on earth.</p> + +<p>"Well, how are you, old woman, how are you?" said he as +he went in, in a half rough and half kindly tone which betrayed +his entire indifference.</p> + +<p>Doña Carmen looked up with a smile.</p> + +<p>"What, you? What miracle brings you here at this hour?"</p> + +<p>"I should have come earlier, but I was told that Father +Ortega was with you. How did you sleep? Pretty well? +That's right. You are not so ill as you fancy. Why do you +let the priests come hanging about you as if you were at the +point of death?"</p> + +<p>"Do you suppose a priest is of no use but when one is +dying?"</p> + +<p>"Of course priests about a house are indispensable to make +it look respectable," he answered, stretching himself in an easy +chair, and spreading out his legs. "Without a rag of black +fustian, a newly furnished palace like this is too gaudy. Still, +in the long run, they become a nuisance; they are never tired +of begging; they have a swallow like a whale's. I should like +to buy sham ones made of wax or papier-maché, they would +answer every purpose."</p> + +<p>"There, there, Antonio. Do not talk so wildly. Any one<a name="page_220" id="page_220"></a> +who heard you would take you for a heretic, and that you are +not, thank God!"</p> + +<p>"What should I gain by being a heretic? That does not +pay." Then suddenly changing the subject, he said: "How +is that caravansary of yours in the Cuatro Caminos getting +on?"</p> + +<p>He meant the asylum of which Doña Carmen was the chief +benefactress.</p> + +<p>"It is doing very well, excepting that the Marquesa de +Alcudia wishes to retire, and we do not know whom to appoint +as treasurer in her place."</p> + +<p>"It is always empty on the Sabbath, I suppose?"</p> + +<p>"Why?" said the lady, innocently.</p> + +<p>"They are all off to Seville on broomsticks, no doubt."</p> + +<p>"Bah! do not make game of the poor old things," said she, +laughing. "You and I are old folks, too."</p> + +<p>"Very true, very true," replied the banker, affecting serious +melancholy. "We are a pair of old puppets, and one fine day, +when we least expect it, we shall find ourselves removed to other +quarters."</p> + +<p>He had discovered an opening for the subject he wished to +discuss, and had seized on it at once.</p> + +<p>"No," said his wife, "you are strong and hearty enough. +You will live to fight many a battle yet; but I, my dear, have +but one foot in the stirrup."</p> + +<p>"Nay, nay, we are both in the same plight. Once over the +sixties there is no knowing."</p> + +<p>"If such reflections did anything to bring you nearer +God, and make you labour in His service, I should be glad +indeed."</p> + +<p>"Do you think I do nothing in His service, when I spend +above five thousand dollars in masses every year?"</p> + +<p>"Come, Antonio, do not talk like that."</p> + +<p>"My dear child, it is a very good thing to think of the next +world, but it is prudent, to say the least, to think of this world +to. I have just lately been considering that if you or I<a name="page_221" id="page_221"></a> +were to die, there would be no end of complications for the +survivor."</p> + +<p>"Why?"</p> + +<p>"Because husband and wife are not by law nearest of kin to +each other, and if by chance either of us died intestate, our +relations would be a perfect torment to the survivor."</p> + +<p>"For that there is an easy remedy. We make our wills and +it is settled."</p> + +<p>"That is just what I have been thinking," said Salabert, endeavouring +to make a show of calm indifference, which he +was far from feeling. "It struck me that instead of our +each making an independent will, we might come to a mutual +arrangement."</p> + +<p>"What is that?"</p> + +<p>"A will by which each is the heir to the other."</p> + +<p>Doña Carmen looked down at the book she still held, and +did not immediately answer. The Duke, somewhat uneasy, +watched her narrowly from under his eyelids, gnawing his cigar +with impatience.</p> + +<p>"That is impossible," said she at last, very gravely.</p> + +<p>"What is impossible? And why?" he hastily asked, sitting +upright in his chair.</p> + +<p>"Because I intend to leave all I have, whether much or +little, to your daughter. I have promised her that I will."</p> + +<p>Salabert had never dreamed of stumbling on such an +obstacle, he had thought of the mutual bequest as a settled +thing. He was equally startled and vexed, but he immediately +recovered himself, and assuming a serious and dignified +manner, he spoke:</p> + +<p>"Very good, Carmen. I have no wish to coerce you in the +matter. You are mistress of your possessions, and can leave +them to whom you choose, though you must remember that +that fortune has been earned by me at the cost of much toil. +During the years of our married life, pecuniary questions have +never given rise to any differences between us, and I sincerely +wish that they never may. Money, as compared with the<a name="page_222" id="page_222"></a> +feelings of the heart, is of no importance whatever. The thing +that pains me is the thought that any other person, even though +it be my own daughter, should have usurped my place in your +affections."</p> + +<p>At these words his voice broke a little.</p> + +<p>"No, Antonio, no," Doña Carmen hastened to put in. +"Neither your daughter nor any one else can rob you of the +affection due to you. But you are rich enough without needing +my fortune, and she wants it."</p> + +<p>"No. It is vain to try to soften the blow, I feel it in +the depths of my heart," replied Salabert in pathetic accents, +and pressing one hand to his left side. "Five-and-thirty years +of married life, five-and-thirty years of joys and griefs, of fears +and hopes in common, have not availed to secure me the foremost +place in your affections. Nothing that can be said will +remedy that. I fancied that our union, the years of love and +happiness that we have spent together, might be closed by an +act which would crown our lives by making one of us inherit +the whole of what we have gained. The devotion of a husband +and wife is never better displayed than in a last will and testament."</p> + +<p>Requena's oratory had risen to a tone of moral dignity +which, for a moment, seemed to impress his wife. However, +she replied with perfect sweetness but unshaken firmness:</p> + +<p>"Though Clementina is not my own flesh and blood, I love +her as if she were. I have always regarded her as my own +child, and it seems to me an act of injustice to deprive a child +of its share of an inheritance."</p> + +<p>"But, my dear," exclaimed the Duke vehemently, "for +whom do you suppose I want it but for my daughter? +Make me your heir, and I pledge myself to transmit it to her, +not only undiminished but greatly augmented."</p> + +<p>Doña Carmen kept silence, but shook her head in negation. +Her husband rose as though emotion were quite too much for +him.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes! I understand! You cannot forgive me some<a name="page_223" id="page_223"></a> +little errors of caprice and folly. You are taking advantage +of this opportunity of revenge. Very well, very well. +Indulge your vengeance; but believe me when I say that I +have never loved any woman better than you. The heart +cannot be made to obey orders, Carmen; if I desired to tear +your image out of mine, my heart would answer: 'No, I cannot +give it up without breaking.' It is sad, very sad, to meet +with so cruel a disenchantment at the end of our lives. If you +were to die to-morrow, which God forbid! what worries and +troubles must await me, besides the grief of losing the wife I +adore. Why I, a poor old man, might be compelled to quit +the house where I have lived so many years, which I built +and beautified in the hope of dying under its roof in your +arms!"</p> + +<p>Requena's voice broke at judicious intervals, and his eyes +filled with tears. When he ceased speaking he sank into his +armchair as though quite crushed, pressing his handkerchief +to his eyes.</p> + +<p>But Doña Carmen, though tender-hearted and sensitive, +showed no signs of emotion. On the contrary, she replied in a +steady voice:</p> + +<p>"You know perfectly well that there is no truth in all that. +I am not capable of taking any revenge, nor, if I were, could +there be any such vengeance in leaving all I can to your +daughter, who is mine solely by the affection I bear to +her."</p> + +<p>The Duke changed his tactics. He looked at his wife compassionately +for a few minutes, and then he said:</p> + +<p>"The greatest happiness you could confer on Clementina to +show your affection would be to get out of her way as soon as +you can. Poor Osorio is up to the ears in hot water. Now I +understand why his creditors have been so long-suffering. You +no doubt have said something to his wife of this will of yours, +and as you are somewhat ailing they are looking for your death +like showers in May. Make no mistake about that."</p> + +<p>Doña Carmen at these cruel words turned even paler than<a name="page_224" id="page_224"></a> +she always was. She clutched the arms of her chair with an +effort to keep herself from fainting. This that her husband +had said was horrible, but only too probable. He saw her +agitation, and at once brought forward facts to confirm his +hypothesis. He drew a complete picture of Osorio's position, +pointing out how unlikely it was that his creditors should still +give him time if they had not some definite hope to count on; +and this could only be her own death.</p> + +<p>The unhappy woman at last spoke. Her words were almost +sublime:</p> + +<p>"If, indeed, Clementina desires my death," she said, "then +so do I, with all my heart. Everything I can leave is for +her."</p> + +<p>Salabert left the room in a towering rage, fighting like a bull +assailed by crackers, or an actor who has been hissed off the +stage.</p> + +<p>Doña Carmen lay for some time motionless in the attitude +in which he had left her, her eyes fixed on vacancy. At last +two tears dropped from her eyes and slowly trickled down her +cheeks.<a name="page_225" id="page_225"></a></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI.<br /><br /> +<small>THE DUKE'S BALL.</small></h2> + +<p class="nind">W<small>EEKS</small> and months went by. Clementina spent the summer +at Biarritz as usual. Raimundo followed her, leaving his sister +in charge of some relations, and only returned at the end of +September. A storm had swept over the orphan's dwelling +which had completely wrecked its happiness. Raimundo, +entirely neglecting his methodical habits of study, had rushed +into the world of pleasure with the ardour of a novice. His +sister, amazed at such a change, remonstrated mildly but without +effect. The young man behaved with the petulance of a +spoilt child, answering her sharply, or if she spoke with sterner +decision, melting into tears, declaring that he was miserable, +that she did not love him, that it would have been better if he +had died when his mother died, and so forth. Aurelia saw +that there was nothing for it but to suffer in silence, and kept +her fears and gloomy anticipations to herself. She could too +easily guess the cause of this change, but neither of them ever +made any allusion to it; Raimundo because he could not +speak to his sister of his connection with Clementina, and she +because she could not bear that he should suppose she even +understood it.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile it led our young friend to great extravagance, far +beyond what his income allowed. To enable him to keep up +with the lady's carriage as she drove in the fashionable avenues, +he bought a fine horse, after taking some riding lessons. +Theatres, flowers and gifts for his mistress, amusements shared +with his new friends of the Savage Club, dress, trinkets,<a name="page_226" id="page_226"></a> +everything, in short, which a youth "about town" thinks +indispensable, cost him enormous sums in proportion to his +income. He was forced to touch his capital. This, as we +know, was in the form of shares in a powder manufactory, and +in the funds. His mother had kept her securities in an iron +box inside her wardrobe. When she died, the guardian she +had appointed to her two children, examined the documents +and made due note of them, but as Raimundo was esteemed a +very steady young fellow of impeccable conduct, and as he +had for some time past presented and cashed the coupons, his +uncle did not take the securities out of his keeping, but left +them in the box where he had found them. And now +Raimundo, needing money at any cost, and not daring to +borrow it of any one, broke his trust, for he was not yet of +legal age, and sold some of the securities. And the strange +thing is, that although he had hitherto lived so blamelessly, +upright in thought and honest in purpose, he did it without +feeling any very deep remorse. His passion had so completely +stultified and altered him.</p> + +<p>Of course he did not do this without its leading to worse +consequences. His uncle, hearing of his extravagant expenditure, +came to the house one day, shut himself up with him in +his study and attacked him point-blank:</p> + +<p>"We must settle accounts together, Raimundo. From +what I am told, and from what I can see, you are living at a +rate which you cannot possibly afford. This is a serious +matter, and, as your trustee, I must know where the money +comes from, if not for your own sake, at any rate for your +sister's."</p> + +<p>Raimundo was greatly startled. He turned pale and +muttered some unintelligible words. Then finding himself at +bay, at once perceiving that his safety depended on this +interview—that is to say, the safety of his love affair—he did +not hesitate to lie boldly.</p> + +<p>"Yes, uncle, it is true that I am spending a good deal, +more than my income would permit, no doubt. But you need<a name="page_227" id="page_227"></a> +not therefore conclude that it is the capital I inherited from my +parents."</p> + +<p>"Well, then?"</p> + +<p>"Well, then," said the young man, and his voice dropped as +if he had some difficulty in speaking, "I cannot tell you whence +I get the money, uncle, it is a matter of honour."</p> + +<p>His guardian was mystified.</p> + +<p>"Of honour! I do not know what that may mean. But +listen to me, boy; I cannot let the matter drop. My position +is critical. If I do not take proper care of your interests I +may find myself called upon to pay up, and there is no mercy +for trustees."</p> + +<p>Raimundo remained silent for some seconds, at last, +stammering and hesitating, he said:</p> + +<p>"If you must know then I will tell you. You have heard +perhaps of my intimacy with a lady?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I have heard something of a flirtation between you +and Osorio's wife."</p> + +<p>"Well, that explains the mystery," said the nephew, colouring +violently.</p> + +<p>"So that, in point of fact, this woman"——said the elder, +snapping his thumb and finger.</p> + +<p>Raimundo bent his head and said no more, or, to be exact, +his silence said everything. The man who had indignantly +refused his mistress's bank-notes now confessed himself guilty +of this humiliation, though perfectly innocent, simply out of +fear.</p> + +<p>His uncle was a vulgar mortal enough, who kept a shop in +the Calle de Carmen. His nephew's confession, far from rousing +his indignation, raised the youth in his esteem.</p> + +<p>"Well, my dear fellow! I am glad to see that you have +hatched out at last and are beginning to know the ways of the +world. Ah, you rogue, how quiet you have kept it!"</p> + +<p>But as he still remained in the study, betraying the remains +of a suspicion, Raimundo, with the audacity peculiar to women +and weak men in critical circumstances, said firmly enough:<a name="page_228" id="page_228"></a></p> + +<p>"My capital and my sister's are intact; I can show you the +securities this very minute."</p> + +<p>He took out the key and was going to fetch the box. His +uncle stopped him.</p> + +<p>"No need, my boy, no need. What for?"</p> + +<p>And thus he escaped as by a miracle from this dreadful predicament, +which might so easily have ended in a catastrophe. +At the same time, his triumph cost him many moments of +bitter reflection, and a collapse of mind and body which made +him quite ill for a time. It is impossible to break suddenly +with all the traditions and ideas which constitute the back-bone +of our character without the acutest pain.</p> + +<p>At about this time a gentleman from Chili came to call on +him; a naturalist himself, and, like Raimundo, devoted to the +study of butterflies. He had last come from Germany, and +was on his way home to America; he had read some of the +young man's scientific papers, and having also heard of his +fine collection, he would not pass through Madrid without +visiting it. Raimundo received him with great pleasure, and +some little shame; for some months he had scarcely thought +of scientific subjects, and had neglected his specimens. The +South American nevertheless found it extremely interesting +and was full of intelligent sympathy; he told him that he was +commissioned by his Government to recruit some young men +of talent to fill the professors' chairs lately created at Santiago +in Chili. If Alcázar would emigrate one of them was open +to him.</p> + +<p>In any other circumstances Raimundo, who had no tie of +blood excepting his sister, would certainly have decided on +this step. But as it was, enmeshed by the toils of love, the +proposal struck him as so absurd that he could but smile with +a trace of contempt, and he politely declined it as though he +were a millionaire, or a man at the head of Spanish society.</p> + +<p>Then to pay for his journey to Biarritz, he was again obliged +to sell some shares in the funds. He carried five thousand +francs with him, a more than ample sum for his summer in France.<a name="page_229" id="page_229"></a> +But at the end of a few days, led away by the example of +his friends, he took to betting at the Casino, on the game of +racing with dice, and in two evenings he had lost everything. +Not being accustomed to these proceedings, the only thing he +could think of to help himself was to return to Madrid at once, +sell some more shares, and come back again. His fortune was +dwindling from day to day. By the beginning of the winter he +had sacrificed several thousand dollars; but this did not check +his lavish expenditure. Aurelia, who from some hints of her +uncle, or suspicions of her own, imagined that she knew from +whom the money came, was melancholy and distressed. Her +eyes, as she looked at her brother, were full of grief and pity, +not unmingled with indignation.</p> + +<p>So matters went on till the Carnival. The Duchess of +Requena's health had been improved by some waters in +Germany, to which her husband had taken her in the autumn. +No sooner had she made her will in favour of her step-daughter, +than he devoted himself to taking care of her, knowing how +important her existence was to him. The great speculator's +affairs meanwhile were progressing satisfactorily. He had +bought the mines at Riosa, as he had proposed, money down. +From that moment he had been waging covert war against the +rest of the company, selling shares at lower and lower prices, +to depreciate their value. This had worked entirely to his +satisfaction. In a few months the price had fallen from a +hundred and twenty, at which they had stood just after the sale +of the property, to eighty-three. Salabert waited on from day +to day to produce a panic, by throwing a large number of them +into the market, and so bring the quotation down to forty. +Then, by means of his agents in Madrid, Paris, and London, +he meant to buy up half the shares, <i>plus</i> one, and so to be +master of the whole concern.</p> + +<p>It was at this time that, in order to serve his political ends, +as well as to gratify his native taste for display—in spite of his +counter-balancing avarice—he determined to give a fancy dress +ball, in his magnificent residence, inviting all the aristocracy,<a name="page_230" id="page_230"></a> +and securing the presence of the royal family. Preparations +were begun two months beforehand. Although the palace was +splendidly fitted up, he had some rather heavy and over-large +pieces of furniture removed from the drawing-rooms, and replaced +by others from Paris, of lighter and simpler style. He +got rid of some of the hangings, and purchased several +decorative works of art, which it must be owned were +certainly lacking. Three weeks before the day fixed for +the ball he sent out the invitations. Three weeks, he thought, +were not too much to allow his guests to prepare their costumes. +Fancy dress was indispensable; gentlemen to wear dominoes +at the very least. The newspapers had soon announced the +ball to every town in Spain.</p> + +<p>As her stepmother took little interest in such things, and +from her delicate health was not able to play an active part in +the preparations, Clementina was the life and soul of the whole +affair. She spent all her days in her father's house, save only +a few hours which she bestowed on Raimundo. Osorio at this +juncture took it into his head to have their two little girls home +from school, one ten and the other eleven years old, to spend +a few days with their parents; but the poor little things had to +return some days sooner than their father had promised, because +Clementina was so busy that she scarcely found time to +speak to them. This made their father so angry that, one day, +without allowing them to take leave of their mother, he put +them into the carriage, and himself accompanied them back to +school. That evening, however, when Clementina returned +home, there was a violent quarrel between them on the subject.</p> + +<p>Raimundo, too, found himself neglected; still he looked +forward with childish delight to this entertainment, at which he +meant to appear as a court page. This was an idea suggested +by Clementina. The model for his dress was taken from a +famous picture in the Senate-house. For herself, she had +fallen in love with a portrait of Margaret of Austria, the queen +of Philip III., painted by Pantoja. She ordered a black velvet +dress, very closely fitting, with pink silk slashings braided with<a name="page_231" id="page_231"></a> +silver; and there can be no doubt that it was a costume +singularly well adapted to set off her fine and ample figure and +the imposing beauty of her face.</p> + +<p>The Duke himself worked hard at the less ornamental +details; the erection, for instance, of a gallery for the musicians, +which was to be built up against the wall, between the two +large drawing-rooms, and embowered in shrubs and flowering +plants; the arrangements for hats and wraps, the laying of +carpets, the removal of furniture, and so forth. Salabert was a +terribly hard overseer, a real driver of the workmen. He never +allowed them to rest, and expected them to be incessantly on +the alert. He never gave them a moment's peace, nor was +satisfied with what they did.</p> + +<p>One day a cabinet of carved ebony had to be moved, from a +room where the ladies were to sit to the card-room. The +workmen, under the direction of the master carpenter, were +carrying it slung, while the Duke followed, bidding them be +careful, with an accompaniment of objurgations.</p> + +<p>"Damn it all, be quick. Move a little quicker, can't you, +you snub-nosed cur! Now, mind that chandelier!—lower Pepe, +lower—lower, I say, you ass! Damn it, now raise it again."</p> + +<p>As they went through the door, the head carpenter, seeing +that they might easily hurt themselves, called out: "Mind +your fingers!"</p> + +<p>"Mind the mouldings! Curse your fingers," exclaimed the +Duke. "Do you think I care for your fingers, you louts?"</p> + +<p>And one of the men looked him in the face with an +indescribable expression of hatred and scorn.</p> + +<p>When the cabinet was in its place the Duke saw it fixed, and +then went to his room to brush off the dust. Soon after, he went +down the grand staircase, and getting into his carriage went out.</p> + +<p> +<br /> +</p> + +<p>At last the great day arrived. The newspapers announced +the ball for the last time with a grand flourish of trumpets. +The Duke de Requena had spent a million of francs in +preparations, they said, and they also gave it to be understood<a name="page_232" id="page_232"></a> +that all the flowers had been sent from Paris. And this was +true. The Duke, born in Valencia, the loveliest garden of +Europe, ordered flowers from France for his ball to the amount +of some thousands of dollars. Camellias strewed the very +floors in the ante-room and passages; hundreds of exotic +plants decorated the hall, the corridors, and the rooms. An +army of servants, in knee-breeches and a gaudy livery, stood at +every corner where they might be wanted. A detachment of +horse-guards was posted at the garden entrance to keep +order among the carriages, with the help of the police. The +cloak-room, erected for the occasion, was a luxurious apartment, +where every arrangement had been made to preserve the +ladies' magnificent wraps, or <i>sorties de bal</i>, as it is the fashion +to call them, from being lost or damaged.</p> + +<p>The grand staircase was a blaze of electric light, the hall +and dining-room were lighted with gas: the dancing-room with +wax candles. The sitting-rooms and card-room had oil-lamps +with wide and elaborate shades, and in these rooms fires were +blazing cheerfully.</p> + +<p>Clementina received the company in the first drawing-room, +close to the ante-room. She took her stepmother's place here +because Doña Carmen had not sufficient strength to stand for +so long. The Duchess sat in the inner room, surrounded by +friends. The Duke and Osorio, at the door between the hall +and ante-room, offered an arm to the ladies as they arrived and +conducted them to Clementina.</p> + +<p>This lady's costume set off her beauty, as she had intended, +to the greatest advantage. Her exquisite figure seemed even +more finely moulded in this close fitting dress, and her head, +with its magnificent coppery hair, rose above the black velvet +like a queenly flower. King Phillip III. would gladly have +exchanged the real Margaret for such a counterfeit. A rumour +was current in the rooms, and made public next day in the +papers, that a hairdresser had come from Paris by the express +train to dress her head.</p> + +<p>The motley crowd soon began to fill the rooms. Every<a name="page_233" id="page_233"></a> +epoch of history, every country of the world had sent representatives +to Salabert's ball. Moors, Jews, Chinese, Venetians, +Greeks and Romans—Louis XIV. and the Empire, Queens +and slaves, nymphs and gipsies, Amazons and Sibyls, grisettes +and vestals, walked arm-in-arm, or stood chatting in groups, +and laughing with cavaliers of the last century, Flemings of +the fourteenth, pages and necromancers. Most of the men, +however, had adopted the Venetian doublet and short cloak. +The orchestra had already played two or three waltzes, but +as yet no one was dancing. They awaited the arrival of the +Royal personages.</p> + +<p>Raimundo was wandering about the rooms with the familiarity +of an intimate friend, smiling at every one with the +modest frankness which made him singularly attractive, though +strange to a society where cold, not to say scornful, manners +are regarded as the stamp of dignity and rank. The young +entomologist had been for some time living in a delicious +whirl, a sort of golden dream, such as humble natures are often +addicted to. His page's costume, of the date of Isabella the +Great, suited him well, and more than one pretty girl turned +her head to look at him. Now and then he made his way to +where Clementina was on duty, and without speaking they +could exchange looks and smiles. On one of these occasions +he saw Pepe Castro, in the dress of a cavalier of the Court of +Charles I., approach to pay his respects.</p> + +<p>"How is this?" he said in her ear. "Are you not yet tired +of your cherub?"</p> + +<p>"I am never tired of what is good," said she with a smile.</p> + +<p>"Thank you," he replied, sarcastically.</p> + +<p>"There is nothing to thank me for; are you trying to pick +a quarrel?" And she turned away with a shrug of contempt +to speak to the Condesa de Cotorraso, who came in at the +moment.</p> + +<p>Raimundo had watched this brief colloquy. Its confidential +tone was a stab to him. For a moment he did not move; +Esperancita passed close in front of him, but he did not see<a name="page_234" id="page_234"></a> +her. It was the child's first appearance at a ball. She wore a +pretty Venetian dress of a rich red colour, cut low; her mother +was magnificent as a Dutch burgomaster's wife, in brown, embroidered +with gold and silver, with a lace ruff and necklace of +diamonds and pearls. What pangs these costumes must have +cost her luckless husband! In the first instance, when this +ball was under discussion, he had supposed that some combination +of old clothes would answer their purpose, and had +made no difficulties. When he saw the dresses and the +dressmaker's bill he was breathless. He was ready to cry +Thief! Woe befall that miserable Salabert and the hour in +which he had thought of this ball, and all the Venetian and +Dutch ladies that had ever lived! And what most weighed on +his soul was the reflection that these costly garments were to +be worn for but one night. Four thousand pesetas thrown +into the gutter! as he repeated a hundred times a day.</p> + +<p>Esperancita looked at Alcázar, expecting him to bow; but +seeing that he was gazing elsewhere, she, too, looked round at +the group about Clementina, and immediately understood the +situation. A cloud of distress came over her, as over Raimundo. +But suddenly her eyes sparkled, and her whole +ingenuous and insignificant little face was lighted up, transfigured +by an indefinable charm. Pepe Castro was coming +towards her.</p> + +<p>"Charming, charming!" murmured the Adonis in an absent +way, as he bowed affectedly.</p> + +<p>The girl blushed with delight.</p> + +<p>"Will you honour me with the first waltz?"</p> + +<p>At this very moment she found herself the centre of a group +of young men, all buzzing round Calderón's money-bags, and +eager to compliment his daughter. Among these was Cobo +Ramirez. They were all pressing her to give them a dance, +each in turn signing the initials of his illustrious name on +Esperancita's card. Ramoncito, who was standing a few yards +off, did not join the little crowd—faithful to the advice given +him, now above a year ago, by his friend and adviser Castro;<a name="page_235" id="page_235"></a> +though hitherto these tactics had proved unavailing, for Esperancita +remained insensible to his devotion. Still, he would +not ascribe this to any fault in the method, but to his lack of +courage to follow it out with sufficient vigour, without hesitancy +or backsliding. If the girl happened to look kindly at him, +or speak to him more gently than usual, farewell diplomacy!</p> + +<p>At this moment he was casting grim looks at the crowd +which had gathered round her, and vaguely replying to +Cotorraso, who had of late taken a most oppressive fancy to +him, button-holing him wherever he met him, to explain his +new methods of extracting oil. The young deputy had not +gained in dignity from his showy dress and white wig, as a +gentleman of the eighteenth century: he looked for all the +world like a footman.</p> + +<p>Suddenly there was a stir in the ante-room. The Royal +party had arrived. The company collected about the door-ways. +The Duke and Duchess, Clementina and Osorio, went +to the outside steps to receive them, and the music played the +Royal March. The King and Queen came in, walking slowly +between the two ranks of guests, stopping now and then when +they saw any one known to them to bestow a gracious greeting. +The recipient of such honour bowed or curtsied to the ground, +kissing the Royal hand with grateful effusiveness. The ladies +especially humbled themselves with a rapture they could not +conceal, and a gush of loyalty and affection which brought the +blood to their cheeks.</p> + +<p>The royal quadrille was immediately formed, and Clementina +left her place by the door to dance in it. The Sovereign led +out the Duchess, who made this great effort to please her +husband. A triple row of spectators stood round to look on.</p> + +<p>Salabert was in his glory. The waif, the beggar, from the +market-place of Valencia, was entertaining Royalty. His dull, +fish like, dissipated eyes glistened with triumph. This explosion +of vanity had blown to the winds all the sordid anxieties +which the cost of the ball had caused him—the deadly +struggle with his own avarice. To-morrow perhaps the scatered<a name="page_236" id="page_236"></a> +fragments might reunite to give him fresh torment; for +the moment, intoxicated with pride, he was drinking deep +breaths of the atmosphere of importance and power created by +his wealth; his face was flushed with a congestion of ecstatic +vanity.</p> + +<p>"Only look at Salabert's radiant expression," said Rafael +Alcantara to Leon Guzman and some other intimates who +were standing in a group. "Joy transpires from every pore! +Now is the moment to ask him for a loan of ten thousand dollars."</p> + +<p>"Do you think you would get it?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, at six per cent., on good security," said the other. +"But look, look! Here comes Lola, the most fascinating and +delightful creature who has yet entered these rooms." And he +raised his voice so as to be heard by the lady in question.</p> + +<p>Lola sent him a smile of acknowledgment; and her husband, +the Mexican of the cows, who also had heard the remark, +bowed with pleasure. She was really very bewitchingly dressed, +as a Louis XIV. Marquise, in rose colour, embroidered with +gold, and a yellow train, also embroidered. Her hair was +powdered, and round her throat was a black velvet ribbon +with silver pendants.</p> + +<p>When the Royal quadrille was ended, waltzing began. Pepe +Castro came to find Esperancita, who was walking with the +youngest of the Alcudia girls. It was the first time that they +had either of them been present at a ball, and they were +perfectly happy as they looked out on the world in its most +holiday aspect, confiding their delightful impressions to each +other's private ear. He remained with them for a minute till +a partner came to claim Paz for the dance, and the two couples +floated off at the same time on the tide of waltzers. For Esperancita +the world had vanished. A delicious sense of joy +and freedom, like that which a bird might feel in flying if it had +a soul, glowed in her heart and lapped her in delight. It was +the first time she had ever felt Pepe Castro's arm round her +waist. Swept away by him into the maëlstrom of couples, she +felt as though they were alone—he and she. And the music<a name="page_237" id="page_237"></a> +charmed her ears and heart, giving sweet utterance to the ineffable +gladness which throbbed in every pulse.</p> + +<p>When they paused a moment to rest, her face so unmistakeably +expressed the supreme emotion of first love, that her aunt +Clementina, happening to pass on the arm of the President of +Congress, could not help looking at her with a half kindly, half +mocking smile, which made the child blush. Pepe Castro +could scarcely get a word out of her. Delicious excitement +seemed to have stricken her dumb. The happiness which +filled her soul found an outlet, as so often happens, in a +feeling of general benevolence. The ball to her was a pure +delight; all the men were amusing; all the women were exquisitely +dressed. Even Ramon, who came by, was bedewed +with some drops of this overflowing tide of gladness.</p> + +<p>"Are you not dancing, Ramon?" she inquired, with so inviting +a smile that the poor fellow was quite overcome with +joy.</p> + +<p>"I have been kept talking by Cotorraso."</p> + +<p>"But find yourself a partner. Look, there is Rosa Pallarés, +who is not dancing."</p> + +<p>The smiling statesman hastened to invite the damsel in +question, thinking, with characteristic acumen, that Esperancita +had selected her for her plain face. Soothed by this flattering +reflection he was quite content to dance with the daughter of +General Pallarés, of whom Cobo Ramirez was wont to speak +as "one of our handsomest scarecrows." He felt as though +he were doing his lady's bidding, and giving her indisputable +proof that her jealousy—if she were jealous—was unfounded.</p> + +<p>When the waltz was over, he returned to her, as a mediæval +knight from the tournay, to receive his guerdon at his mistress's +hands. But, inasmuch as there is no perfect happiness for any +one in this world, at the same moment Cobo Ramirez went up +to Esperancita. They both sat down by her and plied her with +compliments and attentions. One took charge of her fan, the +other of her handkerchief; both tried to entertain her by their +remarks, and to flatter her vanity by their assiduity. It must<a name="page_238" id="page_238"></a> +in truth be owned that if Ramon was the more earnest and +solid talker, Cobo was by far the more amusing. And yet Esperancita, +against her wont, by one of those unaccountable +whims of a young girl, was for once inclined to listen kindly +to Ramoncito. The trio afforded a diverting subject for contemplation.</p> + +<p>The servants moved about the rooms with trays of lemonade, +ices, and bonbons. Ramon called one of them to offer Esperancita +a particular kind of jelly which he knew she liked. +At the same time he insisted on his rival taking an ice. Cobo +declined. Ramon pressed him so eagerly that Alcantara +and some other men who were standing near could not help +noticing it.</p> + +<p>"Look at Ramon trying to make Cobo eat an ice," said +one.</p> + +<p>"He sees he is hot, and wants to be the death of him! +Nothing can be plainer," said Leon.</p> + +<p>Pepe Castro, as soon as he saw his partner safe in the hands +of Ramirez and Maldonado, had stolen away. As he wandered +on he met Clementina. She seemed to be in every place at +once, returning every few minutes to attend their Majesties, +who had retired to a private room with the Duchess and Requena, +and the ladies and gentlemen of their suite.</p> + +<p>"I saw you dancing with my little niece," said the lady. +"Why do you not make up to her?"</p> + +<p>"To what end?"</p> + +<p>"To marry her."</p> + +<p>"Horror! Why, my dear, what have I done to you that +you should wish me so dreadful a fate?"</p> + +<p>"Come, come, listen to reason," said she, quite gravely, and +assuming a maternal air. "Esperancita is no beauty, but she +is not disagreeable looking. She is fresh and youthful, and +is desperately in love with you, that I know."</p> + +<p>"As you are," interrupted the other, with some bitterness.</p> + +<p>"As I am—but then she has not known you some sixteen +years. Yes, she loves you, I assure you, very truly. We<a name="page_239" id="page_239"></a> +women can see such things with half a glance. Marry her; do +not be foolish. Calderón is very rich."</p> + +<p>Before Castro could reply, she was gone. He stood there a +few minutes lost in thought; then he moved away slowly, +making his way round the rooms with a lazy strut, stopping to +stare, with consummate impertinence, at all the pretty women, +like a Pasha in a slave-market.</p> + +<p>Lola had taken possession of Raimundo, and kept him at +her side in one corner of the sitting-room, where she laid herself +out to conquer him by every art of the coquette. This +was the pretty brunette's favourite amusement. No friend of +hers could have a man in her train, without Lola's endeavouring +to snatch him from her. Handsome or ugly, +forward or shy, it mattered not; all she cared for was to +gratify her incurable craving for admiration, and her desire to +triumph over every other woman. Her eyes had a look of +sweetness and innocence which deceived every one; it was +impossible to believe that behind those guileless orbs there +lurked a will as determined as it was astute. Alcázar thought +her very pretty, and most agreeable to talk to; but the fact +of her being Clementina's friend, and of her talking of scarcely +anything else, had a great deal to do with this impression. As +he could neither dance nor converse with the lady of his +adoration, both for reasons of prudence and because she was +too much occupied with other duties, he consoled himself by +hearing Lola chatter about the details of her life. Every trifle +interested the youth; the dress she had worn at the French +Ambassador's ball, the incidents of a shooting-party at the +Cotorrasos', the scenes she had with her husband, &c. Lola's +tactics were first to gain his attention and captivate his sympathy, +and then to win his liking.</p> + +<p>When Clementina came into the room, they were deep in +conversation. She stood for an instant in the doorway, looking +at them with surprise and vexation. For some time past Lola +had been out of her good graces. Though Pepe Castro had +ceased to interest her, when her friend had attempted to win<a name="page_240" id="page_240"></a> +him from her, the proceeding had led to a certain coolness +between them. Now she perceived that Lola had cast her +eyes on Raimundo, and was flirting with him on every possible +occasion. This roused an impulse of hatred, which she had +some difficulty in dissembling. She gave them a fiercely indignant +stare, and going into the middle of the room, she said +in a somewhat excited way:</p> + +<p>"Alcázar, you are wanted to dance. Are you too tired?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, no!" the young man hastened to reply, and he rose +at once. "With whom shall I dance?"</p> + +<p>Clementina made no answer. Lola had a satirical smile +which exasperated her. She turned to leave the room.</p> + +<p>"I am sorry to have disturbed you," she said coldly, as they +went away together.</p> + +<p>Raimundo looked at her in surprise. This tone was quite +new to him.</p> + +<p>"Disturbed me? Not at all."</p> + +<p>"Yes, indeed; for you seemed to be enjoying yourself very +much with your companion," and then, unable to repress her +temper any longer, she added in a brusque tone:</p> + +<p>"Come with me."</p> + +<p>She led him to the dining-room, where the supper tables +were laid awaiting the guests. There, in the bay of a window, +she poured out her wrath. She loaded him with abuse, and +announced definitely that all was at an end between them. She +even went so far as to shake him violently by the arm. Alcázar +was so amazed, so overwhelmed, as to be absolutely incapable +of speech. This saved him. Seeing dismay and grief painted +on his countenance, Clementina could not fail to perceive +that her anger had deceived her. Raimundo, at any rate, +had not the faintest notion of flirting. So, calming down +a little, she accepted the denial he at last found words to +utter.</p> + +<p>"But it was solely to talk of you that I sat with her," +he said.</p> + +<p>"To talk of me? Well, then, for the future, I will trouble<a name="page_241" id="page_241"></a> +you not to talk about me. It is enough that you should love +me and hold your tongue."</p> + +<p>The servants who were passing in and out glanced at them +with significant grimaces.</p> + +<p>As they left the room they met Pepa Frias. The buxom widow +was in the best of humours; she had received many compliments. +Her dress, a very handsome one, cut immoderately low, was +that of a foreign princess of the time of Charles III., in silver +brocade with gold embroidery, and a blue velvet train.</p> + +<p>"My dear, I am as hungry as a wolf," she exclaimed as she +came in. "When are we to have supper? Ho, ho! so you +are whispering in corners! Prudence, Clementina, prudence! +My dear child, I must positively have something to eat or I +shall drop. I can wait no longer."</p> + +<p>Clementina laughed and took her into a corner, where she +had a plate brought for her with some meat. Alcázar returned +to the drawing-room, very happy, but still tremulous from the +painful emotion his mistress had caused him. He had never +before seen her in such a rage.</p> + +<p>Clementina's friendship with Pepa had been closer than +ever since the scene in the boudoir. The widow was convinced +that the safety of her fortune depended on this intimacy, +and did all she could to consolidate it. Thanks to this +manœuvre she had, in fact, already recovered possession of a +large part of it; nor was she now uneasy about the remainder. +She knew that Doña Carmen had made her will in her step-daughter's +favour, and though the Duchess had been rather +stronger lately, her death ere long was a certainty, for the +doctors had pronounced that nothing could save her but an +operation, which she was too weak to undergo.</p> + +<p>Pepa's cynical assurance was quite to Clementina's mind. +They understood each other perfectly. They were a pair of +hussies, grisettes born into a sphere of society for which +Nature had never intended them. Pepa, of course, had a better +right there than Clementina, who bore the taint in her blood. +Pepa was an adventuress by predilection.<a name="page_242" id="page_242"></a></p> + +<p>"Look here, Clem," said she as she devoured a slice of +galantine of turkey. "Let that boy drop; he is not worth +his salt. You have had enough of him for a mere whim."</p> + +<p>"How do you know what he is worth?" replied Clementina +laughing.</p> + +<p>"By his face, my dear. He has been your acknowledged +lover for above a year, and to this day he turns as red as a +poppy whenever you look at him."</p> + +<p>"That is exactly what I like him for."</p> + +<p>Pepa shrugged her shoulders.</p> + +<p>"Indeed? Well, I should find it intolerable."</p> + +<p>"And Arbos? How does he behave?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, he is a perfect goose, but at any rate he can keep his +countenance. If you tell him he is a great man, there is +nothing he will not do for you. He has found places for +above a score of my connections. Then it is very nice to +have some influence in the political world, and see deputies at +one's feet. Yesterday, for instance, I had a visit from Manricio +Sala, who has set his heart on being made under-secretary. +He is quite certain, it would seem, that in that case Urreta +would let his daughter marry him."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I loathe politics!—Do you know, Irenita is quite +sweet in that <i>chasseresse</i> costume."</p> + +<p>"Hm—too showy."</p> + +<p>"Not at all, it is extremely pretty. What has become of +her husband? I have not seen him since they came in."</p> + +<p>"Her husband! a precious specimen he is!" exclaimed +Pepa, looking up in her wrath. "Oh, what troubles come +upon me, my dear, what troubles!" she added with her +mouth still full.</p> + +<p>"Maria Huerta?" asked Clementina in a confidential +tone.</p> + +<p>"Who else?" muttered the widow as she gazed at the +turkey on her plate. Then suddenly she burst out:</p> + +<p>"He is a blackguard, a shameless scoundrel, who cannot +even keep up appearances for his wife's sake. He spends<a name="page_243" id="page_243"></a> +chief part of the day waiting for her at the door of the church +of San Pascual, and walks home with her. And at the theatre +he never takes his eyes off her. It is a shame. He might +have some decency. And my idiot of a daughter is madly in +love with him, a perfect fool about him, all the while. She +does nothing but cry, and show how jealous she is! Why, +what does the wretch want but to humiliate her? If I were in +her place I would talk to him! And I would give him such a +box on the ear to finish with as would make him wink!"</p> + +<p>The lady's indignation had not interfered with deglutition.</p> + +<p>"Heaven reward you, my dear," she said as she rose. +"Now let us see if this heart of mine will be quiet for a little +while." For Pepa supposed herself to suffer from a heart +complaint which only a good meal would relieve.</p> + +<p>A few minutes after they had quitted the dining-room +Clementina gave the word, and the supper-room was thrown +open. The Royal party led the way, attended by their suite +and their host and hostesses. Salabert had lavished his crowning +efforts on the supper-room. The ceiling was hung with +glittering cloth of gold; the brilliant flowers and exotic fruits, +the sheen of silver and crystal, under the blaze of gas lights as +numerous as the stars of heaven, were dazzling with splendour. +The servants stood motionless in a row against the wall, +solemn and speechless. In two deep recesses burnt huge fires +of logs, in beautiful fire-places of carved oak, which decorated +the wall almost to the ceiling. All the food served at the +Royal table had been brought from Paris by a little regiment of +cooks and scullions. The only exceptions were fish, brought +from the coast of Biscay, and a plum pudding, just arrived +from London. The meats were for the most part cold, but +there was hot clear soup for those who liked it.</p> + +<p>The Royalties did not remain many minutes in the supper-room. +As soon as they left, the tide of guests rushed in +without much ceremony. The sitting-rooms remained silent, +abandoned to the servants, who with the precision of soldiers,<a name="page_244" id="page_244"></a> +replaced the dwindling wax lights by fresh ones, while the +noise in the dining-room, of plates and glasses, and voices +and laughter, was almost bewildering.</p> + +<p>Cobo Ramirez deserted Esperancita for a while, leaving her +on his rival's hands, while he found a seat for himself at a +little table in a snug corner, to devour a plateful of ham and +Hamburg beef. Ramoncito naturally took advantage of this +reprieve to show off his own poetical frugality as compared +with Cobo's prosaic gluttony, till Esperancita cut the ground +from under him by saying very spitefully to her friend Pacita, +who sat by her side:</p> + +<p>"For my part I like a man to be a great eater."</p> + +<p>"So do I," said Paz. "At any rate it shows that he has a +good digestion."</p> + +<p>"So have I," said Maldonado, crushed and vexed by the +hostile tone the young girls had adopted against him. Paz +only smiled scornfully.</p> + +<p>General Patiño, tired of throwing his heavy shell at +Calderón's torpid spouse without producing the smallest sign +of capitulation, had raised the siege, to sit down before the +Marquesa de Ujo; she had yielded at the first fire, and +thrown open every gate to the enemy. At the same time, as +a consummate strategist, the General had not lost sight +of Mariana, hoping that some happy accident might again +lay her open to his batteries. The newspapers had lately +mentioned a rumour that he was to be made Minister of +War. This dignity would, no doubt, give him greater influence +and prestige, whenever he might choose to surprise +the stronghold.</p> + +<p>The Marquesa de Ujo was dressed à la Turque, and she +played her part so well that Alcantara declared he "longed to +have a shot at her himself." Her languor was so great that +she could scarcely exert herself to articulate, so that the +General was obliged to assist her every minute in the exhausting +effort. While her far from perfect teeth nibbled a cake or +two—for her digestion did not allow of her eating anything<a name="page_245" id="page_245"></a> +more solid—she uttered, or, to be exact, she exhaled a series +of exclamations over a new French novel.</p> + +<p>"What exquisite scenes! What a sweet book! When she +says, 'Come in if you choose; you can dishonour my body +but not my soul.' And the duel, when she receives the bullet +that was to have killed her husband! How beautiful it is!"</p> + +<p>Pepe Castro was prancing—forgive the word—round Lola +Madariaga. She was relating with a malicious smile the incident +which had just occurred when Clementina had found her +sitting with Raimundo. She spoke as though she had won the +youth from her friend, with a scornful and patronising air which +would have been a shock to Clementina's pride if she could +have heard it.</p> + +<p>"Poor Clem! she is growing old, isn't she? But what a +figure she has still. Of course it is all done by tight-lacing, and +it must do her a mischief, sooner or later, but as yet—— Her +face does not match her figure, above all now that she has +begun to lose her complexion so dreadfully. She always had +a very hard face."</p> + +<p>And all the time her insinuating soft eyes were fixed on +Castro with such inviting looks, as were really quite embarrassing. +She had always been told, and it was true, that she had +a most innocent face, and to make the most of it she assumed +the expression of an idiot.</p> + +<p>Castro agreed to all she said, as much to flatter her as out +of any ill-feeling towards Clementina. When Clementina cast +him off he had consoled himself by paying attentions to Lola, +in whom he really felt no interest, though at the same time he +had been careful not to let the world know that he was discarded.</p> + +<p>"And do you believe that she is really in love with that +school-boy?"</p> + +<p>"Who can tell! Clementina likes to be thought original. +This last whim is just like her. And look at that baby's sentimental +gaze at her from afar."</p> + +<p>Raimundo, who was standing at the end of one of the tables,<a name="page_246" id="page_246"></a> +never took his eyes off his mistress while she moved to and +fro, attending to the requirements of those guests whom she +most desired to please. From time to time she bestowed on +him a faint smile of recognition, which transported him to the +seventh heaven.</p> + +<p>Pepa Frias, who, having had her fill, could eat no more, was +picking up a fruit here and a bonbon there, while behind her +chair stood Calderón, Pinedo, Fuentes, and two or three more, +laughing at her and with her. But the widow was not to be +caught napping; she could defend herself, parrying and retorting +with masterly skill.</p> + +<p>"Where do you have the gout, Pepa, did you say?" asked +Pinedo.</p> + +<p>"In my feet, in my feet, where all your wits are."</p> + +<p>"What is the miniature in that brooch? Is it a family +portrait?"</p> + +<p>"No, Fuentes," said she, as she handed it to him to look at. +"It is a mirror."</p> + +<p>The painting represented a monkey.</p> + +<p>All the others roared with laughter, attracting general attention.</p> + +<p>Soon after the dancing had recommenced the Royal party +took their leave. The same ceremony was observed as at +their arrival; the guests in two ranks on each side of the room, +the Royal march played by the orchestra, and the master of the +house in attendance to the carriage door.<a name="page_247" id="page_247"></a></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII.<br /><br /> +<small>AN UNWELCOME GUEST.</small></h2> + +<p class="nind">C<small>LEMENTINA</small> gave a sigh of relief. Walking slowly, with the +delightful sense of a difficult task happily accomplished, she made +her way through the rooms, smiling right and left, and shedding +amiable speeches on every friend she met. This splendid +ball, the most magnificent perhaps ever given in Madrid by a +private individual, was almost exclusively her work. Her father +had provided the money, but the motive power, the taste and +planning, had been hers. She received the congratulations +which hailed her from all sides with a pleasing intoxication +of flattered vanity. Happiness stirred a craving for love, +its inseparable associate. She was possessed by a vehement +wish to have a brief meeting, <i>tête-à-tête</i>, with Raimundo, to +speak and hear a few fond words, to exchange a brief caress. +She looked round for him among the crowd.</p> + +<p>He had been wandering about the rooms all the evening, +generally alone. He had looked forward to this ball with +puerile anticipations of delirious and unknown pleasures, for +he had never been present at any of these high festivals of +wealth and fashion. The reality had not come up to his hopes, +as must always be the case. All this ostentation, all the scandalous +luxury displayed to his eyes, instead of exciting his +pride, wounded it deeply. Never had he felt so completely a +stranger in the world he had now for some months lived in. His +thoughts, with their natural tendency to melancholy, reverted +to his modest home, where, by his fault, necessaries would +ere long be lacking; to his humble-minded mother, who had<a name="page_248" id="page_248"></a> +never hesitated to fulfil the most menial tasks; to his innocent +sister, who had learned from her to be thrifty and hard-working. +Remorse gnawed at his heart. Then, too, he observed that the +young men of his acquaintance treated him here with covert +hostility. Many of them he had begun to regard as friends; they +welcomed him pleasantly, he played cards with them and sometimes +joined in their expeditions, but he clearly understood at +last that he was no one, nothing to them, but as Clementina's +lover; and he could detect, or his exaggerated sensitiveness +made him fancy that he detected, in their demeanour to him, +a touch of scorn, which humiliated him bitterly. The passionate +devotion which Clementina professed for him compensated +no doubt for these miseries, and enabled him often to forget +them, but this evening his adored mistress, though she did not +ignore him, was necessarily out of his range. He endured the +phase of feeling which a mystic goes through when, as he +expresses it, God has withdrawn His guiding hand—intense +weariness and the darkest gloom of spirit. He danced +dutiously two or three times, and talked a little to one and +another. Tired of it all, at last he withdrew into the quietest +corner of one of the rooms, sat down on a sofa and remained +sunk in extreme dejection.</p> + +<p>Clementina sought him for some few minutes, and was +beginning to be out of patience. She went into the card-room, +and he started up to meet her with a beaming countenance. +All his melancholy had vanished on seeing that she was in +search of him.</p> + +<p>"If you would like two minutes' chat, come to the Duke's +study," she said, in rapid but tender accents. "It is on the +right-hand side, at the end of the corridor." She went thither, +and Raimundo, to save appearances, lingered for a few moments +by one of the tables, watching the game.</p> + +<p>Clementina made her way in and out of the rooms till she +reached the corridor, and hurried to the study, a handsome +room, so called for mere form, since the Duke always sat +upstairs. It was a blaze of light, as all the other rooms were.<a name="page_249" id="page_249"></a> +As she went in, she fancied she heard a smothered sob, which +filled her with surprise and apprehension. Looking about her, +she discovered, in a deep recess, a woman lying in a heap on +a divan, hiding her face in her handkerchief, and weeping +violently. She went up to her, and recognised her by her +dress. It was Irenita.</p> + +<p>"Irene, my child, what is the matter?" she exclaimed, bending +anxiously over her.</p> + +<p>"Oh, forgive me, Clementina, I came here, hardly knowing +what I was doing. I am so miserable;" and the tears streamed +down her face.</p> + +<p>"But what has happened then, my poor dear?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing, nothing," sobbed the girl. There was a short +silence. Clementina looked at her compassionately.</p> + +<p>"Come," she said, leaning over her, "It is Emilio. He +has done something to vex you this evening."</p> + +<p>Irene made no reply.</p> + +<p>"Do not break your heart over it, silly child. That will do +nothing to mend matters. However great the effort, try to +seem indifferent. That is the only way to prevent his despising +you. Nay, there is a better way, but I do not advise you to +try it; there are things one cannot advise. But still, even if +you are in love with him, do not offer him your heart to +wring, for God's sake! Never let him know how unhappy he +makes you, or you are lost. Let him have his whim out, and +he will come back to you."</p> + +<p>Irene raised her face, bathed in tears.</p> + +<p>"But have you seen—do you know what he has done? It +is dreadful."</p> + +<p>At this instant Clementina heard a step in the corridor, +and suspecting who it might be, she hastily went to look out, +saying: "Wait till I shut the door."</p> + +<p>She was only just in time; Raimundo arrived at the +moment; she put her finger to her lips, and signed to him +to go away. Irene saw nothing of it.</p> + +<p>When Clementina returned to her side, Irenita poured out,<a name="page_250" id="page_250"></a> +between sighs and tears, the grievances her husband had +heaped upon her that evening. In the first place Emilio had +chosen to come to the ball in a Hungarian costume. As soon +as she came in, she had perceived that Maria Huerta also +wore a Hungarian dress, and this, it must be owned, was a +piece of insolence, which more than one person had remarked +upon. Then they had danced together twice, and all the while, +Emilio had never ceased murmuring in her ear. He had +waited on her like a servant the whole evening, offering her +ices and fruit with his own hands. Once, as he handed her a +plate, their fingers had met. Irenita had seen it with her own +eyes. Oh, it was monstrous! Irene only longed to kill herself. +She would rather die a thousand deaths than endure +such torments.</p> + +<p>Clementina comforted her as best she could. Emilio loved +her fondly, she was sure; only men liked to show off in this +way and prove their powers of fascination. As their hearts +were not engaged, there was nothing for it but to let them go +for a while, and then they returned to the wife they really +loved.</p> + +<p>Clementina would not take her to the ladies' cloak-room to +have her hair rearranged and to bathe her face; she led her +up to the Duchess's dressing-room, and in a few minutes they +came down stairs again. Irenita promised not to betray herself. +When Clementina reported to Pepa all that had passed, +the widow flew into such a fury that she was with difficulty +hindered from rushing off to abuse her son-in-law.</p> + +<p>"Well, it is all the same," she said, with a shrug. "If I do +not scratch his face now, I will do it later. Come what may, +I cannot allow that scoundrel to be the death of my daughter; +and as for that bare-faced slut, she will not get off till I have +spit in her face, and in her husband's ugly phiz, too! A pretty +state of things!"</p> + +<p>"Would it not be better to get rid of them altogether? +Huerta is in office. See if you cannot get him packed off +somewhere as Governor?"<a name="page_251" id="page_251"></a></p> + +<p>"You are right. I will speak of it to Arbos at once; but +as to that precious son-in-law of mine, I will pay him out this +very night, or my name is not Pepa."</p> + +<p>The Duke, surrounded by a group of faithful flatterers, was +inhaling clouds of incense, growling out some gross witticism +every now and then, which was hailed with applause. The +ladies were the most enthusiastic in their admiration. Requena's +genius for speculation dazzled them with amazement, as though +they would like to calculate how many new dresses his millions +would purchase. And he, usually so subservient, he—who, by +his own confession, had reached the position he held by dint +of kicks behind—lording it here among his worshippers, bullied +them without mercy. His coarse jests were flung at men and +women alike; he gloried in the brutal exercise of his power. +And if these devotees were ready to humble themselves so +patiently for nothing—absolutely nothing—what would they +not have done if he had given largesse of his millions, if the +golden calf had begun to vomit dollars.</p> + +<p>In the card-room, whither he went after attending the retirement +of their Majesties, a crowd of speculators literally blocked +him in.</p> + +<p>"How are the Riosa shares looking, Señor Duque?" one +made so bold as to ask.</p> + +<p>"Do not talk of them," grumbled the man of money, with +a furious glare.</p> + +<p>Llera's scheme had been punctually carried out. The Duke, +after buying up a large number of shares, had set to work to +produce a panic among the shareholders. For some months +he had been employing secret agents to buy, and sell again +immediately at a loss. Thanks to these tactics, the quotations +had fallen very low. He was now almost ready for his great +coup, buying up all he could get to throw them suddenly into +the market, and then securing half the shares, <i>plus</i> one.</p> + +<p>"Everything cannot turn out well," said the man who had +addressed him, not without a smile of satisfaction. "You +have always been so lucky."<a name="page_252" id="page_252"></a></p> + +<p>"The Duke does not owe his success to luck," said a stock-broker +bent on flattery, "but to his genius, his incomparable +skill and acumen."</p> + +<p>"No doubt, no doubt," the other hastened to put in, +snatching the censer, as it were. "The Duke is the greatest +financial genius of Spain. I cannot understand why he has +not the entire management of the Treasury. If it is not +placed in his hands, the country is past praying for."</p> + +<p>"Well, if I tried to save it after the fashion of the Riosa +Mining Company, it would be a bad look out for the +Spaniards," said the Duke, in a sulky, mumbling voice.</p> + +<p>"Why, is it such a rotten concern?"</p> + +<p>"For the Government, no, damn it; but for me, after +buying it at par, it does not seem to be much of a +success."</p> + +<p>And he cast all the blame of the transaction on his head +clerk, that idiot Llera, who had insisted on having a finger in +that pie, in spite of his, the Duke's, presentiments.</p> + +<p>"Ah! a man like you should never trust anything but his +instincts," they all declared. "When a man has a real genius +for business—" And again the word genius was on the lips of +every idolater of the golden calf.</p> + +<p>Suddenly, at the door of the card-room, Clementina was +seen, closely followed by Osorio, Mariana, and Calderón. All +four looked disturbed and dismayed, and they all four fixed +their eyes on Salabert, whom they eagerly approached.</p> + +<p>"Papa, one word, one minute," said Clementina.</p> + +<p>Salabert quitted the group, of which he was the centre, and +joined the quartette in the further corner of the room.</p> + +<p>"That woman is here," said his daughter in an agitated +whisper, but her eyes flashed fire.</p> + +<p>"It is scandalous," said Osorio.</p> + +<p>"Some people have left already, and as soon as it is known +every one will go!" added Calderón, more calmly.</p> + +<p>"What woman?" asked Requena, opening his eyes very +wide.<a name="page_253" id="page_253"></a></p> + +<p>Clementina explained in a tone of passionate scorn—a +woman whom the Duke was known to visit. It was Amparo.</p> + +<p>"What!" he exclaimed, with well acted surprise. "That +hussy has dared to come to this house? Who let her in? I +will dismiss the door-keeper to-morrow morning."</p> + +<p>"No. What you have to do is to dismiss her this instant!" +cried Clementina, stuttering with rage.</p> + +<p>"Of course, this instant! How dare she set foot in this +house, and on such an occasion? But how did she get in? +A ball which began so well!"</p> + +<p>"She has a card, it would seem."</p> + +<p>"Then she has stolen it, or it is a forgery."</p> + +<p>"Well, well," said Clementina, who knew her father well +enough to guess that he had been cajoled into giving the +invitation, a bounty which had cost him nothing. "Settle +the matter at once. She is in the drawing-room. You must +go and explain to her that she must have the goodness to +take herself off. Say what you choose, but at once. Before +any one discovers her—above all mamma."</p> + +<p>"No, my child, no. I know myself too well. I could not +control my indignation. We must do nothing to attract attention. +Go yourself—go, and get rid of her at once."</p> + +<p>This was enough for Clementina. Without another word +she swiftly returned to the drawing-room, her face pale and set, +her lips quivering. In a moment she discovered the foe.</p> + +<p>Certainly she was a handsome creature, magnificently +dressed as Mary, Queen of Scots, and her beauty was fuel to +Clementina's wrath. After wheedling Salabert to give her a +card, it had occurred to the <i>demi-mondaine</i> that her appearance +at the ball might cause a scandal, but she longed to display +herself in the costly costume she had chosen, and taking a +respectable-looking old friend as a chaperon, she went very +late, just to walk once or twice through the rooms. It was a +bitter surprise to find that even the men of her acquaintance, +the members of the Savage Club, here turned their backs and +walked away.<a name="page_254" id="page_254"></a></p> + +<p>Her enjoyment, such as it was, was brief. Just as she was +moving forward, with a triumphant smile, to make her longed-for +progress through the rooms, she found herself face to face +with Clementina, who, without the slightest greeting, holding +her head very high, laid her hand on her shoulder, saying:</p> + +<p>"Have the kindness to listen to me."</p> + +<p>Mary Stuart turned pale, hesitated an instant, and then said +with resolute arrogance:</p> + +<p>"I have nothing to say to you. I came to see the master of +the house—the Duke de Requena."</p> + +<p>Margaret of Austria fixed a flashing eye on the rival queen, +who met it without blinking. Then, bending forward, she said +in her ear:</p> + +<p>"If you do not come with me this instant I will call two +men-servants to turn you out of this house by force."</p> + +<p>The Queen of Scots was startled; still she was bold:</p> + +<p>"I wish to see the Duke," she said.</p> + +<p>"The Duke is not to be seen—by you. Follow me, or I +call!" And she looked round as though she were about +to act on her threat. The intruder turned very pale, and +obeyed.</p> + +<p>The scene had, of course, been witnessed by several persons, +but no one dared follow the hostile queens. Clementina went +straight into the cloak-room.</p> + +<p>"This lady's wrap," she said.</p> + +<p>Not another word was spoken. A man-servant brought the +cloak. Mary Stuart put it on herself unaided, with trembling +hands. She went forward a few steps, and then suddenly +turning round, she flashed a look of mortal hatred at Margaret +of Austria, who returned it with interest in the shape of a contemptuous +smile.</p> + +<p>It was foreordained of Heaven that the unhappy Queen of +Scots should always be a victim—first to her cousin, Elizabeth +of England, and now the Queen of Spain had turned her into +the street. She found her duenna in the carriage; she had +prudently made her escape at the beginning of the scene.<a name="page_255" id="page_255"></a></p> + +<p>What moral purification Requena's rooms may have gained +by the eviction of Mary Stuart it would be hard to say; but +they certainly lost much from the æsthetic point of view, for, +beyond a doubt, she was lovely.</p> + +<p>The ball was coming to an end. Preparations were being +made for the final cotillon. The crowd had thinned; several +persons went away before the cotillon—elderly folk for the +most part, who did not like late hours. Among the young +ladies there was the agitation and stir which always precedes +this last dance, when the most ceremonious ball assumes an +aspect of more intimate enjoyment. Art and fancy now step +in to eliminate every sensual element and make the waltz an +innocent amusement—a reminiscence of the fancy ballets +which, in the fourteenth century, entertained the Courts of +France and England. And to many a damsel this is the +crowning scene of the first act in the little comedy of love she +has begun to perform.</p> + +<p>Pepe Castro, as we have seen, had laughed to scorn Clementina's +suggestion that he should pay his addresses to +Calderón's daughter; but it had not, therefore, fallen on stony +ground. Though he talked and danced with other girls, he +did not fail to ask her to waltz more than once. When the +cotillon was being formed he went to Esperanza and asked +her to be his partner, though he knew very well that it would +be impossible, as the engagements for the last dance were +always made as soon as the young people arrived. However, +it fell in with the scheme he was plotting in his fertile brain. +The girl had, in fact, promised the dance to the Conde de +Agreda, but, on Castro's invitation, her desire to dance with +him was so great that, with calm audacity, she accepted it.</p> + +<p>The Duchess selected the Condesa de Cotorraso to lead the +cotillon, and she took Cobo Ramirez for her partner. He was +always welcome in a ball-room as a most accomplished leader +of cotillons; and on this particular occasion he had held long +conferences with Clementina as to the arrangements for this +dance.<a name="page_256" id="page_256"></a></p> + +<p>The circle of chairs was placed, and Pepe Castro went to +lead out Esperanza, who proudly took his arm. But they had +not gone two steps before Agreda intercepted them.</p> + +<p>"Why, Esperancita, I thought you had promised me the +cotillon?" he said in great surprise.</p> + +<p>The girl's audacity did not desert her—the courage of a love-sick +maid.</p> + +<p>"You must, please, forgive me, Leon," said she, in a tone +which the most consummate actress might have envied. +"When I accepted you I quite forgot that I was engaged +already to Pepe."</p> + +<p>The Count retired, murmuring a few polite words, which did +not conceal his annoyance. As soon as he was gone, Esperancita, +frightened at the compromising interest in Castro +which she had thus betrayed, began with many blushes to +explain:</p> + +<p>"The real truth is that I had forgotten that I was engaged +to Leon," she said. "And as I had taken your arm—and +besides, he is a most tiring partner."</p> + +<p>Pepe Castro took no mean advantage of his triumph; his +demeanour was modest and grateful. Instead of courting her +openly, he adopted a more insinuating style, loading her with +small attentions, establishing a tone of easy confidence, and +showing her all possible fondness without breathing a word of +love. Esperanza was supremely happy. She began to believe +herself adored; fancying that the sympathy and regard which +had always existed between Pepe and herself was at last turning +to love. Her heart beat high with joy.</p> + +<p>Ramoncita also was pleased at the substitution. Agreda had +for some little time been particularly antipathetic to him, +almost as much so as Cobo Ramirez, since he was beginning +to be as jealous of the one as of the other. Pepe, on the +other hand, he regarded as his second self, another and a +superior Maldonado. All the affection Esperanza bestowed +on Pepe he accepted as a boon to himself. So to see her on +his arm was to him a touching sight, and as he went up to<a name="page_257" id="page_257"></a> +them to say a few insignificant words he actually blushed with +satisfaction. Pepe made a knowing face, as much as to say: +"Victory all along the line!" and the young civilian felt that +he was advancing with giant strides to the fulfilment of his +hopes and the apogee of his happiness.</p> + +<p>The cotillon was a worthy climax to this most successful ball. +The inventiveness of Cobo Ramirez, spurred by the magnitude +of the occasion, enchanted the dancers by the variety and +ingenuity of its devices; he kept them amused for more than +an hour. A game with a hoop arranged in the middle of the +room absorbed every one's attention and earned him much +applause. He divided the gentlemen into two parties, who +shot alternately with arrows from pretty little gilt bows at the +hoop suspended by a ribbon from the ceiling. The winners +were entitled to dance with the partners of those they had +defeated, while the humiliated victim followed in their wake, +fanning them as they waltzed. Then he had planned another +figure for the ladies; the successful fair left the room and +returned sitting in a car drawn by four servants dressed as +black slaves. In this she made a triumphal progress round +the room, surrounded by the rest. This and other not less +remarkable and valuable inventions had placed the fame of the +heir of Casa Ramirez on a permanent and illustrious footing.</p> + +<p>As soon as the cotillon was ended the company left—it was +a noisy and precipitate retreat. Every one crowded out to the +vestibule and stairs, talking at the top of their voices, laughing +and calling, each louder than the other, for their carriages. The +extensive garden, lighted by electricity, had a fantastic and unreal +effect, like the scene in a fairy cosmorama. The beams of intense +white light, making the shadows look black and deep, pierced +the avenues of the park and lent it an appearance of immense +extent. Night was ended, the pale tints of dawn were +already grey in the East. It was intensely cold. The young +"Savages," wrapped in fur coats, were letting off the last +crackers of their wit in honour of the ladies who stood waiting, +where their rich and picturesque wraps glittered in the electric<a name="page_258" id="page_258"></a> +light. Horses stamping, footmen shouting, the carriage-wheels, +as they slowly came round to the steps, grinding the gravel of +the drive. Then there was the sound of kisses, doors slammed, +loud good-nights; and the noise of the vehicles, as they drove +off from the terrace steps, seemed by degrees to swallow up +all the others and carry them off to rest in the various quarters +of the town.</p> + +<p>Pepe Castro had kept close to Esperanza and was murmuring +in her ear till the last. The girl, muffled up to her eyes, +was smiling without looking at him. When at last the +Calderón's carriage came up they shook hands with a long +pressure.</p> + +<p>"I hope you will not forget us for so long as usual; that +you will come to see us oftener," she said, leaving her hand in +his.</p> + +<p>"Do you really wish that I should call more frequently?" +said he, looking at her as if he meant to magnetise her.</p> + +<p>"I should think I did!" As she spoke she coloured +violently under her comforter, and snatching away her hand +followed her mother to the carriage.</p> + +<p>Pepa Frias had said to her daughter:</p> + +<p>"When we go, child, I want Emilio to come with me. I +am in such a state of nerves that I cannot sleep till I have +given him my mind. We must have no more scandals, you +see; I am going to propose an ultimatum. If he persists, you +must come back to me and he may go to the devil."</p> + +<p>She was in a great rage. Irene, though she would have liked +to object to this arrangement, for she adored her fickle +husband, did not dare to remonstrate; she submitted. When +they were leaving, Pepa addressed her son-in-law:</p> + +<p>"Emilio, do me the favour to see me home. I want to +speak to you."</p> + +<p>"Hang it all!" thought the young fellow.</p> + +<p>"And Irene?" he said.</p> + +<p>"She can go alone. The bogueys won't eat her," replied +Pepa tartly.<a name="page_259" id="page_259"></a></p> + +<p>"Worse and worse," Emilio reflected.</p> + +<p>And, in point of fact, Irenita, eyeing her mother and her +husband with fear and anxiety, went off alone in her carriage, +leaving them together.</p> + +<p>As Pepa's brougham rolled away, Emilio, to disarm his +mother-in-law, tried, like the boy that he was, to divert the +lightning by saying something to please her.</p> + +<p>"Do you know," said he, "that I heard your praises loudly +sung by the President of the Council and some men who were +with him? They admired your costume immensely, but yet +more your figure. They declared that there was not a girl in +the room to compare with you for freshness, that your skin +was like satin, and smoother and softer every day."</p> + +<p>"Good heavens, what nonsense! That is all gammon, +Emilio. A few years ago, I do not say——"</p> + +<p>"No, no, indeed; your complexion is proverbial in Madrid. +What would Irene give for a skin like her mother's!"</p> + +<p>"Is it better than Maria Huerta's?" asked she, in an +ironical tone, which betrayed, indeed, no very great annoyance.</p> + +<p>Pepa had, in fact, changed her plan of attack; she thought +that diplomacy would be more effective than a rating.</p> + +<p>"Listen to me," she went on, "I meant to give you a good +scolding, Emilio; to talk to you seriously, very seriously, and +say a great many hard things, but I cannot. I am so foolishly +soft-hearted that I can find excuses for every one. You have +behaved so badly to Irenita this evening, that she would be +justified in leaving you altogether; but I do not believe you are +as bad as you seem, for you are nothing but a perverse boy. +I am sure you do not yourself appreciate the gravity of your +conduct."</p> + +<p>Pepa's whole sermon was pitched in the same persuasive +key, and Emilio, who had expected a severe lecture, was +agreeably surprised. He listened submissively, and then in a +broken voice tried to exculpate himself. He had flirted a +little to be sure with Maria Huerta, but he swore he did not<a name="page_260" id="page_260"></a> +care for her. It was a mere matter of pique and vanity. +When his engagement to Irene was announced, Maria had +been heard to say, in Osorio's house, that she could not +understand how Irenita could bear to marry that ugly slip of +a boy. He had sworn she should eat her own words—and +so—and so—and that was all, on his word of honour, all.</p> + +<p>So Pepa was still further mollified; and what wonder if the +young fellow thought that this, and perhaps worse sins, were +condoned by his profligate mother-in-law.<a name="page_261" id="page_261"></a></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII.<br /><br /> +<small>A PIOUS MATINÉE.</small></h2> + +<p class="nind">A <small>FEW</small> days after the ball, at eleven in the morning of a Friday +in Lent, the most elegant of "Savages" woke from his calm +and sound slumbers, fully determined to marry Calderón's +little daughter. He opened his eyes, glanced at the hippic +decorations which ornamented the walls of his room, stretched +himself gracefully, drank a glass of lemonade which stood by his +bedside, and prepared to rise. It cannot be positively asserted +that the resolution had been formed during sleep, but it is +quite certain that it was the birth of a mysterious travail which +he had not consciously aided. When he went to bed Castro +had only the vaguest thoughts of this advantageous alliance; +on waking, his determination to sue for Esperanza's hand, by +whatever process it had been elaborated, was irrevocable. +Let us congratulate the happy damsel, and for the present +devote our attention to studying the noble "Savage" in the +act of perfecting the beautiful object which Nature had +achieved in creating him.</p> + +<p>His servant had prepared his bath. After looking in the +glass to study the face of the day—his own—he took up some +dumb-bells, and went through a few exercises. Then taking a +foil, he practised a score or so of lunges, and finally he +delivered a dozen or more punches on the pad of a dynamometer. +Having accomplished this, the moment was come for +him to step into the water. He was still splashing and +sponging, when into his room, unannounced, walked the poor +crazy Marquis Manolo Davalos.<a name="page_262" id="page_262"></a></p> + +<p>"Pepe, I want to speak to you about a very important +matter," said he, with an air of mystery, his eyes wilder than +ever.</p> + +<p>"Wait a minute; I am tubbing."</p> + +<p>"Then make haste; I am in a great hurry."</p> + +<p>Davalos rose from the chair into which he had dropped, and +began walking up and down the room with a sort of feverish +agitation, to which his friends had become accustomed. He +could not remain still for five minutes. Any one else going +through half the exercise he took in the course of the day +would have been utterly exhausted before night. Castro +watched him at first with contemptuous raillery in his eye; +but he grew serious as he saw Manolo go up to the table and +begin to play with a neat little revolver which Castro kept by +his bedside.</p> + +<p>"Look out there, Manolo! It is loaded."</p> + +<p>"So I see, so I see," said the other with a smile; and +turning round sharply, he added: "What do you think Madrid +would say if I shot you dead?"</p> + +<p>Pepe Castro felt a chill run down his spine, which was not +altogether attributable to the cold bath, and he laughed rather +queerly.</p> + +<p>"And you know I could do it with impunity," his visitor +went on, "as I am said to be mad——."</p> + +<p>"Ha, ha, ha!" Castro laughed hysterically.</p> + +<p>He was no coward; on the contrary, he had a reputation for +punctilio and courage; but, like all fighting men, he liked a +public. The prospect of an inglorious death at the hands of +a maniac did not smile on his fancy. The example of Seneca, +Marat, and other heroes who had been killed in their bath did +nothing to encourage him, possibly because he had never +heard of them. Davalos came towards him with the revolver +cocked, saying:</p> + +<p>"What will they say in town, eh? What will they +say?"</p> + +<p>Castro was as cold as though he were up to his chin in ice<a name="page_263" id="page_263"></a> +instead of water with the chill off. However, he had presence +of mind enough to say:</p> + +<p>"Lay down that revolver, Manolo. If you don't, you shall +never see Amparo again as long as you live." Amparo was +the fair <i>demi-mondaine</i> whom we have already seen at the +Duke's ball. She had ruined the Marquis, a widower with +young children, who had seriously intended to marry the +woman; and his brain, none of the strongest at any time, had +finally given way, when his family had interfered to protect him +from her rapacity.</p> + +<p>"Never again! Why not?" he asked, dejection painted on +his face, as he lowered the weapon.</p> + +<p>"Because I will not allow it; I will tell her never to let you +inside her doors."</p> + +<p>"Well, well, my dear fellow, do not be put out, I was only +in fun," said the lunatic, replacing the revolver on the table.</p> + +<p>Castro jumped out of the bath. No sooner was he wrapped +in the turkish towel, with which he dried himself, than he +seized the weapon and locked it away. Easy in his mind now, +though annoyed by the fright his crazy friend had given him, +he began talking to him in a tone of contemptuous ill-humour, +while, standing before his glass, he lavished on his handsome +person, with the greatest respect, all the care due to its +merits.</p> + +<p>"Now, then, out with it, man, out with the great secret. One +of your fool's errands as usual, I suppose. I declare, Manolo, +you ought not to be allowed in the streets. You should go +somewhere and be cured," he said, as he rubbed his arms +with some scented unguent which he selected from the collection +of pots and bottles of every size arrayed before him.</p> + +<p>The Marquis put his hand in his pocket, took out his note-book, +and from it a letter in a woman's hand, saying with +some solemnity:</p> + +<p>"She has just written me this note. I want you to +read it."</p> + +<p>Pepe did not even turn his head to look at the document<a name="page_264" id="page_264"></a> +his friend held out to him. Absorbed at the moment in +blending the ends of his moustache with his beard, he said in +an absent-minded way:</p> + +<p>"And what does she want?"</p> + +<p>Davalos stared in surprise at the small interest he took in +this precious missive.</p> + +<p>"Shall I read it to you?"</p> + +<p>"If it is not very long."</p> + +<p>Manolo unfolded it as reverently as though it were the +autograph of a saint, and read with deep emotion:</p> + +<div class="blockq"><p>"M<small>Y DEAREST</small> M<small>ANOLO</small>.—Do me the favour to send me by +the bearer two thousand pesetas,<a name="FNanchor_D_4" id="FNanchor_D_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_D_4" class="fnanchor">[D]</a> of which I am in urgent +need. If you have not so much about you, bring me the +money this evening.—Always and entirely yours,</p> + +<p class="r">"A<small>MPARO</small>."</p></div> + +<p>"My word! She is a cool hand. I suppose you did not +send the money?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>"Quite right."</p> + +<p>"Well, I had not got it. It is on purpose to see if you can +help me that I have come here."</p> + +<p>Castro turned round and contemplated his visitor with a +look of surprise and irritation. Then, addressing himself to +his glass again, he said:</p> + +<p>"My dear Manolo, you are the greatest fool out. I am sure +that when your aunt dies you will let that hussy spend the +money for you as she has spent your own fortune."</p> + +<p>The Marquis was in a fury.</p> + +<p>"Do you know where the real wrong is?" he said. "It lies +with my family, who, without rhyme or reason, interfere to +prevent my marrying her. As my wife—as the mother of my +motherless children—they would have been happy, and so +should I!"<a name="page_265" id="page_265"></a></p> + +<p>Castro stared at him in blank amazement. Tears stood on +the Marquis's pale cheeks. Pepe made a grimace of contemptuous +pity, and went on combing his moustache. After +a few minutes' silence, he said:</p> + +<p>"I am very sorry, old fellow. I have not got two thousand +pesetas; but if I had I would not lend them to you for such a +purpose, you may be very sure."</p> + +<p>Davalos made no reply, but again paced the room.</p> + +<p>"Whom can I ask?" he suddenly said, stopping short.</p> + +<p>"Try Salabert," said Castro, with a short laugh.</p> + +<p>Manolo clenched his fists and ground his teeth; his eyes +glared ominously, and with a stride he went up to Pepe, who +drew back a step, and prepared to defend himself.</p> + +<p>"Such a speech is a gross insult!—an insult worthy of a +bullet or a sword thrust! You are a coward—in your own +house!"</p> + +<p>His eyes started in a really terrific stare; but he did not +succeed in provoking his friend. He ultimately controlled +himself with a great effort, only flinging his hat on the floor +with such violence as to crush it. Castro stood perfectly still, +as if turned to stone. So often before he had jested with the +crazy fellow, and said far rougher things, without his ever +dreaming of taking offence, and now, by pure chance, as it +seemed, he flew into this unaccountable rage. He tried to +soothe him by an apology, but Manolo did not listen. +Though he had got past the first impulse to struggle with +him, he raged up and down like a caged wild beast, muttering +threats and gesticulating vehemently. However, he +soon broke down:</p> + +<p>"I should never have believed it of you, Pepe," he murmured +in a broken voice. "I should never have supposed +that my best friend would so insult me—so stab me to the +heart."</p> + +<p>"But bless me, man——!"</p> + +<p>"Do not speak to me, Pepe. You have stabbed me with a +word; leave me in peace. God forgive you, as I forgive you!<a name="page_266" id="page_266"></a> +I am like a hare wounded by the hunter, which runs to its +form to die. Do not harry me any more; leave me to die in +peace."</p> + +<p>And the simile of the hare seemed to him so pathetic that +he sank sobbing into an arm-chair. At the same time he had +a severe fit of coughing, and Castro had to persuade him to +drink a cup of lime-flower tea.</p> + +<p> +<br /> +</p> + +<p>By the time the luckless Marquis had a little recovered, +Pepe had achieved the adornment of his person, which he +proceeded to take out walking, very correctly and exquisitely +dressed in a frock-coat. He breakfasted at Lhardy's, looked in +at the Club, and by three in the afternoon or thereabouts bent +his steps to the house of the Marquesa de Alcudia, his aunt, in +the Calle de San Mateo. This lady was, as we know, very +proud of her religion, and equally so, to say the least, of her +pedigree. Pepe was her favourite nephew, and, though his +dissipated mode of life disgusted her not a little, she had +always treated him with much affection, hoping to tempt him +into the right way. In the Marquesa's opinion, quarterings of +nobility were as efficacious in their way as the Sacrament of +Ordination. Whatever villainies a noble might commit, he was +still a noble, as a priest is always a priest.</p> + +<p>Castro had thought of this devout lady as one likely to assist +him in his project. His instincts—which were more to be +depended on than his intelligence—told him that if the +Marquesa undertook the negotiations for his marriage with +Esperancita she would undoubtedly succeed. She was a +person of much influence in fashionable society, and even +more with those persons who, like Calderón, had gained a +place in it by wealth.</p> + +<p>The Alcudia's mansion was a gloomy structure, built in the +fashion of the last century—a ground floor with large barred +windows and one floor above; nothing more. But it covered +a vast extent of ground, with a neglected garden in the rear. +The entrance was not decorative; the outside steps rough-hewn<a name="page_267" id="page_267"></a> +to begin with, and much worn. The late lamented +Alcudia was proposing some repairs and improvements when +death interfered with his plans. His widow abandoned them, +not so much out of avarice as from intense conservatism, even +in matters which most needed reform.</p> + +<p>Within, the house was sumptuously fitted; the furniture was +antique and very handsome; the walls hung with splendid +tapestry; and fine pictures by the old masters graced the +library and the oratory. This was indeed a marvel of splendour. +It stood at one corner of the building on the ground +floor, but was two storeys high, and as lofty, in fact, as a +church. The windows were filled with stained glass, like those +of a Gothic cathedral; the floor was richly carpeted; there was +a small gallery with an organ; and the altar, in the French +taste, was beautifully decorated. Over it hung an <i>Ecce Homo</i>, +by Morales. It was an elegant and comfortable little chapel, +warmed by a large stove in the cellar beneath.</p> + +<p>In the drawing-room Pepe found only the girls, busy with +their needlework. Their mother, they said, was in the study, +writing letters. So, after exchanging a few words with his +cousins, he joined her there.</p> + +<p>"May I come in, aunt?"</p> + +<p>"Come in, come in. You, Pepe?" said the Marquesa, +looking up at him over the spectacles she wore for writing.</p> + +<p>"If I am interrupting you I will go away. I want to consult +you," said the young man, with a smile.</p> + +<p>He took a chair, and while his aunt went on writing with a +firm, swift hand, he meditated the exordium to the speech he +was about to deliver. At last the pen dashed across the paper +with a strident squeak, no doubt emphasising the writer's signature, +and taking off her spectacles, she said:</p> + +<p>"At your service, Pepe."</p> + +<p>Pepe looked at the floor, praying no doubt for inspiration, +twirled his moustache, cleared his throat and at last began +with much solemnity.</p> + +<p>"Well, aunt, I do not know whether it is that God has<a name="page_268" id="page_268"></a> +touched my heart, or merely that I am weary of my present +mode of life; but at any rate for some time past I have been +taking to heart the advice you have so often given me, and +which goes hand in hand with my own wish to settle down, +to give up the bad habits which I have contracted for want of +a father to guide me, and yet more of a mother, like yourself. +I am very nearly thirty, and it is time to think of the name I +bear. I owe a duty to that, and to my calling as a Christian; +for in all my excesses I have never forgotten that I belong to an +old Catholic family, and that nowadays in Spain it is incumbent +on our class to protect the cause of religion and set a good +example, as you do. The means I look to as an encouragement +to the change I feel within me is marriage."</p> + +<p>The penitent could not have chosen his words better in +addressing his aunt Eugenia. They made so good an impression +that she rose from her place and came to lay a hand on +his shoulder, exclaiming:</p> + +<p>"You delight me, Pepito. You cannot imagine what +pleasure you give me. And you say you do not know whether +God has touched your heart! How could you have undergone +this sudden change, if He had not inspired it? It is +the touch of God, indeed, my boy, the finger of God—and +the noble blood which runs in your veins. Have you chosen +a wife?"</p> + +<p>The young man smiled and nodded.</p> + +<p>"Who is she?"</p> + +<p>"I had thought of Esperanza Calderón. What do you think +of her?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing could be better. She is very well brought up, +attractive, and I love her as a child of my own. She has always +been my Pacita's bosom friend, as you know. Your choice is +a most happy one."</p> + +<p>Castro smiled again with a gleam of mischief, as he went +on:</p> + +<p>"You see, aunt, I would rather have married a girl of our +own rank, But, as you know, I am utterly ruined, and the<a name="page_269" id="page_269"></a> +daughters of good families are not apt to have fortunes in these +days. Those who have, would not have anything to say to me, +as I have nothing to offer but what they already possess—a +noble name. It is for this reason that I have chosen one of +no birth, but with a good fortune."</p> + +<p>"Very wise. And though we are compromising our dignity +a little, we must save the name from disgrace. And Esperanza +is a thoroughly good girl. She has been brought up +among ourselves. She will always be a perfect lady, and do +you credit."</p> + +<p>The young man's face still wore that strange sarcastic +smile. For a minute or two he remained silent; then he said:</p> + +<p>"Do you know what we young fellows call a marriage of this +kind?"</p> + +<p>"No—what?"</p> + +<p>"Eating dirt."</p> + +<p>The Marquesa smiled frigidly, but then, looking grave again, +she replied:</p> + +<p>"No, that cannot be said in this case, Pepe. I can answer +for this girl that she is worthy of a brilliant marriage. You +will be a gainer. Are you engaged? Have you spoken to her? +I have had no communication——"</p> + +<p>"I have not said anything as yet I know that she does +not dislike me; we look kindly on each other, but nothing +more. Before taking any definite steps I decided that I would +speak to you as the person of most weight of our family in +Madrid."</p> + +<p>"Very proper; you have behaved admirably. When marriage +is in question it is well to proceed with due caution and formality, +for, after all, it is a sacrament of the Church.<a name="FNanchor_E_5" id="FNanchor_E_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_E_5" class="fnanchor">[E]</a> In better +times than these no alliance was ever contracted in the higher +circles without consulting the opinion of the heads of both +houses. I thank you for your confidence in me, and you may +count on my approval."<a name="page_270" id="page_270"></a></p> + +<p>"And on your assistance? You see I am afraid of meeting +with some difficulties on her father's part. He loves hard +cash. And to be frank, I should not relish a refusal."</p> + +<p>The Marquesa sat meditating for a while.</p> + +<p>"Leave him to me. I will do my best to bring him to +reason. But you must promise to do nothing without consulting +me. It is a delicate negotiation, and will need prudence +and skill."</p> + +<p>"I give you my word, aunt."</p> + +<p>"Above all be very careful with the little girl. Do not +startle her."</p> + +<p>"I will do exactly what you bid me."</p> + +<p>They presently went together into the drawing-room, where +some visitors had arrived.</p> + +<p>On Friday afternoons during Lent, the Marquesa received +those of her friends who, like herself, would devote an hour or +two to prayer and religious exercises. There were the Marquesa +de Ujo and her daughter, still with her skirts far above her ankles, +General Patiño, Lola Madariaga and her husband, Clementina +Osorio, with her faithful companion Pascuala, and several others; +and, above all, Padre Ortega. As, in fact, the honours of the +occasion were his, and he was director of the entertainment, +every one had gathered about him in the middle of the room. +Everyone talked louder than he did; the illustrious priest's +voice was always soft and subdued, as though he were in a +sick room. But as soon as he began to speak, silence instantly +reigned—every one listened with respectful attention.</p> + +<p>The Marquesa, on entering, kissed his hand with an air of +submission, and inquired affectionately after a cold from which +he had been suffering.</p> + +<p>"Oh! have you a cold, Father?" inquired several ladies at +once.</p> + +<p>"A little, a mere trifle," replied the priest, with a smile of +suave resignation.</p> + +<p>"By no means a trifle," said the Marquesa. "Yesterday in +church you coughed incessantly."<a name="page_271" id="page_271"></a></p> + +<p>And she proceeded to give the minutest details of the +reverend Father's sufferings, omitting nothing which could make +her account more graphic. The priest sat smiling, with his +eyes on the ground, saying:</p> + +<p>"Do not let it disturb you, the Marquesa is always over +anxious. You might think that I was in the last stage of +consumption."</p> + +<p>"But, Father, you must take care of yourself, you really must +take care of yourself. You do too much. For the sake of religion +you ought to spare yourself a little."</p> + +<p>The whole party joined in advising him with affectionate +interest. A maiden of seven-and-thirty, a sportive, gushing +thing, whose confessor he was, even said, half seriously and +half in jest:</p> + +<p>"Why, Father, if you were to die, what would become of +me?"</p> + +<p>A sally which made the guests laugh, but somewhat disconcerted +the very proper director of souls. The Marquesa +wished to hinder him this afternoon from delivering the +address with which he usually favoured them; but he +insisted.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the room had been filling. Mariana Calderón +had come in with Esperancita, the Cotorrasos, Pepa Frias, +and Irene. She, poor child, looked pale and ailing; in fact, +she had come straight from her room, to which she had been +confined for some days with a nervous attack. When the +party was large enough, the Marquesa invited them to retire +to the Oratory. The ladies took front places near the altar, +chairs and stools having been comfortably arranged for them, +the gentlemen stood in the background and were provided +only with a velvet-pile carpet to kneel on.</p> + +<p>The meeting began by each one going through the prayers +of the Rosary after Padre Ortega. The ladies did this with +edifying precision and devotion, their ivory fingers, on which +diamonds and emeralds twinkled like stars, piously crossed +or clasped, their pretty heads bent low—they were quite bewitching.<a name="page_272" id="page_272"></a> +The Creator must surely hearken to their prayers, +if it were only out of gallantry. Not the least humble, the +least engaging and edifying figure of them all was Pepa Frias. +A black mantilla was most becoming to her russet hair and +pink and white complexion. The same may be said of Clementina, +who was taller, with more delicate features, and in no +respect inferior in brilliancy and beauty of colouring. The +languid and artistic attitudes affected by the fair devotees were +no doubt intended to appeal to the Divine Will; but, as a +secondary end, they were no less certainly meant to edify the +escort of men who looked down on them. And, if by any +chance there could have been a Freethinker among them, what +confusion and shame must have possessed his soul on seeing +that all that was most elegant and distinguished of the <i>High-life</i> +of Madrid was enlisted in the service of the Lord.</p> + +<p>Prayer being over, two of the ladies, accompanied by a +baritone "Savage," went up into the gallery, and while another +gentleman played the organ, they sang some of the finest airs +from Rossini's <i>Stabat Mater</i>. As they listened, the pious souls +felt a vague craving for the Opera house, for La Tosti and Gayarre, +and confessed regretfully, in the depths of their hearts, that +the amateur performance promised them in Heaven would be +a stupendous and eternal bore. After the music came Padre +Ortega's homily or lecture. The priest was accommodated on +a sort of throne of ebony and marble in the middle of the +chapel, the ladies moved their chairs and cushions, so as to +face him, and the gentlemen formed an outer circle, and after +a few moments of private meditation to collect his ideas, he +began in a gentle tone to speak a few slow and solemn words, +on the subject of the Christian Family.</p> + +<p>As we know, Father Ortega was a priest quite up to the +mark of modern civilisation, who kept his eye on the advance +of rationalistic science that he might pounce down on it and +put it to rout. Positivism, evolution, sociology, pessimism, were +all familiar words to him, and did not frighten him, as they +did most of his colleagues. He was on intimate terms with<a name="page_273" id="page_273"></a> +them, and fond of using them to confute the pretensions of +modern learning. What he esteemed to be his own strong +ground, was the demonstration of the perfect compatibility of +science with faith, the Harmony (with a capital H) between +Religion and Philosophy. His discourse on the Family was +profound and eloquent. To Father Ortega, that which constituted +the Family was a reverence and love for tradition, +reverence and love for the past. "The Family is Tradition—the +tradition of its glory and of its name, of honour, virtue, and +heroism; and all these may be summed up in two words: +respect for elders—love and reverence, that is to say, for all +that is highest and most conservative in the race."</p> + +<p>Starting from this theorem, the preacher inveighed against +revolution as against a gale from hell, blowing down all +that was old, and clearing the ground for all that was new; +against the barbarous hostility of our time to the beliefs, +the manners, the laws, the institutions, and the glories of +the past.</p> + +<p>"The banners of revolution are inscribed with the motto: +'Despise the Elders,'" said he, "as though old creeds, old +manners, old institutions, old aristocracies—though like everything +human, they fall far short of perfection—did not represent +the labours of our forefathers, their intelligence, their +triumphs, their soul, life, and heart. And this being the case, +how could revolutionary science, which casts its stupid contumely +on everything ancient and venerable, fail to besmirch +even our great ancestors with its scorn? One element of +dissolution in the Family was the attack on property, directed +by the revolutionary faction. This aggression was not merely +adverse to the constitution of society, it was still more directly +hostile to that of the Family. Property, inheritance, and the +patrimony, what were they but the outcome of reverence for +our forefathers on the one hand, of love for our children on the +other? Property consolidates the present, the past, and the +future of the Family; it is the spot where it has grown up and +spread; the soil which, when the progenitors pass away,<a name="page_274" id="page_274"></a> +assures them of rest beneath the tree of posterity, which shall +grow up from it and call them blessed!"</p> + +<p>Then, for above an hour, the learned Father proved the +existence, on the most solid foundations, of the Christian +family. Its bases were religion, tradition, and property. +He spoke with decision, in a simple, convincing style, and +emphatic but correct language. His audience were deeply +attentive and docile, quite persuaded that it was the Holy +Ghost which spoke by the mouth of the reverend preacher, +commanding them to cherish tradition and religion, but, above +all, property. The sublime thought was so elevating that some +of the gentlemen present felt themselves united for all eternity +to the Supreme Being by the sacred tie of landed estate, and +registered a vow to fight for it heroically, and resist the passing +of any law which, directly or indirectly, might affect its +integrity.</p> + +<p>When he ended he was rewarded by smiles of approbation +and repressed murmurs of enthusiasm. Every one spoke in a +whisper, out of respect to the sanctity of the spot. The bold +damsel who just now had asked Father Ortega what she could +do without him, flew to kiss his hand, with a succession of +sounding smacks which made the rest of the company exchange +meaning smiles of amusement, and the priest drew it away +with evident annoyance. Once more, some ladies and gentlemen +went up into the gallery and executed, in every sense of +the word, some religious music by Gounod. Finally, all the +saintly souls left the little chapel and returned to the drawing-room.</p> + +<p>The Marquesa de Alcudia, a restless nature that knew no +peace, at once proceeded to carry out her promise to her +nephew. He saw her take Mariana aside; they quitted the +room together. By-and-by they returned, and Castro could +see that he had been the subject of their parley by the timid +and affectionate glance bestowed on him by Esperancita's +mother. Then he saw his aunt retire with Padre Ortega into<a name="page_275" id="page_275"></a> +a corner where they had a private consultation, and again he +suspected that he was their theme. The priest looked towards +him two or three times with his vague, short-sighted eyes. He +had taken care not to go near Esperanza, but they had +exchanged smiles and looks from afar. The girl seemed +surprised at his sudden reserve; for the last few days Pepe had +been assiduous. She was beginning to be uneasy, and at last +crossed the room to speak to him.</p> + +<p>"You were not at the Opera last night; are you keeping +Lent?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, no!" said he, with a laugh. "I had a little headache +and went to bed early."</p> + +<p>"I do not wonder. What could you expect? You were +riding a horse in the afternoon that did nothing but shy. He +is a handsome beast, but much too lively. At one moment I +thought he would have you off."</p> + +<p>Castro smiled with a superior air, and the girl hastened to +add: "I know you are a fine horseman; but an accident +may happen to any one."</p> + +<p>"What would you have done if I had been thrown?" he +asked, looking her straight in the face.</p> + +<p>"How do I know!" exclaimed the girl with a shrug, but she +blushed deeply.</p> + +<p>"Would you have screamed?"</p> + +<p>"What strange things you ask me," said Esperanza, getting +hotter and hotter. "I might perhaps—or I might +not."</p> + +<p>Just then the Marquesa de Alcudia addressed her.</p> + +<p>"Esperanza, I want to speak to you."</p> + +<p>And as she passed her nephew she said in a low +voice:</p> + +<p>"Prudence, Pepe! Asides are not in your part."</p> + +<p>Any less superior soul would have felt some anxiety at +seeing the two women leave the room together, some uneasiness +as to the issue of this all-important interview; but our<a name="page_276" id="page_276"></a> +friend was so far above the common herd in this, as in other +matters, that he could chatter with the company with as much +tranquillity as though his aunt and Esperanza had gone to +discuss the fashions. When they presently returned, Esperanza's +little face was in a glow, her eyes beaming with an expression +of submission and happiness, which, but for fear of committing +a deadly sin in Lent, we might compare to that of the Virgin +Mary on the occasion when she was visited by the Angel +Gabriel.</p> + +<p>The meeting still preserved a sanctimonious tone. These +chastened souls could not forget that they were celebrating the +Fasting in the Wilderness. The young ladies round the piano +piously abstained from singing anything frivolous; their voices +were modulated to the <i>Ave Marias</i> of Schubert and Gounod, +and other songs no less redolent of sacred emotion. They +talked and laughed in subdued tones. If one of the young +men spoke a little recklessly the ladies would call him to +order, reminding him that on a Friday in Lent certain subjects +were prohibited. The Spirit of God must indeed have been +present with the meeting if we may judge from the resignation, +the intense serenity, with which they all seemed to endure +existence in this vale of tears. A placid smile was on every +lip; the afternoon waned amid sacred song, mellifluous +exhortation, and subdued mirth. The newspapers reported +next day, with perfect truth, that these pious Fridays were +quite delightful, and that the Marquesa de Alcudia did +the honours in the name of the Almighty with exquisite +grace.</p> + +<p>The party at length dispersed. All these souls, so blessed +and refreshed by faith, trooped out of the Alcudia Palace and +made their way home, where they sat down to dine on hot +turtle soup, mayonnaise of salmon, and salads of Brussels +sprouts, beginning with prawns to sharpen their appetites. +But, indeed, the hours of silent prayer and communion with +the Divinity had already done this. Nothing is more effectual<a name="page_277" id="page_277"></a> +in giving tone to the stomach than the sense of union with the +Omnipotent, and the hope that, albeit there are fire and +eternal torments for pickpockets and those misguided souls +who do not believe in them, for all Christian families—those, +that is to say, who believe in property and in their +ancestors—there are certainly comfortable quarters in reserve, +with an eternity of salmon mayonnaise and prawns <i>à la +Parisienne</i>.<a name="page_278" id="page_278"></a></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV<br /><br /> +<small>AN EXCURSION TO RIOSA.</small></h2> + +<p class="nind">T<small>HE</small> Duke de Requena had given the last shake to the tree; +the orange dropped into his hands golden and juicy. At a +given moment his agents in Paris, London, and Madrid, bought +up more than half of the Riosa shares. Thus the management, +or, which was the same thing, the mine, was practically +his. Some who had suspected his game, declined to sell, +especially in Madrid, where the banker was well-known; and if +he had not made haste to take the decisive step, the price +would undoubtedly have become firmer. Llera scented the +danger and gave the signal. It was a happy day for the +Asturian when he received the telegrams from Paris and +London. His hatchet-face was as radiant as that of a general +who has just won a great battle. His clumsy arms waved in +the air like the sails of a windmill, as he told the tale to the +various men of business who had come to the Duke's counting-house +to ask the news. Loud Homeric laughter shook his +pigeon-breasted frame, he hugged his friends tightly enough to +choke them; and when the Duke asked him a question, he +answered even him with a touch of scorn from the heights of +his triumph.</p> + +<p>And yet he was not to get the smallest percentage on this +immense transaction; not a single dollar of all the millions +which were to come out of that mine would remain in his +hands. But what matter! His calculations had proved +correct; the scheme he had worked out with such secrecy, +perseverance, and wonderful energy and skill, had come to the<a name="page_279" id="page_279"></a> +desired issue. His joy was that of the artist who has +succeeded—a joy compared with which all the other delights +on earth are not worth a straw.</p> + +<p>The Duke's satisfaction was of a different stamp. His +vanity was indeed flattered by this brilliant success; he +honestly thought that he had achieved an undertaking worthy +to be recorded on marble and sung by poets. A proceeding +which was in truth no more than a swindling trick, within the +letter of the law, was by some strange aberration of the moral +faculty transfigured into a glorious display of intellectual +power—and that not alone in his own eyes, but in those of +society at large. To celebrate his success, and at the same +time to see for himself what improvements must be effected +in the working of the mine to make it as productive as he +intended it should become, he planned an excursion thither +with the engineers and a party of his friends. At first they +were to be eight or ten; by degrees the number grew, and +when the day came round they formed a party of above fifty +guests. This was chiefly owing to Clementina, who was greatly +fascinated by the notion of this journey. Thus what had been +in the Duke's mind a little friendly "day out," had, under her +manipulation, acquired the proportions of a public event, a +much talked-of and ostentatious progress, which for some days +absorbed the attention of the fashionable world.</p> + +<p>Salabert had a special train made up for his party; the servants +and provisions were despatched the day before. Everything +was to be arranged to receive them worthily. It was the +middle of May, and beginning to be hot. By nine in the +morning the station of Las Delicias was crowded with carriages, +out of which stepped ladies and gentlemen, dressed for the +occasion; the women in smart costumes considered appropriate +for a day in the country, the men in morning suits and felt hats. +But to these apparently unpretending garments they had contrived +to give a stamp of individual caprice, distinguishing +them, as was but right, from all the shooting coats and wide-awakes +hitherto invented. One had a flannel suit, as white as<a name="page_280" id="page_280"></a> +snow, with black gloves and a black hat; another was in the +inconspicuous motley of the lizard, crowned by a blue hat with +a microscopic brim; a third had thought it an opportunity for +turning out in a black jersey suit, with a white hat, white gloves, +and boots. Many had hung a noble field-glass about their +shoulders, by a leather strap, that they might not miss the +smallest details of the landscape, and several flourished Alpine +sticks, as if they were contemplating a perilous clamber over +cliffs and rocks.</p> + +<p>The special train included two saloon cars, a sleeping car, +and a luggage van. The cream of Madrid society proceeded +to settle itself, with the noisy glee befitting the occasion. There +were more men than women; the ladies had, indeed, for the +most part, excused themselves, not caring particularly for the +prospect of visiting a mine. Still there were enough to lend +grace to the expedition, and at the same time to subdue its +tone a little. There were some whose fathers or husbands were +connected with the business: Calderón's wife and daughter, +Mrs. Biggs, Clementina, and others. There were some who had +come out of friendship for these—Mercedes and Paz Alcudia, +for instance, who were inseparable from Esperanza. There +were more again who could never bear to be absent from any +ploy: Pepa Frias, Lola, and a few more. Among the men +were politicians, men of business, and titles new and old. As +they got into the train the servile assiduity of the station-clerks +betrayed how great an excitement was produced by the mere +passage through the office of these potentates and grandees.</p> + +<p>Last of all, and most potent of all, came the Duke de +Requena, who, taking out his handkerchief, waved it from a +window as a signal for departure. A whistle sounded, the +engine responded with a long and noisy yell, then, puffing and +snorting, the train began to move its metallic segments, and +slowly quitted the station. The travellers waved their hands +from the windows in farewell greetings to those who had come +to see them off.</p> + +<p>Great was the excitement and clatter as the train flew across<a name="page_281" id="page_281"></a> +the barren plains around Madrid. Every one talked and +laughed at once, as loud as possible, and what with this and +the noise of the train, no one could hear. By degrees a sort +of chemical diffusion or elective affinity took place. The +Duke, seated in a coupé or compartment at the back of the +train, found himself the centre of a group of financial and +political magnates. Clementina, Pepa Frias, Lola, and some +other women formed another party, with such men as preferred +a lighter and more highly spiced style: Pinedo, Fuentes, and +Calderón. The young men and maidens were exchanging +witticisms which seemed to afford them infinite amusement. +One of the incidents which most enchanted them was the +appearance of Cobo Ramirez at the window, in a guard's coat +and cap, demanding the tickets. Cobo, who had been in the +foremost carriage, had clambered along by the foot-board, +not without some risk, since the train was going at a tremendous +speed. He was hailed with applause.</p> + +<p>Then the young people sent notes to their friends in the +other saloon, the young men inditing love-letters. The heir +of Casa-Ramirez took charge of them all, and went to and fro +between the cars very nimbly, considering his obesity. This +amused them greatly for some time. The love-letters, written +in pencil, were read aloud, with much applause and laughter.</p> + +<p>Raimundo was content to talk to the Mexican and Osorio. +Osorio had really taken a liking to him. Though but a boy in +looks the banker discerned that he was intelligent and well-educated, +and among the "Savages" such endowments as these +conferred pre-eminence. The young man had, too, succeeded +in adapting himself very sufficiently to the atmosphere which +for the time he breathed. Not only was his dress visibly +modified by the refinements of fashion and good taste, but his +tone and manners had undergone a very perceptible change. +In his behaviour to Clementina he was still the timid lad, the +submissive slave, who hung on every word and gesture of his +mistress; his love was taking deeper root in his heart every +day. But in social intercourse he had accommodated himself<a name="page_282" id="page_282"></a> +to what he saw around him. He did all in his power to repress +the impulses of his loving and expansive nature. He +assumed a grave indifference, an almost disdainful calm; +ridiculed everything that was said in his hearing, unless it bore +on the manners and customs of the Savage Club; learned to +speak in a joking, ironical voice, like his fellow "Savages," and +above all was on his guard against ever uttering any scientific +or philosophical notions, for he knew by experience that this +was the one unpardonable sin. He even kept his own counsel +when one of his new associates roused him to a feeling of +warmer sympathy and regard than the others. Affection is in +itself so absurd that it is wise to bury it in the depths of your +soul, or you expose yourself to some rebuff, even from the object +of your affection. Such things have been known. Thanks +to his diligence, and to an apprenticeship, which to him was a +very cruel one, he extorted much more respect, and was looked +on as a man of consummate <i>chic</i>, a height of happiness which +it is given to few to attain to in this weary world beneath the +stars.</p> + +<p>When Cobo had made several journeys from one car to the +other, in no small danger, as the train was flying onwards, Lola, +with a mischievous look, first at Clementina and then at +Alcázar, said to the young man:</p> + +<p>"Alcázar, will you venture to go to the next carriage, and +ask the Condesa de Cotorraso for her bottle of salts? I feel +rather sea-sick."</p> + +<p>Now Raimundo was, as we know, but a frail creature, who +had never gone through the athletic training of these young +aristocrats, his friends. The scramble along the foot-boards at +the pace at which the train was going, which was to them mere +child's play, was to him a service of real danger. He was apt +to turn giddy when only crossing a bridge or climbing a tower. +He was fully aware of this, and hesitated a moment; still, for +very shame he could but reply:</p> + +<p>"I will go at once, Señora," and he was about to act on her +orders.<a name="page_283" id="page_283"></a></p> + +<p>But Clementina, whose brows had knit at her friend's preposterous +demand, stopped him, exclaiming:</p> + +<p>"You certainly shall not go, Alcázar. We will make Cobo +go for it next time he returns."</p> + +<p>The young man stood doubtful with his hand on the +door; but Clementina repeated more positively, colouring as +she spoke:</p> + +<p>"You are not to go—not on any account."</p> + +<p>Raimundo turned to Lola with a bow.</p> + +<p>"Forgive me, Señora, to-day I am sworn to this lady's service. +I will be your slave some other day."</p> + +<p>And neither Lola's noisy laugh, nor the sarcastic smiles of +the others, could spoil the grateful emotion he experienced at +his mistress's eager interest.</p> + +<p>Ramon Maldonado was in the other saloon, where also +were Esperanza and her mother with some other ladies, whom +he deliberately laid himself out to charm by his discourse. He +was giving them a full and particular report, in the most parliamentary +style he could command, of some curious incidents in +the last sitting. He was already master of all the commonplace +of civic oratory, and knew the technical cant very +thoroughly. He could talk of the order of the day, votes of +confidence, private bills, committees of supply, the previous +question, obstruction, suspension, and closure as if he himself +were the patentee of this elaborate outcome of human ingenuity. +He knew the municipal bye-laws as well as if he had invented +them, and discussed questions of city dues, sewage, weights +and measures, and seizure of contraband, so that it was a +marvel to hear him. Finally, being a man of unfathomable +ambition, he had joined a party in opposition to the Mayor, a +step which he hoped might lead to his nomination as a member +of the board of highways.</p> + +<p>For a long time past he had been waging a covert but +determined struggle against one Perez, another deputy not +less ambitious than himself, for this very appointment, in +which he believed that his great gifts as an innovator would<a name="page_284" id="page_284"></a> +shine with peculiar splendour. The various public places of +Madrid were awaiting the redeeming hand which might give +them fresh life and splendour, and the hand could be none +other than that of Maldonado. In the recesses of his brain, +among a thousand other portentous schemes, there was one +so audacious that he dared not communicate it to any one, +while he was incubating it with the fondest care, determined +to fight for this child of his genius till his dying day. This +was no less than a plan for moving the fountain of Apollo +from the Prado to the Puerta del Sol. And a whippersnapper +fellow like Perez, a narrow-minded slow-coach, with no taste +or spirit, dared to dispute the place with him!</p> + +<p>At the moment when he was most absorbed in his narrative +of how he had concocted the most ingenious intrigue to secure +a vote of censure on the Mayor, Cobo—that inevitable spoilsport—came +up, and after listening for a minute, roughly +attacked him, saying:</p> + +<p>"Come, Ramoncito, do not give yourself airs. We know +very well that you are a mere nobody in the House. Gonzalez +can lead you by the nose wherever he wants you to go."</p> + +<p>This was a cruel thrust at Maldonado, considering that it +was before Esperancita and several other ladies, old and +young. Indeed it stunned him as completely as if it had been +a blow on the head with a cudgel. He turned pale, his lips +quivered, and he could not utter a word. At last he gasped +out:</p> + +<p>"I? Gonzalez? Leads me by the nose? Are you crazy? +No one leads me by the nose, much less Gonzalez, of all +men!"</p> + +<p>He spoke the last words with intense scorn; he denied +Gonzalez as Peter denied his Master, out of base pride. His +conscience told him that he was not speaking truly, though no +cock crew. Gonzalez was the acknowledged leader of the civic +minority, and at the bottom of his heart, Ramon held him in +great veneration.</p> + +<p>"Pooh! nonsense! Do you mean to tell me that Gonzalez<a name="page_285" id="page_285"></a> +cannot make you work and dance like a puppet? Much good +you dissidents would do if it were not for him."</p> + +<p>On this Ramon recovered the use of his tongue, and to such +good purpose, that he poured out above a thousand words in +the course of a few minutes, with fierce vehemence, foaming +and sputtering with rage. He rebuked with indignation the +monstrous comparison of himself with a puppet, and fully +explained the precise position held by Gonzalez in the city +council and that which he himself occupied. But he did it +with such frenzied excitement and gesticulation that the ladies +looked at him in amused surprise.</p> + +<p>"How eloquent he is! Who would have believed it of +Ramoncito? Come, Cobo, do not tease him any more; you +will make him ill!"</p> + +<p>This compassionate tone stung Ramon to the quick. He +was instantly speechless, and for at least an hour he wrapped +himself in silent dignity.</p> + +<p>The train drew up at a small station in the midst of a wide +stretch of open moor, looking like a petrified sea; here the +travellers were to take their mid-day meal. The Duke's servants, +sent on the day before, had everything ready. Ramon devoted +himself to the service of Esperanza, and she allowed him to +wait on her with a placid smile which turned his head with joy. +The reason of her condescension was that, by his aunt's particular +desire, Pepe Castro had not joined the party. The +matrimonial overtures, made under the greatest secrecy, required +the utmost prudence. As Maldonado was so intimate with the +lord of her heart, Esperanza felt a certain pleasure in keeping +him at her side; at the same time she avoided comment by +talking to the Conde de Agreda or to Cobo. Poor Ramon! +How far he was from understanding these psychological complications.</p> + +<p>They took their seats in the train once more, and went on +their way across interminable sunburnt plains, no one dreaming +of examining the landscape through those ponderous fieldglasses. +They reached Riosa shortly before dusk.<a name="page_286" id="page_286"></a></p> + +<p>The famous mines of Riosa are situated in a hollow between +two low ranges of hills, the spurs of a great mountain-chain, +and are surrounded on all sides by broken ground, knolls and +downs of no great height, but scarred and ravined in such a +way as to look peculiarly barren and melancholy. In the hollow +stands a town dating from the remotest antiquity. Our travellers +did not invade it, they stopped about two kilometres short of +it, at a village named Villalegre, where the engineers and miners +have settled themselves with a view to avoiding the mercurial +and sulphurous fumes which slowly poison not the miners +only, but all the inhabitants of the neighbourhood. It is +divided from the mines by a ridge, and is a striking contrast to +the mining town itself. It is watered by a stream which makes +it blossom like a garden, gay with wild lilies, jasmine, and +heliotrope, and, above all, with damask roses, which have +naturalised themselves there more completely than in any other +region of Spain. The aromatic fragrance of thyme and fennel +perfumes and purifies the air.</p> + +<p>The most flowery plot in all the settlement belonged to the +company, at about three hundred yards from the village. A +handsome stone building stood in the midst of a garden, this +was the residence of the head-manager, and the central office +of the mines; round it, at some little distance, were several +smaller dwellings, each with its little garden, occupied by +clerks, and by some of the operatives; but most of these lived +at Riosa.</p> + +<p>There was no station at Villalegre, the train stopped where +it crossed the road leading to the chief town of the province. +Here carriages were in waiting to convey them to the head +office, a drive of about ten minutes. At the park gate, and +along the road, a crowd had gathered, which hailed the visitors +with very faint enthusiasm. These were the men off their +turn of work, whom the director had sent for from Riosa for +the purpose. They were all pallid and earth-stained, their +eyes were dull, and even from a distance it was easy to detect +in their movements a certain indecision, which, when seen<a name="page_287" id="page_287"></a> +closer, was a very perceptible trembling. The smart party of +visitors drove close past this mob of ghosts—for such they +seemed in the fading evening grey—the eyes of beauty and +fashion met those of the miners, and from that contact not a +spark of sympathy was struck. Behind the forced and melancholy +smile of the labourers, a keen eye could very plainly +detect hostility. Requena's little procession drove by in +silence; these fine folks were visibly uneasy; they were very +grave, not without a touch of alarm. The ladies involuntarily +shrunk closer to the men, and as they turned in at the gates +there was a murmur of "Good heavens! what faces!" and a +sigh of relief at having escaped from the deep mysterious gaze +of those haggard eyes. Rafael Alcantara alone was so bold +as to utter a jesting remark.</p> + +<p>"Well," said he, "the sovereign people are not attractive +looking in these parts."</p> + +<p>The manager introduced the clerks to Salabert, each by +name. They were almost all natives of other parts of the +country, healthy, smiling young fellows, with nothing noticeable +about them, and the superintendents no less so. The only man +of them all who attracted any attention was a delicate-looking +man, with a pale face, and thin black moustache, whose steady +dark eyes looked at the fashionable visitors with such piercing +determination as bordered on insolence. Without knowing +why, those who met his gaze felt vaguely uncomfortable, and +were glad to look away. The manager introduced him as the +doctor attached to the mines.</p> + +<p>Rooms had been found for all the party, some in the +director's house, and others in those of the humbler residents. +When they had taken a little rest, they all met in the director's +drawing-room, and from thence they marched arm-in-arm, in +solemn procession, to the office board-room, which had been +transformed into a dining-room. Here the Duke gave them +a magnificent dinner. Nothing was missing of the most +refined and aristocratic entertainment; the plate and china, the +cooking, and the service were all perfection. While they dined<a name="page_288" id="page_288"></a> +the grounds were lighted up with Venetian lamps, and on +rising from table, every one rushed to the window to admire +the effect, which was dazzlingly beautiful. An orchestra, +concealed in an arbour, played national airs with great spirit. +The whole party, panting from the heat of the room, which +was intense, and tempted by the brilliant spectacle, went out +to wander about the gardens; the younger men carried off the +girls to a grass-plot, close to the band, and there began to +dance. Cobo Ramirez presently joined the group.</p> + +<p>"Do you know what you remind me of?" he shouted. "A +party of commercial travellers in some suburban café!"</p> + +<p>This comparison seemed to hurt their feelings deeply; the +dancing lost its attractions for the fashionable juveniles, and +soon ceased altogether. However, as their hearts were set on +Terpsichorean delights, it occurred to them to transfer the +music to the board room, where they continued their devotions +to the Muse, free from the dreadful burden which Cobo had +laid on their conscience.</p> + +<p>The festivities were carried on till late. Fireworks were +presently let off, having been brought expressly from Madrid. +The various couples wandered about the gravelled paths, +enjoying the coolness of the night, made fragrant by the scent +of flowers. There was but one dark blot on their perfect enjoyment. +When they went near the gate, they saw a crowd +outside, of labourers, women, and children, who had come from +Riosa, on hearing of the great doings—the same haggard +creatures, hollow-eyed and gloomy, as they had met on +arriving. So they took care not to go too near the fence, but +to remain in the paths and alleys near the middle of the +garden. Lola, only, who prided herself on being charitable, +and who was president, secretary, and treasurer of no less than +three societies, was brave enough to speak to them, and even +to distribute some small silver money; but out of the darkness +came obscene abuse and insults, which compelled her to +retreat. Cotorraso, when he heard of it, was in a great rage.</p> + +<p><a name="page_289" id="page_289"></a>"And these Bedouin savages are to have rights and +liberties! Let them first be made decent, civil, and well-behaved, +and then we will talk about it."</p> + +<p>The law of elective affinity had drawn together Raimundo +Alcázar and a man who was somewhat out of his element in +this riotous company. This gentleman, with whom he was +walking, was between fifty and sixty years of age, short and +thin, with a white moustache and beard, and prominent eyes, +with a somewhat absent gaze through his spectacles. His +name was Don Juan Peñalver; he held a chair of philosophy +at the University, and had been in the Ministry. He enjoyed +a high and deserved reputation for learning, and for a dignity +of character rare in Spain. This naturally brought him into +ill-odour with the "Savages," who affected to treat him with +contemptuous familiarity. It is obvious that nothing can be +more offensive to the average "Savage" than Philosophy. +Peñalver's intellectual superiority and fame was a stab to their +pride. Their scorn did not trouble him; he was by nature +cheerful, warm-hearted, and absent-minded; he was incapable +of discriminating the various shades of social manner, and, in +fact, had not been much seen in the world since retiring from +political life to devote himself exclusively to science. He had +joined this expedition to oblige his brother-in-law, Escosura, +who held a large number of shares in the Riosa mines. Of +late years he had been an ardent student of natural science, as +the surest way of combatting the metaphysical idealism to +which he had devoted his early life. It was with real pleasure +that he found himself accidentally thrown into the company of +a youth so well-informed on scientific matters as Raimundo. +The rest of the party bored him past endurance, so taking +Alcázar by the arm, without inquiring whether he wanted him +or no, he began discussing physiology.</p> + +<p>Raimundo was in a fit of despondency and gloom. He had +observed that this Escosura had been definitively making love +to Clementina; he was quite shameless in his attentions to her +wherever he happened to meet her, and affected to ignore her +connection with Raimundo. Both in mind and person<a name="page_290" id="page_290"></a> +Escosura was the exact opposite of his brother-in-law Peñalver. +He was tall and stout, with a burly person and noisy manners; +rich, of some influence politically, a vehement orator, with a +voice so unusually sonorous that, according to his enemies, it +was to that he owed his parliamentary successes. He was a +man of about forty, and had never been Minister, though he +asserted that he should soon be in office. Clementina had +already repelled his addresses several times, and this Raimundo +knew, and was proud of his own triumph. At the same time +he could not divest himself of some anxiety whenever, as at +this moment, he saw them talking together.</p> + +<p>They were sitting in a summer-house with several other +persons, but conversing apart with great animation. Each +time he and Peñalver went past them, his heart swelled with +a pang; he scarcely heard, or even tried to hear, the learned +disquisition his companion was pouring into his ear. Clementina +could read in his anxious gaze how much he was suffering, +and after watching him for a little while she rose and joined +the two men, saying with a smile:</p> + +<p>"And what plot are you two sages hatching?"</p> + +<p>"You flatter me," said the younger with a modest bow. +"The only sage here is Señor Peñalver."</p> + +<p>"Well, Señor Peñalver can bestow a lecture on the Condesa +de Cotorraso, who is anxious to make his acquaintance, while +you come with me to see a Gothic cathedral which is about to +explode in fireworks," and she put her hand through her +lover's arm.</p> + +<p>Alcázar was happy again. He did not even speak to her of +the anguish he had suffered but a moment ago; on other +occasions when he had made such a confession it had only led +to double pain, for Clementina would answer him in a tone of +light banter which wounded him to the heart. They watched +the wonderful, blazing cathedral till it was burnt out; the +gentle pressure of her hand, the scent—always the same—which +hung about her sweet person were too much for the +young man, who was predisposed to be overcome by the proof<a name="page_291" id="page_291"></a> +of affection his beloved had just given him. She, who knew +him well, as she felt him press her arm more closely, looked +in his face, sure that she should see tears in his eyes. In fact, +Raimundo was silently weeping. On finding himself detected, +he smiled in a shamefaced way.</p> + +<p>"Still such a baby!" she exclaimed, giving him a caressing +little pinch. "Pepa is right when she says you are like a +school-girl in a convent. Come, let us walk about; some one +might see your face."</p> + +<p>They went into a more retired part of the garden. From +one spot in the grounds they could see a very curious landscape. +The full moon lighted up the crest of the nearest hill, +which divided Villalegre from Riosa, making it look like the +ruins of a castle. Clementina wished to see it closer, so they +went out by one of the side-gates, where no one was to be +seen, and slowly wandered on—the knoll was barren of vegetation, +a pile of boulders, in fact, of fantastic shapes, looking +precisely like a mass of ruins. It was not till they were +close to it that they could convince themselves of the +truth.</p> + +<p>When the lady had satisfied her curiosity, they returned +round the outside of the park, to enter by the opposite gate. +On this side there were still a few knots of people. Before +reaching the gate, at a corner of the road darkened by the +shade of some trees, Clementina stumbled over an object, +and nearly fell. She screamed aloud, for on looking down she +saw a human creature lying at her feet. Raimundo took out +a match, and found that it was a boy of ten or twelve fast +asleep. They picked him up, and set him on his feet. The +little fellow opened his eyes and stared at them in alarm. Then, +as if by a sudden inspiration, he snatched the stick Raimundo +was carrying, and began to move it slowly up and down, as +though he were fulfilling some very difficult task. Clementina +and her lover looked on in amazement, unable to guess what +this could mean. A few workmen collected round them, and +one with a horse-laugh exclaimed:<a name="page_292" id="page_292"></a></p> + +<p>"It is one of the boys from the pumps! Go it, my boy, +work away! A tough job, isn't it?"</p> + +<p>And his companions burst into brutal laughter, crying out to +the poor little somnambulist:</p> + +<p>"Go at it! Keep it up! Harder, boy, harder, the water is +rising!"</p> + +<p>And the unhappy boy redoubled his imaginary efforts with +more and more energy. He was a weakly creature, with a +white face, quite expressionless with sleep, and his ragged +rough hair gave him the look of a wraith. The savage glee +of the workmen, who looked on at the pitiable scene, made a +very painful impression on Raimundo. He took the child in +his arms, shook him gently to wake him, kissed him kindly on +the forehead, and taking a dollar out of his purse, gave it to +the lad, and then went on with Clementina. The working +men ceased their laughter, and one of them said in a tone of +envy:</p> + +<p>"Well, you have not worked hard for your day's pay."<a name="page_293" id="page_293"></a></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV.<br /><br /> +<small>LIFE UNDERGROUND.</small></h2> + +<p class="nind">A<small>T</small> one in the morning the party broke up.</p> + +<p>They were to reassemble at nine, to set out in a body on a +visit of inspection to the mines; and the programme was carried +out, not indeed with punctuality, which in Spain is an impossibility, +but with no more than an hour's delay. They set out for +Riosa, in carriages, at ten; of course a diminished party. They +alighted at the outskirts of the town and crossed it on foot, +producing, as may be supposed, no small excitement. The +women crowded to the doors and windows, staring with eager +curiosity at this splendid procession of ladies and gentlemen, +arrayed in clothes such as they had never seen in their lives. +Like their husbands, brothers, and sons, these women were +pale and sickly-looking, their features pinched, their eyes dull, +their hands and feet stunted. The visitors also saw a few men +suffering from constant trembling.</p> + +<p>"What is the matter? Why do those men tremble so?" +asked Esperancita anxiously.</p> + +<p>"They have the palsy," said one of the clerks.</p> + +<p>"What is the palsy?"</p> + +<p>"They get it by working in the mines."</p> + +<p>"Do many of them get it?"</p> + +<p>"All of them," said the doctor, who had heard the question. +"Mercurial palsy attacks all who work in the mines."</p> + +<p>"And why do they work there, then?" asked the girl, with +much simplicity.</p> + +<p>"It is their mania!" said the doctor, with a peculiar smile.<a name="page_294" id="page_294"></a></p> + +<p>"For my part I think the fresh air up here is much better to +breathe than the foul air down below."</p> + +<p>"Why, of course. I would be anything rather than a +miner."</p> + +<p>They came out at length on a small open space, where some +workmen were busy erecting an artistic pedestal of marble.</p> + +<p>"This is the pedestal for the statue of the Duke," said the +manager of the mines, in a loud voice.</p> + +<p>"Ah, ah! They are going to put up a statue to you?" said +one and another, gathering round the great man. He shrugged +his shoulders with a deprecating gesture.</p> + +<p>"I am sure I don't know. Some absurd notion that has +been started in the miners' wine-shops, I suppose."</p> + +<p>"No, indeed, Señor Duque," exclaimed the manager, whose +duty it had been to start the idea which Llera had suggested +to him at a hint from Salabert himself. "No, indeed. The +town of Riosa is anxious to erect a monument of its gratitude +and respect to a noble patron who, in the most critical circumstances, +did not hesitate to risk an enormous sum in the +purchase of a half-ruined undertaking, and so to save it from +utter disaster."</p> + +<p>"What a beautiful thing it is to do good!" exclaimed Lola, +in a voice full of feeling; and her pretty eyes rested admiringly +on Requena.</p> + +<p>Every one complimented him; though many of those present +knew the meaning of this magnificent sacrifice. They looked +at the work for a minute or two, and then proceeded on their +way. The mines were close to the town, on the further side. +Outwardly they looked like a manufactory on a small scale, +with a few tall chimneys vomiting black smoke. There was +nothing to betray their colossal value. The party went into +the buildings and over the premises where the subsidiary +processes of the works were carried on, and which included +carpenters' sheds and forges, the engineers' office and private +room, &c. But what impressed them all was the sad and +sickly appearance of the operatives. They were all broken<a name="page_295" id="page_295"></a> +with decrepitude, and the Condesa de Cotorraso could not help +saying:</p> + +<p>"Only old men seem to be employed."</p> + +<p>The manager smiled. "They are not old, though they look +so, Señora."</p> + +<p>"But they are all wrinkled, and their eyes are sunken and +dim."</p> + +<p>"There is not a man of forty among them. Those whom +you see at work here are too far gone to work underground. +We employ them up here, but they get less wages."</p> + +<p>"And does it take long in the mines to reduce them to this +condition?" asked Ramon.</p> + +<p>"Not long, not long," murmured the manager, and he went +on: "Such as you see them, they are always eager to get back +to the mine again. The pay for outside work is so small."</p> + +<p>"What do they get?"</p> + +<p>"A peseta a day; six reales at most."<a name="FNanchor_F_6" id="FNanchor_F_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_F_6" class="fnanchor">[F]</a></p> + +<p>They next visited the smelting-houses. The Duke had gone +on first with the English engineer, whom he had engaged to +report on the improvements needed to make the works pay. +In these sheds they saw huge furnaces, piles of cinnabar and +stores of mercury.</p> + +<p>The furnaces consist of a retort in which the cinnabar is +placed with the combustibles for calcining it. From this retort +earthenware condensers rise, branching off into pipes communicating +with each other. In these pipes the vapours of mercury +which rise from the furnace are reduced by condensation to the +liquid state; and the quicksilver is precipitated and flows out +by holes in the lower face of the pipes. But as a large amount +of sooty matter remains, containing particles of metal, it is necessary +to remove and clean the condensers one by one. This is +the work of boys, of from ten to fifteen, who, for seven or eight +hours at a time, breathe an atmosphere charged with mercurial +poison. They next visited the stores and the shed where the<a name="page_296" id="page_296"></a> +mineral is weighed for sale. And everywhere the operatives +wore the same appearance of decrepitude.</p> + +<p>The manager now proposed that they should inspect the +hospital. Some refused, but Lola, who never missed an opportunity +of displaying her benevolent sentiments, set the example, +and most of the ladies followed her, with a few of the +men. The Duke excused himself, as he was busy with the +engineers, who were giving him their opinion on the state of +the furnaces.</p> + +<p>The hospital was outside the precincts of the mines, near +the burial-ground—no doubt to accustom the inmates to the +idea of death, and also, perhaps, that if the mercurial vapours +proved ineffectual to kill them, those of the graveyard might +finish the task. It was an old building, tumble-down, damp, +and gloomy. It was only sheer shame which hindered the +ladies from turning back from the threshold. The doctor, who +had undertaken to guide them, showed them into the different +rooms, and displayed the dreadful panorama of human suffering. +Most of the poor wretches were dressed, and sitting on +their beds or on chairs. Their drawn, corpse-like faces were +objects of terror; their bodies shook with incessant trembling, +as though they were stricken with a common panic. Fear and +pity were painted on the fresh faces of their visitors; and the +doctor smiled his peculiar smile, looking at them boldly with +his large, black eyes.</p> + +<p>"Not a pleasing picture, is it?" said he.</p> + +<p>"Poor creatures! And are they all miners?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, all. The atmosphere they live in, vitiated by mercurial +vapours, and the insufficient supply of fresh air, inevitably +produce not only this trembling from acute or chronic mercurial +poisoning—which is the most conspicuous result—but +pulmonary catarrh of an aggravated type, dysentery, tuberculosis, +mercurial irritation of the stomach, and many other +diseases which either shorten their lives or render them incapable +of labour after a few years spent under ground."</p> + +<p>"Poor things—poor creatures!" repeated his hearers.<a name="page_297" id="page_297"></a></p> + +<p>The little party who had followed his guidance listened to +him with attention and sympathy. Never had they seen anything +so terrible. Labour—a penalty in itself—was here complicated +with poisoning; and with sincere emotion, full of the +best intentions, they suggested means of alleviating the misery +of the sufferers. Some declared that a good hospital ought to +be erected; others suggested a shop, on charitable principles, +where the workmen could obtain good food at a cheap rate; +others urged that the children should not be employed at all; +others again that the labourers should be allowed to work for +only a very limited time.</p> + +<p>The doctor smiled and shook his head.</p> + +<p>"All this would be admirable, no doubt; I quite agree with +you. But then, as I can but tell you, it would not be a paying +business."</p> + +<p>They distributed some money among the sick, visited the +chapel, where again they left some money to procure a new +robe for the Holy Infant, and at last got out of the dismal +place. To breathe the fresh air once more was almost intoxicating, +and they laughed and talked as they made their way +back to join the rest of the party.</p> + +<p>The engineers were explaining to Salabert a new process of +sublimation which might be adopted, and by which not only +would the production be vastly increased, but the residue +would be utilised. This was effected by condensers formed of +chambers of very thin brickwork in the lower part of the +funnel carrying off the vapour, and of wood and glass above. +A furnace to which these were fitted could be kept constantly +going. The Duke listened attentively, took notes, raised +objections, mastered the details of the business, and finally his +keen nose scented enormous profits.</p> + +<p>As the ladies came up he gallantly postponed the discussion.</p> + +<p>"Well, how are my sick getting on, ladies? The sun has +shone on them to-day," said he.</p> + +<p>"Badly, Duke, very badly. The hospital leaves much to be +desired."<a name="page_298" id="page_298"></a></p> + +<p>And with one accord they complained of the defects of the +building, painting it in the blackest colours, and proposing +improvements to make it comfortable.</p> + +<p>The Duke listened with smiling indifference and the half-ironical +attention we give to a coaxing child.</p> + +<p>"Very well, very well; we will have it all seen to. But +you will allow me to set the business on its feet first—eh, +Regnault?"</p> + +<p>The superintendent bowed with an insinuating smile.</p> + +<p>"And the men must work shorter hours," said the Condesa +de Cebal.</p> + +<p>"And they really must be better paid," added Lola.</p> + +<p>"And they ought to have cottages built for them at Villalegre," +said another.</p> + +<p>"Ha, ha, ha," shouted the Duke, with a burst of coarse +laughter. "And why not bring Gayarre and Tosti here to +entertain them in the evening? They must be dreadfully dull +here, I should think, in the evenings!"</p> + +<p>The ladies smiled timidly.</p> + +<p>"But really, Duke, you should not make fun of it; it is a +serious matter," said the Condesa de Cebal.</p> + +<p>"Serious! I believe you, Condesa. It has cost me three +million dollars already. Do you think three millions are not a +serious matter?"</p> + +<p>His fair advisers looked at each other, dazzled by the enormous +sums this man could handle.</p> + +<p>"But do you not expect to get some interest on your +millions?" asked Lola, who flattered herself she knew something +of business.</p> + +<p>The Duke again roared with laughter.</p> + +<p>"Oh no, Señora, of course not. I shall leave that in the +road for the first passer by. Interest indeed!" Then suddenly +turning serious, he went on: "Who the devil has been +putting this nonsense into your heads? I tell you, ladies, that +what is lacking here—sadly lacking—is sound morality. Make +the workman soundly moral, and all the evils you have seen<a name="page_299" id="page_299"></a> +will disappear. Let him give up drink, give up gambling, give +up wasting his wages, and all these effects of the mercury will +disappear. It is self-evident,"—and he appealed to some of +the gentlemen who had joined the group—"How can a man +resist the effects of mining when his body, instead of food, be +it what it may, contains a gallon of bad brandy? I am perfectly +convinced that the majority of those on the sick list are +confirmed drunkards. Do you know, gentlemen, that in Riosa +thrift is a thing unknown—thrift, without which prosperity and +comfort are an impossibility?"</p> + +<p>This was a maxim the Duke had frequently heard in the +senate; he reiterated it with much emphasis and conviction.</p> + +<p>"But how do you expect thrift on two pesetas<a name="FNanchor_G_7" id="FNanchor_G_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_G_7" class="fnanchor">[G]</a> a day?" the +Condesa ventured to demur.</p> + +<p>"There is no difficulty at all," said the Duke. "Thrift is a +matter of principle, the principle of saving something out of to-day's +enjoyment to avoid the needs of to-morrow. Two +pesetas to a workman are like two thousand to you. Cannot +you save something out of two thousand? Well, so can he out +of two. Say he has less, fifteen centimes, ten, five. The point +is to put something aside, and that, however little, is to the +good."</p> + +<p>"Merciful Heaven!" the Condesa sighed, "What I do not +understand is how any one can live on two pesetas, much less +save."</p> + +<p>The engineers of the works invited the party to inspect the +machine-room and laboratory. There was here a remarkably +fine microscope, which attracted general attention. The doctor +was the person who used it most, devoting much of his time to +investigations in histology. The manager requested him to +show the Duke's guests some of his preparations. First he +exhibited some diatoms—the ladies were charmed by their +various forms; he also showed them specimens of the animalcule<a name="page_300" id="page_300"></a> +which wrought the destruction of the famous bridge at Milan; +they could not cease marvelling that so minute a creature should +be able to demolish so huge a structure.</p> + +<p>"And think of the myriads of these creatures which must +have laboured to produce such an effect," said an engineer.</p> + +<p>Quiroga, so the doctor was called, ended by showing them +a drop of water. One by one they all looked at the invisible +world revealed by the microscope.</p> + +<p>"I see one animal larger than the others," said the Duke, as +he applied one of his prominent eyes to the tube of the instrument.</p> + +<p>"And you will see all the others fly before him," said the +doctor.</p> + +<p>"Very true."</p> + +<p>"That is a rotifer. He is the shark of the drop of +water."</p> + +<p>"Look yourself a minute, it seems to me that he is hiding +behind something that looks like seaweed."</p> + +<p>"You may call it seaweed. Perhaps he is hiding to catch +his prey."</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes. Now he has rushed out on a much smaller +creature. It is gone, he must have eaten it."</p> + +<p>And the Duke looked up, beaming with satisfaction at having +seen this strange microscopic tragedy.</p> + +<p>Quiroga looked at him with his bold gaze, and said with that +eternal ironical smile of his:</p> + +<p>"It is the same all the world over. In the drop of water +as in the ocean—everywhere the big fish swallow the small +fry."</p> + +<p>The Duke's smile faded away. He gave a side glance at the +doctor, whose mysterious countenance showed no change, and +said abruptly:</p> + +<p>"You must all be tired of science. Let us go to luncheon."</p> + +<p> +<br /> +</p> + +<p>The crowning attraction of the expedition which had brought +all this gay company away from their luxurious homes to so<a name="page_301" id="page_301"></a> +comfortless and barren a region, was a plan for breakfasting, or +rather lunching, at the bottom of the mine. When Clementina +had mentioned this at one of her card parties it gave rise to a +perfect burst of enthusiasm.</p> + +<p>"How very original! How odd! How delightful!" The +ladies especially were most eager about it.</p> + +<p>By the Duke's advice, they all had provided themselves with +elegant waterproof cloaks and high boots, for water oozed into +the mine in many places, and made deep puddles. Only the +evening before, however, several had taken fright at the immediate +prospect, and had given up the expedition. The Duke +had been obliged to order two meals, one in the mine and one +above ground. The braver party who persisted in their purpose +were not more than eight or ten. These had brought +their waterproofs and leggings.</p> + +<p>The whole party now gathered round one of the mouths of +the mine known as San Gennaro's pit. Near this shaft there +was a building used for inspecting and weighing the ore, and +there the ladies and gentlemen changed their boots and put +on their wrappers. On seeing them thus prepared for the +worst, almost all the ladies declared that they would after all +go down with their friends. A messenger was forthwith sent +to Villalegre for the rest of the waterproofs.</p> + +<p>The cage, worked up and down by steam, had been prepared +for the reception of this elegant company. It had two floors, +on each of which eight persons could stand. It had been lined +with baize, and a few brass rings had been fitted to hold on by. +The director, the Duke, and the valiant ladies who had come +prepared, went down first. Orders were given to the engineer +to send the lift down very slowly. It began to move, at first +rising a few inches, and then descending with a jerk; then, +suddenly, it seemed to be swallowed in the shaft. The women +smothered a cry and stood speechless and pale. The walls of +the shaft were dark, rough-hewn, and streaming with water; +in each division of the cage a miner with a palsied hand held +up a lantern. All, excepting the manager and the miners<a name="page_302" id="page_302"></a> +accustomed to the motion, had an uneasy feeling in the +stomach, and a vague apprehension which made them incapable +of speech, and they clenched their hands very tightly as they +clung to the rings.</p> + +<p>"The first gallery," said the manager, as they passed a black +opening.</p> + +<p>But no one made any remark. This suspension in the abyss, +over the unknown void, paralysed their tongues and almost +their power of thought.</p> + +<p>"The second gallery," said the manager again as they passed +another yawning hole. And thus he continued till they came +to the ninth. There they heard the sound of voices and saw +that the gallery was lighted up.</p> + +<p>"We shall take our luncheon here. But first we will go down +to the eleventh gallery to see the works."</p> + +<p>When they had gone past the tenth, he shouted as loud as +he could:</p> + +<p>"Are the brakes on?"</p> + +<p>And a voice from below replied:</p> + +<p>"No!"</p> + +<p>"Put them on at once," he called down.</p> + +<p>"It cannot be done," was the answer.</p> + +<p>"What, why? The brakes, I say; put on the brakes."</p> + +<p>And with a very red face, almost convulsed with excitement, +he still shouted like a madman, while the cage slowly went +down, down.</p> + +<p>A cold chill fell on every heart. In the upper compartment +some of the women began to utter piercing shrieks. In the +lower room a few screams were heard and all clung tightly to +the men's arms. Some fainted. It was a moment of indescribable +alarm. They all thought this was their dying hour.</p> + +<p>And still the manager kept shouting: "The brakes, put on +the brakes."</p> + +<p>And the voices below, more and more distinct, replying: +"It cannot be done."<a name="page_303" id="page_303"></a></p> + +<p>When they firmly believed that they were rushing into the +nether void the cage quietly stopped. They heard a peal of +loud laughter, and their terrified eyes beheld, by the tremulous +light of tallow candles, a party of miners whose grinning faces +suddenly assumed an expression of the utmost alarm and +dismay.</p> + +<p>"What is all this? What is the meaning of this piece of +foolery?" asked the manager, jumping out of the lift in a rage +and going up to them.</p> + +<p>The men respectfully took off their hats and one of them +with a shame-faced smile stammered out:</p> + +<p>"Begging your pardon, Señor, we thought it was a lot of the +men, and we wanted to give 'em a fright."</p> + +<p>"Did not you know that we were coming down?" he angrily +asked.</p> + +<p>"We thought the gentlefolks were going to stop at number +nine, where all the fine doings are to be——"</p> + +<p>"You thought, and you thought; you should not think such +stupid things."</p> + +<p>The Duke recovered the use of his tongue.</p> + +<p>"But do you know, my good fellows, that you were playing a +very rough and ready joke on your fellow workmen! Making +them fancy they were rushing to their death!"</p> + +<p>"Their death!" echoed the miner who had first spoken.</p> + +<p>"No, Señor Duque," said the manager, "if they had not put +the breaks on we should only have been up to our waists in +water."</p> + +<p>"Is that all?"</p> + +<p>"Would you have liked a bath in dirty water?"</p> + +<p>"Well, of course it would not have been a pleasant dip. But +to see you in such a state of frenzy made us all think we were +being killed outright. What do you say, ladies?"</p> + +<p>The ladies were relieving their minds by exclamations; some +crying and some laughing. Two who had fainted received +every attention, their temples were bathed with cold water, and +the Condesa de Cotorraso's salts were brought into requisition.<a name="page_304" id="page_304"></a> +At last they recovered their senses, and the rest congratulated +themselves on having escaped from such fearful peril, for they +could not bear to think that there had been none. They +looked forward to exciting the sympathy of their friends at +home by the narrative of this horrible adventure, and believed +themselves the heroines of a story in the style of Jules +Verne.</p> + +<p>The spectacle which presented itself to their eyes when they +could bring themselves to look at it, was not less grand than +fantastic. Huge vaulted arches diverged in every direction, +lighted only by the pale light of a few candles placed at wide +intervals. To and fro in these galleries, with incessant toil, a +crowd of labourers were constantly moving, their gigantic +shadows dancing in the dim, flickering light. Their shouts +echoed to the accompaniment of creaking trolley-wheels, and +they seemed possessed with the idea of accomplishing some +mysterious task in a very short time. In some of the galleries +the walls were lined with crystals of native mercury, glittering +as though they were covered with silver. On the other side of +these walls, dull regular blows might be heard, and on going a +few yards into the openings which had been formed here and +there, they could see at the end, in an illuminated cavern, four +or five pale, melancholy men hewing out the ore with their +pick-axes. Whenever they stopped to rest it could be seen +that their limbs shook with the palsy, characteristic of mercurial +poisoning.</p> + +<p>It would have been easy to fancy oneself translated to the +world of gnomes, and the scene of their mysterious labours. +Man burrows in the earth with incessant toil like the mole, +tunnelling it in every direction; but he poisons himself as he +eats it away. The gods could get rid of the human rat without +the aid of the cat.</p> + +<p>Suddenly Lola gave a piercing shriek, which made every one +look round, but she immediately burst out laughing. A driplet +of water from the roof had trickled down her back. Every one +laughed at the accident, but the mirth was not very genuine.<a name="page_305" id="page_305"></a> +At these depths every one was aware of a vague uneasiness, +even fear, which they strove to conceal. The cage brought +down another large party, but the third time it was almost empty, +for the rest of the company had preferred to be deposited in +the ninth gallery, feeling no particular interest in the mining +operations. Those who had come to the bottom were unfeignedly +desirous of finding themselves as soon as possible in +more commodious quarters. They asked the manager again +and again whether they were safe, if there was no fear of the +vault falling in.</p> + +<p>"Oh, no," said the manager with a smile. "Only private +mines fall in. This was a Government concern, and everything +was done with lavish security."</p> + +<p>"I have been in mines where we have had to send a +party of men down to dig the miners out," said one of the +engineers.</p> + +<p>"How shocking!" exclaimed the ladies in chorus.</p> + +<p>At last they got into the cage again and were carried up to +number nine. Here the scene was very different. It was a +long time since this gallery had been worked, and part of it +had been enlarged to form a chamber, which had been +enclosed, boarded, and carpeted; it might have been a room +in a palace. The roof and walls were hung with waterproof +cloth and adorned with trophies of mining. A table was +magnificently laid for fifty or more, and the place was brilliantly +illuminated by means of lustres with hundreds of wax lights. +In short every refinement of luxury and elegance had been +lavished here, so that it was difficult to persuade oneself that +this dining-room was in the depths of a mine, three hundred +mètres below the surface of the earth.</p> + +<p>The guests took their seats with a sense of excitement, a +combination of pleased admiration and vague alarm, which was +written on their smiling but pale faces. The servants in livery +stood in a row as if they had been at home in Madrid. As the +first course was handed round, a band, hidden away in an +adjoining gallery of the mine, struck up a charming waltz tune,<a name="page_306" id="page_306"></a> +and the sounds, softened by distance, had a delightful and +soothing effect.</p> + +<p>The ladies, their eyes glistening, tremulous with excitement, +repeated again and again: "How original, how amusing, I am +so glad I came, what a delightful idea of Clementina's!"</p> + +<p>Then they tried to be calm and talk of indifferent subjects; +but no one succeeded. The sense of so many tons of earth +overhead weighed on their consciousness through it all. Nay, +with some of the men it was the same, though some were +perfectly calm.</p> + +<p>Raimundo was, no doubt, the man who thought least of his +immediate surroundings; he was entirely absorbed in his +moral predicament. Clementina, in spite of her professions +and promises, was carrying on a hot flirtation with Escosura. +They were placed side by side, exactly opposite to where he +sat. He could see them talking eagerly, and laughing frequently; +he saw him devoted, obsequious, lavish of compliments +and attentions; he saw her complacent, smiling, and +accepting his civilities with pleasure. And though from time +to time she bestowed on Raimundo a loving look in compensation, +he could only regard it as an alms—the crust bestowed +on a beggar to save him from death. What did he care +whether he were on the face or in the centre of the earth, +or even if it should fall in and crush him like a fly.</p> + +<p>Another person to whom this geographical question was a +matter of supreme indifference was Ramoncito, though from +the opposite point of view. Esperanza was most amiable to +him, perhaps because she thought she could thus the better +endure the absence of Pepe Castro. The young deputy, +beside himself with joy, never stirred an inch further from her +side, or for a moment longer than appearances demanded. +Triumphantly happy, he cast occasional glances of condescending +grace on the rest of the company, and when his eyes +fell on Calderón's financial face his emotion was visible; he +could hardly forbear from addressing him as "Papa."</p> + +<p>As the meal progressed, the superincumbent earth weighed<a name="page_307" id="page_307"></a> +less heavily on their souls. Heady wines warmed their blood, +and talk revived their spirits. Every one had forgotten the +mine as completely as if they had been sitting in an ordinary +handsome dining-room. Rafael Alcantara was amusing himself +by making Peñalver drunk. Encouraged by the laughter +of his companions, who looked on, he did his utmost to befool +the philosopher, addressing him in a loud voice with extreme +familiarity, winking at his allies each time he made some +blunder, taking base advantage, in short, of the worthy gentleman's +benevolent and unsuspicious temper. He had taken +upon himself to avenge the whole body of illustrious pipe-colouring +youth for the intellectual pre-eminence for which the +great thinker was noted.</p> + +<p>When dessert was served Escosura rose to propose a toast. +He was an object of respect to the "Savages," partly from his +corpulence and his vehement temper, but chiefly by reason of +his money. He considered himself an orator. In a strong, +ringing voice, he pronounced a panegyric on the Duke, whom +he repeatedly designated as "that financial genius." He +enlarged on labour, capital, and production; and went on to +politics—his strong point. From the depths of the quicksilver +mine he shot terrific darts at the Ministry, which had failed +to give him a portfolio at the last change of Cabinet.</p> + +<p>Salabert replied with much hesitancy, thanking him with +grovelling self-abasement. "No merit of his own beyond +industry and honesty had raised him to the proud position he +held (murmured applause). The nation, the sovereign who +had ennobled him, had ennobled a son of toil. By struggling +all his life against a tide of difficulties, he had succeeded in +collecting a handful of money. This money now enabled him +to maintain some thousands of workmen. This was his best +reward (applause). He begged to propose the health of the +ladies, whose courage had brought down to this subterranean +hole, and who would leave behind them, a fragrance of charity +and joy, which would live for ever in the hearts of the mining-folk."<a name="page_308" id="page_308"></a></p> + +<p>At this instant, simultaneously with the pop of several +champagne corks, a tremendous detonation was heard, making +the bravest turn pale.</p> + +<p>"There is nothing to be alarmed at," said the manager. +"They are exploding the borings. It is always done at this +hour."</p> + +<p>It was in truth an impressive moment. The noise of each +explosion, multiplied and repeated by a thousand echoes, was +enough to make the stoutest heart quake with faint alarms. +Every one was suddenly silenced, listening for some seconds, +with absorbed anxiety, to the rolling thunders which shook +the earth. The table quivered, and the glasses and dishes +rattled and tinkled.</p> + +<p>At this moment, the doctor rose from his chair, and after +steadily eyeing the guests all round with his dark gaze, he +raised his glass and spoke:</p> + +<p>"Our illustrious host, the Duke of Requena, has just told us, +with a modesty which does him credit, that the whole secret of +his great fortune lies in industry and honesty. He must +permit me to doubt it. The Duke de Requena represents +something more than those vulgar qualities; he represents +force. Force! the sustaining factor of the Universe.</p> + +<p>"Force is very unequally distributed among organic beings; +some have a larger and others a smaller share. And in the +ceaseless struggle which goes on among them, the weakest +perish, the fittest and strongest survive. Let us, then, adore in +our Amphitryon the incarnation of Force. Thanks to the force +with which Nature has endowed him, he has been able to subjugate +and utilise the smaller share of thousands of individuals +who unconsciously serve his ends; thanks to that force, he has +accumulated his vast capital.</p> + +<p>"As I look round on this distinguished company, I observe +with pleasure that all who compose it have also been endowed +with a good proportion of this force, either congenital or inherited, +and I can but congratulate them with all my heart. The +only essential thing in the world we live in, is to have been<a name="page_309" id="page_309"></a> +born fit for the struggle. We must crush if we would escape +being crushed. And, I may add, I also congratulate myself +on standing here face to face with so many chosen of the gods +on whom Providence has set the seal of happiness."</p> + +<p>"Hear him, my dear!" whispered Pepa Frias to Clementina. +"This is Mephistopheles' toast, I think."</p> + +<p>Clementina smiled faintly. In fact, the doctor's pale, refined +face, with the black hair brushed off his forehead, and, +above all, his black eyes, in spite of an assumption of innocence, +were full of a bitter irony not unworthy of Mephistopheles.</p> + +<p>He went on:</p> + +<p>"Slavery has existed in every age under one form or another. +There have always been men designated by fate to live in the +refined atmosphere of intellectual enjoyments, in the cultivation +of the arts, in luxury and splendour, and the pleasure to be +derived from the society of intelligent and educated persons; +while others again are fated to procure them the means of such +an existence by rude and painful toil. The pariahs laboured +for the Brahmins, the helots for the Spartans, the slaves for +the Romans, the villeins for their feudal lords. And is it not +the same to this day? Of what avail are laws to abolish +slavery? The men who work in the depths of this mine, and +inhale the poison which kills them, are slaves, though not by +law—by want of bread. The result is the same. It is the law of +Nature, and so no doubt a holy and venerable law, that some +must suffer for others to enjoy life. You, ladies, are the +descendants of the noble Roman ladies who sent their slaves +to these mines to procure them vermilion to beautify their +faces, and of the Arabs, who used it to decorate the minarets +of their palaces at Cordova and Seville. Ladies, I drink to +you, my soul possessed by admiration and respect, as the +representatives of all that is choicest on earth—Love, Beauty, +and Pleasure."</p> + +<p>Though the pledge was gallant enough, it seemed uncanny; +some muttered disapproval, and the hostile feeling against the +young doctor visibly increased. There were one or two who<a name="page_310" id="page_310"></a> +hinted, in an undertone, that this low fellow was making +game of them. Rafael Alcantara was eager to pick a quarrel +with him, but he read in the doctor's eyes that he would not +escape without some serious annoyance, and he preferred to +pocket the affront. The ladies regarded him with more +benevolence. They thought him "quite a character." The +doctor's speech had certainly left an unpleasant impression, +which Fuentes failed to dissipate, though he brought out his +most original paradoxes.</p> + +<p>"Ladies and gentlemen," said he, "I do not propose a toast +because I am not an orator. I hope that ere long this will be +recognised as an honourable distinction in Spain; that when +such an individual goes by in the street it will be said of him +with respect: 'he is not an orator;' as we already say: 'he +wears no order of merit.'"</p> + +<p>The ladies applauded and laughed at the joke. But whether +from the doctor's words, or whether they were again oppressed +by vague fears, they were all conscious of an uneasy feeling. +Every one was cheered when it was announced that the cage +was ready to carry them up. Those who remained to the last, +heard, as they started, a distant chorus, which came nearer as +they rose, till it sounded close by them, and then mysteriously +died away below them without their having seen any one. +The effect was most whimsical. The words they heard were +those of an Andalucian boat song:</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="poetry"> +<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 0em;">Up the river, and up the river,</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">Water will never run up to the town;</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 0em;">Down the river, and down the river,</span></td></tr> +<tr><td align="left"><span style="margin-left: 1em;">All the world is bound to run down.</span></td></tr> +</table> +<p>The engineer remarked in explanation:</p> + +<p>"A party of miners, going down in the cage which serves as +a counterpoise to this one."</p> + +<p>"I told you so, Condesa," exclaimed Salabert in a triumphant +tone. "If they are in spirits to sing, they cannot be so +miserable as you fancy."<a name="page_311" id="page_311"></a></p> + +<p>The lady was silent for a moment, then she said, with a +melancholy smile:</p> + +<p>"It is not a very mirthful ditty, Duke."</p> + +<p>This was going on in the upper compartment. In the lower +division, Escosura observed in a scornful tone to the chief +engineer:</p> + +<p>"Do you know that your young doctor was so rash as to +give us a taste of his materialistic views?"</p> + +<p>"Materialistic! I do not know that he is a Materialist. +What he prides himself on being—and the miners worship +him for it—is a Socialist."</p> + +<p>"Worse and worse."</p> + +<p>"To tell the truth," said Peñalver, with a sigh, "it is impossible +to come up from the bottom of a mine without having +caught a little of the infection."</p> + +<p>At nine in the evening, after dining at Villalegre, the party +returned to Madrid, by special train. They all set out well +content with the excursion. They hoped to amaze their friends +by their account of the underground banquet. The only unhappy +person was Raimundo. The alternations of joy and +anguish which Clementina's flirtation occasioned him had +quite quenched his spirit. At last, seeing him so sad and +exhausted, his mistress was merciful. She made him sit by her +in the train, and without scandalising a party who were cured +of all such weakness, she talked to him all the evening, and +finally dropped asleep with her head on his shoulder.</p> + +<p>Though a sleeping-car formed part of the train, it was not in +favour. Most of the travellers preferred remaining in the +saloons. Towards morning, however, sleep overcame them +all, and they succumbed where they sat, in a variety of attitudes, +some of them by no means graceful.</p> + +<p>Ramon Maldonado was on a pinnacle of triumph and +happiness. Esperancita, to judge by appearances, must certainly +love him. He felt lifted above the earth, not merely by +the natural superiority of his soul, but by the ecstasy of joy. +His ugly little face was as radiant as a god's. Farewell for<a name="page_312" id="page_312"></a> +ever to the struggles and obstacles which had hitherto embittered +his life. Free henceforth from the service of sorrow, +as are the immortals, he gloried in his apotheosis, majestically +serene.</p> + +<p>He, too, had seated himself next the idol of his heroic heart, +and for some hours sat talking to her in dulcet tones—of English +cobs, and of the great pitched battles which were being +constantly fought in the municipal council, and in which he +bore an active part; till the innocent child, soothed by the +monotonous and insinuating discourse, closed her eyes, with +her head thrown back against the cushion.</p> + +<p>Maldonado remained awake, wide awake, thinking of his +happiness. Rosy-fingered Aurora, stepping over the ridge of +the distant Sierra, and flying swiftly across the wide plain, +peeped through the blinds of the carriages, diffusing a dim and +subdued light, and still he was hugging himself in contentment.</p> + +<p>Esperancita opened her eyes and smiled at him with a +tender smile which thrilled the deepest fibres of his lyric soul. +At this instant a lark began to sing. In Ramoncito the god +was each moment growing more distinct from the man; intoxicated +with love and happiness he murmured into the girl's ear, +in a voice tremulous with emotion, a few incoherent and ardent +phrases, the expression of the divine madness. Esperanza +shut her eyes again—to hear that music better?</p> + +<p>When he had exhausted all the superlatives in the dictionary +to describe his passion, the poetic young civilian thought to +achieve the task of conquest by showing the damsel, as in a +vision, all the glories he could shed upon her: "He was an +only son, his parents had an income of a hundred and ten +thousand reales<a name="FNanchor_H_8" id="FNanchor_H_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_H_8" class="fnanchor">[H]</a> a year; at the next ensuing elections he +intended to stand as candidate for Navalperal, where his family +had estates, and if only he had the support of the Government +he was certain to succeed. Then, as the Conservative party<a name="page_313" id="page_313"></a> +were greatly in need of new blood, he believed he should soon +get an appointment as under secretary, and—who could tell?—by-and-by, +at a change of Ministry, find himself entrusted with +a portfolio."</p> + +<p>The girl still kept her eyes shut. Ramoncito, more and +more excited, when he had ended this catalogue of brilliant +prospects, bent over her and whispered in impassioned tones: +"Do you love me, dearest, do you love me?"</p> + +<p>No answer.</p> + +<p>"Tell me, do you love me?"</p> + +<p>Esperancita, without opening her eyes, answered curtly:</p> + +<p>"No."<a name="page_314" id="page_314"></a></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI.<br /><br /> +<small>A DEPARTING SOUL.</small></h2> + +<p class="nind">A <small>FEW</small> weeks after this excursion, Doña Carmen's disease +suddenly grew much worse. The physicians, indeed, had no +doubt that her end was drawing near. She was in a state of +complete prostration. Her face was so thin, that there seemed +to be nothing left but the skin, and the large, sad, kind eyes, +which rested with strange intensity on all who came near her, +as if trying to read in theirs the terrible secret of death. And +in view of her death, a thousand sordid feelings surged up in +the minds of those who ought most to have sorrowed over it. +Salabert reflected with indignation on the inheritance which +was to pass to his daughter. He made fresh efforts to induce +his wife to revoke her will, but without success. For the first +time in her life, Doña Carmen showed great firmness of +character. Though she was incapable of a revengeful sentiment, +she perhaps felt bound by her desire to close her +existence by an act of justice. A life of abject submission, +during which she had never opposed the smallest obstacle to +her husband's will, to his money-making schemes, or his +illicit passions, had surely earned her the privilege of asserting +her rights on her death-bed, and gratifying the impulses of her +heart.</p> + +<p>Osorio kept silent watch, with concealed greed, over the +progress of her malady, looking to its termination as the end +of his own difficulties. Doña Carmen would be released from +her earthly husk, and he from his creditors. Clementina +herself, the object of the tender soul's devoted affection, could<a name="page_315" id="page_315"></a> +not help rejoicing over the prospect of so many millions +which were to drop into her hands. She did her best to +silence her desires, and subdue her impatience; but, in spite of +herself, a tempting fiend made her heart give a little leap of +gladness, every time the anticipation flashed through her brain.</p> + +<p>It was with infernal astuteness that Salabert set to work to +infuse distrust into his wife's mind. Sometimes by insinuation, +and sometimes by brutally broad hints, he poured the poison +of suspicion into her soul. Clementina and Osorio were +looking for her death, as for flowers in May. What airs they +would give themselves when they had paid all their debts! +And then they would live and enjoy themselves on her money.</p> + +<p>The poor woman said nothing, indignant at these base +innuendoes. But, nevertheless, in her soul, broken and saddened +by suffering, the keen point of this envenomed dart +festered deeply, though she strove to conceal her anguish. +Every time Clementina came to see her—and towards the end +this was twice a day—her stepmother's eyes would rest on hers +in mute interrogation, trying to read in them the thoughts in +the brain behind. This intent gaze embarrassed the younger +woman, making her feel a perturbation, which, though slight, +occasionally betrayed itself.</p> + +<p>As her malady increased, this anxiety on Doña Carmen's +part became almost a mania. In the isolation of soul in which +she lived, Clementina represented the one link of affection +which bound her to life. It was because her stepdaughter had +always been cold and haughty to every one else, that she had +never doubted the sincerity of her love for her, and it had +made her happy and proud. It had sufficed to indemnify her +for the scornful indifference with which every one else had +treated her. Now, the horrible doubt which had been forced +upon her, filled her heart with bitterness. Such a spirit of +goodness and love as her own craved to believe in goodness +and love. The uprooting of this last belief made her heart +bleed with anguish.</p> + +<p>One evening they were alone together; Doña Carmen,<a name="page_316" id="page_316"></a> +motionless in her deep arm-chair, with her head thrown back +on the pillows, was listening to Clementina, who was reading +aloud the pious history of the apparition of the Virgin of la +Salette. Her thoughts wandered from the narrative; they were +disturbed as usual by the fatal doubt, which tortured her more +than even her acute physical sufferings. She could not take +her eyes off Clementina's fair head, with the fixed look of +divination peculiar to dying persons, as though she could read +what was passing within, but without gaining the certainty she +longed for. More than once, when the reader glanced up, she +met that dull, grief-stricken gaze, and hastily looked down +again with a sudden sense of uneasiness. A desire, a whim, +had blazed up in the sick woman's mind, a feverish yearning +such as dying creatures feel. She longed to hear her stepdaughter +quench, by some gentle word, the fearful pain of +that burning doubt. Again and again the question hovered +on her lips; invincible shame kept her from uttering it.</p> + +<p>"Lay down the book, child, you are tired," she said at last. +And her voice came trembling from her throat, as though she +had said something very serious.</p> + +<p>"You are, perhaps, of listening. I am not. I have a strong +throat."</p> + +<p>"God preserve it to you, my child," replied Doña Carmen +tenderly, as she looked at her.</p> + +<p>There was a brief silence.</p> + +<p>"Do you know what I have been told?" she asked finally, +with an effort, and her voice was so low that the last syllables +were scarcely audible.</p> + +<p>Clementina, who was about to read again, raised her head. +The few drops of blood left in Doña Carmen's emaciated body +suddenly rushed to her face and tinged it with a faint flush.</p> + +<p>"I was told—that you wish for my death."</p> + +<p>Clementina's rich blood now mounted in a tide to her +cheeks and dyed them crimson. The two women looked +at each other for a moment in confusion. At last it was the +younger who exclaimed, with a dark frown:<a name="page_317" id="page_317"></a></p> + +<p>"I know who told you that!"</p> + +<p>And as she spoke the blood faded from her face again like +a sudden fall of the tide. Her stepmother's retreated to her +weary heart. She bent her head with its white hairs, and +said:</p> + +<p>"If you know, do not utter his name."</p> + +<p>"Why not?" cried her wrathful stepdaughter. "When a +father, with no motive whatever, solely for the sake of a +few dollars, can insult his daughter and make a martyr of +his wife, he has no right to claim either affection or respect. +I say it, and I do not care who hears me. It is an infamous +calumny! My father is a man who knows no God, no love +but money. I knew that your will had alienated his love for +me—if indeed he ever had any."</p> + +<p>"Oh!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I knew it perfectly. But I never could have believed +that it would lead him to do anything so vile as to calumniate +me so cruelly. I confess to you that I have always loved you +the most—oh, yes, much, much the most! I have no hesitation +in saying so. Nay, I will say more: I have never really +loved any one but you and my children. If this will is the +cause of your doubting my love for you, destroy it, undo it, +revoke it. Your love and your peace of mind are far dearer to +me than your money."</p> + +<p>Her voice thrilled with indignation. Her eyes were sternly +fixed on vacancy, as though she could evoke the figure of her +father and crush him to powder. At the moment she was +ardently sincere. Doña Carmen's dim eyes grew bright with +contentment as her daughter spoke. At last they glittered +through tears as she exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"I trust you, my child—I believe you! Ah, you cannot +think what good you have done me!"</p> + +<p>She seized her hands and kissed them fondly. Clementina +exclaimed, as if ashamed:</p> + +<p>"No, no, mamma! It is I who——" And she threw her +arms round her neck.<a name="page_318" id="page_318"></a></p> + +<p>They held each other in a warm embrace, shedding silent +tears. It was one of the few occasions in her life when Clementina +wept from tender feeling, and not from vexation of +spirit.</p> + +<p>But during the remaining days, though the memory of this +scene was lively with them both, so, too, was that of the suspicion +which had led to it. Clementina felt herself humbled in +her stepmother's presence. Her attentions and endearments +were now and then a little forced; she tried to efface the +impression she still read in Doña Carmen's eyes. Then, again, +fearing this might lead her to doubt her sincerity, she would +suddenly cut them short, and assume a cold indifference. In +short, a current of disquietude flowed between the two women, +and caused them both much suffering, though in different +ways, whenever they were together.</p> + +<p>At last Doña Carmen took to her bed, never again to rise. +Clementina spent the whole day by her side. The terrible end +was near. One morning, between two and three, two of the +Duke's servants gave the alarm to the Osorios. The Duchess +was dying, and asked repeatedly for her daughter. Clementina +hastily dressed and flew to the Requena Palace as fast as +her horses could carry her. Osorio went with her. As they +alighted they met the Duke, with an expression of scornful +gloom.</p> + +<p>"You are in time—oh, you are in time!" he growled, and +he turned away without another word.</p> + +<p>Clementina fancied the words were spoken with a malevolent +sneer, and bit her lips with rage. The pitiable scene that +met her eyes as she approached Doña Carmen's bedside pacified +her for the moment. The poor woman's face was stamped +by the hand of death; pale as a corpse, the nose pinched and +white, the eyes glassy and sunk in a livid circle. Standing by +her side was a priest, exhorting her to repentance. Of what? +Her faithful maid, Marcella, stood at the foot of the bed crying +bitterly, her face hidden in her handkerchief; and two other +maids in the background looked on at the pathetic picture,<a name="page_319" id="page_319"></a> +frightened rather than sorrowful. The physician was writing a +prescription at a table in the corner.</p> + +<p>On seeing her daughter the Duchess turned to look in her +face with an anxious expression, and held out a hand to +her.</p> + +<p>"Come close, child," she said, in a fairly strong voice. And +she took Clementina's right hand in her own thin, waxen +hands, and said, with a fearful fixity of gaze:</p> + +<p>"I am dying, my child, dying. Do you not see it? Only +so long as you are not glad of it."</p> + +<p>"Mamma, dear mamma!"</p> + +<p>"Say that you are not glad," she earnestly insisted, without +ceasing to look in her daughter's eyes.</p> + +<p>"Mamma, mamma, for God's sake!" cried Clementina, both +bewildered and alarmed.</p> + +<p>"Say that you are not glad!" she repeated, with increased +energy, even raising her head with a great effort, and looking +sternly at her.</p> + +<p>"No, my beloved mother, no. If I could save your life at +the cost of my own I swear to you I would do so."</p> + +<p>The dying woman's dim eyes softened; she laid her head on +the pillow, and, after a short silence, she said, in a weak, +quavering voice:</p> + +<p>"You would be very ungrateful—very ungrateful. Your +poor mother has loved you dearly. Kiss me, do not cry. I +am not sorry to leave this world. What hurt me was the +thought that you, child of my heart—you—oh, horrible to think +of! How it has tortured me!"</p> + +<p>The priest here interposed, desiring her to turn her mind +from worldly thoughts. The sick woman listened with humility, +and devoutly echoed the prayers he spoke in a loud voice. +The doctor and the Duke came close to the bed, but, seeing +that Doña Carmen was breathing her last, the physician took +Requena by the arm to lead him out of the room. Doña Carmen's +glazing eye wandered round the little group till it rested +on Clementina, to whom she signed to come closer.<a name="page_320" id="page_320"></a></p> + +<p>"God bless you, my child," she said, with a gaze fixed on +the ceiling. "You are right to be glad at my death."</p> + +<p>"Mamma, mamma, what are you saying?" cried Clementina, +in horror.</p> + +<p>"I am glad, too, glad that my death should be an advantage +to you. If I could have given you all while I lived, I +would have done it. It is sad, is it not, that I should have to +die to make you happy? I should have liked to see you +happy. Good-by; good-by. Think sometimes of your poor +mamma."</p> + +<p>"Mother, dearest mother!" sobbed the younger woman, +dropping on her knees with a burst of tears. "I do not want +you to die, no, no. I have been very wicked, but I have +always loved you, have always respected you."</p> + +<p>"Do not be foolish," said the dying woman, smiling with +an effort, and laying her hand on the fair head. "I am not +sorry if you are glad. And what does it matter? I die content +to know that you will owe some happiness to me. Remember +my old women in the asylum, be kind to them, and to Marcella, +my good Marcella. Farewell, all of you. Forgive me any +faults——"</p> + +<p>Her voice failed, her breathing was hard and painful. The +sobs of Clementina and Marcella were the only other sound. +The Duke, trembling and shocked, was at last persuaded to +leave the room.</p> + +<p>Doña Carmen spoke no more. Her eyes closed, her lips +parted, she lay quite still. Now and then she half raised her +eyelids and looked fondly at her step-daughter who remained +kneeling. The priest read on in a quavering nasal voice prayer +after prayer.</p> + +<p>Thus died the Duchess de Requena. Let her depart in +peace.</p> + +<p> +<br /> +</p> + +<p>For some days after, Clementina and her husband, in spite +of their inextinguishable aversion, held long and repeated conferences. +The great question of the inheritance united their<a name="page_321" id="page_321"></a> +interests for a while. Clementina went every morning and +evening to see her father, and Osorio too was a frequent +visitor; they both were lavish of attentions to the old man, +took pity on his loneliness, and made much of him. There +was an affectionate familiarity in their demeanour which was +highly becoming in a son and daughter who make it their duty +to cherish a venerable parent in his old age. The Duke, on +his part, accepted their care, watching them with an expression +which was ironical rather than grateful. When their backs +were turned to leave him, he gazed after them, slowly closing +his eyes, and turned his cigar-stump between his teeth, while +his lips sketched a sarcastic smile, which did not die away for +some few seconds.</p> + +<p>But everything went on as before. Although the Duchess's +will was incontrovertible, Salabert never said a word on money +matters. He continued to manage the whole of the fortune, +and engaged in various concerns with calm despotism. But his +daughter and son-in-law were not so calm. They began, on the +contrary, to be greatly disturbed, to express their opinions to +each other with crude vehemence, and to lay plots to provoke +an explanation. Clementina thought that Osorio should speak +to her father. He considered it her part to apply to him +in dutiful terms for an explanation, before formulating a complaint. +After some days of hesitation the wife finally made up +her mind to say a few words to her father, though not without +some embarrassment, since she knew his temper and her own too.</p> + +<p>"Well, papa," said she, with affected lightness, finding him +alone in his room, "when are you going to talk over money +matters with me?"</p> + +<p>"Money matters? Why should I?" he replied in a tone of +surprise, and looking at her with such an air of innocence that +she longed to slap his face.</p> + +<p>"Why should you? Because it will have to be done, to put +me in possession of my property. Am I not mamma's sole +legatee?" she answered in the same cheerful tone, but there +was a very perceptible quaver in her voice.<a name="page_322" id="page_322"></a></p> + +<p>"Ah, to be sure!" exclaimed the Duke, with a flourish of +the hand to dismiss the subject. "We will talk of that later—much +later."</p> + +<p>Clementina turned pale. Her blood seemed to curdle with +rage. Her lips quivered, and she was on the point of saying +something violent.</p> + +<p>"Still, it would be as well that we should come to an understanding," +she murmured in a low voice.</p> + +<p>"Not at all, not at all. I cannot discuss it now. When I +have time and am in the humour I will think about it."</p> + +<p>He spoke with such decision and indifference that his +daughter had no choice but either to give the reins to her +tongue and quarrel violently with her father, or to go. After a +moment's hesitation she went. She turned on her heel, and, +without a word of leave-taking, she quitted the room and went +off in her carriage, in such a state of excitement that she was +trembling from head to foot.</p> + +<p>As soon as she reached home she shut herself up in her own +room and gave vent to her fury. She wept, she stamped, she +tore her clothes, and broke various articles of crockery. Osorio +too flew into a rage, and declared he would bring Salabert to +book. But nothing came of it all, excepting a letter, in which +respectfully enough, he required his father-in-law to give him +an account of the state of his business, that the preliminaries +of an estimate might be arrived at. Salabert simply did not +answer. They wrote another; again no reply. They ceased +going to the house. Clementina would not go for fear of a +scandal. Osorio, on his part, considering the relations that +subsisted between him and his wife, did not feel that he had +the moral position which would entitle him to lay formal claim +to her fortune.</p> + +<p>In this predicament they consulted certain persons of weight, +friends of the Duke, and requested them to mediate. This +was done; they had various interviews with the old man, and +after much consultation a friendly meeting was agreed on, to +avoid bringing the matter into a court of law. The meeting<a name="page_323" id="page_323"></a> +was held, after some objections on Clementina's part, at her +father's house. Besides the interested parties, there were +present Father Ortega, the Conde de Cotorraso, Calderón, and +Jimenez Arbos.</p> + +<p>The proceedings were opened by Arbos—no longer in the +Ministry, but a member of the Opposition—who made a speech +in a conciliatory key, urging them to agree rather than present +to the public the spectacle of a quarrel on money matters between +a father and daughter—a spectacle which, in view of the position +they held, must be both painful and discreditable. The next +to speak was Father Ortega, who, in the unctuous and persuasive +accents which characterised him, first bestowed on +both parties a plentiful lather of preposterous encomiums, and +then appealed to their Christian feelings, representing how +bad an example they would set, and painting the sweets of +loving-kindness and self-sacrifice, ending by promises of eternal +life and glory.</p> + +<p>Clementina replied. She had no wish but to continue in +the same friendly relations with her father as had hitherto subsisted, +and to achieve that end she was prepared to do all in +her power. The curt, dry tone in which she spoke, and the +scowl which accompanied her words, gave no strong evidence +of sincerity. However, the Duke seemed greatly moved.</p> + +<p>"Arbos," he began, "Father, my friends, and my children; +you all know me well. To me, without domestic life, there is +no possibility of happiness. After the terrible blow I have so +lately suffered, my daughter is all that is left to me. On her +centre all my hopes, my affections, and my pride. For her I +have toiled, have struggled indefatigably, have accumulated +the capital I possess. I may say that I have never cared for +money but for the sake of my wife, now in glory, and my +daughter—to see them living in comfort and luxury. As you +know, I could always have lived on a few coppers a day. And +now that I am old, all the more so. What can I want with +millions? Ere long, I too must take the train for the other +side—Eh, Julian? And you too.—Who then can suppose that<a name="page_324" id="page_324"></a> +I should ever quarrel over a handful of dollars with my +dear and only daughter? The whole thing has been a mistake. +I wanted time to put my affairs in order; that was all. +And if you, my child, ever could imagine anything else, I can +only tell you this: everything in this house is yours, and +always has been. Take it whenever you choose. Take it, my +child, take it. I can do with nothing."</p> + +<p>As he pronounced the last words with visible emotion, they +all were able to shed a tear. Every one was deeply moved and +eager with conciliatory exhortation. Father Ortega gently +pushed Clementina into her father's arms; and though she was +the least agitated of the party, she allowed him to embrace her.</p> + +<p>He clasped her to his heart for some minutes, and when he +released her dropped into his arm-chair, with his handkerchief +to his eyes, quite overcome by so much emotion.</p> + +<p>After so pathetic a scene no one could allude to money. +The meeting broke up with fervid hand-pressing and warm +mutual congratulations on the happy issue of their diplomacy. +But Osorio and his wife got into their carriage, grave and +sullen, and exchanged not a single word on the drive home. +Only as they reached their own door, Clementina said:</p> + +<p>"Well, we shall see how the farce ends."</p> + +<p>Osorio shrugged his shoulders.</p> + +<p>"We have seen the end, I suspect."</p> + +<p>And he was right.</p> + +<p>The Duke never paid them a cent., and never again spoke +of his daughter's fortune. He was very affectionate, and +constantly had them to dine with him, complaining of his +loneliness. Now and then he spoke of transactions he was +engaged in, but not a word of paying them their share. +Clementina was at last so much provoked that she suddenly +ceased going to the house. They then took to exchanging +notes. Nothing was to be got out of her father but ambiguous +replies and vague hopes. Finally they decided on taking legal +steps, and a lawsuit began, which was a source of endless satisfaction +to the faculty.<a name="page_325" id="page_325"></a></p> + +<p>This was an end of all joy or comfort for Clementina. She +lived in a state of perpetual ferment, watching the progress of +the litigation with anxious interest, communicating with the +lawyers, and trying to exert some influence which might +counterbalance the Duke's. He, on his part, took the matter +much more calmly, conducted it with maddening acumen, +taking advantage of her displays of violence to represent her in +the eyes of the world as a greedy and unnatural daughter. At +the same time, among his intimate acquaintances, he would now +and then give utterance to some sarcastic or cynical speech which, +when it reached her ears, made her wild with rage. The +struggle became more desperate every day, while, on the other +hand, Osorio's creditors, deceived in their hopes, began to +press him very hard, and threatened to bring him to ruin. The +torments, the tempers, the wretched state of things in the +Osorio household may be easily imagined.</p> + +<p>This discomfort, and it might be called misery, extended +to the hapless Raimundo. Clementina, torn soul and body +by a tumult of other passions, found no leisure for the blandishments +of love. The minutes she could spare for them were +every day briefer and less calm. The gay <i>tête-à-têtes</i> and +merry devices of a former time were over for ever. The lady +no longer found any amusement in laughing at her boyish +lover. She did not seem even to remember the childish +pleasures in which they had delighted. She could talk of +nothing now but the lawsuit. Her nerves were in such a state +of tension that an inadvertent word might put her into a +furious rage. And, besides all this, in her vehement desire for +triumph over her father, she flirted more than ever with +Escosura, who had just come into office; and this, as may be +supposed, was what most distressed the young naturalist.</p> + +<p>One day, when she was rather more fond than usual, she +said in loving accents:</p> + +<p>"You are still jealous of Escosura, Raimundo? But it is +quite a mistake. I do not care a straw for the man."</p> + +<p>"Yes, so you have often told me, and yet——"<a name="page_326" id="page_326"></a></p> + +<p>"There is no 'and yet' in the case, fastidious youth!" she +interrupted, gently pulling his ear. "I never loved, and never +could love any one but you. But—here comes the but—you alas! +are not in power, though you deserve to be more than any one +I know. My fortune, as you know, is at the mercy of the law, +and I may be told any day that I am a beggar. Accustomed +as I am to comfort and luxury, you may imagine how much I +should relish this. And my pride, too, would suffer, for I am +the object of much invidious feeling; people hate me without +knowing why. In short, I should be laughed at, and that I +could not endure. My father has a great many supporters. +Men count on him for services, though he is utterly incapable +of a kindness, and they are afraid of him too. Now I, though +on intimate terms with all the official circle of Madrid, have +not one true friend to take a real interest in my affairs, or dare +to show a bold front to my father. And so, you see, I must +try to make one. Now imagine this friend to be Escosura, and +imagine me to break with you before the eyes of the world, +though still you are the one and only man I can ever love. +What do you think of the arrangement? Can you regard it as +acceptable?"</p> + +<p>Raimundo coloured crimson at this strange and humiliating +proposition. For a minute or two he made no reply, but at +last he said, between anger and contempt:</p> + +<p>"It strikes me as simply infamous and indecent."</p> + +<p>The furrow, the fateful furrow, which appeared on Clementina's +brow whenever passion stirred her stormy soul, was +ominously deep. She abruptly rose, and after looking at him +hard, with an expression of scornful rage, she said in icy tones:</p> + +<p>"You are right. Such an arrangement could not meet your +views! We had better part, once for all." And she turned +to go.</p> + +<p>Raimundo was confounded.</p> + +<p>"Clementina!" he cried as she reached the door.</p> + +<p>"What is it?" said she, as coldly as before, and looking +round.<a name="page_327" id="page_327"></a></p> + +<p>"Listen, one moment, for God's sake! I spoke under an +impulse of jealousy, not meaning to wound you. How could +I ever mean to hurt you when I love you, adore you as a creature +of another sphere?" and he poured out words of tenderness +and worship.</p> + +<p>Clementina listened without moving from her attitude of +haughty indifference, and would not melt till she saw him +utterly humbled, on his knees before her, beseeching for the +scheme he had stigmatised as infamous and indecent as a +favour to himself.</p> + +<p>At this time Clementina received a blow which almost made +her ill. Her father brought the audacious woman to whom he +had given a card for his ball to live in the palace, and this +extraordinary proceeding became the talk of all Madrid. +Every one believed that Salabert was out of his mind. And +then a rumour got afloat that he was about to marry Amparo, +and amazement and indignation filled the soul of Society.</p> + +<p>But an unforeseen accident interfered with this alliance. At +a meeting of the shareholders of the Riosa mines it was the +Duke's part, as chairman, to give an account of his management, +and propose certain measures for the advantage of the +company. He usually fulfilled such functions with great +brevity and lucidity; he was, above all else, a man of business, +and had no fancy for rambling speeches or more words than +were absolutely necessary. But now, to the surprise of his +audience, among whom there were many bankers and official +personages, he began a rambling address quite foreign to the +matter.</p> + +<p>He wandered from his subject and began giving explanations +of his conduct as a public character, sketched a complete +biography of himself, dwelling on a thousand insignificant +details; sang his own praises in the most barefaced way, putting +himself forward as the model of a logical politician, and of +disinterested self-sacrifice; spoke of his services to the nation +by his loans to the Government in the hour of need, and to the +cause of humanity by his co-operation in the founding of<a name="page_328" id="page_328"></a> +hospitals, schools, and asylums; finally having the audacity to +assert that the Home for Old Women was his work.</p> + +<p>The shareholders looked at one another in bewilderment, +muttering not very complimentary comments on the orator's +condition of mind. When he had finished the catalogue of his +own merits and proclaimed himself, <i>urbi et orbi</i>, the greatest +man in Spain, he began an invective against his enemies, +describing himself as the victim of persistent and deliberate +persecution, of a thousand intrigues plotted to discredit him, +and in which various political and financial magnates were +implicated. In confirmation of this statement he read, in loud, +fierce tones, certain articles from a paper published in the +district where the Riosa mines were situated, and which, +according to him, constituted a gross and shameful attack. +What they actually said amounted to this: That Salabert +was not a man of such mark as to be worthy to have a +statue.</p> + +<p>His hearers, more and more wearied and indignant, now +said, though still in under-tone: "The man is crazy! The +man is mad!"</p> + +<p>As he read on, his face grew purple; it was usually pale, it +now looked as if he were being strangled. Suddenly, before +he had finished, he fell back senseless in his chair.<a name="page_329" id="page_329"></a></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a>CHAPTER XVII.<br /><br /> +<small>A DARKENED MIND.</small></h2> + +<p class="nind">A<small>FTER</small> this attack Requena's mental faculties were perceptibly +weakened, as every one could discern who saw him. He +suffered from strange illusions; his speech was slow and even +less intelligible than of old. He was full of fancies and whims. +It was said that he had given his mistress vast sums of money; +that he flew into a rage over the merest trifles, and shrieked +and raved like a mad creature, going so far as to inflict bodily +injuries on his servants and attendants; that he ate voraciously, +and would say the most horrible things to his daughter. +His sullen and vindictive temper had become violent and +malignant.</p> + +<p>In business matters, however, his faculties showed no signs +of deserting him, nor had the mainspring of his nature, avarice, +run down. His affairs, to be sure, for the most part went on +by themselves, and he still had Llera, whose talents as a +speculator had gained in astuteness. Where the derangement, +or rather the weakness of his mind, was most conspicuous, was +in his domestic affairs. His mistress reigned supreme, and as +in Madrid there is no lack of social parasites, there were +plenty of hangers-on to sing her praises. She gave tea and +card parties, and though the society she collected left much to +be desired in point of quality, in appearance it made as good +a show as that of many another wealthy house. There were +Grandees of Castile who honoured her with their presence, among +them Manolo de Davalos, as mad and as much in love as ever.</p> + +<p>The lawsuit between the Duke and his daughter ran its<a name="page_330" id="page_330"></a> +lengthy course, each party more obstinate and more virulent +every day. In fact, to Clementina, it had resolved itself into a +personal struggle with Amparo. The thing which she and +Osorio most dreaded was that her father should commit himself +to the marriage which was openly prognosticated. If he +did, this hussy, an ex-flower-girl, would flaunt the ducal coronet, +and treat with them on equal terms. Though society at first +would have nothing to say to her, everything is forgotten in +time, and Amparo would presently be regarded as a Duchess +indeed. Happily for them, though Salabert was very submissive +to her vagaries, they heard that the Duke had positively +refused to marry her, and that when she endeavoured to coerce +him, there were violent scenes between them. Whether all +that the servants reported were true or no, there was no doubt +that she was urgent and he obstinate. But though her attacks +continued to be fruitless, Clementina and Osorio lived +"between the devil and the deep sea." The Duke was +pronounced to be suffering from creeping paralysis. Under +these circumstances, after consulting several eminent lawyers, +they determined to petition the Court for a decree pronouncing +him incompetent or incapable of managing his own affairs. +He had, lately, it was said, had a fresh attack, which had left +him quite imbecile. This report seemed to be confirmed by +his never leaving the house, and by his most intimate friends +being refused admittance to see him. It was under these +circumstances that, either from some sudden impulse of her +impetuous nature, or because some of her acquaintances had +suggested it to her, Clementina determined to deal a decisive +blow, which would at once put an end to the litigation and to +all the difficulties bound up with it.</p> + +<p>"My father is shut up," said she, "I will go and turn that +woman out of the house."</p> + +<p>Her husband tried to dissuade her, but in vain.</p> + +<p>One morning, therefore, she drove to her father's palace. +The porter, on opening the gate to the Señora Clementina, was +at once amazed and pleased; for though she was neither so<a name="page_331" id="page_331"></a> +smooth-tongued nor so liberal as the ex-florist, a sense of justice +led the Duke's household to respect his daughter and contemn +his mistress. The haughty lady, without looking at the man, +merely said:</p> + +<p>"Well, Rafael?" and went quickly up the steps.</p> + +<p>"How is papa?" she asked of the servant who met her in +the hall.</p> + +<p>He was too much astonished to be able to reply.</p> + +<p>"Well, fellow!" she repeated impatiently, "Where is papa? +In the office, or in his study?"</p> + +<p>"I beg your pardon, Señora; the Duke is well. I think he +is in his study."</p> + +<p>At this juncture, a waiting-maid, who had caught sight of her +from the end of a passage, and heard her inquiries, flew off to +warn the Señora, while Clementina hastened up the stairs to +the first-floor. But before she could reach her father's room, +the lady in possession stood in her path, looking straight into +her face, with flashing eyes.</p> + +<p>"Where are you going?" she asked, in a voice husky with +excitement.</p> + +<p>"Who are you?" asked Clementina, lifting her head with +supreme disdain, and looking down on her.</p> + +<p>"I am the mistress of this house," was the reply, but the +speaker turned pale.</p> + +<p>"The sick nurse, you should say. I never heard that there +was a mistress here."</p> + +<p>"What! Have you come to insult me in my own house?" +exclaimed Amparo, setting her arms akimbo, as if she still were +on the market-place.</p> + +<p>"No. I have come to turn you out, before the police arrive +and do it for me."</p> + +<p>Her antagonist made a movement, as though she would fall +on her and rend her; but she checked herself, and began to +scream as loud as she could: "Pepe, Gregorio, Anselmo! +Come here, come all! Turn this insolent creature out of the +house! She is insulting me."<a name="page_332" id="page_332"></a></p> + +<p>Some of the servants came at her call; but they stood +confused and motionless, contemplating this strange scene. +At the same moment the door of the Duke's room was opened, +and Salabert stood before them in a dressing-gown and cap. +He had grown terribly old in a few weeks. His eyes were +dull, his face colourless, his cheeks pendant and flabby.</p> + +<p>"What is all this? What is the matter?" he asked thickly. +On seeing his daughter, he staggered back a step.</p> + +<p>"This woman," cried Amparo, in a yell of vulgar rage, +"after having you declared an idiot, comes here to insult +me!"</p> + +<p>"Papa, do not heed her," said Clementina, going up to +him.</p> + +<p>But her father drew back, and holding out his trembling +hands he exclaimed: "Go—go away! Do not come near +me!"</p> + +<p>"Listen to me, papa."</p> + +<p>"Do not come near me, wicked, ungrateful child!" repeated +the Duke, in a quavering voice, but with melodramatic +emphasis.</p> + +<p>"Yes, leave this house, shameless creature," added the +woman, encouraged by the old man's attitude. "Dare you +show your face here, after treating your father so?"</p> + +<p>Clementina stood petrified, colourless, staring at them with +a look of terror rather than anger. For an instant she was on +the point of fainting away; everything seemed to be whirling +round her. But her pride enabled her to make a supreme +effort; she stood rooted to the spot, and incapable of moving, +as white as a marble statue. Then she turned on her heel +slowly, for fear of falling, and reached the stairs, down which +she went, almost tottering at each step. Her father, spurred by +Amparo's cries, followed her to the top of the flight, repeating +with increasing fury:</p> + +<p>"Go—go. Leave my house!" And he held up a tremulous +hand in theatrical menace.</p> + +<p>His mistress, meanwhile, poured forth a string of abuse<a name="page_333" id="page_333"></a> +with an accompaniment of gestures, sarcastic laughter and +gibes, learnt and remembered from her early experience.</p> + +<p>By the time Clementina had reached the garden, her cheeks +were tingling. She leaned against the pedestal of one of the +lamps for a minute to recover herself, and then ran like a +mad creature to the gate, where her carriage was waiting; she +sprang into it and burst into tears. On reaching home she +was lifted out in a miserable state, and helped up to her +room by two maids. When Osorio came up, it was only in +broken and incoherent sentences that she could tell him what +had occurred.</p> + +<p>She kept her bed for eight or ten days in a state of utter +prostration, and she rose from it at last so possessed by the +desire for revenge, that she really seemed to have gone +mad.</p> + +<p>The lawsuit, under the hot breath of her malice, was fanned +to an imposing blaze. It was regarded in Madrid as a matter +of public interest. The opinions of the most distinguished +physicians, Spanish and foreign, were taken on both sides as to +the Duke's mental incapacity. On one part he was pronounced +an idiot, so hopelessly childish that there was +nothing to be done with him; on the other it was asserted +that he was mending steadily, his mind clearer every day, and +his intellect a marvel of acumen and sound sense. And on +one point all the authorities concurred—namely, in requiring +enormous fees. The press took sides with one or the other +party. Clementina subsidised one or two papers. Amparo +had bribed others, for the Duke, as a matter of fact, was incompetent +to direct the case. And through their columns the +two women, more or less disguised, contrived to hurl insolence +at one another, reviving, in an allegorical dress, an extensive +selection of scandalous tales.</p> + +<p>In this warfare the daughter had the worst chance. She +could not be so liberal as the mistress, who sowed bank-notes +broadcast. On the other hand, Clementina had the support of +her husband's creditors, and of her friend Pepa Frias—who was<a name="page_334" id="page_334"></a> +indefatigable in her visits to the doctors, the lawyers, and the +newspaper editors—the Condesa de Cotorraso, the Marquesa +de Alcudia, her brother-in-law, Calderón, General Patiño and +Jimenez Arbos; and, more helpful than all these, as in duty +bound, her lover <i>en titre</i>, Escosura. He, holding a post of +high importance, had no small influence on the course of +the lawsuit.</p> + +<p>What a life of excitement, anxiety, and misery! Clementina +could not eat, she could not sleep. She was always holding +conferences with lawyers and judges, always writing letters. +Even at her parties and dinners, nothing else was talked about, +till at length the more indifferent of her acquaintance rebelled, +and ceased to come. To others, however, she communicated +some of her own flame; they became her ardent partisans, and +brought or carried reports, volunteered advice, broke out in +cries of indignation whenever Amparo was even mentioned. +And although Clementina's haughty temper prevented her +being a favourite in Madrid society, as she stood forth, after +all, as the representative of justice and decency, her cause +found most supporters. To this her antagonist's folly contributed, +for she paraded herself and her splendour everywhere, +with the imbecile and degraded old man.</p> + +<p>The Duke was in fact perishing before their eyes. After a +stage of excitement and violence, when he had behaved like a +madman, came a period of nervous prostration; by degrees he +became almost idiotic. He lost his wits so completely that he +could not even understand business. Everything was left to +Llera. This would have been all right, but that Amparo would +interfere and do all kinds of mischief. She took the greatest +pains, however, to hide Salabert's condition; on days when he +was over excitable or incoherent, she kept him in his room. +It was only when he was calm and rational that she ventured +to take him out, and then never allowed him to talk +to any one. But her efforts were not always successful. +Salabert went out by himself on various pretences, and amply +betrayed his deranged condition. On one occasion he was<a name="page_335" id="page_335"></a> +found outside the town at four in the morning. Another time +he went into a jeweller's shop, and after ordering some trinkets +he pocketed some others, believing he had not been observed. +The jeweller had seen it, however, but he said nothing, knowing +the millionaire. He sent the bill in to Amparo, who hastened +to pay it, and went in person to beg that the matter should not +be divulged. In short, before long it was established beyond +a doubt, in spite of the contending evidence of physicians, that +the Duke was absolutely <i>non compos</i>; and it was said that the +lawsuit would be decided in that sense.</p> + +<p>Two days before the decision was made public, Amparo +vanished from the Requena palace, after sacking it very completely, +and carrying off with her many objects of great value. +Her savings already amounted to several thousand dollars, and +in anticipation of disaster she had drawn the money out of the +Bank of Spain and placed it in foreign securities. She was +afterwards heard of in France, and a few months later it +was reported in Madrid that she had married the crazy +Marquis.</p> + +<p> +<br /> +</p> + +<p>On the very day of Amparo's flight—for it may be called a +flight—Clementina and her husband took possession of the +Requena palace. She found her father in a pitiable state of +total imbecility. He spoke as though they had met but the +day before and nothing of any importance had occurred, he +asked for Amparo, and sometimes mistook his daughter for +her. The daughter's heart, it must be owned, was not severely +wrung. This catastrophe by no means satisfied the bitterness +which possessed her soul when she recalled all the wretchedness +she had endured. Her vengeance was incomplete, for +Amparo was rich and content. She longed to prosecute her +as a criminal, while Osorio, satisfied with the enormous +fortune which had dropped into his hands, did not regard her +thefts as worth a thought.</p> + +<p>The Duke de Requena, the famous financier who for twenty +years had been the wonder and admiration of the banking<a name="page_336" id="page_336"></a> +world in Spain and abroad, the man who had been so much +discussed by the public and the press, was ere long, in his own +house—now the Osorio palace—a useless and worthless +chattel. To avoid comment, or to be more secure as to his +condition, or perhaps out of some dim fear lest he should +recover, the Osorios did not send him to a lunatic asylum; +they had him cared for at home. Salabert was no more than +a child. He thought of nothing but his meals. He spoke +very little, but sat hour after hour, looking at his nails or +rubbing one hand over the other, now and then uttering some +strange, inarticulate cry. He was in the charge of an attendant, +who, when he was tiresome, would fly in a rage and slap him. +But the person he held in most respect, it may be said in real +awe, was his daughter. It was enough for Clementina to frown +and speak a scolding word; he submitted at once. For his +son-in-law, on the other hand, he did not care a pin.</p> + +<p>When his attendant found him quiet and went to amuse +himself for an hour with the other servants, the crazy old man +would wander about the house, more especially to gaze in the +mirrors. His principal mania was for picking up pieces of +bread and storing them in a corner of his room, where they lay +till they were mouldy. When the pile was too large the +servants cleared it away in baskets and flung it out on the +dust-heap. Then when he missed it he was furious, and his +keeper had to use strong measures to pacify him. One morning, +soon after the Osorios' breakfast—the old man ate alone in +his own room—three or four of the servants were together in +the great dining-room, cleaning the plate and putting it away +in the side-board cupboards. They were in high spirits and +playing games, hitting each other with the long loaves they had +taken up for sticks, running round the table and laughing +loudly. Their mistress was upstairs and could not hear them. +Suddenly the old imbecile appeared on the scene, with the tray +on which he was wont to carry off the broken pieces as a +precious booty to his room. He had on a greasy old shooting +coat, and his head was bare. And, in spite of its white hairs,<a name="page_337" id="page_337"></a> +that head was not venerable; the yellow unshaven cheeks, the +colourless, loose lips, the stony, expressionless eyes had no +trace of the beauty of old age, but only the decrepitude of vice, +which is always repulsive, and the stamp of idiotcy which is +always terrible.</p> + +<p>Seeing so many persons, he paused a moment, but he made +up his mind to come in, and went straight to the drawers of +the side-board, where he began an eager search, picking up +every scrap he found there and collecting them on the tray. +The servants watched him with amusement.</p> + +<p>"Hunt away, old fellow!" cried one. "When are you going +to ask us to try the broth, daddy?"</p> + +<p>The old man made no reply, he was much too busy.</p> + +<p>"The broth, sir," said another, "you had better ask us to +share a ten dollar-note."</p> + +<p>"I shall not ask you," mumbled the Duke with some irritation, +"I shall only ask Anselmo."</p> + +<p>"Oh yes, we know why you ask Anselmo, it is because he +keeps the stick! Never fear, if that is all, you shall ask +me too."</p> + +<p>The others all shouted with laughter, and the youngest, a +boy of about sixteen, seeing him with his tray filled, and about +to depart, slipped behind him and, giving him a jerk, upset all +the bits, which were scattered on the floor. The Duke's rage +was terrific, with yells of rage he went down on his knees to +pick them up again, while the servants applauded the joke. +As soon as he had collected them all again on his tray, and +was shuffling off as fast as he could to escape from their rough +fun, the same fellow again came behind him and snatched it +away. The madman's frenzy was indescribable; gnashing his +teeth and glaring with fury, he rushed on the lad, but the +others seized him. The poor lunatic began to utter cries which +were anything rather than human.</p> + +<p>At this moment Clementina's voice was heard in high wrath:</p> + +<p>"What is the matter? What are you doing to papa?"</p> + +<p>The servants let him go, and vanished from the room.<a name="page_338" id="page_338"></a></p> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a>CHAPTER XVIII.<br /><br /> +<small>A PASSION BURNT OUT.</small></h2> + +<p class="nind">R<small>AIMUNDO'S</small> love affairs hung only by a thread. In these +latter days Clementina, entirely absorbed by her triumph and +thirst for revenge, had hardly given him a thought. They still +met frequently, for the young man did not cease to visit her, +but their love-passages were fewer every day. If he timidly +complained of her neglect, the lady excused herself on the +score of Escosura's jealousy. It was in vain that she had tried +to persuade him that she was "off with the old love." "And +you see," she said "if he finds out that I have deceived him, +he will have good cause for a furious scene."</p> + +<p>Raimundo was so utterly lost that he admitted, or feigned to +admit, this reasoning as valid. Through this abject humiliation +he still contrived to be happy in the illusion that his idol preferred +him, loved him best at the bottom of her heart, that she +only flirted with the Minister for the sake of her lawsuit. +Clementina fostered this belief by sending him from time to time, +when she could forget her vexations, a few lines appointing a +meeting, "to-day at four," or "this afternoon in our rooms." +And at these interviews she would make him as happy as of old +by swearing eternal fidelity.</p> + +<p>But all joys are brief in this world; Raimundo's were brief +indeed. The very next day, after some such meeting, he would +find his mistress as cold as marble, disdainful of him, and, +what was worse, absorbed in conversation with Escosura, in a +recess of the drawing-room. He had innocently believed that +the end of the lawsuit would restore his happiness, that Clementina,<a name="page_339" id="page_339"></a> +no longer needing the great man's help, would again be +wholly his. But his hopes were blown to the winds like smoke. +The lawsuit was decided in her favour, but far from dismissing +her official cavalier, she showed him greater respect and affection.</p> + +<p>One morning, two months after the close of the business, he +received a note from Clementina, saying:</p> + +<p>"Meet me at two this afternoon."</p> + +<p>His heart leaped for joy. It was more than a fortnight +since Clementina had given him rendezvous at their little +<i>entresol</i>. By one o'clock he was there to wait for her, and as +soon as he saw her from afar he ran to open the door with as +much agitation as though she had been a queen, and far more +tender devotion. She seemed grateful and affectionate, and +accepted his passionate caresses with gracious kindness.</p> + +<p>But after they had chatted for about an hour, as they sat +side by side on the sofa, she looked at him with a slow, compassionate +gaze, and said:</p> + +<p>"Do you know, Mundo, that this is the last time we shall +ever sit here alone together?"</p> + +<p>The youth looked at her in speechless amazement; he did +not, he would not, understand.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I cannot keep up this mystery any longer. Escosura +is very indignant, and with reason. Besides, I am ashamed—it +is horrible of me. And, after all, you have nothing to +complain of. I have always been nice to you. If I ever +loved a man truly, it was you, and the proof of it is that it has +lasted so long. But nothing in this world can last for ever, and +as matters stand we had better part. You see, Mundo, I am +growing old—you are but a boy. If I did not break with you, +sooner or later you would throw me over. Such is life. Though +you still think me handsome, these are but the last remains of +beauty. I must bid farewell to all the follies we have indulged +in together, but I shall always look back on them with pleasure. +I swear to you that you will always symbolise to me the +happiest period of my life. So now, henceforth, we will<a name="page_340" id="page_340"></a> +still be good friends. It will always be a satisfaction to +me to be able to serve you, for I owe you many hours of +happiness."</p> + +<p>The young man listened to this cruel speech, motionless +and stricken. His face was perfectly colourless.</p> + +<p>"Do you mean it?" he said at last, in a husky voice.</p> + +<p>"Yes, my dear boy, yes. I mean it," she replied, with the +same sad, patronising smile.</p> + +<p>"It is impossible! It cannot be!" he exclaimed vehemently, +and starting to his feet he looked down on her with a mixture +of horror and indignation.</p> + +<p>This expression in his eyes roused her pride.</p> + +<p>"But you will see that it can be!" she retorted with a touch +of irony which was the height of cruelty.</p> + +<p>He stood frozen for a moment, gazing at her with intense +anguish, then he fell on his knees at her feet, with clasped +hand, imploring her:</p> + +<p>"For God's sake, do not kill me! Do not kill me!"</p> + +<p>Clementina's face softened, and her voice broke a little.</p> + +<p>"Come, Mundo," said she, "do not be a baby. Get up. +This had to come. You will find other women far more +worthy than I."</p> + +<p>But the young man held her knees clasped, kissing them in +a frenzy of grief, his whole frame shaken by sobs.</p> + +<p>"This is horrible, horrible, horrible!" he kept saying. +"Oh! what have I done that you should kill me with misery?"</p> + +<p>"Come, come," she said, gently stroking his hair. "Get +up, be reasonable. Do you not see that this is ridiculous?"</p> + +<p>"What do I care?" he cried, his face hidden in her silk +skirts. "For you I would be ridiculous in the eyes of the +whole world."</p> + +<p>Clementina tried to soothe him, but without any emotion or +pity. There is no wild beast more cruel than a woman whose +love is satiated. She let his grief have its way for a while, and +when he grew calmer she rose.</p> + +<p>"I am grateful to you for all this feeling, Mundo. I, too,<a name="page_341" id="page_341"></a> +have gone through a terrible struggle before I could make +up my mind to part."</p> + +<p>"It is false!" cried Raimundo, still kneeling, with his elbows +on the sofa. "If you still loved me, you could not be so cruel, +so base."</p> + +<p>Clementina stood silent for a minute, looking at his shoulders +in great irritation. At last, touched by pity, she said:</p> + +<p>"I forgive you the insult in consideration of the agitation +you are in. Though you may abuse me you will still be able to +think of me with affection; and even when you have quite +forgotten me, the memory of your face and the happy hours we +have passed together will remain engraved on my heart. But +now we must come to an explanation," she added, in a sterner +tone. "Let us be worthy of each other, Raimundo. You +must, please, take a hackney coach to your house and bring +me back every line I ever wrote to you, that we may burn +them. I have none of yours; you know I always destroyed +them immediately."</p> + +<p>Raimundo did not stir. After waiting a few moments she +went up behind him, leaned over him, and laid her hands on +his cheeks, saying kindly:</p> + +<p>"Foolish boy! Am I the only woman in the world?"</p> + +<p>He thrilled at the touch of those soft hands, and, turning +suddenly, seized them and covered them with kisses, pressed +them to his heart, laid them on his brow.</p> + +<p>"Yes, Clementina, the only woman; or, if there are others, +I do not know them—I do not want to know them. But is it +true? Is it true that you do not love me?"</p> + +<p>And his tearful eyes looked up at her with such an expression +of woe that she could not but lie.</p> + +<p>"I never said I did not love you, but only that we can meet +no more—like this."</p> + +<p>"It is the same thing."</p> + +<p>"No, it is not the same thing, foolish boy. I may love you, +and yet, in consequence of special circumstances, I may not be +able—we cannot have everything we wish for in this world."<a name="page_342" id="page_342"></a> +And she wandered into incoherent argument and specious +reasoning, which she knew was false, and could not utter +without hesitancy; the same commonplaces, repeated in different +words, trying to give them the weight they lacked by +emphasis and gesticulation.</p> + +<p>But Raimundo was not listening. In a few minutes he rose, +dried away his tears, and left the room without a word. Clementina +watched him in surprise.</p> + +<p>"I will wait for you," she called after him into the passage.</p> + +<p>Twenty minutes later he returned, carrying a parcel.</p> + +<p>"Here are your letters," he said with apparent calm, but his +voice was thick and his face deadly pale.</p> + +<p>Clementina glanced at him keenly, not without some uneasiness. +But she controlled herself, and said simply:</p> + +<p>"Thank you very much, Mundo. Now, we will burn them, +if you please, in the kitchen."</p> + +<p>He made no reply. They went together to the cold, unfurnished +kitchen, which no one ever used, and Clementina, with +her own hand, laid the packet on the hearth. But suddenly, +just as she was about to strike the match which Raimundo had +given her, she paused. Then she said, with a smile:</p> + +<p>"Do you know that this is dreadfully prosaic? To burn my +love-letters on a kitchen hearth! It seems to me that they +might have a more romantic end. Shall we go and burn them +in the fields? That will give us a last walk together and a +fitter parting."</p> + +<p>"As you please," he said, in a scarcely audible voice.</p> + +<p>"Very well. Fetch a carriage."</p> + +<p>"I kept one."</p> + +<p>"Then come."</p> + +<p>Raimundo took up the packet of letters, and together they +quitted the room whither they were never to return.</p> + +<p>The hackney-coach carried them along the road to the +eastward. It was an afternoon in Spring, misty and fresh. +Clementina had closed the blinds for fear of being seen; but +when they were outside the Alcalá gate she asked Raimundo<a name="page_343" id="page_343"></a> +to let them down. Unluckily the moment was inopportune, +for at that very moment they met an open carriage, in which +sat Pepe Castro with Esperancita Calderón, now his wife. She +had barely time to lean back in the corner and cover her face +with her hand, and even so was not sure that they had not +recognised her.</p> + +<p>Raimundo, by a great effort, had recovered some self-control, +but not completely. Clementina did all she could to divert his +mind, talking to him, like a friend, of indifferent matters, of +their acquaintances, and taking it for granted that he would +continue to visit at her house. When Castro and his wife had +gone past she discussed them with much animation.</p> + +<p>"You see, I was right, Mundo. They have not been +married three months, and Pepe and his father-in-law are +squabbling over money matters. No one knows Calderón +better than I. If he does not die before long, the poor children +will be dreadfully hard up, for they will never get any money +out of him."</p> + +<p>Raimundo replied to her remarks, affecting a calm demeanour, +but there was a peculiar accent in his voice which the lady +could not help noticing. It seemed foggy, as though it had +passed through many tears.</p> + +<p>At last, in a very deserted spot, they bid the driver stop, and +got out.</p> + +<p>"Wait for us here; we are going for a little walk," Raimundo +explained.</p> + +<p>But then observing a doubtful glance in the man's eyes, he +turned back when he had gone a few steps, and taking out a +five-dollar note he handed it to him saying:</p> + +<p>"You can give me the change presently."</p> + +<p>They turned off from the high road and wandered away over +the dreary deserted fields which stretch away to the east of +Madrid. The ground is slightly undulating, but burnt and +barren, cutting the horizon with a long level line—not a house, +not a tree was in sight. Clementina's dainty shoes sank in the +dust as they walked on in silence. Raimundo had no spirit to<a name="page_344" id="page_344"></a> +talk, and she, too, was oppressed by the sadness of the little +drama, to which that of the landscape contributed; she had +enough good feeling not to speak a word. Now and then +she looked back to assure herself whether they could still be +seen from the high road. When she thought they had gone +far enough she stopped.</p> + +<p>"Why should we go any further?" she said. "Will not +this place do?"</p> + +<p>Raimundo also stopped, but made no answer. He dropped +the parcel on the ground and looked away—far away to the +horizon. Clementina untied it, looked with some curiosity at +her letters, all carefully preserved in the envelopes; then she +made a little heap of them, and after waiting a minute or two +for Raimundo to look round, finding that he did not move, +she said:</p> + +<p>"Give me a match."</p> + +<p>The young man obeyed, and gave it her lighted, in perfect +silence. Then he looked away again while Clementina set fire to +the papers, and watched them burn one by one. The process +took some minutes, and she had to turn the blazing fragments +with her gloved hands to prevent their remaining half-burnt. +Now and then she cast a half uneasy, half pitying glance at +her lover, who stood as motionless and absorbed as a sailor +studying the signs of the weather.</p> + +<p>When nothing remained but black ashes, Clementina rose +from her stooping posture, waited a moment, not liking to intrude +on Raimundo's deep abstraction, and at last, with a +cloud of tender pathos on her beautiful face, hastily looked +about her, went up to him, and laying her arm on his shoulder, +said in a fond tone:</p> + +<p>"And now that we are alone for the last time, shall we not +bid each other a loving farewell?"</p> + +<p>"How ought we to part?" he replied, looking at her and +making a great effort to smile.</p> + +<p>"So!" she exclaimed, and she threw her arms round his +neck, and covered his face with passionate kisses.<a name="page_345" id="page_345"></a></p> + +<p>Raimundo stood rigid. He let her kiss him many times, +like an inert creature, and then his knees failed, and with a +heartrending cry:</p> + +<p>"Oh Clementina, this is death!" he fell senseless on the +ground.</p> + +<p>She was terribly frightened. There was no one to help; no +water near. She raised his head, resting it on her lap, fanned +him with her hat, and held a scent-bottle she had with her +under his nose. He presently opened his eyes, and could soon +stand up. He was ashamed of his weakness. Clementina +was most affectionate and helpful. As soon as she saw +that he was in a state to walk, she took his arm and +said:</p> + +<p>"Let us go."</p> + +<p>And she tried to amuse him by talking of a little dance she +meant to give, to which she urgently pressed him to come; +he was on no account to fail her.</p> + +<p>"And on Saturdays, as usual, you know. You are to be +sure not to desert me. In my house you will always be what +you have been—my friend; and in my heart, so long as I +live, you will fill the dearest place."</p> + +<p>Raimundo's only answer was a forced smile.</p> + +<p>Thus they made their way back to the spot where they had +left the coach. As they drove back, still she talked, while he, +as they got nearer to the town, turned even paler than before; +nor could he even smile.</p> + +<p>Seeing him thus, with despair in every feature, Clementina +at last ceased talking so lightly, and, moved with pity, she again +kissed him tenderly. But he shrank from her touch; he gently +pushed her away, saying:</p> + +<p>"Leave me alone—leave me. You only hurt me more."</p> + +<p>Two tears rose to his eyes and remained there without +falling. At last they dried away, or returned to the hidden +fount whence they had sprung.</p> + +<p>They reached the Alcalá gate once more. Clementina bid +the driver stop at the corner of the Calle de Serrano:<a name="page_346" id="page_346"></a></p> + +<p>"You had better get out here. You are close to your own +house."</p> + +<p>Raimundo, speechless, opened the door.</p> + +<p>"Till Saturday, Mundo. Do not fail me. You know I +shall look for you." And she grasped his hand tightly.</p> + +<p>He, without looking at her, merely said:</p> + +<p>"Good-bye."</p> + +<p>He sprang out. The lady saw him walk up the street, +staggering like a drunken man, and he did not once look +round.</p> + +<p class="c"><br /><br /><br />THE END.</p> + +<p class="c"><br /><br /><br /><small>PRINTED BY BALLANTYNE, HANSON AND CO.<br /> +LONDON AND EDINBURGH</small><a name="page_347" id="page_347"></a></p> + +<hr /> + +<p class="cbu">Heinemann's International Library.</p> + +<p> +<br /> +</p> + +<p class="cb">EDITOR'S NOTE.</p> + +<p class="nind">T<small>HERE</small> is nothing in which the Anglo-Saxon world differs +more from the world of the Continent of Europe than +in its fiction. English readers are accustomed to satisfy +their curiosity with English novels, and it is rarely +indeed that we turn aside to learn something of the +interior life of those other countries the exterior +scenery of which is often so familiar to us. We +climb the Alps, but are content to know nothing of +the pastoral romances of Switzerland. We steam in +and out of the picturesque fjords of Norway, but never +guess what deep speculation into life and morals is +made by the novelists of that sparsely peopled but +richly endowed nation. We stroll across the courts of +the Alhambra, we are listlessly rowed upon Venetian +canals and Lombard lakes, we hasten by night through +the roaring factories of Belgium; but we never pause +to inquire whether there is now flourishing a Spanish,<a name="page_348" id="page_348"></a> +an Italian, a Flemish school of fiction. Of Russian +novels we have lately been taught to become partly +aware, but we do not ask ourselves whether Poland may +not possess a Dostoieffsky and Portugal a Tolstoï.</p> + +<p>Yet, as a matter of fact, there is no European country +that has not, within the last half-century, felt the dew +of revival on the threshing-floor of its worn-out schools +of romance. Everywhere there has been shown by +young men, endowed with a talent for narrative, a +vigorous determination to devote themselves to a vivid +and sympathetic interpretation of nature and of man. +In almost every language, too, this movement has +tended to display itself more and more in the direction +of what is reported and less of what is created. Fancy +has seemed to these young novelists a poorer thing than +observation; the world of dreams fainter than the world +of men. They have not been occupied mainly with +what might be or what should be, but with what is, and, +in spite of all their shortcomings, they have combined to +produce a series of pictures of existing society in each of +their several countries such as cannot fail to form an +archive of documents invaluable to futurity.</p> + +<p>But to us they should be still more valuable. To +travel in a foreign country is but to touch its surface. +Under the guidance of a novelist of genius we penetrate +to the secrets of a nation, and talk the very language of +its citizens. We may go to Normandy summer after<a name="page_349" id="page_349"></a> +summer and know less of the manner of life that proceeds +under those gnarled orchards of apple-blossom than we +learn from one tale of Guy de Maupassant's. The +present series is intended to be a guide to the inner +geography of Europe. It offers to our readers a series +of spiritual Baedekers and Murrays. It will endeavour +to keep pace with every truly characteristic and vigorous +expression of the novelist's art in each of the principal +European countries, presenting what is quite new if it +is also good, side by side with what is old, if it has not +hitherto been presented to our public. That will be +selected which gives with most freshness and variety the +different aspects of continental feeling, the only limits +of selection being that a book shall be, on the one hand, +amusing, and, on the other, wholesome.</p> + +<p>One difficulty which must be frankly faced is that of +subject. Life is now treated in fiction by every race +but our own with singular candour. The novelists of +the Lutheran North are not more fully emancipated +from prejudice in this respect than the novelists of the +Catholic South. Everywhere in Europe a novel is +looked upon now as an impersonal work, from which +the writer, as a mere observer, stands aloof, neither +blaming nor applauding. Continental fiction has learned +to exclude, in the main, from among the subjects of its +attention, all but those facts which are of common +experience, and thus the novelists have determined<a name="page_350" id="page_350"></a> +to disdain nothing and to repudiate nothing which is +common to humanity; much is freely discussed, even +in the novels of Holland and of Denmark, which our +race is apt to treat with a much more gingerly discretion. +It is not difficult, however, we believe—it is +certainly not impossible—to discard all which may +justly give offence, and yet to offer to an English +public as many of the masterpieces of European fiction +as we can ever hope to see included in this library. It +will be the endeavour of the editor to search on all +hands and in all languages for such books as combine +the greatest literary value with the most curious and +amusing qualities of manner and matter.</p> + +<p class="r">EDMUND GOSSE.<a name="page_351" id="page_351"></a></p> + +<hr /> + +<p class="cb">Recent Publications.</p> + +<p class="hang"> +<b>A MARKED MAN</b>. Some Episodes in his Life.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">By <span class="smcap">Ada Cambridge</span>, Author of "Two Years' Time,"</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"A Mere Chance," &c. &c. In Three Volumes. Crown</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">8vo, 31s. 6d.</span><br /> +</p> +<p class="hang"> +<b>IN THE VALLEY</b>: A Novel. By <span class="smcap">Harold<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Frederic</span>, Author of "The Lawton Girl," "Seth's</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Brother's Wife," &c. &c. In Three Volumes. Crown 8vo.</span><br /> +</p> +<p class="hang"> +<b>THE BONDMAN</b>: A New Saga. By <span class="smcap">Hall Caine</span>.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Author of "The Deemster." In One Volume. Fourth</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Edition. Crown 8vo, 3s. 6d.</span><br /> +</p> +<p class="hang"> +<b>HAUNTINGS</b>: Fantastic Stories. By <span class="smcap">Vernon Lee</span>,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Author of "Baldwin," "Miss Brown," &c. &c. In One</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Volume. Crown 8vo, 6s.</span><br /> +</p> +<p class="hang"> +<small>C<small>ONTENTS</small>:—Amour Dure—Dionea: in the Country of Venus—Oke of<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Okehurst: A Phantom Lover—A Wicked Voice.</span></small><br /> +</p> +<p class="hang"> +<b>A VERY STRANGE FAMILY</b>: A Novel. By<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><span class="smcap">F. W. Robinson</span>, Author of "Grandmother's Money,"</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">"Lazarus in London," &c. &c. In One Volume. Second</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Edition. Crown 8vo, 3s. 6d.</span><br /> +</p> +<p class="hang"> +<b>THE LABOUR MOVEMENT IN AMERICA</b>. By<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><span class="smcap">Richard T. Ely</span>, Ph.D., Associate in Political Economy,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Johns Hopkins University. In One Volume. Crown 8vo, 5s.</span><br /> +</p> +<p class="hang"> +<b>IDLE MUSINGS</b>: Essays in Social Mosaic. By<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><span class="smcap">E. Conder Gray</span>, Author of "Wise Words and Loving</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Deeds," &c. &c. In One Volume. Crown 8vo, 6s.<a name="page_352" id="page_352"></a></span><br /> +</p> +<p class="hang"> +<b>THE GARDEN'S STORY</b>; or, Pleasures and Trials<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">of an Amateur Gardener. By <span class="smcap">G. H. Ellwanger</span>. With</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">an Introduction by the Rev. <span class="smcap">C. Wolley Dod</span>. One</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Volume. Fcap. 8vo, Illustrated, 5s.</span><br /> +</p> +<p class="hang"> +<b>THE GENTLE ART OF MAKING ENEMIES</b>.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">By <span class="smcap">J. M'Neil Whistler</span>. Fourth Thousand. In One</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Volume, pott 4to, 10s. 6d. Also, 150 Copies on Hand-made</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Paper, Numbered and Signed by the Author, £2 2s.</span><br /> +</p> +<p class="hang"> +<b>THE PASSION PLAY AT OBERAMMERGAU</b>,<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">1890. By <span class="smcap">F. W. Farrar</span>, D.D., F.R.S., Archdeacon and</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Canon of Westminster. Third Thousand. In One Volume,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">4to, cloth, 2s. 6d.</span><br /> +</p> +<p class="hang"> +<b>THE MASTER OF THE MAGICIANS</b>: A Novel.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">By <span class="smcap">Elizabeth Stuart Phelps</span> and <span class="smcap">Herbert D. Ward</span>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">One Volume. Imperial 16mo, 7s. 6d.</span><br /> +</p> +<p class="hang"> +<b>COME FORTH!</b> A Story of the Time of Christ.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">By <span class="smcap">Elizabeth Stuart Phelps</span> and <span class="smcap">Herbert D. Ward</span>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">One Volume. Imperial 16mo, 7s. 6d.</span><br /> +</p> +<p class="hang"> +<b>THE MOMENT AFTER</b>: A Tale of the Unseen.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">By <span class="smcap">Robert Buchanan</span>. In One Volume. Crown 8vo,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">10s. 6d.</span><br /> +</p> +<p class="hang"> +<b>THE DOMINANT SEVENTH</b>: A Musical Story.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">By <span class="smcap">Kate Elizabeth Clark</span>. In One Volume. Crown</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">8vo, 5s.</span><br /> +</p> +<p class="hang"> +<b>THE CHIEF JUSTICE</b>. By <span class="smcap">Emil Franzos</span>.<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Translated from the German by Miles Corbet. In One</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">Volume. Crown 8vo. <i>Heinemann's International Library</i>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">3s. 6d. cloth, 2s. 6d. paper.</span><br /> +</p> +<p class="hang"> +<b>FANTASY</b>. By <span class="smcap">Matilde Serao</span>. Translated from<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">the Italian by <span class="smcap">Henry Harland</span> and <span class="smcap">Paul Sylvester</span>.</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">In One Volume. Crown 8vo. <i>Heinemann's International</i></span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><i>Library</i>.</span><br /> +</p> +<p class="hang"> +<b>PASSION, THE PLAYTHING</b>: A Novel. By<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;"><span class="smcap">R. Murray Gilchrist</span>. In One Volume. Crown</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 1em;">8vo, 6s.</span><br /> +</p> + +<p><a name="page_353" id="page_353"></a></p> + +<hr /> + +<p class="cb">HEINEMANN'S<br /> +Scientific Handbooks.</p> + +<p class="nind">A <small>KNOWLEDGE</small> of the practical Sciences has now +become a necessity to every educated man. The demands +of life are so manifold, however, that of many +things one can acquire but a general and superficial +knowledge. Ahn and Ollendorff have been an easy +road to languages for many a struggling student; +Hume and Green have taught us history; but little +has been done, thus far, to explain to the uninitiated +the most important discoveries and practical inventions +of the present day. Is it not important that we +should know how the precious metals can be tested as +to their value; how the burning powers of fuel can be +ascertained; what wonderful physical properties the +various gases possess; and to what curious and powerful +purposes heat can be adapted? Ought we not to +know more of the practical application and the working +of that almost unfathomable mystery—electricity? +Should we not know how the relations of the Poles to +the magnet-needle are tested; how we can ascertain +by special analysis what produce will grow in particular +soils, and what will not, and what artificial means can +be used to improve the produce?<a name="page_354" id="page_354"></a></p> + +<p>In this Series of "Scientific Handbooks" these +and kindred subjects will be dealt with, and so +dealt with as to be intelligible to all who seek knowledge—to +all who take an interest in the scientific +problems and discoveries of the day, and are desirous +of following their course. It is intended to give in +a compact form, and in an attractive style, the progress +made in the various departments of Science, to +explain novel processes and methods, and to show +how so many wonderful results have been obtained. +The treatment of each subject by thoroughly competent +writers will ensure perfect scientific accuracy; at the +same time, it is not intended for technical students +<i>alone</i>. Being written in a popular style, it is hoped +that the volumes will also appeal to that large class of +readers who, not being professional men, are yet in +sympathy with the progress of science generally, and +take an interest in it.</p> + +<p>The Series will therefore aim to be of general +interest, thoroughly accurate, and quite abreast of +current scientific literature, and, wherever necessary, +well illustrated. Anyone who masters the details of +each subject treated will possess no mean knowledge +of that subject; and the student who has gone through +one of these volumes will be able to pursue his studies +with greater facility and clearer comprehension in +larger manuals and special treatises.</p> + +<p>The first volume will be a Manual on the Art of +Assaying Precious Metals, and will be found valuable +not only to the amateur, but to the assayer, metallurgist, +chemist, and miner. The work will be a desirable<a name="page_355" id="page_355"></a> +addition to the libraries of Mining Companies, +engineers, bankers, and bullion brokers, as well as +to experts in the Art of Assaying.</p> + +<p>The second volume of the Series is written by Professor +Kimball, and deals with the physical properties +of Gases. He has taken into account all the most +recent works on "the third state of matter," including +Crooke's recent researches on "radiant matter." There +is a chapter also on Avogadro's law and the Kinetic +theory, which chemical as well as physical students +will read with interest.</p> + +<p>In the third volume Dr. Thurston treats, in a popular +way, on "Heat as a Form of Energy"; and his book +will be found a capital introduction to the more +exhaustive works of Maxwell, Carnot, Tyndall, and +others.</p> + +<p>On account of the requirements of the subject, a +large number of wood-cuts have been made for the +first volume, and the following volumes will also be +fully illustrated wherever the subject is susceptible +of it.</p> + +<p>The first three volumes are now ready. Others will +follow, written, like these, by thoroughly competent +writers in their own departments; and each volume +will be complete in itself.<a name="page_356" id="page_356"></a></p> + +<hr /> + +<p class="cb">Heinemann's Scientific Handbooks.</p> + +<p class="cb">I.</p> + +<p><b>MANUAL of ASSAYING GOLD, SILVER,</b><br /> +COPPER, AND LEAD ORES. By <span class="smcap">Walter Lee +Brown</span>, B.Sc. Revised, corrected, and considerably enlarged, +with a chapter on THE ASSAYING OF FUEL, +&c., by <span class="smcap">A. B. Griffiths</span>, Ph.D., F.R.S. (Edin.), F.C.S. +In One Volume, small crown 8vo. Illustrated, 7s. 6d.</p> + +<p><i>Colliery Guardian.</i>—"A delightful and fascinating book."</p> + +<p><i>Financial World.</i>—"The most complete and practical manual on everything +which concerns assaying of all which have come before us."</p> + +<p><i>North British Economist.</i>—"With this book the amateur may become +an expert. Bankers and Bullion Brokers are equally likely to find it useful."</p> + +<p class="cb">II.</p> + +<p><b>THE PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF</b><br /> +GASES. By <span class="smcap">Arthur L. Kimball</span>, of the Johns +Hopkins University. In One Volume, small crown 8vo. +Illustrated, 5s.</p> + +<p class="nind">CONTENTS.</p> + +<p class="nind"> +Introduction.<br /> +Pressure and Buoyancy.<br /> +Elasticity and Expansion with heat.<br /> +Gases and Vapours.<br /> +Air-Pumps and High Vacua.<br /> +Diffusion and Occlusion.<br /> +Thermodynamics of Gases.<br /> +Avogadro's Law and the Kinetic<br /> +Theory.<br /> +Geissler Tubes and Radiant Matter.<br /> +Conclusion.<br /> +</p> + +<p><i>Chemical News.</i>—"The man of culture who wishes for a general and +accurate acquaintance with the physical properties of gases, will find in +Mr. Kimball's work just what he requires."</p> + +<p><i>Iron.</i>—"We can highly recommend this little book."</p> + +<p><i>Manchester Guardian.</i>—"Mr. Kimball has the too rare merit of describing +first the facts, and then the hypotheses invented to limn them +together."</p> + +<p class="cb">III.</p> + +<p><b>HEAT AS A FORM OF ENERGY</b>. By +Professor <span class="smcap">R. H. Thurston</span>, of Cornell University. In +One Volume, small crown 8vo. Illustrated, 5s.</p> + +<p class="nind">CONTENTS.</p> + +<p class="nind"> +The Philosophers' Ideas of Heat.<br /> +The Science of Thermodynamics.<br /> +Heat Transfer and the World's<br /> +Industries.<br /> +Air and Gas Engines, their Work and<br /> +their Promise.<br /> +The Development of the Steam<br /> +Engine.<br /> +Summary and Conclusion.<br /> +</p> + +<p class="cb">OTHER VOLUMES IN PREPARATION.</p> + +<p class="c">LONDON: WM. HEINEMANN, 21, BEDFORD STREET, W.C.<a name="page_357" id="page_357"></a></p> + +<hr /> + +<p class="cb"><big>HEINEMANN'S<br /> +INTERNATIONAL LIBRARY</big></p> + +<p class="hang"><i>May be obtained at all of</i> Messrs. <span class="smcap">W. H. Smith & +Son's</span> <i>Bookstalls</i>, of Messrs. <span class="smcap">J. Menzies & +Co.'s</span> <i>Bookstalls in Scotland</i>, <i>of</i> Messrs. <span class="smcap">Eason +& Son's</span> <i>Bookstalls in Ireland</i>, <i>and of</i> Messrs. +<span class="smcap">Hachette & Co.'s</span> <i>Bookstalls in France</i>.</p> + +<p class="hang"><i>They are also on sale throughout England and the +Continent at the chief Booksellers, and may be +obtained either by post from the Publisher, +or from the following Continental Agents:</i>—</p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="1" cellspacing="0" summary="" +style="font-size:80%;"> +<tr><td align="left"rowspan="2">Paris—</td><td align="left" +style="border-left:1px solid black;">HACHETTE & CO.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left" +style="border-left:1px solid black;">BRENTANOS.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Leipzig</td><td align="left">F. A. BROCKHAUS.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Frankfurt</td><td align="left">B. AUFFARTH.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Vienna</td><td align="left">GEROLD & CO.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">St. Petersburg </td><td align="left">C. RICKER; L. WATKINS.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Rome</td><td align="left">LOESCHER & CO.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Florence</td><td align="left">LOESCHER & SEEBER.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Turin</td><td align="left">H. LOESCHER.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Milan</td><td align="left">U. HOEPLI.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Stockholm</td><td align="left">LOOSTRÖM & CO.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Christiania</td><td align="left">CAMMERMEYER.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Sydney</td><td align="left" rowspan="3" valign="middle" +style="border-left:1px solid black;">—E. A. PETHERICK & CO.</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Melbourne</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Adelaide</td></tr> +<tr><td align="left">Calcutta</td><td align="left">THACKER & CO.</td></tr> +</table> + +<p class="c">London: WM. HEINEMANN, 21 Bedford Street, W.C.</p> + +<p><a name="page_358" id="page_358"></a></p> + +<p><a name="page_359" id="page_359"></a></p> + +<hr /> + +<p class="cb">HEINEMANN'S<br /> +POPULAR THREE-AND-SIXPENNY NOVELS</p> + +<p class="nind"> +<b>THE BONDMAN</b>; A New Saga. By<br /> +<span class="smcap">Hall Caine</span>. Twenty-fifth Thousand.<br /> +<br /> +<b>THE SCAPEGOAT.</b> By <span class="smcap">Hall Caine</span>.<br /> +Nineteenth Thousand.<br /> +<br /> +<b>CAPT'N DAVY'S HONEYMOON.</b> By<br /> +<span class="smcap">Hall Caine</span>. Sixth Thousand.<br /> +<br /> +<b>ORIOLE'S DAUGHTER.</b> By <span class="smcap">Jessie<br /> +Fothergill</span>.<br /> +<br /> +<b>KITTY'S FATHER.</b> By <span class="smcap">Frank Barrett</span>,<br /> +Author of "The Smuggler's<br /> +Secret," &c.<br /> +<br /> +<b>A KNIGHT OF THE WHITE<br /> +FEATHER.</b> By T<small>ASMA</small>.<br /> +<br /> +<b>UNCLE PIPER OF PIPER'S HILL.</b><br /> +By T<small>ASMA</small>.<br /> +<br /> +<b>THE HEAD OF THE FIRM.</b> By Mrs.<br /> +R<small>IDDELL</small>, Author of "George Geith."<br /> +<br /> +<b>ACCORDING TO ST. JOHN.</b> By<br /> +<span class="smcap">Amelia Rives</span>, Author of "The Quick<br /> +or the Dead."<br /> +<br /> +<b>THE COPPERHEAD.</b> By <span class="smcap">Harold<br /> +Frederic</span>.<br /> +<br /> +<b>THE RETURN OF THE O'MAHONY.</b><br /> +By <span class="smcap">Harold Frederic</span>. Illustrated.<br /> +<br /> +<b>IN THE VALLEY.</b> By <span class="smcap">Harold Frederic</span>,<br /> +Author of "Seth's Brother's<br /> +Wife," &c. With Illustrations.<br /> +<br /> +<b>THE STORY OF A PENITENT SOUL.</b><br /> +By <span class="smcap">Adeline Sergeant</span>, Author of<br /> +"No Saint," &c.<br /> +<br /> +<b>PRETTY MISS SMITH.</b> By <span class="smcap">Florence<br /> +Warden</span>, Author of "The<br /> +House on the Marsh," &c.<br /> +<br /> +<b>NOR WIFE—NOR MAID.</b> By Mrs.<br /> +H<small>UNGERFORD</small>, Author of "Molly<br /> +Bawn," &c.<br /> +<br /> +<b>MAMMON.</b> By Mrs. A<small>LEXANDER</small>,<br /> +Author of "The Wooing O't," &c.<br /> +<br /> +<b>DESPERATE REMEDIES.</b> By<br /> +<span class="smcap">Thomas Hardy</span>, Author of "Tess of<br /> +the D'Urbervilles," &c.<br /> +<br /> +<b>WOMAN—THROUGH A MAN'S<br /> +EYEGLASS.</b> By <span class="smcap">Malcom C. Salaman</span>.<br /> +With Illustrations by <span class="smcap">Dudley<br /> +Hardy</span>. 3s. 6d.<br /> +<br /> +<b>MR. PUNCH'S POCKET IBSEN:</b><br /> +By <span class="smcap">F. Anstey</span>. With Illustrations<br /> +by <span class="smcap">Bernard Partridge</span>. 3s. 6d.<br /> +<br /> +<b>MR. BAILEY-MARTIN.</b> By <span class="smcap">Percy<br /> +White</span>.<br /> +<br /> +<b>A QUESTION OF TASTE.</b> By<br /> +<span class="smcap">Maarten Maartens</span>. New Edition.<br /> +<br /> +<b>A LITTLE MINX.</b> By <span class="smcap">Ada Cambridge.<br /> +</span><br /> +<b>A MARKED MAN:</b> Some Episodes in<br /> +his Life. By <span class="smcap">Ada Cambridge</span>.<br /> +<br /> +<b>THE THREE MISS KINGS.</b> By <span class="smcap">Ada<br /> +Cambridge</span>. Seventh Thousand.<br /> +<br /> +<b>NOT ALL IN VAIN.</b> By <span class="smcap">Ada Cambridge</span>.<br /> +Fifth Thousand.<br /> +<br /> +<b>DAUGHTERS OF MEN.</b> By <span class="smcap">Hannah<br /> +Lynch</span>, Author of "The Prince of the<br /> +Glades," &c.<br /> +<br /> +<b>A ROMANCE OF THE CAPE FRONTIER.</b><br /> +By <span class="smcap">Bertram Mitford</span>,<br /> +Author of "Through the Zulu Country,"<br /> +&c.<br /> +<br /> +<b>'TWEEN SNOW AND FIRE.</b> A Tale<br /> +of the Kafir War of 1877. By <span class="smcap">Bertram<br /> +Mitford</span>.<br /> +<br /> +<b>DONALD MARCY.</b> By <span class="smcap">Elizabeth<br /> +Stuart Phelps</span>, Author of "The<br /> +Gates Ajar," &c.<br /> +<br /> +<b>THE MASTER OF THE MAGICIANS.</b><br /> +By <span class="smcap">Elizabeth Stuart Phelps</span> and<br /> +<span class="smcap">Herbert D. Ward</span>.<br /> +<br /> +<b>THE AVERAGE WOMAN.</b> By <span class="smcap">Wolcott<br /> +Balestier</span>. With an Introduction<br /> +by <span class="smcap">Henry James</span>.<br /> +<br /> +<b>THE ATTACK ON THE MILL,</b> and<br /> +other Sketches of War. By <span class="smcap">Emile<br /> +Zola</span>. With an Essay on the short stories<br /> +of M. Zola, by Edmund Gosse.<br /> +<br /> +<b>WRECKAGE:</b> Seven Studies. By<br /> +<span class="smcap">Hubert Crackanthorpe</span>.<br /> +<br /> +<b>MADEMOISELLE MISS,</b> and other<br /> +Stories. By <span class="smcap">Henry Harland</span>,<br /> +Author of "Mea Culpa," &c.<br /> +<br /> +<b>FROM WISDOM COURT.</b> By <span class="smcap">Henry<br /> +Seton Merriman</span> and <span class="smcap">Stephen<br /> +Graham Tallentyre</span>. With 30 Illustrations<br /> +by <span class="smcap">E. Courboin</span>. 3s. 6d.<br /> +<br /> +<b>THE OLD MAIDS' CLUB.</b> By <span class="smcap">I.<br /> +Zangwill</span>, Author of "The Bachelor's<br /> +Club." With Illustrations by <span class="smcap">F. H.<br /> +Townsend</span>. 3s. 6d.<br /> +</p> + +<p class="c">London: WM. HEINEMANN, 21 Bedford Street, W.C.<a name="page_360" id="page_360"></a></p> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary="transcirber" +style="border:2px dotted gray;margin: 5% auto 5% auto;"> +<tr><th align="center">The following typographical errors were corrected by the etext <a name="transcriber" id="transcriber"></a>transcriber:</th></tr> +<tr><td> </td></tr> +<tr><td>with s look of proud disdain=>with a look of proud disdain</td></tr> +<tr><td>he passed for an accompished soldier=>he passed for an accomplished soldier</td></tr> +<tr><td>same!" exclamed Cobo=>same!" exclaimed Cobo</td></tr> +<tr><td>to see the prudish marquesa.=>to see the prudish Marquesa.</td></tr> +<tr><td>knowlege of human nature=>knowledge of human nature</td></tr> +<tr><td>saying with determined forboding=>saying with determined foreboding</td></tr> +<tr><td>Like some other who were to be seen at the club every day=>Like some others who were to be seen at the club every day</td></tr> +<tr><td>when she illtreats me=>when she ill-treats me</td></tr> +<tr><td>Baro nwas=>Baron was</td></tr> +<tr><td>Pepe Frias announced to the servant behind her=>Pepa Frias announced to the servant behind her</td></tr> +<tr><td>Hand your's over to Pepe=>Hand yours over to Pepe</td></tr> +<tr><td>very place occupied shortly before y=>very place occupied shortly before by</td></tr> +<tr><td>"Antonio," he said, "We have come to quarrel with you very seriously."=>"Antonio," he said, "we have come to quarrel with you very seriously."</td></tr> +<tr><td>the foremost place in you affections=>the foremost place in your affections</td></tr> +<tr><td>borethe taint=>bore the taint</td></tr> +<tr><td>"Becaue I will not allow it;=>"Because I will not allow it;</td></tr> +<tr><td>he was by nature cheerful, warm-heated, and absent-minded=>he was by nature cheerful, warm-hearted, and absent-minded</td></tr> +<tr><td>never stired an inch further=>never stirred an inch further</td></tr> +<tr><td>exclamed Salabert in a triumphant=>exclaimed Salabert in a triumphant</td></tr> +<tr><td>stand as canditate for Navalperal=>stand as candidate for Navalperal</td></tr> +<tr><td>rejoicing ever the prospect of so many millions=>rejoicing over the prospect of so many millions</td></tr> +<tr><td>indignant at these base inuendoes=>indignant at these base innuendoes</td></tr> +<tr><td>On seeing her daugher the Duchess turned=>On seeing her daughter the Duchess turned</td></tr> +<tr><td>greetings and and smiles=>greetings and smiles</td></tr> +<tr><td>he said in in a lazy tone=>he said in a lazy tone</td></tr> +<tr><td>but she repelled him with with=>but she repelled him with</td></tr> +<tr><td>who do all the the real work=>who do all the real work</td></tr> +<tr><td>far above her ancles=>far above her ankles</td></tr> +</table> + +<div class="footnotes"><p class="cb"><a name="FOOTNOTES" id="FOOTNOTES"></a>FOOTNOTES:</p> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_A_1" id="Footnote_A_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_A_1"><span class="label">[A]</span></a> About £400.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_B_2" id="Footnote_B_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_B_2"><span class="label">[B]</span></a> Above 19,000,000 of dollars; about £4,000,000 sterling.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_C_3" id="Footnote_C_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_C_3"><span class="label">[C]</span></a> About £600.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_D_4" id="Footnote_D_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_D_4"><span class="label">[D]</span></a> About £80.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_E_5" id="Footnote_E_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_E_5"><span class="label">[E]</span></a> In the Roman Catholic Church.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_F_6" id="Footnote_F_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_F_6"><span class="label">[F]</span></a> From 10d. to 1s. 3d.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_G_7" id="Footnote_G_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_G_7"><span class="label">[G]</span></a> 1s. 7d.; its purchasing value is probably at least half as much again.</p></div> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_H_8" id="Footnote_H_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_H_8"><span class="label">[H]</span></a> About £1100.</p></div> + +</div> +<hr class="full" /> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Froth, by Armando Palacio Valdés + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FROTH *** + +***** This file should be named 38411-h.htm or 38411-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/8/4/1/38411/ + +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) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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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: Froth + +Author: Armando Palacio Valdes + +Translator: Clara Bell + +Release Date: December 26, 2011 [EBook #38411] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FROTH *** + + + + +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) + + + + + + + + +FROTH + + +=Heinemann's International Library.= + +=Edited by EDMUND GOSSE.= + +_Crown 8vo_, _in paper covers_, 2_s._ 6_d._, _or cloth limp_, 3_s._ +6_d._ + +_IN GOD'S WAY._ By BJOeRNSTJERNE BJOeRNSON. Translated from the Norwegian +by Elizabeth Carmichael. + +_PIERRE AND JEAN._ By GUY DE MAUPASSANT. Translated from the French by +Clara Bell. + +_THE CHIEF JUSTICE._ By KARL EMIL FRANZOS. Translated from the German by +Miles Corbet. + +_WORK WHILE YE HAVE THE LIGHT._ By COUNT LVOF TOLSTOI. Translated from +the Russian by E. J. Dillon, Ph.D. + +_FANTASY._ By MATILDE SERAO. Translated from the Italian by Henry +Harland and Paul Sylvester. + +_FROTH._ By ARMANDO PALACIO VALDES. Translated from the Spanish by Clara +Bell. + +_THE COMMODORE'S DAUGHTERS._ By JONAS LIE. Translated from the Norwegian +by H. L. Braekstad and Gertrude Hughes. + + Other Volumes will be announced later. + Each Volume contains a specially written + Introduction by the Editor. + +London: + +WILLIAM HEINEMANN, 21 BEDFORD ST., W.C. + + + + +FROTH + +A NOVEL + +BY + +ARMANDO PALACIO VALDES + +TRANSLATED FROM THE SPANISH + +BY + +CLARA BELL + +LONDON + +WILLIAM HEINEMANN + +1891 + +(_All rights reserved_) + + + + +INTRODUCTION. + + +According to the Spanish critics, the novel has flourished in Spain +during only two epochs--the golden age of Cervantes and the period in +which we are still living. That unbroken line of romance-writing which +has existed for so long a time in France and in England, is not to be +looked for in the Peninsula. The novel in Spain is a re-creation of our +own days; but it has made, since the middle of the nineteenth century, +two or three fresh starts. The first modern Spanish novelists were what +are called the _walter-scottistas_, although they were inspired as much +by George Sand as by the author of _Waverley_. These writers were of a +romantic order, and Fernan Caballero, whose earliest novel dates from +1849, was at their head. The Revolution of September, 1868, marked an +advance in Spanish fiction, and Valera came forward as the leader of a +more national and more healthily vitalised species of imaginative work. +The pure and exquisite style of Valera is, doubtless, only to be +appreciated by a Castilian. Something of its charm may be divined, +however, even in the English translation of his masterpiece, _Pepita +Jimenez_. The mystical and aristocratic genius of Valera appealed to a +small audience; he has confided to the world that when all were praising +but few were buying his books. + +Far greater fecundity and a more directly successful appeal to the +public, were, somewhat later, the characteristics of Perez y Galdos, +whose vigorous novels, spoiled a little for a foreign reader by their +didactic diffuseness, are well-known in this country. In the hands of +Galdos, a further step was taken by Spanish fiction towards the +rejection of romantic optimism and the adoption of a modified realism. +In Pereda, so the Spanish critics tell us, a still more valiant champion +of naturalism was found, whose studies of local manners in the province +of Santander recall to mind the paintings of Teniers. About 1875 was the +date when the struggle commenced in good earnest between the schools of +romanticism and realism. In 1881 Galdos definitely joined the ranks of +the realists with his _La Desheredada_. An eminent Spanish writer, +Emilio Pardo Bazan, thus described the position some six years ago: "It +is true that the battle is not a noisy one, and excites no great warlike +ardour. The question is not taken up amongst us with the same heat as in +France, and this from several causes. In the first place, the idealists +with us do not walk in the clouds so much as they do in France, nor do +the realists load their palette so heavily. Neither school exaggerates +in order to distinguish itself from the other. Perhaps our public is +indifferent to literature, especially to printed literature, for what +is represented on the stage produces more impression." + +This indifference of the Spanish reading public, which has led a living +novelist to declare that a person of good position in Madrid would +rather spend his money on fireworks or on oranges than on a book, has at +length been in a measure dissipated by a writer who is not merely +admired and distinguished, but positively popular, and who, without +sacrificing style, has conquered the unwilling Spanish public. This is +Armando Palacio Valdes, who was born on the 4th of October, 1853, in a +hamlet of Asturias, called Entralgo, where his family had at one time a +mansion which has now disappeared. The family spent only the summer +there; the remainder of the year they passed in Aviles, the maritime +town which Valdes describes under the name of Nieva in his novel _Marta +y Maria_. From Asturias he went, when still a youth, up to Madrid to +study the law as a profession. But even in the lawyer's office, his +dream was to become a man of letters. His ambition took the form of +obtaining at some university a chair of political economy, to which +science he had, or fancied himself to have, at that time, a great +proclivity. + +Before terminating his legal studies, the young man published several +articles in the _Revista Europea_ on philosophical and religious +questions. These articles attracted the attention of the proprietor of +that review, and Valdes presently joined the staff. Next year he became +editor. He was at the head of the _Revista Europea_, at that time the +most important periodical in Spain from a scientific point of view, for +several years. During that time he published the main part of those +articles of literary criticism, particularly on contemporary poets and +novelists, which have since been collected in several volumes--_Los +Oradores del Ateneo_ ("The Orators of the Athenaeum"); _Los Novelistas +Espanoles_ ("The Spanish Novelists"); _Un Nuevo Viaje al Parnaso_ ("A +New Journey to Parnassus"), sketches of the living poets of Spain; and, +in particular, a very bright collection of review articles, published in +conjunction with Leopoldo Alas, _La Literatura_ en 1881 ("Spanish +Literature in 1881"). These gave Valdes a foremost rank among the +critics of the day. He wrote no more criticism, or very little; he +determined to place himself amongst those whose creative work demands +the careful consideration of the best judges. + +Soon after he took the direction of the _Revista_, Valdes wrote his +first novel, _El Senorito Octavio_, which was not published until 1881. +In 1883 he brought out his _Marta y Maria_, a book which, I know not +why, is called "The Marquis of Penalta" in its English version. This +novel enjoyed an extraordinary success, and had more of the graphic and +sprightly manner by which Valdes has since been distinguished, than the +books which immediately followed it. Spanish critics, indeed, +remembering the wonderful freshness of _Marta y Maria_, still often +speak of it as the best of Valdes' stories. In this same year, 1883, he +married, on the day when he completed his thirty years, a young lady of +sixteen. His marriage was a honeymoon of a year and a half, of which _El +Idilio de un Enfermo_ ("The Idyl of an Invalid"), a short novel of 1884, +portrays the earlier portion. His wife died early in 1885, leaving him +with an infant son to be, as he says, "my illusion and my fascination." +His subsequent career has been laborious and systematic. He has +published one novel every year. In 1885 it was _Jose_, a shorter tale of +sea-faring life on the stormy coast of the author's native province. +About the same time appeared a collection of short stories, called +_Aguas Fuertes_ ("Strong Waters"). + +It was not until 1886, however, that Valdes began to rank among the +foremost novelists of Europe. In that year he published his great story, +_Riverita,_ one of the characters in which, a charming child, became the +heroine of his next book, _Maximina,_ 1887. Of this character he writes +to me: "My Maximina in these two books is but a pale reflection of that +being from whom Providence parted me before she was eighteen years of +age. In these novels I have painted a great part of my life." A +Sevillian novice, who has helped to care for Maximina in Madrid, reigns +supreme in a succeeding novel, _La Hermana San Sulpicio_ ("Sister San +Sulpicio"), 1889. But between these two last there comes a massive +novel, describing the adventures of a journalist who founds a newspaper +in the provincial town of Sarrio, by which Santander seems to be +intended. This book is called _El Cuarto Poder_ ("The Fourth Power"), +and was published in 1888. To these must now be added _La Espuma_ +("Froth"), of which a translation is here given. When these words are +published, the original will just have appeared in Madrid. It is by the +kindness of the author, in supplying us with a set of proof-sheets, that +I am able to speak of a book which even the critics of Madrid have not +yet seen in Spanish. + +In _La Espuma_ Valdes has reverted from those country scenes and those +streets of provincial cities which he has hitherto loved best to paint, +and has given us a sternly satiric picture of the frothy surface of +fashionable life in Madrid. From the illusions of the poor, pathetic and +often beautiful, he has turned to the ugly cynicism of the wealthy. With +his passion for honesty and simplicity, his heart burns within him at +the parade and hollowness which he detects in aristocratic and +bureaucratic Madrid. One conceives that, like his own Raimundo, he has +been invited to enter it, has taken his fill of its pleasures, and has +found his mouth filled with ashes. His talent for portraiture was never +better employed. If he is occasionally tempted to commit the peculiarly +Spanish fault of exaggeration--scarcely a fault there, where the shadows +are so black and the colours so flaring--he has resisted it in his more +important characters. The brutality of the Duke de Requena, the sagacity +and urbanity of Father Ortega, the saintly sweetness of the Duchess, +the naivete of Raimundo, the sphinx-like charm of Clementina de Osorio, +with her mysterious sweetness and duplicity, these are among the salient +points of characterisation which stand out in this powerful book. _La +Espuma_ is a cry from the desert to those who wear soft raiment in +kings' palaces. It is the ruthless tearing aside of the conventions by a +Knox or a Savonarola. It is stringent satire, yet tempered with an +artist's moderation, with a naturalist's self-suppression. + +Those exquisite descriptions of Nature in which Valdes sparingly +illuminates the pages of his country-novels, must not be looked for +here. There is nothing in _La Espuma_ like the splendid approach to +Seville in _La Hermana San Sulpicio_, or the noble picture of the +Asturian sea-board, ravaged by the ocean, in _Jose_. The desolation of +the mining district, at the close of the book, is all that we can +compare with these. But one descriptive gift of Valdes, his power of +rendering with sustained vivacity a varied social scene, was never +better exemplified than by the dinner-party at the Osorios', by +Salabert's ball to Royalty, in which Clementina ejects the +_demi-mondaine_, or by the scene in Pepe's dressing-room when the mad +Marquis wants to shoot him. The absence of sensational emphasis of every +kind is notable. This is the result of severe self-training on the +novelist's part. He has confessed himself displeased with the end of his +own _Riverita_ as too theatrical, and in the prologue to _La Hermana San +Sulpicio_, he wears a white sheet, and holds a penitential candle for a +too stagey episode in _El Cuarto Poder_. No charge of this kind can be +brought against _La Espuma_. It is closely studied from life, and is +careful not to affront the modesty of nature, which loves an occasional +tragic catastrophe, but loathes the artifice of a smartly constructed +plot. + +Of the author of so many interesting books but little has yet been told +to the public. In a private letter to myself, the eminent novelist gives +a brief sketch of his mode of life, so interesting that I have secured +his permission to translate and print it here:--"Since my wife died," +Senor Valdes writes, "my life has continued to be tranquil and +melancholy, dedicated to work and to my son. During the winters, I live +in Asturias, and during the summers, in Madrid. I like the company of +men of the world better than that of literary folks, because the former +teach me more. I am given up to the study of metaphysics. I have a +passion for physical exercises, for gymnastics, for fencing, and I try +to live in an evenly-balanced temper, nothing being so repugnant to me +as affectation and emphasis. I find a good deal of pleasure in going to +bull-fights (although I do not take my son to the Plaza dressed up like +a miniature _torero_, as an American writer declares I do), and I +cultivate the theatre, because to see life from the stage point of view +helps me in the composition of my stories." + +EDMUND GOSSE. + + + + +FROTH + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +DRAMATIS PERSONAE + + +At three in the afternoon the sun was pouring its rays on the Calle de +Serrano, bathing it in bright orange light which hurt the eyes of those +who went down the left-hand side where the houses stood closest. But as +the cold was intense the pedestrian was not eager to cross to the other +pavement in search of shade, preferring to face the sunbeams which, +though blinding, were at any rate warming. At this hour, tripping slowly +and daintily along, her muff of handsome otter-skin held up to shade her +eyes, an elegantly dressed woman was making her way down the street, +leaving behind her a wake of perfume which the shopmen standing at their +doors sniffed up with enjoyment, as they gazed in rapture at the being +who exhaled such a delightful fragrance. + +For the Calle de Serrano, albeit the widest and handsomest in Madrid, +has an essentially provincial stamp; little traffic, shops devoid of +display, and dedicated for the most part to the sale of the necessaries +of life, children playing in front of the houses, door-keepers seated in +committee and discussing matters at the top of their voices with the +unemployed butchers' boys, fishmongers, and grocers. Hence a +well-dressed woman could not pass unremarked, as she might in the more +central parts of the town. The glances of the passers-by, as well as of +the loungers, rested on her with pleasure; the women commented on the +quality of the clothes she wore, and horrible jests were uttered by the +dreadful apprentices, provoking their companions to outbursts of brutal +glee. One of the most ruffianly and greasy looking threw out as she +passed one of those coarse remarks which would bring the colour to the +smooth cheek of an English Miss, and make her call the policeman, and +almost exact an apology. But our valiant Spanish lady, her soul above +prudery, did not even wince, but went on her triumphant way with the +dainty and hesitating step of a woman who rarely sets foot in the dust +of the highway. + +For that hers was a triumphant progress there could be no doubt; no one +could look at her without admiration, not so much of her luxurious +attire, as of the severe beauty of her face and the distinction of her +figure. She was five-and-thirty at least. There was something extremely +original in the type of her features. Her complexion was clear and dark, +her eyes, blue, her hair coppery red. Such a strange mingling of +different races is rarely seen in a face: if it showed a stronger dash +of one than another, it was of the Italian. It was one of those faces +which suggest an English lady burnt under a Neapolitan sun. In some of +Raphael's pictures we see heads which may give some notion of our fair +pedestrian. + +Her predominant expression at the present moment was one of proud +disdain, to which perhaps the sun contributed by making her knit her +smooth and delicate brows. There was not, it must be confessed, any +sweetness in this face; its firm and regular lines betrayed a haughty +spirit devoid of tenderness; those blue eyes had not the limpid serenity +which lends perfect harmony to a certain virginal style of countenance, +occasionally seen and admired in Spain, but more frequently in the north +of Europe. They were made to express the tumult of vehement and violent +passions, among which ardent love might, perhaps, have its turn, but +never that humble and silent devotion which would consent to die +unspoken. + +She wore a high red hat, and a short thin veil, also red, reaching only +to her lips. The hue of this veil contributed to lend her face that +singular tinge which caught the eye of every one who met her. Her +wrapper was a handsome fur cloak, over a dress of the same shade as her +hat, with an overskirt of lace or grenadine such as was then the +fashion. + +She held up her muff, as has been said, to shade her eyes, and kept her +eyes fixed on the ground as one who does not care to see or heed +anything which may come in her way. Consequently, till she came to the +Calle de Jorge Juan, she did not detect the presence of a young man, +who, keeping pace with her on the opposite side of the way, gazed at her +with even more admiration than curiosity. But on reaching the corner, +without knowing why, she raised her head, and her eyes met those of her +admirer. A very perceptible shade of annoyance clouded her face; she +frowned with greater severity, and the haughty expression of her eyes +was more marked than before. She walked a little faster, and, on +reaching the Calle de Villanueva, she stood still, and looked down the +street, hoping, no doubt, to see a tramcar. The youth dared not do the +same; he went on his way, not without sending certain eager and +significant glances after the graceful figure, to which she vouchsafed +no notice. The car at last arrived; the lady stepped in, showing, as she +did so, a pretty foot shod in a kid boot, and took her seat in the +farthest corner. Finding herself safe from indiscreet observation, her +eyes by degrees grew more serene, and rested with indifference on the +few persons who were with her in the vehicle; still the cloud of anxious +thought did not altogether disappear from her face, nor the touch of +disdain which lent dignity to her beauty. + +Her youthful admirer had not resigned himself to losing sight of her. He +went on confidently down the Calle de Villanueva; but as the tramcar +went by he nimbly caught it up, and got on the step without being +observed. And contriving to place himself where the lady could not see +him, behind other persons standing on the platform, he was able to gaze +at her by stealth, with an enthusiasm which would have made any +looker-on smile. + +For the difference between their ages was considerable. Our young friend +looked about eighteen; his face was as beardless, as fresh and as rosy +as a girl's, his hair red, his eyes blue, gentle, and melancholy. Though +he wore an overcoat and a felt hat, his appearance was that of a +gentleman; he was in the deepest mourning, which contrasted strongly +with the fairness of his complexion. Under the magnetic influence of a +firm gaze, which we all have experienced, our heroine ere long turned +her eyes to the spot whence the young man fired darts of passionate +admiration. Her face grew dark again, and her lips twitched with +impatience, as though the poor boy's adoration was an aggression. And +she began to show signs of feeling ill at ease in the coach, turning her +pretty head now this way and now that, with an evident desire to escape. +However, she did not alight till they reached the church of San Jose, +where she stopped the car and got out, passing her persecutor with a +look of proud disdain, which might have annihilated him. + +He must have been a very bold man, or quite devoid of shame, to jump out +after her as he did, and follow her along the Calle del Caballero de +Gracia, taking the opposite side-walk to be able to stare more at his +ease on the face which had so taken possession of him. The lady +proceeded at a leisurely pace, and every man who passed her turned to +gaze. Her step was that of a goddess who condescends to quit her throne +of clouds for an hour, to rejoice and fascinate mortal men, who, as they +behold her, are enraptured and stumble in their walk. + +"Merciful Virgin, what a woman!" exclaimed a young officer in a loud +voice, clinging to his companion as if he were about to faint with +surprise. + +The fair one could not help smiling very slightly, and the flash of that +smile seemed to light up her exceptional loveliness. Presently two +gentlemen in an open carriage bowed respectfully to her, and she +responded with an almost imperceptible nod. When she reached the corner +where the streets part by San Luis she hesitated and paused, looking in +every direction, and again catching sight of the red-haired youth, she +turned her back on him with marked contempt, and went on at a more rapid +pace down the Calle de la Montera, where her appearance caused the same +excitement in the passers-by. Three or four times she stopped in front +of the shop windows, though evidently she did so less out of curiosity +than in consequence of the nervous state into which the youth's +unrelenting pursuit had plunged her. + +Near the Puerta del Sol, to avoid him no doubt, she made up her mind to +go into Marbini's jewel shop. Seating herself with an air of +indifference, she raised her veil a little, and began to examine without +much attention the latest importations in gems which the shopman +displayed before her. She could not have done worse by way of releasing +herself from the observations of her boyish admirer, since he could +pursue them at his leisure and with the greatest ease through the plate +glass windows, and did so with a persistency which enraged her more and +more every minute. + +In point of fact, the elegantly decorated shop, glittering in every +corner with precious stones and metals, was a worthy shrine for her +beauty, the setting best fitted for so delicate a gem. And so the youth +was thinking, to judge from the impassioned ecstasy of his eyes and the +statue-like fixity of his attitude. At last, unable any longer to +control her irritation, the lady abruptly rose, and with a brief "Good +morning" to the attendant, who treated her with extraordinary deference, +she quitted the shop, and set off as fast as she could walk, towards the +Puerta del Sol. + +Here she stopped; then she went a little way towards a hackney cab, as +though intending to take it; but, suddenly changing her mind, she turned +with a determined step towards the Calle Mayor, still escorted by the +youth at no great distance. Half-way down the street she vanished into +a handsome house, not without sending a hasty but furious glance at her +follower, who took it with perfect and wonderful coolness. The porter +who was standing in the portico, gravely clipping his bushy black +whiskers, hastily pulled off his braided cap, made her a low bow, and +flew to open the glass door to the staircase, pressing, as he did so, +the button of an electric bell. She slowly mounted the carpeted steps, +and by the time she reached the first floor the door was already open, +and a servant in livery was awaiting her. + +The house was that of the Excellentisimo Senor Don Julian Calderon, the +head of the banking firm of Calderon Brothers, who occupied the whole of +the first floor, with a staircase apart from that which led to the rest +of the apartments, let to other persons. This Calderon was the son of +another Calderon, well known, in the commercial circles of Madrid, as a +wholesale importer of hides and leather, by which he had made a good +fortune, and in the later years of his life he had greatly augmented it +by devoting himself, not to trade alone, but also to circulating and +discounting bills of exchange. He being dead, his son Julian followed in +his footsteps, without deviating from them in any particular, managing +with his own property that of his two sisters--both married, one to a +medical man, and the other to a landowner of La Mancha. He, too, had +been married for some years to the daughter of a wealthy merchant of +Zaragoza, Don Tomas Osorio by name; the father of the well-known Madrid +banker, whose house in the Salamanca quarter of the town, Calle de D. +Ramon de la Cruz, was kept upon a princely footing. The handsome lady +who had just entered the Calderon's house was this banker's wife, and +consequently the sister-in-law of Senora de Calderon. + +She passed in front of the servant without waiting to be announced, +walking on as one who had a right there; crossed three or four large, +elegantly decorated rooms, and, pulling aside with her own hand the rich +velvet curtain with its embroidered fringing, entered a much smaller +drawing-room where several persons were sitting. + +In the seat nearest to the fire reclined the mistress of the house; a +woman of some forty years, stout, with regular features, and large black +eyes, but devoid of sparkle; her skin was fair, her hair chestnut, and +remarkably soft and fine. By her, in a low easy chair, sat another lady, +a complete contrast in every respect; brunette, slight, delicate, and +full of excessive vivacity, not only in her keen, bright eyes, but in +her whole person. This was the Marquesa de Alcudia, of one of the first +families in Spain. The three young girls, who sat in a row on straight +chairs, were her daughters, all very like her in physique though they +did not imitate her restlessness, but remained motionless and silent, +their eyes cast down with such an affectation of modesty and composure +that it was easy to see in what severe order they were kept by their +lively and nervous mamma. To one of them every now and then the daughter +of the house spoke in an undertone. She was a child of thirteen or +fourteen, with round cheeks, small eyes, a turn-up nose, and scars in +the throat which argued a delicate constitution. Her hair was plaited +into a long tail tied at the end with a ribbon, as was that of the +youngest Alcudia, with whom she carried on a subdued and intermittent +conversation. This young lady and her sisters wore fanciful hats, all +alike, while Esperanza Calderon sat with her little round head +uncovered, and wore a blue morning frock much too short for a girl of +her age. + +Facing the Senora, and lounging, like her, in an arm-chair, was General +Patino, Conde de Morillejo. He was between fifty and sixty years of age, +but his eyes sparkled with all the fire of youth; his grey hair was +carefully dressed, and large moustaches a la Victor Emmanuel, a pointed +beard and aquiline nose, gave him a gallant and attractive appearance. +He was the ideal of a veteran aristocrat. By him sat Calderon, a man of +about fifty, stout, with a fat florid face, graced with short grey +whiskers, his eyes round, vacant, and dull. Not far from him was an +elderly woman, his mother-in-law, but quite unlike her daughter in face +and figure; so thin, that she was no more than skin and bone, dark, and +with deep-set, penetrating eyes, every feature stamped with intelligence +and decision. Talking to her was Pinedo, the occupant of the third-floor +rooms. His moustache showed no grey hairs, but it was easy to see that +it was dyed; his face was that of a man verging on the sixties; a +good-humoured face too, with prominent eyes full of eager +movement--those of an observant character; he was dressed with care and +elegance, his whole person exquisitely clean. + +On seeing the beautiful lady in the doorway, the whole party showed some +excitement; all rose, excepting the mistress of the house, on whose +placid face a faint smile of pleasure showed dimly. + +"Ah! Clementina! What a miracle to see you here!" + +The lady in question went forward with a smile, and, while she embraced +the ladies and shook hands with the gentlemen, she replied to her +sister-in-law's affectionate reproach. + +"Come, come. Fit the cap to your own head--you who never come to my +house above once in six months." + +"I have my children to think of, my dear." + +"What an excuse; I ask you! I, too, have children." + +"Yes, at Chamartin." + +"Well, but having sons does not hinder you from going to the opera or +out driving." + +Clementina seated herself between her sister-in-law and the Marquesa de +Alcudia; the rest resumed their seats. + +"Oh, my dear!" Senora de Calderon went on, "if you could have seen what +a cold I caught at the play the other night. It was all the fault of +that goose Ramon Maldonado; with all his bowing and scraping he could +not manage to shut the door of the box. The draught pierced my very +bones." + +"Happy was that draught!" remarked General Patino with a gallant smile. + +Every one else smiled, excepting the lady addressed, who gazed at him in +amazement, opening her eyes very wide. + +"How--happy?" said she. + +The General had to explain that it was a covert compliment, and not till +then did she reward him with a smile. + +"And was not Gayarre delightful?" said Clementina. + +"Admirable, as he always is," replied Senora de Calderon. + +"He seems to me to want style of manner," the General suggested. + +"Oh no, General, I beg your pardon----" And they went off into a +discussion as to whether the famous tenor had or had not the actor's +art, whether he dressed well or ill. The ladies were all on his side; +the men were against him. + +From the tenor they went on to the soprano. + +"She is altogether charming," said the General, with the confidence and +conviction of a connoisseur. + +"Oh! delicious," exclaimed Calderon. + +"Well, for my part I regard the Tosti as extremely commonplace. Do you +not think so, Clementina?" + +Clementina agreed. + +"Do not say so, pray, Marquesa," the General hastened to put in, +glancing as he spoke at Senora de Calderon. "The mere fact that a woman +is tall and stout does not make her commonplace if she holds herself +proudly and has a distinguished manner." + +"I do not say so, General; do not make such a mistake," replied the +Marquesa, with some vehemence. But she proceeded to criticise the grace +and fine figure of the soprano with much humour and some little temper. + +The argument became general, and the issue proved the reverse of the +former discussion; the men were favourable to the actress and the ladies +adverse. Pinedo summed up by saying in a grave and solemn tone, which, +however, betrayed some covert meaning, "A fine figure is more essential +to a woman than to a man." + +Clementina and the General exchanged significant glances. The Marquesa +frowned sternly at the dandy, and then hastily looked at her daughters, +who sat with their eyes downcast, in the same rigid and expressionless +attitude as before. Pinedo himself was quite unmoved, as though he had +said the most natural thing in the world. + +"For my part, friend Pinedo, it seems to me that a man too should have a +good figure," said slow-witted Senora de Calderon. + +As she spoke a faint gasp was heard as of laughter hardly controlled. It +was the youngest of the Alcudia girls, at whom her mother shot a +pulverising look, and the damsel's face immediately resumed its original +expression of timidity and propriety. + +"That is a matter of opinion," replied Pinedo with a respectful bow. + +This Pinedo, who occupied one of the apartments on the third floor of +the house, the whole belonging to Senor de Calderon, held a place of +some importance in one of the public offices. The changes of political +administration did not affect his tenure; he had friends of every party, +and had never thrown himself into the scale for either. He lived as a +man of the world; was received at the most aristocratic houses in the +metropolis; was on terms of intimacy with almost every one who figured +in finance or politics; was an early member of the Savage Club (_Club de +los Salvajes_), where he delighted in making fun every evening with the +young aristocrats who assembled there, and who treated him with a +familiarity which not rarely degenerated into rudeness. He was a genial +and intelligent man, with considerable knowledge and experience of the +world; tolerant towards every form of vanity from sheer contempt for +all; and nevertheless, under the exterior of a courteous and inoffensive +creature, he had in the depths of his nature a power of satire which +enabled him to take vengeance quite gracefully, by some incisive and +opportune phrase, for the impertinence of his young friends the +juveniles of the club, who professed an affection for him mingled with +contempt and fear. + +No one knew whence he had sprung, though it was regarded as beyond doubt +that he was of humble birth. Some declared that he was the son of a +butcher at Seville; others said that in his youth he had been a waif on +the beach at Malaga. All that was positively known was that, many years +since, he had come to Madrid as hanger-on to an Andalucian of rank, who, +after dissipating his fortune, blew his brains out. Under his protection +Pinedo had made a great many useful acquaintances; he came to know and +be known by everybody who was anybody, and was popular with all. He had +the tact to efface himself when he crossed the path of a pompous and +overbearing man, letting him pass first; he gave rise to no jealousies, +and this is a certain means of exciting no hostility. At the same time +his cleverness, and his caustic wit, which he always kept within certain +bounds, were a constant amusement at social meetings, and sufficed to +give him a certain importance which he otherwise would not have enjoyed. + +His family consisted of one daughter aged eighteen, and named Pilar. His +wife, whom no one had known, had died many years before. His salary +amounted to forty thousand reals,[A] on which the father and daughter +lived very thriftily in the third-floor rooms which Calderon let to them +for twenty-two dollars a month. Pinedo's chief outlay was on +"appearances"; that is to say, as he moved in a rank of society above +his own he was obliged to dress well and frequent the theatres. +Understanding the necessity for keeping up his acquaintances--the +pillars on which his continuance in office rested--he indulged in such +expenses without hesitation, pinching himself in other departments of +domestic economy. Thus he lived in a state of stable equilibrium; his +position enabled him to move in the society of the great, while they +unconsciously helped to keep him in his position. No Minister could +venture to dismiss a man whom he would inevitably meet at every evening +party and ball in the capital. As Pinedo had occasionally had the honour +of speaking with Royalty, certain sayings of his were current in +fashionable drawing-rooms, where they enjoyed a fame out of all +proportion to their merits, since, as a rule, there is a conspicuous +lack of wit in most drawing-rooms; he was a good shot with pistol or +rifle, and possessed a voluminous library on the culinary arts. The very +highest personages were flattered when they heard that Pinedo had +praised their cook. + +"How long is it since you were at the Colegio, Pacita?" asked Esperanza +of the youngest de Alcudia, in an undertone. + +"On Friday last. Do not you know that mamma takes us to confession every +Friday? And you?" + +"It is at least three weeks since I was there. Mamma and I confess once +a month." + +"And is Father Ortega satisfied with that?" + +"He says nothing about it to me. I do not know whether he does to +mamma." + +"He would say nothing to her; he knows better than to put his foot in +it. Have you seen the Mariani girls?" + +"Yes; I met them in the Retiro Gardens a few days ago." + +"Do you know that Maria is engaged?" + +"She did not tell me." + +"Yes. In the cavalry, a son of Brigadier Arcos. Such a queer-looking +fellow; not ugly, but his legs tremble when he walks, as if he had just +come out of the hospital. You see, as the brigadier is her mamma's most +devoted--it is all in the family." + +"And you? Do you keep it up with your cousin?" + +"I really cannot tell you. On Monday he went off in a huff and has not +been to the house since. My cousin is not what he seems; he is no +simpleton, but a very presuming fellow; if you give him an inch he takes +an ell. If I did not keep a very sharp look out there is no knowing to +what lengths he would go at the pace he makes. Do you know that the +other day he insisted on kissing me?" + +Esperanza gazed at her, smiling and curious. Pacita put her mouth close +to Esperanza's ear and whispered a few words. + +"Mercy!" exclaimed the girl, turning scarlet. + +"As I tell you, child. Of course I told him he was a horrid wretch, and +I would not touch him with a pair of tongs. He went off very much +nettled, but he will come back." + +"Your cousin rides very well. I saw him on horseback yesterday." + +"It is the only thing he can do. Books make him idiotic. He has been +examined six times already in Roman law, and has failed to pass every +time." + +"What does that matter!" exclaimed Esperanza, with a scorn which might +have made Heinecius turn in his grave. And she went on, "Did Madame +Clement make those hats?" + +"No. Mamma had them bought in Paris by Senora de Carvajal, who arrived +on Saturday." + +"They are very pretty." + +"Yes, prettier than any Madame Clement makes." + +Little Esperanza de Calderon, though plain enough, was nevertheless not +without attractions, consisting partly perhaps in her youth, and partly +in her mouth, on which, with its full fresh lips and even white teeth, +sensuality had already set its seal. The youngest of the Alcudias was a +delicate creature, all bones and eyes. + +At this point another lady was shown in--a woman of forty or more, +pretty still, though painted, and marked with lines left by a life of +dissipation rather than by years. + +"Here is Pepa Frias," said Mariana--the Senora de Calderon--with a +smile. + +"Quite right; here is Pepa Frias," said the lady so named, with an +affectation of bad humour. "A woman who is not in the very least ashamed +to set foot in this house." The company all laughed. + +"You would suppose by my appearance that I had come out of the +workhouse? That I had no home of my own? But I have. Calle de Salesas, +Number 60--first floor. That is to say, the landlord has--but I pay him, +which is more than all your tenants do, I am very sure. Oh! Pinedo, I +beg your pardon, I did not see you. And I am at home on Saturdays--it +is not so hot as you are here, oof! And I give chocolate and tea and +conversation and everything--just as you do here." + +And while she spoke she went from one to another shaking hands with a +look of fury. But as every one knew her for an oddity they took it as a +joke and laughed. + +She was a woman of substantial build, her hair artificially red, her +eyes rather prominent, but handsome, her lips rosy and sensual--a +decidedly attractive woman, in short, who had had, and, in spite of +advancing years, still had, many devoted admirers. + +"What there is not at my house," she went on to Senora de Calderon, +giving her a sounding kiss on each cheek, "is a woman so graceless and +so insignificant as you. For, of course, I am not come to see you, but +my dear Senor Don Julian, who now and then comes to wish me good +evening, and tell me the latest prices of stocks. And _a propos_ to +prices, Clementina, tell your husband to hold his hand till I give him +notice. No, you had better say nothing about it. I will call at your +house this evening." + +"But, child, how you are always loaded with papers about shares and +stocks!" exclaimed Mariana. + +"And so would you be if you had not such an energetic husband, who heats +his head over them that you may keep yours cool and easy." + +"Come, come, Pepa, do not be calling me names, or you will make me +blush," said Calderon. + +"I am saying no more than the truth. You may imagine that it is pure joy +to be always thinking whether shares are going up or down, and writing +letters and endorsements, and walking to and from the bank." + +"I imagine, Pepa," said the General, with a gallant smile, "that, from +all I hear, you have a perfect talent for business." + +"You imagine! That is an event!" + +"I have not so much imagination as you, but I have some," retorted the +General, somewhat put out by the laugh Pepa's speech had raised. + +Pepa enjoyed the reputation in society of being a very funny person, +though, in fact, her wit was hardly to be distinguished from audacity. +Speaking always with an affectation of anger, calling things bluntly by +their names, however coarse they might be, saying the most insolent +things without respect of persons--these were the characteristics which +had won her a certain popularity. She had been left a widow while still +young, with two children, a boy who had entered the navy and was at sea, +and a girl who had now been married about a year. Her husband had been a +merchant, and in his later years had gambled successfully on the Bourse. +At that time Pepa had caught the same passion, and, as a widow, she had +cultivated it. Prudence, or more probably the timidity which generally +hampers a woman in such a business, had hitherto saved her from the ruin +which, as a rule, inevitably overtakes gamblers. She had somewhat +impaired her fortune, but still enjoyed a very enviable competency. + +"Pepa, the matter is going on famously," said Pinedo. "Zaragoza wishes +to have one volcano, and at Coruna the authorities have decided on +making two, one on the east and one on the west of the town." + +"I am glad; I am delighted. So that the shares will not be put on the +market?" + +"No; the syndicate has ample security that they will be at three hundred +before the month is out." + +The few who were in the joke laughed at this. The rest stared at them +with intense curiosity. + +"What is all this about volcanoes, Pepa?" asked Senora de Calderon. + +"Senora, a society has been formed for establishing volcanoes in various +districts." + +"Indeed. And of what use are volcanoes?" + +"For warming, and as decorative objects." + +Every one understood the joke excepting the lymphatic mistress of the +house, who still inquired into the details of the affair with continued +interest, her friends laughing till Calderon, half amused and half +annoyed, exclaimed: + +"Why, my dear, do not be so simple. Do you not see that it is a joke +between Pepa and Pinedo?" + +The couple protested, affecting the greatest gravity. But Pepa whispered +in her friend's ear: "Mariana is such a simpleton that for the last +three months that carpet-knight, the General, has been making love to +her and she has never found it out." + +Pepa was not far wrong in styling General Patino a carpet-knight. In +spite of his swagger, his somewhat damaged features and his martial +airs, Patino was but a sham veteran. He had got his promotion without +losing a drop of blood--first as military instructor to one of the +princes, then as member of various scientific committees, and finally as +holding a place under the Minister of War; cultivating the favour of +political personages; returned as deputy several times; senator at last +and a member of the Supreme Court of Naval and Military Jurisdiction, he +had never been on the field of battle excepting in pursuit of a +revolutionary general, and then with the firm determination never to +come up with him. + +As he had travelled a little and boasted of having seen every implement +in the arts of war, he passed for an accomplished soldier. He subscribed +to two or three scientific reviews; when his profession was under +discussion he would quote a few German authorities, and he spoke in an +emphatic tone and a deep chest voice which impressed his audience. But +in fact the reviews were always left to lie open on his table, and the +German names, though correctly pronounced, were no more than empty +sounds to him. He piqued himself on being a soldier of the modern +school, and for this reason he was never seen in his uniform. He was +fond of the arts, especially of music, and was a regular subscriber to +the Opera House and the Conservatorium Quartetts. He was fond of +flowers, too, and of women--more especially of his neighbour's wife; +insatiable in tasting the fruits of other men's gardens. His life +glided on in simple contentment, in watering the gardenias in his little +garden--Calle de Ferraz--and making love to his friends' wives. + +This he did as one who makes it his business, and in the most +business-like way. He devoted all his mind to it, and all the powers of +his considerable intelligence, as a man must who means to achieve +anything great or profitable in this world. His strategical knowledge, +which he had never had occasion to display in the battle-field, served +him a good turn in storming the fair ones of the metropolis. First he +established a blockade with languishing glances, appearing at the +theatre, in the parks, in the churches frequented by the lady; +where-ever she went Patino's shining new hat, gleaming in the air, +proclaimed the ardent and respectful passion of its owner. Then he +narrowed the _cordon_, making himself intimate in the house, bringing +bonbons to the children, buying them toys and picture-books, taking them +out to breakfast occasionally and bribing the servants by opportune +gifts. Then came the attack; by letter or by word of mouth. And here our +General displayed a daring, an intrepidity, which contrasted splendidly +with the prudence and skill of the siege. Such a combination of talents +have always characterised the great captains of the world: Alexander, +Caesar, Hernan Cortes, Napoleon. + +Years did not avail to cool his ardour for great enterprises, nor to +diminish his extraordinary faculties; or, to be accurate, what he lost +in energy he gained in art; thus the balance was preserved in this +privileged nature. But since fortune--as many philosophers have taught +us--refuses her aid to the old, in spite of his skill the General had of +late experienced certain repulses which he could not ascribe to any +defect of foresight or courage, but only to the vagaries of fate. Two +young wives in succession had snubbed him severely. But, as is always +the case with men of real genius, in whom reverses do not produce any +womanly weakness, but, on the contrary, only prompt them to concentrate +and brace their spirit and power, Patino did not weep like Augustus +over his legions. But he meditated, and meditated long. And his +meditations were rich in results; a new scheme of tactics, wonderful as +all his schemes were, rose up from the labour of his lofty thoughts. +Taking stock very accurately of his means of attack, and calculating +with admirable precision the amount of resistance which the fair foe +could offer, he perceived that he could no longer besiege new citadels, +where the fortifications were always comparatively recent, but only +those which, being ancient, were beginning to show weak spots. Such keen +penetration in planning the attack and such skill in execution as the +General could bring to bear, promised him certain victory. And in fact, +as a result of this new and sure plan of action, first one and then +another of the most seasoned and mature beauties of the capital +surrendered to his siege, and at the feet of these silver-haired Venuses +he won the reward due to his prudence and courage. + +Like Hannibal of Carthage Patino could vary his tactics as circumstances +required, according to the position and temperament of the enemy. +Certain strongholds demanded severity, a display of the means of +coercion; in other cases craftier measures were needed, a stealthy and +noiseless approach. One fair enemy preferred the martial and manly +aspect of the conquering hero: she would listen with delight to the +history of the famous days of Garrovillas and Jarandilla, when he was in +pursuit of the rebels. Another took pleasure in hearing him discourse in +his highest style of oratory and richest chest notes on political and +military problems. A third, again, went into ecstasies over his +interpretation of some famous melody of Mozart's or Schumann's, on the +violoncello. For our hero played the 'cello remarkably well, and it must +be confessed that this elegant instrument had helped him considerably in +his most successful achievements. He brought out the notes in a quite +irresistible manner, revealing very clearly that, in spite of his +dashing and bellicose temperament, he had an impressionable heart, alive +to the blandishments of love. And lest the long-drawn notes should not +express this with absolute clearness, they were corroborated by eyes +upturned till they disappeared in their sockets at each impassioned or +pathetic point of the melody--eyes which really could not fail of their +effect on any beauty, however stony-hearted. + +Pepa's malicious insinuation was not unfounded. The gallant general had +for some time past been turning his guns on Senora de Calderon without +her showing any signs of being aware of it. Never in the course of his +many and brilliant campaigns had he met with a similar case. To bombard +a citadel for several months, to pelt it with shell as big as your +head--and to see it as undisturbed, as sound asleep, as though they had +been pellets of paper! When the General came out, point-blank, with some +perfervid address Mariana smiled complacently. + +"Hush, wretch! A nice specimen you must have been in your day!" + +Patino would bite his lips with annoyance. In his day! He who fancied +his day was still at its noon! But his amazing diplomatic talent enabled +him to dissimulate, and smile in bland reply. + +"How much did you give for that bracelet?" Pacita inquired of Esperanza, +who was wearing a very pretty and fanciful trinket. + +"The General gave it me a few days ago." + +"Indeed! The General evidently makes you a great many presents then?" +said her friend, with a slightly ironical tone which the girl did not +understand. + +"Oh, yes. He is very kind. He is always giving us things. He gave my +little sister a beautiful locket to wear at her neck." + +"And does he make presents to your mamma?" + +"Yes, sometimes." + +"And what does your papa say?" + +"Papa!" exclaimed Esperanza, opening her eyes in surprise, "What should +he say?" + +Pacita, without replying, called the attention of one of her sisters. + +"Mercedes, look what a pretty bracelet the General has given to +Esperanza." + +The second of the Alcudias abandoned her rigidity for a moment, and +taking Esperanza's arm examined the bracelet with interest. + +"It is very pretty. And the General gave you that?" she asked, +exchanging a meaning glance with her sister. + +"Here comes Ramoncito," said Esperanza, looking towards the door. + +"Ah! Ramoncito Maldonado." + +A tall young man, slight and thin, very pale, with black whiskers which +encroached on his nose, in the style adopted by his Majesty the King, +and, following his example, by many of the youthful aristocracy, came +into the room with a smile and proceeded to greet the company without +any sign of shyness, taking their hands with a slight shake, and +pressing them to his breast in the affected style which, a few years +since, was the correct thing among the coxcombs of Madrid society. As he +came in he filled the room with some penetrating scent. + +"Heavens, what a poisonous atmosphere!" Pepa exclaimed in an undertone, +after shaking hands with him. "What a puppy that fellow is!" + +"Hallo! Old boy!" exclaimed this youngster, coolly taking Pinedo by the +beard. "What were you doing yesterday? Pepe Castro called on you----" + +"Pepe Castro called on me! So much honour overwhelms me!" + +Such familiarity on Maldonado's part to a man already of mature age and +venerable appearance was somewhat startling. But all the gilded youth of +the Savage Club treated Pinedo in the same way without his taking +offence at it. + +"And here is Mariana," Pinedo went on, "who has just been abusing you; +and with reason." + +"Indeed." + +"Do not believe him, Ramoncito," exclaimed Senora de Calderon, much +surprised. + +"Oh, and Pepa too." + +"You, Pepa?" asked the youth, trying to appear indifferent, but in fact +somewhat uneasy; for Pepa de Frias was very generally feared, and not +without cause. + +"I? Oh yes, and I will have it out with you. What do you mean by soaking +yourself with scent? Do you hope to subdue us all through our olfactory +organs?" + +"I only wish I could subdue you through any organ, Pepa." + +The retort was generally acceptable. There was a spontaneous burst of +laughter, led by Pacita. Her mother bit her lip with rage and whispered +to the daughter next her to tell the second, to communicate to the +youngest that she was a shameless minx, and that she would hear more of +it when she got home. + +"Well said, boy! Shake hands on it!" exclaimed Pepa, holding out her +hand to Ramoncito. "That is the first sensible speech I ever heard you +make. Generally you only talk nonsense." + +"Thank you very much." + +"There is nothing to thank me for." + +"We have just read the question you put in the Assembly, Ramoncito," +said Senora de Calderon, trying by amiability to discredit Pinedo's +accusation. + +"Pshaw! Half a dozen words!" + +"Every one must make a beginning, young man," said Calderon, with a +patronising air. + +"No, no. That is not the way to begin," said Pinedo, gravely, "You begin +by dissentient murmurs; next come interruptions"--"That is inaccurate; +prove it, prove it; you are misinformed"--"Then you go on to appeals and +questions. Next comes the explaining of your own vote, or the defence of +some incidental motion. Finally a speech on some great financial +question. So you see Ramon is at the third stage, that of appeals and +questions." + +"Thanks, Pinedito, thanks!" replied the young man, somewhat piqued. +"Then, having reached that stage, I appeal to you not to be so devilish +clever." + +"I declare! That too is not so bad," exclaimed Senora de Frias in a tone +of surprise. "Why Ramoncito, you are sparkling with wit!" + +The youthful deputy found himself a seat between the daughter of the +house and Pacita de Alcudia who parted reluctantly to make room for his +chair. Maldonado, a man of good family, not altogether devoid of +fortune, and recently elected member of the Chamber, had for some time +been paying his addresses to Esperanza de Calderon. It was in the +opinion of their friends a very suitable match. Esperanza would be +richer than Ramoncito, since Don Julian's business was soundly +established on an extensive scale; still, the young man, who was by no +means a beggar, had begun his political career with credit. The young +girl's parents neither opposed nor encouraged his advances--Calderon, +with the dignity and superiority which money gives, hardly troubled +himself as to who might profess an attachment to his daughter, satisfied +with the certainty that when the time came for marrying her she would +have no lack of suitors. Indeed, five or six young fellows of the most +elegant and superfine society in Madrid buzzed in the parks, at evening +parties, and at the theatre, round the wealthy heiress, like drones +round a beehive. + +Ramon had many rivals, some of them men of position. But this did not +trouble him so greatly as that the damsel, by nature so subdued, and +usually so silent and shy, with him was saucy and at her ease, allowing +herself sundry more or less harmless little jests, and blunt answers, +and grimaces, which amply proved that she did not take him seriously. +And for this reason, Pepe Castro, his friend and confidant, constantly +told him that he should make himself more scarce, that he should seem +less eager and less anxious, that a woman was the better for being +treated with a little contempt. + +Now Pepe Castro was not merely his friend and confidant, but his model +for every action of social or private life. The verdicts he pronounced +on persons, horses, politics--of which however he rarely spoke at +all--shirts and walking-sticks were to the young deputy incontrovertible +axioms. He copied his dress, his walk, his laugh. If Castro appeared on +a Spanish mare, Ramon sold his English cob to buy such another as his +friend's; if he took to a military salute, raising his hand to the side +of his head, in a few days Ramon saluted like a recruit; if he set up a +flirtation with a shop-girl, it was not long before our youth was +haunting the low quarters of the city, in search of her fellow. Pepe +Castro combed all his hair forward to hide a patch that was prematurely +bald; Ramon, who had a fine head of hair, also combed his hair forward; +nay, he would very willingly have imitated the baldness to appear more +_chic_. + +However, in spite of all this devout imitation of his model, he could +not obey him in the matter of his incipient passion. And for this +reason: strange as it may seem, Ramoncito was beginning really to care +for the girl. Love is but rarely a single-minded impulse; various other +passions often contribute to suggest it and vivify it: vanity, avarice, +sensuality, and ambition. Still it is hardly to be distinguished from +the real thing; it inspires the same watchful care, and causes the same +doubts and torments; the touch-stone lies in unselfishness and +constancy. Else it is very easy to mistake them. Ramon believed himself +to be sincerely in love with Esperanza, and perhaps he was justified, +for he admired her and thought of her night and day, he sought every +opportunity of pleasing her, and hated his rivals mortally. However he +might try to follow the advice of the infallible Pepe and to conceal his +devotion, or at any rate the ardour of his feelings, he could not +succeed. He had begun to court her out of self-interest with all the +unconcern of a man whose heart is free, and the young lady's disdainful +indifference had quickly brought him to thinking of her constantly, and +feeling himself confused and fascinated in her presence. Then the +rivalry of other suitors had fired his blood and his desire to win her +hand as soon as possible. And in deference to the truth it must be said +that he had _almost_ forgotten Calderon's thousands, and was _almost_ +disinterested in his attachment. + +"So you really made a speech in the Chamber, Ramon?" asked Pacita. "And +what did you say?" + +"Nothing! Half a dozen words about the service of the bridges," replied +the young man, with an air of affected modesty. + +"Can ladies go to the Chamber?" + +"Why not?" + +"Because I should so much like to hear a debate one day. And Esperanza, +too, I am sure." + +"No, no. Not I," Esperanza hastily put in. + +"Nonsense, child; do not make any pretence. Do not you want to hear your +lover speak?" + +Esperanza turned as red as a poppy and burst out: "I have no lover, and +do not wish for one." + +Ramon, too, coloured scarlet. + +"Paz, what horrible things you say," Esperanza went on, in indignant +confusion. "If you say any such thing again I will go away and leave +you." + +"I beg your pardon, my dear," said the malicious little thing, enchanted +at having put her friend and the deputy to such confusion. "I quite +thought--so many people say--Well, if it is not Ramon it is Federico." + +Maldonado frowned. + +"Neither Federico nor any one else. Leave me in peace. Look, here comes +Father Ortega. Get up!" + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +MORE OF THE ACTORS. + + +A tall priest, still young, with a full, pale face, blue eyes, and the +vague gaze of short sight, was standing in the doorway. Every one rose. +The Marquesa was the first to come forward and kiss his hand. After her, +her daughters did the same, and then Mariana and the other ladies. + +"Good-evening, Father." "Delighted to see you, Father." "Sit here, +Father." "No, no, not there; come near the fire, Father." + +The men shook hands with him affectionately and respectfully. The +priest's voice, as he returned their greetings, was sweet and very low, +as though there were a sick person in the adjoining room; his smile was +grave, patronising, and insinuating. He had an air of having been +dragged from his cell and his books with extreme difficulty--of coming +hither much against his will, simply to do some good to the Calderons, +whose spiritual director he was, by the mere contact of his learned and +virtuous person. His clothes and robe were fine and well cut; his shoes +of patent leather with silver buckles; his stockings of silk. + +Every one complimented him enthusiastically on a sermon he had delivered +the day before at the Oratory Del Caballero de Gracia. He merely smiled, +and murmured sweetly: "I am only glad, ladies, if you derived any +benefit from it." + +Padre Ortega was no common priest--at any rate, in the opinion of the +fashionable society of the metropolis, among whom he had a large +following. Without being a meddler, he was a constant guest in the +houses of persons of distinction. He did not love to make a noise, or +attract the attention of the company to himself; he neither made jokes +nor allowed joking; he had none of the frank, gossiping temper which is +commonly found in those priests who are addicted to social intercourse. +If he had any love of intrigue it must have been of a different type to +that usually seen in the world. Discreet and affable, modest, grave, and +silent in society, effacing himself completely and mingling with the +crowd, he stood out in full relief when he mounted the pulpit, as he +very frequently did. Then he expressed himself with amazing ease and +fluency; he did not move his audience to emotion, and never attempted +it, but he displayed very remarkable talents, and a distinction rare +among his order. + +For he was one of those very few ecclesiastics who are--or who at any +rate seem to be--up to the mark of modern science. Instead of the moral +platitudes, the empty and absurd declamation, which are hurled by his +brethren against science and logic, his sermons boldly rose to the level +of the literature of the day; he invariably ended by proving directly or +indirectly that there is no essential incompatibility between the +advance of science and the dogmas of the Church. He would discourse of +evolution, of transmutation, of the struggle for existence; would quote +Hegel sometimes, allude to the Malthusian theory of population, to the +antagonism of Labour and Capital; and from each in turn would deduce +something in support of Catholic doctrine; to meet new modes of attack +new weapons must be employed. He even confessed himself an advocate, in +principle, of Darwin's theories--a fact which surprised and alarmed some +of his more timid friends and penitents, although at the same time it +enhanced their respect and admiration. When he addressed himself to +women only, he avoided all erudition which might bore them, adopted a +worldly tone, spoke of their little parties and balls, their dress and +their fashions like an adept, and drew similes and arguments from +social life. This delighted his fair audience, and brought them to his +feet. + +He was the director of many of the principal families of Madrid, and in +this capacity he showed exquisite discretion and tact, treating each one +with due regard to his or her temperament and past and present position. +When he met with a woman like the Marquesa de Alcudia, devout, +enthusiastic, and fervent, the shrewd priest pressed the keys firmly, +was exacting and imperious, inquired into the smallest domestic details, +and laid down the law. In the Alcudia's household not a step was taken +without his sanction; and in such cases, as though he enjoyed exerting +his power, he adopted a stern and grave demeanour which, under other +circumstances, was quite foreign to him. + +If he had to do with a family of worldlings, indifferent to the Church, +he played with a lighter hand, was benign and tolerant, requiring them +only to conform outwardly, and refrain from setting a bad example. He +did all he could to consolidate the beautiful alliance which in our days +has been concluded between religion and fashion; every day he found some +new means to this end, some derived from the French, some the offspring +of his own brain. On certain days of the year he would collect an +evening congregation of ladies of his acquaintance in the chapel or +oratory of some noble house. Then there were delightful _matinees_, when +he would extemporise a prayer, some accomplished musician would play the +harmonium, he himself would speak a short friendly address, and then +discuss religious questions with the ladies present; those who chose +might confess, and, to conclude, the party would adjourn to the +dining-room, where they took tea,--and changed the subject. + +When any member of one of these families died, Padre Ortega had his name +inserted on the letters of formal announcement, as Spiritual Director, +requesting the prayers of the faithful for the departed soul; and then +he would distribute printed pamphlets of souvenirs or memoirs, with +prayers in which he besought the Supreme Redeemer, in persuasive and +honeyed words, that by this or that special feature of His most Holy +Passion, he would forgive Count T---- or Baroness M---- the sin of pride +or avarice, or what not; but, as a rule, not the sin to which the +deceased had been most prone, for the worthy father had no mind to cause +a scandal or hurt the feelings of the family. He also undertook the +business of arranging for the acquisition of the greatest possible +number of indulgences, for the Papal benediction _in articulo mortis_, +for the prayers of any particular sisterhood, and so forth. Those who +were his friends and of his flock, might be quite certain of not +departing for the other world unprovided with good introductions. What +we do not know is how far they proved useful in the sight of God: +whether He passed them with a superscription in blue pencil as an +ambassador does, or whether, like the lady in the story, He asked: "And +you, Padre Ortega--who introduces you?" + +When he had exchanged a few polite words with every person present, with +such courtesy as was due to the position of each, the Marquesa de +Alcudia took possession of him, carrying him off into a corner of the +room, where, seated face to face in two armchairs, they began a +conversation in an undertone, as though she were making confession. The +priest, his elbow resting on the arm of his seat, and his shaven chin in +his hand, listened to her with downcast eyes, in an attitude of +humility; now and then he put in a measured word to which the lady +listened with respect and submission; though she immediately returned to +the charge, gesticulating vehemently, but without raising her voice. + +Soon after the ecclesiastic, a youth had made his appearance--a fat +youth, very round and rosy, with little whiskers which came but just +below his ears, his eyes deep set in flesh, and a fine fresh colour in +his cheeks. His clothes looked too tight for him; his voice was hoarse, +and he seemed to produce it with difficulty. Ramon Maldonado's face +clouded over as he came in. This new-comer was the heir of the Conde de +Casa-Ramirez, and one of the suitors for the first born of the house of +Calderon. Jacobo--or Cobo Ramirez, as he was generally called, was +regarded as a comic personage for the same reasons as Pepa Frias, but +with less foundation. He too displayed great freedom of speech, cynical +disrespect of persons, even of the most respectable, and an almost +incredible degree of ignorance. His jests were the coarsest and grossest +which decent people could by any means endure. Sometimes, indeed, they +hit the nail on the head, that is to say, he had a happy thought; but as +a rule his sallies were purely and unmitigatedly indecent. + +And yet the company were pleased to see him. A smile of satisfaction +lighted up every face but that of Ramoncito. + +"I say, Calderon," he exclaimed as he came in, without any sort of +preliminary greeting; "how do you manage to have such good-looking boys +for your servants? As I came in, in the dim light, by the mezzo-soprano +voice I heard, I took one of them for a girl." + +"Nonsense, man," said the banker, laughing. + +"I tell you I did, man, not that I care if you have as many Romeos as +you please. Is your friend Pinazo coming this evening?" + +All understood the allusion; almost every one burst out laughing. + +"No, no, he is not coming," replied Calderon, choking with laughter. + +"What are they laughing at, Pacita?" asked Esperanza, in a low voice. + +"I do not know," she replied with perfect sincerity, shrugging her +shoulders; "Cobo has said something horrid no doubt. I will ask Julia +by-and-bye; she will be sure to know." + +They both looked at the eldest of the three sisters, but she sat unmoved +and stiff, with downcast eyes as usual; nevertheless the corners of her +mouth quivered with a faint smile of comprehension which showed that her +youngest sister's confidence in her profound intuition was amply +justified. + +"Hallo! Ramoncillo!" said Cobo, going up to Maldonado, and patting him +familiarly on the cheek. "Always the same sweet and seductive youth?" + +The tone was half affectionate and half ironical, which the other took +very much amiss. + +"Not to compare with you; but getting on," replied Ramoncito. + +"No, no, you are the beauty of the two--let these young ladies decide. +You are a little too thin perhaps, especially of late, but you will +double your weight as soon as you have got over this." + +"I have nothing to get over. And after all, no one can run to as many +pounds as you," retorted Ramon, much nettled. + +"You have more graces." + +"Come, that will do; do not come talking such nonsense here, for it is +very bad form, especially in the presence of these young ladies." + +"Why must you two always be quarrelling?" exclaimed Pepa Frias. "Have +done with this squabbling, or the world will not be wide enough to hold +you both." + +"No, the place that is not wide enough for these two, is Calderon's +house," said Pinedo, in an undertone. + +"Nothing of the kind," Cobo exclaimed, in a cheerful voice "friends who +quarrel are the best friends--eh old fellow?" + +And taking Ramoncito's head between his hands, he shook it +affectionately. Maldonado pushed him away crossly. + +"Have done, have done; you are too rough." + +Cobo and Maldonado were intimate friends. They had known each other from +infancy, they had been at school together; then in the world of fashion +they had kept up a close acquaintance, chiefly at the club which both +frequented regularly. As they followed the same profession, that, +namely, of "men about town," on horseback, on foot, or in a carriage, as +they visited the same houses, and met everywhere and every day, their +mutual confidence was unlimited. At the same time, they were always on +terms of mild hostility, for Cobo had a true contempt for Ramon, and +Ramon, suspecting the fact, was constantly on his guard. This hostility +did not exclude liking; they were insolent to each other, and would +quarrel for hours on end, but afterwards they would drive out together, +just as if nothing had occurred, and arrange to meet at the theatre. +Maldonado took everything Cobo said quite seriously, and Cobo delighted +in contradicting him whenever he spoke, till he had succeeded in putting +him out of patience. + +But all affection vanished from the moment when they had both cast their +eyes on Esperanza de Calderon; hostility alone remained. Their relations +were apparently the same as before, they met every day at the club, +often walked out, and went hunting together, but at the bottom of their +hearts they hated each other. Each spoke ill of the other behind his +back; Cobo, of course, with more wit than Ramon, because, with or +without good reason, he had a real and sincere contempt for his rival. + +"Come, you are just like my daughter and her husband," said Senora de +Frias. + +"Not so bad, not so bad, Pepa!" Ramirez put in, with affected horror. + +"What a shameless fellow you are!" exclaimed the lady, trying to control +her laughter, which ill-matched her affectation of wrath. "They are just +like you two, for they are always squabbling and making it up again." + +And then she went on to describe in racy terms her daughter's married +life. She and her husband alike were a couple of children, dear +children, but quite insupportable. If he did not hand her a dish as +quickly as she expected, or had not poured her out a glass of water; if +his shirt-buttons were off, or his clothes not brushed; or if there was +too much oil in the salad, there were frightful rows. They were both +equally susceptible and touchy. Sometimes they did not exchange a word +for a week at a time, and to carry on the affairs of life they would +write little notes to each other in the most distant terms: "Asuncion +has asked me to go with her to the play at eight o'clock. Is there any +objection to my going?" she would write, and leave the note on his +study-table. + +"You may go wherever you choose," he would reply in the same way. + +"What will you have for dinner, to-morrow; do you like pickled tongue?" + +"You ought to know by this time that I never eat tongue. Do me the +favour to order the cook to get some fish; but not fresh anchovies, as +we had them the other day; and desire her not to burn the fritters." + +Neither of them chose to give way to the other, so that this nonsense +would go on indefinitely, till she, Pepa, took them both by the ears, +gave them a piece of her mind and obliged them to make it up. Then they +went to the other extreme in their reconciliation. + +"Do you know, Pepa, that I should not care to be there at the moment of +reconciliation?" said Cobo, with another outburst of malignant +vulgarity. + +"Nor I, my friend," she replied with a sigh of resignation, that was +very laughable. "But, what can I do? I am a mother-in-law, which is the +lowest function one can fill in this world, and I must endure that +penance and many more of which you know nothing." + +"I can imagine them." + +"You cannot possibly imagine them." + +"But then, my dear, it would be a great joy to me, to see my children +friends once more," said the gentle Mariana, in her slow, drawling, +lethargic way. "There is nothing more odious than a quarrelsome couple." + +"And to me, too--when the scene is over," replied Pepa, exchanging +smiles with Cobo Ramirez and Pinedo. + +"How gladly would I make friends with you, Mariana, on the same terms," +said the insinuating general, in a low voice, taking advantage of a +moment when Calderon's wife stooped down to stir the fire with an +enamelled iron poker. At the same time, as if he wished to take it from +her, and save her the trouble, the General's fingers were laid on the +lady's, and without exceeding the truth, may be said to have lightly +pressed them. + +"Make friends?" said she, in her usual voice. "But first we should have +to quarrel, and thank God we have not done that." + +The old beau did not venture to reply; he laughed awkwardly with an +uneasy glance at Calderon. If he persisted, this simpleton was capable +of repeating aloud the audacious speech he had just made. + +"Of course," Pepa went on, "I interfere as little as possible in their +disputes. I hardly ever go to their house even--Pah! I loathe playing +the part of mother-in-law." + +"Well, Pepa, I only wish you were my mother-in-law," said Cobo, with a +meaning look into her eyes. + +"Good! I will tell my daughter; she will be much flattered." + +"No, it has nothing to do with your daughter! It is that--that I should +like you to interfere in my concerns." + +"Stuff and nonsense! Cease your compliments," replied the lady, half +vexed. But a symptom of a smile which curled her lips showed +nevertheless that the speech had pleased her. + +Ramoncito now brought the conversation back to the opera--the hare which +runs in every fashionable meeting in Madrid. The opera is, indeed, to +the subscribers, no mere amusement, but an institution. It is not, +however, a love of music which makes it a constant subject of +discussion, but the fact that they have nothing else to think about. To +Ramoncito Maldonado, to Senora de Calderon, and to hundreds of others, +the world is divided into two classes: those who subscribe to the opera +and those who do not. The former alone really and completely represent +the essential part of humanity. + +Gayarre and Tosti once more came under discussion. Those of the party +who had just come in gave their opinion on the merits as well as on the +physical advantages or defects of the two singers. + +Ramoncito began to tell Esperanza and Paz in a low voice how that he had +last evening been presented to La Tosti in her dressing-room. A very +amiable and refined woman; she had received him with wonderful +graciousness and friendliness. She had heard much of him--Ramoncito--and +had been most anxious to know him personally. When she was told that he +was a member of the Assembly she was amazed to think of his having risen +to such a position while still so young. "So absurd you know; it would +seem that in other countries it is the custom only to elect old +men.--She is even handsomer near than from a distance--a skin like +velvet, exquisite teeth; then a splendid figure--a noble bust, and such +arms!" + +Vanity had made the young man not only a blunderer--for it is a +well-known rule that in courting one woman it is never wise to praise +another too vehemently--but a little over free in speaking to two such +young girls. They looked at each other and smiled; their eyes sparkling +with mischievous fun, which the young deputy did not detect. + +"And tell me now, Ramon, did you not make her a declaration on the +spot?" Pacita inquired. + +"Certainly not," replied he, seeing through the ironical meaning of the +question. + +"Then you will." + +"Never! I love another lady." And as he spoke he shot a languishing +glance at Esperanza. The young girl suddenly turned serious. + +"Really? Tell me, tell me----." + +"It is a secret." + +"Well, we can keep a secret. You will not tell, will you, Esperanza?" + +And the mischievous little thing looked slily at her friend, enjoying +her vexation and Ramoncito's discomfiture. + +"I do not want to know anything about it." + +"There, Ramon, do you hear? Esperanza does not want to hear anything +about your love affairs. I know why, though I shall not say." + +"What a silly thing you are, child," exclaimed Esperanza, now really +angry. + +The young man, flattered by these hints from an intimate friend, +nevertheless thought it well to change the subject, for he saw that +Esperanza was seriously annoyed. + +"But you must not believe that it would be so very difficult to make a +declaration to La Tosti, and for her to respond to it. Ask Pepe Castro; +you can depend on what he says about it." + +"But Pepe Castro is not you," said Esperanza, with marked disdain. + +Maldonado fell from the celestial spaces where he had been soaring. This +pointed speech, uttered in a tone of contempt, touched him to the quick. +For, as it happened, the transcendent superiority of Pepe Castro was one +of the few truths which dwelt in his mind as absolutely indisputable. +There might be doubts as to Homer's, but as to Pepito's--none. The +certainty of never rising, however much he might try, to the supreme +height of elegance, indifference, contempt, and sovereign scorn of all +creation, which characterised his admired friend, humiliated him and +made him miserable. + +Esperanza had laid her finger on the wound which was threatening his +existence. He could not reply; the shock was so great. + +Clementina was depressed and uneasy. As soon as she had entered her +sister-in-law's drawing-room, she had sought a pretext for leaving; but +she could find none. She was compelled to let some little time elapse; +the minutes seemed ages. She had chatted for a few moments with the +Marquesa de Alcudia, but that lady had quitted her when Father Ortega +had come in. Her sister was appropriated by General Patino, who was +giving her an elaborate account of the mode of rearing and feeding +nightingales in captivity. The two Alcudia girls, who sat next to her, +might have been wax dolls, they were so stiff and motionless, answering +only in monosyllables to the few questions she addressed to them. By +degrees a sort of obscure irritation took possession of her; to a woman +of her temperament it was a matter of minutes only before she would +cast all conventionality to the winds and take an abrupt departure. But +on hearing the name of Pepe Castro, she looked up eagerly, and listened +with keen interest. At Ramoncito's abrupt allusion to him she suddenly +turned pale; however, she immediately recovered herself, and, joining in +the conversation with a smile, she said: "Nay, nay, Ramon, do not be +malignant. We poor women, if you begin to talk of us----!" + +"I speak ill of none who do not deserve it, Clementina," replied the +youth, encouraged by the rope thus thrown out for him. + +"You men discuss us all. It strikes me that your friend Pepe Castro is +not a man to bite his tongue out rather than sully a woman's +reputation." + +"But, indeed, Clementina, I never yet found him out in a falsehood. All +Madrid knows him for a favourite with women." + +"I cannot imagine why!" exclaimed the lady, with a disdainful pout. + +"I am no connoisseur in male beauty," said the young man, laughing at +his own phrase, "but everybody says that Pepito is handsome." + +"Pshaw! That is a matter of individual taste. Pacita, who is his +relation, will excuse me--but I, who am one of the 'everybody' do not +say so." + +"It is quite true," said Esperanza timidly, "that Pepito is not +considered bad-looking. Besides he is very elegant and _distingue_. Do +you not think so?" And she turned to Pacita, colouring slightly as she +spoke. Clementina glanced at her with a penetrating and singular +expression which deepened the blush. + +"What are you talking about?" asked Cobo Ramirez, joining the little +circle. + +He hardly ever sat down. He liked wandering from group to group, +breathing as hard as an ox, and firing some audacious remark at each in +turn. Ramoncito's brow darkened at his rival's approach. Cobo did not +fail to perceive it and looked at him with a slight sneer. + +"Well, Ramoncito? Tell me, how do you contrive to keep these ladies so +well amused? I was just saying to Pepa that you really sparkle with +wit." + +"No, indeed. How should I sparkle when you monopolise it?" said the +deputy, with some irritation. + +"Well, well, my son, if you are afraid of me I will go." + +An ironical smile, both bitter and triumphant, beamed on Ramoncito's +sharp features. He had the enemy in a trap. It should be said that, a +few days since, a learned discussion had given rise to a decision by an +expert philologist that _afraid_ was wrong and _afeard_ alone was right. + +"My dear Cobo," he exclaimed, throwing himself back in his chair and +gazing at him with ironical amazement. "Before you talk in the presence +of persons of quality you might learn to speak your mother-tongue. I +mean--it seems to me----" + +"Well?" said the other, in surprise. + +"That no one now says _afraid_ but _afeard_, my dear Cobo. I give you +the information for your satisfaction and future guidance." + +Ramon's manner as he spoke was so arrogant, and his smile so impertinent +that Cobo, disconcerted for a moment, asked in a fury: + +"And why afeard rather than afraid?" + +"Because it is so--because I say so! That is why," replied the other, +not ceasing to smile with increasing sarcasm, and casting a triumphant +look at Esperanza. + +The two rushed into an animated and violent discussion. Cobo held his +own, maintaining with great spirit that no one ever said _afeard_, that +he had never heard the word in his life, and that he was in the habit of +talking to educated persons. The young and scented deputy answered him +briefly, still smiling impertinently, and sure of his triumph. The more +angry Cobo became, the more Ramon gloated over his humiliation in the +presence of the damsel to whom they both were paying court. But the +tables were turned when Cobo, thoroughly provoked and seeing himself +beaten, called General Patino to the rescue. + +"Come here, General; you who are eminent as an authority--Do you think +it correct to say _afeard_?" + +The General, greatly flattered by this opportune mouthful of honey, +replied, addressing Maldonado in a tone of paternal instruction: + +"No, Ramoncito, no. You are mistaken. Such a word as _afeard_ was never +heard of." + +The young man jumped in his chair. Suddenly abandoning all irony, and +his eyes flashing, he began to exclaim that they did not know what they +were talking about, that it would seem that the best authorities were +liars, and so on, and so on--that he was quite certain he was right, and +that he wanted a dictionary forthwith. + +"To tell you the truth," said Don Julian, scratching his head, "the +dictionary I used to possess has disappeared. I do not know who can have +taken it. But it seems to me--I agree with the General--that we say +afraid and not afeard." + +This fresh blow was too much for Maldonado; pale already, and tremulous +with vexation, he uttered a last cry of despair. + +"But _afeard_ is derived from _fear_, gentlemen!" + +"Fear or small beer, it is all the same!" exclaimed Cobo, with an +insolent peal of laughter. "Confess now that you have put your foot in +it, and promise not to do it any more." + +Maldonado's disgust and rage knew no bounds. He struggled on a few +minutes with incoherent words and gestures; but as the only reply to his +energetic protests were laughter and sarcasm, he resigned himself to an +attitude of dignity and scorn, chewing the cud of bitterness, his lips +quivering, his looks grim, a snort of indignation now and again +inflating his nostrils. Cobo remained unmoved, taking every opportunity +that offered for shooting a poisoned dart of repartee at the foe, which +enchanted the girls and made their elders smile soberly. No one in this +world ever hungered and thirsted for justice as did Ramoncito at this +moment. + +The arrival of another visitor ended, or at any rate, suspended, his +torments. The Duke of Requena was announced. His entrance produced an +agitation which sufficiently indicated his consequence. Calderon went +forward to receive him, offering him both hands with much effusion. All +the men rose in haste, and left their seats to meet him with smiles and +gestures expressive of the reverence he inspired. The ladies turned +their heads to greet him with curiosity and respect, and Pepa Frias rose +to shake hands with him. Even Father Ortega deserted his Marquesa and +went forward with a submissive and engaging bow, smiling at him with his +bright eyes behind the strong spectacles for short sight which he wore. +For a few minutes the only words to be heard in the room were "Senor +Duque," "Senor Duque"--"Oh Senor Duque!" + +The object of all these attentions was a short, stout man with a +lividly-pale face, prominent squinting eyes, white hair, and a grizzled +moustache as stiff and harsh as the quills of a porcupine. His lips were +thick and mobile, stained by the juice of a cigar which he held, not +lighted, between his teeth, incessantly passing it from one corner of +his mouth to the other. He might be about sixty years of age, more +rather than less. He was wrapped in a magnificent loose fur coat, which +he had not removed in the ante-room, having a cold. But on setting foot +in the little drawing-room, the heat struck him as unpleasant, and +hardly replying to the greetings and smiles which hailed him from all +sides, he only muttered rudely, in the hoarse, thick voice +characteristic of men with a short neck: "Poof! a perfect furnace!" And +he added a Valencian expletive more vehement than choice. At the same +time he unbuttoned his overcoat. Twenty hands were laid on it to help +him to take it off, which somewhat hindered the process. + +And now, in the Calderon's drawing-room, was repeated the scene which +has oftener than any other been performed in this world, of the +Israelites in the desert worshipping the Golden Calf. The new-comer was +no less a person than Don Antonio Salabert, Duke of Requena--the famous +Salabert, the richest of the rich in Spain, one of the colossal figures +of finance, and, beyond a doubt, the most famous for the extent and +importance of his transactions. He was a native of Valencia. No one had +ever heard of his family. Some said he had been a mere waif in the +streets; others that he had begun as a footman to some banker, and had +risen to be a sort of messenger and errand man, others that he had been +an adventurer under Cabrera in the first civil war, and that the origin +of his fortunes was a valise full of gold, of which he had robbed a +traveller. Some even went so far as to credit him with having belonged +to one of the notorious troops of banditti who infested Spain just after +the war. He, however, explained the growth of his fortune--which +amounted to no less than four hundred millions of reales[B]--in the +simplest and most graphic way. When he was angry with any of his +clerks--as very frequently happened--and found that they took offence at +his gross abuse, he would say to them, shouting like a possessed +creature: "Do you know how I came by my money? By taking many a kick +behind. Nothing but kicks will ever help you up the ladder. Do you +understand?" + +It must be confessed that there was something a little vague about this +explanation, but the authority with which it was delivered gave it +irrefragable value. Assuming it as the basis of the inquiry, we might +perhaps be able to form a just estimate of the character and the +achievements of the wealthy banker. + +"Hallo, little lady," said he, going up to Clementina and taking her by +the chin as if she were a child. "You here? I did not see your carriage +below." + +"No, Papa; I came on foot." + +"You are a wonder. You can take mine if you like." + +"No, I would rather walk. I have been out of spirits lately." + +The duke had turned his back on all the company, and was talking to his +daughter with as much affability as he was capable of. He rarely saw +her. Clementina was his natural daughter, the child of a woman of the +lowest type, as he himself had probably been. Afterwards, when he was +already beginning to be rich, he had married a young girl of the middle +class, by whom he had no family. This lady, whose health since her +marriage had been extremely delicate, had agreed, or to be exact, had +herself proposed that her husband's daughter should come to live with +her. Clementina had therefore been brought up at home, and was loved as +a daughter by her father's wife, whom she loved and respected as a +mother. Since her marriage she had paid her frequent visits; but as her +father was always busy, she did not go into his rooms, but left her +mother's--for so she called her--only to quit the house. Excepting on +days when there was some great dinner or reception, or when she met him +by chance in the street or at a friend's house, they never talked +together. + +After inquiring for her husband and sons, the duke, without sitting +down, turned to talk to Calderon and Pepe Frias. He was a man of common +and provincial appearance; he rarely smiled, and when he did, it was so +faintly as to be hardly perceptible. He was in the habit of calling +things by their names, and addressing every one without any formula of +courtesy, saying things to their face which might have seemed grossly +rude, but that he knew how to give them a tone of friendly bluntness +which deprived them of their sting. He was not loquacious; he generally +stood silently chewing the end of his cigar and studying his +interlocutor with his squinting and impenetrable eyes. When he talked it +was with a factitious and cunning simplicity which was not unattractive, +but through it pierced the old man, the Valencian foundling, shrewd, +sarcastic, crafty and uncommunicative. + +Pepa Frias began to talk of money matters; on this subject the widow was +inexhaustible. She wanted to know everything, was afraid of being taken +in, always greedy of large profit, and comically terrified at the idea +of a depreciation of the Stocks she held. She would have every detail +repeated to satiety. + +"Should she sell Bank Stock and buy Cubas? What was the Government going +to do about entailed estates? She had heard rumours! Would money be +dearer at the next settlement? Would it not be better to sell at once, +and make thirty centimes, than to wait till the end of the month?" + +To her Salabert's words were as the Delphic oracle; the banker's fame +acted like a charm. But, unluckily, the Duke--like every oracle, ancient +or modern--was wont to answer ambiguously. Often his only reply was a +grunt, which might mean assent, dissent, or doubt; while the words, +which now and then made their way between the cigar and his moist, +stained lips, were obscure, brief, and frequently unintelligible. +Besides, every one knew that he was not to be trusted, that he loved to +put his friends on the wrong track, and see them get a tumble in some +bad speculation. Nevertheless, Pepa persisted in hoping to wring from +that great mind the secret of the hidden Pactolus, playfully taking him +by the lapels of his coat, calling him old fellow, old fox, Sphinx, +glorying in her audacity, which amounted to a flirtation. But the banker +was not to be cajoled. He humoured her mood, answering her with grunts, +or with some coarse joke at which Calderon would laugh, though he felt +in no laughing mood as he noted the frequency of the duke's +expectorations on his carpet; for the munching of his cigar gave rise to +the necessity, and he was not accustomed to note what he was doing. +Calderon was as much irritated, and annoyed as if his visitor had spit +in his face. The third time it happened he could contain himself no +longer; with his own hands he fetched a spittoon. Salabert gave him a +mocking glance and winked at Pepa. + +Calderon, now easier in his mind, became quite loquacious, and +endeavoured to reply instead of the Duke, and advise Pepa as to her +investments; but though he was a man of prudence and experience in such +matters, the widow did not value his counsels, nor would she listen to +them. When all was said and done, there was an enormous gulf between him +and Salabert--the one an ordinary stock-broker, the other a genius of +banking. The Duke, no doubt, assented inarticulately to the opinions of +the master of the house, but Pepa would none of them. + +Salabert presently left them to themselves, and seated himself on the +arm of a chair in a lounging attitude, which he alone would have +ventured on. Instead of being disliked for his coarse rudeness, his bad +manners contributed not a little to his prestige and to the idolatrous +reverence which was paid him in society. Having left the spittoon behind +him, he again expectorated on the carpet with a malicious pleasure which +was visible through his imperturbable mask of good humour. Calderon on +his part frowned gloomily once more, till at length, with a heroic +determination to ignore the conventionalities, he once more fetched the +spittoon, but less boldly than before, for he only pushed it along with +his foot. Pepa, meanwhile, seated herself on the other arm, and went on +coaxing the Duke till at last he paid more attention to her. He glanced +at her several times from head to foot, dwelling with satisfaction on +her figure, which was round and shapely. Altogether Pepa was a +fresh-looking and attractive woman. In a few minutes the banker leaned +over her without much delicacy, and, putting his face so close to hers, +that he almost seemed to touch her cheek with his lips, he said in a +whisper: + +"Have you many Osunas?" + +"A few--yes----" + +"Sell at once." + +Pepa looked him straight in the eyes, and, taking the advice as meant, +she said no more. A few minutes later it was she who put her face across +to the banker's, and asked him mysteriously: + +"And what shall I buy?" + +"Entailed estate," he replied in the same tone. + +Just now a lady and gentleman came in, a young couple, both under the +middle height, smiling, and lively. + +"Here are my young people," said Pepa. + +They were, in fact, a pleasing pair; well matched, with attractive, +candid faces, and so young that they really looked like a couple of +children. They shook hands with every one in turn, and every face beamed +with the affectionate protecting feeling which they could not fail to +inspire. + +"Here is your mother-in-law, Emilio. What a vexatious meeting, eh?" said +Pepa to the young man. + +"Mother-in-law! No, no. Mamma, mamma," replied he, pressing her hand +affectionately. + +"Heaven reward you!" replied the lady, with a comical sigh of gratitude. + +Once more the company settled into their seats. The young couple sat +down by the mistress of the house. Clementina had left her seat, and was +talking to Maldonado; Pepe Castro's name recurred frequently in their +conversation. Meanwhile Cobo was improving the opportunity, and making +Pacita laugh with his impertinence; but although he hoped that Esperanza +might receive his jests with equal favour, this was not the case. The +young lady was grave and absent-minded, and evidently trying to overhear +what Ramoncito and Clementina were saying; Pinedo had remained standing, +and was doing the civil to the Duke; and the General, seeing his adored +one in eager conversation with the new comers--tired, too, of finding +that his elaborately disguised compliments were not understood, nor even +his poetical allusions--followed his example. The Marquesa and the +priest still sat whispering vehemently to each other in a corner, she +more and more humble and insinuating, sitting at the very edge of her +chair, and bending forward to make herself heard; he every minute more +grave and rigid, closing his eyes from time to time as if he were in the +confessional. + +"What a pair of babies!" said Pepa to Mariana, alluding to the young +couple. "Is it not a shame to think of such children being married? How +much better they would be playing with their tops!" + +The young people in question laughed, and looked lovingly at each other. + +"They play with them still, at spare moments," said Cobo Ramirez in a +childish squeak. + +"Don't talk nonsense!" cried Pepa, turning on him fiercely. "Have they +told you what they play at?" + +Cobo and Mariana exchanged a significant look. Irenita, the young wife, +coloured deeply. + +"You are growing old, Pepa. Remember you are a grandmother," said +Mariana. + +"And such a grandmother!" exclaimed Cobo in an undertone, intended to be +heard only by the lady concerned. She glanced at him, half smiling and +half vexed, showing that she had heard, and was on the whole pleased. +Cobo affected innocence. + +"Is your quarrel over?" said the widow, turning to her children. "And +how long will peace last? Mercy, what a squabbling pair. Look here, I +will go to your house no more, for when I find you sulking I long to +take a broomstick and break it over your shoulders." + +The whole company turned round to look at the husband and wife, who were +smiling beatifically. This time they both blushed. But in spite of the +gravity which remained stamped on Emilio's features, it was clear that +his mother-in-law's free and easy sallies did not altogether displease +him. + +General Patino, at Senora de Calderon's request, pressed the button of +an electric bell. A servant came in to whom his mistress gave a sign, +and five minutes later he reappeared with two others, carrying trays +with cups, tea, cakes and biscuits. There was a stir of satisfaction; a +change of attitude in all the party, and the sparkle in their eyes of +the animal pleased to satisfy a craving of nature. Esperanza hastened to +leave her friend and Ramirez, and proceeded to help her mother in the +task of pouring out tea for the company. Ramoncito took advantage of the +moment when the young girl offered him a cup, to observe in an aside +that he was much surprised at her finding any pleasure in listening to +the nonsensical or unseemly speeches of Cobo Ramirez. Esperanza looked +at him somewhat abashed, but she replied that she had heard no nonsense; +that Cobo was very pleasant and amiable. Ramoncito, in his lowest and +most pathetic tones, protested against such an opinion, and persisted in +running down his friend, till Cobo's suspicions were aroused, and he +came up, jesting as usual. On this our illustrious deputy grew sullen +once more, and drew in his horns; it only remained for Cobo to bring out +some piece of insulting nonsense to turn the laugh against his rival. + +This was the moment for discussing literature; a stage which always +supervenes in every afternoon or evening party in Madrid. General Patino +mentioned a new play which had just been brought out with great success, +and raised some objections to it, chiefly on the ground of certain +scenes being too highly coloured. Mariana declared that on no account, +then, would she go to see it; and all agreed in anathematising the +immorality which nowadays is the delight of play-writers. Naturalism was +becoming a curse. Cobo Ramirez, who had taken tea and then more tea, and +had eaten a fabulous quantity of sandwiches and biscuits, told the +company that he had lately read a novel entitled "Le Journal d'une +Dame"--in French of course--which was precious, charming, the most +delightful thing he had ever read. For in literature Cobo--strange to +say--was all for refinement, spirituality and delicacy. It was of no use +to talk to him of those dreary books which dwell on the number of times +a bricklayer stretches himself when he gets out of bed--or of biscuits +and cakes a young gentleman can eat at afternoon tea--or describe the +birth of a child and other such horrors. Novels ought to deal with +pleasant things since they are written to give pleasure. And all this he +pronounced with decision, snorting like a war-horse as he talked. All +the audience agreed with him. + +But this literary lecture was prematurely cut short by the arrival of +another visitor, a man, neither tall nor short, nor stout nor thin, +square shouldered and dapper, sallow, and wearing a black beard so thick +and curly that it looked like a false one. This was no less a personage +than the Minister of Public Works, a member of the Cabinet. He carried +his head so high that the back of it was almost lost between his +shoulders, and his half-closed eyes flashed self-confident and +patronising gleams from between his long black lashes. Till the age of +two-and-twenty he had carried his head as nature intended; but from the +day when he had been made vice-president of the section of Civil and +Canon Law in the Academy of Jurisprudence, he had begun to hold it +higher and higher, by slow and majestic degrees, as the moon rises over +the sea on the stage at the opera-house, that is to say by slight and +frequent jerks with a rope. He was elected a provincial member--a little +jerk; then deputy to the Cortes--another little jerk; Governor of a +district, and another little jerk; Director General of a +department--another; President of the Committee of Ways and +Means--another; Member of the Cabinet--yet another. But now the rope was +at an end. If they had made him heir to the throne, Jimenez Arbos could +not have held his large head a tenth of an inch higher. + +His entrance on the scene produced some little sensation, but not such +as that of the Duke of Requena. He, whose puffy, sensual face could not +conceal the scorn he felt for the Assembly, nevertheless hurried to +greet him with a deference and servility which amazed every one, all the +more by comparison with the rough discourtesy he usually displayed in +social intercourse. The Minister, on his part, distributed hand-shakings +with an air of abstraction which was positively offensive. It was only +when he greeted Pepa Frias that he showed any signs of animation. The +widow asked him in a familiar tone: + +"How is it that you are in evening dress?" + +"I am on my way to dine at the French Embassy." + +"And then home?" + +"Yes." + +This dialogue, carried on very rapidly in a low voice, was noticed by +the Duke, who went up to Pinedo and asked him mysteriously, with an +expressive sign: "I say--Arbos and Pepa Frias?" + +"These two months past, at least." + +The gaze which the banker now bestowed on the widow was widely different +from his former glances. He was more attentive, more respectful, keener, +and presently somewhat meditative. Calderon had approached the Minister +and was talking to him with polite attention; Salabert joined them. But +the great man was not inclined to talk of business, or perhaps he was +afraid of the financier; the press had thrown out some malevolent hints +as to Requena's transactions with the Government. So in a few minutes +the Duke attached himself, instead, to Pepa Frias, and stood chatting +with her in a corner of the room. + +Clementina was growing more and more impatient, longing vehemently to +get away. Still, she would not go, for fear her father should insist on +accompanying her. The Minister was the first to depart, taking leave +with the same impressive absent-mindedness, never looking at the person +he addressed, but up at the ceiling. The Duke meanwhile had quite taken +possession of the widow, displaying such effusive gallantry that he +might have been about to make her a declaration of love. The General, +observing this, said to Pinedo: + +"Look how eager the Duke has become! He is certainly making love to +Pepa." + +"No," replied the other very gravely. "He is making love to the transfer +of the Riosa Mining Company." + +At this moment Pepa Frias announced in a loud voice that she was going. + +"Where are you off to, next?" asked the banker. + +"To Lhardy's shop, to buy some Italian sausages." + +"I will take you there." + +"Do--and I will treat you to some little tarts." + +The Duke was delighted to accept the invitation. + +"Come along, too, child?" she added to her daughter. + +Clementina waited only five minutes longer. As soon as she felt sure of +not overtaking her father on the stairs, she rose, and, under the +pretext of having forgotten some commission, she also took leave. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +SALABERT'S DAUGHTER. + + +Clementina descended the stairs in some anxiety, and on setting foot in +the street, breathed a sigh of relief. She went off at a brisk pace down +the Calle del Siete de Julia, across the Plaza Mayor, and on through the +Calle de Atocha. On reaching this, she suddenly remembered the youth who +had previously followed her, and turned her head in anxiety. No one. +There was nothing to alarm her. No one was in pursuit. At the door of +one of the best houses in the street she stopped, looked hastily and +stealthily both ways, and went in. A hardly perceptible sign of inquiry +to the porter, was answered by his hand to his cap. She flew to the back +staircase, to escape any unpleasant meeting no doubt, and ran up in such +a hurry that on reaching the second floor she was quite breathless, and +pressed one hand to her heart. With the other, she knocked twice at one +of the doors, which was instantly and noiselessly opened; she rushed in +as if the enemy were at her heels. + +"Better late than never," said a young man who had opened it, and who +carefully shut it again. + +He was a man of eight-and-twenty or thirty, above the middle height, +slightly built, with delicate and regular features, a colour in his +cheeks, a moustache curled up at the ends, a pointed chin-tuft, and +black hair carefully parted down the middle. He looked like a toy +soldier--that is to say, he was of the effeminate military type. His +face was not unlike those of the dolls on which tailors display +ready-made clothing, and was not less unpleasing and repulsive. He wore +a pearl-grey velvet morning jacket, elaborately braided, and slippers +of the same material and colour, with initials embroidered in gold. It +was evident at a glance that he was one of those men who care greatly +for the decoration of their person; who touch up every detail with as +much finish and attention as a sculptor bestows on a statue; who believe +that curling and gumming their moustaches is a sacred and bounden duty; +who accept the fact that the Supreme Creator has bestowed on them a +fascinating presence, and do their best to improve on His work. + +"How late you are!" he exclaimed once more, fixing on her face a +conventional gaze of sad reproach. + +The lady rewarded him with a gracious smile, saying at the same time in +a tone of raillery, "It is never too late if luck comes at last." + +She took his hand and pressed it fondly; then, still holding it, she led +him along the passages to a small room which seemed to be the young +man's study. It was a luxurious den, artistically decorated; the walls +were hung with dark blue plush curtains, held up by rings on a bronze +rod under the cornice; there were arm-chairs of various shapes and +sizes, a writing-table in walnut-wood ornamented with wrought-iron, and +by the side of it a book-stand with a few books--about two dozen +perhaps. Suspended by silken cords from the ceiling, and against the +walls, were horse-trappings and several saddles, common and military, +with their stirrups hanging down; curbs of many ages and lands, whips, +fine woollen horse-cloths richly embroidered, gold and silver spurs, all +very handsome and in perfect order. The hippic tastes of the owner of +this "study" were no less evident in the corridor which led to it from +the door; everywhere there were portraits of horses saddled or stripped. +Even on the writing-table, the inkstand, paper-weights, and paper-knife +were decorated with horse-shoes stirrups, or whips. Through an arch with +columns, only half-closed by a handsome tapestry curtain representing a +youth in powder kneeling to a lady _a la Pompadour_, a handsome mahogany +bedstead with a canopy was visible. + +On reaching this little room the lady let herself drop gracefully into a +pretty little lounging chair, and went on in a light jesting tone: "So +you are not glad to see me?" + +"Very. But I should have been glad to see you sooner. I have been +waiting for you above an hour and a half." + +"And what then? Is it such a sacrifice to wait an hour and a half for +the woman who adores you? Have you not read how Leander swam every +evening across the Hellespont to see his beloved? No, you have never +read that nor anything else. Well, I believe that knowledge would not +suit you. Books would spoil that pretty colour in your cheeks, and +undermine the strength and agility with which you ride and drive. +Besides, some men were born only to be handsome and strong and to amuse +themselves, and you are one of them." + +"Come, come. It seems to me that you regard me as an idiot ignorant even +of my alphabet?" exclaimed the young man somewhat piqued and distressed, +as he stood in front of her. + +"No, my dear, no!" she replied, laughing, and seizing one of his hands +she kissed it with a sudden impulse of tenderness. "Now you are +insulting me. Do you think I could love an idiot? Take this," she went +on, taking off her hat. "Put my hat on the bed with the greatest care. +Now come here, wretch that you are. You are so touchy that you forget +you began by being rude to me. An hour and a half! What then? Come +close; kneel down; wait till I pull your hair for you." + +But the young man, instead of obeying her, drew up a smoking chair, and +perched himself on it in front of her. + +"Do you know what kept me? Why that tiresome boy who followed me again." + +And as she spoke she suddenly grew serious: a well-defined frown +puckered her pretty brows. + +"It is insufferable," she went on. "I do not know what to do. Whenever I +stir, morning or evening, this shadow haunts me. I had to take refuge at +Mariana's; then, having gone there I had no choice but to stay a little +while. Papa came in, and to avoid his escorting me home I had to wait +till he went first. So you see." + +"A pretty fellow is that boy!" exclaimed the man, with a laugh. + +"Very much so! It would be very amusing if he found out where I come, +and every one were to hear of it, and it were to reach my husband's +ears. Laugh away, laugh away!" + +"Why not? Who but you would think of objecting to so platonic an +admirer? Have you had any note from him? Has he ever spoken a word to +you?" + +"That would not matter in the least. It is the persecution which jars on +my nerves. He is just such a boy as would be capable out of mere spite, +if he detected me entering this house, of writing an anonymous letter. +And you know the peculiar position in which I stand with regard to my +husband." + +"There is not a chance of it. Those who write anonymous notes are not +admirers, but envious women. Shall I meet him face to face and give him +a fright?" + +"How can you ask such a question!" exclaimed Clementina, indignantly. +"Listen Pepe, you are a man of feeling, and have plenty of intelligence, +but you sadly lack a little more delicacy to enable you to understand +certain things. You should give rather less time to your club and your +horses, and cultivate your mind a little." + +"Is that your opinion?" cried Pepe, angered extremely by this reproof. + +"Well, if you wish that I should not tell you such things, there are +others which you should not say." + +Pepe Castro shrugged his shoulders scornfully, and rose from his chair. +He paced the room two or three times with an air of abstraction, and +stopped at last in front of a little picture which he took down to dust +it with his handkerchief. Clementina watched him with anger in her eyes. +She suddenly started to her feet as if moved by a spring; but then, +controlling her petulance, she quietly went into the adjoining room, +took her hat off the bed, and began to put it on in front of a +looking-glass, very deliberately, though the slight trembling of her +hands still betrayed the annoyance she was repressing. + +"There," she presently exclaimed, in a tone of indifference, "I am +going. Do you want anything out?" + +The young man turned round, and exclaimed with surprise: "Already!" + +"Already," replied she with affected determination. + +Castro went up to her, put his arm round her neck, and raising the red +veil with the other hand, kissed her on the temple. + +"It is always the same," said he. "I get the broken head and you want to +wear the bandage." + +"What is that you are saying?" she replied in some confusion. "I am +going because I have another visit to pay before dinner." + +"Come Clementina, you cannot make believe, even if you wish it. You must +understand that I cannot listen to insults and laugh, and you insult me +at every moment." + +"I really do not understand you; I do not know what insults or make +believe you allude to," she replied, with affected innocence. + +Pepe tried coaxingly to take her hat off again, but she repelled him +with an imperious gesture. He then put his arm round her waist and led +her to the sofa; he sat down and taking her hands kissed them again and +again with passionate affection. She stood upright and would not be +softened. However, he was so vehement and so humble in his endearments, +that at last she snatched away her hands and exclaimed, half laughing, +but still half vexed: + +"Have done, have done: I am tired of your whining--like a Newfoundland +dog! You are abject. I would be torn in pieces before I would humiliate +myself like that." + +She took her hat off, and went herself to place it on the bed. + +"When a man is as much in love as I am," replied the youth somewhat +abashed, "he does not regard anything as a humiliation." + +"Really and truly, boy?" said she, smiling and taking him by the chin +with her slender pink fingers; "I do not believe it. You are not the +stuff that lovers are made of. Well, I will put you to the proof. If I +told you to do a thing that might cost you your life, or, which is +worse, your honour--a few years in prison--would you do it?" + +"I should think so!" + +"Well then--well then, I want you to kill my husband." + +"How barbarous!" he exclaimed in dismay, opening his eyes very wide. + +The lady looked at him steadily for a few minutes with scrutinising, +sarcastic eyes. Then with a sharp laugh, she exclaimed: + +"You see, miserable man, you see! You are a fine gentleman of Madrid, a +member of the _Savage Club_. Neither for me nor any other woman would +you exchange your dress-coat and white waistcoat for a prison uniform." + +"You have such strange ideas." + +"Well, well. Go on in the way which your pusillanimous nature points out +to you, and do not get into mischief. You will understand that I only +spoke in jest; but it has confirmed me in the opinion I had already +formed." + +"But if you have so poor an opinion of my devotion, I do not know why +you should love me," said the young man, again somewhat piqued. + +"Why I love you? For the same reason for which I do everything--Caprice. +I saw you one day in the Park of the Retiro, breaking in a horse +splendidly, and I took a fancy to you. Then, two months later, I saw you +at the fencing gallery at Biarritz, crossing foils with a Russian, and +that finally bewitched me. I got you introduced to me, I did my best to +please you--I did in fact please you--and here we are." + +Pepe made up his mind to endure with patience her half cynical tone of +raillery, and by dint of talking she presently dropped it. Clementina +when she was content, was affectionate and gay, and ready to yield to +impulses of generosity; her face, as singular as it was beautiful, never +indeed softened to sweetness, but it had a kind, maternal expression +which was very attractive. But if her nerves were irritated, and her +opinions or wishes were crossed, the under-current of pride, obstinacy +and even cruelty, which lay beneath, came to the surface, and her blue +eyes shot flashes of fierce sarcasm or fury. + +Pepe Castro, who was neither illustrious nor clever, had nevertheless +the art of amusing her with the gossip of society, and innuendoes +against those persons for whom she had a marked antipathy. The means +were coarse but the effect was excellent. The Condesa de T----, a lady +whom Clementina hated mortally for some displeasure she had once done +her, was desperately hard up; she had gone to borrow of Z---- the old +banker, who had granted the loan, but at a percentage which had made the +lady stare. The Marques de L----, and his wife, for whom also she had an +aversion, had, before he was in office, given entertainments to the +electors at their country house, with splendid banquets; but as soon as +he was made Minister, though they still gave parties there was no +_buffet_. Julita R----, a very pretty girl who, again, was no favourite +with the haughty lady, had been turned out of doors by the M---- s for +having been found in their son's room--a lad of fifteen. This and much +more of the same kind fell from the lips of the generous youth, with a +scornful humour which put the fair one into a better temper. This was +Pepe Castro's sole talent of an intellectual character; his other +accomplishments were purely physical. + +The clouds had cleared from Clementina's brow. She was now loquacious, +smiling, and lavish of caresses; during the hour she remained with her +lover, he was amply indemnified for the stabs she had given him on first +arriving, as happy as their _tete-a-tete_ could make him. + +It had already long since become dusk. The youth lighted the two lamps +on the chimney-piece, without calling the servant--his only servant, and +the only living soul with him in his rooms. + +Pepe Castro was the son of a noble house of Arragon; his elder brother +bore a well-known title, and his sister had married into a family of +rank. He had been educated at Madrid; at the age of twenty he lost his +father. For a time he lived with his elder brother, but it was not long +before they quarrelled, since the elder, who was economical to avarice, +could not endure Pepe's wasteful extravagance. He then tried living +under his sister's roof, but at the end of a few months incompatibility +of temper between himself and his brother-in-law led to such violent +disputes, that it was said in the Madrid clubs and drawing-rooms that +they had cuffed and cudgelled each other soundly; a duel was only +prevented by the interference of some of the more respectable members of +the family. Then, after living for some time at an hotel, he decided on +furnishing rooms. He engaged a servant, had his breakfast brought in +from an eating-house, and dined sometimes at Lhardy's and sometimes with +one or another of his numerous friends. His stables were in the +immediate neighbourhood, Calle de las Urosa, and were not ill-furnished: +two saddle horses, one English and one cross-bred; two teams, one +foreign and one Spanish; a Berline, a cart, a mail-phaeton, and a break; +it was a channel through which his fortune was rapidly running away, +though it was not the principal one. He had, in fact, left the greater +portion on the gaming-tables at the club, and by no means a small part +bad been grabbed by certain smart damsels, whom he had promoted in a few +hours to the rank of fashionable courtesans. This, however, was a fact +he always denied, thinking it might diminish his prestige as a +lady-killer; but it is nevertheless a fact, like everything else herein +set down. + +All this is as much as to say that Pepe Castro was at this moment a +ruined man; nevertheless, he went on living in the same comfort and +style. His losses and his borrowing cost him a great deal: loans from +his brother on the mortgage of estate he could not sell, post-obits to +merciless usurers on his prospects from an old and infirm uncle, +accepted for three times their cash value; jewels given him by his +sister, who could not give him money; exorbitant charges run up by the +importers of carriages and horses; bills with the tailor, the perfumer; +with Lhardy, the restaurant-keeper, with every one in short. + +It seemed impossible that a man could live easy in such a tangle of +toils and nets. And nevertheless, our young gentleman enjoyed the same +beautiful serenity of mind and lightness of heart as many others of his +comrades and acquaintances, who, as we shall have occasion to see, were +no less ruined, though less fascinating. + +"I have a surprise in store for you," said Clementina, as she again put +on her hat and tidied her hair in front of the glass. + +The handsome puppy sniffed the air, like a hound that scents game, and +he went up to Clementina. + +"If it is a pleasant one let me see it." + +"Yes, and no less if it is an unpleasant one, rude boy. Everything I can +do ought to be pleasant to you." + +"No doubt, no doubt.--Let me see," he went on, trying to conceal his +eagerness. + +"Very well; bring me my muff." + +Castro flew to obey. Clementina, when she had it in her hands, sat down +on the sofa with an affectation of calm, and flourishing it in the air, +she exclaimed: "Now you will not guess what I have in this muff?" + +Her eyes were bright with glee and pride at the same time. Castro's +sparkled with anxiety; the colour mounted to his cheeks, and he replied +in a tone between assertion and inquiry: + +"Fifteen thousand pesetas."[C] + +The lady's triumphant expression instantly changed to one of wrath and +disgust. + +"Go--go away--Pig!" she furiously cried, giving him a hard box on the +ear with the handsome muff. "You think of nothing but money. You have +not a grain of delicacy." + +"I thought----" The change in Pepe's face was no less marked; it was +more gloomy than night. + +"Of money, yes; I tell you so. Well then, no. Nothing of the kind. +Nothing but a little tie-pin, which--fool that I am--I bought at +Marbini's as I came along, to show you that I am always thinking of +you." + +"And I thank you from the bottom of my heart, my sweet pigeon," said the +young man, making a supreme effort to recover from his sudden dejection, +and producing, as a result, a forced and bitter smile. "Why do you fly +into such pets? Give it me. But I know what a bad opinion you have of +me." + +Clementina would not give him her present. Pepe begged for it humbly; +still there was in his entreaties a shade of coldness, which to the keen +intuition of a woman, betrayed very plainly the disappointment at the +bottom of his soul. + +"No, no! My poor little pin that you despise so--I can see it in your +face. It shall go into the box where I keep memorials of the dead." + +She rose from her seat and pulled down her veil. Pepe was pressing in +his endeavours to be attentive, and to mollify her wrath. At last, when +she had almost reached the door, she suddenly turned about and drew out +of her muff a neat little jewel-box, which she gave to her lover, +looking him straight in the face meanwhile. + +The young man's eyes opened, resting on the box with an expression of +delight; then they met those of his mistress. They gazed at each other +for a minute, she with a look of mischievous triumph, he with gratitude +and suppressed joy. + +"I always said so! No one in the world knows what love means, but you, +my darling. Come here; let me thank you, let me worship you on my +knees." + +He dragged her to the sofa, made her sit down, and falling on his knees, +kissed her gloved hands with rapture. + +"Mercy, what madness!" cried the lady quite bewildered. "What a +whirlwind round a trifle." + +"It is not for the money, my darling, not for the money; but because you +have such an original way of doing things. Because you are such a trump, +such an angel!" He clasped her knees, he grovelled before her, and +kissed her feet--or, to be exact, her boots. + +"What an abject thing you are, Pepe!" said she, laughing. + +"I don't care what you call me; I am yours, your slave till death. I owe +you not only happiness, but honour. You cannot think what I have gone +through these two days, over that cursed debt!" he said, in a voice of +genuine emotion. + +"And will you go and gamble any more, eh? Gamble, and lose it all, you +wretch," said she, tumbling his hair and spoiling the beautiful parting +down the middle. + +"No--I swear it on my word of honour." + +"On your word, and on your money, wretched man? Well, I am off," she +added, with a fond little pat, and she went to look at the clock on the +chimney-piece. "Mercy! How late it is--I must fly. Good-bye." + +She ran to the door, waving her hand to her lover, without looking at +him. He could only clutch it, and kiss the tips of her fingers. + +He rushed to open the door for her, but her hand was already on the +lock; indeed, she was in a fury, because her feeble efforts would not +turn it. + +"By-bye--till Saturday!" said she, in a whisper. + +"Till the day after to-morrow." + +"No, no--till Saturday." + +She ran downstairs with the same cautious haste as she had used in +coming up, nodded imperceptibly to the porter, and went out. She walked +as far as the Plaza del Angel; there she took a hackney coach to drive +home. + + * * * * * + +It was now past six; the lights in the shops had been blazing for an +hour or more. She sat as far back in the corner as she could and gazed +without interest or curiosity at the streets she passed through. Her +face had resumed its characteristic expression of scornful haughtiness, +qualified by a certain degree of disdain and absent-mindedness. + +Her refined elegance, her arrogant mien, and, above all, the severe +majesty of her exceptional beauty stamped Clementina beyond question as +one of the most _distinguees_ women of Madrid. At the same time, though +she was recognised as such, figuring in all the drawing-rooms of the +aristocracy, in all the lists of fashionable persons which the papers +publish on the day after a ball, a race, or any other entertainment, by +birth-right she was far from belonging to such a set. Her origin could +not have been more humble. Her mother had been an Irish girl, the +mistress of a cooper, who had landed at Valencia in search of work. Her +name was Rosa Coote; she was extraordinarily handsome, and would have +been even more so if she had cared for dressing or adorning her person; +but the squalor in which the illicit home was kept had made her +neglectful and dirty. The Valencia waif and the handsome Irish girl came +to an understanding behind the cooper's back. Salabert was quite young +and a brisk youth; he was not, like the girl's present protector, a +victim to drunkenness. Rosa abandoned her former lover to go off with +him. Within a few months, Salabert, who saw an opening for going to Cuba +as steward on board a steamboat, in his turn deserted her. The +Irishwoman, expecting then the birth of the offspring of this +connection, wandered about for some time without any protector or means +of living till she became acquainted with a carpenter, who ultimately +made her his lawful wife. Clementina grew up as an intruder in this new +home. Her mother was a violent and irascible creature, with bursts of +tenderness which she kept exclusively for her legitimate children. +Clementina she seemed to hate, and avenged on her her father's offence +with cruel injustice. + +A fearful childhood was that of Clementina. + +If some details of it could but have been known in Madrid; if, only in +some brief vision, the scenes through which this proudest and most +arrogant of dames had passed could have been placed before the eyes of +her fashionable acquaintance, who would have envied her? What tortures, +what refinement of cruelty! At the age of four or five she was made the +watchful nurse of two brothers younger than herself, and if she +neglected the smallest particular of her duties the punishment followed +at once, but not such punishment as was due--a slap, or her ears pulled. +No, it was premeditated to hurt her as much and as long as possible; +after flogging her with a strap the wounds were washed with vinegar, she +was made to tread for hours on hard peas, to wear shoes that pinched her +feet, to go without water, she was thrashed with nettles. + +More than once, on hearing the hapless child's outcries, the neighbours +had intervened and had remonstrated with the unnatural mother. But +nothing ever came of it beyond a noisy discussion, in which the +passionate Irishwoman, in sputtering Valencian, poured out her wrath on +the gossips of the quarter, and afterwards vented her fury on the cause +of the squabble. She was always declaring that she would send the child +to the workhouse, but this was opposed by the carpenter, who prided +himself on being a kind-hearted and merciful man, and who sometimes +interfered to mitigate her punishment, though he generally left it to +his wife "to correct her daughter," as he said to the neighbours who +blamed him. His educational notions clashed with his more kindly +instincts, and when they got the upper hand, alas, for the poor little +girl! + +Certain details of these horrible torments were sickening. On one +occasion Clementina had been to the well and broken the pitcher. It was +the third within a month. The child dared not go home, and sought refuge +with a neighbour. The woman took her to her mother, but did not leave +her till she had extorted a promise that she should not be punished. And +in point of fact her mother did not punish her by any ordinary process +of chastisement; her cries might have led to a disturbance. She formed +the diabolical idea of holding the girl's head over a foul sink, till +she was half asphyxiated and fainted away. The worst days for the +wretched child were when she had dropped asleep at her prayers. The +cruel Irishwoman was a bigot, and this offence she never forgave. On one +occasion, she beat her so mercilessly for repeating her prayers half +asleep before going to bed, that the carpenter, who was peacefully +eating his supper in the kitchen, heard her cries, and went up to the +bedroom, where he rescued her from her mother, who would otherwise +perhaps have been the death of her. + +This course of incredible cruelties ended at last in one which led to +the interference of justice. The unnatural mother, at her wit's end how +to torture the girl, burnt her legs with a candle. A neighbour happening +to hear of it told others, and the scandal in the quarter produced a +stir; they appealed to justice, informed against the Irishwoman, and the +crime being proved, she was condemned to six months' imprisonment, while +the girl was placed in an asylum. + +About a year later Salabert came to Valencia, not yet a potentate, but +with some money. On hearing what had occurred he went to see his +daughter at the school for poor girls, whence he removed her to one +where he paid for her education, and at long intervals went to see her. +His generous deed was highly lauded, and he knew how to make it tell, +setting himself up in the eyes of those who knew him as a living model +of paternal devotion, in shining contrast to the brutality of his +deserted mistress. + +Not long after, he married, and settled in Madrid. His wife was the +daughter of a dealer in iron bedsteads and spring mattresses, in the +Calle Mayor. She was plain and sickly, but gentle and affectionate, with +fifty thousand dollars for her portion. At the end of three or four +years of married life, finding her health increasingly delicate, Dona +Carmen lost all hope of having any children, and knowing that her +husband had an illegitimate daughter in a Convent at Valencia, she +proposed, with rare generosity, to have her at home and treat her as +their child. Salabert accepted gladly; he went to fetch Clementina, and +thenceforward a complete change came over the girl's fate. + +She was at this time aged fourteen, and already a marvel of beauty, a +happy combination of the refined and delicate northern type with the +severer beauty of the Valencian women. Undeveloped as yet, in +consequence of the cruel experiences of her childhood followed by the +quiet routine of a convent, under this change of climate and mode of +life she acquired in two or three years the commanding stature and +majestic proportions we have seen. Her moral nature left much more to be +desired. Her temper was irritable, obstinate, scornful, and gloomy. +Whether she was born with these characteristics or they were the result +of the misery and sufferings of her wretched infancy it would be hard to +decide. In the convent, where she was never ill-treated, she was not +much loved by her teachers or her companions; her character was +suspicious, and her heart devoid of tenderness. Her companions' troubles +not only did not touch her; but brought a cruel smile to her lips, which +filled them with aversion. Then, from time to time, she had fits of +fury, which made her both feared and hated. On one occasion, when a +young girl had spoken to her in offensive terms, she had clutched her by +the throat and nearly strangled her. And it was quite impossible +afterwards to induce her to beg pardon, as the mother superior required +her to do; she preferred a month of solitary confinement rather than +humble herself. + +The first months of her life in her father's house were a period of +trial for kind Dona Carmen. Instead of a bright young creature, grateful +for the immense favour she had done her, she found herself confronted +with a little heartless savage, devoid of affection or docility, +extravagant and capricious to the last degree, who never laughed +heartily excepting when a servant had an accident, or a groom was kicked +by a horse. But the good woman did not lose courage. With the unfailing +instinct of a generous heart she understood that if no love could spring +from the soil it was because nothing had been sown in it but the seeds +of hate. The softer affections exist in every human soul, as +electricity exists in every body; but to detect them, to rouse a +response, they must be treated for a length of time with a strong +current of kindness. This was what Dona Carmen did to her stepdaughter. +For six months she kept her in a warm atmosphere of affection, a close +net of delicate thoughtfulness, and unfailing proofs of lively and +loving interest. At last Clementina, who had begun by being first +disdainful and then indifferent, who would pass hours together locked in +her own room and never go near her stepmother but when she was sent for, +who never had made any advances, but lived in absolute reserve, suddenly +succumbed, feeling the vital and mysterious throb which binds human +beings to each other, as it does all the bodies of the created universe. +The change was strange and violent, like everything else in that +strangely compounded temperament. At the most unlooked-for moment she +fell on her knees before Dona Carmen, professing such deep respect, such +passionate affection, that the good woman was amazed, and had great +difficulty in believing in her sincerity. The revelation of +lovingkindness had burst at length on the girl's soul; her icy heart had +melted under the motherly warmth of the large-hearted woman; the divine +essence of love henceforth had a home where hitherto the essence of +Satan alone had dwelt. + +It was a perfect miracle. Instead of spending her life in her room, she +would never leave her stepmother's; she now called her "Mamma" with a +fervour, a joy, a determination, such as are only to be seen in the +devout when they appeal to the Virgin. And Clementina's feeling for her +father's wife was in truth devotion. Amazed to find that so gentle, so +tender a being could exist in this world, she was never tired of gazing +at her, as though she had dropped from heaven. She would read her +thoughts in her eyes, anticipate her smallest wishes, let no one serve +her but herself; and, like every lover, insisted on the exclusive +possession of the object of her affection. The slightest sign of +disapproval on Dona Carmen's part was enough to disconcert her and +plunge her into the deepest grief. The haughty creature, who had made +herself generally odious, would humble herself with intense satisfaction +before her stepmother. It was the humiliation of the mystic prostrated +by an irresistible spiritual impulse. When she felt the good woman's +hand caress her face she fancied it was the touch of God Himself, and +hardly dared to touch those thin, transparent fingers with her lips. + +But it was only to her stepmother that she had so entirely changed. To +all else, including her father, she still displayed the same scornful +coldness, the same proud and obstinate temper. If now and again she +seemed sweeter and more tractable, it was due, not to her own will, but +to some express command of Dona Carmen's; and as soon as this command +was at an end, or forgotten, she was the same malevolent being once +more. The servants hated her for the insufferable pride which she showed +as soon as she realised her position as her father's heiress, and for +her total lack of compassion if they did wrong. + +The greatest sufferer was the English governess whom her father had +engaged for her. She was an elderly woman, but she had a mania for +dressing and tricking herself out like a girl. This harmless weakness +was so constantly the theme of Clementina's mockery, that only necessity +could have made the poor woman endure it. All the secrets of her toilet +were mercilessly revealed for the amusement of the servants, and her +physical defects, mimicked by the young lady's waiting-maid, were the +laughing-stock of the kitchen. On a certain grand occasion, a day when +there was a dinner-party, Clementina hid the old maid's false teeth, +which she had left on the dressing-table after washing them. Her +discomfiture may be imagined. But she took an innocent revenge by +calling her "_Senorita Capricho_" and setting her as an exercise to +translate from English into French certain maxims and aphorisms of +scorching application, as: "Pride is the leprosy of the soul; a proud +girl is a leper whom all should avoid with horror." "Those who do not +respect their seniors can never hope to be respected," and the like. + +Clementina laughed at these innuendoes; sometimes she would even dare to +substitute some phrase of her own for that of her governess. Where she +should have translated: "There is nothing so odious and contemptible as +haughtiness in the young," she would write: "There is nothing so +ridiculous and laughable as presumption in the old." Miss, as she was +called, took offence, and complained to Dona Carmen, who would appeal to +her stepdaughter, reproving her gently, and Clementina, seeing her +grieved and annoyed, would smoothe her brow and kiss her lovingly. And +all was well till next time. In fact Miss Anna and the servants were no +doubt in the right when they said that the Senora would be the ruin of +the girl. Dona Carmen, living in fearful solitude of soul, was so +captivated and gratified by the warm affection her stepdaughter was +always ready to lavish on her that she had no eyes for her faults, and +even if she had, would not have found the courage to correct them. + +At eighteen Clementina was one of the loveliest and wealthiest women of +Madrid. Her father's fortune grew like the scum of yeast. He was +regarded as one of the great bankers of the city, and was not known to +have any other heir, nor was it likely that he would have one. The young +aristocrats of family or wealth--the best known members of the _Savage +Club_--began to flutter about her with the most pressing and eager +attentions. If she appeared at a party a group of men fenced her round; +if she went to church, another and a larger party stood in a row +awaiting her exit; if she drove out in the Castellana Avenue, a +cavalcade of admirers galloped beside her carriage as a guard of honour; +at the theatre pairs of opera-glasses were invariably fixed upon her. +The name of Clementina Salabert was to be heard in all the conversations +of the gilded youth of Madrid, to be seen in print in every drawing-room +chronicle, and was registered in the capital as that of one of the +brightest stars of the firmament of fashion. She took up and dropped one +lover after another without a thought, thus earning the reputation of a +flirt and feather-brain. But this never interferes with a girl's chance +of adorers; on the contrary, the self-love of men prompts them to pay +great attentions to women of that stamp, in the hope, born of vanity, of +being the nail to fix the weather-cock. Nor did she suffer any serious +damage from a coarse and malignant rumour which, all through Madrid, +connected her in a strange friendship with a young and famous +bull-fighter. In this affair Dona Carmen's simplicity and weakness +played a leading part. Not only did the good lady allow the man to visit +at her house, and sit at her table, but she even accompanied the pair in +public on more than one occasion. This, and her having cheered him at +the death of several bulls, gave scandal--as busy in the capital as in +the provinces--sufficient pretext for an attack on the envied beauty. +But as it could bring forward nothing but bold suspicion and vague +conjecture, and as, on the other side, there were positive facts which +far outweighed them, the calumny did not diminish the number of her +adorers. Its only use was as an outlet for the bile of some rejected +one. + +At this age, and often after, Clementina's manners betrayed a strong +infusion of Bohemianism--of the free and easy airs and sarcastic +coolness of the adventuresses of Madrid. A similar tendency may be +observed, in a more or less exaggerated form, in all the upper circles +of Madrid Society; it is a mark which distinguishes it from that of +other countries. And in this tendency, which is everywhere conspicuous +from the palace to the hovel, there is some good; it is not wholly evil. +In the first place it implies a protest against the perpetual falsehood +which the increasing refinement and complication of social formalities +inevitably entail. Propriety of conduct and moderation of language are +highly praiseworthy no doubt, but in an exaggerated form they result in +the cold courtesy of a _diplomate_ at a foreign Court. Men and women, +crushed under the weight of so much formality, become artificial beings, +puppets, whose acts and words are all set forth in a programme. To +exclude liberty and familiarity from society is to undermine human +nature; to prohibit frankness of speech is to destroy the charm which +ought to exist in all human intercourse. + +Moreover, an instinct of equality underlies this assertion of freedom, +and cannot fail to make it attractive to every lover of Nature and +truth. A lady is not a bundle of fine clothes, of foregone conclusions +and ready-made phrases; she is, above all else, a woman in whom culture +has, or ought to have, tempered impetuosity of character and impulses of +vanity, but not to have impaired the genuineness of Nature by +transforming her in society into a cold dry doll, devoid of grace and +originality. It must not be supposed that the perfect refinement and +elegance proper to the scenes where the upper classes meet are unknown +in Madrid. They are constantly observed by almost every Spanish woman of +family; but, happily, they are united with the vivacity, grace, and +spontaneity of the Spanish race, making our fair ones, in the opinion of +impartial observers, the most accomplished, gracious, and agreeable +women in Europe--excepting, perhaps, the French. + +Clementina had a somewhat exaggerated taste for this freedom of word and +action. She had acquired it no one knows how--by contagion in the +atmosphere perhaps--since women in her position are not in the habit of +spending their time with the commoner sort. She had had a waiting maid, +born and brought up in Maravillas, and it was from her, in her moments +of excitement, that Clementina picked up the greater part of her slang +and sayings. Then came her friendship with the _torero_ above-mentioned; +an acquaintance with various young men who cultivated that style; the +lower class of theatres, where the manners and customs of the lower +classes of the Madrid populace are set on the stage--not without grace; +and her intimacy with Pepe Frias, and some other fast women of fashion, +finally gave her the full Bohemian flavour. She was an enthusiast for +bull-fights. It was a perfect marvel if she missed one, sitting in her +private box with the orthodox white mantilla and red carnations. And she +would discuss the chances, and fulminate criticisms, and bestow +applause; and was regarded by the _habitues_ as a keen and eager +connoisseur. The national sport, exciting and bloody, was quite after +her mind, violent and indomitable as she was by nature. When she saw +other women covering their eyes or showing weakness over the fortunes of +the arena, she laughed sardonically, as doubting the genuineness of +their horror. + +Among the many adorers and suitors who successively and rapidly rose and +fell in her favour, there was one who succeeded in securing her notice, +at any rate, for a rather longer time than the rest. His name was Tomas +Osorio. He was a young man of twenty-eight or thirty, rich, small and +delicate, with a pleasing face and a lively, determined temper. Either +of deliberate purpose, or from genuine independence of character, he +made a deeper impression than his peers. When he first paid attention to +her he did not cringe nor completely abdicate his own will. In some +differences on important points in the course of his long courtship--for +it lasted not less than two years--he firmly maintained his dignity. He +was, like her, irritable, haughty and scornful; purse-proud too, and +with a spiteful wit which stood him in good stead with women. Thanks to +these qualities, Clementina did not tire of him so soon as of the rest. +But at the end of the two years, within a few days of the marriage, it +was broken off in a very public and almost scandalous manner. All Madrid +was talking of it, and commentary was endless. The conclusion arrived at +was that it was the gentleman who had taken the first steps towards the +rupture, and this report, whether true or false, reached Clementina's +ears, and was such a stab to her pride that she was almost ill with +rage. + +Another year went by. She had other suitors, off and on, and Osorio, on +his part, courted other damsels. But in both, notwithstanding, the +memory of the past survived. She was burning for revenge. So long as +that man was going about the world, so perfectly content as he seemed, +she felt herself humiliated. He, on the contrary, in spite of his +affected indifference, was still consumed by love, or rather by desire. +Clementina had captivated his senses, had pierced his flesh, and, do +what he would, he could not extract the dart. She was always in his +thoughts, always before his eyes, provoking his passion. The longer the +time that elapsed the fiercer the fire burned within him, and the +greater were the effort and the anguish of keeping up a haughty and +indifferent demeanour when they happened to meet. Clementina, with a +penetration common in women, had no difficulty in guessing that her +former love still cherished a secret passion for her, and felt a +malicious joy. Thenceforward she dressed and adorned herself for him +alone--to bewitch him, to fascinate him, to make him drain the bitter +cup of jealousy. + +From this moment dated her fame as an elegant woman. Clementina was +indeed, in this matter, a great artist. She knew how to dress so that +her clothes should never by their colour or quality attract attention to +the prejudice of her face. Understanding that what a woman wears should +be not a uniform, but an adornment to set off the perfections which +nature has bestowed upon her, she was no blind slave of fashion; when +she thought it unbecoming to her beauty she boldly defied it or modified +it. She avoided glaring hues, a profusion of trimmings, and elaborate +styles of hair-dressing; she regarded and treated her person as a +statue. Hence a certain tendency, constantly evident in her costume, +towards drapery, and amplitude of flowing folds. Her fine, majestic +figure gained greatly by this style of dress, which, though it became +rather pronounced after her marriage, was never exaggerated beyond the +limits of good taste. She was fond of wearing white, and this, with a +simple manner of dressing her hair like that of the Milo Venus, made her +appear in the drawing-rooms of Madrid like a beautiful Greek statue. One +thing she did which, though highly censurable from a moral point of +view, is not so as a matter of art. She wore her dresses very low. Her +bust was superb; it might have been moulded by the Graces to turn the +head of a god. The vain desire to display her beauty, unchecked by the +wholesome control of a mother, led her on more than one occasion to +incur the severest comments of society. Poor Dona Carmen, besides +knowing nothing of social custom, was so lenient to her stepdaughter's +fancies and caprices, that she accepted them as quite reasonable, and as +undoubted evidence of her indisputable elegance and taste. + +However, her vanity brought its own punishment. On one occasion when she +made her appearance at a ball given by the Alcudias, the Marquesa said +as she greeted her: + +"Very pretty, very nice, Clementina. Your dress is lovely; but it is too +low, my dear. Come with me and let us set it right." + +She took the girl up to her room and, with motherly kindness, arranged +some gauzy material to cover what really ought not to be displayed. +Clementina managed to conceal her mortification, ascribing the fault to +the dressmaker; but she felt so humiliated by the lecture, and the +pitying smile which accompanied it, that she never again could endure to +see the prudish Marquesa. + +Under this constant fanning Osorio's flame waxed fiercer and fiercer, +and he could no longer keep it to himself. At last he confided in his +sister, who was fairly intimate with the young lady; he begged her to +sound the way, and ascertain whether he might once more make advances +without fear of a rebuff. Mariana undertook the commission. Clementina +heard her with ill-disguised triumph, but sat demure until Senora de +Calderon had poured out all her story, and assured her that Tomas was +burning with devotion. Then she replied ambiguously, and with laughter: +"She would think it over. She was deeply aggrieved by the reports that +had been spread as to their rupture, but at any rate, he was not to give +up all hope." + +She did reflect seriously as to the means of satisfying the demands of +her wounded pride, and at the end of a few days she announced to Mariana +her ultimatum. If she was to consent to give her hand to Osorio, he must +beg it of her parents on his knees, in the presence of such witnesses +as she might choose. + +Such a preposterous idea would never have occurred to any Spanish woman +of pure race, and only the admixture of British blood could have led her +to conceive of such a monstrous refinement of arrogance. + +When Osorio was informed of the conditions imposed by his ex-_fiancee_ +he flew into a violent rage, and swore defiantly that he would be cut in +pieces before he would suffer such degradation. The matter dropped, and +things went on as before. But as, in spite of his utmost efforts, the +serpent of desire gnawed at his heart with increasing virulence, the +poor wretch at the end of two months had fallen into utter dejection; he +was really dying of love; he could not tear himself from Madrid, and +once more he besought his sister to open negotiations. Clementina, quite +sure of having him in her power, was inflexible; either he must pass +beneath these strange Caudine forks, or there was no hope. + +And Osorio submitted. + +What could he do?--The extraordinary ceremony was carried out one +evening at the lady's residence. On reaching the house Osorio found +assembled about a score of women whom Clementina had chosen from among +the most envious of her acquaintances, or those who had been most +malignant as to the cause of their former quarrel. He adopted the best +conduct he possibly could in such a case: grave and solemn, with a +certain ease of language and manner, betraying a suspicion of irony, as +if he were performing a comedy for the benefit of a crazy person. He +gave a brief preliminary sketch of their former engagement; confessed +himself to blame; praised Clementina in extravagant terms--with so +little moderation indeed that he seemed to be speaking +sarcastically--and professed himself unworthy to aspire to her hand. +Finally declaring that as she was so worthy to be adored, and the joy of +winning her so great, he thought it but a small thing to ask her of her +parents on his knees. At the same time he fell on one knee. Dona Carmen +hastened to raise him, and embraced him effusively. Clementina even +pressed his hand, better pleased by the grace and dignity with which he +had got through the ordeal, than gratified in her conceit. In truth, on +this occasion she felt for him, what she never felt again, a tiny spark +of love. If any one suffered humiliation from this scene it was she +herself, from the light and easy dignity with which her lover carried it +off. But this was a trifle; a woman enjoys nothing more keenly and +deeply than the superiority of the man who mollifies her. Clementina was +happy that evening. + +But though Osorio had come so well out of the ordeal, he never forgave +her the intention to humiliate him; he was as proud as she. The insane +passion she had inspired for a time smothered every other. His honeymoon +was as brief as it was delicious. The shock of two such characters, both +equally obstinate and proud, was inevitable. It soon came in the form of +a series of petty annoyances which instantly extinguished the feeble +sparks of affection which her husband had struck in the young wife's +heart. In him passion survived longer. The knowledge each had of the +other made them cautious, for fear of a more formidable collision which +must have led to disaster. But this too came at last. Report said that +Osorio, tired of his wife's indifference and scorn, had insulted her +beyond forgiveness. Whether or no the story as it was told was true in +all its details, their union at any rate was practically at an end for +ever. Osorio forfeited his own right to interfere with his wife on the +score of conduct, and could only look on while Clementina unblushingly +and confessedly accepted the attentions of every man who offered them. +He certainly, to parry the ridicule to which he was thus exposed, threw +himself into excesses of dissipation, raising women from the lowest +ranks to figure as his mistresses. + +At home the husband and wife spoke no more to each other than was +absolutely necessary. To escape the discomfort of a _tete-a-tete_ at +table, they always had some guest. In public they made a show of the +most natural and friendly relations; Osorio would sometimes go late to +fetch his wife from the theatre or party to which she had been. But +every one understood the facts of the case. Clementina, as a rule, would +go out on her lover's arm; they would stand talking in the lobby in the +sight of all the world, while waiting for the carriage; she stepped in; +before it drove off they would yet exchange a few confidential and +incoherent remarks interrupted by gay laughter. Morality--fashionable +morality--was satisfied, so long as the lover did not drive off in the +same carriage, though a few minutes later they might meet again at some +rendezvous. + +When Clementina reached home it was half-past six o'clock. The driver +whistled; the porter came out of his lodge and opened the gate first, +and then the door of the hackney coach. He paid the man. The lady, +without uttering a syllable, went through the garden, which though small +was exquisitely kept, and up the outside steps of white marble, screened +by a verandah, which extended across half the front of the house. The +house itself was not very large, but handsome and artistic, of white +stone and fine brickwork. It had been built by Osorio about four or five +years since. As the plans had been fully discussed and considered, the +rooms were well arranged, and this made it more comfortable than his +brother-in-law's, though that was three or four times as large. + +She asked a servant in the anteroom: "Where is Estefania?" + +"It is some time since I last saw her, Senora." + +She crossed a magnificent hall, lighted by two large lamps with polished +vases borne by bronze statues, went along the corridor, and up the +stairs leading to the first floor, meeting no one on her way. At the +door of the drawing-room leading to her boudoir, she met Fernando, a +page of fourteen in a smart livery. + +"Estefania?" she asked. + +"She must be in the kitchen." + +"Tell her to come up at once." + +She entered the boudoir, and going up to a long mirror resting on two +pillar-feet of gilt wood, she took off her hat. The room was a small +one, hung with blue satin bordered with wreaths in _carton-pierre_. On +the chimney-piece, covered also with blue satin, stood a clock and two +fine candelabra, the work of a silversmith of the last century. The +carpet was white with a blue border; in the middle of the room there was +a _causeuse_ upholstered in gold colour, the armchairs were gilt, two +large feather pillows lay on the floor. In one corner was the mirror, in +another a _Pompadour_ writing-table of inlaid wood; in the other two +were columns covered with velvet, to support the lamps which now lighted +the room. On one side this room opened into Clementina's drawing-room, +and then into her bedroom. On the other side, a door led into a small +drawing-room, where she was at home to her friends on Tuesday +afternoons, and where cards were played at night by an intimate circle. +Only a few very confidential friends were ever admitted to her boudoir, +calling at the hours when she was "Not at home." Here those long and +secret colloquies were held which women so greatly relish, in which they +pour out their whole mind, with swift transition from the profoundest +depths to the frivolities of the day and details of dress and fashion. + +Within a few seconds of her taking off her hat Estefania came in. She +was a pale young girl, with pretty black eyes; dressed suitably to her +rank but with care and finish; over her skirt she wore a holland apron +trimmed with white edging. + +"You might have been ready for me, child. Where had you hidden +yourself?" said her mistress, in a tone at once cross and indifferent. + +"I was in the kitchen. I went to put a few stitches into Teresa's skirt; +she had torn it on a nail," replied the girl, with affected servility. + +Clementina made no reply, absorbed, no doubt, in thought. Standing in +front of the mirror to take off her cloak, she gazed at herself with the +perennial interest which a pretty woman feels in her own face. + +"Did you go to Escobar's?" she asked at length. + +"Yes, Senora." + +"And what did he say?" + +"That he has no silk so thick of that colour, but that he would send for +it if the Senora wishes." + +"Turura! That journey won't kill him! And to the milliner's?" + +"Yes, they will send the caps on Saturday." + +"Did you inquire after Father Miguel?" + +"No, I had not time. It is such a long way." + +"A long way! Why, did you not go in the carriage?" + +"No, Senora. Juanito said that the mare was not shod." + +"Then why did he not put in one of the Normandy horses?" + +"I do not know. Whenever you tell me to take the carriage he finds some +excuse." + +"So it seems. Never mind, child; I will see to it. What next, Senor +Juanito, with your masterful airs?" + +But as she glanced up at the maid's face in the glass she thought she +noticed something strange about her eyes, and turned round to see her +better. In fact, Estefania's eyes were red with weeping. + +"You have been crying, child?" + +"I--no, Senora, no." + +The denial was evidently a subterfuge. The lady had not to press her +much to make her confess even the cause of her tears. + +"The head cook, Senora," she whimpered out, "who used to take my +part--when I say anything he bursts out laughing or says something rude, +and the others, of course, as they are jealous because you are good to +me, and to flatter the cook--the others laugh too; and because I said I +should tell you, he said all manner of horrid things, and turned me out +of the kitchen." + +"Turned you out! And who is he to turn you out?" exclaimed her mistress +vehemently. "Tell him to come here. I must give him a rowing, as well as +Juanito, it seems! If we do not take care, the servants will rule this +house instead of the masters." + +"Senora, I dare not. If you would send Fernando!" + +"Do as you please, but bring him here." + +She had worked herself up into high wrath at the girl's story. Estefania +was her favourite, whom she petted above all the other servants, and +made the confidant of many of her secrets. The girl's fawning and +flattery had won her heart so completely that, without being aware of +it, she had allowed a large part of her will to go with it. It was, in +fact, Estefania who ruled the house, since she ruled its mistress. The +servant who could not win her good graces might prepare sooner or later +to lose his place. And what happened was the necessary result in all +such cases: the mistress's favourite was hated by all the rest of the +household, not only from envy--the disgraceful passion which exists, in +a greater or less degree, in every human being--but also because the +nature that is hypocritical and time-serving to superiors, is inevitably +haughty and malevolent to inferiors. + +The _chef_, on being called by Fernando, to whom Estefania gave the +message, soon made his appearance at the door of the boudoir wearing the +insignia of his office, to wit, a clean apron and cap, both as white as +snow. He was a man of about thirty, with a fresh and not bad-looking +face, and large black whiskers. The frown on his brow and the anxious +expression in his eyes betrayed that he knew why he had been sent for. +Clementina had seated herself on the ottoman. Estefania withdrew into a +corner, and when the cook came in she fixed her eyes on the floor. + +"I hear, Cayetano, that after behaving very rudely to my maid, you +turned her out of the kitchen. I have, therefore, sent for you to tell +you that I will not allow any servant to behave badly to another; nor +are you permitted to turn any one out so long as you are in my house." + +"Senora, I did nothing to her. It is she who treats us all +badly--teasing one and nagging at another, till there is no peace," the +cook replied, with a strong Gallician accent. + +"Well, even if she teases one and nags at another, you have not any +right to insult her. She is to tell me, and there is an end of it," +replied his mistress sharply, and mimicking his accent. + +"But you see----" + +"I see nothing. You hear what I say; there is an end of it," and she +waved her hand imperiously. + +The cook, with his face scarlet and quivering with rage, stood without +stirring for a few seconds. Then, before he withdrew, he boldly fixed +his wrathful gaze on the girl, who kept her eyes on the carpet with a +bland hypocrisy which betrayed the triumph of her self-importance. + +"Tell-tale!" he said, spitting out the words rather than speaking them. + +The lady rose from her seat, and, bursting with rage at this want of +respect, she exclaimed: + +"How dare you insult her before my face? Go, instantly. Get out of my +sight!" + +"Senora, what I say is, that the fault is hers." + +"So much the better. Go!" + +"We will all go--out of the house, Senora. We can none of us put up with +that impudent minx!" + +"You go forthwith, as though you had never come! You may find yourself +another place, for I will never allow any servant to get the upper hand +of me." + +The cook, in some dismay at this prompt dismissal, again stood rooted to +the spot; but, suddenly recovering himself, he turned on his heel, +saying with dignity: + +"Very well, Senora, I will." + +But when he was gone Clementina still muttered: "An insolent fellow is +that Gallician! I don't believe any one but I gets such servants!" + +Then, suddenly pacified by a new idea, she said: + +"Come, now, I must dress; it is getting late." + +She went into her dressing-room, followed by Estefania, who, contrary to +what might have been expected, looked grave and gloomy. Clementina +hurriedly began to remove her walking-dress and change it for a simple +dinner-dress, such as she wore at home to receive a few friends in the +evening--always very light in hue, and cut open at the throat, though +with long sleeves. At a sign from the mistress the maid brought out a +"crushed-strawberry" pink dress from the large wardrobe with mirrors, +which lined all one side of the room. Before putting it on she arranged +her hair, and exchanged her bronze kid boots for shoes to match the +dress. The pale girl meanwhile never opened her lips; her face grew +every moment sadder and more anxious. At last, on her knees to put on +her mistress's shoes, she raised beseeching eyes to her face and said +timidly: + +"Senora, may I entreat you--not to send Cayetano away?" + +Clementina looked at her in amazement. + +"Is that it? After you yourself----" + +"The thing is," said Estefania, turning as red as her complexion would +allow, "if you send him away the others will take offence." + +"And what does that matter?" + +But the girl insisted very earnestly with urgent and persuasive +entreaties. For a time the lady refused, but as the matter was +unimportant, and she perceived, not without surprise, the interest and +even anxiety of her favourite for the cook's reprieve, she presently +yielded, desiring Estefania to make the necessary explanations. On this +the girl's face immediately cleared; she was as bright as a bird, and +began to help her mistress to dress very deftly and briskly. + +Two taps at the door made them both start. + +"Who is there?" called the lady. + +"Are you dressing, Clementina?" was asked from outside. + +It was her husband's voice. Her surprise was not the less; Osorio very +rarely came to her rooms when she was alone. + +"Yes, I am dressing. Is there any one downstairs?" + +"As usual--Lola, Pascuala and Bonifacio. I want to speak to you. I will +wait for you here in the drawing-room." + +"Very well; I will come." + +Until her toilet was complete Clementina spoke no more; her expression +was one of gloomy anticipation, which her maid could not fail to +observe. Her fingers, as she gave the last touches to the folds of her +skirt, trembled a little, like those of a young lady dressing for her +first ball. + +Osorio was, in fact, waiting for her in the little drawing-room beyond +the boudoir. He was lounging at his ease in an arm-chair, but, on seeing +his wife, he rose, and dropped the end of the cigar he was smoking into +the spittoon. Clementina saw that he was paler than usual. He was the +same neat and dapper little man, with a bad complexion, as when he had +married; but in the course of these twelve years his temper had been +greatly spoiled. He had many wrinkles on his face, his hair and beard +were streaked with grey, and his eyes had lost their brightness. He +closed the door which his wife had left open, and going up to her said, +with affected ease: "My cashier handed me to-day a cheque from you, for +fifteen thousand pesetas. Here it is." + +He took out his pocket-book, and from it a half-sheet of scented satin +paper which he held out to her. She looked at it for a moment with a +grave and gloomy face, but did not wince. She said not a word. + +"A fortnight ago he gave me one for nine thousand. Here it is." The same +proceedings, the same silence. + +"Last month there were three: one for six thousand, one for eleven +thousand, and one for four thousand. Here they are." + +Osorio flourished the handful of papers before his wife's eyes; then, as +this did not unlock her lips, he asked: "Do you acknowledge it?" + +"Acknowledge what?" she said, shortly. + +"That these documents are correct." + +"They are, no doubt, if they bear my signature. I have a bad memory, +especially for money matters." + +"A happy gift," he replied with an ironical smile, as he went through +the papers in his pocket-book. "I, too, have often tried to forget them. +Unfortunately my cashier makes it his business to refresh my memory. +Well," he went on as his wife said no more, "I came up solely to ask you +a question--namely: Do you suppose that things can go on like this?" + +"I do not understand." + +"I will explain. Do you suppose that you can go on drawing on my account +every few days such sums as these?" + +Clementina, who had been pale at first, had coloured crimson. + +"You know better than I." + +"Why better? You ought to know the amount of your fortune." + +"Well, but I do not know," she replied, sharply. + +"Nothing can be more simple. The six hundred thousand dollars which your +father paid over when we were married, being invested in real estate, +produce, as you may see by the books, about twenty-two thousand dollars +a year. The expenses of the house, without counting my private outlay, +amounts to about three times as much. You can surely draw your own +conclusions." + +"If you are vexed at your money being spent you can sell the houses," +said Clementina with scornful brevity, her colour fading to paleness +again. + +"But if they were sold I should none the less be responsible for the +whole value. You know that?" + +"I will sign you any paper you like, saying that I hold you responsible +for nothing." + +"That is not enough, my dear. The law will never release me from +responsibility for your fortune, so long as I have any money. Moreover, +if you spend it in pleasure"--and he emphasised the word--"it may be all +very well for you, but deplorable for me, because I shall still be +compelled to supply you with--necessaries." + +"To keep me, in short?" she said with a bitter intonation. + +"I wished to avoid the word; but it is no doubt exact." + +Osorio spoke in an impertinent and patronising tone, which piqued his +wife's pride in every possible way. Ever since the violent differences +which had led to their separation under the same roof, they had had no +such important interview as this. When, in the course of daily life, +they came into collision, matters were smoothed over with a short +explanation, in which both parties, without compromising their pride, +used some prudence for fear of a scandal. But the present question +touched Osorio in a vital part. To a banker money is the chief fact in +life. + +His personal pride, too, had suffered greatly in the last few years, +though he had not confessed it. It was not enough to feign indifference +and disdain of his wife's misconduct; it was not enough to pay her back +in her own coin, by flaunting his mistresses in her face and making a +parade of them in public. Both fought with the same weapons, but a woman +can inflict with them far deeper wounds than a man. The misery he +suffered from his wife's disreputable life did not diminish as time went +on; the gulf which parted them grew wider and deeper. And so revenge was +ready to seize this opportunity by the forelock. + +Clementina looked him in the face for a moment. Then, shrugging her +shoulders and with a contemptuous curl of her lips, she turned on her +heel and was about to leave the room. Osorio stepped forward between her +and the door. + +"Before you go you must understand that the cashier has my orders to pay +you no cheques that do not bear my signature." + +"I understand." + +"For your regular expenses I will allow a fixed sum on which we will +agree. But I can have no more surprises on the cash-box." + +Clementina, who had been about to quit the room by the ante-chamber, +turned to go to her boudoir. Before leaving the room she held the +curtain a moment in her hand, and facing her husband she said, with +concentrated rage, "In that you are as mean a cur as your +brother-in-law, only he never made believe, like you, to be generous." + +She dropped the curtain, and slammed the door in his face. + +Osorio made as though to follow her; but he instantly stopped short and +yelled, rather than spoke, so she might hear him: + +"Oh, yes! I am a mean cur, because I do not choose to maintain a crew of +hungry puppies. I leave that to the hags who choose to pet them!" + +This brutal speech seemed to have eased his mind, for his lips wore a +smile of triumphant sarcasm. + +Five minutes later they were both in the dining-room, laughing and +jesting with a small party of guests. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +HOW THE DUKE DE REQUENA REWARDED VIRTUE. + + +"Let me see, let me see. Explain yourself." + +"Senor Duque, the matter is as clear as possible. I spoke with Regnault +to-day. If the furnaces are altered, a few roads made, and proper +machinery set up, the mine can be made to yield half as much again as it +now does. It may be as much as sixty thousand flasks of mercury. The +outlay needed to produce these results would not exceed a hundred to a +hundred and fifty thousand dollars." + +"That seems to me a great deal." + +"A great deal for such a result?" + +"No, that seems to me a great many flasks." + +"But I have no doubt that what Regnault says is true. He is an +intelligent and practical engineer. He worked for six years in +California; and, indeed, the English engineer said the same." + +The persons holding this discourse were Requena and his secretary, or +head-clerk, or whatever he called himself, since he had no particular +style or title in the household. He was known only by his name--Llera. +He was an Asturian, tall and bony, with a colourless, hard-featured +face, enormously long arms and legs, and large hands and feet. His +manner was rough and awkward; his eyes, which were fine, had a frank, +honest look, and were bright with energy and intelligence. He was an +indefatigable, an amazing worker. No one knew when he ate or slept. When +he made his appearance at eight in the morning, he brought with him as +much work ready done as most men get through in a day, and at midnight +he might often still be seen in his office, pen in hand. + +Salabert, having the gift of judging men, without which no one makes a +great success in the world, had discovered Llera's intelligence and +character after employing him for a short while as an underling, and +without giving him any showy position--which was not at all his way--he +made him a responsible one, by accumulating in his hands all the most +important business of the house. He very soon was the great banker's +confidential man, the soul of the business. His laborious industry put +all the other employes to shame, and Salabert took advantage of it to +load him with work after regular hours. Llera was at the same time his +private secretary, his steward, the head clerk of the office, the +inspector of all the works he had in construction, and the agent in most +of his transactions. And for doing all this inconceivable amount of +work--more than four men of average industry would have got through--he +paid him six thousand pesetas a year. The man thought himself well paid, +remembering that only six years ago he was earning but twelve hundred +and fifty. + +Every day, before taking his morning walk and paying his round of +business calls, Requena looked into Llera's office, made inquiries as to +things in general, and chatted with him for a longer or shorter time +according to circumstances. + +The Duke's offices were at the top of his palace in the Avenue de +Luchana, a magnificent mansion, standing in the midst of a garden which +for extent was worthy to be called a park. In the spring the dense +foliage of the fine old trees almost hid the white tops of the turrets; +in winter the numbers of firs and evergreens which grew there, still +gave it a pleasant verdure. It was the meeting-place of all the birds in +that quarter of the city. The entrance to the house was up a large +flight of marble steps; above the ground floor, where the +reception-rooms were, and the dining-room, there were three storeys, and +the Duke's offices, which were not large, filled part only of the upper +floor. They were large enough for Salabert, who conducted his affairs +from thence, with the help of a dozen expert clerks. + +The luxury displayed in the house was amazing; the furniture and +fittings were almost priceless. This was not in keeping with the avarice +with which the master was generally credited; but this and other +contradictions will be explained as we become better acquainted with his +character, which was curious enough to be well worthy of study. + +The kitchens were in the basement, roomy and well-fitted; the +dining-room, at the back of the house, opened into a conservatory of +vast dimensions, filled with exotic shrubs and flowers, where water was +laid on to form little pools and water-falls of charming effect and +imitating nature as closely as possible. The picture-gallery was in a +separate building at the end of the garden, and in another some of the +servants slept, but not all. + +The Duke, occupying the only chair in Llera's office, while the +secretary stood in front of him twirling a large pair of scissors used +for cutting paper, turned his wet cigar three or four times from one +corner of his mouth to the other, and made no reply to the clerk's last +words. At last he growled rather than said: + +"Humph! The Ministry grows more pig-headed every day." + +"What does that matter. You know the secret of making it give way. +Telegraph to Liverpool, and within a fortnight the price of mercury will +have fallen from sixty to forty dollars the flask." + +About four years since, Requena, at Llera's suggestion and advice, had +formed a company or syndicate for buying up all the mercury which should +come into the market. Thanks to these tactics, the price of this product +had gone up wonderfully. The company had now an enormous stock in hand +at Liverpool; Llera's scheme was to throw this into the market at a +given moment and so produce a great fall in the price, which would +frighten the Government. This, which was to be done at the moment when +the Government was about to repay a loan of fifteen million dollars +borrowed ten years since of a foreign house, would reduce them to +selling the mines of Riosa. If Requena was then prepared to pull the +affair through at the sacrifice of a few thousands, to subsidise the +press, and bribe certain individuals, he might be certain of success. +This project, conceived of by Llera, and matured by the Duke, had run +its due course, and was now near the final _coup_. + +"Well, we shall see," said the rich man, and after meditating a few +minutes he went on: "When the mines are for sale it will be necessary to +form another company. The Mercury Syndicate will not serve our turn." + +"Of course!" + +"The thing is that I do not want to sink more than eight million pesetas +in this concern." + +"That is a different matter," said Llera, becoming very serious. "It +does not seem to me possible to keep the control of such a business with +so small a stake in it. The management will slip into other hands, and +the profits will soon be reduced to so much per cent., more or +less--that is to say, a mere nothing." + +"Very true, very true," mumbled Salabert, again falling into deep +thought. Llera too remained silent and pensive. + +"I have already explained to you the only way of keeping the concern in +your own hands," said he. + +This way consisted in securing a sufficiently large number of shares in +the mine which the company was to purchase, and to go on buying up as +many as possible; then to throw them into the market at so low a price +as to alarm the shareholders. Thus to buy and sell at a loss for some +time was Llera's plan for bringing down the price of the shares, when he +could acquire half the shares _plus_ one, for much less money, and be +master of the whole concern. + +To Salabert this was not so clear as to his clerk. His intellect was +keen and far-seeing, but he lacked breadth of view and initiative, +though those who saw him boldly undertake ventures of vast scope were +apt to think that he had them. The first conception, the mother idea, of +a new concern scarcely ever originated in his brain. It came to him from +outside; but once sown there it germinated and developed as it would +have done in no other in Spain. By degrees he analysed it, or rather +dissected it, laying bare its inmost fibres, contemplating it from all +sides; and once convinced that it would prove advantageous, he launched +it with the rare and surprising audacity which had so greatly deceived +the public as to his gifts as a speculator. He was perfectly convinced +that when once he had made up his mind to an enterprise, vacillation +must be fatal. Still, this boldness proceeded not from his temperament +but from reflection; it was the outcome of extreme astuteness. + +Otherwise he was by nature timid, and this weakness, instead of +diminishing under the almost invariable success of his undertakings, +increased as time went on. Avarice is always suspicious and full of +alarms, and Salabert grew more and more avaricious. Also, as a man grows +older, it is a rule without exceptions, that pessimism soaks into his +mind. Our banker, accustomed to grand results from his speculations, +regarded any concern in which the profits were small as altogether +deplorable; if by any chance they were _nil_, or he even lost a trifle, +he thought it a matter for serious lamentation. Thus, but for Llera, +with his bold temperament and fertile imagination, the Duke de Requena +would not, for some years past, have ventured on any concern of even +moderate extent. On the other hand, what he had lost in dash and +resource he had made good by really astounding tact and skill, and a +knowledge of men which can be acquired only by years of unremitting +study. Thus it may be said that he and Llera complemented each other to +perfection. + +Salabert's sagacity and knowledge of human nature sometimes erred by +excess; now and then he was caught in his own trap. In his dealings with +men, studying them always from the point of view of substantial +interest, he had formed so poor an opinion of them, that it became +monstrous, and led him into serious mistakes. Perhaps, after all, what +he saw in others was no more than the reflection of himself; to this +error we are all liable. To him every man and woman had a price; a cheap +conscience or a dear one, but all alike for sale. Of late years his +faith in bribery had become a passion. If he came across any one who +would not yield to money, he never suspected it could be in good faith, +but only supposed the price was higher than his bid. + +One of Llera's hardest tasks was to get such schemes of bribery out of +his master's head when he had to do with men who would have rejected it +with indignation. If he were engaged in a law-suit, the first thing he +thought of was how much it would cost him to bribe the judge who would +decide it; if he were concerned in a government transaction, he +calculated the sum to be handed over to the Minister, or the +Under-Secretary, or the Councillors of State. Unluckily, he not +unfrequently made practical use of the black-lead he had always ready to +disfigure the face of humanity with. + +Requena had absolutely no moral sense, and never had known what it was. +His life, as a nameless waif in Valencia, had been characterised by a +series of tricks and dodges, and such a lively inventiveness of means +for extracting coin from his fellow-creatures, as made him worthy to +compare with the favourite heroes of Spanish romance. In fact the name +of one of them, _El picaro Guzman_, had actually been bestowed on +Salabert as a nickname by some wags of his acquaintance, but they kept +it to themselves. + +It was told of him with apparent truth that when he was in Cuba, whither +he went to seek his fortune, he bought a tavern with all its furniture, +including a negro woman who managed the business. This negress, for all +the time he remained, was his servant, his housekeeper, his slave and +his concubine, by whom he had several children. When he had saved some +thousands of dollars to return to Spain, he squared his petty accounts +by selling the tavern, the furniture, the black woman, and the +children. + +Then he took army contracts, speculated in tobacco, government loans and +tenders for roads; these he sometimes sold again at a premium, and +sometimes carried out the works without any regard to the conditions of +the contract. But in all he did he displayed his wonderful capacity, his +practical sagacity, and so large a development of the organ of +acquisitiveness, as made him a man of mark among bankers. + +He was not disagreeable to deal with, though, unlike most men who aspire +to wealth or power, his manners were not smooth nor his language choice. +He was brusque rather than courteous, but he was keen in the distinction +of persons, and could be very civil when he must. The natural abruptness +of his manners served him well to disguise the subtle astuteness of his +mind. That blunt, straightforward air, that exaggerated freedom and +provincial rusticity, could only cover a frank and loyal heart. To the +outside world he was the perfect type of the old Castilian school, +freespoken, downright and impertinent. He would be loquacious or +taciturn as suited his purpose, expressed himself with real or affected +difficulty--which, no one ever could discover--could sometimes jest with +some wit, but with unfailing coarseness, and was wont to say such +detestable things to the face of friend or foe as made him a terror in +drawing-rooms. The importance his wealth conferred on him had encouraged +this defect: he talked to most people, even to ladies, with a plainness +which verged on cynicism and grossness. + +Nevertheless, when he came across a person of political importance whom +he desired to propitiate, this bluntness vanished and became flattery +that was almost servile. But the farce, however well played, deceived no +one. The Duke of Requena was regarded as a very wily old fox; no one +believed a word he said, or allowed himself to be deluded by that blunt +_bonhomie_. Those who had dealings with him were on their guard even +when feigning confidence and satisfaction. Still, as always happens with +a man who has succeeded in raising himself, the faults which every one +recognised--or to be exact, his ill-fame--did not hinder his neighbours +from respecting him, talking to him hat in hand and with a smile on +their lips, even when they had no need of him. Men not unfrequently +humble themselves for the mere pleasure of it. Salabert well knew this +innate tendency of the human spine to bend, and took unfair advantage of +it. Many men in quite independent circumstances not only took from him +impertinence which they would have thought intolerable in their oldest +friend, but even sought his society. + + * * * * * + +"We will see, we will see," he repeated, when Llera recapitulated the +scheme for getting sole control of the mines. "You are too full of +fancies. Your head is too hot. That does not do in business. We must +take care not to get into the same scrape as we did with the granaries." + +By Llera's advice the banker had constructed granaries in some of the +principal towns of Spain, and they had not proved such a success as had +been hoped. However, as the undertaking had been on a moderate scale the +losses, too, had not been great. But the Duke, who had bewailed them as +though they had been enormous, and had not spared his secretary much +gross insult, was always reminding him of the disaster. It served him as +a weapon when he wished to depreciate Llera's schemes, though he would +afterwards avail himself of them, and owed to them considerable +additions to his wealth. By such means he kept him in subjection, +ignorant of his real value, and ready to undertake any task however +disagreeable. + +Llera, though somewhat mortified by this reminder, still insisted that +the transaction now under consideration would infallibly succeed if it +were conducted on the lines he had suggested. Salabert abruptly closed +the discussion by changing the subject. He briefly inquired into the +business of the day. The loss of some money he had advanced for a +relation in Valencia put him into a frantic rage; he stamped and fumed +like a bull stung by the darts, called himself a thousand fools, and +actually had the face to declare, in Llera's presence, that his good +nature would be the ruin of him. The whole loss amounted to about four +or five thousand dollars. The form of loan which Requena adopted to his +most intimate friends was this: he paid the sum usually in paper, +demanding six per cent. on the securities deposited, and besides this he +himself cut off the coupons, and claimed the dividends. So that the +securities, instead of bringing in the net interest, yielded him six per +cent. more. These were the dealings to which he was prompted, not by +interest, but by kindness of heart! + +He left Llera's office in a state of fury, went to the counting-room, +and learning there that it was necessary to draw on the bank for nine +thousand dollars in currency, he himself took charge of the cheque, +after having signed it; he would have to go there to a meeting of +directors, and it would be no trouble to him as he passed to get it +cashed. + +He went out on foot, as was his custom in the morning. The birds were +singing in the beautiful trees which bordered the walks. It was quite +clear that they had incurred no bad debts. The Duke cursed their foolish +trick of singing, and would not listen to their gleeful trills. He +walked on slowly with a gloomy scowl, taking no notice of the greetings +of the gardeners and the gate-keeper, biting his huge cigar with more +than usual viciousness. In the street, however, his face somewhat +recovered its tone. He had a pleasant and useful meeting with the +President of the Council of State, who likewise was fond of an early +walk, and who bowed to him in the Avenue de Recoletos; they stood +talking for a few minutes, and he availed himself of the opportunity of +recommending to the President, with the intentional bluntness which he +affected, the prospectus of certain salt-marshes in which he was +interested. Then, at a deliberate pace, gazing with his prominent, +guileless eyes at the passers by, and more especially at the fresh +damsels hastening home from market with their baskets loaded, and their +cheeks rosy from the effort, he proceeded to the Bank of Spain. Numbers +of persons lifted their hats to him, now and again he paused for a +moment, shook hands with one or another, and after exchanging a few +words with an acquaintance, went on his way. + +It was still early. Before reaching the Bank, it occurred to him that he +would go to see his friend and connection Calderon, whose warehouse and +counting-house were in the Calle de San Felipe Neri, still in the state +in which his father had left them--that is to say, very +poverty-stricken, not to say dirty and squalid. In these quarters, where +the light filtered in through panes darkened by dust and protected by +clumsy ironwork, and where the smell of hides was perfectly sickening, +old Calderon with mechanical regularity had accumulated dollar on +dollar, till several piles of a million each had formed there. His son +Julian had made no change. Though he was one of the wealthiest bankers +in Madrid he had not given up the hide warehouse and the small profits +which this business brought in--small as compared with those on +securities and stocks which the banking house dealt in. + +Calderon was a banker of a different type from Salabert. He was of an +essentially conservative temper, timid in speculation, always preferring +small profits to large when there was any risk. His intelligence was +somewhat limited, cautious, hesitating and circumspect. Every new +undertaking struck him as madness. When he saw a friend embarking on one +he smiled maliciously, and congratulated himself on the superior +shrewdness with which he was gifted; if it turned out well he would +shake his head, saying with determined foreboding: "Those who laugh +last, laugh longest." At home he was parsimonious, nay stingy to a +scandal; and though the house was kept on a comparatively luxurious +footing, this was partly the result of his wife's entreaties, and the +raillery of his friends, but even more of his conviction, slowly formed, +that some external prestige was indispensable, if he was to compete with +the numbers of skilful financiers established in the capital. But after +having bought good furniture, he insisted on such care being taken of +it, such refinements of precaution on the part of the servants and his +wife and children, that they were really the slaves of these costly +possessions. Then with regard to the carriage, it is impossible to +imagine the anxieties and agitations without end which it cost him. +Every time the coachman told him that a horse wanted shoeing it was a +fresh worry. He had a pair of French mares of some value, and he loved +them as he loved his children, or more. He drove them out of an evening; +but never to go to the theatre for fear of cold; he would rather see his +wife walk or take a hired carriage than expose them to any risk. And if +one of them really fell ill, there are no words for our banker's state +of mind; anxiety and dejection were written in his face. He went +frequently to see the animal, patted and petted her, and would often +assist the coachman and the vet. in applying the remedies, however +unpleasant. Till the invalid had recovered no one in the house had any +peace. + +As a husband he was most officious; but in this he was hardly to blame. +His wife's apathy was such that if he had not taken charge of the +kitchen accounts and the store-cupboard keys, God knows how the house +would have been kept. Mariana did nothing and gave no orders. Any other +woman would have felt humiliated by finding herself obliged to refer to +her husband at every moment for the most trifling details of domestic +life, but she took it quite as a matter of course, and found it most +convenient, when Calderon's stinginess did not make itself too +pressingly felt. Her part was that of a child in the house, and she was +quite content to play it. + +The person who sometimes dumbly rebelled against the exclusive +centralisation of all administrative power in the master's hands was +Mariana's mother, the diminutive lady with deep set eyes, of whom +mention was made in the first chapter. Her protests indeed were neither +frequent nor lengthy. At heart she and her son-in-law were in perfect +agreement. The old woman, the widow of a provincial merchant, who +herself had helped in saving his capital, was even more devoted to order +and economy than Calderon himself--that is to say, more sordidly +thrifty. For this reason she never would have endured to live with her +son; his expensive tastes, and, yet more, Clementina's extravagance and +disreputable caprices enraged her, and would have embittered every +moment of her life. In Calderon's house she was inspector or spy over +the servants, and she filled the part to admiration. Her son-in-law +could rest in confidence, and thanks to this and to his expectation that +Mariana would be enriched by her will, he showed far more consideration +for her than for his wife. + +Salabert was at heart not less covetous than Calderon, and hardly less +timid; but his intellect was very superior, his cowardice was +counterbalanced by a strong infusion of bounce, and his avarice by a +profound knowledge of mankind. He knew very well that the paraphernalia +and ostentation of wealth have a marked influence on the minds of the +most indifferent, and contribute in a great measure to inspire the +confidence without which no important enterprise can prosper. Hence the +luxury in which he lived--his palace, his servants, and the famous balls +he occasionally gave to the fashionable world of Madrid. For Calderon he +had a profound contempt, though at the same time his society put him +into a good humour. As he contemplated his friend's inferiority he +swelled in his own esteem, regarding himself as a greater man than he +really was, and deriving from it the liveliest satisfaction. He not only +judged himself to have more cleverness and astuteness--the only superior +qualities he really possessed--but, to be, by comparison, generous and +liberal, almost a prodigy. + +Panting and puffing he went into the dark warehouse in the Calle de San +Felipe Neri, producing the usual effect of amazing, crushing, +annihilating the clerks of the house, to whom the Duke de Requena was +not merely the greatest man in Spain, but a quite supernatural being. +His visit impressed them with the same reverence and enthusiasm, awe and +adoration, as the appearance of the Mikado arouses in the Japanese. And +if they did not prostrate themselves with their foreheads in the dust, +they coloured up to their ears, and for some minutes they could not put +pen to paper, nor attend to the requirements of a customer. They looked +at each other with awe-stricken eyes, repeating in an undertone, what +indeed they all knew: "The Duke!" "The Duke!" + +The Duke passed in, as usual when he by chance called there, without +vouchsafing them a glance, and made his way to the little room where +Calderon sat. Long before reaching him, he began shouting: "Caramba, +Julian! When do you mean to get out of this hole? This is not a +banking-house, it is a stye. Are you not ashamed to be seen here? Poof! +Do you skin the beasts here, or what? The stink is intolerable." + +Calderon's private room was beyond the front office, a mere closet, +separated from the rest by a partition of painted wood, with a spring +door. Thus he could hear all that his friend was saying, before Salabert +reached him. + +"What do you expect, man?" said he, somewhat nettled at his clerks being +made the confidants of this philippic. "We are not all dukes, trampling +millions under foot." + +"Millions! Does it need millions to keep an office clean and +comfortable? You had better confess that you cannot bear to spend a +peseta in making yourself decent. I have told you many times, Julian, +you are poor, and you will be poor all your days. I should be richer +with a thousand pence than you with a thousand dollars--because I know +how to spend them." + +Calderon grumbled a protest and went on with his work. The Duke, without +taking his hat off, dropped into the only easy chair, covered with white +buckskin, or which ought to have been white, for it was of a doubtful +hue now, between yellow and greenish-grey, with black patches where +heads and hands were wont to rest. There were besides three or four +stools covered with the same material, in the same state, a book-case +full of bundles of papers, a small cash-box, an ancient walnut-wood +writing-table covered with oil-cloth, and behind the table a greasy, +shabby arm-chair in which the head of the house sat enthroned. This +small room was lighted by a barred window, to ward off the prying looks +of passers-by; there were blinds, which, being the cheapest and +commonest of their kind, had this peculiarity, that one was much too +wide and the other so short that it did not cover the lower pane by at +least a quarter. + +"Why in the world don't you quit this blessed leather-shop, which is not +worthy of a man of your position and fortune?" + +"Fortune--fortune!" muttered Calderon with his eyes still fixed on the +paper he was writing on. "People talk of my fortune I know, but if I +were compelled to liquidate, who knows what would come of it?" + +Calderon never confessed his wealth; he loved to crawl; any allusion to +his riches annoyed him beyond measure. Salabert, on the contrary, loved +to flourish his millions in the face of the world, and play the nabob, +at the smallest possible cost of course. + +"Besides," Calderon went on with some acerbity, "every one looks at what +comes in and never thinks of what goes out. Our expenses are greater +every day. Have you any idea, now, of what our private expenditure has +been this year? Come." + +"Nothing much," replied Requena, with a depreciating smile. + +"Nothing much? Why it amounts to more than seventy-five thousand +dollars, and we are only in November." + +"What do you say?" exclaimed the Duke greatly astonished. "Impossible!" + +"As I tell you." + +"Come, come; do not try to throw dust in my eyes, Julian. Unless you +include in the seventy-five thousand the cost of the house you are +building in Calle Homo de la Mata." + +"Why, of course." + +At this Salabert burst into such a fit of laughing that he seemed about +to choke; the cigar dropped out of his mouth, his face, usually so +pale, turned so red as to be alarming, and the fit of coughing which +ensued was so violent that it threatened him with congestion. + +"My dear fellow, I thank you! That is really delicious," he gasped +between coughing and laughing. "I never thought of that before. +Henceforth I will include in my household expenses all the paper I buy +and the houses I build. I shall have accounts like a king's to show." + +The Duke's hearty and uproarious mirth annoyed and piqued Calderon out +of all measure. + +"I really do not see what you are laughing at. The money goes out of the +cash-box under the head of expenditure. And, at any rate, Antonio, a +fool knows more of his own affairs than a wise man knows of his +neighbours'." + +The Duke's visits to his friend had of late been somewhat frequent. He +had been hovering round him a good deal to tempt him into the mining +speculation. The moment was drawing near when the sale must come on, and +meanwhile he was anxious to secure the co-operation of some of the more +important shareholders. Don Julian was one, not merely by reason of the +capital he represented, but by the position he held. He enjoyed the +reputation in the financial world of being a very cautious, or indeed +suspicious man; thus his name as participator in a speculation was a +guarantee of its security, and this was what Salabert required. So he +was anxious not to vex him seriously, and changed the subject. With the +curious suppleness and cunning which lay beneath his abrupt roughness, +he managed to put him in a good humour by praising his foresight in a +certain case when he would not be caught, reflecting on the folly of +some rival dealers, and implying Calderon's superior skill and +penetration. When he had got him into the right frame of mind he spoke, +for the third or fourth time, in vague terms, of the mining company. He +mentioned it as an unattainable vision, just to whet his friend's +appetite. + +"If they only could buy up the mine one of these days, what a stroke of +business that would be! He had never in his life met with a better. +Unfortunately the Government were not disposed to sell. However--damn it +all! By a little good management and steady perseverance, in time +perhaps--meanwhile what was wanted were a few men who could afford to +invest a good round sum. If they were not to be found in Spain they must +be sought elsewhere." + +At the mere notion of a speculation Calderon shrank as a snail does when +it is touched. And this was so big a thing, to judge from the vague +hints the Duke threw out, that he completely disappeared into his shell. +Then, when Salabert spoke rather more plainly, he turned gloomy and +dull, uneasy and suspicious, as if he expected to be bled there and then +of an exorbitant sum. + +When Requena had finished a long and rather incoherent speech, which was +almost a monologue, he abruptly rose: + +"Ta ta, Julianito, I am off to the Bank." + +He took out a fresh cigar, and without offering one to Calderon, who did +not smoke, he lighted it for form's sake; but he at once let it go out +and began chewing it as usual. + +Don Julian gave a sigh of relief. + +"Always in a state of feverish activity," said he with a smile, holding +out his hand. "Always on the track of money!" + +Just as he reached the door Calderon remembered that he might make +something out of this visit. + +"I say, Antonio, I have a heap of Londres. Do you want them? I will let +you have them cheap." + +"No, I don't want any at present. What do you ask for them?" + +"Forty-seven." + +"Are there many of them?" + +"Eight thousand pounds in all." + +"Well, I really don't want them, but it is a good bargain. Good-bye." + +He went to the Bank, assisted at the meeting, and after cashing his +cheque for nine thousand dollars, went out with his friend Urreta, +another of the great Madrid bankers. On reaching the Puerta del Sol they +shook hands to part. + +"Which way are you going?" asked Salabert. + +"I am going to Calderon's office to see if he happens to be able to help +me to some Londres." + +"Quite useless," said the other promptly. "I have just bought up all he +had." + +"That is unlucky. What did you give for them?" + +"Forty-seven ten." + +"Not very cheap. But I need them badly, so I should have taken them." + +"Do you really need them?" said Salabert, putting his arm on the other's +shoulders. + +"I do indeed." + +"Then I will be your Providence. How many do you want?" + +"A large quantity, at least ten thousand pounds." + +"Oh I cannot do that, but I can send you eight thousand this evening." + +Urreta's face beamed with a grateful smile. + +"My dear fellow, I cannot allow it. You want them yourself." + +"Not so much as you do, and even if I did, you know my regard for you. +You are the only Guipuzcoan of brains I ever met with," and as he spoke +he patted him affectionately on the shoulder. They shook hands once +more, Urreta pouring out a flood of grateful speeches, to which Salabert +replied with the rough frankness which so greatly enhanced the merits of +any service he might render; then they parted. + +The Duke instantly got into a coach from the stand. "Go to Calle de San +Felipe Neri, No.----." + +"Yes, Senor Duque." + +The Duke raised his head to look at the man. + +"So you know me?" and without waiting for a reply, he jumped in and shut +the door. + +"Julian, Julian," he shouted to his friend before opening the door into +Calderon's office. "I have come to do you a service. You are in luck, +you wretch! Send me home those Londres." + +"Ha, ha!" exclaimed Julian with a triumphant smile. "So you want them?" + +"Yes, my dear fellow, yes. I always want the thing you want to get rid +of. Good-bye." + +And without going into the little office, he let go of the spring door +he had held open, and left. He desired the coachman to drive to a house +in one of the northern quarters of the city, and reclined in a corner, +munching his cigar and smoking with evident gratification. For our +banker felt as much satisfaction after committing this piece of +rascality, after cheating his friend of so many pesetas, as the +righteous man knows after doing an act of justice or charity. His +imagination, always on the alert when money might be made, wandered over +the various concerns in which he was engaged, and the vehicle meanwhile +carried him on towards the Hippodrome. More especially he dwelt on the +mines of Riosa; the longer he thought of Llera's scheme, the better it +pleased him. Still, it had its weak points, and he meditated on the +means of fortifying them. + +It was not yet late. Salabert had time still to pay one of those +unavowed visits which form an item in the social round of many a man +whose virtues are more conspicuous, and whose vices less blatant than +his. He dismissed the coach he had hired, and, his call paid, he walked +home. + +As soon as he found himself in his private room, he put his hand in his +pocket to take out his note-book. His face, which had shone with +satisfaction at the consciousness of carrying about with him the golden +key to every pleasure on earth, suddenly fell. A cloud of anxiety came +over it. He felt more thoroughly. The pocket-book was not there. He +tried all his other pockets. The same result. + +"Damnation," he muttered, "I have been robbed. Robbed of ten thousand +odd dollars. Curse my ill luck! If a day begins badly--three thousand +dollars gone in a bad debt, and now nearly eleven thousand in a lump! A +pretty morning's work I must say!" + +He started to his feet and rang the bell vehemently for Llera. When the +factotum appeared, he was walking up and down the room, strangely +excited for a man who owned so many millions. He explained the case to +the clerk. A torrent of words, growls, foul expletives, poured from his +lips, and he flung away his half-chewed cigar, a sign of excessive +disturbance. + +"Possibly, Senor, you have not been robbed," Llera suggested, "you may +have lost it. Where have you been?" + +But this was a question the Duke was not prepared to answer. + +"Damn it, what concern is that of yours?" he replied. "Do you suppose I +am likely to have lost eleven thousand dollars? That is to say, lost +them--of course I have. But some one else found them before they touched +the ground." + +"The best thing you can do, Senor Duque, is to let me go over the ground +wherever you have been." + +"I will go myself after luncheon. Go, if you have nothing else to +suggest but calling on all my acquaintances." + +Requena went downstairs, dismaying the house like a bombshell, not +indeed of powder or dynamite, since uproariousness was not part of his +nature, but of sulphuric acid or corrosive sublimate, which trickled +into every corner and annoyed and burnt every one in turn. His wife, his +lodge-keeper, his cook, Llera, and almost every one of his clerks, had +some coarse insult flung in their teeth, in the tone of cynical +brutality which he affected. After luncheon he was about to go out on +his quest, when a servant came to tell him that a hackney coachman +wished to speak with him. + +"What does he want?" + +"I do not know. He said he wanted to see the Duke." + +Salabert, with a sudden flash of intuition, said: + +"Show him up." + +The man who came in was the driver of the coach which had conveyed him +from Calderon's office to his mistress's house. The Duke looked at him +anxiously. + +"What is it?" + +"This, Senor Duque, which is your excellency's no doubt," said the man, +holding out the pocket-book. + +The Duke seized it, hastily opened it, and shaking out the pile of bank +notes it contained, counted them with the skill and rapidity of a +practised hand. When he had done, he said: + +"All right; there are none missing." + +The man, who had no doubt looked for some reward, stood still for a +minute or two. + +"It is all right, my good fellow, quite right. Many thanks." + +Then the poor man, with angry disappointment stamped on his face, turned +to go, muttering good-day. The Duke looked at him with cruel humour, and +before he had reached the door called after him with deliberate sarcasm: + +"Look here, my man, I give you nothing, because to so honest a fellow as +you the best reward is the satisfaction of having done right." + +The coachman, at once puzzled and vexed, looked at him with an +indescribable expression. His lips parted as if he were about to speak, +but he finally left the room without a word. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +PRECIPITANCY. + + +Raimundo Alcazar--for this was the name of the pertinacious youth who +had so provoked Clementina by following her when we first had the honour +of making her acquaintance--met the wrathful glance she had fired at him +as she went into her sister-in-law's house with perfect and resigned +submission. He waited for a moment to see whether she had gone thither +merely on a message, and finding she did not come out again, he placidly +walked away in the direction of the little Plaza de Santa Cruz. He +stopped in front of a flower-stall. The florist smiled as he drew near, +recognising him as an old customer, and took up a bouquet of white roses +and violets, which no doubt were awaiting him. He then went to the Plaza +Mayor, and took the tramcar for Carabanchel. At the turning which leads +to the Cemetery of San Isidro he got out and proceeded on foot. On +reaching the graveyard he hastily ascended the slope and went into the +new enclosure, where, as the law directs, the dead are laid in graves, +and not in long vaulted galleries. He went on with a swift step to a +tomb covered with a white marble slab, and enclosed by a little railing. +There he stopped. For some minutes he stood still, gazing at it. On the +stone, in black letters, was the name, _Isabel Martinez de Alcazar_. +Below the name, two dates--1842-1883--those, no doubt, of the birth and +death of the dead who slept below. A few faded flowers lay there, which +Raimundo carefully removed, and untying the bunch he had brought with +him, he scattered the fresh blossoms on the grave, and used the string +to tie up the dead ones. With these in one hand and his hat in the other +he again stood for some minutes contemplating the spot, with tears in +his eyes. Then he walked quickly away without a single curious glance at +the other sepultures. + +Raimundo Alcazar had lost his mother eight or nine months ago. He had +never known his father, or, rather, he had no recollection of him, since +he was but four years old at the time of his parent's death. His name, +too, had been Raimundo, and at the time of his death he had filled a +professor's chair at the University of Segovia. When he had first +married he had been a youth waiting for an appointment. Isabel's father, +a dealer in forged iron in the Calle de Esparteros, had in consequence +refused his consent, and only sanctioned their union when at last +Alcazar won the professorship above mentioned. He was a young fellow of +exceptional talents, and published some works on geology, the branch of +science to which he had devoted himself. His death, at the age of +thirty-two, was much lamented in the small circle to whom men of science +are known in Spain. Isabel, with her little son, returned to her +father's house in Madrid, and there, three months after her husband's +death, she gave birth to a daughter, who was baptised by the name of +Aurelia. + +Isabel was a remarkably handsome woman, and, as the only child of a man +who was supposed to be in easy circumstances, she did not lack for +suitors. But she refused every offer. Her friends called her romantic, +perhaps because she had more mind and heart than they could generally +boast of. She appreciated talent, and detested the prosaic beings who +almost exclusively constituted her father's social circle. She +worshipped the memory of her husband, whom she had adored while he +lived, as a man of superior talents; she treasured with the greatest +care every eulogy that had appeared in print on his works; the sole +desire and aim of her life was that her son should tread in his father's +footsteps, and become respected for his talents and eminence. Heaven +blessed her aspirations. At first she saw him growing up before her +eyes the living image of his father. Not in face only, but in gesture +and voice, he was exactly like him. Then the boy's progress at school +caused her the keenest joy. He was intelligent and studious. His masters +were always entirely satisfied with him. Every word of praise which came +to her ears, every mark of approbation written against his name, gave +the poor mother the most exquisite delight. Now she had no doubt that he +would inherit his father's gifts. + +She was stricken with remorse sometimes when she reflected how far from +equitably she divided her affection between her two children. Whatever +efforts she might make to preserve the equilibrium, she could not but +confess that she loved Raimundo much the best. Her devoted affection was +shown in constant petting and small cares, which pampered the boy and +weakened his character. She brought him up with excessive fondness. He, +on his part, loved her with such exclusive ardour that at times it was +almost a fever. Every time he had to leave the shelter of her petticoats +to go to school it cost him some tears. He insisted on her watching him +from the balcony, and before turning the corner of the street he looked +round twenty times to kiss his hand to her. Even when he was grown up +and a science-student, Isabel still kept up the habit of going out on +the balcony to wave him an adieu when he went to his lectures. Either by +nature, or perhaps in consequence of this rather effeminate education, +Raimundo was a timid boy, indifferent to the sports of his companions; +and he grew up a melancholy youth, and a serious and uncommunicative +man. He had scarcely any friends. At college he joined his +fellow-students in a walk before going in to lecture but as soon as it +was over he went home, and did not care to go out unless with his mother +and sister. + +Long before that, when he was no more than ten years old his grandfather +died. Thus, by the time he was sixteen, he had to play the part of the +man in the house. He took his mother to the theatre, accompanied her in +paying visits, and sometimes in the evening, when the weather was fine, +he took her out for a walk, giving her his arm like her husband or +sweetheart. Isabel's beauty did not desert her with years. Those who saw +them together never supposed they could be mother and son, but rather +sister and brother, if not a married pair. This was the cause of some +distress to the lad. As in Madrid men are not remarkable for respect for +the fair sex, he used to overhear, in spite of himself, complimentary +speeches, or even bold addresses from the passers-by to his mother. And +as he heard them, he felt a strange mixture of shame and pleasure, of +jealousy and pride; the position of a son in such a case is extremely +peculiar and embarrassing. + +Old Martinez, his grandfather, after retiring from business, had lost +all his savings. They had been invested partly in a gunpowder-making +company which had failed, and partly in Government stock. All he had to +leave was an income of from seven to eight thousand pesetas. + +On this the three lived very thriftily, though they did not lack the +necessaries of life. On a second floor in the Calle de Gravina, Raimundo +pursued his scientific studies. He hoped to become a professor, like his +father, and, seeing how brilliantly he passed every examination, no one +doubted that he soon would attain that position; but, instead of turning +his attention to geology, he preferred the study of zoology, and more +especially that of butterflies. He began making a collection, and +displayed so much eagerness and intelligence that, before long, he was +possessed of a very fine one. Before he had left college he was already +remarkable as an entomologist. The walls of his room were lined with +cabinets, containing the rarest and most precious specimens. For two +years he saved up his pocket-money to buy a microscope, and at last was +able to purchase a fairly good one, which was as useful as it was +delightful. The day he took his doctor's degree, when he was just +one-and-twenty, Isabel experienced one of those joys that mothers alone +can know. She embraced him, shedding a flood of tears. + +"Now, mamma," said he, "I am qualified to compete for a professorship. I +shall devote myself to preparing for it, and as soon as I succeed I +shall renounce anything you may be able to leave me in favour of +Aurelia. I have few wants, and can live on my salary." + +These generous words went to the mother's heart; she found fresh reason +every day for adoring this model son. + +Raimundo now plunged into his studies with ardour, working up the +special branches required without neglecting his entomology. Thanks to +this, and to the honoured name of his father, he was soon eminent among +men of science. He wrote some papers, corresponded with various foreign +_savants_, and had the satisfaction of receiving from them the most +encouraging praises. He was, it may be said, a happy man. He had no +desires for the impossible to devour his soul, no tormenting +love-affairs, or intrusive friends; he enjoyed the peace of home-life, +the love of his family, and the pure delights of science; his days +glided on in tranquillity and happiness. His mother's friends were +amazed at such virtuous simplicity. Had Raimundo no love entanglement? +Did he not care for women? And Isabel would reply with a smile of +evident satisfaction: + +"I do not know. I believe he has never yet thought of such a thing. He +is so tied to my apron-string that he is like a child of three. He would +find it hard, to be sure, to meet with a woman who would love him as I +do." + +And it was as she said. She kept him wrapped in such an atmosphere of +protection, of warm and loving care, as he could never have found with a +wife, however devoted she might be. Only mothers have this gift of +absolute and unwearying self-sacrifice, never hoping for or dreaming of +a return. Raimundo's every need of a practical kind was satisfied with a +refined completeness which few men enjoy. He had never known what it was +to have to think how he was fed, clothed, and shod, or to take any care +for necessaries such as many women do not understand. Every detail of +his life was foreseen and arranged for him. He might devote himself +wholly to the exercise of his intellect. If he complained of a taste in +his mouth, his mother was at his bedside early in the morning with an +effervescing saline draught; if his head ached there was a soothing +drink at bed-time. If he coughed in the night, ever so little, Isabel +could not rest till she had stolen into his room in her nightshift to +see that he had not thrown off his bedclothes. As soon as Aurelia was +old enough she too helped her mother in the task of averting every pain +and removing even the tiniest thorns from the young entomologist's path. + +Unhappily--though we might also say very naturally, since happiness +cannot last in this world--this blissful course of life came to a sudden +end. Isabel fell ill of bronchitis which she could not completely shake +off, either because she neglected it or because the physician had +hesitated to apply sufficiently severe treatment. It left her with a +catarrh of the lungs which weakened her greatly. Then, by the doctor's +advice, she went to the baths of Panticosa with Raimundo, leaving +Aurelia in the care of some relations. She rallied a little, but fell +ill again within a few days of returning to Madrid. She was then visibly +failing; so much so that her friends could plainly see that she was +dying. Never for a moment did such a notion enter her son's head. His +life was so bound up with hers that the two seemed as one. Things went +on as they almost always do with the sick who do not know that they are +dying. Isabel, though very weak, carried on the housekeeping with her +usual care. Raimundo, indeed, had entreated her, and then, taking +advantage of his influence over her, had commanded her to rest; but she, +evading his vigilance, and prompted by the invincible impulse which busy +natures feel to be doing something, would not give up her duties. One +day, when she was already almost dying, Raimundo found her on her knees +dusting the legs of a table. He was quite horrified, and, chiding her +affectionately, helped her up with many kisses. + +A pious friend, who came to see her, thought proper to hint to her that +she ought to confess. Isabel was painfully impressed; her son, coming +in, found her weeping, and flew into a rage, breaking out vehemently +against all such bigots. However, the sick woman, who was beginning to +understand her danger, insisted gently but firmly on the priest being +sent for. Raimundo, much annoyed, sent for the doctor to uphold him in +his refusal. The physician at first replied evasively, then he said that +it was at any rate being on the right side, that if strong people were +liable to sudden death much more were the sickly. + +But even now light did not dawn on the young man's apprehension. After +seeing the priest, Isabel went on as before, and this contributed to +keep up his delusion. She rose in the morning, ate at table with them, +went into the sitting-room on her son's arm, and spent the chief part of +the day in an armchair. At the same time she was so excessively thin +that those who saw her only at long intervals were quite shocked. And +yet she did not lose her beauty; on the contrary, it seemed to have +increased, her complexion was clearer and more delicate, and her eyes +brighter. + +One morning she said she would rather not get up. Raimundo sat down by +her bed reading a novel. She presently said: + +"I am uncomfortable. Lift me up a little; I have no strength." + +He rose to do it, and at that very instant his mother's head drooped on +one side and she was dead, without a sigh, without the smallest gesture +or sign of suffering--like a bird, to use a vulgar but expressive +phrase. + +The young man's despairing cry brought in the people of the house. + +Some relations took him and his sister away to their own home; in the +state of stupor in which he was, there was no difficulty in getting him +to go whithersoever they would. That same evening some of his college +friends came to see him and found him in fairly good spirits, which +amazed them, knowing the passionate devotion to his mother he had always +professed. He discussed scientific matters for a long time, expressing +himself with greater volubility than usual. This led them to suspect +that he was under the influence of some violent excitement, and the +suspicion was confirmed when he proposed to play at cards. They yielded, +but presently the young fellow began to talk quite at random. + +"What do you think of the game, mamma?" he asked of a lady who was +playing. + +All those present looked at each other with consternation and pity. + +After this he became quite incoherent. His excitement increased, he +began laughing so wildly that no one could doubt that it must end in a +violent nervous attack. And, in fact, when they least expected it, he +started from his seat, ran to the window, threw it open, and would have +flung himself from the balcony, if they had not stopped him. This ended +in acute hysterics, which happily were soon over, and then to collapse, +compelling him to remain in bed three or four days. + +Time at last exerted its soothing power. At the end of a fortnight he +was well again, though a prey to extreme dejection, from which his +relations and friends vainly strove to rouse him. + +His uncle proposed that the brother and sister should continue to live +with him, since Raimundo was young to be at the head of a house, and +especially to guard and guide Aurelia. He was now three-and-twenty and +she eighteen. But neither of them would listen to the plan. They would +live alone and together. They took third floor rooms in the Calle de +Serrano, very pretty and sunny, and thither they transferred their +furniture; once installed there they continued their former life, sadly, +no doubt, under the ever present remembrance of their mother, but calmly +and contentedly. Raimundo centred all his thoughts and care in Aurelia. +Anxious to fulfil his part as father and protector to the young girl, he +did for her what his mother had hitherto done for him, surrounding her +with kindness, and cherishing her with a tenderness which touched all +who saw them. Aurelia was not beautiful nor particularly clever, but +for her brother she felt the passionate adoration she had inherited from +her mother. Nevertheless, in the details of daily life the young man +sorely missed his mother. Aurelia did her utmost to prevent his feeling +her absence, but she was far from achieving the same delicate +anticipation of his needs. By degrees she became more expert in the +management of the house, and Raimundo, on his part, did not look for the +refined comfort of a past time. The feeling of guardianship, and the +consciousness of his own duties towards his sister, made him think less +of himself. If, on the other hand, some little attention from Aurelia +came to him as a surprise he accepted it as though from a child. Thus +their lives supplemented each other. + +They lived humbly; their rent came to twenty dollars; they kept a single +maid. Thus their little income of twelve hundred dollars was sufficient +for their needs. As it was derived from dividends on State securities +and shares in a manufactory, it was regularly paid. Raimundo was able to +dedicate himself with renewed ardour to his studies; he longed to fulfil +to his sister the promise he had made his mother, of renouncing his +share of their inheritance, and saving for her a little fortune which +might enable her to marry well. Ever since his illness he had gone twice +a week to lay flowers on his mother's grave; on Sundays he took Aurelia +with him. As a rule he went out very little. The studies requisite to +fit him to compete for a professorship on the one hand, and on the other +his passion as a collector and naturalist, absorbed almost the whole of +his time. It was a wonder indeed if he were seen in a cafe, and being in +mourning he did not go to the play. + +One day when he happened to be at a bookseller's in the Carrera San +Jeronimo, where he frequently amused himself by turning over new works +from abroad, an elegantly dressed woman came into the shop. Raimundo's +eyes dilated at the vision, resting on her with such a fixed look of +admiration, that she was fain to turn away. While she bought a few +French novels he contemplated her with rapture and emotion; the book he +was holding shook in his hand. As she went out he hastily laid it down +to follow her; but a carriage was waiting for her. The man-servant, hat +in hand, opened the door, and the horses instantly snatched her from his +sight. + +"What is it, Don Raimundo?" said the bookseller, as he came into the +shop again. "Are you struck by my fair customer?" + +The young man smiled to conceal his agitation, and replied with feigned +indifference: + +"Who could fail to notice such a beautiful creature? Who is she?" + +"Do not you know her? She is the wife of a banker named Osorio, and +Salabert's daughter." + +"Ah! Salabert's daughter! Then she lives in that palace in the Avenue de +Luchana?" + +"No, Senor. She lives in the Calle don Ramon de la Cruz." + +He wanted no more. Away he went. This lady bore a singular likeness to +his mother. The state of his mind, still grieving and sore, made the +resemblance seem to him greater than it really was, and it impressed him +vividly. A few minutes later he was walking up and down in front of the +Osorios' house; but he did not succeed in catching another glimpse of +the lady. The next day he went to walk in the Retiro, and there again he +met her. Thenceforth he watched and followed her with a constancy which +betrayed the strong hold she had on his feelings. Though he at no time +forgot his mother's face, Clementina Salabert brought it yet more +vividly before him, and this gave him a pathetic pain in which he +revelled, paradoxical as it may seem. But any one who has lost a loved +face from the world will understand it; there is a kind of luxury in +uncovering the wound, and renewing the pain and regret. Raimundo could +not gaze long at Clementina's features without feeling the tears on his +cheeks; and this, perhaps, was why he so constantly sought her. In her +face there was indeed a hardness and severity which his mother's had +never had; but when she smiled and all sternness vanished the +resemblance was really amazing. + +Our young man was well aware of the annoyance his pursuit caused her. At +the same time he could not help laughing to himself at her +misapprehension of the case. "If this lady could know," he would say to +himself, as he saw her lips curl with scorn, "why she fascinates me so +much, how great would her astonishment be!" A current of attraction, it +might be said of adoration, drew him to her. But for her forbidding +dignity, he might very possibly have addressed her, have explained to +her the strange consolation he derived from her presence. But Clementina +moved in so distant a sphere that he dreaded her contempt. It was enough +that she should so evidently scorn him for his joy in beholding her. On +the other hand, he had heard rumours greatly to her discredit; but he +took no pains to confirm them--in the first place, because they did not +concern him, and also because if they proved to be true he would be +compelled to think ill of her, and he could not bear that a woman so +like his mother should be, in fact, disreputable. He would know nothing, +he would be content to indulge, as often as he could, that strange +longing to revive his grief and move himself to tears. As he did not +live in fashionable society and could not go to the theatre to procure +this satisfaction, he had no choice but to haunt her in the streets or +the parks when she was out driving. He also attended Mass on Sundays at +the Jeronymite church, and there he could contemplate her at his ease +and leisure. + +He had told Aurelia of his discovery, but he had not pointed the lady +out to her. He was afraid lest Aurelia should not see the likeness so +clearly as he did, and should thus despoil him of his illusion. +Clementina went out walking two or three times a week, in the afternoon, +as she had done on the day when we made her acquaintance. Raimundo, from +the window of his study in the Calle de Serrano spied her approach, as +from an observatory, and when he discerned her from afar, down he went +to follow her as far as he could. This persecution vexed the lady all +the more, as it was at this hour that she went to visit her lover. Not +that it was a matter of any particular importance that this new +connection should become known, but for a remnant of shame which +survived in her. No woman, however unblushing, can bear to be seen +entering her lover's dwelling. + +Moreover, she knew, for she had heard it quite lately, that a husband +who, finding out his wife's guilt, kills her on the spot, is held +excused. Now, as she knew that Osorio hated her, she was afraid lest he +might take advantage of this excuse to get rid of her. These vague +terrors, added to that residue of decency, increased her rage against +Raimundo. Her violent and imperious temper rose in arms at this +unforeseen interference. She had not even paid any particular attention +to the young man's appearance. She hated him without troubling herself +to look at him. His indifference and submission to the utter contempt +which she did not attempt to conceal, was also an offence. It was +evident that this youngster was making game of her; if he were +love-stricken he could not possibly show so much serene cynicism. No +doubt he had discovered that he annoyed her, and meant to insult her out +of revenge. And beyond a doubt he succeeded perfectly. The turns she was +compelled to take in order to elude him, the visits she paid against her +will, and all the terrors his pursuit cost her, rendered him more odious +to her every day, and made her blood boil. She went out in the carriage, +drove to the Calatravas church, and there dismissed it; but Raimundo, +after being deprived for some days of the sight of her, committed the +extravagance of taking a hackney coach to keep up with her. + +This enraged her beyond measure, and she determined to put an end to the +intolerable persecution, though she did not know how. At first she asked +Pepe Castro to speak to the youth and threaten him; but on seeing how +coolly he took the proposal, she indignantly determined never to return +to the subject. Then she thought of addressing him herself in the +street, and desiring him, in a few words of freezing scorn, to annoy her +no more. But when the opportunity offered she dared not--though timidity +was not her besetting sin--the predicament seemed too delicate. + +She was still in this state of doubt and hesitancy, when one day, as she +went down the Calle de Serrano, happening to look up, she spied the +enemy on the look out, high above her. This suggested to her the idea of +asking his name and writing to him. And with the vehemence which +prompted all her actions she immediately went in, and inquired of the +porter: + +"Would you be so good as to tell me who lives on the third floor here?" + +"A lady and gentleman, both quite young; a brother and sister. They have +been here only four months; they are orphans. Not long since, it would +seem----" + +The woman, seeing so elegant a lady, was ready to be communicative; but +Clementina cut her short by asking: + +"What is the gentleman's name?" + +"Don Raimundo Alcazar." + +"Many thanks." And she hurried away. + +She went out into the street, but it struck her that writing to him +would have its disadvantages, and that a verbal explanation would really +be more satisfactory, since no one of her acquaintance could know +anything about it. For a moment she paused in doubt; then she abruptly +faced about and went in again. She passed the portress without saying a +word, and lightly ran upstairs. On reaching the third floor, in spite of +her determined spirit, her courage was somewhat dashed, and she was on +the point of retreating. But her proud and haughty temper spurred her +on, as she reflected that the young man must have seen her come in and +would suspect her repentance. + +There were two doors on the landing. One set of rooms, as Clementina had +observed, was to let, so she decided on knocking at the door on the +left, since there was a mat outside--plain proof that it was inhabited. + +A maid answered the summons, and Clementina asked for Don Raimundo +Alcazar. + +"I wish to see him" she added, on learning that he was at home. + +The girl showed her into the drawing-room, and as the visit struck her +as strange, she asked whether she should announce it to the Senorita. + +"No. Tell Don Raimundo I want to speak to him." + +He, meanwhile, was sitting in his study, in a state of extreme +agitation. On first seeing the lady enter the house, he had been +startled without exactly knowing why. He recovered himself on seeing her +depart, and was again excited when she came back. The idea that she +might be coming up to his rooms flashed across his mind, but he +immediately dismissed it as improbable. She must no doubt have come to +call on one of the residents on the first or second floor, who were +persons of fashion. Still, in spite of all reason, he could not be calm. +When he heard the door-bell, he was aghast; he could hardly get so far +as the ante-room, and before he could give the maid a sign, she had +opened the door, compelling him to beat a hasty retreat. He was tempted +to say he was not at home, even though the lady was in the sitting-room; +but, after all, he made up his mind to go to her, reflecting that he had +no rational motive for refusing. + +Raimundo had seen very little of the world. His mother's friends had +been few--relations and two or three families of acquaintance. He, on +his part, had done nothing to extend the circle, and, as has been said, +had formed no intimacies with any of his fellow-students, much less had +he any familiarity with the public or private entertainments of the +capital. His youth and early manhood had been happily spent at home, in +studying and arranging his butterflies. He knew life only from books. At +the same time Nature had bestowed on him a frank and simple temper, some +ease of speech, and a certain dignity of manner, which amply made up for +the polish and distinction produced by constant friction with the upper +ranks of society. + +He went into the drawing-room with perfect composure, nay, with a +lurking sense of hostility roused by the lady's eccentric proceeding. He +bowed low on entering. The situation was, in fact, so strange, that +Clementina, in spite of her pride, her experience, and her +indifference--it might almost be said her effrontery, was suddenly at a +loss. It was only by an effort that she recovered her spirit. + +"Here I am, you see," she said in a sharp tone, which was strangely +inappropriate and discourteous. + +"To what do I owe the honour of your visit?" replied Raimundo in a +rather tremulous voice. + +"Well--" she paused for a moment, "you owe it to the honour you do me of +following me everywhere like my shadow, as you have been doing these +past two months. Do you suppose that it can be agreeable to be haunted +whenever I appear in the street? In short, you have made me quite +nervous, and to avoid injury to my health I have taken the ridiculous +step of coming up here to beg you to cease your pursuit. If you have +anything interesting to say to me say it at once and have done." + +She spoke the words impetuously, as feeling herself in a false position, +and wishing to get out of it by an exaggerated display of annoyance. + +Raimundo looked at her in amazement, and this vexed Clementina, and +added to her vehemence. + +"Senora, I am grieved to the soul to think that I should have offended +you; nothing could be further from my intentions. If you could only know +the feelings your face arouses in me!" he stammered out. + +Clementina broke in: + +"If you are about to make me a declaration of love, you may save +yourself the trouble. I am married; and if I were not it would be just +the same." + +"No, Senora, I have no such confession to make," said the young +entomologist with a smile. "I will explain the matter. I can quite +understand your having misunderstood the sentiments which prompt me, +and it is natural that you should feel offended. How far you must be +from suspecting the truth! I have not fallen in love with you. If I had +I should certainly not follow you like a sort of street pirate--above +all, under the circumstances----" + +Here Raimundo looked grave, and paused. Then he added precipitately, in +a voice husky with emotion: + +"My mother died not long since, and you are wonderfully like her." + +He looked at her, as he spoke, with anxious attentiveness; there were +tears in his eyes, and it was only by a great effort that he checked a +sob. + +The confession roused Clementina's surprise and doubts. She stood still +gazing at him for her part with fixed inquiry. Raimundo understood what +must be passing in her mind, and opening the door into his study, he +said: + +"See for yourself. See if what I say is not the truth." + +The lady advanced a few steps, and saw on the wall facing her, above the +writing-table, an enlarged photograph of an exceptionally lovely woman, +who, no doubt, bore some resemblance to herself, though it was not so +striking as the young man fancied. The frame was wreathed with +immortelles. + +"We are somewhat alike," said she, after studying the portrait +attentively. "But this lady was far more beautiful than I." + +"No, not more beautiful. Her eyes were softer, and that gave her face an +indescribable charm. It was her pure and loving soul which shone through +them." + +He spoke with ardour, not heeding the want of gallantry the words +implied. Clementina's pride suffered all the more from the simplicity +and conviction of his tone; both contemplated the picture for a few +seconds in silence. Tears trembled in Raimundo's eyes. At last the lady +asked: + +"How old was your mother?" + +"Forty-one." + +"And I am five-and-thirty," she replied, with ill-disguised +satisfaction. + +Raimundo looked at her once more. + +"Yes, you are younger and handsomer. But my mother's complexion was +finer, though she was some years older. Her skin was as soft as satin, +and there was no worn look about her eyes; they were like a child's. It +was very natural. My mother's life was calm and uneventful; she had done +nothing to wear out her body or soul." + +He was quite unconscious of implying anything rude to the lady whom he +addressed. She was indeed exceedingly nettled, but she did not dare to +show it, for the youth's grief and perfect sincerity inspired her with +respect. She therefore changed the subject, glancing round the study, +with some curiosity. + +"You collect butterflies it would seem." + +"Yes, Senora, from my childhood, and I have succeeded in getting +together a very respectable number of varieties. I have some very +beautiful and curious species--look here." + +Clementina went to one of the cabinets. Raimundo eagerly opened it and +placed a tray in her hand full of lovely creatures of the most brilliant +hues. + +"They really are very pretty and strange. Of what use are they when you +have got them? Do you sell them?" + +"No, Senora," said he with a smile, "my object is purely scientific." + +"Ah!" And she glanced at him with surprise. Clementina had very little +sympathy with men of science, but they inspired her with a vague respect +mingled with awe, as beings of another race in whom some people +discerned superior merits. + +"Then you are a naturalist?" she inquired. + +"I am studying with that view. My father was a naturalist." + +While he displayed his precious collection--not without the +condescension with which the learned explain their labours to the +profane--he gave her some insight into his simple existence. As he spoke +of his mother's illness emotion again got the better of him, and the +tears rose to his eyes. Clementina listened with interest, looking +meanwhile at the drawers he placed before her, and speaking a few words +of admiration of the martyred insects, or of sympathy as Raimundo +related his mother's death. She affected to be cool and at her ease, but +she could not quite dissemble her embarrassment in the anomalous +situation to which her strange action had given rise. + +She released herself abruptly, as she did everything. She quite gravely +held out her hand to the young man, saying: + +"Many thanks for your kindness, Senor Alcazar. I am glad to find that I +have not been the object of such a pursuit as I had supposed. At the +same time, nevertheless, I beg you not to repeat it. I am married, you +see; it might be thought that I encouraged it, or had given you some +reason----" + +"Be quite easy, Senora. From the moment when I know that it annoys you +it shall cease. Forgive me on the score of the motive," and he pressed +her hand with a natural and frank sympathy, which achieved the conquest +of the lady. But she did not show it; on the contrary, she looked +sternly grave and turned to go. Raimundo followed her, and as he passed +her to open the door, he said with a smile of engaging candour: + +"I am but a nobody, Senora, but if some day you should wish to make use +of my insignificant services, you cannot imagine what pleasure it would +be to me!" + +"Thanks, thanks," said Clementina drily, without pausing. + +As they reached the door opening on the stairs, just as he was about to +open it, Raimundo caught sight of his sister's little head peeping +inquisitively into the passage. + +"Come here, Aurelia," said he. + +But the girl paid no heed and hastily withdrew. + +"Aurelia, Aurelia!" + +Very much against her will she came out into the anteroom, and +approached smiling and as red as a cherry. + +"This is the lady of whom I spoke to you as being so like mamma." + +Aurelia looked at her not knowing what to say, still smiling and +blushing. + +"Do you not think her very like?" + +"I do not see it," replied his sister after a moment's hesitation. + +"There, you see!" exclaimed Clementina, turning to him with a smile. "It +was only a fancy, an hallucination on your part." + +There was a touch of annoyance in her tone. Aurelia's advent made her +position more false than ever. + +"Never mind," said Raimundo, "I see the resemblance clearly, and that is +enough." + +The door was standing open. + +"So pleased," said Clementina, addressing Aurelia without offering her +hand, but with one of those frigid and condescending bows by which a +woman of fashion at once establishes the distance which divides her from +a new acquaintance. + +Aurelia murmured a few polite words. Raimundo went out on the landing to +take leave of her, repeating his polite and cordial speeches, which did +not seem to impress the lady, to judge from her grave reserve. She went +downstairs, dissatisfied with herself and full of obscure irritation. It +was not the first time, nor the second, that her impetuous nature had +placed her in such a ridiculous and anomalous position. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE SAVAGE CLUB OF MADRID. + + +At two in the afternoon about a dozen of the most constant habitues of +the Savage Club lay picturesquely scattered on the divans and easy +chairs of their large drawing-room. In one corner was a group formed of +General Patino, Pepe Castro, Cobo Ramirez, Ramoncito Maldonado, and two +other members with whom we have no concern. Apart from these sat +Manolito Davalos, alone; and beyond him Pinedo with a party of friends. +The attitudes of these young men--for they were most of them +young--corresponded perfectly with the refinement which shone in every +revelation of the elegance of their minds. One had his head on the divan +and his feet on an armchair; another, while he curled his moustache with +his left hand, was stroking the calf of his leg below his trousers with +his right; one leaned back with his arms folded, and one condescended to +rest his exquisite boots on the red velvet seats of two chairs. + +This _Club de los Selvajes_ is a parody rather than a translation of the +English Savage Club. To be accurate, it is a translation of such +graceful freedom that it keeps up the true Spanish spirit in close +alliance with the British. In honour of its name, all the outward aspect +of the club is extremely English. The members always appear in full +dress every evening in the winter, in smoking jackets in the summer; the +servants wear knee-breeches and powder; there is a spacious and handsome +dining-room, a fencing court, dressing-rooms, bath-rooms, and a few +bed-rooms; the club has, too, its own stables, with carriage and saddle +horses for the use of the members. + +The Spanish character is revealed in various details of internal +management. The most remarkable feature is a general lack of ready +money, which gives rise to singular situations among the members +themselves, and in their relations to the outer world, producing a +complicated and beautiful variety which could nowhere be met with in any +other city in Christendom. It more especially leads to an immense and +inconceivable development of that powerful engine by which the +nineteenth century has achieved its grandest and most stupendous +efforts--Credit. Within the walls of the Madrid Savage Club there is as +much business done on credit as in the Bank of England. Not only do the +members lend each other money and gamble on credit, but they effect the +same transactions with the club itself viewed as a responsible entity, +and even with the club-porter, both as a functionary and as a man. + +Outside this narrow circle the _Savages_, carried away by their +enthusiasm for credit, bring it into play in their relations with the +tailor, the housekeeper, the coach-builder, the horse-dealer, and the +jeweller, not to mention transactions on a large scale with their banker +or landlord. Thanks to this inestimable element of economical science, +coin of the realm has become almost unnecessary to the members of the +club. Its function is beautifully fulfilled by an abstract and more +spiritual medium--promises to pay, verbal or written. They live and +spend as freely as their prototypes in London, without pounds sterling, +shillings, dollars, and pesetas, or anything of the kind. The superior +advantages of the Madrid Club in this respect are self-evident. + +Nor are they less in the cool and frank impertinence with which the +members treat each other. By degrees they have quite given up the polite +and ceremonious courtesy which characterises the solemn British +gentleman; their manners have gained in local colour approaching more +and more to those of the picturesque quarters of Madrid known as +Lavapies and Maravillas. Nature, race, and opportunity are elements it +is impossible to resist, whether in politics or in social amusements. + +The club always begins to warm up after midnight, the fever is at its +height at about three in the morning, and then it begins to cool down +again. By five or six every one has gone piously to bed. During the day +the place is comparatively deserted. Two or three dozen of the members +drop in in the afternoon, before taking a walk, to colour their pipes. +Stupefied by sleepiness they speak but little. They need the excitement +of night to display their native talents in all their brilliancy. These +are concentrated for the time on the noble task of bringing a meerschaum +to a fine coffee-colour. If, as some assert, objects of art were once +objects of utility, so that the notion of art involves that of +usefulness, it must be confessed that, in the matter of their pipes, the +members of the Savage Club work like true artists. They have them sent +from Paris and London; on them are engraved the initials of the owner +with the count's or marquis's coronet, if the smoker has a right to it; +they keep them in elegant cases, and when they take them out to smoke, +it is with such care and so many precautions that the pipes become more +troublesome than useful. A "Savage" has been known to make himself ill +by smoking cigar after cigar solely for the pleasure of colouring his +mouthpiece sooner than his fellows. No one cares about the flavour of +the tobacco; the only important point is to draw the smoke in such a way +as to colour the meerschaum equally all over. Now and again taking out a +fine cambric handkerchief, the smoker will spend many minutes in rubbing +the pipe with the most delicate care, while his spirit reposes in sweet +abstraction from all earthly cares. + +Grave, dignified, and harmonious in grace, the most select of the +members of the club sucked and blew tobacco smoke from two till four in +the afternoon. There is something confidential and pensive in the task, +as in every artistic effort, which induces them to cast their eyes down +and fix their gaze so as to enjoy more entirely the pure vision of the +Idea which lies occult in every amber and meerschaum cigar-holder. In +this elevated frame of mind lounged our friend Pepe Castro, smoking a +pipe in the shape of a horse's leg, when the voice of Rafael Alcantara +roused him from his ecstasy by calling across the room: + +"Then you have actually sold the mare, Pepe?" + +"Some days ago." + +"The English mare?" + +"The English mare?" he echoed, looking up at his friend with reproachful +surprise. "No, my good fellow, the cross-bred." + +"Why, it is not more than two months since you bought her. I never +dreamed of your wanting to get rid of her." + +"You see I did," said the handsome dandy, affecting an air of mystery. + +"Some hidden defect?" + +"No defect can be hidden from me," replied Alcantara haughtily. And +every one believed him, for in this branch of knowledge he had no rival +in Madrid, unless it were the Duke de Saites, who had the reputation of +knowing more about horses than any other man in Spain. + +"Want of pace, then?" + +"No, nor that either." + +Rafael shrugged his shoulders, and turned to talk to his neighbours; he +was a ruddy youth, with a dissipated face and small greenish eyes full +of cruelty. Like some others who were to be seen at the club every day, +he frequented the company of the aristocracy without having the smallest +right. He was of humble birth, the son of an upholsterer in the Calle +Mayor. He had at an early age spent the little fortune which had come to +him from his father, and since then had lived by gambling and +borrowing. He owed money to every one in Madrid, and boasted of the +fact. + +The qualities for which he was still admitted to the best houses in the +capital were his courage and his cynicism. Alcantara was really brave; +he had fought three or four duels, and was always ready to fight again +on the slightest pretext. He was, too, perfectly audacious; he always +spoke in a tone of contempt, even to those who most deserved respect, +and was disposed to make game of any one and every one. These +characteristics had gained him great influence among his fellow +"Savages;" he was treated an equal by all, and was indispensable to +every ploy; but no one asked him for repayment of a loan. + +"Well, General, did you like Tosti's singing last night?" asked +Ramoncito of General Patino. + +"Only in her ballad," replied the General, after skilfully blowing a +large cloud of smoke from a pipe made in the image of a cannon on its +gun carriage. + +"You do not mean that she was not good in the duet?" + +"Certainly I mean it." + +"Then, Senor, I simply do not understand you; to me she seemed sublime," +replied the young man, with some irritation. + +"Your opinion does you honour, Ramon. It is greatly to your credit," +said Cobo Ramirez, who never missed an opportunity of vexing his friend +and rival. + +"So I should think; that is as true as that you are the only person here +of any judgment. Look here, Cobo, the General may talk because he has +reasons for what he says--do you see? But you had better hold your +tongue, for you wear my ears out." + +"But mercy, man! Why does Ramon lose his temper so whenever you speak to +him?" asked the General laughing. + +"I do not know," said Cobo, with a whiff at his cigar, while he puckered +his face into a slightly sarcastic smile. "If I contradict him he is put +out, and if I agree with him it is no better." + +"Of course, of course! We all know that you are great at chaff. You need +make no efforts to show off before these gentlemen. But in the present +instance you have made a bad shot." + +"I am of the General's opinion. The duet was very badly sung," said +Cobo, with aggravating coolness. + +"What does it matter what you say, one way or the other?" cried +Maldonado, in a fury. "You do not know a note of music." + +"What then! I have all the more right to talk of music because I do not +strum on the piano as you do. At any rate, I am perfectly inoffensive." + +This led to a long dispute, eager and incoherent on Ramon's part, cool +and sarcastic on Cobo's; he delighted in putting his rival out of +patience. This afforded much amusement to all present, and they sided +with one or the other to prolong the entertainment. + +"Do you know that Alvaro Luna has a fight on hand this evening?" said +some one when they were beginning to tire of "Just tell me," and "Let me +tell you," from Cobo and Ramon. + +"So I heard," replied Pepe Castro, closing his eyes ecstatically as he +sucked at his cigar. "In the Escalona's gardens, isn't it?" + +"I think so." + +"Swords?" + +"Swords." + +"Another honourable scar!" said Leon Guzman from where he was sitting. + +"Rapiers." + +"Oh! that is quite another thing." + +And the whole party became interested in the duel. + +"Alvaro has but little practice. The Colonel will have the best of it; +he is the better man, and he fights with great energy." + +"Too much," said Pepe Castro, taking out his handkerchief, after +throwing away his cigar-end, and wiping the mouthpiece with extreme +care. + +Every one looked at him, for he had the reputation of being a first-rate +swordsman. + +"Do you think so?" + +"Yes, I do. Energy is a good thing up to a certain point; beyond that it +is dangerous, especially with rapiers. With the broadsword something may +be done by a rapid succession of attacks; it may at any rate bother the +adversary. But with pointed weapons you must keep a sharp look-out. +Alvaro is not much given to sword-play, but he is very cool, very keen, +and his lunge is perfection. The Colonel had better be careful." + +"The quarrel is about Alvaro's cousin?" + +"So it would seem." + +"What the devil can she matter to him?" + +"Pshaw! who knows!" + +"As he is not in love with her I do not understand." + +"Nothing is impossible." + +"The girl is a perfect minx! This summer at Biarritz, she and that +Fonseca boy behaved in such a way on the terrace of the Casino at night, +that they would have been worth photographing by a flash light!" + +"Why, Cobo, there, before he left, figured in some dissolving views in +the garden." + +"Alas! too true; that girl compromised me desperately," said Cobo in a +tone of comical despair. + +"Well, you had not much to lose. You lost your character by that affair +with Teresa," said Alcantara. + +"Beauty and misfortune always go hand in hand," Ramon added ironically. + +"_Et tu_, Ramon!" exclaimed Cobo with affected surprise. "Why the time +is surely coming when the birds will carry guns." + +"Well, gentlemen, I confess my weakness," said Leon Guzman. "I cannot go +near that girl without feeling ill." + +"And the damsel cannot be near so sweet and fair a youth as you without +feeling ill too," said Alcantara. + +"Do you want to flatter me, Rafael?" + +"Yes; into lending me the key of your rooms to-morrow, and not coming in +all the afternoon. I want it." + +"But there is a servant who devotes himself to water-colour painting +every afternoon." + +"I will give him two dollars to go and paint elsewhere." + +"And a lady opposite who spends all her time in looking out of her +window to see what is done or left undone in my rooms." + +"She will have a real treat! I will shut the Venetians.--I say, +Manolito, do you mean to pass the whole of your youth stretched on that +divan without uttering a word?" + +Davalos was in fact lying at full length in a gloomy and dejected manner +without even lifting his head to notice his friend's sallies. But on +hearing his name, he moved, surprised and annoyed. + +"If you were in my place you would feel little inclined for jesting, +Rafael," said he with a sigh. + +It should be said that the young Marquis, who had never had a very +brilliant intelligence, had now for some time been suffering from a +distinct cloud on his brain. He was slightly cracked, as it is vulgarly +termed. His friends were aware that this depression was all the result +of his rupture with Amparo, the woman who had since thrown herself on +the Duke's protection. She had, in a very short space, consumed his +fortune, but he still was desperately in love with her. They treated him +with a certain protecting kindness that was half satirical; but they +abstained from banter about his lady-love, unless occasionally by some +covert allusions, because whenever they touched on the subject, Manolo +was liable to attacks of fury resembling madness. He was hardly more +than thirty, but already bald, with a yellow skin, pale lips, and dulled +eyes. His sister-in-law had taken charge of his four little children. He +lived in an hotel on a pension allowed him by an old aunt whose heir he +was supposed to be; on the strength of this prospect some money-lenders +were willing to keep him going. + +"If I were in your shoes, Manolito, do you know what I would do? I would +marry that aunt." + +The audience laughed, for Manolo's aunt was a woman of eighty. + +"Well, well," said he, in a piteous voice, "you know very well that you +have not had to spend the morning fighting with unconscionable usurers +only to end by giving in--in the most shameful way," he added in an +undertone. + +"Don't talk to me! Don't you know, Manolo, that I have to get a new bell +for my front door once a month, because my duns wear it out? But I take +it philosophically." + +He went up to Davalos, and laying a hand on his shoulder, he said in so +low a voice that no one else could hear him: + +"Seriously, Manolo, I mean it, I would marry my aunt. What would you +lose by it? She is old--so much the better; she will die all the sooner. +As soon as you are married, you will have the management of her fortune, +and need not count up the years she still hopes to live. What you want, +like me, is hard cash. Make no mistake about that. If we had it, we +would get as fat as Cobo Ramirez. Besides, if you were rich, you could +make Amparo send Salabert packing--don't you see?" + +Davalos looked wide-eyed at his adviser, not sure whether he spoke in +jest or in earnest. Seeing no symptom of mockery in Alcantara's face, he +began to be sentimental; speaking of his former mistress with such +enthusiasm and reverence as might have made any one laugh. The scheme +did not seem to him preposterous; he began to discuss it seriously and +consider it from all sides. Rafael listened with well-feigned interest, +encouraging him to proceed by signs and nods. No one could have supposed +that he was simply fooling him, while from time to time, taking +advantage of a moment when Manolo gazed at the toes of his boots, +seeking some word strong enough to express his passion, Rafael was +making grimaces at the group, who looked on with amusement and +curiosity. + +The door of the room presently opened and Alvaro Luna came in. His +friends hailed him with affectionate pleasure. + +"Bravo! Bravo! Here is the condemned criminal." + +"How dismal he looks!" + +"Like a man on the brink of the grave!" + +The new-comer smiled faintly, and glanced round the room. Alvaro Luna, +Conde de Soto, was a man of about thirty-eight or forty, slightly built, +of medium height with hard, keen eyes and a bilious complexion. + +"Have any of you seen Juanito Escalona?" he asked. + +"Yes," said some one. "He was here half an hour ago. He told me that you +expected him, and that he would return punctually at a quarter to four." + +"Good, I will wait for him," was the answer, and Luna quietly came +forward, and sat down among the party. + +Then the chaff began again. + +"Here, let me feel your pulse," said Rafael, taking him by the wrist, +and pulling out his watch. + +The Count smiled and surrendered his hand. + +"Mercy, how frightful! a hundred and thirty. You might think he was +condemned to death." + +It was a pure invention. His pulse was quite normal, and Alcantara shook +his head at his friends in denial. The jest did not vex him. Conscious +of his own courage, and convinced that no one doubted it, he still +smiled as calmly as before. + +"Well, the funeral is at four to-morrow," said another. "I am sorry, +because I had promised to go out hunting with Briones." + +"And it is a long way to the cemetery at San Isidro," said a third. + +"No, no, my dear fellow. We will take him to the Great Northern station, +and carry him to Soto, the family Pantheon." + +This joking was not in good taste; however, Alvaro made no demur, +fearing perhaps that the least symptom of impatience might suggest a +doubt of his perfect coolness. Encouraged by his phlegmatic smile, the +"Savages" did not know when to leave off; the jest about the funeral was +repeated with variations. In point of fact he was getting tired of it; +but they could not move him from his cold and placid smile. He said very +little, and when he spoke it was in a few supercilious words. At last, +taking out his watch, he said: "It is three o'clock. Three-quarters of +an hour yet. Who is for a game of cards?" + +It was an excuse for releasing himself from these buzzing flies, and at +the same time showed his perfect coolness. Three of the men went with +him to the card-room. There the banter went on as it had done in the +drawing-room. + +"Look at him! How his hand shakes!" + +"To think that within an hour he will have ceased to breathe!" + +"I say, Alvaro, leave me Conchilla in your will." + +"I see no objection," said Alvaro, arranging his hand. + +"You hear, gentlemen, Conchilla is mine by the testator's will. What do +you call such a will as that, Leon?" + +"Nuncupatory," said Leon, who had picked up a few law terms in the +course of a lawsuit against some cousins. + +"Conchilla is mine, by nuncupatory bequest. Thank you, Alvaro. I will +see that she goes into mourning, and we will respect your memory so far +as may be. Have you any instructions to leave me?" + +"Yes, to give her a dusting every eight or ten days; if she does not get +a good cry once a week she falls ill." + +"Very good, it shall be done." + +"With a stick. She is used to a stick, and will not take a slapping." + +"Quite so." + +The fun grew broader and louder. Alvaro's imperturbability had the +happiest effect. He understood that beneath all this banter his friends +cared for him and appreciated his bravery. + +At this moment a servant came in who handed him a note on a silver +waiter. He took it and opened it with some interest. As he read it he +again smiled and handed it to the man next him. It was from the manager +of a Cemetery Company, offering his services and enclosing a prospectus +and price list. Some of the youngsters had amused themselves by getting +him to do it. But Luna did not take offence, and he seemed greatly +interested in his game. + +At last Juanito Escalona came to fetch him. After settling accounts he +rose. They all gathered round him. + +"Good luck to you, Alvaro!" + +"I cannot bear to think of your being run through." + +"Do not be absurd; there is no running through in the case. It will soon +be over, with nothing but a scratch." + +Jesting was now at an end, it was all good fellowship. Alvaro lighted a +cigar with perfect coolness, and said quite easily: "_Au revoir_, +gentlemen." + +There was a large infusion of true courage in this demeanour; but there +was also a touch of affectation, and deliberate effort. The younger +members of the Savage Club, though not much addicted to literature, are +nevertheless to a certain extent influenced by it. The class of work +they chiefly study is the _feuilleton_, and the fashionable novel. These +books set up an ideal of manhood, as the old tales of chivalry did +before them. Only in the old romances the model hero was he who +attempted achievements beyond his strength, out of noble ideas of +justice and charity, while in the modern story it is he who for fear of +ridicule abstains from all enthusiasm and generosity. The man who was +always risking his life for the cause of humanity is superseded by the +man who risks it for empty vanity or foolish pride. Swagger has taken +the place of chivalry. + +The party remained, talking of their friend's coolness. However, he was +not for long the subject of their praise, for the first rule of "high +tone" is never to show surprise, and the second is to discuss trifles at +some length and serious matters very briefly. The company presently +broke up, all the illustrious gentlemen going out to diffuse their +doctrines throughout Madrid--doctrines which may be summed up as +follows: "Man is born to sign I.O.U.'s and cultivate a waxed moustache. +Work, education, and steadiness are treason to the law of Nature, and +should be proscribed from all well-organised society." + +Maldonado, as usual, hung on to Pepe Castro's coat-tails. The reader is +already aware of the deep admiration he felt for his model. And Pepe +allowed himself to be admired with great condescension, initiating his +disciple now and then into the higher arcana of his enlightenment on the +subject of English horses and amber mouth-pieces. By degrees Ramon was +acquiring clear notions, not alone of these matters, but also of the +best manner of introducing French words into Spanish conversation. Pepe +Castro was a perfect master of the art of forgetting at a proper moment +some good Spanish word, and after a moment's hesitation bringing out the +French with an air of perfect simplicity. Ramoncito did the same, but +with less finish. He was also learning to distinguish Arcachon oysters +from others not of Arcachon; Chateau Lafitte from Chateau Margaux; the +chest-voice of a tenor from the head-voice; and Atkinson's tooth-paste +from every imitation. + +But, as yet, Ramon, like all neophytes, especially if they are prone to +exaltation and enthusiasm, exaggerated on the example of the teacher. In +shirt-collars, for instance. Because Pepe Castro wore them high and +stiff, was that any reason why Ramoncito should go about God's world +with his tongue hanging out, enduring all the preliminary tortures of +strangulation? And if Pepe Castro, in consequence of a nervous affection +he had suffered from all his life, constantly twitched his left +eyelid--a very graceful trick no doubt--what right had Ramon to spend +his time grimacing at people with his? Then, too, the young civilian +scented not only his handkerchief and beard but all his clothes, so that +from a distance of ten yards, it was almost enough to give you a sick +headache. And there was certainly nothing in the doctrines of his +venerated master to justify this detestable habit. + +But the noblest and loftiest precepts of a great man too often +degenerate, or are perverted, when put into practice by followers and +imitators. Pepe Castro, though he was aware of his disciple's +deficiencies and imperfections, did not cast them in his teeth. On the +contrary, with the magnanimity of a great nature, he showed his clemency +in pardoning and screening them. In his presence no one dared to make +game of Ramoncito's collars or grimaces. + +It was a little after four when the two "Savages" came out of the club, +buttoning their gloves. At the door stood de Castro's cart, which he +sent away after fixing an hour for his drive. He was first to pay a +visit by Ramoncito's request. They went down the Calle del Principe, +where the club was situated, not hurrying themselves, and looking +curiously at the women they met. They paused now and then to make some +important remark on this one's elegance, or that one's style; not as +bashful passers-by who gaze and sigh, but rather as Bashaws, who, in a +slave market, discuss the points of those exposed for sale. On the men +they bestowed no more than a contemptuous glance, or, as if that were +not enough, they shrouded themselves, so to speak, in a dense puff of +smoke, to show that they, Pepe and Ramon, belonged to a superior world, +and that if they were walking down the street, it was only in obedience +to a transient whim. Whenever Castro condescended to be seen on foot, +his face wore an expression of surprise that his presence was not hailed +by the populace with murmurs of admiration. + +Maldonado was the more talkative of the two. He expressed his opinion of +those who came and went, looking up at Castro with a smile, while his +friend remained grave and solemn, replying only in monosyllables and +vague grunts. Ramoncito, it may be noted, was as far below his companion +physically as mentally. When they walked out together they really looked +very like some learned professor shedding the dew of learning drop by +drop, and an ardent disciple greedy of knowledge. + +"By the way, where are we going?" asked Castro, vaguely, when they had +gone down three or four streets. + +"Why, were we not going to call on the Calderons?" asked Ramon, timidly, +and a little disconcerted. + +"Ah! to be sure; I had forgotten." + +Maldonado kept silence, wondering in his heart at the singular faculty +of forgetfulness possessed by his friend. And they went along the +Carrera de San Jeronimo to the Puerta del Sol. + +"How are you getting on with Esperancita?" Castro condescended to +inquire, blowing a cloud of smoke, and stopping to examine a shop-front. + +Ramoncito suddenly turned very grave, almost pale, and began to stammer +a reply. + +"Just where I was. Sometimes up, sometimes down. One day she is very +sweet--well, not sweet--no; but any rate she speaks to me. Another day +she is as gloomy as the grave; hardly comes into the room before she is +gone again; scarcely notices me--as if I had offended her. Once, I +understood, she had some reason to be vexed, for at the opera I often go +to the Gamboas' box, and I fancy she had taken it into her head that I +was sweet on Rosaura. Can you imagine such folly? Rosaura! But I have +not been near them for this month past, and she is just the same, dear +boy, just the same. The other day I had her to myself in the little room +for a few minutes, and in the greatest haste I just managed to tell her +that I wanted to know where we were; for you see I cannot hang on for +ever. Well, she listened to me patiently. I must tell you that I was +altogether carried away, and hardly knew what I was saying. When I +ended, she assured me she had nothing to be vexed about, and fled to the +drawing-room. After that, would you not suppose that it was a settled +thing? Tell me, would not any man in my place suppose that he was on the +footing of a regular engagement? Nothing of the kind; two days after, +when I called, I tried to say a few words to her apart, as a lover may, +and she snubbed me--she froze me. So there I am. I do not know whether +she loves me, or ever will, and I have not the peace of mind to go about +my business, or do anything on earth but think of that confounded little +slut." + +"It seems to me," replied Castro, without diverting his attention from +the window before which they stood, "that the girl has begun the +attack." + +Ramoncito looked up at him with surprise and respect. + +"The attack?" said he. + +"Yes, the attack. In every battle the important point is to be the first +to attack. If at the moment when the adversary is about to advance, you +attack him with decision, you are almost sure to succeed; if you +hesitate, you are lost." + +As he uttered the last words, he turned away from the shop-window and +continued his majestic progress along the side-walk. Ramon did the same; +he had very imperfectly understood the application to his case of this +simile, derived from the art of fencing, but he abstained from asking +any explanation. + +"So that you think----" + +"I think that you are preposterously in love with the girl, and that she +knows it." + +"But then, Pepe, what reason can she have for refusing me?" Ramoncito +began in a fume, as if he were talking to himself. "What does the girl +expect? Her father is rich, but there are several children to divide the +money. Mariana is still young, and besides, you know what Don Julian is. +He would be torn in pieces sooner than part with a dollar. Honestly, +waiting for his death does not seem to me a very hopeful business. I am +not a nabob, but I have my own fortune; and it is my own, without +waiting for anybody to die. I can give her as much comfort and luxury as +she has at home--more!" he added, giving his head a determined shake. +"Then I have a political career before me. I may be Under-Secretary or +Minister some day when she least expects it. My family is better than +hers; my grandfather was not a shop-keeper like Don Julian's father. +Besides, she is no goddess; she is not one of those girls you turn +round to stare at, you know. Why should she give herself airs when I +take a fancy to her? Do you know who is at the bottom of it all? Why, +Cobo Ramirez, and such apes as he, who have turned her head for her. The +little fool expects a prince of the blood to come courting her, +perhaps!" + +Ramoncito denied his lady's beauty, a sure sign of his being deeply and +sincerely in love with her; his affection was not the offspring of +vanity. His excess of devotion led him to run her down. Castro reflected +that his companion's personal defects might have something to do with +his ill-success in this and some other affairs; but he did not express +the opinion. He thought it safer, as he closed his eyes and sucked his +cigar, to pronounce this general truth: + +"Girls are such idiots." + +Ramoncito, agreeing in principle, nevertheless persisted in driving the +application home. + +"She is a little goose. She does not know herself what she wants. I say, +Pepe, what would you do in my place?" + +Castro walked on in silence for a little way, staring up at the +balconies, wondering, no doubt, that all the world did not come out to +see him pass. Then, after two or three deep puffs at his cigar, he put +on a very grave and judicial air, and replied: "My dear fellow (pause), +in your place, I should begin by not being in love. Love is _pour les +bebes_, not for you and me." + +"That is past praying for," said the young deputy, looking so miserable +that it was quite sad to behold. + +"Well, then, if you cannot get over the ridiculous weakness, at any rate +do not let it be seen. Why do you try to convince Esperancita that you +are dying for her? Do you think that will do any good? Convince her of +the contrary, and you will see how much better the result will be." + +"What would you have me do?" asked Ramon anxiously. + +"Do not make such a show of your devotion, man; don't be so spoony. Do +not go to the house so often and gaze at her with eyes like a calf with +its throat cut. Contradict her when she talks nonsense; hint that you +have seen much nicer girls; give yourself a little consequence, and you +will see how matters will look up." + +"I cannot, Pepe, I cannot!" exclaimed Ramon, wiping his brow in excess +of anguish. "At first I could master myself, talk without embarrassment, +and flirt with other girls. Now, it is impossible. As soon as I am in +her presence, I grow confused and bewildered, and do not know what I am +saying, especially if I find her cross; every word she utters freezes +me. You cannot imagine how haughty she can be when she chooses. If I try +to talk to some one else, Esperanza has only to smile to bring me to her +side at once. I did once pass nearly a month, almost without speaking to +her; but at last it was too much for me. I would rather talk to her, +even when she ill-treats me, than to any one else in the world." + +The two young men walked on in silence, as though under the burden of +some great calamity. Pepe Castro was deep in thought. + +"You are lost, Ramon," he said at last, throwing away the end of his +cigar, and wiping the mouth-piece with his handkerchief, before putting +it by. "You are utterly done for. What you say has no sense in it. If +you had any notion of managing yourself, you would never have got into +such a mess. Women must always be treated with the toe of your boot; +then you get on all right." + +Having given utterance to these few but profound words he again pulled +up in front of a shop window. + +"Look," said he, "what a pretty dog-collar, it would just do for Pert if +I bought it." + +Ramon looked at the collar without heeding, completely absorbed in his +melancholy reflections. + +"Yes, Ramoncito," the young man went on, laying his arm on his +companion's shoulder, "you are altogether done for; still, I venture to +say that Esperanza will love you yet, if you only do as I tell you. Just +try my plan." + +"I will try; I must come out of this fix one way or another," replied +the youth pathetically. + +"Well, then, for the present you must go to the Calderon's not more than +once a week, or less. We will go together or meet there. You must not +find yourself alone with her, or in some weak moment you will undo +everything. You are not to talk much to Esperanza, but a great deal to +the other girls who may be present. Then you should sing the praises of +rosy cheeks, tall figures, fair skins--of everything, in short, that is +least like her, and be sure you are sufficiently enthusiastic. +Contradict her, and without seeming too much grieved. You are very +obstinate, and it does not do to discuss matters too much, a tone of +mild depreciation is far more effective. You had better glance at me +from time to time; I can give you some covert signals, and so you will +always be sure of your ground." + +And thus, by the time they had reached the door of the Calderons' house, +Castro had expatiated on his masterly plan of campaign, with many +valuable hints and details. Only a marvellously lucid intellect, joined +to wide and rich experience, only the most subtle nature could have +entered so completely into the secret struggle to which Esperanza's +objection to Ramon had given rise in his soul. At the same time he was +the only person who could solve the riddle. Maldonado reached the young +lady's home in a state of comparative tranquillity. As to his inmost +purpose, it may be said that he had fully determined to assume the +utmost dignity he could put on, and to offer a bold resistance to +Esperanza's advance and attack. + +To begin with, he thought proper to put his hands in his pockets and +pinch his lips into an ironical and patronising simper. He thus entered +the little drawing-room where the banker's family were assembled, gently +shaking his head as though he could not hold it up for the weight of +many thoughts it contained. From the elegant to the coarse--as from the +sublime to the ridiculous--there is but a step, and it would be bold to +declare that Ramoncito, at the beginning of his interview with +Esperanza, always kept on the right side of the narrow rift. There is +some reason for supposing that he did not. What is, at any rate, quite +certain, is that the young lady did not immediately detect the change, +and when she did, it did not make so deep an impression as he had hoped. + +In the little sitting-room, when they were shown in, Mariana and +Esperancita, with Dona Esperanza, the grandmother, were seated at their +needlework; or, to be exact, Dona Esperanza and her grand-daughter were +at work, Mariana was lounging in her chair, her eyes fixed on vacancy, +and not moving a finger. Pepe Castro and Ramon, as being intimate with +the family, were made welcome without ceremony. After shaking +hands--excepting that Maldonado did not go through the ceremony with +Esperancita--they sat down; Esperanza quite unable to imagine why Ramon +intentionally neglected her, by way of a worthy beginning to the grand +course of unpleasant discipline by which he hoped to school his beloved. +Pepe took a chair next to Mariana, and Ramon next to Dona Esperanza. +Before seating himself he had a momentary weakness. Seeing Esperancita +sitting at some little distance from her mother, it seemed to him a +favourable opportunity for a few private words, and as he moved his +chair he hesitated; an expressive frown from Castro brought him to his +senses. + +"The sight of you is good for weary eyes, Pepe," said Esperancita, +fixing her smiling glance on the illustrious dandy. + +"They are beautiful eyes which see him now!" Ramon hastily put in. + +Castro, instead of replying, looked sternly at his friend, and the +deputy much abashed, went on to remedy his blunder. + +"Fine eyes are the rule in this family." + +"Thank you, Ramon. But you are beginning to be as false as all +politicians," said Mariana. + +"I do every one justice," replied he, blushing with delight at hearing +himself spoken of as a public personage. + +"Why, how long is it since I was here?" said Pepe to the girl. + +"A fortnight, at least. It was on a Monday; Pacita was here. And this is +Saturday; so you see--thirteen days." + +No one recollected so precisely when Maldonado had called last. Castro +accepted this proof of interest with entire indifference. + +"I did not think it was so long. How the time flies!" said he +profoundly. + +"Evidently. It flies for you--away from us." + +The young man smiled affably, and asked leave to light a cigar. Then he +said: + +"No. It flies fastest when I am with you." + +"Faster than with Clementina?" asked the girl in an innocent tone, which +betrayed no malice. But Castro looked at her gravely. His connection +with Osorio's wife had hitherto remained more or less a secret; and that +it should be known here, in her sister-in-law's house, disturbed him. +Esperancita blushed scarlet under his inquiring gaze. + +"Much the same," he said coolly. "We are very good friends." + +"Are you going there to-day?" asked Mariana, not observing this by-play. + +"Yes; Ramon and I are going--Saturday? Isn't it? And you?" + +"I am not inclined to go out. I have been suffering a little these few +days from sore throat." + +"Do not say you are ill, mamma," said Esperancita, pettishly; "say you +would rather go to bed early." Her mother looked at her with large, dull +eyes. + +"I have a relaxed throat, my dear." + +"How opportune!" exclaimed the girl, ironically. "I have not heard a +word about it till this moment." + +"If you wish to go," said Mariana, understanding at last, "your father +will take you." + +"You know very well that if you do not go, papa will not care to go +either." + +Her voice betrayed her irritation. A gleam of satisfaction lighted up +Ramon's face, and he shot a look of triumph at Pepe. It was when she +heard that he, too, was going that she had begun to wish to join the +party. + +The conversation now drifted into common-place, dwelling chiefly on the +most trivial subjects: the news of the day, or the singers at the opera. +Tosti's beauty was again discussed. Ramoncito, in the joy of his +triumph, dared to call it in question, and abused tall and, above all, +red-haired women. He admired only brunettes, round faces, a medium +stature, and black eyes--in short, Esperancita; there was no need to +name her. His friend Pepe, alarmed by this outburst, which was directly +opposed to all the plans of siege on which they had agreed, made a +series of grimaces for his guidance, and presently brought him back into +the right way; but he then went so far into the other extreme, and began +to contradict himself in so disastrous a manner, that the ladies +presently remarked it, and he got bewildered and tied himself into a +knot, from which he could not have extricated himself but for a timely +rescue by his friend and chief. + +To remedy the blunder to some extent he entered on a long account of the +sitting of the day before, with so many details that Mariana began to +yawn, like the simpleton she was, and Dona Esperanza devoted herself to +her embroidery, and made no secret of thinking of something else. +Esperancita at last made a sign to Castro to come and sit by her. He +obeyed, taking a low seat at her side. + +"Listen, Pepe," said she, in a low and tremulous voice. "Of late you +have been very sullen with me. I do not know whether I can have said +anything to vex you. If so, pray forgive me." + +"I do not know what you mean. I could never be vexed by anything that +such a sweet little person as you might say," replied the young man, +with the lordly smile of a Sultan. + +"I am glad it was a false alarm on my part. Many thanks for the +compliment, if you mean it--which I doubt. It would grieve me to the +heart to displease you in any way," and as she spoke she blushed up to +her ears. + +"But I hear you are very apt to be displeasing." + +"Oh, no!" + +"So my friend Ramon tells me." + +Esperancita's countenance clouded, and a deep line marked her childlike +brow. + +"I do not know why he should say so." + +"Your conscience does not prick you?" + +"Not in the least." + +"What a heart of stone!" + +"Why? If I have hurt his feelings it is his own fault." + +"So I told him. But I believe his complaint is in a fair way to be +cured, and that he will not again expose himself to your thrusts. He has +been more cheerful and less absent-minded these last few days." + +Castro was quite honestly doing his best for his friend. + +"I should be only too glad to hear it," said the girl, with perfect +simplicity. + +Castro sang the praises of his friend and earnestly recommended him to +Esperancita's good graces. But as he poured exaggerated eulogies into +the girl's ear, his tone of disdain and the satirical smile which +accompanied them somewhat weakened their effect. And even if it had not +been so, she would have received them with no less hostility. + +"Come, Pepe, you want to make a fool of me?" + +"Indeed, Esperancita, Ramon has a great future before him, and in time +may very likely be made Minister." + +The hero in question, meanwhile, was explaining, with his usual fluency, +to Mariana and her mother, how he had discovered an extensive fraud in +the custom-house returns on imported meat: three hundred and fifty hams +had been brought into the country, a few days since, smuggled in with +the cognisance of some of the officials. Ramoncito meant to bring these +men to justice without delay. Mariana implored him not to be too severe +with them; they were perhaps fathers of families, but she could not +mollify him. His sense of municipal rights was more rigid perhaps than +the muscles of his neck--to judge by the number of times he turned his +head to look where Pepe and Esperancita were talking. He was not +jealous; he had absolute confidence in his friend's loyalty; but he +wanted his beloved to hear him when he brought out certain phrases: "To +the bar of justice;" "I can no doubt obtain an adverse verdict;" "The +municipal law requires that they should be prosecuted," and so forth, so +that the angel of his heart might fully appreciate the high destiny in +store for her if she were united to so energetic an administrator. + +They now heard steps in the adjoining room, and a cough which they all +knew only too well. Dona Esperanza when she heard it hastily handed her +work to her daughter, or, to be exact, crammed it into Mariana's hands. + +When Calderon came in, his wife was stitching with affected diligence, +while her mother was sitting with her hands folded, as if she had not +stirred from her attitude for a long time. Ramon and Castro had scarcely +noticed the manoeuvre. The reason of it was that Calderon could not +forgive his wife her apathy and indolence, regarding these faults as +positive calamities, and himself as most unfortunate for having married +so inert a woman. Not that any work she might do mattered in the +household; but his vehemently laborious temperament asserted itself +against one so diametrically opposed to it. Mariana's limpness and +indifference irritated his nerves and gave rise to sharp discussions and +frequent squabbles. She feebly defended herself, declaring that her +parents had not brought her up to be a maid-of-all-work, since they had +enough to allow her to live like a lady. Whereupon Don Julian would turn +furious, and declare that it was the duty of every one to work, or at +any rate to do something; that total idleness was incomprehensible; that +it was a wife's duty to see that the property of the household was not +wasted, even if she could not add to it, &c. &c. And, finally, that the +mistress's incurable indolence was at the bottom of their domestic +discomfort. + +Dona Esperanza was very unlike her daughter; by nature she was active, +vigilant, and at least as avaricious as her son-in-law; she could never +sit a quarter of an hour without something to occupy her hands. In the +affairs of the house, indeed, she played no important part, because +Calderon took a pleasure in managing and ordering everything himself. +And this indicated a contradictory characteristic which must here be +mentioned for a full comprehension of his character. He complained that +his wife did not undertake the care of the house, and that he +consequently was compelled to manage it, but at the same time, though he +knew that his mother-in-law was both capable and willing, he would not +leave it to her. This gave rise to a suspicion that, even if Mariana had +been a prodigy of energy and method, he would no more have entrusted her +with the management of domestic affairs than with his business. His +suspicious and sordid nature made him prefer toil to rest; he would have +liked to possess a hundred eyes to watch over everything that belonged +to him. Dona Esperanza also lamented her daughter's incapacity, and +eagerly seconded her son-in-law's stinginess, helping him very +materially in his close vigilance. But while she herself found fault +with Mariana's apathy, she was her mother after all; she hated that +Calderon should blame her, and acutely felt their matrimonial +differences. Consequently, whenever she could avert one she did so, even +at the cost of some sacrifice, concealing Mariana's faults and +voluntarily taking them on herself. It was for this reason that she had +so precipitately handed to her the cushion she was embroidering. + +Don Julian came into the room reading the _feuilleton_ of _La +Correspondencia_, which he carefully preserved and stitched together. +Don Julian, strange as it may seem, was very fond of novels; but he only +read those which came out in the _Correspondencia_, or the religious +tales he gave his daughter who was at school. He had never been known to +go into a bookseller's of his own accord to buy one. And not only did he +read them, but he was very prone to weep over them. He was deeply +sentimental at the bottom of his heart; it was a weakness of his +constitution, like rheumatism or asthma. The misfortunes or poverty of +others touched him greatly; if he could have remedied them by any means +not involving any loss of money he would no doubt have done so at once. +Generous deeds made him shed tears of enthusiasm; but he thought himself +incapable of doing them--and he was right. And he made great efforts to +do violence to his instincts; he was by no means the least ready to give +of the rich men of Madrid. He set aside a fixed sum for the poor, and +entered it in his accounts as though they were his creditors. But when +once the monthly allowance was spent, he might, perhaps, have left a +poor wretch to die of hunger in the street and not have given him a +penny; not for want of feeling, but by reason of the strong hold figures +had over his mind. The idea of depriving himself of a peseta for any +other form of outlay than buying to sell was beyond his ken. Thus far +his almsgiving had superior merits to that of other men. + +As he now entered the little morning-room his face betrayed traces of +emotion. After greeting his visitors, he said, as he seated himself in +an arm-chair: + +"I have just read an exquisite chapter in this novel--quite exquisite! I +could not resist the temptation of bringing it in to read to these +ladies." + +He paused, not daring to propose it to Castro and Maldonado, though he +would have liked to do so. He was very fond of reading aloud, because he +did it fairly well, and Mariana took pleasure in hearing him; so far +they were well matched. + +"Read it, by all means, my dear; I do not think that Pepe and Ramon will +object," said his wife. + +Pepe bowed slightly; Ramoncito hastened to express enthusiastic +pleasure: he was devoted to fine passages, &c. From the father of his +inamorata he would have listened to the reading of a table of +logarithms. + +Don Julian wiped his spectacles, and, in a mild throat-voice which he +kept for such occasions, began to read the episode describing the +sufferings of a child lost in the streets of Paris. But his eyes +instantly grew dim and his voice began to break, till at length he was +so choked by emotion that he could scarcely be heard, and Ramon took the +paper and read on to the end. Castro, looking on at this absurdity, hid +a superior smile behind volumes of tobacco-smoke. + +The chapter being ended, every one praised it in the most flattering +terms. Mariana looked at her work, and observed that she would need a +piece of silk for the lining, since the cushion was nearly finished. +Dona Esperanza, to whom she made the remark, was of the same opinion. + +"Ramoncito," said she, "be so good as to ring that bell." + +The young civilian hastened to comply, and the lady's maid immediately +appeared. + +"I want you to go out and buy me a yard of silk," said her mistress. + +The girl, having taken her instructions, was about to depart on the +errand, when Don Julian, who was listening, stopped her. + +"Wait a moment," said he; "I will see if I do not happen to have the +thing you want." And he briskly left the room. In three minutes he +returned with an old umbrella in his hand. + +"Do not you think the silk of this umbrella might serve your purpose?" +he said. "It seems to me to be just the colour." + +Castro and Maldonado exchanged significant glances. Mariana blushed as +she took the umbrella. + +"It is, no doubt, the right colour," she said; "but it is full of holes; +it will not do." + +Esperancita pretended to be absorbed in her work, but her face was of +the colour of a poppy. Dona Esperanza alone took up the question and +discussed it seriously. Finally, the silk was rejected, to the chagrin +of the banker, who muttered various uncomplimentary remarks on the +management and economy of women. + +Ramon, by this time, could no longer endure the torments of Tantalus, to +which his friend's plans had condemned him; he never ceased gazing +across to the spot where Pepe and Esperancita were chatting. He began by +rising from his chair under pretence of moving about a little, and +walked to and fro. By degrees he approached the couple, and stood still +in front of them. + +"Well, Esperancita, is it long since you saw Pacita?" + +How absurd an excuse for addressing her! He himself was conscious of it, +and blushed as he spoke. Pepe flashed an indignant glance at him, but +either he did not see it, or he pretended not to see it. The girl +frowned, and replied, shortly, that she did not exactly recollect. This +would have been enough for most people, but Ramon would not take an +answer; on the contrary, he tried to prolong the conversation with +vacuous or irrelevant remarks, and even tried to wedge a chair in +between them and sit down; but Castro hindered him by covertly giving +him a fiercely expressive stamp on the toes, which brought him to his +senses. He continued his melancholy walk till, presently, he went back +to his seat by the two elder ladies. He was soon engaged in an animated +discussion with Calderon as to whether the paving of the streets should +be done by contract or managed by a commission. He would have been only +too glad to agree with his host; it was his interest to do so, since his +happiness or misery lay in his hands, but the obstinate and fractious +temper which Nature had bestowed on him led him to continue the +argument, though he saw that Calderon was heated, and within an ace of +being angry. Fortunately for him, before this point was reached, a +servant entered the room. + +"What is it, Remigio?" asked the banker. + +"A man, Senor--a friend of Pardo's--Senor Mudela's coachman--has come to +say that Senorito Leandro is not very well." + +"Bless me! What has happened to the boy? He is not accustomed to such +dissipation. He has spent all his life at school or tied to his mother's +apron-string. He must be taken away from this life of excitement.--And +what is the matter with him?" + +Leandro was Don Julian's nephew, the son of a sister who lived in La +Mancha. He had come to pay a visit to Madrid, and was leading a very +jolly life in the society of other youths of his own age. He had begged +his uncle to lend him his carriage for an excursion into the country. +Don Julian, anxious not to offend his sister, to whom it was his +interest to be civil, had granted the favour, though sorely against the +grain. + +"The sun and the dinner have upset him a little." + +"Pooh! an attack of indigestion. He will get over that!" + +"I think you ought to go to see him, Julian," said Mariana. + +"If it were necessary, of course I should go; but, so far, I see no +necessity. I say, Remigio, is he too ill to come here? Is he in bed?" + +"Well, Senor," said the man, turning his cap in his hands, and looking +down, as conscious that his news was serious, "the fact of the matter is +this--one of the mares, Primitiva, is knocked up." + +Calderon turned pale. + +"And she could not come home?" + +"No, Senor; she seems to be pretty bad, from what the Mudela's coachman +says. Of course, those youngsters know nothing about it, and they let +her drink her fill." + +Don Julian started up in the greatest agitation, and, without saying +another word, he left the room, followed by Remigio. The young men again +exchanged meaning looks. Esperancita happened to see this, and turned +scarlet. + +"Papa takes such things so much to heart!" said she. + +"How should he do otherwise, child?--a thoroughbred which cost him three +thousand dollars! It is a shame in Leandrito!" And for some minutes the +old lady gave expression to her wrath, which was almost as great as her +son-in-law's. Castro and Maldonado presently took leave. Mariana, who +had taken the disaster with much philosophy, asked them to dinner. + +"Stay and dine; it is too late now for a walk." + +"I cannot," said Castro; "I dine at your brother's." + +"Ah, to be sure; it is Saturday. I had forgotten. We will look in, if I +am no worse, at ten, when the cards begin." + +"Do you dine with Aunt Clementina every Saturday?" asked Esperancita in +a low voice, but with a peculiar intonation. The young dandy looked at +her for a moment. + +"Most Saturdays, since I dine with your Uncle Tomas." + +"Aunt Clementina is very pretty and very agreeable." + +"She is considered so," replied Castro, a little uneasy. + +"She has heaps of admirers. Are not you one of the most ardent of them?" + +"Who told you so?" + +"No one; I imagined it." + +"You imagined rightly. Your aunt is, in my opinion, one of the loveliest +and most elegant women of Madrid. Good-bye till this evening, +Esperancita." And he held out his hand with a condescending air, which +pained the poor child. She showed her annoyance by addressing Ramon, who +was standing a little apart. + +"And you, Ramon, why cannot you stay? Are you, too, going to dine at +Aunt Clementina's?" + +"I? Oh, no." + +"Then stay with us--do. We will take care not to bore you." + +"I--bored in your society!" exclaimed he, almost overcome with delight. + +"Well, you will stay, then--won't you? Let Pepe go if he has other +engagements." + +Ramoncito was about to accept with the greatest rapture, but Castro +began to make negative signs at him over the girl's head, and with such +vehemence that his hapless friend could only say, in a subdued voice: + +"No, I cannot either." + +"But why, Ramon, why?" + +"Because I have some business to attend to." + +"I am sorry." + +The young man was so deeply touched that he could scarcely murmur his +thanks, and he left the room almost at a snail's pace. As soon as he was +in the street Pepe complimented him eagerly, and assured him that his +firmness must lead to the best results. But he received these +congratulations with marked coldness, and preserved a stubborn silence +till he reached home, where his friend and guide left him, his head full +of gloomy presentiments and the blackness of night. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +DINNER AND CARDS AT THE OSORIOS'. + + +On the day after her visit to Raimundo, Clementina felt even more +ashamed and crestfallen at having paid it than at the moment when she +came down those stairs. Proud natures feel as much remorse for an action +which, in their opinion, has humiliated them, as the virtuous do when +they have failed in humility. In her inmost soul she confessed that she +had taken a false step. The youth's serenity and courtesy, while they +raised him in her eyes, irritated her vanity. What comments must he and +his sister have been making since her absurd and uninvited call! She +coloured to think of them. Not to see or to be seen by Alcazar from his +observatory, she ceased to go out on foot. The young man kept his word; +she saw no sign of him. + +But, why she knew not, his visage constantly rose before her eyes; he +was perpetually in her thoughts. Was it aversion that she felt? Or +resentment? Clementina could not honestly say that it was. There was +nothing in his face or behaviour to make him odious to her. Was it, on +the contrary, that his person had impressed her too favourably? Not at +all. She met every day other men of more attractive manners and of more +amusing conversation. So that it surprised as much as it provoked her to +find herself thinking about him. She never ceased protesting to herself +against this tendency, and reproaching herself for indulging it. + +One afternoon, some days after the scene just narrated, she decided on +taking a walk. Not to do so seemed to her cowardly; she was doing this +boy too much honour. As she passed the house where he lived she glanced +up at his window and saw him sitting there, as usual, with a book in his +hand. She immediately looked down, and crossed the road with stately +gravity; but after going a few steps, she felt a vague sense of +dissatisfaction with herself. In fact, not to bow to the young man, not +even to return his bow, was unmannerly, after his frank explanation and +the politeness with which he had shown her his fine collection of +butterflies. + +Next day she again went out on foot, and repaired her injustice of the +day before by looking steadily up at the window. Raimundo made her so +respectful a bow, with so candid a smile, that the beauty felt +flattered, and could not deny that the young fellow had singularly soft +eyes, which made him very attractive, and that his conversation, if not +remarkably elegant, showed a solid understanding and cultivated mind. +She ought to have seen all this at first, no doubt, but for some unknown +reason she had not. From this day forward she went out walking as +before. As she passed the house in the Calle de Serrano she never failed +to send a friendly nod to the upper window, or he to reply with eager +courtesy; and as the days went on these greetings became more and more +expressive. Without exchanging a word they were on quite intimate terms. + +Clementina made an attempt to analyse her feelings towards young +Alcazar. She was not in the habit of introspection. She vaguely thought +that it was an act of charity to show him some kindness. "Poor boy," she +said to herself, "how fond he was of his mother! What happiness to have +had so good and loving a son!" + +One afternoon when these greetings had been going on for more than a +month, Pepe Castro asked her: + +"I say, is it long since that red-haired boy left off following you +about?" + +Clementina was conscious of an unwonted shock, and coloured a little +without knowing why. + +"Yes; I have not seen him for at least a month." + +Why did she tell an untruth? Castro was so far from imagining that there +could be any acquaintance between this unknown devotee and his mistress +that he did not notice her blush, and changed the subject with complete +indifference. But to the lady herself, this strange shock and rising +flush were a vague revelation of what was taking place within her. The +first definite result of this revelation was that on quitting her +lover's house, instead of thinking of him, she reflected that Alcazar +kept his promise not to follow her with singular fidelity; the second +was, that as she stopped to look into a jeweller's window and saw a +butterfly brooch of diamonds, she said to herself that some of those she +had seen in her friend's collection were far more beautiful and +brilliant. The third effect came over her suddenly: on going into a +book-seller's to buy some French novels, it struck her, as she saw the +rows of books, that Pepe had certainly not read and would probably never +read, one of them. Hitherto she had admired his ignorance, now it seemed +ridiculous. + +Time went on and Senora de Osorio, tired of her fashionable existence, +and having tasted every emotion which comes in the way of a beautiful +and wealthy woman, began to find a quite peculiar pleasure in the +innocent greetings she exchanged almost every day with the youth at the +corner window. One afternoon, having dismissed her carriage to take a +turn in the Retiro Gardens, she met Alcazar and his sister in one of the +avenues. + +She bowed expressively; Raimundo saluted her with his usual respectful +eagerness; but Clementina observed that the girl bowed with marked +coolness. This occupied her thoughts and made her cross for the rest of +the day, since she was forced to confess more than ever that this was at +the bottom of her _malaise_ and melancholy. By degrees, and owing +chiefly to her fractious and capricious nature, this love-affair, which +might have died still-born, occupied her mind and became the germ of a +wish. Now in this lady, a wish was always a violent desire, above all +if there were any obstacle in her way. + +On a certain morning, after greeting Raimundo with the gesture peculiar +to Spanish ladies, of opening and shutting her hand several times and +going on her way, an involuntary impulse prompted her to look back once +more at the corner window. + +Raimundo was following her movements with a pair of opera glasses. She +blushed scarlet and hurried on, ashamed at the discovery. What had made +her guilty of such folly? What would the young naturalist think of her? +At the very least he would fancy that she was in love with him. But in +spite of the ferment in her brain, while she walked on as fast as she +could to turn down the next street and escape from his gaze, she was +less vexed with herself than she had been on other occasions. She was +ashamed, no doubt, but when she presently slackened her pace, a pleasant +emotion came over her, a light flutter at her heart such as she had not +felt for a long time. + +"I am going back to my girlhood," said she to herself, and she smiled. +And it amused her to study her own feelings. She was happy in this +return to the guileless agitations of her early youth. + +She was so absorbed in her meditations, that on reaching the Fountain of +Cybele, instead of going down the Calle de Alcala, to go to Pepe Castro, +with whom she had an appointment, she turned about, as though she had +merely come for a walk. When she perceived it she stood still, +hesitating; finally she confessed to herself that she had no great wish +to keep the engagement. + +"I will go to see mamma," thought she. "It is days since I spent an hour +with her, poor thing." + +And she went on towards the Avenue de Luchana. She was in the happiest +mood. An organ was grinding out the drinking-song from _Lucrezia +Borgia_, and she stopped to listen to it; she who was bored at the Opera +by the most famous contralto! But music is the language of heaven, and +can only be understood when heaven has found a way into our heart. + +Coming towards her, down the Avenue de Recoletos, was Pinedo, the +remarkable personage who lived with one foot in the aristocratic world +and the other in the half-official world to which he really belonged. By +his side was a pretty young girl, no doubt his daughter, who was unknown +to Clementina: for Pinedo kept her out of the society he frequented, and +hid her as carefully as Triboulet hid his. The Senora de Osorio had +always treated Pinedo with some haughtiness, which, as we know, was not +unusual with her. But at this moment her happy frame of mind made her +expansive, and as Pinedo was passing her with his usual ceremonious bow, +the lady stopped him, and addressed him, smiling: + +"You, my friend, are a practical man; you too, I see, take advantage of +these morning hours to breathe the fresh air and take a bath of +sunshine." + +Pinedo, against both his nature and habit, was somewhat out of +countenance, perhaps because he had no wish to introduce his daughter to +this very smart lady. However, he replied at once, with a gallant bow: + +"And to take my chance of such unpleasing meetings as this one." + +Clementina smiled graciously. + +"You ought not to pay compliments even indirectly, with such a pretty +young lady by your side? Is she your daughter?" + +"Yes, Senora--Senora de Osorio," he added, turning to the girl, who +coloured with pleasure at hearing herself called pretty by this lady +whom she knew well by sight and by name. She was herself pale and +slender, with an olive complexion, small well-cut features, and soft +merry eyes. + +"I had heard that you had a very sweet daughter, but I see that +reputation has not done her justice." + +She blushed deeper than ever, and faintly murmured her thanks. + +"Come, Clementina, do not go on or she will begin to believe you. This +lady, Pilar," he continued to his daughter, "takes as much delight in +telling pleasant fibs as others do in telling unpleasant truths." + +"She is, I see, most amiable," said Pilar. + +"Do not believe him. Any one can see how pretty you are." + +"Oh, Senora----" + +"And tell me, tyrant father, why do you not give her a little more +amusement? Do you think that you have any right to be seen at every +theatre, ball and evening party, while you keep this sweet child under +lock and key? or do you fancy we care more about seeing you than her?" + +Poor Pinedo felt a pang which he tried to hide; Clementina had laid a +frivolous finger on the tenderest spot in his heart. His salary, as we +know, allowed him to live but very modestly; if he went into a class of +society which was somewhat above him, it was solely to secure his tenure +of an office which was the sole means of sustenance for himself and his +child. She knew nothing of this. Pinedo hoped to be able to marry her to +some respectable and hardworking man; she was never to see the world in +which she could not live, and which he himself despised with all his +heart, although from sheer force of habit perhaps he could not have +lived contentedly in any other. + +"She is still very young; she has time before her," he said, with a +forced smile. + +"Pooh, nonsense! I tell you, you are very selfish. How long is it since +you were at the Valpardos?" she went on to change the subject. + +"I was there on Monday; the Condesa asked much after you, and lamented +that you had quite deserted her." + +"Poor Anita! It is very true." + +Pinedo and Clementina then plunged into an animated and endless +discussion of the Valpardos and their parties. Pilar listened at first +with attention; but as the greater number of the persons named were not +known to her, she presently amused herself with looking about her, more +especially at the few passers-by who were to be seen there at that early +hour. + +"Papa," said she, taking advantage of a pause, "here comes that young +friend of yours who maintains his mother and sisters." + +Clementina and Pinedo looked round both at once, and saw Rafael +Alcantara approaching--the scapegrace youth whom we met in the Savage +Club. + +"Who maintains his mother and sisters?" echoed Clementina, much +surprised. + +"Yes, a very good young man, and a friend of papa's, called Rafael +Alcantara." + +The lady looked inquiringly at Pinedo, who gave her an expressive +glance. Not knowing what it could mean, but supposing that her friend +for some reason did not wish her to speak of Alcantara as he deserved, +she held her tongue. The young man as he passed them greeted them half +respectfully, half familiarly. Pinedo immediately held out his hand to +take leave. + +"This is Saturday you remember," said the lady. "Are you coming to +dinner?" + +"With much pleasure. My regards to Osorio." + +"And bring this dear little girl with you." + +"We will see, we will see," replied the official again, much +embarrassed. "If I cannot manage it to-day, some other time." + +"You must manage it, tyrant father. _Au revoir_ then, my dear." + +She took the girl by the chin, and kissed her on both cheeks, saying as +she did so: "I have long wished to make your acquaintance. I sadly want +some nice pretty girls in my drawing-room." + +And as she walked on, in better spirits than ever, she said to herself: +"What on earth can Pinedo be driving at by making a saint of that +good-for-nothing Alcantara?" + +With a light step, a colour in her cheeks, and her eyes sparkling as +they had done in her girlhood, she soon reached the gate of the large +garden in which her father's house stood. The porter hastened to open it +and rang the house-bell. She went in, and, contrary to her usual custom, +she smiled at the two servants in livery, who awaited her at the top of +the stairs. She went by them in silence, and straight on to her +stepmother's rooms, like one who has long been familiar with the place. + +The Duquesa at that moment was in council with the medical director of +an asylum for aged women which she had founded some time since in +concert with some other ladies. When the curtain was lifted and her +stepdaughter appeared she smiled affectionately. + +"It is you, Clementina! Come in, my child, come in." + +Clementina's heart swelled as she saw her mother's pale, thin face. She +hastened to her and kissed her effusively. + +"Are you pretty well, mamma? How did you sleep?" + +"Very well. But I look ill, don't I?" + +"Oh, no," her daughter hastily assured her. + +"Yes, yes. I saw it in the glass. But I feel well, only so miserably +weak; and, as I have completely lost my appetite, I cannot get any +stronger.--Then, as I understand, Yradier," she went on to the doctor, +who was standing in front of her, "you undertake to look after the +servants and the sick women, so that there may be no lack of due +consideration for the poor old things?" + +The doctor was a pleasant-looking young man with an intelligent +countenance. + +"Senora Duquesa," said he with decision, "I will do everything in my +power to prevent the pensioners having any complaints to make; but at +the same time, I must warn you that some may still reach your ears. You +cannot imagine the vexatiousness and spite of which some women are +capable. Without any cause whatever, simply to insult me and my +colleagues, they are capable of heaping insolence on us. And the more +attention we show them, the more airs they give themselves. I taste +their broth and their chocolate every day, and I have never found it +bad, as that old woman declared it to be. The hours are fixed and I have +never known the meals to be late. If you will make inquiries you will +convince yourself that the persons who have ground for complaint are the +poor servants, whom the old women treat shamefully." + +The doctor had become quite excited and spoke these words in a tone of +conviction. + +The lady smiled gently. + +"I believe you, I believe you, Yradier. Old women are very apt to be +troublesome." + +"Ah! Senora, that depends." + +"We are, for the most part. But it is in itself an infirmity, and should +excite compassion in those who suffer from it. I need not say so to you, +for you have a charitable soul. But I beg of you to entreat those who +are less forgiving, in my name, to be gentle and patient with the poor +old women." + +"I will, Senora, I will," replied Yradier, won by the lady's sweetness. +"We shall see you on Thursday then?" + +"I do not know whether my strength will allow of it." + +"Oh, yes, I will answer for it." And feeling that he was not wanted, the +young man then took his leave, pressing the lady's hand with affection +and respect which spoke in his eyes, while he bowed ceremoniously to +Clementina. + +As soon as he was gone, she, who had been gazing with pain at her +stepmother's worn features, and had been deeply moved by the goodness +which was revealed in every word she uttered, rose from her seat and, +kneeling down by Dona Carmen, took her thin white hands and kissed them +in a transport of feeling. The beauty, who to all the rest of the world +was so haughty, had a peculiar joy, not unlike the rapture of a mystic, +in humbling herself before her stepmother. Dona Carmen's voice acted +like a spell, stirring the dim sparks of virtue and tenderness which +still lived in her heart, and fanning them for a moment to reviving +heat. Then the elder lady gently removed her daughter's hat, and, laying +it on a chair, bent down to kiss her fondly on the forehead. + +"It is four days since you last came to see me, bad girl" + +"Yesterday I could not, mamma. I spent the whole day over my accounts, +doing sums. Oh, those hateful sums?" + +"But why do you do them? Is not your husband there?" + +"It is for fear of my husband that I do them. Do not you know that he +has become as stingy and miserly as his brother-in-law?" + +Dona Carmen knew that Osorio's affairs were not prospering, and that he +had lately lost heavily on the Bourse; but she dared not tell his wife +so. + +"Poor, dear child! To have to think of such things when you were born to +shine as a star in society." + +"This alone was wanting to make him absolutely detestable. If one could +but live one's life over again!" + +The tender look had gone out of her eyes, they were gloomy and fierce; a +deep frown puckered her statuesque brow, and in a husky tone she poured +out all her grievances and related the daily vexations which her husband +heaped upon her. To no one in the world but her stepmother would she +have confided them; and she could speak of them without a tear, while +Dona Carmen's weary eyes shed many as she listened. + +"My darling child! And I would have given my life to see you happy! How +blind we were, your father and I, to entrust you to such a man!" + +"My father, indeed! A man who has never found out that he has a saint in +his own house whom he ought to worship on his bended knees. When I +think----" + +"Hush, hush! He is your father," exclaimed Dona Carmen, laying a hand on +her lips. "I am quite happy. If your father has his faults, I have mine; +so I have no merit in forgiving him his if he on his part forgives me. +Do not let us discuss your father. Talk about yourself. You cannot think +how these money difficulties worry me; I am not accustomed to them. I +would set them right on the spot if I could; but, as you know, very +little money passes through my hands. I have to account to Antonio for +all I draw, and he is not easily hoodwinked. I might, to be sure, put +aside a few gold pieces for you; but my savings would not help you far. +However, I hope your difficulties will soon be over." + +The good woman paused, gazing sadly into vacancy; then, kissing her +daughter, who was still on her knees before her, she spoke into her ear +in a low voice, and went on: + +"Listen, child. I cannot live much longer, and I shall leave all I have +to you. Half of your father's fortune is mine, as I understand from the +family lawyer." + +Clementina felt a thrill, a shock, which a psychologist would find it +hard to define--a mixture of sorrow and surprise, with an undercurrent +of satisfaction. However, sorrow predominated; she kissed her stepmother +again and again. + +"What are you saying? Die! No, you are not to die! I want you much, much +more than your money. But for you I should have been a very wicked +woman--and I shall be, I fear, the day you cease to live. The only +moments when I feel any goodness in me are those I spend with you. I +fancy, mamma, that you infect me with some of your exquisite virtue." + +"There, there--flatter me no more," said Dona Carmen, again stopping her +mouth. "You think yourself worse than you are. You have a good heart. +What sometimes makes you seem bad is your pride. Is not that the truth?" + +"Yes, mamma, quite true. You do not know what pride is, or the miseries +it brings to those who feel it as I do. To be constantly thinking of +things which hurt me--to see enemies on all sides--to feel a look as +though it were the point of a dagger in my heart--to catch a word, and +turn it over and over in my brain till it almost makes me sick--to live +with my heart sore, my mind full of alarms--oh! how often have I envied +those who are as good and as humble as you. How happy should I be if I +had not a gloomy and suspicious temper and the pride which devours my +soul! And who knows," she went on after a pause, "that I might not have +been happier in some other sphere of life? If I had been poor, and had +married some hard-working and intelligent young fellow, my lot might +have been better. Obliged to help my husband, to take care of a +business, or attend to the details of the house, like other women who +labour and struggle, I might, perhaps, not have come to this. I ought to +have had a loving and patient husband--a man of talent, who could guide +me. As it is, mamma, accustomed as I am to luxury and the fashionable +world, I would gladly give it all up this very day and go to live in +some pleasant spot in the country, far from Madrid. I only want a little +love, and to keep you with me to teach me to feel and be good." + +Clementina's present mood was idyllic; she had been pleasantly impressed +by the simple home in the Calle de Serrano. In every woman, however +hardened, however immersed in love adventures, there remains an eclogue +in some corner of her brain which now and again comes to the surface. +Good Dona Carmen listened to her and encouraged her by her smiles, and +the younger lady's confidences lasted long. She recalled her early life, +when she came to tell her stepmother of the declarations made to her at +the ball of the night before, and to read her the _billets-doux_ of her +adorers. These reminiscences of the past made her happy. She was even +tempted to talk about Pepe Castro and Raimundo, and confess the childish +feelings which stirred her soul; but a feeling of respect withheld her. +Dona Carmen's leniency was indeed so excessive as to verge on folly; it +is very possible that, even if her stepdaughter had confessed her worst +sins, she would hardly have been scandalised. + +They breakfasted together, the Duke having gone to breakfast with a +Minister. Afterwards, having relieved and refreshed their spirits with +this long chat, they went together in the carriage to San Pascual's, +where they prayed a while; and then they drove to the Avenue of the +Retiro. They went home before dark, as the evening air was bad for Dona +Carmen, and Clementina must be home in good time. + +It was Saturday, the day on which the Osorios kept open house for dinner +and cards. Before going up to dress, Clementina looked round the +dining-room, studied the arrangement of the table, and ordered some +little alterations in the dishes of fruit which decked it. She sent for +the packet of _menus_--written on parchment paper with the Duke's +monogram stamped in gold--begged her husband's secretary to write the +name of a guest on each, and herself laid them in order on the table +napkins: herself and her husband opposite each other in the middle; to +the right and left of Osorio, two ladies in the seats of honour; to her +own right and left, two gentlemen; and then the rest of the party in +order of dignity, age, or her own preference for her guests. Then she +spoke a few words with the butler, and after giving him her +instructions, she went away. At the door she turned to look once more at +the table, and added: + +"Remove those strong-smelling flowers from the Marquesa de Alcudia's +place and give her camellias, or something else which has no scent." + +The pious Marquesa could not endure strong perfumes, being liable to +headache. Clementina, who hated her, showed more consideration for her +than for any of her friends; her ancient title, severe judgment, and +even her bigotry, made her respected, and her presence in a drawing-room +lent it prestige. + +Clementina went to her room, followed by Estefania, the coachman's sworn +foe. She put on a magnificent dress of creamy-white, cut low. She +usually wore a sort of _demi-toilette_ for these Saturday receptions, +with sleeves to the elbow. But this evening she was moved to display her +much-praised person in honour of a foreign diplomate who was to dine in +the house for the first time. While the maid was dressing her hair, her +mind wandered vaguely over the events of the day. She had not kept her +appointment with Pepe; he would certainly arrive in a rage. She pouted +her under lip disdainfully, and her eyes had a spiteful glitter, as if +to say: "And what do I care?" Then she remembered Raimundo's greeting +and that ill-starred look backwards, with a feeling of shame to which +her cheeks bore witness by a deepening colour. She called herself a +fool--heedless, mad. Happily for her, the young man seemed to be simple +and unpretending; otherwise he would at once have built wild castles in +the air. She thought of him a good deal, and with some tenderness. He +was, in fact, attractive and good-looking and had a way of speaking, at +once gentle and firm, which impressed her greatly; then his passionate +devotion to his mother's memory, his retired life, his strange mania for +butterflies, all helped to make him interesting. + +How many times Clementina had thought over all this during the last few +months it would be hard to say, but very often, beyond a doubt. Her +spirit, lulled by a slumberous sweetness, was sentimentally inclined. +That home on the third floor, that sunny study, that quiet and simple +life. Who knows! Happiness may dwell where we least expect to find it. A +heap of frippery, a handful of gems, a dish or two more on the table +cannot give it. But an odious reflection, which for some little time had +embittered all her dreams, flashed through her mind. She was growing +old--yes, old. She allowed herself no illusions. Estefania found it more +difficult every week to hide the silver threads among her golden hair. +Though she firmly resisted every temptation to apply any chemical +preparation to her beautiful tresses, she was beginning to think that +there would be no help for it. The candid, eager, happy love, of which +her adventure with young Alcazar had given her visions, was not for her. +Nothing was left for her, nor had been for some time, but the vapid, +vulgar inanities of aristocratic fops, all equally commonplace in their +tastes, their speech, and their unfathomable vanity. What connection +could there be between her and this boy but that of mother and son? She +sometimes wondered whether Raimundo's feelings towards her were quite +what he had described them in that first interview; but at this moment +she was sure that he had spoken the simple truth, that love was +impossible between a lad of twenty and a woman of seven-and-thirty--for +she was seven-and-thirty though she was wont to take off two years--at +any rate such love as she at this moment longed for. + +These reflections furrowed her brow, and with an effort she determined +to think of something else. Looking at her maid in the glass, she +noticed that the girl was deadly pale. She turned round to make sure, +and said: + +"Are you ill, child? You are very white." + +"Yes, Senora," said the girl in some confusion. + +"Do you feel the old sickness again?" + +"I think so." + +"Well, go and lie down, and send up Concha. It is very odd. I will send +for the doctor to-morrow, to see if he can do anything for you." + +"No, no, Senora," the girl hastened to exclaim. "It is nothing, it will +go off." + +A few minutes later the lady made her appearance in the drawing-room, +brilliantly beautiful. Osorio was there already, walking up and down the +room with his friend and almost daily visitor at dinner, Bonifacio. He +was a man of about sixty, solemn and starch, with a bald head, a yellow +face and black teeth. He had been Governor in various provinces, and now +held the post of chief of a Department of State. He talked little, and +never contradicted--the first and indispensable virtue of a man who +would fain dine well and spend nothing, and his dress-coat was +perennially adorned with the red cross of the order of Calatrava to +which he belonged. In his own house, the most conspicuous object was a +portrait of himself with a very tall plume in his cap and an amazingly +long white cloak over his shoulders. + +In one corner sat Pascuala, a widow with no perceptible income, whom +Clementina regarded partly as a friend, and partly as a companion to be +made use of, and with her, Pepa Frias, who had just arrived. As +Clementina passed the two men to shake hands with Pepa, her eyes met her +husband's in a flash like gloomy and ominous lightning. Osorio's face, +always dark and bilious, was really impressive by its ferocity. It was +only for an instant. The ladies exchanged a few words, and the men +joined them, the banker beginning to jest with his wife about her dress +in a tone of affectionate banter. + +"That is the way my wife wastes my money. My dear, though you may not +care to hear it, I may tell you that you grow stout at an alarming +rate." + +"Do not say so, Osorio, Clementina has the loveliest skin of any woman +in Madrid," said Pascuala. + +"I should think so. The enamelling she went through in Paris last spring +cost me a pretty penny." + +Clementina fell in with the jest, but she had great difficulty in acting +her part. Through the convulsive smiles which now and then lighted up +her face, and her brief enigmatical phrases, it was easy to see her +uneasiness, and even a spice of hatred. + +The door-bell rang frequently, and in a few minutes the drawing-room +held fifteen or twenty guests. The Marquesa de Alcudia brought none of +her daughters; they were rarely seen at the Osorios'. Then came the +Marquesa de Ujo, a woman who had been pretty, but was now much faded; as +languid as a South American, though she was a native of Pamplona, +somewhat romantic, by way of being _incomprise_, with literary tastes. +She had with her a daughter, taller than herself, and who must have been +fifteen at least, though her mother made her wear petticoats above her +ankles that she might not make her seem old. The poor girl endured the +mortification with a fairly good grace, though she blushed when any one +happened to look at her feet. + +Next came General Patino, Conde de Morillejo; he never missed a +Saturday. Then the Baron and Baroness de Rag appeared; it was their +first dinner there, and Clementina devoted herself to them, heaping them +with attentions. The Baron was plenipotentiary of some great foreign +Power. The Minister of Arts and Agriculture, Jimenez Arbos, Pinedo, Pepe +Castro, and the Cotorrasos husband and wife--all came in together. + +At the last moment, when it wanted but a few minutes of seven, Lola +Madariaga and her husband arrived. This lady, though much younger than +Clementina, was her most intimate friend, and the confidant of all her +secrets. She dined with her three or four times a week, and hardly a day +passed without their driving out together. She could not be called +pretty, but her face was so animated, her eyes sparkled so sweetly, and +her lips parted in such a bewitching smile to show her little white +teeth, that she had always many admirers. As a girl she had been an +accomplished flirt, turning all the men's heads, loving to have them at +her feet, prodigal of those insinuating smiles alike to the son of a +duke or a humble employe, to the old man with a bald head and a bottle +nose, or the slender youth of twenty, to the rich or the poor, the noble +or the plebeian. Her coquetry equalised ranks and fortunes, uniting all +men in a holy brotherhood to bask in the bright light of her fine black +eyes, and adore the delicious dimples which a smile brought into her +cheek, with all the other gifts and graces which a merciful Providence +had bestowed on her. Since her marriage she still showed the same +inexhaustible benevolence towards the human race, but in a less +wholesale fashion--that is to say, towards one, or at most two, at a +time. Her husband was a Mexican, very rich, with traces of Indian blood +in his features. + +They had been in the room only a minute or two when they were followed +by Fuentes, a very lively little man, ugly and lean, and a good deal +marked by the small-pox. No one knew what he lived on; he was supposed +to have some small investments. He was to be seen in every drawing-room +of any pretensions, and had a seat at the best tables. His titles to +such preference lay in his being regarded as a brilliant and witty +talker, intelligent and agreeable. For more than twenty years he had +shone at the dinners and balls of Madrid, playing the part of first +funny man. Some of his jests had become proverbial; they were repeated +not only in drawing-rooms but in the cafes, and from thence were +exported to the provinces. Unlike most men of his stamp, he was never +ill-natured. His banter was not intended to wound, but only to amuse the +company, and excite admiration for his easy, quick, and subtle wit. The +utmost license he allowed himself was to seize on the ridiculous side of +some absent friend as the subject for an epigram, but never, or almost +never, at the cost of his credit. These qualities made him the idol of +his circle. No one thought a party complete unless Fuentes at least put +in an appearance in the course of the evening. + +"Ah, Fuentes! Here is Fuentes!" cried one and another, as he appeared, +and a number of hands were extended to greet him. Shaking the first he +happened to grasp, he turned to the mistress of the house, saying in a +dry voice which in itself had a comic effect: + +"Pardon me, Clementina, if I am a little late. On my way I was caught by +Perales. You know Perales; I need say no more. Then, when I escaped from +his clutches, at the corner by the War Office, I fell into those of +Count de Sotolargo, and he, you know, is saddled with fifty per cent. +handicap." + +"Why?" asked Lola Madariaga. + +"He stammers, Senora." + +All laughed, some loudly, others more discreetly. That the sally was not +impromptu was evident a mile off; but it produced the desired effect, +partly because it really was droll, and partly because it was a point of +honour with every one to laugh whenever Fuentes opened his lips. + +A moment later a servant in livery opened the door, and announced that +dinner was served. + +Osorio hastened to offer his arm to the Baroness de Rag, and led the way +to the dining-room. The Baron closed the procession, leading Clementina. +The servants all stood in a row, armed with napkins and headed by the +butler. Osorio marshalled each guest to his place, and they soon were +all seated. + +The table was elegantly and attractively laid. The light from two large +hanging lamps shone on bright-hued flowers and fruit, on a snowy cloth, +sparkling glass, and shining porcelain. This light, however, being +somewhat crude, did not do justice to the ladies; it gave everything the +sharpness of an image in a camera. To moderate the glare and produce a +more diffused light, Clementina had two large candelabra, with coloured +shades, placed at each end of the table. All the ladies were in low +dresses--some, like Pepa Frias, disgracefully _decolletees_. The +gentlemen were in evening dress with white ties. + +At first the conversation was only between neighbours. The Baroness de +Rag, a Belgian, with brown hair and light blue eyes, and rather stout, +was asking Osorio the Spanish names for the various objects on the +table. She had not been long in Spain, and was most anxious to learn the +language. Clementina and the Baron were talking French. Pepa Frias, who +was between Pepe Castro and Jimenez Arbos, said to Castro, in an +undertone: + +"What do you think of Lola's husband? Really, not so bad for a +Brazilian?" + +Castro smiled with his characteristic superciliousness. + +"He must have lassoed many cows in the Pampas?" + +"Till a cow lassoed him." + +"But that was not on the Pampas." + +"I know--in a public garden. That is no news." + +General Patino, faithful to military tradition and his own instincts, +was laying siege in due form to the Marquesa de Ujo, who sat by him. + +"Pearls suit you to perfection, Senora. A smooth and slightly olive skin +like yours, betraying the warm blood and fire of the South, is +peculiarly set off by Oriental splendour." + +"Flattering me as usual, General. I wear pearls because they are the +best gems I happen to possess. If I had emeralds as fine as +Clementina's, I would leave my pearls in the jewel case," replied the +lady, showing a row of rather faulty teeth when she smiled, heightened +with a few bright spots of dentist's gold. + +"You would be in error. A pretty woman should always wear what becomes +her most. The Almighty is surely best pleased to view His finest works +at their best. Emeralds suit fair complexions; but you are like the +Xeres grape: amber-tinted, with a heady and intoxicating essence at the +core." + +"As it might be a raisin!" + +"No, no, Marquesa; no." + +The General eagerly repelled the charge and defended himself as +valiantly as though in front of the enemy. + +Meanwhile the servants were moving about handing various dishes, while +others, bottle in hand, murmured in the ear of each guest, "Sauterne, +Sherry, Margaux," in a hollow tone like that of a Carthusian monk +muttering his _memento mori_. + +"I drink nothing but iced champagne," Pepa Frias announced to the +servant behind her. + +"You need so much cooling," exclaimed Castro. + +"You surely knew that," said the widow with a meaning look. + +"To my sorrow!" + +"Why, are you tired of Clementina?" + +Fuentes was not happy under these conditions. It grieved him to lavish +his wit in a _tete-a-tete_, so he seized the first opportunity of +raising his voice and attracting the attention of the whole party. + +"I saw you in the Carrera de San Jeromino yesterday morning, Fuentes," +said the Condesa de Cotorraso, who sat three or four places lower down. + +"That depends on what you call the morning, Condesa." + +"It was about eleven, a little before or after." + +"Then allow me to dispute your statement. I am never out of bed till +two." + +"Till two!" exclaimed one and another. + +"That is going to an excess!" cried the Marquesa de Alcudia. + +"But it is an aristocratic excess. Who gets up earliest in Madrid? The +scavengers, porters, scullions. A little later you will see the shopmen +taking down their shutters, the old women going to early Mass, grooms +airing their masters' horses, and so forth. Next come the men of +business and office clerks, who do all the real work of the Government, +milliners' girls and the like. By about eleven you may meet a better +class, officers in the army, students, civilians of a higher grade, and +merchants. At noon you see the larger fry, heads of houses, bankers, and +land-owners; but it is not till two that Ministers of State, Directors, +Grandees of the realm and distinguished writers are to be seen in the +streets." + +The whole company were listening, greatly edified by this defence of +laziness, and feeling themselves in a position to laugh at it, saying in +an undertone: + +"That Fuentes! Oh, that Fuentes can talk any one down!" + +Then, simply for the pleasure of it, some one contradicted him. + +"But then, my dear fellow, you do not know the delights of getting up +early in the morning to breathe the fresh air and bathe in the +sunshine!" + +"I would sooner bathe in warm water with a little bottle of Kananga." + +"Can you deny that the sun is glorious?" + +"Glorious by all means, but just a little vulgar. I do not say that at +the creation of the world it may not have been a very striking thing, +worth getting up to look at; but you must admit that by this time it is +a little played out. Can there be anything more ridiculous in these +downright days than to call oneself Phoebus Apollo and drive a golden +chariot? And, after all, the sun has no intrinsic merits; it stays +blazing where God put it, while gas and the electric light represent the +brain-work of men of genius. They are the triumph of intelligence, a +record of the power of mind over matter, the sovereignty of intellect +throughout the universe. Besides, you can always see the sun for +nothing, and I have always had a horror of free exhibitions." + +The company were all in fits of laughter, and Fuentes, encouraged by +their mirth, outdid himself in paradoxes and ingenious quibbles, +obviously forcing his own hand now and then. He fell into the mistake of +certain over-praised actors: he did not know where to stop, and at last +became farcical. From the farcical to the gross is but a step, and +Fuentes not infrequently crossed the line. + +The Conde de Cotorraso persisted in his defence of the sun to encourage +his friend's ingenious abuse. It was the sun which gave vitality to all +nature, which warmed the earthly globe, and so forth. + +"As to the sun giving life, I deny it," replied Fuentes. "Madrid is much +more alive by night than by day, and, as to warming me, I much prefer +coke, which does not give rise to fevers. Come, Count, be frank now. +What particular merit can there be in a thing which, under all +circumstances, your valet must see before you do?" + +This was regarded as a final happy hit, and the subject was dropped. + +From talking of the sun they came to talking of the shade, and of the +shade of poisonous trees. The Marquesa de Ujo asked Lola's husband, the +Mexican, whose name was Ballesteros, whether the manchineel were a +native of his country. He replied that it was not, but that he had seen +it growing in Brazil. The lady inquired very particularly into its +properties, but she was greatly disenchanted on hearing that the shade +of the tree was not pernicious, and that it was only the acrid juice of +the fruit which was poisonous. + +"So that you do not die if you fall asleep under it?" + +"Senora, I did not fall asleep, don't you see? But I breakfasted under +one with a party of friends, and we were none the worse." + +"Well, then, how does Selika commit suicide in the _Africaine_ by lying +down in the shade of a manchineel?" + +"It is a fable, an invention of the poet's. It is a pretty idea but not +true." + +The Marquesa, quite disappointed by this realistic view of the matter, +refused altogether to accept it, and argued that possibly the +manchineels of India were not the same as the American kind. + +"Is it true, Ballesteros," asked Clementina, "that you have eight +hundred thousand cows?" + +"Oh, Senora, that is an exaggeration! My herds number three hundred +thousand at most." + +"If they were mine," said Fuentes, "I would build a tank as large as the +Retiro Gardens, and fill it with milk and sail a boat on it." + +"We make no use of the milk, Senor, nor of the butter. We sometimes dry +the meat for exportation, don't you see? But generally we only save the +skin. And the horns also are sold for various forms of manufacture." + +"Plague take him for a bore!" said Pepe Castro in a low voice, but loud +enough for Jimenez Arbos to hear where he sat by Pepa Frias, who was +taken with a fit of laughter which she had the greatest difficulty in +choking down. + +She addressed herself to Clementina to conceal her mirth as far as +possible: + +"Pass me the mustard, there's a trump," said she. + +"Trump, trump? What is a trump?" asked the Baroness de Rag, in her +eagerness to learn the language, and Osorio explained the use of the +word. + +Pepa addressed herself from time to time to Jimenez Arbos; a few brief +sentences in a low tone, which showed that they were on intimate terms, +and at the same time revealed a desire to be prudent. Her conversation +with Castro on her left was more animated. + +"Why don't you advise Arbos to eat more meat?" he asked her. + +"Why should I?" + +"Because he ought to eat meat to give him strength to endure the +fatigues of daily life." + +"To be sure," said the widow, sarcastically. "But do you take care of +yourself and leave others to settle their own affairs as Providence may +guide them." + +"Well, you see I manage to get fed." + +"Yes, but do not let it go to your brain, or one fine day, when you +least expect it, you may find yourself without a dinner." + +"Have I offended you?" said the young man, laughing as if he had heard +something very amusing. + +"No, my dear fellow, no. I mean what I say. For my part I cannot think +how Clementina can bear such a Narcissus as you." + +"Hush! hush! Be careful, Pepa, pray be careful!" cried Castro, with an +alarmed glance at the mistress of the house. + +"Do you know she is wonderfully artful. She has not looked at you once." + +Castro, who had been a good deal piqued these few days past by his +lady's coldness, smiled a forced smile and then knit his brows. Pepa did +not fail to observe this. + +"Look at the black cloud on Osorio's face; it is enough to frighten one! +And you are the guilty cause of it, you wretch!" + +"I! Oh, dear no! It is more likely to be some question of ready money +which makes him look so bilious. I hear he is ruined, or within an ace +of it." + +Pepa started visibly. + +"Who says so? Where did you hear that?" + +"Several persons have told me so." + +The widow turned sharply to Arbos on her other hand, and asked him in a +whisper: + +"Have you heard anything about Osorio's being ruined?" + +"Yes, I have heard it said that Osorio has for some time been buying for +a fall, and the market has gone up steadily," replied the official, with +a toss of his head suggesting a peacock, and there was a touch of +evident satisfaction in his tone. To a politician, buying for a fall is +a crime worthy of any punishment. "I do not know how much he may be let +in for at the next account; but if it is anything considerable, he is a +ruined man. Consols have gone up one per cent., by the end of the month +they may have risen to two." + +Pepa's good spirits had entirely disappeared. She sat looking at her +plate and listlessly using her fork to finish the slice of York ham she +had taken. The Minister, observing her gloomy silence, asked her: + +"Have you by any chance any money in his hands?" + +"By chance! No, by my own idiocy. Almost everything I possess is in his +hands." + +"The devil it is!" + +"Everything I have eaten has turned on my stomach; I believe I am going +to be ill," said the lady, who was as pale as a sheet. + +Arbos did his best to tranquillise her; perhaps it was not true: sudden +losses, like sudden fortunes, are always greatly exaggerated. Besides, +if any deposit were sacred to Osorio, it would surely be that of a lady +who had entrusted her money to him out of pure friendship. + +Though they were talking almost in a whisper, their grave looks and +earnest manner attracted the notice of General Patino, who, turning to +the Marquesa de Ujo, said with singular perspicacity: + +"Just look at Pepa and Arbos, a summer cloud has fallen on them. Love is +a beautiful thing even in its transient torments!" + +Clementina meanwhile, with Lola and the Condera de Cotorraso, had been +discussing the effects of arsenic as a drug for beautifying the +complexion and skin. It was the first time Lola had heard of it, and she +was quite delighted, declaring that she would forthwith try this +miraculous elixir. + +"Good heavens, Lolita!" exclaimed Fuentes, "if, as you are, you cause +such havoc in masculine hearts, what will happen after you have followed +a regimen of arsenic for a few months? Senor Ballesteros, do not permit +her to take it; it is too cruel to the rest of us." + +"Come, come, friend Fuentes," said the pretty brunette, casting an +insinuating glance at Castro, for she had taken it into her head that +she would snatch him from Clementina, "are you trying to chaff me?" + +"Chaff, what is chaff?" the Baroness de Rag asked again. + +Bonifacio had for some moments been staring, without winking even, at +the Belgian lady. A few days since he had purchased a photograph of a +figure lounging in a hammock. He fancied that the Baroness strongly +resembled this picture, and was anxious to convince himself by a +prolonged study of what he could see whether what he could not see was +equally like it. + +The dinner could not end of course without a long discussion of the +opera, Gayarre and Tosti. Otherwise the meal could not have been +digested. The coffee was served in the dining-room, as was the custom of +the house. Then the ladies withdrew to the drawing-room, followed by +several of the men; others remained to smoke, but it was not long before +they joined the others. The dining-room was intolerably hot. + +Pepe Castro took advantage of the little stir as they left the +dining-room to ask Clementina: + +"Why did you not come this morning?" + +Clementina paused a second, and looked at him with a condescending +smile. "This morning?" she said. "I don't know." + +"You don't know?" said the lordly youth with a sovereign frown. + +"I don't know, I don't know," and she turned away still smiling a little +disdainfully. + +"You will come to-morrow?" + +"We will see," she replied, walking away. + +Castro felt that smile like a stab in his breast. He bit his under-lip, +muttering: "Coquetting, eh? You shall pay me for this, my beauty!" + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +AFTER DINNER. + + +There were already some fresh arrivals in the drawing-room, among them +Ramon Maldonado, and Pepa's daughter with her husband. In the adjoining +room, six tables were laid out for cards, and some of the company sat +down immediately to play _tresillo_. Others waited for their usual party +to appear. It was not long before the rooms were crowded. Don Julian +arrived with Mariana and Esperancita, Cobo Ramirez with Leon Guzman and +three or four others of the same kidney, General Pallares, the Marquis +de Veneros, and several others, most of the men being merchants and +bankers. + +One of the last to arrive was the Duke de Requena, who was welcomed with +the same eager and flattering deference here as elsewhere. He came in +snuffling, smoking, spitting, insolently sure of the respect always paid +to his immense fortune. He spoke little and laughed less, expressed his +opinions with gross rudeness, and sat to be adored by the crowd of +ladies who gathered round him. His cheeks were more flabby, his eyes +more bloodshot, his lips blacker than ever. His whole appearance was so +hideous that Fuentes, pointing him out, remarked to Pinedo and Jimenez +Arbos: "There you see the Devil holding court among his witches at a +Sabbath." + +He was invited to join a party at _tresillo_, as usual, but declined. He +had caught sight of two bankers, whom he was eager to secure for the +affair of the Riosa Mines, and he also wanted to pay court for a few +minutes to Arbos. He had already contrived to get the mine put up to +sale by auction with all its lands and plant. A company had been formed +to buy it, but there was a difference of opinion among the directors; +some wanted to pay for it money down, and among these was Salabert, +while others wished to take advantage of the ten instalments allowed by +the Government. The difference in interest was of course enormous. + +The Duke made his way to speak to a Mr. Biggs, the representative of an +English house, which was largely interested in the company, and the head +of the party who were for payment by instalments. He put his arm over +his shoulder, and led him into the recess of a window, saying roughly: + +"Then you are bent on ruining us!" + +And he proceeded to discuss the matter with a bluntness which +disconcerted the Englishman. He replied to the Duke's brutal attack with +mild and courteous argument, and a fixed benevolent smile. The Duke only +spoke with added rudeness, which was in point of fact, very diplomatic. + +"I have no fancy for throwing away my money. It has cost me a great deal +of trouble to get it at all, you see; and in the long run I may very +likely be obliged to escape with my skin by getting out of the +business." + +"Senor Duque, it is no fault of mine," said Biggs, with a strong English +accent, "I must obey orders." + +"These orders are instigated by an old fox in Madrid that I know of." + +"Oh, Senor Duque! there is no old fox in the case," said Biggs, +laughing. + +And the banker could not get anything out of the Englishman, though he +left him much to think of. + +Pepa Frias, in great agitation, after ascertaining from various +authorities that Osorio's affairs were looking badly, was talking +matters over with Jimenez Arbos. Every one was of opinion that Osorio +could meet his engagements; he had a large capital, and though he had +lost heavily at the last few settlements, it was not supposed that he +could be seriously hit. It must, however, be added, that none of these +gentlemen gambled, as Osorio did, for differences in the market. With +him it had become a vice, and, in spite of the warnings of his friends +and colleagues, he could not control the passion which sooner or later +must inevitably bring him to ruin. + +Pepa was watching him closely, and with a woman's keen insight she +divined a troubled sea under his cold, quiet demeanour. Arbos was +soothing her in stilted and well turned phrases--for not even to his +mistress could he throw off the orator--while the widow herself was +meditating some means of salvation. Her plan was to give the alarm to +Clementina, and extract her promise to snatch Pepa's fortune from the +burning, if burning there must be, by pledging her own settlements. +Trusting much to her own diplomacy, and to her friend's reckless habits, +she grew somewhat calmer, and Arbos took advantage of her restored +serenity to exert the exceptional gifts of persuasion which Providence +had bestowed on him. + +Pepa recovered so far, in fact, as to sit down to cards with Clementina, +Pinedo, and Arbos. As she crossed the drawing-room, she saw in a corner +her daughter and son-in-law, sitting like two devoted turtle-doves. She +stopped to speak to them, and as her temper was not entirely pacified, +her tone was sharp. + +"Yesterday you were ready to call each other out, and to-day nothing +will part you! Come, children, do not sit together all the evening. You +should not be so spooney in company." + +Emilio was offended by her authoritative tone, the colour mounted to his +face, and he was on the point of answering his mother-in-law in the same +key, but she was gone into the card-room. So there he was left muttering +an oath, and saying that he had never been in the habit of taking a +scolding from any one, and he was not going to begin with his +mother-in-law, with other equally vehement and incoherent declarations, +which made Irenita look very doleful, and would have ended in tears if +he had not discovered it in time, and, giving her a loving little nip +inside her arm, asked her at the same time to let him have half of the +mint-drop she was sucking in her pretty mouth. And hereupon they fell to +cooing again, as if they had been in the virgin forest instead of +Osorio's drawing-room. + +A party of five or six young girls, and among them Esperancita, were +talking with a group of the younger men. Two of these were Cobo Ramirez +and our intelligent friend Ramon Maldonado. It would be difficult to +reduce to writing the ideas exchanged by these youthful talkers. They +must have been subtle, amusing, and pointed, if we may judge by the +mirth they gave rise to. At the same time the keen observer would have +detected the fact that the young ladies' gestures, appealing eyes, saucy +glances, and insinuating graces, even their shouts of laughter, had no +direct connection with what was said. + +For instance, a bland youth remarked: + +"I saw you, yesterday, Manolita, at San Jose's, confessing to Father +Ortega." + +The damsel addressed laughed heartily. + +"No, Paco, I am sure you did not see me." + +"Pilar," said another, "Where do you buy such pretty fans?" + +Pilar went into fits of laughter. + +"What a joke! And you--where did you buy such a hideous dog as you take +trotting at your heels?" + +"Hideous, yes. But a darling, you must own." + +Such speeches as these excited the most noisy merriment among the young +people. They talked loud, giggled and gesticulated. The girls especially +seemed to have swallowed quicksilver. Those who had good teeth showed +them incessantly; those who had not laughed behind their fans. But the +person who made most noise, and gave rise to most amusement was, beyond +a doubt, Leon Guzman. Manolita, a vixenish little thing, with black +eyes, and a wide mouth full of beautiful teeth, asked him what o'clock +it was. He, drawing out his watch, replied that it was a quarter past +ten. Then the Count produced his watch, and it appeared that it was +already nearly twelve. This subterfuge amused the girls immensely. +Manolita, especially, laughed till she was quite limp; the more she +tried to suppress her laughter the more convulsive she became. It was +very evident that there was in the speech, and beneath the common-place +and even stupid aspect of these gentlemen, a well-spring of humour, as +fresh as it was deep, such as only young people of from fifteen to +twenty can assimilate and enjoy. + +When this mirth had somewhat subsided Leon Guzman contrived with some +skill to move a little apart, and enter into conversation with +Esperancita. This deeply pained and vexed Ramon. For the last ten days +he had observed that the Conde de Agreda had cast admiring eyes in the +direction of the lady of his adoration. He regarded him as a more +dangerous rival than Cobo, being a man of much better position. Cobo, +indeed, as he could see, was making no way, and this had comforted him; +but now the aspect of affairs had changed. He could take no part in the +merriment of the group, but sat making calf's eyes at the damsel in the +most lamentable fashion. Esperancita, to his great consolation, was by +no means especially amiable to the Count; she seemed bored, indeed, and +depressed, looking very frequently towards the spot where Ramon himself +was sitting. Behind him, to be sure, were Pepe Castro and Lola, talking +with the greatest animation; but of this the young civilian was not +aware. + +When Leon moved, Ramon led him aside, and in a low tone made his plaint. +Leon was to know that he, Ramon Maldonado, was also paying attentions to +Esperancita, and was, in fact, hopelessly in love with her. It was a +blow he could not bear, that so intimate a friend should come in his +way. He pathetically reminded him of their childhood; their sports +together, their school-life; and ended by beseeching him, in a voice +broken by emotion, that unless he were really attached to Esperanza, he +would cease to make him jealous. To all this Leon listened, half +ashamed, and half impatient; to be rid of Ramon he promised all he +asked; and presently among his intimates he had a good laugh at the cost +of the low-born deputy. + +Requena, after explaining his schemes to Biggs, sat down to play cards +with the Condesa Cotorraso, the Mexican, and General Pallares. But in a +few minutes he was snorting with rage over his bad hands. In spite of +his wealth he always played as eagerly as though it were of the greatest +importance to him, whether he lost or gained a few dollars. If luck was +against him, he got into a positively infernal temper, grumbling at his +antagonists, and almost insulting them. His daughter was not +unfrequently obliged to interfere and take his cards to play them in his +place. Just now, Clementina was playing at the next table, apparently to +her own satisfaction, and laughing at Pepa Frias for being silent and +absent-minded. + +"By the way, Pinedo, I had forgotten," said she, as she sorted the fan +of cards she held. "Why on earth did you try this morning to make your +little daughter believe that Alcantara, of all men, was a saint of +virtue?" + +"That is my secret," replied Pinedo. + +"Tell it, tell it!" cried Clementina and Pepa, both in the same breath. + +He let them beg and pray a little; then, after bidding them promise +solemnly that they would never reveal it, he told them that, having +observed a marked tendency in girls to fall in love with idlers and +evil-minded youths, and to reject those who were steady and +hard-working, he reversed the facts when talking of a scapegrace, in +order that his daughter might not fall into the hands of one of them. +When a well-conducted, hard-working young fellow went past, he always +spoke of him as a simpleton or a rogue; if, on the contrary, they met a +man like Alcantara, who deserved the worst character, he spoke of him in +the highest terms. + +Pepa, Clementina, and Arbos had paused in their game to smile at this +strange explanation. + +"And has this plan had the desired effect?" asked the Minister. + +"Admirably, up to the present time. It never occurs to my daughter even +to speak of those whom I have praised for their virtues. On the other +hand, she will sometimes say, with a smile: 'Do you know, papa, I met +that profligate young friend of yours. He is really very pleasant and +nice looking, as you must allow, and seems to be intelligent. What a +pity that he should not sober down.'" + +At this instant, Cobo Ramirez, who was wandering about, snorting like a +tired ox, came up to the table and asked what they were laughing at. No +one could be induced to tell. Pinedo signed to them to be silent, for he +was greatly afraid of Cobo's tongue. Pepe Castro, too, tired of trying +to rouse Clementina's jealousy by his behaviour to Lola without any +visible result, softly approached her table with an air of deep +melancholy. He posted himself behind Pepa Frias, resting his arms on the +back of her chair. Fuentes came up to say Good night. + +"Will you not take some chocolate?" asked Clementina, holding out her +hand. + +"How can you expect a man to drink chocolate when he has just had a +sonnet fired off in his face?" + +"Mariscal?" + +"The very man. In the dining-room--he lay in ambush." + +Mariscal was a young poet in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, who wrote +sonnets to the Virgin and odes to duchesses. "But I avenged myself like +a Barbary Moor. I introduced him to Cotorraso who is giving him a +lecture on oils. Look how the poor wretch is suffering!" + +The gamblers looked round, and saw, in fact, the two men in a corner +together. The Count was haranguing vehemently, and holding his victim by +the lapel of his coat. The unhappy poet, with a rueful countenance, +trying to give signals of distress by glances, stood like a man who is +being taken to prison. + +"Arbos, do you think I am sufficiently avenged?" + +He turned on his heel and hastily left the room, not to weaken the +effect of his sarcasm. Thus, every evening, he made his appearance at +two or three houses, where his wit and cleverness were the subject of +constant praise. + +The servants presently came with trays of chocolate and ices. Cobo +Ramirez seized a little Japanese table, carried it off into a corner, +sat down to it, and prepared to stuff. Pepa Frias looked about her, and +seeing General Patino, called to him. + +"Here, General, take my cards, I am tired of playing. Hand yours over to +Pepe, Clementina, and let us go into the other room." + +The two gentlemen took their seats, and the ladies went towards the +drawing-room; but, on their way, Pepa said: + +"I want to speak with you on a matter of importance; let us go somewhere +else." + +Clementina stared with amazement. + +"Shall we go into the dining-room?" + +"No, we had better go up to your dressing-room." + +Her friend was more surprised than ever, but, shrugging her shoulders, +she said: "Just as you please; it must be something very serious." + +They went upstairs, Clementina imagining that her friend wished to speak +of Pepe Castro, and their relations to each other. And as, to tell the +truth, the subject had greatly lost its interest, she walked on feeling +very indifferent, not to say considerably bored. When they were alone in +the boudoir, Pepa took her hands, and looking her straight in the face, +she said: + +"Tell me, Clementina, do you know how your husband's affairs stand?" + +It was a home-thrust; Clementina, though she had no exact information, +had heard of her husband's losses, and of his increasing and delirious +passion for gambling. And in a discussion on money matters they had +recently had, he had frightened her in order to obtain her signature; +also she could see that he was every day more absent-minded and +depressed. But though she could give her thoughts to such matters for a +few minutes now and again, the complicated bustle of her life as a woman +of fashion, seconded by her dislike of all disagreeable subjects, soon +put them out of her head. It never for an instant occurred to her that +such losses might seriously affect her comfort or convenience, her +ostentatious display, or her caprices. Osorio's conduct gave her every +reason to continue in this faith, for he had never desired her to +retrench in her extravagance. But the viper was lurking at the bottom of +her heart, and at a lash like this from Pepa it began to gnaw. + +"My husband's affairs?" she stammered, as though she did not understand. +"I never heard. I do not inquire." + +"Well, I am told that he has been losing a great deal of money lately." + +"I dare say," exclaimed her friend, with a shrug of supreme contempt. + +"But you may find your hair singed, too, my dear. Is your own money +safe?" + +"I do not know what you are driving at. I tell you I know nothing of +business." + +"But in this case you had better gain some information." + +"But I tell you I do not trouble my head about it, and beg you will +change the subject." + +In proportion as Pepa was obstinate Clementina was reserved and haughty. +Her pride, always on the alert, led her to suppose that this lady had +plotted for this discussion on purpose to mortify her. + +"The thing is, my dear, as I feel bound to tell you, that your husband +does not speculate with his own money only," said the widow, driven to +bay. + +"Ah! Now I begin to see! You have a few hundred dollars in Osorio's +hands, and are afraid of losing them," said Clementina with a satirical +smile, and with difficulty swallowing down her wrath. + +Pepa turned pale. A surge of rage rose from her heart to her lips, and +she was on the point of casting her fortune over-board and simply +railing like a market woman--a style for which she was especially +gifted--but an instinct of self-interest, of self-preservation, checked +the outburst. If she were to quarrel with her friend, or even to offend +her, all hope of saving her capital would be lost. She perceived that +the better part was not to provoke her implacable nature, but to hope +that friendship, or even pride, might prompt her to an act of +generosity. With a great effort she controlled her annoyance at +Clementina's supercilious and arrogant gaze, and said, dejectedly: + +"Well, yes; I own it. Your husband has in his hands the whole of my +little possessions. If I lose it I shall be absolutely destitute. I do +not know what will become of me. I would rather beg than be dependent on +my son-in-law." + +"Beg! No, you need not do that. I will engage you as my companion in the +place of Pascuala," said Clementina scornfully, for her pride was by no +means propitiated. + +Pepa was more stung by this than she had ever been before, but still she +controlled herself. + +"Well, my dear," she said, again taking her hands with a caressing +gesture, "do not fling your millions in my teeth. If I come to worry you +about the matter, it is because I regard you as my best friend. I know, +of course, that there is a great deal of exaggeration, and that envy is +rampant. More than half that is said about Osorio's losses is probably +not true." + +"And even if it were, it really matters very little to me. Only to-day +my stepmother told me that she meant to leave me her whole fortune." + +Pepa's eyes opened very wide. + +"The Duchess! And she cannot have less than fifty million francs! Poor +soul! I am afraid she is very ill." + +"Pretty bad." + +At this moment arrogance had the upper hand in Clementina of every +instinct of affection. She spoke the two words "pretty bad" in a tone of +freezing indifference. + +The two ladies had soon come to a perfect understanding. Pepa, still +affecting an easy manner, flattered her friend in every possible way: +she was beautiful, rich, a model of elegance. Clementina allowed herself +to be flattered, inhaling the incense with intense satisfaction. In +return she promised Pepa that she should not lose a centime of her +capital. + +They went down the stairs with their arms round each other's waist, +chattering like a pair of magpies. As they reached the drawing-room +door, before parting, they embraced and kissed. + +And it did not occur to either of them that the embrace and kiss were +those of a corpse--the corpse of a good and generous woman. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +RAIMUNDO'S LOVE AFFAIRS. + + +Clementina's new love adventure went on in a manner no less childish +than pleasing for her. After the inopportune act of heedlessness which +had brought her to so much shame, she took care for some days not to +look up at Raimundo, though the greetings he waved her were more +expressive and affectionate than ever. This fancy--for it deserves no +better name--was, however, taking such deep root in her imagination that +she determined to indulge it again, and on each occasion she found the +young man's opera-glasses directed towards her. Finally, one day, as she +turned the corner, she kissed her hand to him. + +"Really, I have lost all sense of shame!" said she to herself, with a +blush. And it was so true that she did the same again whenever she went +by. + +But the situation, though romantic and novel, began to weigh upon her. +Her impetuous temperament would never allow her to enjoy the present in +peace; it drove her to seek further, to precipitate events; though not +unfrequently, instead of procuring her pleasure, they only left her +entangled in the ruins of the dream-palace she had raised. On this +occasion, however, she had better reason than usual for wishing to get +out of the predicament. It was altogether such a false position as to +verge on the ridiculous; and she owned as much to herself in her most +secret soul. + +"In point of fact, I am treating this boy like a dancing bear." + +But though she every day determined to put an end to the adventure by +going out no more on foot, or by passing by Raimundo's house without +looking up, bowing to him coldly at the utmost, she had not resolution +enough to carry out her purpose, nor even to cease sending her greeting +up to the corner window. One thing still puzzled her, and that was, that +the young man, seeing the evident tokens she had given of her change of +mind, and the rather humiliating proofs of her liking for him, had never +failed in his obedience--never followed her, nor attempted to meet her +out walking. This at last piqued her vanity; she thought he played his +new part with too much zeal. And thinking this she was sometimes quite +angry with him; but then as she went past and saw him so smiling, so +happy, so eager to bow to her, the black mood of her pride was +dispelled, and her heart was again full to overflowing, of sympathy for +the boy, and of the whimsical desire to love and to be loved by him. + +How would it all end? In nothing, probably. Nevertheless, she did her +utmost to carry on the affair, and bring it to some definite issue; of +that there is no doubt. And her wish being thwarted by causes which she +could not clearly understand, it grew, till by degrees it became a +fierce appetite. One afternoon, when disappointment and bitterness +possessed her breast, as she was walking down the Calle de Serrano, +seriously pondering on giving up this ridiculous adventure, as she +passed beneath the window, after bowing to the young man seated there, +she felt a handful of loose flowers fall upon her. She looked up, +understanding that it was he who had flung them, and gave him a smile of +tender gratitude. This shower refreshed her spirit and revived her +drooping fancy. Now she only thought of some way of bringing him nearer +to her. She thought of writing to beg his forgiveness for her visit and +her stern words, but it was too late for that. Then she fancied that +perhaps among her friends, particularly among journalists, there might +be some one who would know him, and by whom she might send him some +civil message. But this idea she dismissed as dangerous. She almost +thought of giving him some signal to come down to her, and explaining +herself verbally, but this again she did not dare. It was too +humiliating. + +Chance came to her aid, solving the dilemma to her satisfaction when she +least expected it. They met one evening at the theatre. Raimundo, whose +year of deep mourning was nearly at an end, now occasionally went out, +and he and his sister were in the stalls. Clementina was in a box just +above them. They exchanged bows, and then for some time there was a +cross-fire of glances and smiles, which attracted Aurelia's attention. + +"Who is it? Have you been meeting that lady again?" + +"No." + +"Then what is the meaning of your smiles? You seem to be intimate +friends." + +"I do not know," said the brother, somewhat embarrassed. "She is always +very friendly to me. Perhaps she thinks she offended me when she came to +our rooms, and wishes to mollify me." + +Between the first and second acts, a beautiful spray of camellia was +handed to Aurelia by a flower-seller. + +"From the lady in box number eleven." + +Aurelia looked up, and saw Clementina gazing and smiling at her. She and +Raimundo bowed their thanks, Aurelia blushing deeply. + +"Do not you think," said her brother, "that I ought to go upstairs and +thank her?" + +It was but natural. Raimundo, when the curtain next fell, left his +sister for a moment, and went up to the Osorios' box. A happy smile +beamed on Clementina's face as she saw the young man at the door. She +received him as an old friend, bade him sit down by her side, and began +a conversation in an undertone, completely neglecting Pascuala whom she +had brought with her. Happily for this lady, Bonifacio came in before +long; he never took a stall at any theatre where he knew that the +Osorios had a box. + +"I am glad to see that you have no grudge against me," said she in a low +voice, with an insinuating glance. "That is right. It shows you have +both a good heart and good sense. I must frankly confess that I was +utterly mistaken in my estimate of your conduct and character. I can +only assure you that when I came out of your house, I would gladly have +turned back to beg your pardon. If not in words, in looks and gestures I +have asked it many times since, as you will have understood." And she +proceeded, in the most masterly way, to give him three or four more +encouraging hints, which quite turned poor Raimundo's head--that is to +say, left him speechless, confused, and fascinated; just as she would +have him, in short. At the same time she skilfully accounted for the +rather singular display of liking for him which she herself was ashamed +to recall. + +Without leaving him time to reply, she inquired after his sister, his +health, and his butterflies. Raimundo answered briefly, not out of +indifference, but for lack of worldly ease of manner. But she was +nothing daunted, she became more and more affectionate, entangling him +in a perfect maze of flattering speeches and inviting glances. At the +moment when she was most fluent, it might almost be said inspired to +conquer her youthful adorer, suddenly, in the passage between the +stalls, Pepe Castro appeared on the scene, in evening dress, the ends of +his moustache waxed to needle points, the curls of his hair waving +coquettishly over his temples, his whole air easy, self-sufficient, and +scornful. He first cast his fascinating and Olympic eye over the stalls, +subjugating every marriageable damsel who happened to be occupying one, +and then, with the serene dignity of an eagle's soaring flight, he +raised it to box number eleven. He could not suppress a start of +surprise. Who was this with whom Clementina was on such intimate terms? +He did not know this young man. He brought his diminutive opera-glasses +to bear on him--no, he had never seen him in his life. Clementina, +conscious of her lover's surprise, after returning his greeting, became +doubly amiable to Raimundo, addressing herself solely to him, leaning +over to speak to him, and going through endless manoeuvres to attract +the attention of the illustrious "Savage." She felt a malignant glee in +doing this. Castro was now absolutely indifferent to her. Raimundo +returned Pepe's impertinent stare through his opera-glasses, by a +curious glance now and then, for he had not the honour of knowing the +"husband's bugbear!" + +Then reflecting that his sister would be losing patience, though he +could keep an eye on her from the box, he rose to depart. + +"We are friends, are we not?" said the lady, holding his hand. "Remember +me affectionately to your sister. I owe her, too, an apology for my +strange and unexpected visit. Tell her I shall call on her some day and +take her by surprise in the midst of her household cares. I take the +greatest interest in you both--a brother and sister, both so young--good +night, good night." + +When he found himself by his sister's side once more, feeling rather +bewildered, Aurelia said to him: + +"How very handsome that lady is! But still I cannot see that she is like +mamma." + +Raimundo, who at the moment had forgotten the likeness, was taken by +surprise. + +"Oh, there is a sort of look--an air," he stammered out. + +So now it was no more than an air. The young man was conscious of a +vague remorse. The impression Clementina now produced on his mind was +not that respectful devotion which had possessed him before they had +made acquaintance in so strange a manner. + +Pepe Castro, when he saw him in the stalls, simply stared at him, +hoping, perhaps to annihilate him. As he concluded that the red-haired +youth did not belong to the elevated sphere in which he himself moved, +it occurred to him--for his imagination was lively--that this might be +the youth of whose pertinacity Clementina had formerly complained. As +was but natural this did not prejudice him in Alcazar's favour. +Raimundo himself was too much absorbed in contemplating the Osorios' box +to notice his rival's determined stare, and Pepe, tired of it at last, +went up to join Clementina. He seated himself by her side in the very +place occupied shortly before by Alcazar, who, on seeing him there, was +aware of a strange _malaise_, an obscure dejection which he did not even +attempt to define. Nevertheless, he observed that the lady smiled a +great deal, and that the gentleman was very grave, also that she found +time to cast frequent glances in his direction, whereat her companion +grew more and more sullen and gloomy. + +"Have you noticed how that lady gazes down at you?" said Aurelia to her +brother. "She seems to have taken quite a fancy to you." + +"Nonsense!" he replied, turning very red. "Such a fellow as I am too! If +it were that gentleman who is sitting by her now." + +Aurelia protested, laughing, that her brother was far better looking +than that doll of a man, with pink cheeks like a ballet-dancer's. + +When the performance was over, Raimundo, not without a pang of jealousy, +found Clementina waiting in the lobby for her carriage, attended by this +same man. But she greeted him so eagerly, that Castro, who was becoming +uneasy, turned to give him a long and scrutinising stare. + +For some days after this, the young entomologist anxiously expected +Clementina to stop at the door, and come up to pay the promised visit. +But he was disappointed. The lady constantly went by with her light +brisk step, bowed as she approached, and before she turned the corner, +waved him an adieu. Every time she passed the door, Raimundo's heart +sank, and at last he grew angry. "Pshaw! She has forgotten all about +it," he said to himself. "I shall never, probably, speak to her again, +since we never by any chance meet anywhere." + +He did his best to assist chance, by going more often to the play, where +he never saw her. At the opera, he would certainly have found her, but +he never was so bold as to go there for fear she might think he had +renewed his pursuit. Why he had taken it into his head that she would +call at any one hour more than at another it is impossible to say. But +in the end his surprise and agitation were unbounded when one morning +Clementina really made her appearance. This time she asked for the +Senorita. Aurelia received her in the drawing-room, and immediately sent +for her brother. By the time he appeared the lady was sitting on the +sofa and chatting with the frank ease of an old acquaintance. + +"This visit is not to you, you understand," said she, giving him her +hand. + +"I should never have dared to imagine that it was," he replied, shyly +pressing her fingers. + +"There is no knowing. I do not think you conceited, but a woman must +always be on her guard." + +There was something not quite genuine in the candour of her jesting +tone. Her voice was slightly tremulous, and there was a pale circle +round her eyes, a sure sign of some emotion which weighs on the mind. +Her visit was short, but she found time to charm the young girl by her +delicate flattery and effusive offers. She made her promise to return +her visit soon; in the evening if she preferred to meet no one, and they +would have a long chat together. She would show Aurelia the house, and +some work she was doing. The girl's loneliness and youth had really made +an impression on her, and if, in fact, she bore some resemblance to +their mother, as Raimundo said, she felt she had some claim on her +affection. + +"Well, then, when you are bored here by yourself, come to my house--it +is such a little way--and we will bore each other. That will be a +variety, at any rate." + +Poor Aurelia, bewildered by her visitor's condescension and unfamiliar +worldly tone, could only smile in reply. When Clementina rose to go, she +said: + +"I rely on you, Alcazar, to see that your sister keeps her promise. As +for you--you can do as you please. I never press my society on a +_savant_, for I know one may be boring him when one least suspects it." + +She had quite recovered her balance, and spoke in an easy protecting +tone, with almost a maternal air. Even on the staircase she paused to +reiterate all her friendly advances. She would not allow Raimundo to +escort her to the house-door; she went down alone, leaving a trail of +perfume which he enjoyed more than his sister did. When their door was +closed on her, Aurelia did not speak; and she replied to her brother's +rapturous eulogies in so few words that his ardour was soon dashed. + +It was too true: the feeling of filial adoration which the young +professor had felt at first for the lady of his dreams was fast dying +away, or rather was being transformed into another, less saintly though +still akin to it. In him, as in every man who lives out of the society +of women, and exclusively devoted to study, the instincts of sex and the +revelation of the divine law of love were sudden and intense. On the +very next day he urged Aurelia to return Clementina's call, though he +expressed his wish with some timidity and hesitation. His sister, +however, insisted on the propriety of allowing some little time to +elapse, and he submitted. At length the visit was paid. Aurelia spent an +afternoon in the Senora's boudoir. Raimundo, after much deliberation, +did not venture to accompany her. + +Three or four days later Clementina again called to invite them both to +her box at the Opera that evening. It was a terrible joy. Raimundo had +not a dress coat, and Aurelia's wardrobe was not much better furnished. +However, they went. A relation lent Raimundo a coat, and Aurelia wore +the best she had. Next day Raimundo ordered a dress suit, of the first +tailor in Madrid; nor was this all: without saying anything to his +sister, he went to the box-office of the Opera-house and subscribed for +a stall as near as possible to the Osorios' box, and for the same +evenings. + +Thanks to Raimundo's efforts, the intimacy grew apace, though his +sister, while she spoke warmly of her new friend's kindness, opposed a +passive resistance to all familiarity with her. Do what she might, she +could not forget the extraordinary way in which their acquaintance had +begun, nor the sense of falsity with which Clementina had impressed her. +Raimundo, fully aware of all this, did his utmost by direct and indirect +means to conquer her suspicions. + +Aurelia was plain, rather than pretty, with sound common sense, and an +upright spirit. Her adoration for her brother, inherited from her +mother, did not blind her to the weak points in his character. He was +easily impressed and as easily led, and still very puerile. In fact, in +a certain sense, she represented the masculine and he the feminine +element in the house. He was easily moved to tears; she, with great +difficulty. He was liable to whimsical alarms and bewilderments, +amounting sometimes almost to hallucinations, her nervous system was +calm and well balanced; she was healthy and sound, he frail and placid. +During the months immediately following on his mother's death, Raimundo, +making a great effort, with the idea of being his sister's protector, +had shown more manliness and firmness; but, as time went on, his nature +reasserted itself, and he fell into his childish fancies and womanly +susceptibilities again, in proportion as she developed a resolute, +honest, and well-balanced character. + +It cost Clementina hardly an effort to fascinate and subjugate the young +naturalist. Sometimes the young people went to her, and sometimes she to +them; or she would fetch them to go to the theatre, or out driving with +her, and thus they soon met almost every day. The first evening that +Pepe Castro met Alcazar in the Osorios' drawing-room he perfectly +understood the situation, and it filled him with rage. + +"So this precious hussy is taking up with a baby!" he muttered between +his teeth. "They all come to such folly at last." + +He thought of insulting the boy and provoking him to fight; but he soon +saw that this could do him no good. What could he gain by it? +Absolutely nothing, for Clementina would only hate him the more, and the +scandal would betray his discomfiture--all the more ignominious for him, +as his successful rival was a boy, whom no one knew anything about. So +he came to the prudent conclusion that he would not wear his heart for +daws to peck at, but would for a while leave his mistress to her own +devices. By-and-by, perhaps, she would tire of playing with this pet +lamb and call the sheep back to the fold. + +Alcazar was not such a boy as Castro thought him; he was +three-and-twenty. But his face was so youthful and delicate that he did +not look more than eighteen. His health was variable and frail; +especially, since his mother's death, he had been liable to attacks of +the brain, when he lost sometimes his sight, and sometimes the power of +speech, complicated with other evils, but happily of very short +duration. He was a frequent prey to melancholy, ending in a violent +crisis and floods of tears, like a hysterical woman. He was terrified of +spiders; the sight of a surgical instrument gave him the horrors. +Sometimes he suffered acute anguish from a dread of going mad; at others +his fear was lest he should kill himself against his will. He never +would have any kind of weapon within reach, and for fear of throwing +himself from the balcony he always had his bedroom window locked at +night and placed the key in his sister's keeping: she was the only +witness and confidant of his vagaries. They were the outcome, partly of +his temperament, and partly of the effeminate training he had received. +But he kept them a secret, as every man does who suffers in this +way--many more than are ever suspected of it--and by constant +watchfulness he kept them under control, knowing how ridiculous a man +thus constituted must appear. + +It may easily be supposed what his fate must inevitably be when a woman +like Clementina--a beautiful and experienced coquette--had set her heart +on conquest. At first his extreme bashfulness kept him from +understanding the lady's aim and tactics. He took her gracious bows and +inviting smiles for the expression of her sympathy with their orphaned +loneliness. And when she had made friends with them, and shown him every +indication of her liking, when his sister even had given him a warning +hint, he still could not believe that there could be anything between +them beyond a more or less affectionate good-fellowship, protecting and +motherly on her side, devoted and ardent on his. However, the elixir of +love which Clementina shed drop by drop on his lips, as it were, made +its way to his heart. When he was least expecting it, he found that he +was madly in love. But the discovery filled him with bashful fears, and +he thought that he could never dare to declare it. Though his idol's +demeanour towards him, and constant demonstrations of sympathetic regard +were enough to justify any hopes on his part, it seemed to him so +strange as to be impossible that a shy and inexperienced man, devoid of +all worldly advantages, should find favour with so rich and so beautiful +a woman. Nor could he entirely free himself from the remorse which stung +him from time to time. It was her resemblance to his mother which had +first attracted him in Clementina. Was not his passion a profanation? + +But in spite of his remorse, of his timidity, and of his reason, +Raimundo felt himself every day more enslaved by this woman. Clementina, +to be sure, brought every weapon into play; and she had many at her +disposal. In proportion as she found her youthful adorer more bashful, +her own audacity and coolness increased. This is almost always the case, +but in the present instance, circumstances made the contrast all the +more conspicuous. Timidity in him amounted to a disease, a peculiarity +which he full well knew to be ridiculous while he could not overcome it; +on the contrary, the greater the efforts he made, the more his +nervousness betrayed itself. At first he could speak to her with +sufficient calmness, and could allow himself some little compliment or +jest, but he had now lost all his presence of mind, he could not go near +her without losing his head, nor take her hand without trembling; if she +did but look at him his cheeks tingled. + +Clementina could not help smiling at these innocent symptoms of love. +She was full of curiosity, and happy to find herself still handsome +enough to inspire the boy with such a passion. Sometimes she would amuse +herself by playing the fish, making him blush, and behaving with the +license and frivolity of a _grisette_. At others she affected to fall in +with his melancholy mood, making eyes at him like a school-girl; or, +again, she treated him with tender familiarity, inquiring into his life, +his work, and his thoughts, like a fond mother or elder sister. Then +Raimundo would recover his spirits a little, and dare to look the +goddess in the face. Clementina would occasionally cajole him by an +affectation of scientific tastes, going up to his study and covering the +table and the floor with his butterfly-boxes. This, which if any one +else had done it, would have brought the house about their ears, only +made the young naturalist smile. + +But by this time the lady's acquaintances were beginning to make remarks +on her last and most extravagant love-affair, assuming, of course, that +it had gone much further than was really the case. One Saturday evening +at the Osorios' house Pepa Frias ended by exclaiming to three or four of +the "Savages," with whom she had been discussing the matter: + +"You will see. Clementina will end by falling in love with a +Newfoundland dog or a journalist!" + +When Raimundo came into the room with his rosy, melancholy, cherubic +face, his diffident, embarrassed air, every one looked at him with +curiosity: there were smiles, murmurs, witticisms, and stupid remarks. +He was much discussed. In general, and especially by men, Clementina was +thought ridiculous; some of the ladies, however, looked more kindly on +the youth, thought his candid looks very attractive, and sympathised +with her whim. + +Thus our young friend was regarded as _amant en titre_ to Clementina +before he had dared to kiss her finger-tips, or even dreamed of it. He +was perfectly miserable if she was in the least disdainful, and was as +happy as an angel if she made the smallest show of affection. +Clementina was in no hurry to hear his declaration, though fully +determined that he should make it. It amused her to watch the progress +of the affair, noting the development of his passion, and the phenomena +to which it gave rise. She had had her fill of ravings, and thought it +delightful to be adored with this dumb devotion, and play the part of a +goddess. A mere glance was enough to turn this worshipper red or pale, a +word made him happy or reduced him to despair. + +Raimundo went to the Opera whenever Clementina was to be there; he went +up to pay his respects to her in her box, and often, by her invitation, +sat there during two or three acts. Then she would retire to the back of +the box and chat with him there, screened by the curtains. When she was +tired of this, or if some important scene was being sung on the stage, +she would lapse into silence, turn her back on her companion, and listen +to the performance. Raimundo, his ears full of the echo of her tones, +and his heart on fire from the ardour of her gaze, would also remain +silent, though, in truth, more attentive to the music in his brain than +to that performed for his delectation. Sure of not being seen, he could +contemplate the alabaster shoulders of his idol with religious +absorption, and bend down his head, on pretence of hearing better, to +breathe the perfume she used, shutting his eyes and allowing it to +intoxicate him. One evening he put his face so close to her head that he +actually dared to let his lips touch the heavy plaits of her beautiful +hair. No sooner had he done it than he was in great alarm lest +Clementina should have felt it; but she sat unmoved, listening +ecstatically to the music. At the same time, as the young man could see, +her eyes sparkled with a conscious smile. Encouraged by this success, +whenever she had her hair done in this particular way, he ventured, with +the greatest precaution, and after much hesitation, to press it to his +lips. The pleasure was so acute and delightful that it dwelt on his lips +for many days. + +But then, one evening--whether because she was out of temper or because +it was her pleasure to mortify him--she treated him with such contempt +all the time he was in the box, leaving him to entertain Pascuala while +she chatted with some more aristocratic youth of her acquaintance, that +poor Raimundo was thrown into despair. He had not even courage enough to +take leave; he stood, pale and crestfallen, a frown of anxiety furrowing +his brow. Clementina stole a glance at him from time to time. When the +other gentleman made his bow, Raimundo, too, was about to take leave. +The lady detained him, holding his hand. + +"Nay, wait a minute, Alcazar; I have something to say to you," and she +withdrew, as usual, to the back of the box and began chatting with all +her frank amiability. The young man breathed again; still, when she +turned away to listen to the music, he was so unstrung and confused that +he did not dare to kiss her hair, though it was plaited low, and the +opportunity was propitious. + +After a long pause Clementina suddenly turned on him and asked in a low +voice: + +"Why do you not kiss my hair, as you always do?" + +His amazement was quite a shock to him. All the blood rushed to his +heart, leaving him as pale as a corpse; then it mounted to his face, +turning it to the colour of a poppy. + +"I--your hair," he gasped abjectly. And he was forced to cling to a +chair-back to save himself from falling. + +"Do not be frightened, my dear fellow," she exclaimed, laying her hand +on his. "If I allowed it, that is sufficient proof that I did not +object." But seeing that he was gazing at her wildly, as if he did not +understand her, she added: "Perhaps you imagine that I did not know that +you care for me a little?" + +The young man gave a convulsive cry. + +"Yes, I have known it for some time," she went on in a still lower +voice, and speaking into his ear. "But there is something which you do +not know. And that is, that I care for you." + +Casting a hasty glance round the house, to make sure that they were not +observed, she took his hands in hers, and her breath was warm on his +cheek as she said: "Yes, I love you--beyond anything you can imagine." + +Clementina had not anticipated the effect of these words on her +susceptible and effeminate adorer. The violent emotions he had gone +through, and now the high tide of happiness, so completely upset him +that he began to cry like a child. She hastily drew him into a corner, +filling up the space between the curtains with her person. Her face was +radiant with happiness. + +Her conquest, in fact, had a novelty about it which quite enchanted her. +This lover was hardly more than a boy; nor was he one of the herd of +puppies and dandies whom she met at every turn, all cast in the same +mould, devoid of all originality, having all the same vices, the same +vanities, uttering almost the same jests. Raimundo was different from +these, not merely by his humble position and secluded life, nor even by +his talents and culture, but most of all by his character. How sweet a +nature was this boy's! How innocent, how sensitive, how refined, and yet +how impassioned! Accustomed as she was to the monotonous type of Pepe +Castros, every new psychological aspect, every burst of enthusiasm, +every alarm and every joy in her new friend, was to Clementina a +delightful surprise. She was never tired of studying his mind, and would +sometimes affect to doubt his love for her. + +"Do you really love me? Are you sure? Remember, I am an old woman; I +might be your mother." + +And Raimundo always replied with some fond caress and a tearful glance, +which revealed the depth of his devotion. + +From that memorable evening Raimundo could think of nothing but +Clementina. To him the whole world had shrunk into one person, and that +person a woman. Not only did he live and breathe for her, but he thought +of her all day and dreamed of her all night. At first the lady had +received him at her own house, but she, ere long, thought this unwise, +and they took rooms in a neighbouring Street, a small entresol, which +they furnished with taste. + +His life had undergone a complete change. From living in absolute +seclusion he suddenly came out into the world of fashion: theatres, +balls, dinners, riding-parties, and shooting expeditions. Clementina +bound him to her chariot, and exhibited him in every drawing-room as if +she were proud of him. For our young friend, with his delicate features, +gentle temper, and superior intelligence, became popular wherever he +went; no one stopped to ask whether he were rich or poor, noble or +plebeian. + +Aurelia sometimes accompanied him, but always against her will. Though +she dared not contravene her brother's line of conduct, it was easy to +see that she condemned it in her heart, and was out of her sphere at the +Osorios'. She had become taciturn and grave, and her eyes, when she bent +them on Raimundo, took a sad and gloomy expression, as though she feared +disaster. Clementina did all she could to win her, but she made no way +in the girl's affections; and under Aurelia's modest smiles and blushes +she fancied she could detect a vein of hostility which often +disconcerted her. + +Senora de Osorio persisted in the lavish expenditure she had always +indulged in, notwithstanding the rumours of imminent ruin which had so +greatly alarmed Pepa Frias. But the catastrophe did not come as had been +prophesied. The banker contrived to stave it off, giving it to be +understood by those who had money in his hands that there was nothing to +be got by falling on him tooth and nail, as they would not by such means +save one quarter of their capital. On the other hand, they had only to +wait to recover every penny. His wife must, ere long, come into an +immense fortune. His creditors listened to reason, kept their own +counsel as to the state of his affairs, and only stipulated that +Clementina's signature should be affixed, as well as her husband's, to +every renewed bill. Soon after, fortune favoured Osorio in the turns of +the money-market, and he was able to launch out once more, though men +of business looked askance at his dealings, and unanimously declared +that the crash was only deferred. His wife, feeling that she was safe at +any rate, thought no more of such unpleasant subjects. It was only when +she went to her father's house and saw Dona Carmen's pale, worn face, +that her heart throbbed with a feeling which she was loth to confess +even to herself, and which she strove to drown under the sound of +affectionate words and kisses. + +Raimundo's love was an extraordinary joy to her. She felt herself borne, +as she had never been before, on a wave of devoted and poetic passion +which rocked and soothed her. She was well content to play the goddess. +She enjoyed showing herself as now amiable and tender, and again gravely +terrible, putting her adorer to a thousand proofs, to make quite sure, +as she said, that he was indeed wholly hers. + +But the habit of dealing with men of a different stamp led her into +fatal mistakes, which grieved and hurt the youth. One day, in their own +little rooms, she said, with a smile: + +"I have a present for you, Mundo," as she called him for a pet name. + +She rose and took out of her muff a very pretty little note-book. + +"Oh, that is most sweet!" he exclaimed pressing it to his lips. "I will +always use it." + +But on opening it he was struck with consternation. It was full of +bank-notes. + +"You have forgotten to take the money out," he said handing her the +pocket-book. + +"I have not forgotten it. It is for you." + +"For me?" he said turning pale. + +"Do you not wish for it?" she said, somewhat abashed and blushing +scarlet. + +"No," he said firmly, "certainly not." + +Clementina dared not insist. She took the pocket-book, turned out the +bank-notes, and returned it to him. There was a pause of embarrassed +silence. Raimundo sat with his elbow on the table, his cheek in his +hand, serious and thoughtful. She watched him out of the corner of her +eyes, half angry and half curious. + +At last a bright smile lighted up her face. She rose from her seat, and +taking his head between her hands, she said gaily: + +"Well done! This action raises you in my esteem. Still, you may take +money from me without a blush. Am I not your mamma?" + +Raimundo said nothing; he only kissed the hands that had held him fast. +Money was never again spoken of between them. + +But still, in spite of his three-and-twenty years, there was something +childlike about the lad which was an infinite delight to his mistress. +It was due chiefly to his solitary and effeminate youth. He was very +easily taken in, and as easily amused; he never had those fits of black +boredom which afflict the spoilt worldling; he never uttered one of the +caustic and ironical speeches which are common even on a lover's lips. +His glee was effervescent and boyish to the verge of the ridiculous. He +thought it fun to play follow-my-leader behind Clementina in their +little lodgings, or to hide and startle her. He would entertain her with +conjuring tricks, which perhaps showed some intelligence; or they would +play at cards with absorbed attention, as though they were gambling for +large sums; or they would dance to the music of some grinding organ, +that had stopped within hearing. Then they would eat bon-bons for a +match, seeing who would get through most. One day he was bent on making +pine-apple ice; he declared that he was great at making ices. All the +apparatus was borrowed from a cafe in the neighbourhood, and after +stirring and turning for some time, he at last turned out an ugly and +untempting mass, which so greatly depressed him that Clementina actually +swallowed a large dose of the liquid. He was fond of mimicking the +accent and manner of any one he had met at her house; and this he did to +such perfection, that Clementina laughed with all her heart; nay, she +sometimes entreated him to cease, for it hurt her to laugh so much. +Raimundo had the gift of observing the most trifling peculiarities of +the persons he met, and imitating them to perfection. It was difficult +to believe that the person mimicked was not speaking. However, it was +only in the strictest confidence that he displayed this accomplishment. + +Sometimes if he was in a merry mood he would perform a Royal reception. +He hastily erected a throne in the middle of the room, on which +Clementina must sit. Then the Ministers and high political personages in +turn approached the Queen and spoke a short address. Clementina, who +knew them every one, could guess who each was from only a few words. +Raimundo, having often been present at the meetings of Congress, had +picked up the accent and gesture of each to the life. He was +particularly happy in his imitation of Jimenez Arbos, whom he knew well +from meeting him at the Osorios'. Of course, after each speech, he +kissed the sovereign's hand with a reverent bow, and resumed the paper +cocked-hat he had made for the occasion. These childish games amused the +lady, and helped to open a heart which had always been closed by pride +or ennui. She came away from their long interviews quite rejuvenescent, +her eyes sparkling, her step lighter, and ready to bestow a nod on +persons to whom as a rule she would vouchsafe only the coldest bow. + +And then Raimundo would amaze her by some inconceivably childish and +innocent proceeding. One day, when she noiselessly entered their +rooms--for each had a key--she found him industriously sweeping the +floor. He blushed to the ears with confusion, at being discovered. +Clementina, in fits of laughter, covered his face with kisses. + +"Really, child, you are too delightful!" she exclaimed. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +MATTERS OF BUSINESS. + + +It was a very busy morning in Salabert's counting-house. Some large +payments had to be made. The Duke himself had presided over the +transactions and helped the cashier to count the notes. In spite of the +many years he had spent in handling money, he could never part with a +large sum without his hand shaking a little. He was nervous now, and +absorbed, nibbling his cigar, but not spitting as usual, for his throat +was dry. More than once he checked the clerk, believing that he was +allowing two notes to pass for one, but on each occasion he was in +error; the man was very dexterous at his work. When it was all done, the +Duke withdrew to his private room, where he found waiting M. de Fayolle, +the great importer of foreign horses, which he supplied to all the +aristocracy of Madrid. + +"_Bon-jour, Monsieur_," said the Duke, clapping him roughly on the +shoulder. "Have you got another screw you want me to take off your +hands?" + +"Oh, Monsieur le Duc, the horses I sold you are not screws, not a bit of +it. You have the best cattle that ever passed through my stables," said +the Frenchman with a foreign accent and a servile smile. + +"All the cast-off rubbish from Paris is what you sell to me. But do not +suppose that I am taken in. I have known it a long time, Monsieur, a +very long time. Only I can never look in your cherubic and smiling face +without giving way." + +M. Fayolle was smiling at the moment, showing his large yellow teeth +from ear to ear. + +"The face is the mirror of the soul, Monsieur le Duc; you may rely on me +never to offer you anything but what is absolutely first-rate. Has +Apollyon turned out badly?" + +"Hm. So-so." + +"You must surely be jesting! I saw him in the street the other day, in +your phaeton. Every one turned round to look at him." + +For some minutes they discussed various horses which Requena had bought +of the Frenchman; he found fault with every one of them. Fayolle +defended them with the enthusiasm of a dealer and a connoiseur. +Presently, at a pause, he looked at his watch, saying: + +"I will not detain you any longer. I came for the settlement of that +last little account." + +The Duke's face clouded. Then he said half laughing and half angry: + +"Why, my good man, you are never happy unless you are getting money out +of me." + +At the same time he put his hand in his pocket and took out his +note-book. M. Fayolle still smiled, saying that he could not bear to ask +for it, knowing that the Duke was such a pauper, and that it would be +dreadful indeed to see him reduced to beggary, a delicate joke which +Requena did not seem to hear, being absorbed in counting out the paper. +He laid out seven notes of one hundred dollars each and handed them to +Fayolle, ringing a bell for a clerk to bring a form of receipt. Fayolle, +on his part, counted them, and then said: + +"You have made a mistake, Monsieur le Duc, the account is for eight +hundred dollars, and you have only given me seven." + +Salabert did not seem to have heard him. With his eyes half-closed, and +shifting his cigar from one corner of his mouth to the other, he sat +silent, looking at the pocket-book, after fastening it with an elastic +band. + +"This is one hundred dollars short," Fayolle reiterated. + +"What? Short? Count once more. It is impossible!" + +The horse-dealer counted. + +"Three thousand five hundred pesetas." + +"You see, I could not be wrong." + +"But the horse was to cost four thousand. That was a bargain." + +The Duke's face expressed the most candid surprise. + +"What! Four thousand pesetas? No, my friend, no. The horse was to be +three thousand five hundred. It was on that understanding that I bought +it." + +"Monsieur le Duc, you really are under a mistake," said Fayolle, now +quite grave. "You must remember that we finally agreed on four +thousand." + +"I remember all about it. It is you who have a bad memory. Here," he +added to a clerk who came in with the receipt-form, "go downstairs, one +of you, to the stables, and ask Benigno how much I told him I was to +give for Apollyon?" + +And at the same time, taking advantage of the moment when Fayolle looked +at the messenger, he made a significant grimace at the man. The +coachman's answer by the clerk was that the horse was to be three +thousand five hundred pesetas. + +Thereupon the dealer grew angry. He was quite positive that the bargain +had stood at eight hundred dollars, and it was in this belief that he +had delivered it. Otherwise the horse should never have left his stable. + +Requena allowed him to talk himself out, only uttering grunts of +dissent, without exciting himself in the smallest degree. Only when +Fayolle talked of having the horse back, he said in a lazy tone: + +"Then you evidently have some one in your eye who will give you eight +hundred, and you want to be off the bargain?" + +"Monsieur le Duc, I swear to you that it is nothing of the kind. Only I +am positive I am right." + +The banker was seized by an opportune fit of coughing; his eyes were +bloodshot, and his cheeks turned purple. Then he deliberately wiped his +mouth and rose, and said in his most boorish manner: + +"Bless me, man! Don't put yourself out over a few miserable pesetas." + +But he did not produce them. + +The Frenchman was willing to take back the horse, but this again he +failed to achieve. There was a short silence. Fayolle was within an ace +of flying out, and making a fool of himself. But he restrained himself, +reflecting that this would do no good, and that sueing the Duke would do +even less. Who would be counsel for the plaintiff against such a man as +Requena? So he resigned himself to his fate, and took his leave, the +Duke escorting him to the door with much politeness, and clapping him +affectionately on the shoulder. + +When the banker returned to his seat at the table, his eyes glistened +under his heavy eyelids with a smile of sarcastic triumph. A few minutes +after he again rang the bell. + +"Go and inquire whether the Duchess is alone, or if she has visitors," +he said to the man who answered it. And while the servant went on the +errand he sat motionless, leaning back in his chair, with his hands +folded, meditating. + +"Padre Ortega is with the Duchess," was the answer in a few minutes. + +Salabert "pshawed" impatiently, and sank into thought once more. He had +made up his mind to have a solemn discussion with his wife on ways and +means. Dona Carmen had never mentioned money to him in her life, and he +had never felt called upon to give her any account of his speculations +and business matters. He regarded himself as absolute master of his +fortune, and it never entered his head to think that she could make any +claims on it. A friend, however, had lately enlightened him on this +point. Speaking of Dona Carmen's feeble health, he had very naturally +inquired whether she had made her will, and this friend, who was a +lawyer, had at the same time mentioned the fact that, by the law of +Spain, half of the business and fortune was hers. + +This was a terrible shock to Salabert. He was frightened to watch his +wife's decline; at her death her relations would claim half of all he +had made, would poke their noses into his concerns, even the most +private. Horror! + +He consulted his lawyer. The simplest way of remedying the mischief, and +depriving these relations of their rights, was to induce his wife to +make a will in his favour. To the Duke this seemed the most natural +thing in the world, and in the interview he proposed, he intended to +suggest it to her as diplomatically as he could, so as not to alarm her +as to her own state of health. + +So he waited, arranging and looking over his papers, till he thought it +was time to send again to inquire whether the priest was gone. But just +as he was about to do so, the porter came in and told him that some +gentlemen wanted to see him, and among them Calderon. The banker was +much annoyed. + +"Did you say I was at home?" + +"Well, as you always are at home in the morning, Senor Duque----" + +"Damn you!" said the banker, with a furious scowl. But raising his voice +at once, and putting on the clumsy abruptness which he was so fond of +affecting: "Show them in, of course," he said, "show the gentlemen in." + +On this Calderon came in, followed by Urreta and two other bankers not +less well known in Madrid. They all looked grave, almost sinister. But +Salabert, paying no heed to their looks, began shaking hands and +slapping backs, making a great noise. "Good business! Very good +business, now to lock you all four up, and make you each pay a round sum +as ransom! Ha, ha! Why here, in my room, are the four richest rascals in +Madrid. Four gorged sharks! How is your rheumatism, Urreta? It strikes +me that you want thoroughly overhauling as much as I do. And you, +Manuel, how long do you expect to hold out? Your cousin, you see, is +looking out very sharp." + +The four gentlemen maintained a courteous reserve, and their extreme +gravity cut short this impertinent banter. The case was, in fact, a +serious one. About a year ago Salabert had sold them the business of a +railway from B---- to S----, which was already in full work, with all +the plant and rolling-stock. Though it had not been committed to +writing, it was fully understood by both parties that when the extension +from S---- to V---- should be put up for sale, as it was in connection +with the other line, Salabert should advance no claims, but leave it to +them to treat for it. Now, it had come to their knowledge that the Duke +had failed to keep his word, and had tried to jockey them in the most +barefaced way, by making a bid for the line. + +The first to speak was Calderon. + +"Antonio," he said, "we have come to quarrel with you very seriously." + +"Impossible! Quarrel with such an inoffensive creature as I am?" + +"You will remember that when we bought up your railway, you agreed, or +to be accurate, you solemnly promised, not to tender for the purchase of +the extension from S---- to V----." + +"Certainly I remember it, perfectly." + +"But we see with surprise that an offer from you----" + +"An offer from me!" exclaimed the Duke, in the greatest surprise, and +opening his prominent eyes very wide. "Who told you that cock-and-bull +story?" + +"It is not a cock-and-bull story. I, myself, saw your signature," said +the Marques de Arbiol. + +"My signature? Impossible." + +"My good friend, I tell you I saw it with my own eyes. 'Antonio +Salabert, Duke de Requena,'" replied Arbiol, very gravely. + +"It cannot be; it is impossible!" repeated the Duke, walking up and down +the room in the most violent excitement. "It must be a forgery." + +Arbiol smiled scornfully. + +"It bore your seal." + +"My seal?" he exclaimed, with ready parry. "Then the forgery was +committed in my own house. You cannot imagine what scoundrels I have +about me. I should need a hundred eyes." Foaming with rage, he rang the +bell. + +"Now we shall see; we will find out whether I have been deceived or no. +Send Llera in here," he said to the servant who appeared. "And all the +clerks--immediately, this instant!" + +Arbiol glanced at his companions, and shrugged his shoulders. But +Requena, though he saw this, did not choose to notice it; he went on +growling, snorting, uttering the most violent interjections, and walking +to and fro. Presently Llera made his appearance, followed by a group of +abject-looking clerks, ill-dressed and common. Salabert placed himself +in front of them, with his arms crossed, and said vehemently: + +"Look here, Llera, I mean to find out who is the scoundrel who presented +a tender, in my name, with a forged copy of my signature, for the +purchase of the S---- and V---- line of railway. Do you know anything of +the matter?" + +Llera, after looking him straight in the face, bent his head without +replying. + +"And you others, do you know anything about it? Heh, do you know +anything whatever?" + +The clerks in the same way stared at him; then they looked at Llera, and +they too bent their heads and stood speechless. + +Salabert, with well-feigned fury, eyed them all in turn, and at length +addressing his visitors: + +"You see," he said; "no one answers. The guilty man, or men, lurk among +them; for I suspect that more than one must be concerned. Do not be +afraid, I will give them a lesson, a terrible lesson. I will not rest +till I have them before the judge. Go," he added, to the delinquents, +"and those of you who are guilty may well quake. Justice will soon +overtake you." + +To judge by the absolute indifference with which this fulmination was +received, the criminals must have been hardened indeed. Each man went +back to his place and his work as though the sword of Nemesis were not +drawn to cut his throat. + +The bankers were half amused and half angry. At last one of the +quartette, biting his lips for fear of laughing outright, held out his +hand with a contemptuous gesture, saying: + +"Good-bye, Salabert--_au revoir_." + +The others followed his example without another word about the business +which had brought them. The Duke was not at all disconcerted; he +politely saw them to the head of the stairs, firing wrathful lightnings +at his clerks as he led his visitors through the office. On his return +he took not the slightest notice of the men; he walked down the room +like an actor crossing behind the scenes as he comes off the stage. + +Soon after this performance he went downstairs himself, to go to his +wife's room. He found her alone, reading a book of devotions. Dona +Carmen, who had always been pious, had of late given herself up almost +exclusively to religious exercises. Her failing strength cut her off +more and more from the outer world, and left her sadly submissive to the +priests who visited her. Salabert had never opposed this taste for +devotion; he regarded it with pitying indifference, as an innocent +mania. However, just lately, some rather large bounties of Dona Carmen's +had alarmed him, and he had felt obliged to give her a paternal lecture. +He was accustomed to find her submissive, unambitious, absolutely +indifferent to the result of his various speculations; he treated her as +a child, if not as a faithful dog, whose head he might now and then pat +kindly. The hapless woman never had interfered in his life, his toil, or +his vices. Though his mistresses and fearful extravagance were discussed +by all the rest of the world, Dona Carmen knew nothing of them, or +ignored them. Nevertheless, the Duke's last connection with Amparo had +distressed her more than any former one. This arrogant but low creature +delighted in annoying the Duchess in every possible way, which was what +none of her predecessors had done. If she went out driving with her +husband, Amparo would keep pace in her carriage and exchange significant +glances with Requena. When the good lady gently complained of such +conduct, Salabert would simply deny, not merely his smiles and ogling, +but all acquaintance with the woman: he only knew her by sight, he had +never spoken to her in his life. It was the same at the Opera; Amparo +would stare all the evening at the Duke's box. At bull-fights and at +races she made a display of reckless luxury which attracted general +attention. Certain well-intentioned friends, in their compassion for +Dona Carmen, kept her informed as to the enormous sums this woman was +costing the Duke by her extravagance and caprices. These constant +vexations, endured unconfessed to any one but her director, had told on +the lady's health, reducing her to a state of weakness which made it +seem a miracle that she was still alive. Salabert had something else to +do than to consider her sufferings. He thought that with the title of +Duchess, and such enormous wealth, in so splendid a house, Dona Carmen +ought to be the happiest woman on earth. + +"Well, how are you, old woman, how are you?" said he as he went in, in a +half rough and half kindly tone which betrayed his entire indifference. + +Dona Carmen looked up with a smile. + +"What, you? What miracle brings you here at this hour?" + +"I should have come earlier, but I was told that Father Ortega was with +you. How did you sleep? Pretty well? That's right. You are not so ill as +you fancy. Why do you let the priests come hanging about you as if you +were at the point of death?" + +"Do you suppose a priest is of no use but when one is dying?" + +"Of course priests about a house are indispensable to make it look +respectable," he answered, stretching himself in an easy chair, and +spreading out his legs. "Without a rag of black fustian, a newly +furnished palace like this is too gaudy. Still, in the long run, they +become a nuisance; they are never tired of begging; they have a swallow +like a whale's. I should like to buy sham ones made of wax or +papier-mache, they would answer every purpose." + +"There, there, Antonio. Do not talk so wildly. Any one who heard you +would take you for a heretic, and that you are not, thank God!" + +"What should I gain by being a heretic? That does not pay." Then +suddenly changing the subject, he said: "How is that caravansary of +yours in the Cuatro Caminos getting on?" + +He meant the asylum of which Dona Carmen was the chief benefactress. + +"It is doing very well, excepting that the Marquesa de Alcudia wishes to +retire, and we do not know whom to appoint as treasurer in her place." + +"It is always empty on the Sabbath, I suppose?" + +"Why?" said the lady, innocently. + +"They are all off to Seville on broomsticks, no doubt." + +"Bah! do not make game of the poor old things," said she, laughing. "You +and I are old folks, too." + +"Very true, very true," replied the banker, affecting serious +melancholy. "We are a pair of old puppets, and one fine day, when we +least expect it, we shall find ourselves removed to other quarters." + +He had discovered an opening for the subject he wished to discuss, and +had seized on it at once. + +"No," said his wife, "you are strong and hearty enough. You will live to +fight many a battle yet; but I, my dear, have but one foot in the +stirrup." + +"Nay, nay, we are both in the same plight. Once over the sixties there +is no knowing." + +"If such reflections did anything to bring you nearer God, and make you +labour in His service, I should be glad indeed." + +"Do you think I do nothing in His service, when I spend above five +thousand dollars in masses every year?" + +"Come, Antonio, do not talk like that." + +"My dear child, it is a very good thing to think of the next world, but +it is prudent, to say the least, to think of this world to. I have just +lately been considering that if you or I were to die, there would be no +end of complications for the survivor." + +"Why?" + +"Because husband and wife are not by law nearest of kin to each other, +and if by chance either of us died intestate, our relations would be a +perfect torment to the survivor." + +"For that there is an easy remedy. We make our wills and it is settled." + +"That is just what I have been thinking," said Salabert, endeavouring to +make a show of calm indifference, which he was far from feeling. "It +struck me that instead of our each making an independent will, we might +come to a mutual arrangement." + +"What is that?" + +"A will by which each is the heir to the other." + +Dona Carmen looked down at the book she still held, and did not +immediately answer. The Duke, somewhat uneasy, watched her narrowly from +under his eyelids, gnawing his cigar with impatience. + +"That is impossible," said she at last, very gravely. + +"What is impossible? And why?" he hastily asked, sitting upright in his +chair. + +"Because I intend to leave all I have, whether much or little, to your +daughter. I have promised her that I will." + +Salabert had never dreamed of stumbling on such an obstacle, he had +thought of the mutual bequest as a settled thing. He was equally +startled and vexed, but he immediately recovered himself, and assuming a +serious and dignified manner, he spoke: + +"Very good, Carmen. I have no wish to coerce you in the matter. You are +mistress of your possessions, and can leave them to whom you choose, +though you must remember that that fortune has been earned by me at the +cost of much toil. During the years of our married life, pecuniary +questions have never given rise to any differences between us, and I +sincerely wish that they never may. Money, as compared with the +feelings of the heart, is of no importance whatever. The thing that +pains me is the thought that any other person, even though it be my own +daughter, should have usurped my place in your affections." + +At these words his voice broke a little. + +"No, Antonio, no," Dona Carmen hastened to put in. "Neither your +daughter nor any one else can rob you of the affection due to you. But +you are rich enough without needing my fortune, and she wants it." + +"No. It is vain to try to soften the blow, I feel it in the depths of my +heart," replied Salabert in pathetic accents, and pressing one hand to +his left side. "Five-and-thirty years of married life, five-and-thirty +years of joys and griefs, of fears and hopes in common, have not availed +to secure me the foremost place in your affections. Nothing that can be +said will remedy that. I fancied that our union, the years of love and +happiness that we have spent together, might be closed by an act which +would crown our lives by making one of us inherit the whole of what we +have gained. The devotion of a husband and wife is never better +displayed than in a last will and testament." + +Requena's oratory had risen to a tone of moral dignity which, for a +moment, seemed to impress his wife. However, she replied with perfect +sweetness but unshaken firmness: + +"Though Clementina is not my own flesh and blood, I love her as if she +were. I have always regarded her as my own child, and it seems to me an +act of injustice to deprive a child of its share of an inheritance." + +"But, my dear," exclaimed the Duke vehemently, "for whom do you suppose +I want it but for my daughter? Make me your heir, and I pledge myself to +transmit it to her, not only undiminished but greatly augmented." + +Dona Carmen kept silence, but shook her head in negation. Her husband +rose as though emotion were quite too much for him. + +"Oh, yes! I understand! You cannot forgive me some little errors of +caprice and folly. You are taking advantage of this opportunity of +revenge. Very well, very well. Indulge your vengeance; but believe me +when I say that I have never loved any woman better than you. The heart +cannot be made to obey orders, Carmen; if I desired to tear your image +out of mine, my heart would answer: 'No, I cannot give it up without +breaking.' It is sad, very sad, to meet with so cruel a disenchantment +at the end of our lives. If you were to die to-morrow, which God forbid! +what worries and troubles must await me, besides the grief of losing the +wife I adore. Why I, a poor old man, might be compelled to quit the +house where I have lived so many years, which I built and beautified in +the hope of dying under its roof in your arms!" + +Requena's voice broke at judicious intervals, and his eyes filled with +tears. When he ceased speaking he sank into his armchair as though quite +crushed, pressing his handkerchief to his eyes. + +But Dona Carmen, though tender-hearted and sensitive, showed no signs of +emotion. On the contrary, she replied in a steady voice: + +"You know perfectly well that there is no truth in all that. I am not +capable of taking any revenge, nor, if I were, could there be any such +vengeance in leaving all I can to your daughter, who is mine solely by +the affection I bear to her." + +The Duke changed his tactics. He looked at his wife compassionately for +a few minutes, and then he said: + +"The greatest happiness you could confer on Clementina to show your +affection would be to get out of her way as soon as you can. Poor Osorio +is up to the ears in hot water. Now I understand why his creditors have +been so long-suffering. You no doubt have said something to his wife of +this will of yours, and as you are somewhat ailing they are looking for +your death like showers in May. Make no mistake about that." + +Dona Carmen at these cruel words turned even paler than she always was. +She clutched the arms of her chair with an effort to keep herself from +fainting. This that her husband had said was horrible, but only too +probable. He saw her agitation, and at once brought forward facts to +confirm his hypothesis. He drew a complete picture of Osorio's position, +pointing out how unlikely it was that his creditors should still give +him time if they had not some definite hope to count on; and this could +only be her own death. + +The unhappy woman at last spoke. Her words were almost sublime: + +"If, indeed, Clementina desires my death," she said, "then so do I, with +all my heart. Everything I can leave is for her." + +Salabert left the room in a towering rage, fighting like a bull assailed +by crackers, or an actor who has been hissed off the stage. + +Dona Carmen lay for some time motionless in the attitude in which he had +left her, her eyes fixed on vacancy. At last two tears dropped from her +eyes and slowly trickled down her cheeks. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +THE DUKE'S BALL. + + +Weeks and months went by. Clementina spent the summer at Biarritz as +usual. Raimundo followed her, leaving his sister in charge of some +relations, and only returned at the end of September. A storm had swept +over the orphan's dwelling which had completely wrecked its happiness. +Raimundo, entirely neglecting his methodical habits of study, had rushed +into the world of pleasure with the ardour of a novice. His sister, +amazed at such a change, remonstrated mildly but without effect. The +young man behaved with the petulance of a spoilt child, answering her +sharply, or if she spoke with sterner decision, melting into tears, +declaring that he was miserable, that she did not love him, that it +would have been better if he had died when his mother died, and so +forth. Aurelia saw that there was nothing for it but to suffer in +silence, and kept her fears and gloomy anticipations to herself. She +could too easily guess the cause of this change, but neither of them +ever made any allusion to it; Raimundo because he could not speak to his +sister of his connection with Clementina, and she because she could not +bear that he should suppose she even understood it. + +Meanwhile it led our young friend to great extravagance, far beyond what +his income allowed. To enable him to keep up with the lady's carriage as +she drove in the fashionable avenues, he bought a fine horse, after +taking some riding lessons. Theatres, flowers and gifts for his +mistress, amusements shared with his new friends of the Savage Club, +dress, trinkets, everything, in short, which a youth "about town" +thinks indispensable, cost him enormous sums in proportion to his +income. He was forced to touch his capital. This, as we know, was in the +form of shares in a powder manufactory, and in the funds. His mother had +kept her securities in an iron box inside her wardrobe. When she died, +the guardian she had appointed to her two children, examined the +documents and made due note of them, but as Raimundo was esteemed a very +steady young fellow of impeccable conduct, and as he had for some time +past presented and cashed the coupons, his uncle did not take the +securities out of his keeping, but left them in the box where he had +found them. And now Raimundo, needing money at any cost, and not daring +to borrow it of any one, broke his trust, for he was not yet of legal +age, and sold some of the securities. And the strange thing is, that +although he had hitherto lived so blamelessly, upright in thought and +honest in purpose, he did it without feeling any very deep remorse. His +passion had so completely stultified and altered him. + +Of course he did not do this without its leading to worse consequences. +His uncle, hearing of his extravagant expenditure, came to the house one +day, shut himself up with him in his study and attacked him point-blank: + +"We must settle accounts together, Raimundo. From what I am told, and +from what I can see, you are living at a rate which you cannot possibly +afford. This is a serious matter, and, as your trustee, I must know +where the money comes from, if not for your own sake, at any rate for +your sister's." + +Raimundo was greatly startled. He turned pale and muttered some +unintelligible words. Then finding himself at bay, at once perceiving +that his safety depended on this interview--that is to say, the safety +of his love affair--he did not hesitate to lie boldly. + +"Yes, uncle, it is true that I am spending a good deal, more than my +income would permit, no doubt. But you need not therefore conclude that +it is the capital I inherited from my parents." + +"Well, then?" + +"Well, then," said the young man, and his voice dropped as if he had +some difficulty in speaking, "I cannot tell you whence I get the money, +uncle, it is a matter of honour." + +His guardian was mystified. + +"Of honour! I do not know what that may mean. But listen to me, boy; I +cannot let the matter drop. My position is critical. If I do not take +proper care of your interests I may find myself called upon to pay up, +and there is no mercy for trustees." + +Raimundo remained silent for some seconds, at last, stammering and +hesitating, he said: + +"If you must know then I will tell you. You have heard perhaps of my +intimacy with a lady?" + +"Yes, I have heard something of a flirtation between you and Osorio's +wife." + +"Well, that explains the mystery," said the nephew, colouring violently. + +"So that, in point of fact, this woman"----said the elder, snapping his +thumb and finger. + +Raimundo bent his head and said no more, or, to be exact, his silence +said everything. The man who had indignantly refused his mistress's +bank-notes now confessed himself guilty of this humiliation, though +perfectly innocent, simply out of fear. + +His uncle was a vulgar mortal enough, who kept a shop in the Calle de +Carmen. His nephew's confession, far from rousing his indignation, +raised the youth in his esteem. + +"Well, my dear fellow! I am glad to see that you have hatched out at +last and are beginning to know the ways of the world. Ah, you rogue, how +quiet you have kept it!" + +But as he still remained in the study, betraying the remains of a +suspicion, Raimundo, with the audacity peculiar to women and weak men in +critical circumstances, said firmly enough: + +"My capital and my sister's are intact; I can show you the securities +this very minute." + +He took out the key and was going to fetch the box. His uncle stopped +him. + +"No need, my boy, no need. What for?" + +And thus he escaped as by a miracle from this dreadful predicament, +which might so easily have ended in a catastrophe. At the same time, his +triumph cost him many moments of bitter reflection, and a collapse of +mind and body which made him quite ill for a time. It is impossible to +break suddenly with all the traditions and ideas which constitute the +back-bone of our character without the acutest pain. + +At about this time a gentleman from Chili came to call on him; a +naturalist himself, and, like Raimundo, devoted to the study of +butterflies. He had last come from Germany, and was on his way home to +America; he had read some of the young man's scientific papers, and +having also heard of his fine collection, he would not pass through +Madrid without visiting it. Raimundo received him with great pleasure, +and some little shame; for some months he had scarcely thought of +scientific subjects, and had neglected his specimens. The South American +nevertheless found it extremely interesting and was full of intelligent +sympathy; he told him that he was commissioned by his Government to +recruit some young men of talent to fill the professors' chairs lately +created at Santiago in Chili. If Alcazar would emigrate one of them was +open to him. + +In any other circumstances Raimundo, who had no tie of blood excepting +his sister, would certainly have decided on this step. But as it was, +enmeshed by the toils of love, the proposal struck him as so absurd that +he could but smile with a trace of contempt, and he politely declined it +as though he were a millionaire, or a man at the head of Spanish +society. + +Then to pay for his journey to Biarritz, he was again obliged to sell +some shares in the funds. He carried five thousand francs with him, a +more than ample sum for his summer in France. But at the end of a few +days, led away by the example of his friends, he took to betting at the +Casino, on the game of racing with dice, and in two evenings he had lost +everything. Not being accustomed to these proceedings, the only thing he +could think of to help himself was to return to Madrid at once, sell +some more shares, and come back again. His fortune was dwindling from +day to day. By the beginning of the winter he had sacrificed several +thousand dollars; but this did not check his lavish expenditure. +Aurelia, who from some hints of her uncle, or suspicions of her own, +imagined that she knew from whom the money came, was melancholy and +distressed. Her eyes, as she looked at her brother, were full of grief +and pity, not unmingled with indignation. + +So matters went on till the Carnival. The Duchess of Requena's health +had been improved by some waters in Germany, to which her husband had +taken her in the autumn. No sooner had she made her will in favour of +her step-daughter, than he devoted himself to taking care of her, +knowing how important her existence was to him. The great speculator's +affairs meanwhile were progressing satisfactorily. He had bought the +mines at Riosa, as he had proposed, money down. From that moment he had +been waging covert war against the rest of the company, selling shares +at lower and lower prices, to depreciate their value. This had worked +entirely to his satisfaction. In a few months the price had fallen from +a hundred and twenty, at which they had stood just after the sale of the +property, to eighty-three. Salabert waited on from day to day to produce +a panic, by throwing a large number of them into the market, and so +bring the quotation down to forty. Then, by means of his agents in +Madrid, Paris, and London, he meant to buy up half the shares, _plus_ +one, and so to be master of the whole concern. + +It was at this time that, in order to serve his political ends, as well +as to gratify his native taste for display--in spite of his +counter-balancing avarice--he determined to give a fancy dress ball, in +his magnificent residence, inviting all the aristocracy, and securing +the presence of the royal family. Preparations were begun two months +beforehand. Although the palace was splendidly fitted up, he had some +rather heavy and over-large pieces of furniture removed from the +drawing-rooms, and replaced by others from Paris, of lighter and simpler +style. He got rid of some of the hangings, and purchased several +decorative works of art, which it must be owned were certainly lacking. +Three weeks before the day fixed for the ball he sent out the +invitations. Three weeks, he thought, were not too much to allow his +guests to prepare their costumes. Fancy dress was indispensable; +gentlemen to wear dominoes at the very least. The newspapers had soon +announced the ball to every town in Spain. + +As her stepmother took little interest in such things, and from her +delicate health was not able to play an active part in the preparations, +Clementina was the life and soul of the whole affair. She spent all her +days in her father's house, save only a few hours which she bestowed on +Raimundo. Osorio at this juncture took it into his head to have their +two little girls home from school, one ten and the other eleven years +old, to spend a few days with their parents; but the poor little things +had to return some days sooner than their father had promised, because +Clementina was so busy that she scarcely found time to speak to them. +This made their father so angry that, one day, without allowing them to +take leave of their mother, he put them into the carriage, and himself +accompanied them back to school. That evening, however, when Clementina +returned home, there was a violent quarrel between them on the subject. + +Raimundo, too, found himself neglected; still he looked forward with +childish delight to this entertainment, at which he meant to appear as a +court page. This was an idea suggested by Clementina. The model for his +dress was taken from a famous picture in the Senate-house. For herself, +she had fallen in love with a portrait of Margaret of Austria, the queen +of Philip III., painted by Pantoja. She ordered a black velvet dress, +very closely fitting, with pink silk slashings braided with silver; and +there can be no doubt that it was a costume singularly well adapted to +set off her fine and ample figure and the imposing beauty of her face. + +The Duke himself worked hard at the less ornamental details; the +erection, for instance, of a gallery for the musicians, which was to be +built up against the wall, between the two large drawing-rooms, and +embowered in shrubs and flowering plants; the arrangements for hats and +wraps, the laying of carpets, the removal of furniture, and so forth. +Salabert was a terribly hard overseer, a real driver of the workmen. He +never allowed them to rest, and expected them to be incessantly on the +alert. He never gave them a moment's peace, nor was satisfied with what +they did. + +One day a cabinet of carved ebony had to be moved, from a room where the +ladies were to sit to the card-room. The workmen, under the direction of +the master carpenter, were carrying it slung, while the Duke followed, +bidding them be careful, with an accompaniment of objurgations. + +"Damn it all, be quick. Move a little quicker, can't you, you snub-nosed +cur! Now, mind that chandelier!--lower Pepe, lower--lower, I say, you +ass! Damn it, now raise it again." + +As they went through the door, the head carpenter, seeing that they +might easily hurt themselves, called out: "Mind your fingers!" + +"Mind the mouldings! Curse your fingers," exclaimed the Duke. "Do you +think I care for your fingers, you louts?" + +And one of the men looked him in the face with an indescribable +expression of hatred and scorn. + +When the cabinet was in its place the Duke saw it fixed, and then went +to his room to brush off the dust. Soon after, he went down the grand +staircase, and getting into his carriage went out. + + * * * * * + +At last the great day arrived. The newspapers announced the ball for the +last time with a grand flourish of trumpets. The Duke de Requena had +spent a million of francs in preparations, they said, and they also gave +it to be understood that all the flowers had been sent from Paris. And +this was true. The Duke, born in Valencia, the loveliest garden of +Europe, ordered flowers from France for his ball to the amount of some +thousands of dollars. Camellias strewed the very floors in the ante-room +and passages; hundreds of exotic plants decorated the hall, the +corridors, and the rooms. An army of servants, in knee-breeches and a +gaudy livery, stood at every corner where they might be wanted. A +detachment of horse-guards was posted at the garden entrance to keep +order among the carriages, with the help of the police. The cloak-room, +erected for the occasion, was a luxurious apartment, where every +arrangement had been made to preserve the ladies' magnificent wraps, or +_sorties de bal_, as it is the fashion to call them, from being lost or +damaged. + +The grand staircase was a blaze of electric light, the hall and +dining-room were lighted with gas: the dancing-room with wax candles. +The sitting-rooms and card-room had oil-lamps with wide and elaborate +shades, and in these rooms fires were blazing cheerfully. + +Clementina received the company in the first drawing-room, close to the +ante-room. She took her stepmother's place here because Dona Carmen had +not sufficient strength to stand for so long. The Duchess sat in the +inner room, surrounded by friends. The Duke and Osorio, at the door +between the hall and ante-room, offered an arm to the ladies as they +arrived and conducted them to Clementina. + +This lady's costume set off her beauty, as she had intended, to the +greatest advantage. Her exquisite figure seemed even more finely moulded +in this close fitting dress, and her head, with its magnificent coppery +hair, rose above the black velvet like a queenly flower. King Phillip +III. would gladly have exchanged the real Margaret for such a +counterfeit. A rumour was current in the rooms, and made public next day +in the papers, that a hairdresser had come from Paris by the express +train to dress her head. + +The motley crowd soon began to fill the rooms. Every epoch of history, +every country of the world had sent representatives to Salabert's ball. +Moors, Jews, Chinese, Venetians, Greeks and Romans--Louis XIV. and the +Empire, Queens and slaves, nymphs and gipsies, Amazons and Sibyls, +grisettes and vestals, walked arm-in-arm, or stood chatting in groups, +and laughing with cavaliers of the last century, Flemings of the +fourteenth, pages and necromancers. Most of the men, however, had +adopted the Venetian doublet and short cloak. The orchestra had already +played two or three waltzes, but as yet no one was dancing. They awaited +the arrival of the Royal personages. + +Raimundo was wandering about the rooms with the familiarity of an +intimate friend, smiling at every one with the modest frankness which +made him singularly attractive, though strange to a society where cold, +not to say scornful, manners are regarded as the stamp of dignity and +rank. The young entomologist had been for some time living in a +delicious whirl, a sort of golden dream, such as humble natures are +often addicted to. His page's costume, of the date of Isabella the +Great, suited him well, and more than one pretty girl turned her head to +look at him. Now and then he made his way to where Clementina was on +duty, and without speaking they could exchange looks and smiles. On one +of these occasions he saw Pepe Castro, in the dress of a cavalier of the +Court of Charles I., approach to pay his respects. + +"How is this?" he said in her ear. "Are you not yet tired of your +cherub?" + +"I am never tired of what is good," said she with a smile. + +"Thank you," he replied, sarcastically. + +"There is nothing to thank me for; are you trying to pick a quarrel?" +And she turned away with a shrug of contempt to speak to the Condesa de +Cotorraso, who came in at the moment. + +Raimundo had watched this brief colloquy. Its confidential tone was a +stab to him. For a moment he did not move; Esperancita passed close in +front of him, but he did not see her. It was the child's first +appearance at a ball. She wore a pretty Venetian dress of a rich red +colour, cut low; her mother was magnificent as a Dutch burgomaster's +wife, in brown, embroidered with gold and silver, with a lace ruff and +necklace of diamonds and pearls. What pangs these costumes must have +cost her luckless husband! In the first instance, when this ball was +under discussion, he had supposed that some combination of old clothes +would answer their purpose, and had made no difficulties. When he saw +the dresses and the dressmaker's bill he was breathless. He was ready to +cry Thief! Woe befall that miserable Salabert and the hour in which he +had thought of this ball, and all the Venetian and Dutch ladies that had +ever lived! And what most weighed on his soul was the reflection that +these costly garments were to be worn for but one night. Four thousand +pesetas thrown into the gutter! as he repeated a hundred times a day. + +Esperancita looked at Alcazar, expecting him to bow; but seeing that he +was gazing elsewhere, she, too, looked round at the group about +Clementina, and immediately understood the situation. A cloud of +distress came over her, as over Raimundo. But suddenly her eyes +sparkled, and her whole ingenuous and insignificant little face was +lighted up, transfigured by an indefinable charm. Pepe Castro was coming +towards her. + +"Charming, charming!" murmured the Adonis in an absent way, as he bowed +affectedly. + +The girl blushed with delight. + +"Will you honour me with the first waltz?" + +At this very moment she found herself the centre of a group of young +men, all buzzing round Calderon's money-bags, and eager to compliment +his daughter. Among these was Cobo Ramirez. They were all pressing her +to give them a dance, each in turn signing the initials of his +illustrious name on Esperancita's card. Ramoncito, who was standing a +few yards off, did not join the little crowd--faithful to the advice +given him, now above a year ago, by his friend and adviser Castro; +though hitherto these tactics had proved unavailing, for Esperancita +remained insensible to his devotion. Still, he would not ascribe this to +any fault in the method, but to his lack of courage to follow it out +with sufficient vigour, without hesitancy or backsliding. If the girl +happened to look kindly at him, or speak to him more gently than usual, +farewell diplomacy! + +At this moment he was casting grim looks at the crowd which had gathered +round her, and vaguely replying to Cotorraso, who had of late taken a +most oppressive fancy to him, button-holing him wherever he met him, to +explain his new methods of extracting oil. The young deputy had not +gained in dignity from his showy dress and white wig, as a gentleman of +the eighteenth century: he looked for all the world like a footman. + +Suddenly there was a stir in the ante-room. The Royal party had arrived. +The company collected about the door-ways. The Duke and Duchess, +Clementina and Osorio, went to the outside steps to receive them, and +the music played the Royal March. The King and Queen came in, walking +slowly between the two ranks of guests, stopping now and then when they +saw any one known to them to bestow a gracious greeting. The recipient +of such honour bowed or curtsied to the ground, kissing the Royal hand +with grateful effusiveness. The ladies especially humbled themselves +with a rapture they could not conceal, and a gush of loyalty and +affection which brought the blood to their cheeks. + +The royal quadrille was immediately formed, and Clementina left her +place by the door to dance in it. The Sovereign led out the Duchess, who +made this great effort to please her husband. A triple row of spectators +stood round to look on. + +Salabert was in his glory. The waif, the beggar, from the market-place +of Valencia, was entertaining Royalty. His dull, fish like, dissipated +eyes glistened with triumph. This explosion of vanity had blown to the +winds all the sordid anxieties which the cost of the ball had caused +him--the deadly struggle with his own avarice. To-morrow perhaps the +scatered fragments might reunite to give him fresh torment; for the +moment, intoxicated with pride, he was drinking deep breaths of the +atmosphere of importance and power created by his wealth; his face was +flushed with a congestion of ecstatic vanity. + +"Only look at Salabert's radiant expression," said Rafael Alcantara to +Leon Guzman and some other intimates who were standing in a group. "Joy +transpires from every pore! Now is the moment to ask him for a loan of +ten thousand dollars." + +"Do you think you would get it?" + +"Yes, at six per cent., on good security," said the other. "But look, +look! Here comes Lola, the most fascinating and delightful creature who +has yet entered these rooms." And he raised his voice so as to be heard +by the lady in question. + +Lola sent him a smile of acknowledgment; and her husband, the Mexican of +the cows, who also had heard the remark, bowed with pleasure. She was +really very bewitchingly dressed, as a Louis XIV. Marquise, in rose +colour, embroidered with gold, and a yellow train, also embroidered. Her +hair was powdered, and round her throat was a black velvet ribbon with +silver pendants. + +When the Royal quadrille was ended, waltzing began. Pepe Castro came to +find Esperancita, who was walking with the youngest of the Alcudia +girls. It was the first time that they had either of them been present +at a ball, and they were perfectly happy as they looked out on the world +in its most holiday aspect, confiding their delightful impressions to +each other's private ear. He remained with them for a minute till a +partner came to claim Paz for the dance, and the two couples floated off +at the same time on the tide of waltzers. For Esperancita the world had +vanished. A delicious sense of joy and freedom, like that which a bird +might feel in flying if it had a soul, glowed in her heart and lapped +her in delight. It was the first time she had ever felt Pepe Castro's +arm round her waist. Swept away by him into the maelstrom of couples, +she felt as though they were alone--he and she. And the music charmed +her ears and heart, giving sweet utterance to the ineffable gladness +which throbbed in every pulse. + +When they paused a moment to rest, her face so unmistakeably expressed +the supreme emotion of first love, that her aunt Clementina, happening +to pass on the arm of the President of Congress, could not help looking +at her with a half kindly, half mocking smile, which made the child +blush. Pepe Castro could scarcely get a word out of her. Delicious +excitement seemed to have stricken her dumb. The happiness which filled +her soul found an outlet, as so often happens, in a feeling of general +benevolence. The ball to her was a pure delight; all the men were +amusing; all the women were exquisitely dressed. Even Ramon, who came +by, was bedewed with some drops of this overflowing tide of gladness. + +"Are you not dancing, Ramon?" she inquired, with so inviting a smile +that the poor fellow was quite overcome with joy. + +"I have been kept talking by Cotorraso." + +"But find yourself a partner. Look, there is Rosa Pallares, who is not +dancing." + +The smiling statesman hastened to invite the damsel in question, +thinking, with characteristic acumen, that Esperancita had selected her +for her plain face. Soothed by this flattering reflection he was quite +content to dance with the daughter of General Pallares, of whom Cobo +Ramirez was wont to speak as "one of our handsomest scarecrows." He felt +as though he were doing his lady's bidding, and giving her indisputable +proof that her jealousy--if she were jealous--was unfounded. + +When the waltz was over, he returned to her, as a mediaeval knight from +the tournay, to receive his guerdon at his mistress's hands. But, +inasmuch as there is no perfect happiness for any one in this world, at +the same moment Cobo Ramirez went up to Esperancita. They both sat down +by her and plied her with compliments and attentions. One took charge of +her fan, the other of her handkerchief; both tried to entertain her by +their remarks, and to flatter her vanity by their assiduity. It must in +truth be owned that if Ramon was the more earnest and solid talker, Cobo +was by far the more amusing. And yet Esperancita, against her wont, by +one of those unaccountable whims of a young girl, was for once inclined +to listen kindly to Ramoncito. The trio afforded a diverting subject for +contemplation. + +The servants moved about the rooms with trays of lemonade, ices, and +bonbons. Ramon called one of them to offer Esperancita a particular kind +of jelly which he knew she liked. At the same time he insisted on his +rival taking an ice. Cobo declined. Ramon pressed him so eagerly that +Alcantara and some other men who were standing near could not help +noticing it. + +"Look at Ramon trying to make Cobo eat an ice," said one. + +"He sees he is hot, and wants to be the death of him! Nothing can be +plainer," said Leon. + +Pepe Castro, as soon as he saw his partner safe in the hands of Ramirez +and Maldonado, had stolen away. As he wandered on he met Clementina. She +seemed to be in every place at once, returning every few minutes to +attend their Majesties, who had retired to a private room with the +Duchess and Requena, and the ladies and gentlemen of their suite. + +"I saw you dancing with my little niece," said the lady. "Why do you not +make up to her?" + +"To what end?" + +"To marry her." + +"Horror! Why, my dear, what have I done to you that you should wish me +so dreadful a fate?" + +"Come, come, listen to reason," said she, quite gravely, and assuming a +maternal air. "Esperancita is no beauty, but she is not disagreeable +looking. She is fresh and youthful, and is desperately in love with you, +that I know." + +"As you are," interrupted the other, with some bitterness. + +"As I am--but then she has not known you some sixteen years. Yes, she +loves you, I assure you, very truly. We women can see such things with +half a glance. Marry her; do not be foolish. Calderon is very rich." + +Before Castro could reply, she was gone. He stood there a few minutes +lost in thought; then he moved away slowly, making his way round the +rooms with a lazy strut, stopping to stare, with consummate +impertinence, at all the pretty women, like a Pasha in a slave-market. + +Lola had taken possession of Raimundo, and kept him at her side in one +corner of the sitting-room, where she laid herself out to conquer him by +every art of the coquette. This was the pretty brunette's favourite +amusement. No friend of hers could have a man in her train, without +Lola's endeavouring to snatch him from her. Handsome or ugly, forward or +shy, it mattered not; all she cared for was to gratify her incurable +craving for admiration, and her desire to triumph over every other +woman. Her eyes had a look of sweetness and innocence which deceived +every one; it was impossible to believe that behind those guileless orbs +there lurked a will as determined as it was astute. Alcazar thought her +very pretty, and most agreeable to talk to; but the fact of her being +Clementina's friend, and of her talking of scarcely anything else, had a +great deal to do with this impression. As he could neither dance nor +converse with the lady of his adoration, both for reasons of prudence +and because she was too much occupied with other duties, he consoled +himself by hearing Lola chatter about the details of her life. Every +trifle interested the youth; the dress she had worn at the French +Ambassador's ball, the incidents of a shooting-party at the Cotorrasos', +the scenes she had with her husband, &c. Lola's tactics were first to +gain his attention and captivate his sympathy, and then to win his +liking. + +When Clementina came into the room, they were deep in conversation. She +stood for an instant in the doorway, looking at them with surprise and +vexation. For some time past Lola had been out of her good graces. +Though Pepe Castro had ceased to interest her, when her friend had +attempted to win him from her, the proceeding had led to a certain +coolness between them. Now she perceived that Lola had cast her eyes on +Raimundo, and was flirting with him on every possible occasion. This +roused an impulse of hatred, which she had some difficulty in +dissembling. She gave them a fiercely indignant stare, and going into +the middle of the room, she said in a somewhat excited way: + +"Alcazar, you are wanted to dance. Are you too tired?" + +"Oh, no!" the young man hastened to reply, and he rose at once. "With +whom shall I dance?" + +Clementina made no answer. Lola had a satirical smile which exasperated +her. She turned to leave the room. + +"I am sorry to have disturbed you," she said coldly, as they went away +together. + +Raimundo looked at her in surprise. This tone was quite new to him. + +"Disturbed me? Not at all." + +"Yes, indeed; for you seemed to be enjoying yourself very much with your +companion," and then, unable to repress her temper any longer, she added +in a brusque tone: + +"Come with me." + +She led him to the dining-room, where the supper tables were laid +awaiting the guests. There, in the bay of a window, she poured out her +wrath. She loaded him with abuse, and announced definitely that all was +at an end between them. She even went so far as to shake him violently +by the arm. Alcazar was so amazed, so overwhelmed, as to be absolutely +incapable of speech. This saved him. Seeing dismay and grief painted on +his countenance, Clementina could not fail to perceive that her anger +had deceived her. Raimundo, at any rate, had not the faintest notion of +flirting. So, calming down a little, she accepted the denial he at last +found words to utter. + +"But it was solely to talk of you that I sat with her," he said. + +"To talk of me? Well, then, for the future, I will trouble you not to +talk about me. It is enough that you should love me and hold your +tongue." + +The servants who were passing in and out glanced at them with +significant grimaces. + +As they left the room they met Pepa Frias. The buxom widow was in the +best of humours; she had received many compliments. Her dress, a very +handsome one, cut immoderately low, was that of a foreign princess of +the time of Charles III., in silver brocade with gold embroidery, and a +blue velvet train. + +"My dear, I am as hungry as a wolf," she exclaimed as she came in. "When +are we to have supper? Ho, ho! so you are whispering in corners! +Prudence, Clementina, prudence! My dear child, I must positively have +something to eat or I shall drop. I can wait no longer." + +Clementina laughed and took her into a corner, where she had a plate +brought for her with some meat. Alcazar returned to the drawing-room, +very happy, but still tremulous from the painful emotion his mistress +had caused him. He had never before seen her in such a rage. + +Clementina's friendship with Pepa had been closer than ever since the +scene in the boudoir. The widow was convinced that the safety of her +fortune depended on this intimacy, and did all she could to consolidate +it. Thanks to this manoeuvre she had, in fact, already recovered +possession of a large part of it; nor was she now uneasy about the +remainder. She knew that Dona Carmen had made her will in her +step-daughter's favour, and though the Duchess had been rather stronger +lately, her death ere long was a certainty, for the doctors had +pronounced that nothing could save her but an operation, which she was +too weak to undergo. + +Pepa's cynical assurance was quite to Clementina's mind. They understood +each other perfectly. They were a pair of hussies, grisettes born into a +sphere of society for which Nature had never intended them. Pepa, of +course, had a better right there than Clementina, who bore the taint in +her blood. Pepa was an adventuress by predilection. + +"Look here, Clem," said she as she devoured a slice of galantine of +turkey. "Let that boy drop; he is not worth his salt. You have had +enough of him for a mere whim." + +"How do you know what he is worth?" replied Clementina laughing. + +"By his face, my dear. He has been your acknowledged lover for above a +year, and to this day he turns as red as a poppy whenever you look at +him." + +"That is exactly what I like him for." + +Pepa shrugged her shoulders. + +"Indeed? Well, I should find it intolerable." + +"And Arbos? How does he behave?" + +"Oh, he is a perfect goose, but at any rate he can keep his countenance. +If you tell him he is a great man, there is nothing he will not do for +you. He has found places for above a score of my connections. Then it is +very nice to have some influence in the political world, and see +deputies at one's feet. Yesterday, for instance, I had a visit from +Manricio Sala, who has set his heart on being made under-secretary. He +is quite certain, it would seem, that in that case Urreta would let his +daughter marry him." + +"Oh, I loathe politics!--Do you know, Irenita is quite sweet in that +_chasseresse_ costume." + +"Hm--too showy." + +"Not at all, it is extremely pretty. What has become of her husband? I +have not seen him since they came in." + +"Her husband! a precious specimen he is!" exclaimed Pepa, looking up in +her wrath. "Oh, what troubles come upon me, my dear, what troubles!" she +added with her mouth still full. + +"Maria Huerta?" asked Clementina in a confidential tone. + +"Who else?" muttered the widow as she gazed at the turkey on her plate. +Then suddenly she burst out: + +"He is a blackguard, a shameless scoundrel, who cannot even keep up +appearances for his wife's sake. He spends chief part of the day +waiting for her at the door of the church of San Pascual, and walks home +with her. And at the theatre he never takes his eyes off her. It is a +shame. He might have some decency. And my idiot of a daughter is madly +in love with him, a perfect fool about him, all the while. She does +nothing but cry, and show how jealous she is! Why, what does the wretch +want but to humiliate her? If I were in her place I would talk to him! +And I would give him such a box on the ear to finish with as would make +him wink!" + +The lady's indignation had not interfered with deglutition. + +"Heaven reward you, my dear," she said as she rose. "Now let us see if +this heart of mine will be quiet for a little while." For Pepa supposed +herself to suffer from a heart complaint which only a good meal would +relieve. + +A few minutes after they had quitted the dining-room Clementina gave the +word, and the supper-room was thrown open. The Royal party led the way, +attended by their suite and their host and hostesses. Salabert had +lavished his crowning efforts on the supper-room. The ceiling was hung +with glittering cloth of gold; the brilliant flowers and exotic fruits, +the sheen of silver and crystal, under the blaze of gas lights as +numerous as the stars of heaven, were dazzling with splendour. The +servants stood motionless in a row against the wall, solemn and +speechless. In two deep recesses burnt huge fires of logs, in beautiful +fire-places of carved oak, which decorated the wall almost to the +ceiling. All the food served at the Royal table had been brought from +Paris by a little regiment of cooks and scullions. The only exceptions +were fish, brought from the coast of Biscay, and a plum pudding, just +arrived from London. The meats were for the most part cold, but there +was hot clear soup for those who liked it. + +The Royalties did not remain many minutes in the supper-room. As soon as +they left, the tide of guests rushed in without much ceremony. The +sitting-rooms remained silent, abandoned to the servants, who with the +precision of soldiers, replaced the dwindling wax lights by fresh ones, +while the noise in the dining-room, of plates and glasses, and voices +and laughter, was almost bewildering. + +Cobo Ramirez deserted Esperancita for a while, leaving her on his +rival's hands, while he found a seat for himself at a little table in a +snug corner, to devour a plateful of ham and Hamburg beef. Ramoncito +naturally took advantage of this reprieve to show off his own poetical +frugality as compared with Cobo's prosaic gluttony, till Esperancita cut +the ground from under him by saying very spitefully to her friend +Pacita, who sat by her side: + +"For my part I like a man to be a great eater." + +"So do I," said Paz. "At any rate it shows that he has a good +digestion." + +"So have I," said Maldonado, crushed and vexed by the hostile tone the +young girls had adopted against him. Paz only smiled scornfully. + +General Patino, tired of throwing his heavy shell at Calderon's torpid +spouse without producing the smallest sign of capitulation, had raised +the siege, to sit down before the Marquesa de Ujo; she had yielded at +the first fire, and thrown open every gate to the enemy. At the same +time, as a consummate strategist, the General had not lost sight of +Mariana, hoping that some happy accident might again lay her open to his +batteries. The newspapers had lately mentioned a rumour that he was to +be made Minister of War. This dignity would, no doubt, give him greater +influence and prestige, whenever he might choose to surprise the +stronghold. + +The Marquesa de Ujo was dressed a la Turque, and she played her part so +well that Alcantara declared he "longed to have a shot at her himself." +Her languor was so great that she could scarcely exert herself to +articulate, so that the General was obliged to assist her every minute +in the exhausting effort. While her far from perfect teeth nibbled a +cake or two--for her digestion did not allow of her eating anything +more solid--she uttered, or, to be exact, she exhaled a series of +exclamations over a new French novel. + +"What exquisite scenes! What a sweet book! When she says, 'Come in if +you choose; you can dishonour my body but not my soul.' And the duel, +when she receives the bullet that was to have killed her husband! How +beautiful it is!" + +Pepe Castro was prancing--forgive the word--round Lola Madariaga. She +was relating with a malicious smile the incident which had just occurred +when Clementina had found her sitting with Raimundo. She spoke as though +she had won the youth from her friend, with a scornful and patronising +air which would have been a shock to Clementina's pride if she could +have heard it. + +"Poor Clem! she is growing old, isn't she? But what a figure she has +still. Of course it is all done by tight-lacing, and it must do her a +mischief, sooner or later, but as yet---- Her face does not match her +figure, above all now that she has begun to lose her complexion so +dreadfully. She always had a very hard face." + +And all the time her insinuating soft eyes were fixed on Castro with +such inviting looks, as were really quite embarrassing. She had always +been told, and it was true, that she had a most innocent face, and to +make the most of it she assumed the expression of an idiot. + +Castro agreed to all she said, as much to flatter her as out of any +ill-feeling towards Clementina. When Clementina cast him off he had +consoled himself by paying attentions to Lola, in whom he really felt no +interest, though at the same time he had been careful not to let the +world know that he was discarded. + +"And do you believe that she is really in love with that school-boy?" + +"Who can tell! Clementina likes to be thought original. This last whim +is just like her. And look at that baby's sentimental gaze at her from +afar." + +Raimundo, who was standing at the end of one of the tables, never took +his eyes off his mistress while she moved to and fro, attending to the +requirements of those guests whom she most desired to please. From time +to time she bestowed on him a faint smile of recognition, which +transported him to the seventh heaven. + +Pepa Frias, who, having had her fill, could eat no more, was picking up +a fruit here and a bonbon there, while behind her chair stood Calderon, +Pinedo, Fuentes, and two or three more, laughing at her and with her. +But the widow was not to be caught napping; she could defend herself, +parrying and retorting with masterly skill. + +"Where do you have the gout, Pepa, did you say?" asked Pinedo. + +"In my feet, in my feet, where all your wits are." + +"What is the miniature in that brooch? Is it a family portrait?" + +"No, Fuentes," said she, as she handed it to him to look at. "It is a +mirror." + +The painting represented a monkey. + +All the others roared with laughter, attracting general attention. + +Soon after the dancing had recommenced the Royal party took their leave. +The same ceremony was observed as at their arrival; the guests in two +ranks on each side of the room, the Royal march played by the orchestra, +and the master of the house in attendance to the carriage door. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +AN UNWELCOME GUEST. + + +Clementina gave a sigh of relief. Walking slowly, with the delightful +sense of a difficult task happily accomplished, she made her way through +the rooms, smiling right and left, and shedding amiable speeches on +every friend she met. This splendid ball, the most magnificent perhaps +ever given in Madrid by a private individual, was almost exclusively her +work. Her father had provided the money, but the motive power, the taste +and planning, had been hers. She received the congratulations which +hailed her from all sides with a pleasing intoxication of flattered +vanity. Happiness stirred a craving for love, its inseparable associate. +She was possessed by a vehement wish to have a brief meeting, +_tete-a-tete_, with Raimundo, to speak and hear a few fond words, to +exchange a brief caress. She looked round for him among the crowd. + +He had been wandering about the rooms all the evening, generally alone. +He had looked forward to this ball with puerile anticipations of +delirious and unknown pleasures, for he had never been present at any of +these high festivals of wealth and fashion. The reality had not come up +to his hopes, as must always be the case. All this ostentation, all the +scandalous luxury displayed to his eyes, instead of exciting his pride, +wounded it deeply. Never had he felt so completely a stranger in the +world he had now for some months lived in. His thoughts, with their +natural tendency to melancholy, reverted to his modest home, where, by +his fault, necessaries would ere long be lacking; to his humble-minded +mother, who had never hesitated to fulfil the most menial tasks; to his +innocent sister, who had learned from her to be thrifty and +hard-working. Remorse gnawed at his heart. Then, too, he observed that +the young men of his acquaintance treated him here with covert +hostility. Many of them he had begun to regard as friends; they welcomed +him pleasantly, he played cards with them and sometimes joined in their +expeditions, but he clearly understood at last that he was no one, +nothing to them, but as Clementina's lover; and he could detect, or his +exaggerated sensitiveness made him fancy that he detected, in their +demeanour to him, a touch of scorn, which humiliated him bitterly. The +passionate devotion which Clementina professed for him compensated no +doubt for these miseries, and enabled him often to forget them, but this +evening his adored mistress, though she did not ignore him, was +necessarily out of his range. He endured the phase of feeling which a +mystic goes through when, as he expresses it, God has withdrawn His +guiding hand--intense weariness and the darkest gloom of spirit. He +danced dutiously two or three times, and talked a little to one and +another. Tired of it all, at last he withdrew into the quietest corner +of one of the rooms, sat down on a sofa and remained sunk in extreme +dejection. + +Clementina sought him for some few minutes, and was beginning to be out +of patience. She went into the card-room, and he started up to meet her +with a beaming countenance. All his melancholy had vanished on seeing +that she was in search of him. + +"If you would like two minutes' chat, come to the Duke's study," she +said, in rapid but tender accents. "It is on the right-hand side, at the +end of the corridor." She went thither, and Raimundo, to save +appearances, lingered for a few moments by one of the tables, watching +the game. + +Clementina made her way in and out of the rooms till she reached the +corridor, and hurried to the study, a handsome room, so called for mere +form, since the Duke always sat upstairs. It was a blaze of light, as +all the other rooms were. As she went in, she fancied she heard a +smothered sob, which filled her with surprise and apprehension. Looking +about her, she discovered, in a deep recess, a woman lying in a heap on +a divan, hiding her face in her handkerchief, and weeping violently. She +went up to her, and recognised her by her dress. It was Irenita. + +"Irene, my child, what is the matter?" she exclaimed, bending anxiously +over her. + +"Oh, forgive me, Clementina, I came here, hardly knowing what I was +doing. I am so miserable;" and the tears streamed down her face. + +"But what has happened then, my poor dear?" + +"Nothing, nothing," sobbed the girl. There was a short silence. +Clementina looked at her compassionately. + +"Come," she said, leaning over her, "It is Emilio. He has done something +to vex you this evening." + +Irene made no reply. + +"Do not break your heart over it, silly child. That will do nothing to +mend matters. However great the effort, try to seem indifferent. That is +the only way to prevent his despising you. Nay, there is a better way, +but I do not advise you to try it; there are things one cannot advise. +But still, even if you are in love with him, do not offer him your heart +to wring, for God's sake! Never let him know how unhappy he makes you, +or you are lost. Let him have his whim out, and he will come back to +you." + +Irene raised her face, bathed in tears. + +"But have you seen--do you know what he has done? It is dreadful." + +At this instant Clementina heard a step in the corridor, and suspecting +who it might be, she hastily went to look out, saying: "Wait till I shut +the door." + +She was only just in time; Raimundo arrived at the moment; she put her +finger to her lips, and signed to him to go away. Irene saw nothing of +it. + +When Clementina returned to her side, Irenita poured out, between sighs +and tears, the grievances her husband had heaped upon her that evening. +In the first place Emilio had chosen to come to the ball in a Hungarian +costume. As soon as she came in, she had perceived that Maria Huerta +also wore a Hungarian dress, and this, it must be owned, was a piece of +insolence, which more than one person had remarked upon. Then they had +danced together twice, and all the while, Emilio had never ceased +murmuring in her ear. He had waited on her like a servant the whole +evening, offering her ices and fruit with his own hands. Once, as he +handed her a plate, their fingers had met. Irenita had seen it with her +own eyes. Oh, it was monstrous! Irene only longed to kill herself. She +would rather die a thousand deaths than endure such torments. + +Clementina comforted her as best she could. Emilio loved her fondly, she +was sure; only men liked to show off in this way and prove their powers +of fascination. As their hearts were not engaged, there was nothing for +it but to let them go for a while, and then they returned to the wife +they really loved. + +Clementina would not take her to the ladies' cloak-room to have her hair +rearranged and to bathe her face; she led her up to the Duchess's +dressing-room, and in a few minutes they came down stairs again. Irenita +promised not to betray herself. When Clementina reported to Pepa all +that had passed, the widow flew into such a fury that she was with +difficulty hindered from rushing off to abuse her son-in-law. + +"Well, it is all the same," she said, with a shrug. "If I do not scratch +his face now, I will do it later. Come what may, I cannot allow that +scoundrel to be the death of my daughter; and as for that bare-faced +slut, she will not get off till I have spit in her face, and in her +husband's ugly phiz, too! A pretty state of things!" + +"Would it not be better to get rid of them altogether? Huerta is in +office. See if you cannot get him packed off somewhere as Governor?" + +"You are right. I will speak of it to Arbos at once; but as to that +precious son-in-law of mine, I will pay him out this very night, or my +name is not Pepa." + +The Duke, surrounded by a group of faithful flatterers, was inhaling +clouds of incense, growling out some gross witticism every now and then, +which was hailed with applause. The ladies were the most enthusiastic in +their admiration. Requena's genius for speculation dazzled them with +amazement, as though they would like to calculate how many new dresses +his millions would purchase. And he, usually so subservient, he--who, by +his own confession, had reached the position he held by dint of kicks +behind--lording it here among his worshippers, bullied them without +mercy. His coarse jests were flung at men and women alike; he gloried in +the brutal exercise of his power. And if these devotees were ready to +humble themselves so patiently for nothing--absolutely nothing--what +would they not have done if he had given largesse of his millions, if +the golden calf had begun to vomit dollars. + +In the card-room, whither he went after attending the retirement of +their Majesties, a crowd of speculators literally blocked him in. + +"How are the Riosa shares looking, Senor Duque?" one made so bold as to +ask. + +"Do not talk of them," grumbled the man of money, with a furious glare. + +Llera's scheme had been punctually carried out. The Duke, after buying +up a large number of shares, had set to work to produce a panic among +the shareholders. For some months he had been employing secret agents to +buy, and sell again immediately at a loss. Thanks to these tactics, the +quotations had fallen very low. He was now almost ready for his great +coup, buying up all he could get to throw them suddenly into the market, +and then securing half the shares, _plus_ one. + +"Everything cannot turn out well," said the man who had addressed him, +not without a smile of satisfaction. "You have always been so lucky." + +"The Duke does not owe his success to luck," said a stock-broker bent on +flattery, "but to his genius, his incomparable skill and acumen." + +"No doubt, no doubt," the other hastened to put in, snatching the +censer, as it were. "The Duke is the greatest financial genius of Spain. +I cannot understand why he has not the entire management of the +Treasury. If it is not placed in his hands, the country is past praying +for." + +"Well, if I tried to save it after the fashion of the Riosa Mining +Company, it would be a bad look out for the Spaniards," said the Duke, +in a sulky, mumbling voice. + +"Why, is it such a rotten concern?" + +"For the Government, no, damn it; but for me, after buying it at par, it +does not seem to be much of a success." + +And he cast all the blame of the transaction on his head clerk, that +idiot Llera, who had insisted on having a finger in that pie, in spite +of his, the Duke's, presentiments. + +"Ah! a man like you should never trust anything but his instincts," they +all declared. "When a man has a real genius for business--" And again +the word genius was on the lips of every idolater of the golden calf. + +Suddenly, at the door of the card-room, Clementina was seen, closely +followed by Osorio, Mariana, and Calderon. All four looked disturbed and +dismayed, and they all four fixed their eyes on Salabert, whom they +eagerly approached. + +"Papa, one word, one minute," said Clementina. + +Salabert quitted the group, of which he was the centre, and joined the +quartette in the further corner of the room. + +"That woman is here," said his daughter in an agitated whisper, but her +eyes flashed fire. + +"It is scandalous," said Osorio. + +"Some people have left already, and as soon as it is known every one +will go!" added Calderon, more calmly. + +"What woman?" asked Requena, opening his eyes very wide. + +Clementina explained in a tone of passionate scorn--a woman whom the +Duke was known to visit. It was Amparo. + +"What!" he exclaimed, with well acted surprise. "That hussy has dared to +come to this house? Who let her in? I will dismiss the door-keeper +to-morrow morning." + +"No. What you have to do is to dismiss her this instant!" cried +Clementina, stuttering with rage. + +"Of course, this instant! How dare she set foot in this house, and on +such an occasion? But how did she get in? A ball which began so well!" + +"She has a card, it would seem." + +"Then she has stolen it, or it is a forgery." + +"Well, well," said Clementina, who knew her father well enough to guess +that he had been cajoled into giving the invitation, a bounty which had +cost him nothing. "Settle the matter at once. She is in the +drawing-room. You must go and explain to her that she must have the +goodness to take herself off. Say what you choose, but at once. Before +any one discovers her--above all mamma." + +"No, my child, no. I know myself too well. I could not control my +indignation. We must do nothing to attract attention. Go yourself--go, +and get rid of her at once." + +This was enough for Clementina. Without another word she swiftly +returned to the drawing-room, her face pale and set, her lips quivering. +In a moment she discovered the foe. + +Certainly she was a handsome creature, magnificently dressed as Mary, +Queen of Scots, and her beauty was fuel to Clementina's wrath. After +wheedling Salabert to give her a card, it had occurred to the +_demi-mondaine_ that her appearance at the ball might cause a scandal, +but she longed to display herself in the costly costume she had chosen, +and taking a respectable-looking old friend as a chaperon, she went very +late, just to walk once or twice through the rooms. It was a bitter +surprise to find that even the men of her acquaintance, the members of +the Savage Club, here turned their backs and walked away. + +Her enjoyment, such as it was, was brief. Just as she was moving +forward, with a triumphant smile, to make her longed-for progress +through the rooms, she found herself face to face with Clementina, who, +without the slightest greeting, holding her head very high, laid her +hand on her shoulder, saying: + +"Have the kindness to listen to me." + +Mary Stuart turned pale, hesitated an instant, and then said with +resolute arrogance: + +"I have nothing to say to you. I came to see the master of the +house--the Duke de Requena." + +Margaret of Austria fixed a flashing eye on the rival queen, who met it +without blinking. Then, bending forward, she said in her ear: + +"If you do not come with me this instant I will call two men-servants to +turn you out of this house by force." + +The Queen of Scots was startled; still she was bold: + +"I wish to see the Duke," she said. + +"The Duke is not to be seen--by you. Follow me, or I call!" And she +looked round as though she were about to act on her threat. The intruder +turned very pale, and obeyed. + +The scene had, of course, been witnessed by several persons, but no one +dared follow the hostile queens. Clementina went straight into the +cloak-room. + +"This lady's wrap," she said. + +Not another word was spoken. A man-servant brought the cloak. Mary +Stuart put it on herself unaided, with trembling hands. She went forward +a few steps, and then suddenly turning round, she flashed a look of +mortal hatred at Margaret of Austria, who returned it with interest in +the shape of a contemptuous smile. + +It was foreordained of Heaven that the unhappy Queen of Scots should +always be a victim--first to her cousin, Elizabeth of England, and now +the Queen of Spain had turned her into the street. She found her duenna +in the carriage; she had prudently made her escape at the beginning of +the scene. + +What moral purification Requena's rooms may have gained by the eviction +of Mary Stuart it would be hard to say; but they certainly lost much +from the aesthetic point of view, for, beyond a doubt, she was lovely. + +The ball was coming to an end. Preparations were being made for the +final cotillon. The crowd had thinned; several persons went away before +the cotillon--elderly folk for the most part, who did not like late +hours. Among the young ladies there was the agitation and stir which +always precedes this last dance, when the most ceremonious ball assumes +an aspect of more intimate enjoyment. Art and fancy now step in to +eliminate every sensual element and make the waltz an innocent +amusement--a reminiscence of the fancy ballets which, in the fourteenth +century, entertained the Courts of France and England. And to many a +damsel this is the crowning scene of the first act in the little comedy +of love she has begun to perform. + +Pepe Castro, as we have seen, had laughed to scorn Clementina's +suggestion that he should pay his addresses to Calderon's daughter; but +it had not, therefore, fallen on stony ground. Though he talked and +danced with other girls, he did not fail to ask her to waltz more than +once. When the cotillon was being formed he went to Esperanza and asked +her to be his partner, though he knew very well that it would be +impossible, as the engagements for the last dance were always made as +soon as the young people arrived. However, it fell in with the scheme he +was plotting in his fertile brain. The girl had, in fact, promised the +dance to the Conde de Agreda, but, on Castro's invitation, her desire to +dance with him was so great that, with calm audacity, she accepted it. + +The Duchess selected the Condesa de Cotorraso to lead the cotillon, and +she took Cobo Ramirez for her partner. He was always welcome in a +ball-room as a most accomplished leader of cotillons; and on this +particular occasion he had held long conferences with Clementina as to +the arrangements for this dance. + +The circle of chairs was placed, and Pepe Castro went to lead out +Esperanza, who proudly took his arm. But they had not gone two steps +before Agreda intercepted them. + +"Why, Esperancita, I thought you had promised me the cotillon?" he said +in great surprise. + +The girl's audacity did not desert her--the courage of a love-sick maid. + +"You must, please, forgive me, Leon," said she, in a tone which the most +consummate actress might have envied. "When I accepted you I quite +forgot that I was engaged already to Pepe." + +The Count retired, murmuring a few polite words, which did not conceal +his annoyance. As soon as he was gone, Esperancita, frightened at the +compromising interest in Castro which she had thus betrayed, began with +many blushes to explain: + +"The real truth is that I had forgotten that I was engaged to Leon," she +said. "And as I had taken your arm--and besides, he is a most tiring +partner." + +Pepe Castro took no mean advantage of his triumph; his demeanour was +modest and grateful. Instead of courting her openly, he adopted a more +insinuating style, loading her with small attentions, establishing a +tone of easy confidence, and showing her all possible fondness without +breathing a word of love. Esperanza was supremely happy. She began to +believe herself adored; fancying that the sympathy and regard which had +always existed between Pepe and herself was at last turning to love. Her +heart beat high with joy. + +Ramoncita also was pleased at the substitution. Agreda had for some +little time been particularly antipathetic to him, almost as much so as +Cobo Ramirez, since he was beginning to be as jealous of the one as of +the other. Pepe, on the other hand, he regarded as his second self, +another and a superior Maldonado. All the affection Esperanza bestowed +on Pepe he accepted as a boon to himself. So to see her on his arm was +to him a touching sight, and as he went up to them to say a few +insignificant words he actually blushed with satisfaction. Pepe made a +knowing face, as much as to say: "Victory all along the line!" and the +young civilian felt that he was advancing with giant strides to the +fulfilment of his hopes and the apogee of his happiness. + +The cotillon was a worthy climax to this most successful ball. The +inventiveness of Cobo Ramirez, spurred by the magnitude of the occasion, +enchanted the dancers by the variety and ingenuity of its devices; he +kept them amused for more than an hour. A game with a hoop arranged in +the middle of the room absorbed every one's attention and earned him +much applause. He divided the gentlemen into two parties, who shot +alternately with arrows from pretty little gilt bows at the hoop +suspended by a ribbon from the ceiling. The winners were entitled to +dance with the partners of those they had defeated, while the humiliated +victim followed in their wake, fanning them as they waltzed. Then he had +planned another figure for the ladies; the successful fair left the room +and returned sitting in a car drawn by four servants dressed as black +slaves. In this she made a triumphal progress round the room, surrounded +by the rest. This and other not less remarkable and valuable inventions +had placed the fame of the heir of Casa Ramirez on a permanent and +illustrious footing. + +As soon as the cotillon was ended the company left--it was a noisy and +precipitate retreat. Every one crowded out to the vestibule and stairs, +talking at the top of their voices, laughing and calling, each louder +than the other, for their carriages. The extensive garden, lighted by +electricity, had a fantastic and unreal effect, like the scene in a +fairy cosmorama. The beams of intense white light, making the shadows +look black and deep, pierced the avenues of the park and lent it an +appearance of immense extent. Night was ended, the pale tints of dawn +were already grey in the East. It was intensely cold. The young +"Savages," wrapped in fur coats, were letting off the last crackers of +their wit in honour of the ladies who stood waiting, where their rich +and picturesque wraps glittered in the electric light. Horses stamping, +footmen shouting, the carriage-wheels, as they slowly came round to the +steps, grinding the gravel of the drive. Then there was the sound of +kisses, doors slammed, loud good-nights; and the noise of the vehicles, +as they drove off from the terrace steps, seemed by degrees to swallow +up all the others and carry them off to rest in the various quarters of +the town. + +Pepe Castro had kept close to Esperanza and was murmuring in her ear +till the last. The girl, muffled up to her eyes, was smiling without +looking at him. When at last the Calderon's carriage came up they shook +hands with a long pressure. + +"I hope you will not forget us for so long as usual; that you will come +to see us oftener," she said, leaving her hand in his. + +"Do you really wish that I should call more frequently?" said he, +looking at her as if he meant to magnetise her. + +"I should think I did!" As she spoke she coloured violently under her +comforter, and snatching away her hand followed her mother to the +carriage. + +Pepa Frias had said to her daughter: + +"When we go, child, I want Emilio to come with me. I am in such a state +of nerves that I cannot sleep till I have given him my mind. We must +have no more scandals, you see; I am going to propose an ultimatum. If +he persists, you must come back to me and he may go to the devil." + +She was in a great rage. Irene, though she would have liked to object to +this arrangement, for she adored her fickle husband, did not dare to +remonstrate; she submitted. When they were leaving, Pepa addressed her +son-in-law: + +"Emilio, do me the favour to see me home. I want to speak to you." + +"Hang it all!" thought the young fellow. + +"And Irene?" he said. + +"She can go alone. The bogueys won't eat her," replied Pepa tartly. + +"Worse and worse," Emilio reflected. + +And, in point of fact, Irenita, eyeing her mother and her husband with +fear and anxiety, went off alone in her carriage, leaving them together. + +As Pepa's brougham rolled away, Emilio, to disarm his mother-in-law, +tried, like the boy that he was, to divert the lightning by saying +something to please her. + +"Do you know," said he, "that I heard your praises loudly sung by the +President of the Council and some men who were with him? They admired +your costume immensely, but yet more your figure. They declared that +there was not a girl in the room to compare with you for freshness, that +your skin was like satin, and smoother and softer every day." + +"Good heavens, what nonsense! That is all gammon, Emilio. A few years +ago, I do not say----" + +"No, no, indeed; your complexion is proverbial in Madrid. What would +Irene give for a skin like her mother's!" + +"Is it better than Maria Huerta's?" asked she, in an ironical tone, +which betrayed, indeed, no very great annoyance. + +Pepa had, in fact, changed her plan of attack; she thought that +diplomacy would be more effective than a rating. + +"Listen to me," she went on, "I meant to give you a good scolding, +Emilio; to talk to you seriously, very seriously, and say a great many +hard things, but I cannot. I am so foolishly soft-hearted that I can +find excuses for every one. You have behaved so badly to Irenita this +evening, that she would be justified in leaving you altogether; but I do +not believe you are as bad as you seem, for you are nothing but a +perverse boy. I am sure you do not yourself appreciate the gravity of +your conduct." + +Pepa's whole sermon was pitched in the same persuasive key, and Emilio, +who had expected a severe lecture, was agreeably surprised. He listened +submissively, and then in a broken voice tried to exculpate himself. He +had flirted a little to be sure with Maria Huerta, but he swore he did +not care for her. It was a mere matter of pique and vanity. When his +engagement to Irene was announced, Maria had been heard to say, in +Osorio's house, that she could not understand how Irenita could bear to +marry that ugly slip of a boy. He had sworn she should eat her own +words--and so--and so--and that was all, on his word of honour, all. + +So Pepa was still further mollified; and what wonder if the young fellow +thought that this, and perhaps worse sins, were condoned by his +profligate mother-in-law. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +A PIOUS MATINEE. + + +A few days after the ball, at eleven in the morning of a Friday in Lent, +the most elegant of "Savages" woke from his calm and sound slumbers, +fully determined to marry Calderon's little daughter. He opened his +eyes, glanced at the hippic decorations which ornamented the walls of +his room, stretched himself gracefully, drank a glass of lemonade which +stood by his bedside, and prepared to rise. It cannot be positively +asserted that the resolution had been formed during sleep, but it is +quite certain that it was the birth of a mysterious travail which he had +not consciously aided. When he went to bed Castro had only the vaguest +thoughts of this advantageous alliance; on waking, his determination to +sue for Esperanza's hand, by whatever process it had been elaborated, +was irrevocable. Let us congratulate the happy damsel, and for the +present devote our attention to studying the noble "Savage" in the act +of perfecting the beautiful object which Nature had achieved in creating +him. + +His servant had prepared his bath. After looking in the glass to study +the face of the day--his own--he took up some dumb-bells, and went +through a few exercises. Then taking a foil, he practised a score or so +of lunges, and finally he delivered a dozen or more punches on the pad +of a dynamometer. Having accomplished this, the moment was come for him +to step into the water. He was still splashing and sponging, when into +his room, unannounced, walked the poor crazy Marquis Manolo Davalos. + +"Pepe, I want to speak to you about a very important matter," said he, +with an air of mystery, his eyes wilder than ever. + +"Wait a minute; I am tubbing." + +"Then make haste; I am in a great hurry." + +Davalos rose from the chair into which he had dropped, and began walking +up and down the room with a sort of feverish agitation, to which his +friends had become accustomed. He could not remain still for five +minutes. Any one else going through half the exercise he took in the +course of the day would have been utterly exhausted before night. Castro +watched him at first with contemptuous raillery in his eye; but he grew +serious as he saw Manolo go up to the table and begin to play with a +neat little revolver which Castro kept by his bedside. + +"Look out there, Manolo! It is loaded." + +"So I see, so I see," said the other with a smile; and turning round +sharply, he added: "What do you think Madrid would say if I shot you +dead?" + +Pepe Castro felt a chill run down his spine, which was not altogether +attributable to the cold bath, and he laughed rather queerly. + +"And you know I could do it with impunity," his visitor went on, "as I +am said to be mad----." + +"Ha, ha, ha!" Castro laughed hysterically. + +He was no coward; on the contrary, he had a reputation for punctilio and +courage; but, like all fighting men, he liked a public. The prospect of +an inglorious death at the hands of a maniac did not smile on his fancy. +The example of Seneca, Marat, and other heroes who had been killed in +their bath did nothing to encourage him, possibly because he had never +heard of them. Davalos came towards him with the revolver cocked, +saying: + +"What will they say in town, eh? What will they say?" + +Castro was as cold as though he were up to his chin in ice instead of +water with the chill off. However, he had presence of mind enough to +say: + +"Lay down that revolver, Manolo. If you don't, you shall never see +Amparo again as long as you live." Amparo was the fair _demi-mondaine_ +whom we have already seen at the Duke's ball. She had ruined the +Marquis, a widower with young children, who had seriously intended to +marry the woman; and his brain, none of the strongest at any time, had +finally given way, when his family had interfered to protect him from +her rapacity. + +"Never again! Why not?" he asked, dejection painted on his face, as he +lowered the weapon. + +"Because I will not allow it; I will tell her never to let you inside +her doors." + +"Well, well, my dear fellow, do not be put out, I was only in fun," said +the lunatic, replacing the revolver on the table. + +Castro jumped out of the bath. No sooner was he wrapped in the turkish +towel, with which he dried himself, than he seized the weapon and locked +it away. Easy in his mind now, though annoyed by the fright his crazy +friend had given him, he began talking to him in a tone of contemptuous +ill-humour, while, standing before his glass, he lavished on his +handsome person, with the greatest respect, all the care due to its +merits. + +"Now, then, out with it, man, out with the great secret. One of your +fool's errands as usual, I suppose. I declare, Manolo, you ought not to +be allowed in the streets. You should go somewhere and be cured," he +said, as he rubbed his arms with some scented unguent which he selected +from the collection of pots and bottles of every size arrayed before +him. + +The Marquis put his hand in his pocket, took out his note-book, and from +it a letter in a woman's hand, saying with some solemnity: + +"She has just written me this note. I want you to read it." + +Pepe did not even turn his head to look at the document his friend held +out to him. Absorbed at the moment in blending the ends of his moustache +with his beard, he said in an absent-minded way: + +"And what does she want?" + +Davalos stared in surprise at the small interest he took in this +precious missive. + +"Shall I read it to you?" + +"If it is not very long." + +Manolo unfolded it as reverently as though it were the autograph of a +saint, and read with deep emotion: + + "MY DEAREST MANOLO.--Do me the favour to send me by the bearer two + thousand pesetas,[D] of which I am in urgent need. If you have not + so much about you, bring me the money this evening.--Always and + entirely yours, + + "AMPARO." + +"My word! She is a cool hand. I suppose you did not send the money?" + +"No." + +"Quite right." + +"Well, I had not got it. It is on purpose to see if you can help me that +I have come here." + +Castro turned round and contemplated his visitor with a look of surprise +and irritation. Then, addressing himself to his glass again, he said: + +"My dear Manolo, you are the greatest fool out. I am sure that when your +aunt dies you will let that hussy spend the money for you as she has +spent your own fortune." + +The Marquis was in a fury. + +"Do you know where the real wrong is?" he said. "It lies with my family, +who, without rhyme or reason, interfere to prevent my marrying her. As +my wife--as the mother of my motherless children--they would have been +happy, and so should I!" + +Castro stared at him in blank amazement. Tears stood on the Marquis's +pale cheeks. Pepe made a grimace of contemptuous pity, and went on +combing his moustache. After a few minutes' silence, he said: + +"I am very sorry, old fellow. I have not got two thousand pesetas; but +if I had I would not lend them to you for such a purpose, you may be +very sure." + +Davalos made no reply, but again paced the room. + +"Whom can I ask?" he suddenly said, stopping short. + +"Try Salabert," said Castro, with a short laugh. + +Manolo clenched his fists and ground his teeth; his eyes glared +ominously, and with a stride he went up to Pepe, who drew back a step, +and prepared to defend himself. + +"Such a speech is a gross insult!--an insult worthy of a bullet or a +sword thrust! You are a coward--in your own house!" + +His eyes started in a really terrific stare; but he did not succeed in +provoking his friend. He ultimately controlled himself with a great +effort, only flinging his hat on the floor with such violence as to +crush it. Castro stood perfectly still, as if turned to stone. So often +before he had jested with the crazy fellow, and said far rougher things, +without his ever dreaming of taking offence, and now, by pure chance, as +it seemed, he flew into this unaccountable rage. He tried to soothe him +by an apology, but Manolo did not listen. Though he had got past the +first impulse to struggle with him, he raged up and down like a caged +wild beast, muttering threats and gesticulating vehemently. However, he +soon broke down: + +"I should never have believed it of you, Pepe," he murmured in a broken +voice. "I should never have supposed that my best friend would so insult +me--so stab me to the heart." + +"But bless me, man----!" + +"Do not speak to me, Pepe. You have stabbed me with a word; leave me in +peace. God forgive you, as I forgive you! I am like a hare wounded by +the hunter, which runs to its form to die. Do not harry me any more; +leave me to die in peace." + +And the simile of the hare seemed to him so pathetic that he sank +sobbing into an arm-chair. At the same time he had a severe fit of +coughing, and Castro had to persuade him to drink a cup of lime-flower +tea. + + * * * * * + +By the time the luckless Marquis had a little recovered, Pepe had +achieved the adornment of his person, which he proceeded to take out +walking, very correctly and exquisitely dressed in a frock-coat. He +breakfasted at Lhardy's, looked in at the Club, and by three in the +afternoon or thereabouts bent his steps to the house of the Marquesa de +Alcudia, his aunt, in the Calle de San Mateo. This lady was, as we know, +very proud of her religion, and equally so, to say the least, of her +pedigree. Pepe was her favourite nephew, and, though his dissipated mode +of life disgusted her not a little, she had always treated him with much +affection, hoping to tempt him into the right way. In the Marquesa's +opinion, quarterings of nobility were as efficacious in their way as the +Sacrament of Ordination. Whatever villainies a noble might commit, he +was still a noble, as a priest is always a priest. + +Castro had thought of this devout lady as one likely to assist him in +his project. His instincts--which were more to be depended on than his +intelligence--told him that if the Marquesa undertook the negotiations +for his marriage with Esperancita she would undoubtedly succeed. She was +a person of much influence in fashionable society, and even more with +those persons who, like Calderon, had gained a place in it by wealth. + +The Alcudia's mansion was a gloomy structure, built in the fashion of +the last century--a ground floor with large barred windows and one floor +above; nothing more. But it covered a vast extent of ground, with a +neglected garden in the rear. The entrance was not decorative; the +outside steps rough-hewn to begin with, and much worn. The late +lamented Alcudia was proposing some repairs and improvements when death +interfered with his plans. His widow abandoned them, not so much out of +avarice as from intense conservatism, even in matters which most needed +reform. + +Within, the house was sumptuously fitted; the furniture was antique and +very handsome; the walls hung with splendid tapestry; and fine pictures +by the old masters graced the library and the oratory. This was indeed a +marvel of splendour. It stood at one corner of the building on the +ground floor, but was two storeys high, and as lofty, in fact, as a +church. The windows were filled with stained glass, like those of a +Gothic cathedral; the floor was richly carpeted; there was a small +gallery with an organ; and the altar, in the French taste, was +beautifully decorated. Over it hung an _Ecce Homo_, by Morales. It was +an elegant and comfortable little chapel, warmed by a large stove in the +cellar beneath. + +In the drawing-room Pepe found only the girls, busy with their +needlework. Their mother, they said, was in the study, writing letters. +So, after exchanging a few words with his cousins, he joined her there. + +"May I come in, aunt?" + +"Come in, come in. You, Pepe?" said the Marquesa, looking up at him over +the spectacles she wore for writing. + +"If I am interrupting you I will go away. I want to consult you," said +the young man, with a smile. + +He took a chair, and while his aunt went on writing with a firm, swift +hand, he meditated the exordium to the speech he was about to deliver. +At last the pen dashed across the paper with a strident squeak, no doubt +emphasising the writer's signature, and taking off her spectacles, she +said: + +"At your service, Pepe." + +Pepe looked at the floor, praying no doubt for inspiration, twirled his +moustache, cleared his throat and at last began with much solemnity. + +"Well, aunt, I do not know whether it is that God has touched my heart, +or merely that I am weary of my present mode of life; but at any rate +for some time past I have been taking to heart the advice you have so +often given me, and which goes hand in hand with my own wish to settle +down, to give up the bad habits which I have contracted for want of a +father to guide me, and yet more of a mother, like yourself. I am very +nearly thirty, and it is time to think of the name I bear. I owe a duty +to that, and to my calling as a Christian; for in all my excesses I have +never forgotten that I belong to an old Catholic family, and that +nowadays in Spain it is incumbent on our class to protect the cause of +religion and set a good example, as you do. The means I look to as an +encouragement to the change I feel within me is marriage." + +The penitent could not have chosen his words better in addressing his +aunt Eugenia. They made so good an impression that she rose from her +place and came to lay a hand on his shoulder, exclaiming: + +"You delight me, Pepito. You cannot imagine what pleasure you give me. +And you say you do not know whether God has touched your heart! How +could you have undergone this sudden change, if He had not inspired it? +It is the touch of God, indeed, my boy, the finger of God--and the noble +blood which runs in your veins. Have you chosen a wife?" + +The young man smiled and nodded. + +"Who is she?" + +"I had thought of Esperanza Calderon. What do you think of her?" + +"Nothing could be better. She is very well brought up, attractive, and I +love her as a child of my own. She has always been my Pacita's bosom +friend, as you know. Your choice is a most happy one." + +Castro smiled again with a gleam of mischief, as he went on: + +"You see, aunt, I would rather have married a girl of our own rank, But, +as you know, I am utterly ruined, and the daughters of good families +are not apt to have fortunes in these days. Those who have, would not +have anything to say to me, as I have nothing to offer but what they +already possess--a noble name. It is for this reason that I have chosen +one of no birth, but with a good fortune." + +"Very wise. And though we are compromising our dignity a little, we must +save the name from disgrace. And Esperanza is a thoroughly good girl. +She has been brought up among ourselves. She will always be a perfect +lady, and do you credit." + +The young man's face still wore that strange sarcastic smile. For a +minute or two he remained silent; then he said: + +"Do you know what we young fellows call a marriage of this kind?" + +"No--what?" + +"Eating dirt." + +The Marquesa smiled frigidly, but then, looking grave again, she +replied: + +"No, that cannot be said in this case, Pepe. I can answer for this girl +that she is worthy of a brilliant marriage. You will be a gainer. Are +you engaged? Have you spoken to her? I have had no communication----" + +"I have not said anything as yet I know that she does not dislike me; we +look kindly on each other, but nothing more. Before taking any definite +steps I decided that I would speak to you as the person of most weight +of our family in Madrid." + +"Very proper; you have behaved admirably. When marriage is in question +it is well to proceed with due caution and formality, for, after all, it +is a sacrament of the Church.[E] In better times than these no alliance +was ever contracted in the higher circles without consulting the opinion +of the heads of both houses. I thank you for your confidence in me, and +you may count on my approval." + +"And on your assistance? You see I am afraid of meeting with some +difficulties on her father's part. He loves hard cash. And to be frank, +I should not relish a refusal." + +The Marquesa sat meditating for a while. + +"Leave him to me. I will do my best to bring him to reason. But you must +promise to do nothing without consulting me. It is a delicate +negotiation, and will need prudence and skill." + +"I give you my word, aunt." + +"Above all be very careful with the little girl. Do not startle her." + +"I will do exactly what you bid me." + +They presently went together into the drawing-room, where some visitors +had arrived. + +On Friday afternoons during Lent, the Marquesa received those of her +friends who, like herself, would devote an hour or two to prayer and +religious exercises. There were the Marquesa de Ujo and her daughter, +still with her skirts far above her ankles, General Patino, Lola +Madariaga and her husband, Clementina Osorio, with her faithful +companion Pascuala, and several others; and, above all, Padre Ortega. +As, in fact, the honours of the occasion were his, and he was director +of the entertainment, every one had gathered about him in the middle of +the room. Everyone talked louder than he did; the illustrious priest's +voice was always soft and subdued, as though he were in a sick room. But +as soon as he began to speak, silence instantly reigned--every one +listened with respectful attention. + +The Marquesa, on entering, kissed his hand with an air of submission, +and inquired affectionately after a cold from which he had been +suffering. + +"Oh! have you a cold, Father?" inquired several ladies at once. + +"A little, a mere trifle," replied the priest, with a smile of suave +resignation. + +"By no means a trifle," said the Marquesa. "Yesterday in church you +coughed incessantly." + +And she proceeded to give the minutest details of the reverend Father's +sufferings, omitting nothing which could make her account more graphic. +The priest sat smiling, with his eyes on the ground, saying: + +"Do not let it disturb you, the Marquesa is always over anxious. You +might think that I was in the last stage of consumption." + +"But, Father, you must take care of yourself, you really must take care +of yourself. You do too much. For the sake of religion you ought to +spare yourself a little." + +The whole party joined in advising him with affectionate interest. A +maiden of seven-and-thirty, a sportive, gushing thing, whose confessor +he was, even said, half seriously and half in jest: + +"Why, Father, if you were to die, what would become of me?" + +A sally which made the guests laugh, but somewhat disconcerted the very +proper director of souls. The Marquesa wished to hinder him this +afternoon from delivering the address with which he usually favoured +them; but he insisted. + +Meanwhile the room had been filling. Mariana Calderon had come in with +Esperancita, the Cotorrasos, Pepa Frias, and Irene. She, poor child, +looked pale and ailing; in fact, she had come straight from her room, to +which she had been confined for some days with a nervous attack. When +the party was large enough, the Marquesa invited them to retire to the +Oratory. The ladies took front places near the altar, chairs and stools +having been comfortably arranged for them, the gentlemen stood in the +background and were provided only with a velvet-pile carpet to kneel on. + +The meeting began by each one going through the prayers of the Rosary +after Padre Ortega. The ladies did this with edifying precision and +devotion, their ivory fingers, on which diamonds and emeralds twinkled +like stars, piously crossed or clasped, their pretty heads bent +low--they were quite bewitching. The Creator must surely hearken to +their prayers, if it were only out of gallantry. Not the least humble, +the least engaging and edifying figure of them all was Pepa Frias. A +black mantilla was most becoming to her russet hair and pink and white +complexion. The same may be said of Clementina, who was taller, with +more delicate features, and in no respect inferior in brilliancy and +beauty of colouring. The languid and artistic attitudes affected by the +fair devotees were no doubt intended to appeal to the Divine Will; but, +as a secondary end, they were no less certainly meant to edify the +escort of men who looked down on them. And, if by any chance there could +have been a Freethinker among them, what confusion and shame must have +possessed his soul on seeing that all that was most elegant and +distinguished of the _High-life_ of Madrid was enlisted in the service +of the Lord. + +Prayer being over, two of the ladies, accompanied by a baritone +"Savage," went up into the gallery, and while another gentleman played +the organ, they sang some of the finest airs from Rossini's _Stabat +Mater_. As they listened, the pious souls felt a vague craving for the +Opera house, for La Tosti and Gayarre, and confessed regretfully, in the +depths of their hearts, that the amateur performance promised them in +Heaven would be a stupendous and eternal bore. After the music came +Padre Ortega's homily or lecture. The priest was accommodated on a sort +of throne of ebony and marble in the middle of the chapel, the ladies +moved their chairs and cushions, so as to face him, and the gentlemen +formed an outer circle, and after a few moments of private meditation to +collect his ideas, he began in a gentle tone to speak a few slow and +solemn words, on the subject of the Christian Family. + +As we know, Father Ortega was a priest quite up to the mark of modern +civilisation, who kept his eye on the advance of rationalistic science +that he might pounce down on it and put it to rout. Positivism, +evolution, sociology, pessimism, were all familiar words to him, and did +not frighten him, as they did most of his colleagues. He was on intimate +terms with them, and fond of using them to confute the pretensions of +modern learning. What he esteemed to be his own strong ground, was the +demonstration of the perfect compatibility of science with faith, the +Harmony (with a capital H) between Religion and Philosophy. His +discourse on the Family was profound and eloquent. To Father Ortega, +that which constituted the Family was a reverence and love for +tradition, reverence and love for the past. "The Family is +Tradition--the tradition of its glory and of its name, of honour, +virtue, and heroism; and all these may be summed up in two words: +respect for elders--love and reverence, that is to say, for all that is +highest and most conservative in the race." + +Starting from this theorem, the preacher inveighed against revolution as +against a gale from hell, blowing down all that was old, and clearing +the ground for all that was new; against the barbarous hostility of our +time to the beliefs, the manners, the laws, the institutions, and the +glories of the past. + +"The banners of revolution are inscribed with the motto: 'Despise the +Elders,'" said he, "as though old creeds, old manners, old institutions, +old aristocracies--though like everything human, they fall far short of +perfection--did not represent the labours of our forefathers, their +intelligence, their triumphs, their soul, life, and heart. And this +being the case, how could revolutionary science, which casts its stupid +contumely on everything ancient and venerable, fail to besmirch even our +great ancestors with its scorn? One element of dissolution in the Family +was the attack on property, directed by the revolutionary faction. This +aggression was not merely adverse to the constitution of society, it was +still more directly hostile to that of the Family. Property, +inheritance, and the patrimony, what were they but the outcome of +reverence for our forefathers on the one hand, of love for our children +on the other? Property consolidates the present, the past, and the +future of the Family; it is the spot where it has grown up and spread; +the soil which, when the progenitors pass away, assures them of rest +beneath the tree of posterity, which shall grow up from it and call them +blessed!" + +Then, for above an hour, the learned Father proved the existence, on the +most solid foundations, of the Christian family. Its bases were +religion, tradition, and property. He spoke with decision, in a simple, +convincing style, and emphatic but correct language. His audience were +deeply attentive and docile, quite persuaded that it was the Holy Ghost +which spoke by the mouth of the reverend preacher, commanding them to +cherish tradition and religion, but, above all, property. The sublime +thought was so elevating that some of the gentlemen present felt +themselves united for all eternity to the Supreme Being by the sacred +tie of landed estate, and registered a vow to fight for it heroically, +and resist the passing of any law which, directly or indirectly, might +affect its integrity. + +When he ended he was rewarded by smiles of approbation and repressed +murmurs of enthusiasm. Every one spoke in a whisper, out of respect to +the sanctity of the spot. The bold damsel who just now had asked Father +Ortega what she could do without him, flew to kiss his hand, with a +succession of sounding smacks which made the rest of the company +exchange meaning smiles of amusement, and the priest drew it away with +evident annoyance. Once more, some ladies and gentlemen went up into the +gallery and executed, in every sense of the word, some religious music +by Gounod. Finally, all the saintly souls left the little chapel and +returned to the drawing-room. + +The Marquesa de Alcudia, a restless nature that knew no peace, at once +proceeded to carry out her promise to her nephew. He saw her take +Mariana aside; they quitted the room together. By-and-by they returned, +and Castro could see that he had been the subject of their parley by the +timid and affectionate glance bestowed on him by Esperancita's mother. +Then he saw his aunt retire with Padre Ortega into a corner where they +had a private consultation, and again he suspected that he was their +theme. The priest looked towards him two or three times with his vague, +short-sighted eyes. He had taken care not to go near Esperanza, but they +had exchanged smiles and looks from afar. The girl seemed surprised at +his sudden reserve; for the last few days Pepe had been assiduous. She +was beginning to be uneasy, and at last crossed the room to speak to +him. + +"You were not at the Opera last night; are you keeping Lent?" + +"Oh, no!" said he, with a laugh. "I had a little headache and went to +bed early." + +"I do not wonder. What could you expect? You were riding a horse in the +afternoon that did nothing but shy. He is a handsome beast, but much too +lively. At one moment I thought he would have you off." + +Castro smiled with a superior air, and the girl hastened to add: "I know +you are a fine horseman; but an accident may happen to any one." + +"What would you have done if I had been thrown?" he asked, looking her +straight in the face. + +"How do I know!" exclaimed the girl with a shrug, but she blushed +deeply. + +"Would you have screamed?" + +"What strange things you ask me," said Esperanza, getting hotter and +hotter. "I might perhaps--or I might not." + +Just then the Marquesa de Alcudia addressed her. + +"Esperanza, I want to speak to you." + +And as she passed her nephew she said in a low voice: + +"Prudence, Pepe! Asides are not in your part." + +Any less superior soul would have felt some anxiety at seeing the two +women leave the room together, some uneasiness as to the issue of this +all-important interview; but our friend was so far above the common +herd in this, as in other matters, that he could chatter with the +company with as much tranquillity as though his aunt and Esperanza had +gone to discuss the fashions. When they presently returned, Esperanza's +little face was in a glow, her eyes beaming with an expression of +submission and happiness, which, but for fear of committing a deadly sin +in Lent, we might compare to that of the Virgin Mary on the occasion +when she was visited by the Angel Gabriel. + +The meeting still preserved a sanctimonious tone. These chastened souls +could not forget that they were celebrating the Fasting in the +Wilderness. The young ladies round the piano piously abstained from +singing anything frivolous; their voices were modulated to the _Ave +Marias_ of Schubert and Gounod, and other songs no less redolent of +sacred emotion. They talked and laughed in subdued tones. If one of the +young men spoke a little recklessly the ladies would call him to order, +reminding him that on a Friday in Lent certain subjects were prohibited. +The Spirit of God must indeed have been present with the meeting if we +may judge from the resignation, the intense serenity, with which they +all seemed to endure existence in this vale of tears. A placid smile was +on every lip; the afternoon waned amid sacred song, mellifluous +exhortation, and subdued mirth. The newspapers reported next day, with +perfect truth, that these pious Fridays were quite delightful, and that +the Marquesa de Alcudia did the honours in the name of the Almighty with +exquisite grace. + +The party at length dispersed. All these souls, so blessed and refreshed +by faith, trooped out of the Alcudia Palace and made their way home, +where they sat down to dine on hot turtle soup, mayonnaise of salmon, +and salads of Brussels sprouts, beginning with prawns to sharpen their +appetites. But, indeed, the hours of silent prayer and communion with +the Divinity had already done this. Nothing is more effectual in giving +tone to the stomach than the sense of union with the Omnipotent, and the +hope that, albeit there are fire and eternal torments for pickpockets +and those misguided souls who do not believe in them, for all Christian +families--those, that is to say, who believe in property and in their +ancestors--there are certainly comfortable quarters in reserve, with an +eternity of salmon mayonnaise and prawns _a la Parisienne_. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +AN EXCURSION TO RIOSA. + + +The Duke de Requena had given the last shake to the tree; the orange +dropped into his hands golden and juicy. At a given moment his agents in +Paris, London, and Madrid, bought up more than half of the Riosa shares. +Thus the management, or, which was the same thing, the mine, was +practically his. Some who had suspected his game, declined to sell, +especially in Madrid, where the banker was well-known; and if he had not +made haste to take the decisive step, the price would undoubtedly have +become firmer. Llera scented the danger and gave the signal. It was a +happy day for the Asturian when he received the telegrams from Paris and +London. His hatchet-face was as radiant as that of a general who has +just won a great battle. His clumsy arms waved in the air like the sails +of a windmill, as he told the tale to the various men of business who +had come to the Duke's counting-house to ask the news. Loud Homeric +laughter shook his pigeon-breasted frame, he hugged his friends tightly +enough to choke them; and when the Duke asked him a question, he +answered even him with a touch of scorn from the heights of his triumph. + +And yet he was not to get the smallest percentage on this immense +transaction; not a single dollar of all the millions which were to come +out of that mine would remain in his hands. But what matter! His +calculations had proved correct; the scheme he had worked out with such +secrecy, perseverance, and wonderful energy and skill, had come to the +desired issue. His joy was that of the artist who has succeeded--a joy +compared with which all the other delights on earth are not worth a +straw. + +The Duke's satisfaction was of a different stamp. His vanity was indeed +flattered by this brilliant success; he honestly thought that he had +achieved an undertaking worthy to be recorded on marble and sung by +poets. A proceeding which was in truth no more than a swindling trick, +within the letter of the law, was by some strange aberration of the +moral faculty transfigured into a glorious display of intellectual +power--and that not alone in his own eyes, but in those of society at +large. To celebrate his success, and at the same time to see for himself +what improvements must be effected in the working of the mine to make it +as productive as he intended it should become, he planned an excursion +thither with the engineers and a party of his friends. At first they +were to be eight or ten; by degrees the number grew, and when the day +came round they formed a party of above fifty guests. This was chiefly +owing to Clementina, who was greatly fascinated by the notion of this +journey. Thus what had been in the Duke's mind a little friendly "day +out," had, under her manipulation, acquired the proportions of a public +event, a much talked-of and ostentatious progress, which for some days +absorbed the attention of the fashionable world. + +Salabert had a special train made up for his party; the servants and +provisions were despatched the day before. Everything was to be arranged +to receive them worthily. It was the middle of May, and beginning to be +hot. By nine in the morning the station of Las Delicias was crowded with +carriages, out of which stepped ladies and gentlemen, dressed for the +occasion; the women in smart costumes considered appropriate for a day +in the country, the men in morning suits and felt hats. But to these +apparently unpretending garments they had contrived to give a stamp of +individual caprice, distinguishing them, as was but right, from all the +shooting coats and wide-awakes hitherto invented. One had a flannel +suit, as white as snow, with black gloves and a black hat; another was +in the inconspicuous motley of the lizard, crowned by a blue hat with a +microscopic brim; a third had thought it an opportunity for turning out +in a black jersey suit, with a white hat, white gloves, and boots. Many +had hung a noble field-glass about their shoulders, by a leather strap, +that they might not miss the smallest details of the landscape, and +several flourished Alpine sticks, as if they were contemplating a +perilous clamber over cliffs and rocks. + +The special train included two saloon cars, a sleeping car, and a +luggage van. The cream of Madrid society proceeded to settle itself, +with the noisy glee befitting the occasion. There were more men than +women; the ladies had, indeed, for the most part, excused themselves, +not caring particularly for the prospect of visiting a mine. Still there +were enough to lend grace to the expedition, and at the same time to +subdue its tone a little. There were some whose fathers or husbands were +connected with the business: Calderon's wife and daughter, Mrs. Biggs, +Clementina, and others. There were some who had come out of friendship +for these--Mercedes and Paz Alcudia, for instance, who were inseparable +from Esperanza. There were more again who could never bear to be absent +from any ploy: Pepa Frias, Lola, and a few more. Among the men were +politicians, men of business, and titles new and old. As they got into +the train the servile assiduity of the station-clerks betrayed how great +an excitement was produced by the mere passage through the office of +these potentates and grandees. + +Last of all, and most potent of all, came the Duke de Requena, who, +taking out his handkerchief, waved it from a window as a signal for +departure. A whistle sounded, the engine responded with a long and noisy +yell, then, puffing and snorting, the train began to move its metallic +segments, and slowly quitted the station. The travellers waved their +hands from the windows in farewell greetings to those who had come to +see them off. + +Great was the excitement and clatter as the train flew across the +barren plains around Madrid. Every one talked and laughed at once, as +loud as possible, and what with this and the noise of the train, no one +could hear. By degrees a sort of chemical diffusion or elective affinity +took place. The Duke, seated in a coupe or compartment at the back of +the train, found himself the centre of a group of financial and +political magnates. Clementina, Pepa Frias, Lola, and some other women +formed another party, with such men as preferred a lighter and more +highly spiced style: Pinedo, Fuentes, and Calderon. The young men and +maidens were exchanging witticisms which seemed to afford them infinite +amusement. One of the incidents which most enchanted them was the +appearance of Cobo Ramirez at the window, in a guard's coat and cap, +demanding the tickets. Cobo, who had been in the foremost carriage, had +clambered along by the foot-board, not without some risk, since the +train was going at a tremendous speed. He was hailed with applause. + +Then the young people sent notes to their friends in the other saloon, +the young men inditing love-letters. The heir of Casa-Ramirez took +charge of them all, and went to and fro between the cars very nimbly, +considering his obesity. This amused them greatly for some time. The +love-letters, written in pencil, were read aloud, with much applause and +laughter. + +Raimundo was content to talk to the Mexican and Osorio. Osorio had +really taken a liking to him. Though but a boy in looks the banker +discerned that he was intelligent and well-educated, and among the +"Savages" such endowments as these conferred pre-eminence. The young man +had, too, succeeded in adapting himself very sufficiently to the +atmosphere which for the time he breathed. Not only was his dress +visibly modified by the refinements of fashion and good taste, but his +tone and manners had undergone a very perceptible change. In his +behaviour to Clementina he was still the timid lad, the submissive +slave, who hung on every word and gesture of his mistress; his love was +taking deeper root in his heart every day. But in social intercourse he +had accommodated himself to what he saw around him. He did all in his +power to repress the impulses of his loving and expansive nature. He +assumed a grave indifference, an almost disdainful calm; ridiculed +everything that was said in his hearing, unless it bore on the manners +and customs of the Savage Club; learned to speak in a joking, ironical +voice, like his fellow "Savages," and above all was on his guard against +ever uttering any scientific or philosophical notions, for he knew by +experience that this was the one unpardonable sin. He even kept his own +counsel when one of his new associates roused him to a feeling of warmer +sympathy and regard than the others. Affection is in itself so absurd +that it is wise to bury it in the depths of your soul, or you expose +yourself to some rebuff, even from the object of your affection. Such +things have been known. Thanks to his diligence, and to an +apprenticeship, which to him was a very cruel one, he extorted much more +respect, and was looked on as a man of consummate _chic_, a height of +happiness which it is given to few to attain to in this weary world +beneath the stars. + +When Cobo had made several journeys from one car to the other, in no +small danger, as the train was flying onwards, Lola, with a mischievous +look, first at Clementina and then at Alcazar, said to the young man: + +"Alcazar, will you venture to go to the next carriage, and ask the +Condesa de Cotorraso for her bottle of salts? I feel rather sea-sick." + +Now Raimundo was, as we know, but a frail creature, who had never gone +through the athletic training of these young aristocrats, his friends. +The scramble along the foot-boards at the pace at which the train was +going, which was to them mere child's play, was to him a service of real +danger. He was apt to turn giddy when only crossing a bridge or climbing +a tower. He was fully aware of this, and hesitated a moment; still, for +very shame he could but reply: + +"I will go at once, Senora," and he was about to act on her orders. + +But Clementina, whose brows had knit at her friend's preposterous +demand, stopped him, exclaiming: + +"You certainly shall not go, Alcazar. We will make Cobo go for it next +time he returns." + +The young man stood doubtful with his hand on the door; but Clementina +repeated more positively, colouring as she spoke: + +"You are not to go--not on any account." + +Raimundo turned to Lola with a bow. + +"Forgive me, Senora, to-day I am sworn to this lady's service. I will be +your slave some other day." + +And neither Lola's noisy laugh, nor the sarcastic smiles of the others, +could spoil the grateful emotion he experienced at his mistress's eager +interest. + +Ramon Maldonado was in the other saloon, where also were Esperanza and +her mother with some other ladies, whom he deliberately laid himself out +to charm by his discourse. He was giving them a full and particular +report, in the most parliamentary style he could command, of some +curious incidents in the last sitting. He was already master of all the +commonplace of civic oratory, and knew the technical cant very +thoroughly. He could talk of the order of the day, votes of confidence, +private bills, committees of supply, the previous question, obstruction, +suspension, and closure as if he himself were the patentee of this +elaborate outcome of human ingenuity. He knew the municipal bye-laws as +well as if he had invented them, and discussed questions of city dues, +sewage, weights and measures, and seizure of contraband, so that it was +a marvel to hear him. Finally, being a man of unfathomable ambition, he +had joined a party in opposition to the Mayor, a step which he hoped +might lead to his nomination as a member of the board of highways. + +For a long time past he had been waging a covert but determined struggle +against one Perez, another deputy not less ambitious than himself, for +this very appointment, in which he believed that his great gifts as an +innovator would shine with peculiar splendour. The various public +places of Madrid were awaiting the redeeming hand which might give them +fresh life and splendour, and the hand could be none other than that of +Maldonado. In the recesses of his brain, among a thousand other +portentous schemes, there was one so audacious that he dared not +communicate it to any one, while he was incubating it with the fondest +care, determined to fight for this child of his genius till his dying +day. This was no less than a plan for moving the fountain of Apollo from +the Prado to the Puerta del Sol. And a whippersnapper fellow like Perez, +a narrow-minded slow-coach, with no taste or spirit, dared to dispute +the place with him! + +At the moment when he was most absorbed in his narrative of how he had +concocted the most ingenious intrigue to secure a vote of censure on the +Mayor, Cobo--that inevitable spoilsport--came up, and after listening +for a minute, roughly attacked him, saying: + +"Come, Ramoncito, do not give yourself airs. We know very well that you +are a mere nobody in the House. Gonzalez can lead you by the nose +wherever he wants you to go." + +This was a cruel thrust at Maldonado, considering that it was before +Esperancita and several other ladies, old and young. Indeed it stunned +him as completely as if it had been a blow on the head with a cudgel. He +turned pale, his lips quivered, and he could not utter a word. At last +he gasped out: + +"I? Gonzalez? Leads me by the nose? Are you crazy? No one leads me by +the nose, much less Gonzalez, of all men!" + +He spoke the last words with intense scorn; he denied Gonzalez as Peter +denied his Master, out of base pride. His conscience told him that he +was not speaking truly, though no cock crew. Gonzalez was the +acknowledged leader of the civic minority, and at the bottom of his +heart, Ramon held him in great veneration. + +"Pooh! nonsense! Do you mean to tell me that Gonzalez cannot make you +work and dance like a puppet? Much good you dissidents would do if it +were not for him." + +On this Ramon recovered the use of his tongue, and to such good purpose, +that he poured out above a thousand words in the course of a few +minutes, with fierce vehemence, foaming and sputtering with rage. He +rebuked with indignation the monstrous comparison of himself with a +puppet, and fully explained the precise position held by Gonzalez in the +city council and that which he himself occupied. But he did it with such +frenzied excitement and gesticulation that the ladies looked at him in +amused surprise. + +"How eloquent he is! Who would have believed it of Ramoncito? Come, +Cobo, do not tease him any more; you will make him ill!" + +This compassionate tone stung Ramon to the quick. He was instantly +speechless, and for at least an hour he wrapped himself in silent +dignity. + +The train drew up at a small station in the midst of a wide stretch of +open moor, looking like a petrified sea; here the travellers were to +take their mid-day meal. The Duke's servants, sent on the day before, +had everything ready. Ramon devoted himself to the service of Esperanza, +and she allowed him to wait on her with a placid smile which turned his +head with joy. The reason of her condescension was that, by his aunt's +particular desire, Pepe Castro had not joined the party. The matrimonial +overtures, made under the greatest secrecy, required the utmost +prudence. As Maldonado was so intimate with the lord of her heart, +Esperanza felt a certain pleasure in keeping him at her side; at the +same time she avoided comment by talking to the Conde de Agreda or to +Cobo. Poor Ramon! How far he was from understanding these psychological +complications. + +They took their seats in the train once more, and went on their way +across interminable sunburnt plains, no one dreaming of examining the +landscape through those ponderous fieldglasses. They reached Riosa +shortly before dusk. + +The famous mines of Riosa are situated in a hollow between two low +ranges of hills, the spurs of a great mountain-chain, and are surrounded +on all sides by broken ground, knolls and downs of no great height, but +scarred and ravined in such a way as to look peculiarly barren and +melancholy. In the hollow stands a town dating from the remotest +antiquity. Our travellers did not invade it, they stopped about two +kilometres short of it, at a village named Villalegre, where the +engineers and miners have settled themselves with a view to avoiding the +mercurial and sulphurous fumes which slowly poison not the miners only, +but all the inhabitants of the neighbourhood. It is divided from the +mines by a ridge, and is a striking contrast to the mining town itself. +It is watered by a stream which makes it blossom like a garden, gay with +wild lilies, jasmine, and heliotrope, and, above all, with damask roses, +which have naturalised themselves there more completely than in any +other region of Spain. The aromatic fragrance of thyme and fennel +perfumes and purifies the air. + +The most flowery plot in all the settlement belonged to the company, at +about three hundred yards from the village. A handsome stone building +stood in the midst of a garden, this was the residence of the +head-manager, and the central office of the mines; round it, at some +little distance, were several smaller dwellings, each with its little +garden, occupied by clerks, and by some of the operatives; but most of +these lived at Riosa. + +There was no station at Villalegre, the train stopped where it crossed +the road leading to the chief town of the province. Here carriages were +in waiting to convey them to the head office, a drive of about ten +minutes. At the park gate, and along the road, a crowd had gathered, +which hailed the visitors with very faint enthusiasm. These were the men +off their turn of work, whom the director had sent for from Riosa for +the purpose. They were all pallid and earth-stained, their eyes were +dull, and even from a distance it was easy to detect in their movements +a certain indecision, which, when seen closer, was a very perceptible +trembling. The smart party of visitors drove close past this mob of +ghosts--for such they seemed in the fading evening grey--the eyes of +beauty and fashion met those of the miners, and from that contact not a +spark of sympathy was struck. Behind the forced and melancholy smile of +the labourers, a keen eye could very plainly detect hostility. Requena's +little procession drove by in silence; these fine folks were visibly +uneasy; they were very grave, not without a touch of alarm. The ladies +involuntarily shrunk closer to the men, and as they turned in at the +gates there was a murmur of "Good heavens! what faces!" and a sigh of +relief at having escaped from the deep mysterious gaze of those haggard +eyes. Rafael Alcantara alone was so bold as to utter a jesting remark. + +"Well," said he, "the sovereign people are not attractive looking in +these parts." + +The manager introduced the clerks to Salabert, each by name. They were +almost all natives of other parts of the country, healthy, smiling young +fellows, with nothing noticeable about them, and the superintendents no +less so. The only man of them all who attracted any attention was a +delicate-looking man, with a pale face, and thin black moustache, whose +steady dark eyes looked at the fashionable visitors with such piercing +determination as bordered on insolence. Without knowing why, those who +met his gaze felt vaguely uncomfortable, and were glad to look away. The +manager introduced him as the doctor attached to the mines. + +Rooms had been found for all the party, some in the director's house, +and others in those of the humbler residents. When they had taken a +little rest, they all met in the director's drawing-room, and from +thence they marched arm-in-arm, in solemn procession, to the office +board-room, which had been transformed into a dining-room. Here the Duke +gave them a magnificent dinner. Nothing was missing of the most refined +and aristocratic entertainment; the plate and china, the cooking, and +the service were all perfection. While they dined the grounds were +lighted up with Venetian lamps, and on rising from table, every one +rushed to the window to admire the effect, which was dazzlingly +beautiful. An orchestra, concealed in an arbour, played national airs +with great spirit. The whole party, panting from the heat of the room, +which was intense, and tempted by the brilliant spectacle, went out to +wander about the gardens; the younger men carried off the girls to a +grass-plot, close to the band, and there began to dance. Cobo Ramirez +presently joined the group. + +"Do you know what you remind me of?" he shouted. "A party of commercial +travellers in some suburban cafe!" + +This comparison seemed to hurt their feelings deeply; the dancing lost +its attractions for the fashionable juveniles, and soon ceased +altogether. However, as their hearts were set on Terpsichorean delights, +it occurred to them to transfer the music to the board room, where they +continued their devotions to the Muse, free from the dreadful burden +which Cobo had laid on their conscience. + +The festivities were carried on till late. Fireworks were presently let +off, having been brought expressly from Madrid. The various couples +wandered about the gravelled paths, enjoying the coolness of the night, +made fragrant by the scent of flowers. There was but one dark blot on +their perfect enjoyment. When they went near the gate, they saw a crowd +outside, of labourers, women, and children, who had come from Riosa, on +hearing of the great doings--the same haggard creatures, hollow-eyed and +gloomy, as they had met on arriving. So they took care not to go too +near the fence, but to remain in the paths and alleys near the middle of +the garden. Lola, only, who prided herself on being charitable, and who +was president, secretary, and treasurer of no less than three societies, +was brave enough to speak to them, and even to distribute some small +silver money; but out of the darkness came obscene abuse and insults, +which compelled her to retreat. Cotorraso, when he heard of it, was in a +great rage. + +"And these Bedouin savages are to have rights and liberties! Let them +first be made decent, civil, and well-behaved, and then we will talk +about it." + +The law of elective affinity had drawn together Raimundo Alcazar and a +man who was somewhat out of his element in this riotous company. This +gentleman, with whom he was walking, was between fifty and sixty years +of age, short and thin, with a white moustache and beard, and prominent +eyes, with a somewhat absent gaze through his spectacles. His name was +Don Juan Penalver; he held a chair of philosophy at the University, and +had been in the Ministry. He enjoyed a high and deserved reputation for +learning, and for a dignity of character rare in Spain. This naturally +brought him into ill-odour with the "Savages," who affected to treat him +with contemptuous familiarity. It is obvious that nothing can be more +offensive to the average "Savage" than Philosophy. Penalver's +intellectual superiority and fame was a stab to their pride. Their scorn +did not trouble him; he was by nature cheerful, warm-hearted, and +absent-minded; he was incapable of discriminating the various shades of +social manner, and, in fact, had not been much seen in the world since +retiring from political life to devote himself exclusively to science. +He had joined this expedition to oblige his brother-in-law, Escosura, +who held a large number of shares in the Riosa mines. Of late years he +had been an ardent student of natural science, as the surest way of +combatting the metaphysical idealism to which he had devoted his early +life. It was with real pleasure that he found himself accidentally +thrown into the company of a youth so well-informed on scientific +matters as Raimundo. The rest of the party bored him past endurance, so +taking Alcazar by the arm, without inquiring whether he wanted him or +no, he began discussing physiology. + +Raimundo was in a fit of despondency and gloom. He had observed that +this Escosura had been definitively making love to Clementina; he was +quite shameless in his attentions to her wherever he happened to meet +her, and affected to ignore her connection with Raimundo. Both in mind +and person Escosura was the exact opposite of his brother-in-law +Penalver. He was tall and stout, with a burly person and noisy manners; +rich, of some influence politically, a vehement orator, with a voice so +unusually sonorous that, according to his enemies, it was to that he +owed his parliamentary successes. He was a man of about forty, and had +never been Minister, though he asserted that he should soon be in +office. Clementina had already repelled his addresses several times, and +this Raimundo knew, and was proud of his own triumph. At the same time +he could not divest himself of some anxiety whenever, as at this moment, +he saw them talking together. + +They were sitting in a summer-house with several other persons, but +conversing apart with great animation. Each time he and Penalver went +past them, his heart swelled with a pang; he scarcely heard, or even +tried to hear, the learned disquisition his companion was pouring into +his ear. Clementina could read in his anxious gaze how much he was +suffering, and after watching him for a little while she rose and joined +the two men, saying with a smile: + +"And what plot are you two sages hatching?" + +"You flatter me," said the younger with a modest bow. "The only sage +here is Senor Penalver." + +"Well, Senor Penalver can bestow a lecture on the Condesa de Cotorraso, +who is anxious to make his acquaintance, while you come with me to see a +Gothic cathedral which is about to explode in fireworks," and she put +her hand through her lover's arm. + +Alcazar was happy again. He did not even speak to her of the anguish he +had suffered but a moment ago; on other occasions when he had made such +a confession it had only led to double pain, for Clementina would answer +him in a tone of light banter which wounded him to the heart. They +watched the wonderful, blazing cathedral till it was burnt out; the +gentle pressure of her hand, the scent--always the same--which hung +about her sweet person were too much for the young man, who was +predisposed to be overcome by the proof of affection his beloved had +just given him. She, who knew him well, as she felt him press her arm +more closely, looked in his face, sure that she should see tears in his +eyes. In fact, Raimundo was silently weeping. On finding himself +detected, he smiled in a shamefaced way. + +"Still such a baby!" she exclaimed, giving him a caressing little pinch. +"Pepa is right when she says you are like a school-girl in a convent. +Come, let us walk about; some one might see your face." + +They went into a more retired part of the garden. From one spot in the +grounds they could see a very curious landscape. The full moon lighted +up the crest of the nearest hill, which divided Villalegre from Riosa, +making it look like the ruins of a castle. Clementina wished to see it +closer, so they went out by one of the side-gates, where no one was to +be seen, and slowly wandered on--the knoll was barren of vegetation, a +pile of boulders, in fact, of fantastic shapes, looking precisely like a +mass of ruins. It was not till they were close to it that they could +convince themselves of the truth. + +When the lady had satisfied her curiosity, they returned round the +outside of the park, to enter by the opposite gate. On this side there +were still a few knots of people. Before reaching the gate, at a corner +of the road darkened by the shade of some trees, Clementina stumbled +over an object, and nearly fell. She screamed aloud, for on looking down +she saw a human creature lying at her feet. Raimundo took out a match, +and found that it was a boy of ten or twelve fast asleep. They picked +him up, and set him on his feet. The little fellow opened his eyes and +stared at them in alarm. Then, as if by a sudden inspiration, he +snatched the stick Raimundo was carrying, and began to move it slowly up +and down, as though he were fulfilling some very difficult task. +Clementina and her lover looked on in amazement, unable to guess what +this could mean. A few workmen collected round them, and one with a +horse-laugh exclaimed: + +"It is one of the boys from the pumps! Go it, my boy, work away! A tough +job, isn't it?" + +And his companions burst into brutal laughter, crying out to the poor +little somnambulist: + +"Go at it! Keep it up! Harder, boy, harder, the water is rising!" + +And the unhappy boy redoubled his imaginary efforts with more and more +energy. He was a weakly creature, with a white face, quite +expressionless with sleep, and his ragged rough hair gave him the look +of a wraith. The savage glee of the workmen, who looked on at the +pitiable scene, made a very painful impression on Raimundo. He took the +child in his arms, shook him gently to wake him, kissed him kindly on +the forehead, and taking a dollar out of his purse, gave it to the lad, +and then went on with Clementina. The working men ceased their laughter, +and one of them said in a tone of envy: + +"Well, you have not worked hard for your day's pay." + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +LIFE UNDERGROUND. + + +At one in the morning the party broke up. + +They were to reassemble at nine, to set out in a body on a visit of +inspection to the mines; and the programme was carried out, not indeed +with punctuality, which in Spain is an impossibility, but with no more +than an hour's delay. They set out for Riosa, in carriages, at ten; of +course a diminished party. They alighted at the outskirts of the town +and crossed it on foot, producing, as may be supposed, no small +excitement. The women crowded to the doors and windows, staring with +eager curiosity at this splendid procession of ladies and gentlemen, +arrayed in clothes such as they had never seen in their lives. Like +their husbands, brothers, and sons, these women were pale and +sickly-looking, their features pinched, their eyes dull, their hands and +feet stunted. The visitors also saw a few men suffering from constant +trembling. + +"What is the matter? Why do those men tremble so?" asked Esperancita +anxiously. + +"They have the palsy," said one of the clerks. + +"What is the palsy?" + +"They get it by working in the mines." + +"Do many of them get it?" + +"All of them," said the doctor, who had heard the question. "Mercurial +palsy attacks all who work in the mines." + +"And why do they work there, then?" asked the girl, with much +simplicity. + +"It is their mania!" said the doctor, with a peculiar smile. + +"For my part I think the fresh air up here is much better to breathe +than the foul air down below." + +"Why, of course. I would be anything rather than a miner." + +They came out at length on a small open space, where some workmen were +busy erecting an artistic pedestal of marble. + +"This is the pedestal for the statue of the Duke," said the manager of +the mines, in a loud voice. + +"Ah, ah! They are going to put up a statue to you?" said one and +another, gathering round the great man. He shrugged his shoulders with a +deprecating gesture. + +"I am sure I don't know. Some absurd notion that has been started in the +miners' wine-shops, I suppose." + +"No, indeed, Senor Duque," exclaimed the manager, whose duty it had been +to start the idea which Llera had suggested to him at a hint from +Salabert himself. "No, indeed. The town of Riosa is anxious to erect a +monument of its gratitude and respect to a noble patron who, in the most +critical circumstances, did not hesitate to risk an enormous sum in the +purchase of a half-ruined undertaking, and so to save it from utter +disaster." + +"What a beautiful thing it is to do good!" exclaimed Lola, in a voice +full of feeling; and her pretty eyes rested admiringly on Requena. + +Every one complimented him; though many of those present knew the +meaning of this magnificent sacrifice. They looked at the work for a +minute or two, and then proceeded on their way. The mines were close to +the town, on the further side. Outwardly they looked like a manufactory +on a small scale, with a few tall chimneys vomiting black smoke. There +was nothing to betray their colossal value. The party went into the +buildings and over the premises where the subsidiary processes of the +works were carried on, and which included carpenters' sheds and forges, +the engineers' office and private room, &c. But what impressed them all +was the sad and sickly appearance of the operatives. They were all +broken with decrepitude, and the Condesa de Cotorraso could not help +saying: + +"Only old men seem to be employed." + +The manager smiled. "They are not old, though they look so, Senora." + +"But they are all wrinkled, and their eyes are sunken and dim." + +"There is not a man of forty among them. Those whom you see at work here +are too far gone to work underground. We employ them up here, but they +get less wages." + +"And does it take long in the mines to reduce them to this condition?" +asked Ramon. + +"Not long, not long," murmured the manager, and he went on: "Such as you +see them, they are always eager to get back to the mine again. The pay +for outside work is so small." + +"What do they get?" + +"A peseta a day; six reales at most."[F] + +They next visited the smelting-houses. The Duke had gone on first with +the English engineer, whom he had engaged to report on the improvements +needed to make the works pay. In these sheds they saw huge furnaces, +piles of cinnabar and stores of mercury. + +The furnaces consist of a retort in which the cinnabar is placed with +the combustibles for calcining it. From this retort earthenware +condensers rise, branching off into pipes communicating with each other. +In these pipes the vapours of mercury which rise from the furnace are +reduced by condensation to the liquid state; and the quicksilver is +precipitated and flows out by holes in the lower face of the pipes. But +as a large amount of sooty matter remains, containing particles of +metal, it is necessary to remove and clean the condensers one by one. +This is the work of boys, of from ten to fifteen, who, for seven or +eight hours at a time, breathe an atmosphere charged with mercurial +poison. They next visited the stores and the shed where the mineral is +weighed for sale. And everywhere the operatives wore the same appearance +of decrepitude. + +The manager now proposed that they should inspect the hospital. Some +refused, but Lola, who never missed an opportunity of displaying her +benevolent sentiments, set the example, and most of the ladies followed +her, with a few of the men. The Duke excused himself, as he was busy +with the engineers, who were giving him their opinion on the state of +the furnaces. + +The hospital was outside the precincts of the mines, near the +burial-ground--no doubt to accustom the inmates to the idea of death, +and also, perhaps, that if the mercurial vapours proved ineffectual to +kill them, those of the graveyard might finish the task. It was an old +building, tumble-down, damp, and gloomy. It was only sheer shame which +hindered the ladies from turning back from the threshold. The doctor, +who had undertaken to guide them, showed them into the different rooms, +and displayed the dreadful panorama of human suffering. Most of the poor +wretches were dressed, and sitting on their beds or on chairs. Their +drawn, corpse-like faces were objects of terror; their bodies shook with +incessant trembling, as though they were stricken with a common panic. +Fear and pity were painted on the fresh faces of their visitors; and the +doctor smiled his peculiar smile, looking at them boldly with his large, +black eyes. + +"Not a pleasing picture, is it?" said he. + +"Poor creatures! And are they all miners?" + +"Yes, all. The atmosphere they live in, vitiated by mercurial vapours, +and the insufficient supply of fresh air, inevitably produce not only +this trembling from acute or chronic mercurial poisoning--which is the +most conspicuous result--but pulmonary catarrh of an aggravated type, +dysentery, tuberculosis, mercurial irritation of the stomach, and many +other diseases which either shorten their lives or render them incapable +of labour after a few years spent under ground." + +"Poor things--poor creatures!" repeated his hearers. + +The little party who had followed his guidance listened to him with +attention and sympathy. Never had they seen anything so terrible. +Labour--a penalty in itself--was here complicated with poisoning; and +with sincere emotion, full of the best intentions, they suggested means +of alleviating the misery of the sufferers. Some declared that a good +hospital ought to be erected; others suggested a shop, on charitable +principles, where the workmen could obtain good food at a cheap rate; +others urged that the children should not be employed at all; others +again that the labourers should be allowed to work for only a very +limited time. + +The doctor smiled and shook his head. + +"All this would be admirable, no doubt; I quite agree with you. But +then, as I can but tell you, it would not be a paying business." + +They distributed some money among the sick, visited the chapel, where +again they left some money to procure a new robe for the Holy Infant, +and at last got out of the dismal place. To breathe the fresh air once +more was almost intoxicating, and they laughed and talked as they made +their way back to join the rest of the party. + +The engineers were explaining to Salabert a new process of sublimation +which might be adopted, and by which not only would the production be +vastly increased, but the residue would be utilised. This was effected +by condensers formed of chambers of very thin brickwork in the lower +part of the funnel carrying off the vapour, and of wood and glass above. +A furnace to which these were fitted could be kept constantly going. The +Duke listened attentively, took notes, raised objections, mastered the +details of the business, and finally his keen nose scented enormous +profits. + +As the ladies came up he gallantly postponed the discussion. + +"Well, how are my sick getting on, ladies? The sun has shone on them +to-day," said he. + +"Badly, Duke, very badly. The hospital leaves much to be desired." + +And with one accord they complained of the defects of the building, +painting it in the blackest colours, and proposing improvements to make +it comfortable. + +The Duke listened with smiling indifference and the half-ironical +attention we give to a coaxing child. + +"Very well, very well; we will have it all seen to. But you will allow +me to set the business on its feet first--eh, Regnault?" + +The superintendent bowed with an insinuating smile. + +"And the men must work shorter hours," said the Condesa de Cebal. + +"And they really must be better paid," added Lola. + +"And they ought to have cottages built for them at Villalegre," said +another. + +"Ha, ha, ha," shouted the Duke, with a burst of coarse laughter. "And +why not bring Gayarre and Tosti here to entertain them in the evening? +They must be dreadfully dull here, I should think, in the evenings!" + +The ladies smiled timidly. + +"But really, Duke, you should not make fun of it; it is a serious +matter," said the Condesa de Cebal. + +"Serious! I believe you, Condesa. It has cost me three million dollars +already. Do you think three millions are not a serious matter?" + +His fair advisers looked at each other, dazzled by the enormous sums +this man could handle. + +"But do you not expect to get some interest on your millions?" asked +Lola, who flattered herself she knew something of business. + +The Duke again roared with laughter. + +"Oh no, Senora, of course not. I shall leave that in the road for the +first passer by. Interest indeed!" Then suddenly turning serious, he +went on: "Who the devil has been putting this nonsense into your heads? +I tell you, ladies, that what is lacking here--sadly lacking--is sound +morality. Make the workman soundly moral, and all the evils you have +seen will disappear. Let him give up drink, give up gambling, give up +wasting his wages, and all these effects of the mercury will disappear. +It is self-evident,"--and he appealed to some of the gentlemen who had +joined the group--"How can a man resist the effects of mining when his +body, instead of food, be it what it may, contains a gallon of bad +brandy? I am perfectly convinced that the majority of those on the sick +list are confirmed drunkards. Do you know, gentlemen, that in Riosa +thrift is a thing unknown--thrift, without which prosperity and comfort +are an impossibility?" + +This was a maxim the Duke had frequently heard in the senate; he +reiterated it with much emphasis and conviction. + +"But how do you expect thrift on two pesetas[G] a day?" the Condesa +ventured to demur. + +"There is no difficulty at all," said the Duke. "Thrift is a matter of +principle, the principle of saving something out of to-day's enjoyment +to avoid the needs of to-morrow. Two pesetas to a workman are like two +thousand to you. Cannot you save something out of two thousand? Well, so +can he out of two. Say he has less, fifteen centimes, ten, five. The +point is to put something aside, and that, however little, is to the +good." + +"Merciful Heaven!" the Condesa sighed, "What I do not understand is how +any one can live on two pesetas, much less save." + +The engineers of the works invited the party to inspect the machine-room +and laboratory. There was here a remarkably fine microscope, which +attracted general attention. The doctor was the person who used it most, +devoting much of his time to investigations in histology. The manager +requested him to show the Duke's guests some of his preparations. First +he exhibited some diatoms--the ladies were charmed by their various +forms; he also showed them specimens of the animalcule which wrought +the destruction of the famous bridge at Milan; they could not cease +marvelling that so minute a creature should be able to demolish so huge +a structure. + +"And think of the myriads of these creatures which must have laboured to +produce such an effect," said an engineer. + +Quiroga, so the doctor was called, ended by showing them a drop of +water. One by one they all looked at the invisible world revealed by the +microscope. + +"I see one animal larger than the others," said the Duke, as he applied +one of his prominent eyes to the tube of the instrument. + +"And you will see all the others fly before him," said the doctor. + +"Very true." + +"That is a rotifer. He is the shark of the drop of water." + +"Look yourself a minute, it seems to me that he is hiding behind +something that looks like seaweed." + +"You may call it seaweed. Perhaps he is hiding to catch his prey." + +"Yes, yes. Now he has rushed out on a much smaller creature. It is gone, +he must have eaten it." + +And the Duke looked up, beaming with satisfaction at having seen this +strange microscopic tragedy. + +Quiroga looked at him with his bold gaze, and said with that eternal +ironical smile of his: + +"It is the same all the world over. In the drop of water as in the +ocean--everywhere the big fish swallow the small fry." + +The Duke's smile faded away. He gave a side glance at the doctor, whose +mysterious countenance showed no change, and said abruptly: + +"You must all be tired of science. Let us go to luncheon." + + * * * * * + +The crowning attraction of the expedition which had brought all this gay +company away from their luxurious homes to so comfortless and barren a +region, was a plan for breakfasting, or rather lunching, at the bottom +of the mine. When Clementina had mentioned this at one of her card +parties it gave rise to a perfect burst of enthusiasm. + +"How very original! How odd! How delightful!" The ladies especially were +most eager about it. + +By the Duke's advice, they all had provided themselves with elegant +waterproof cloaks and high boots, for water oozed into the mine in many +places, and made deep puddles. Only the evening before, however, several +had taken fright at the immediate prospect, and had given up the +expedition. The Duke had been obliged to order two meals, one in the +mine and one above ground. The braver party who persisted in their +purpose were not more than eight or ten. These had brought their +waterproofs and leggings. + +The whole party now gathered round one of the mouths of the mine known +as San Gennaro's pit. Near this shaft there was a building used for +inspecting and weighing the ore, and there the ladies and gentlemen +changed their boots and put on their wrappers. On seeing them thus +prepared for the worst, almost all the ladies declared that they would +after all go down with their friends. A messenger was forthwith sent to +Villalegre for the rest of the waterproofs. + +The cage, worked up and down by steam, had been prepared for the +reception of this elegant company. It had two floors, on each of which +eight persons could stand. It had been lined with baize, and a few brass +rings had been fitted to hold on by. The director, the Duke, and the +valiant ladies who had come prepared, went down first. Orders were given +to the engineer to send the lift down very slowly. It began to move, at +first rising a few inches, and then descending with a jerk; then, +suddenly, it seemed to be swallowed in the shaft. The women smothered a +cry and stood speechless and pale. The walls of the shaft were dark, +rough-hewn, and streaming with water; in each division of the cage a +miner with a palsied hand held up a lantern. All, excepting the manager +and the miners accustomed to the motion, had an uneasy feeling in the +stomach, and a vague apprehension which made them incapable of speech, +and they clenched their hands very tightly as they clung to the rings. + +"The first gallery," said the manager, as they passed a black opening. + +But no one made any remark. This suspension in the abyss, over the +unknown void, paralysed their tongues and almost their power of thought. + +"The second gallery," said the manager again as they passed another +yawning hole. And thus he continued till they came to the ninth. There +they heard the sound of voices and saw that the gallery was lighted up. + +"We shall take our luncheon here. But first we will go down to the +eleventh gallery to see the works." + +When they had gone past the tenth, he shouted as loud as he could: + +"Are the brakes on?" + +And a voice from below replied: + +"No!" + +"Put them on at once," he called down. + +"It cannot be done," was the answer. + +"What, why? The brakes, I say; put on the brakes." + +And with a very red face, almost convulsed with excitement, he still +shouted like a madman, while the cage slowly went down, down. + +A cold chill fell on every heart. In the upper compartment some of the +women began to utter piercing shrieks. In the lower room a few screams +were heard and all clung tightly to the men's arms. Some fainted. It was +a moment of indescribable alarm. They all thought this was their dying +hour. + +And still the manager kept shouting: "The brakes, put on the brakes." + +And the voices below, more and more distinct, replying: "It cannot be +done." + +When they firmly believed that they were rushing into the nether void +the cage quietly stopped. They heard a peal of loud laughter, and their +terrified eyes beheld, by the tremulous light of tallow candles, a party +of miners whose grinning faces suddenly assumed an expression of the +utmost alarm and dismay. + +"What is all this? What is the meaning of this piece of foolery?" asked +the manager, jumping out of the lift in a rage and going up to them. + +The men respectfully took off their hats and one of them with a +shame-faced smile stammered out: + +"Begging your pardon, Senor, we thought it was a lot of the men, and we +wanted to give 'em a fright." + +"Did not you know that we were coming down?" he angrily asked. + +"We thought the gentlefolks were going to stop at number nine, where all +the fine doings are to be----" + +"You thought, and you thought; you should not think such stupid things." + +The Duke recovered the use of his tongue. + +"But do you know, my good fellows, that you were playing a very rough +and ready joke on your fellow workmen! Making them fancy they were +rushing to their death!" + +"Their death!" echoed the miner who had first spoken. + +"No, Senor Duque," said the manager, "if they had not put the breaks on +we should only have been up to our waists in water." + +"Is that all?" + +"Would you have liked a bath in dirty water?" + +"Well, of course it would not have been a pleasant dip. But to see you +in such a state of frenzy made us all think we were being killed +outright. What do you say, ladies?" + +The ladies were relieving their minds by exclamations; some crying and +some laughing. Two who had fainted received every attention, their +temples were bathed with cold water, and the Condesa de Cotorraso's +salts were brought into requisition. At last they recovered their +senses, and the rest congratulated themselves on having escaped from +such fearful peril, for they could not bear to think that there had been +none. They looked forward to exciting the sympathy of their friends at +home by the narrative of this horrible adventure, and believed +themselves the heroines of a story in the style of Jules Verne. + +The spectacle which presented itself to their eyes when they could bring +themselves to look at it, was not less grand than fantastic. Huge +vaulted arches diverged in every direction, lighted only by the pale +light of a few candles placed at wide intervals. To and fro in these +galleries, with incessant toil, a crowd of labourers were constantly +moving, their gigantic shadows dancing in the dim, flickering light. +Their shouts echoed to the accompaniment of creaking trolley-wheels, and +they seemed possessed with the idea of accomplishing some mysterious +task in a very short time. In some of the galleries the walls were lined +with crystals of native mercury, glittering as though they were covered +with silver. On the other side of these walls, dull regular blows might +be heard, and on going a few yards into the openings which had been +formed here and there, they could see at the end, in an illuminated +cavern, four or five pale, melancholy men hewing out the ore with their +pick-axes. Whenever they stopped to rest it could be seen that their +limbs shook with the palsy, characteristic of mercurial poisoning. + +It would have been easy to fancy oneself translated to the world of +gnomes, and the scene of their mysterious labours. Man burrows in the +earth with incessant toil like the mole, tunnelling it in every +direction; but he poisons himself as he eats it away. The gods could get +rid of the human rat without the aid of the cat. + +Suddenly Lola gave a piercing shriek, which made every one look round, +but she immediately burst out laughing. A driplet of water from the roof +had trickled down her back. Every one laughed at the accident, but the +mirth was not very genuine. At these depths every one was aware of a +vague uneasiness, even fear, which they strove to conceal. The cage +brought down another large party, but the third time it was almost +empty, for the rest of the company had preferred to be deposited in the +ninth gallery, feeling no particular interest in the mining operations. +Those who had come to the bottom were unfeignedly desirous of finding +themselves as soon as possible in more commodious quarters. They asked +the manager again and again whether they were safe, if there was no fear +of the vault falling in. + +"Oh, no," said the manager with a smile. "Only private mines fall in. +This was a Government concern, and everything was done with lavish +security." + +"I have been in mines where we have had to send a party of men down to +dig the miners out," said one of the engineers. + +"How shocking!" exclaimed the ladies in chorus. + +At last they got into the cage again and were carried up to number nine. +Here the scene was very different. It was a long time since this gallery +had been worked, and part of it had been enlarged to form a chamber, +which had been enclosed, boarded, and carpeted; it might have been a +room in a palace. The roof and walls were hung with waterproof cloth and +adorned with trophies of mining. A table was magnificently laid for +fifty or more, and the place was brilliantly illuminated by means of +lustres with hundreds of wax lights. In short every refinement of luxury +and elegance had been lavished here, so that it was difficult to +persuade oneself that this dining-room was in the depths of a mine, +three hundred metres below the surface of the earth. + +The guests took their seats with a sense of excitement, a combination of +pleased admiration and vague alarm, which was written on their smiling +but pale faces. The servants in livery stood in a row as if they had +been at home in Madrid. As the first course was handed round, a band, +hidden away in an adjoining gallery of the mine, struck up a charming +waltz tune, and the sounds, softened by distance, had a delightful and +soothing effect. + +The ladies, their eyes glistening, tremulous with excitement, repeated +again and again: "How original, how amusing, I am so glad I came, what a +delightful idea of Clementina's!" + +Then they tried to be calm and talk of indifferent subjects; but no one +succeeded. The sense of so many tons of earth overhead weighed on their +consciousness through it all. Nay, with some of the men it was the same, +though some were perfectly calm. + +Raimundo was, no doubt, the man who thought least of his immediate +surroundings; he was entirely absorbed in his moral predicament. +Clementina, in spite of her professions and promises, was carrying on a +hot flirtation with Escosura. They were placed side by side, exactly +opposite to where he sat. He could see them talking eagerly, and +laughing frequently; he saw him devoted, obsequious, lavish of +compliments and attentions; he saw her complacent, smiling, and +accepting his civilities with pleasure. And though from time to time she +bestowed on Raimundo a loving look in compensation, he could only regard +it as an alms--the crust bestowed on a beggar to save him from death. +What did he care whether he were on the face or in the centre of the +earth, or even if it should fall in and crush him like a fly. + +Another person to whom this geographical question was a matter of +supreme indifference was Ramoncito, though from the opposite point of +view. Esperanza was most amiable to him, perhaps because she thought she +could thus the better endure the absence of Pepe Castro. The young +deputy, beside himself with joy, never stirred an inch further from her +side, or for a moment longer than appearances demanded. Triumphantly +happy, he cast occasional glances of condescending grace on the rest of +the company, and when his eyes fell on Calderon's financial face his +emotion was visible; he could hardly forbear from addressing him as +"Papa." + +As the meal progressed, the superincumbent earth weighed less heavily +on their souls. Heady wines warmed their blood, and talk revived their +spirits. Every one had forgotten the mine as completely as if they had +been sitting in an ordinary handsome dining-room. Rafael Alcantara was +amusing himself by making Penalver drunk. Encouraged by the laughter of +his companions, who looked on, he did his utmost to befool the +philosopher, addressing him in a loud voice with extreme familiarity, +winking at his allies each time he made some blunder, taking base +advantage, in short, of the worthy gentleman's benevolent and +unsuspicious temper. He had taken upon himself to avenge the whole body +of illustrious pipe-colouring youth for the intellectual pre-eminence +for which the great thinker was noted. + +When dessert was served Escosura rose to propose a toast. He was an +object of respect to the "Savages," partly from his corpulence and his +vehement temper, but chiefly by reason of his money. He considered +himself an orator. In a strong, ringing voice, he pronounced a panegyric +on the Duke, whom he repeatedly designated as "that financial genius." +He enlarged on labour, capital, and production; and went on to +politics--his strong point. From the depths of the quicksilver mine he +shot terrific darts at the Ministry, which had failed to give him a +portfolio at the last change of Cabinet. + +Salabert replied with much hesitancy, thanking him with grovelling +self-abasement. "No merit of his own beyond industry and honesty had +raised him to the proud position he held (murmured applause). The +nation, the sovereign who had ennobled him, had ennobled a son of toil. +By struggling all his life against a tide of difficulties, he had +succeeded in collecting a handful of money. This money now enabled him +to maintain some thousands of workmen. This was his best reward +(applause). He begged to propose the health of the ladies, whose courage +had brought down to this subterranean hole, and who would leave behind +them, a fragrance of charity and joy, which would live for ever in the +hearts of the mining-folk." + +At this instant, simultaneously with the pop of several champagne corks, +a tremendous detonation was heard, making the bravest turn pale. + +"There is nothing to be alarmed at," said the manager. "They are +exploding the borings. It is always done at this hour." + +It was in truth an impressive moment. The noise of each explosion, +multiplied and repeated by a thousand echoes, was enough to make the +stoutest heart quake with faint alarms. Every one was suddenly silenced, +listening for some seconds, with absorbed anxiety, to the rolling +thunders which shook the earth. The table quivered, and the glasses and +dishes rattled and tinkled. + +At this moment, the doctor rose from his chair, and after steadily +eyeing the guests all round with his dark gaze, he raised his glass and +spoke: + +"Our illustrious host, the Duke of Requena, has just told us, with a +modesty which does him credit, that the whole secret of his great +fortune lies in industry and honesty. He must permit me to doubt it. The +Duke de Requena represents something more than those vulgar qualities; +he represents force. Force! the sustaining factor of the Universe. + +"Force is very unequally distributed among organic beings; some have a +larger and others a smaller share. And in the ceaseless struggle which +goes on among them, the weakest perish, the fittest and strongest +survive. Let us, then, adore in our Amphitryon the incarnation of Force. +Thanks to the force with which Nature has endowed him, he has been able +to subjugate and utilise the smaller share of thousands of individuals +who unconsciously serve his ends; thanks to that force, he has +accumulated his vast capital. + +"As I look round on this distinguished company, I observe with pleasure +that all who compose it have also been endowed with a good proportion of +this force, either congenital or inherited, and I can but congratulate +them with all my heart. The only essential thing in the world we live +in, is to have been born fit for the struggle. We must crush if we +would escape being crushed. And, I may add, I also congratulate myself +on standing here face to face with so many chosen of the gods on whom +Providence has set the seal of happiness." + +"Hear him, my dear!" whispered Pepa Frias to Clementina. "This is +Mephistopheles' toast, I think." + +Clementina smiled faintly. In fact, the doctor's pale, refined face, +with the black hair brushed off his forehead, and, above all, his black +eyes, in spite of an assumption of innocence, were full of a bitter +irony not unworthy of Mephistopheles. + +He went on: + +"Slavery has existed in every age under one form or another. There have +always been men designated by fate to live in the refined atmosphere of +intellectual enjoyments, in the cultivation of the arts, in luxury and +splendour, and the pleasure to be derived from the society of +intelligent and educated persons; while others again are fated to +procure them the means of such an existence by rude and painful toil. +The pariahs laboured for the Brahmins, the helots for the Spartans, the +slaves for the Romans, the villeins for their feudal lords. And is it +not the same to this day? Of what avail are laws to abolish slavery? The +men who work in the depths of this mine, and inhale the poison which +kills them, are slaves, though not by law--by want of bread. The result +is the same. It is the law of Nature, and so no doubt a holy and +venerable law, that some must suffer for others to enjoy life. You, +ladies, are the descendants of the noble Roman ladies who sent their +slaves to these mines to procure them vermilion to beautify their faces, +and of the Arabs, who used it to decorate the minarets of their palaces +at Cordova and Seville. Ladies, I drink to you, my soul possessed by +admiration and respect, as the representatives of all that is choicest +on earth--Love, Beauty, and Pleasure." + +Though the pledge was gallant enough, it seemed uncanny; some muttered +disapproval, and the hostile feeling against the young doctor visibly +increased. There were one or two who hinted, in an undertone, that this +low fellow was making game of them. Rafael Alcantara was eager to pick a +quarrel with him, but he read in the doctor's eyes that he would not +escape without some serious annoyance, and he preferred to pocket the +affront. The ladies regarded him with more benevolence. They thought him +"quite a character." The doctor's speech had certainly left an +unpleasant impression, which Fuentes failed to dissipate, though he +brought out his most original paradoxes. + +"Ladies and gentlemen," said he, "I do not propose a toast because I am +not an orator. I hope that ere long this will be recognised as an +honourable distinction in Spain; that when such an individual goes by in +the street it will be said of him with respect: 'he is not an orator;' +as we already say: 'he wears no order of merit.'" + +The ladies applauded and laughed at the joke. But whether from the +doctor's words, or whether they were again oppressed by vague fears, +they were all conscious of an uneasy feeling. Every one was cheered when +it was announced that the cage was ready to carry them up. Those who +remained to the last, heard, as they started, a distant chorus, which +came nearer as they rose, till it sounded close by them, and then +mysteriously died away below them without their having seen any one. The +effect was most whimsical. The words they heard were those of an +Andalucian boat song: + + Up the river, and up the river, + Water will never run up to the town; + Down the river, and down the river, + All the world is bound to run down. + +The engineer remarked in explanation: + +"A party of miners, going down in the cage which serves as a +counterpoise to this one." + +"I told you so, Condesa," exclaimed Salabert in a triumphant tone. "If +they are in spirits to sing, they cannot be so miserable as you fancy." + +The lady was silent for a moment, then she said, with a melancholy +smile: + +"It is not a very mirthful ditty, Duke." + +This was going on in the upper compartment. In the lower division, +Escosura observed in a scornful tone to the chief engineer: + +"Do you know that your young doctor was so rash as to give us a taste of +his materialistic views?" + +"Materialistic! I do not know that he is a Materialist. What he prides +himself on being--and the miners worship him for it--is a Socialist." + +"Worse and worse." + +"To tell the truth," said Penalver, with a sigh, "it is impossible to +come up from the bottom of a mine without having caught a little of the +infection." + +At nine in the evening, after dining at Villalegre, the party returned +to Madrid, by special train. They all set out well content with the +excursion. They hoped to amaze their friends by their account of the +underground banquet. The only unhappy person was Raimundo. The +alternations of joy and anguish which Clementina's flirtation occasioned +him had quite quenched his spirit. At last, seeing him so sad and +exhausted, his mistress was merciful. She made him sit by her in the +train, and without scandalising a party who were cured of all such +weakness, she talked to him all the evening, and finally dropped asleep +with her head on his shoulder. + +Though a sleeping-car formed part of the train, it was not in favour. +Most of the travellers preferred remaining in the saloons. Towards +morning, however, sleep overcame them all, and they succumbed where they +sat, in a variety of attitudes, some of them by no means graceful. + +Ramon Maldonado was on a pinnacle of triumph and happiness. Esperancita, +to judge by appearances, must certainly love him. He felt lifted above +the earth, not merely by the natural superiority of his soul, but by the +ecstasy of joy. His ugly little face was as radiant as a god's. Farewell +for ever to the struggles and obstacles which had hitherto embittered +his life. Free henceforth from the service of sorrow, as are the +immortals, he gloried in his apotheosis, majestically serene. + +He, too, had seated himself next the idol of his heroic heart, and for +some hours sat talking to her in dulcet tones--of English cobs, and of +the great pitched battles which were being constantly fought in the +municipal council, and in which he bore an active part; till the +innocent child, soothed by the monotonous and insinuating discourse, +closed her eyes, with her head thrown back against the cushion. + +Maldonado remained awake, wide awake, thinking of his happiness. +Rosy-fingered Aurora, stepping over the ridge of the distant Sierra, and +flying swiftly across the wide plain, peeped through the blinds of the +carriages, diffusing a dim and subdued light, and still he was hugging +himself in contentment. + +Esperancita opened her eyes and smiled at him with a tender smile which +thrilled the deepest fibres of his lyric soul. At this instant a lark +began to sing. In Ramoncito the god was each moment growing more +distinct from the man; intoxicated with love and happiness he murmured +into the girl's ear, in a voice tremulous with emotion, a few incoherent +and ardent phrases, the expression of the divine madness. Esperanza shut +her eyes again--to hear that music better? + +When he had exhausted all the superlatives in the dictionary to describe +his passion, the poetic young civilian thought to achieve the task of +conquest by showing the damsel, as in a vision, all the glories he could +shed upon her: "He was an only son, his parents had an income of a +hundred and ten thousand reales[H] a year; at the next ensuing elections +he intended to stand as candidate for Navalperal, where his family had +estates, and if only he had the support of the Government he was certain +to succeed. Then, as the Conservative party were greatly in need of new +blood, he believed he should soon get an appointment as under secretary, +and--who could tell?--by-and-by, at a change of Ministry, find himself +entrusted with a portfolio." + +The girl still kept her eyes shut. Ramoncito, more and more excited, +when he had ended this catalogue of brilliant prospects, bent over her +and whispered in impassioned tones: "Do you love me, dearest, do you +love me?" + +No answer. + +"Tell me, do you love me?" + +Esperancita, without opening her eyes, answered curtly: + +"No." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +A DEPARTING SOUL. + + +A few weeks after this excursion, Dona Carmen's disease suddenly grew +much worse. The physicians, indeed, had no doubt that her end was +drawing near. She was in a state of complete prostration. Her face was +so thin, that there seemed to be nothing left but the skin, and the +large, sad, kind eyes, which rested with strange intensity on all who +came near her, as if trying to read in theirs the terrible secret of +death. And in view of her death, a thousand sordid feelings surged up in +the minds of those who ought most to have sorrowed over it. Salabert +reflected with indignation on the inheritance which was to pass to his +daughter. He made fresh efforts to induce his wife to revoke her will, +but without success. For the first time in her life, Dona Carmen showed +great firmness of character. Though she was incapable of a revengeful +sentiment, she perhaps felt bound by her desire to close her existence +by an act of justice. A life of abject submission, during which she had +never opposed the smallest obstacle to her husband's will, to his +money-making schemes, or his illicit passions, had surely earned her the +privilege of asserting her rights on her death-bed, and gratifying the +impulses of her heart. + +Osorio kept silent watch, with concealed greed, over the progress of her +malady, looking to its termination as the end of his own difficulties. +Dona Carmen would be released from her earthly husk, and he from his +creditors. Clementina herself, the object of the tender soul's devoted +affection, could not help rejoicing over the prospect of so many +millions which were to drop into her hands. She did her best to silence +her desires, and subdue her impatience; but, in spite of herself, a +tempting fiend made her heart give a little leap of gladness, every time +the anticipation flashed through her brain. + +It was with infernal astuteness that Salabert set to work to infuse +distrust into his wife's mind. Sometimes by insinuation, and sometimes +by brutally broad hints, he poured the poison of suspicion into her +soul. Clementina and Osorio were looking for her death, as for flowers +in May. What airs they would give themselves when they had paid all +their debts! And then they would live and enjoy themselves on her money. + +The poor woman said nothing, indignant at these base innuendoes. But, +nevertheless, in her soul, broken and saddened by suffering, the keen +point of this envenomed dart festered deeply, though she strove to +conceal her anguish. Every time Clementina came to see her--and towards +the end this was twice a day--her stepmother's eyes would rest on hers +in mute interrogation, trying to read in them the thoughts in the brain +behind. This intent gaze embarrassed the younger woman, making her feel +a perturbation, which, though slight, occasionally betrayed itself. + +As her malady increased, this anxiety on Dona Carmen's part became +almost a mania. In the isolation of soul in which she lived, Clementina +represented the one link of affection which bound her to life. It was +because her stepdaughter had always been cold and haughty to every one +else, that she had never doubted the sincerity of her love for her, and +it had made her happy and proud. It had sufficed to indemnify her for +the scornful indifference with which every one else had treated her. +Now, the horrible doubt which had been forced upon her, filled her heart +with bitterness. Such a spirit of goodness and love as her own craved to +believe in goodness and love. The uprooting of this last belief made her +heart bleed with anguish. + +One evening they were alone together; Dona Carmen, motionless in her +deep arm-chair, with her head thrown back on the pillows, was listening +to Clementina, who was reading aloud the pious history of the apparition +of the Virgin of la Salette. Her thoughts wandered from the narrative; +they were disturbed as usual by the fatal doubt, which tortured her more +than even her acute physical sufferings. She could not take her eyes off +Clementina's fair head, with the fixed look of divination peculiar to +dying persons, as though she could read what was passing within, but +without gaining the certainty she longed for. More than once, when the +reader glanced up, she met that dull, grief-stricken gaze, and hastily +looked down again with a sudden sense of uneasiness. A desire, a whim, +had blazed up in the sick woman's mind, a feverish yearning such as +dying creatures feel. She longed to hear her stepdaughter quench, by +some gentle word, the fearful pain of that burning doubt. Again and +again the question hovered on her lips; invincible shame kept her from +uttering it. + +"Lay down the book, child, you are tired," she said at last. And her +voice came trembling from her throat, as though she had said something +very serious. + +"You are, perhaps, of listening. I am not. I have a strong throat." + +"God preserve it to you, my child," replied Dona Carmen tenderly, as she +looked at her. + +There was a brief silence. + +"Do you know what I have been told?" she asked finally, with an effort, +and her voice was so low that the last syllables were scarcely audible. + +Clementina, who was about to read again, raised her head. The few drops +of blood left in Dona Carmen's emaciated body suddenly rushed to her +face and tinged it with a faint flush. + +"I was told--that you wish for my death." + +Clementina's rich blood now mounted in a tide to her cheeks and dyed +them crimson. The two women looked at each other for a moment in +confusion. At last it was the younger who exclaimed, with a dark frown: + +"I know who told you that!" + +And as she spoke the blood faded from her face again like a sudden fall +of the tide. Her stepmother's retreated to her weary heart. She bent her +head with its white hairs, and said: + +"If you know, do not utter his name." + +"Why not?" cried her wrathful stepdaughter. "When a father, with no +motive whatever, solely for the sake of a few dollars, can insult his +daughter and make a martyr of his wife, he has no right to claim either +affection or respect. I say it, and I do not care who hears me. It is an +infamous calumny! My father is a man who knows no God, no love but +money. I knew that your will had alienated his love for me--if indeed he +ever had any." + +"Oh!" + +"Yes, I knew it perfectly. But I never could have believed that it would +lead him to do anything so vile as to calumniate me so cruelly. I +confess to you that I have always loved you the most--oh, yes, much, +much the most! I have no hesitation in saying so. Nay, I will say more: +I have never really loved any one but you and my children. If this will +is the cause of your doubting my love for you, destroy it, undo it, +revoke it. Your love and your peace of mind are far dearer to me than +your money." + +Her voice thrilled with indignation. Her eyes were sternly fixed on +vacancy, as though she could evoke the figure of her father and crush +him to powder. At the moment she was ardently sincere. Dona Carmen's dim +eyes grew bright with contentment as her daughter spoke. At last they +glittered through tears as she exclaimed: + +"I trust you, my child--I believe you! Ah, you cannot think what good +you have done me!" + +She seized her hands and kissed them fondly. Clementina exclaimed, as if +ashamed: + +"No, no, mamma! It is I who----" And she threw her arms round her neck. + +They held each other in a warm embrace, shedding silent tears. It was +one of the few occasions in her life when Clementina wept from tender +feeling, and not from vexation of spirit. + +But during the remaining days, though the memory of this scene was +lively with them both, so, too, was that of the suspicion which had led +to it. Clementina felt herself humbled in her stepmother's presence. Her +attentions and endearments were now and then a little forced; she tried +to efface the impression she still read in Dona Carmen's eyes. Then, +again, fearing this might lead her to doubt her sincerity, she would +suddenly cut them short, and assume a cold indifference. In short, a +current of disquietude flowed between the two women, and caused them +both much suffering, though in different ways, whenever they were +together. + +At last Dona Carmen took to her bed, never again to rise. Clementina +spent the whole day by her side. The terrible end was near. One morning, +between two and three, two of the Duke's servants gave the alarm to the +Osorios. The Duchess was dying, and asked repeatedly for her daughter. +Clementina hastily dressed and flew to the Requena Palace as fast as her +horses could carry her. Osorio went with her. As they alighted they met +the Duke, with an expression of scornful gloom. + +"You are in time--oh, you are in time!" he growled, and he turned away +without another word. + +Clementina fancied the words were spoken with a malevolent sneer, and +bit her lips with rage. The pitiable scene that met her eyes as she +approached Dona Carmen's bedside pacified her for the moment. The poor +woman's face was stamped by the hand of death; pale as a corpse, the +nose pinched and white, the eyes glassy and sunk in a livid circle. +Standing by her side was a priest, exhorting her to repentance. Of what? +Her faithful maid, Marcella, stood at the foot of the bed crying +bitterly, her face hidden in her handkerchief; and two other maids in +the background looked on at the pathetic picture, frightened rather +than sorrowful. The physician was writing a prescription at a table in +the corner. + +On seeing her daughter the Duchess turned to look in her face with an +anxious expression, and held out a hand to her. + +"Come close, child," she said, in a fairly strong voice. And she took +Clementina's right hand in her own thin, waxen hands, and said, with a +fearful fixity of gaze: + +"I am dying, my child, dying. Do you not see it? Only so long as you are +not glad of it." + +"Mamma, dear mamma!" + +"Say that you are not glad," she earnestly insisted, without ceasing to +look in her daughter's eyes. + +"Mamma, mamma, for God's sake!" cried Clementina, both bewildered and +alarmed. + +"Say that you are not glad!" she repeated, with increased energy, even +raising her head with a great effort, and looking sternly at her. + +"No, my beloved mother, no. If I could save your life at the cost of my +own I swear to you I would do so." + +The dying woman's dim eyes softened; she laid her head on the pillow, +and, after a short silence, she said, in a weak, quavering voice: + +"You would be very ungrateful--very ungrateful. Your poor mother has +loved you dearly. Kiss me, do not cry. I am not sorry to leave this +world. What hurt me was the thought that you, child of my +heart--you--oh, horrible to think of! How it has tortured me!" + +The priest here interposed, desiring her to turn her mind from worldly +thoughts. The sick woman listened with humility, and devoutly echoed the +prayers he spoke in a loud voice. The doctor and the Duke came close to +the bed, but, seeing that Dona Carmen was breathing her last, the +physician took Requena by the arm to lead him out of the room. Dona +Carmen's glazing eye wandered round the little group till it rested on +Clementina, to whom she signed to come closer. + +"God bless you, my child," she said, with a gaze fixed on the ceiling. +"You are right to be glad at my death." + +"Mamma, mamma, what are you saying?" cried Clementina, in horror. + +"I am glad, too, glad that my death should be an advantage to you. If I +could have given you all while I lived, I would have done it. It is sad, +is it not, that I should have to die to make you happy? I should have +liked to see you happy. Good-by; good-by. Think sometimes of your poor +mamma." + +"Mother, dearest mother!" sobbed the younger woman, dropping on her +knees with a burst of tears. "I do not want you to die, no, no. I have +been very wicked, but I have always loved you, have always respected +you." + +"Do not be foolish," said the dying woman, smiling with an effort, and +laying her hand on the fair head. "I am not sorry if you are glad. And +what does it matter? I die content to know that you will owe some +happiness to me. Remember my old women in the asylum, be kind to them, +and to Marcella, my good Marcella. Farewell, all of you. Forgive me any +faults----" + +Her voice failed, her breathing was hard and painful. The sobs of +Clementina and Marcella were the only other sound. The Duke, trembling +and shocked, was at last persuaded to leave the room. + +Dona Carmen spoke no more. Her eyes closed, her lips parted, she lay +quite still. Now and then she half raised her eyelids and looked fondly +at her step-daughter who remained kneeling. The priest read on in a +quavering nasal voice prayer after prayer. + +Thus died the Duchess de Requena. Let her depart in peace. + + * * * * * + +For some days after, Clementina and her husband, in spite of their +inextinguishable aversion, held long and repeated conferences. The great +question of the inheritance united their interests for a while. +Clementina went every morning and evening to see her father, and Osorio +too was a frequent visitor; they both were lavish of attentions to the +old man, took pity on his loneliness, and made much of him. There was an +affectionate familiarity in their demeanour which was highly becoming in +a son and daughter who make it their duty to cherish a venerable parent +in his old age. The Duke, on his part, accepted their care, watching +them with an expression which was ironical rather than grateful. When +their backs were turned to leave him, he gazed after them, slowly +closing his eyes, and turned his cigar-stump between his teeth, while +his lips sketched a sarcastic smile, which did not die away for some few +seconds. + +But everything went on as before. Although the Duchess's will was +incontrovertible, Salabert never said a word on money matters. He +continued to manage the whole of the fortune, and engaged in various +concerns with calm despotism. But his daughter and son-in-law were not +so calm. They began, on the contrary, to be greatly disturbed, to +express their opinions to each other with crude vehemence, and to lay +plots to provoke an explanation. Clementina thought that Osorio should +speak to her father. He considered it her part to apply to him in +dutiful terms for an explanation, before formulating a complaint. After +some days of hesitation the wife finally made up her mind to say a few +words to her father, though not without some embarrassment, since she +knew his temper and her own too. + +"Well, papa," said she, with affected lightness, finding him alone in +his room, "when are you going to talk over money matters with me?" + +"Money matters? Why should I?" he replied in a tone of surprise, and +looking at her with such an air of innocence that she longed to slap his +face. + +"Why should you? Because it will have to be done, to put me in +possession of my property. Am I not mamma's sole legatee?" she answered +in the same cheerful tone, but there was a very perceptible quaver in +her voice. + +"Ah, to be sure!" exclaimed the Duke, with a flourish of the hand to +dismiss the subject. "We will talk of that later--much later." + +Clementina turned pale. Her blood seemed to curdle with rage. Her lips +quivered, and she was on the point of saying something violent. + +"Still, it would be as well that we should come to an understanding," +she murmured in a low voice. + +"Not at all, not at all. I cannot discuss it now. When I have time and +am in the humour I will think about it." + +He spoke with such decision and indifference that his daughter had no +choice but either to give the reins to her tongue and quarrel violently +with her father, or to go. After a moment's hesitation she went. She +turned on her heel, and, without a word of leave-taking, she quitted the +room and went off in her carriage, in such a state of excitement that +she was trembling from head to foot. + +As soon as she reached home she shut herself up in her own room and gave +vent to her fury. She wept, she stamped, she tore her clothes, and broke +various articles of crockery. Osorio too flew into a rage, and declared +he would bring Salabert to book. But nothing came of it all, excepting a +letter, in which respectfully enough, he required his father-in-law to +give him an account of the state of his business, that the preliminaries +of an estimate might be arrived at. Salabert simply did not answer. They +wrote another; again no reply. They ceased going to the house. +Clementina would not go for fear of a scandal. Osorio, on his part, +considering the relations that subsisted between him and his wife, did +not feel that he had the moral position which would entitle him to lay +formal claim to her fortune. + +In this predicament they consulted certain persons of weight, friends of +the Duke, and requested them to mediate. This was done; they had various +interviews with the old man, and after much consultation a friendly +meeting was agreed on, to avoid bringing the matter into a court of law. +The meeting was held, after some objections on Clementina's part, at +her father's house. Besides the interested parties, there were present +Father Ortega, the Conde de Cotorraso, Calderon, and Jimenez Arbos. + +The proceedings were opened by Arbos--no longer in the Ministry, but a +member of the Opposition--who made a speech in a conciliatory key, +urging them to agree rather than present to the public the spectacle of +a quarrel on money matters between a father and daughter--a spectacle +which, in view of the position they held, must be both painful and +discreditable. The next to speak was Father Ortega, who, in the unctuous +and persuasive accents which characterised him, first bestowed on both +parties a plentiful lather of preposterous encomiums, and then appealed +to their Christian feelings, representing how bad an example they would +set, and painting the sweets of loving-kindness and self-sacrifice, +ending by promises of eternal life and glory. + +Clementina replied. She had no wish but to continue in the same friendly +relations with her father as had hitherto subsisted, and to achieve that +end she was prepared to do all in her power. The curt, dry tone in which +she spoke, and the scowl which accompanied her words, gave no strong +evidence of sincerity. However, the Duke seemed greatly moved. + +"Arbos," he began, "Father, my friends, and my children; you all know me +well. To me, without domestic life, there is no possibility of +happiness. After the terrible blow I have so lately suffered, my +daughter is all that is left to me. On her centre all my hopes, my +affections, and my pride. For her I have toiled, have struggled +indefatigably, have accumulated the capital I possess. I may say that I +have never cared for money but for the sake of my wife, now in glory, +and my daughter--to see them living in comfort and luxury. As you know, +I could always have lived on a few coppers a day. And now that I am old, +all the more so. What can I want with millions? Ere long, I too must +take the train for the other side--Eh, Julian? And you too.--Who then +can suppose that I should ever quarrel over a handful of dollars with +my dear and only daughter? The whole thing has been a mistake. I wanted +time to put my affairs in order; that was all. And if you, my child, +ever could imagine anything else, I can only tell you this: everything +in this house is yours, and always has been. Take it whenever you +choose. Take it, my child, take it. I can do with nothing." + +As he pronounced the last words with visible emotion, they all were able +to shed a tear. Every one was deeply moved and eager with conciliatory +exhortation. Father Ortega gently pushed Clementina into her father's +arms; and though she was the least agitated of the party, she allowed +him to embrace her. + +He clasped her to his heart for some minutes, and when he released her +dropped into his arm-chair, with his handkerchief to his eyes, quite +overcome by so much emotion. + +After so pathetic a scene no one could allude to money. The meeting +broke up with fervid hand-pressing and warm mutual congratulations on +the happy issue of their diplomacy. But Osorio and his wife got into +their carriage, grave and sullen, and exchanged not a single word on the +drive home. Only as they reached their own door, Clementina said: + +"Well, we shall see how the farce ends." + +Osorio shrugged his shoulders. + +"We have seen the end, I suspect." + +And he was right. + +The Duke never paid them a cent., and never again spoke of his +daughter's fortune. He was very affectionate, and constantly had them to +dine with him, complaining of his loneliness. Now and then he spoke of +transactions he was engaged in, but not a word of paying them their +share. Clementina was at last so much provoked that she suddenly ceased +going to the house. They then took to exchanging notes. Nothing was to +be got out of her father but ambiguous replies and vague hopes. Finally +they decided on taking legal steps, and a lawsuit began, which was a +source of endless satisfaction to the faculty. + +This was an end of all joy or comfort for Clementina. She lived in a +state of perpetual ferment, watching the progress of the litigation with +anxious interest, communicating with the lawyers, and trying to exert +some influence which might counterbalance the Duke's. He, on his part, +took the matter much more calmly, conducted it with maddening acumen, +taking advantage of her displays of violence to represent her in the +eyes of the world as a greedy and unnatural daughter. At the same time, +among his intimate acquaintances, he would now and then give utterance +to some sarcastic or cynical speech which, when it reached her ears, +made her wild with rage. The struggle became more desperate every day, +while, on the other hand, Osorio's creditors, deceived in their hopes, +began to press him very hard, and threatened to bring him to ruin. The +torments, the tempers, the wretched state of things in the Osorio +household may be easily imagined. + +This discomfort, and it might be called misery, extended to the hapless +Raimundo. Clementina, torn soul and body by a tumult of other passions, +found no leisure for the blandishments of love. The minutes she could +spare for them were every day briefer and less calm. The gay +_tete-a-tetes_ and merry devices of a former time were over for ever. +The lady no longer found any amusement in laughing at her boyish lover. +She did not seem even to remember the childish pleasures in which they +had delighted. She could talk of nothing now but the lawsuit. Her nerves +were in such a state of tension that an inadvertent word might put her +into a furious rage. And, besides all this, in her vehement desire for +triumph over her father, she flirted more than ever with Escosura, who +had just come into office; and this, as may be supposed, was what most +distressed the young naturalist. + +One day, when she was rather more fond than usual, she said in loving +accents: + +"You are still jealous of Escosura, Raimundo? But it is quite a mistake. +I do not care a straw for the man." + +"Yes, so you have often told me, and yet----" + +"There is no 'and yet' in the case, fastidious youth!" she interrupted, +gently pulling his ear. "I never loved, and never could love any one but +you. But--here comes the but--you alas! are not in power, though you +deserve to be more than any one I know. My fortune, as you know, is at +the mercy of the law, and I may be told any day that I am a beggar. +Accustomed as I am to comfort and luxury, you may imagine how much I +should relish this. And my pride, too, would suffer, for I am the object +of much invidious feeling; people hate me without knowing why. In short, +I should be laughed at, and that I could not endure. My father has a +great many supporters. Men count on him for services, though he is +utterly incapable of a kindness, and they are afraid of him too. Now I, +though on intimate terms with all the official circle of Madrid, have +not one true friend to take a real interest in my affairs, or dare to +show a bold front to my father. And so, you see, I must try to make one. +Now imagine this friend to be Escosura, and imagine me to break with you +before the eyes of the world, though still you are the one and only man +I can ever love. What do you think of the arrangement? Can you regard it +as acceptable?" + +Raimundo coloured crimson at this strange and humiliating proposition. +For a minute or two he made no reply, but at last he said, between anger +and contempt: + +"It strikes me as simply infamous and indecent." + +The furrow, the fateful furrow, which appeared on Clementina's brow +whenever passion stirred her stormy soul, was ominously deep. She +abruptly rose, and after looking at him hard, with an expression of +scornful rage, she said in icy tones: + +"You are right. Such an arrangement could not meet your views! We had +better part, once for all." And she turned to go. + +Raimundo was confounded. + +"Clementina!" he cried as she reached the door. + +"What is it?" said she, as coldly as before, and looking round. + +"Listen, one moment, for God's sake! I spoke under an impulse of +jealousy, not meaning to wound you. How could I ever mean to hurt you +when I love you, adore you as a creature of another sphere?" and he +poured out words of tenderness and worship. + +Clementina listened without moving from her attitude of haughty +indifference, and would not melt till she saw him utterly humbled, on +his knees before her, beseeching for the scheme he had stigmatised as +infamous and indecent as a favour to himself. + +At this time Clementina received a blow which almost made her ill. Her +father brought the audacious woman to whom he had given a card for his +ball to live in the palace, and this extraordinary proceeding became the +talk of all Madrid. Every one believed that Salabert was out of his +mind. And then a rumour got afloat that he was about to marry Amparo, +and amazement and indignation filled the soul of Society. + +But an unforeseen accident interfered with this alliance. At a meeting +of the shareholders of the Riosa mines it was the Duke's part, as +chairman, to give an account of his management, and propose certain +measures for the advantage of the company. He usually fulfilled such +functions with great brevity and lucidity; he was, above all else, a man +of business, and had no fancy for rambling speeches or more words than +were absolutely necessary. But now, to the surprise of his audience, +among whom there were many bankers and official personages, he began a +rambling address quite foreign to the matter. + +He wandered from his subject and began giving explanations of his +conduct as a public character, sketched a complete biography of himself, +dwelling on a thousand insignificant details; sang his own praises in +the most barefaced way, putting himself forward as the model of a +logical politician, and of disinterested self-sacrifice; spoke of his +services to the nation by his loans to the Government in the hour of +need, and to the cause of humanity by his co-operation in the founding +of hospitals, schools, and asylums; finally having the audacity to +assert that the Home for Old Women was his work. + +The shareholders looked at one another in bewilderment, muttering not +very complimentary comments on the orator's condition of mind. When he +had finished the catalogue of his own merits and proclaimed himself, +_urbi et orbi_, the greatest man in Spain, he began an invective against +his enemies, describing himself as the victim of persistent and +deliberate persecution, of a thousand intrigues plotted to discredit +him, and in which various political and financial magnates were +implicated. In confirmation of this statement he read, in loud, fierce +tones, certain articles from a paper published in the district where the +Riosa mines were situated, and which, according to him, constituted a +gross and shameful attack. What they actually said amounted to this: +That Salabert was not a man of such mark as to be worthy to have a +statue. + +His hearers, more and more wearied and indignant, now said, though still +in under-tone: "The man is crazy! The man is mad!" + +As he read on, his face grew purple; it was usually pale, it now looked +as if he were being strangled. Suddenly, before he had finished, he fell +back senseless in his chair. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +A DARKENED MIND. + + +After this attack Requena's mental faculties were perceptibly weakened, +as every one could discern who saw him. He suffered from strange +illusions; his speech was slow and even less intelligible than of old. +He was full of fancies and whims. It was said that he had given his +mistress vast sums of money; that he flew into a rage over the merest +trifles, and shrieked and raved like a mad creature, going so far as to +inflict bodily injuries on his servants and attendants; that he ate +voraciously, and would say the most horrible things to his daughter. His +sullen and vindictive temper had become violent and malignant. + +In business matters, however, his faculties showed no signs of deserting +him, nor had the mainspring of his nature, avarice, run down. His +affairs, to be sure, for the most part went on by themselves, and he +still had Llera, whose talents as a speculator had gained in astuteness. +Where the derangement, or rather the weakness of his mind, was most +conspicuous, was in his domestic affairs. His mistress reigned supreme, +and as in Madrid there is no lack of social parasites, there were plenty +of hangers-on to sing her praises. She gave tea and card parties, and +though the society she collected left much to be desired in point of +quality, in appearance it made as good a show as that of many another +wealthy house. There were Grandees of Castile who honoured her with +their presence, among them Manolo de Davalos, as mad and as much in love +as ever. + +The lawsuit between the Duke and his daughter ran its lengthy course, +each party more obstinate and more virulent every day. In fact, to +Clementina, it had resolved itself into a personal struggle with Amparo. +The thing which she and Osorio most dreaded was that her father should +commit himself to the marriage which was openly prognosticated. If he +did, this hussy, an ex-flower-girl, would flaunt the ducal coronet, and +treat with them on equal terms. Though society at first would have +nothing to say to her, everything is forgotten in time, and Amparo would +presently be regarded as a Duchess indeed. Happily for them, though +Salabert was very submissive to her vagaries, they heard that the Duke +had positively refused to marry her, and that when she endeavoured to +coerce him, there were violent scenes between them. Whether all that the +servants reported were true or no, there was no doubt that she was +urgent and he obstinate. But though her attacks continued to be +fruitless, Clementina and Osorio lived "between the devil and the deep +sea." The Duke was pronounced to be suffering from creeping paralysis. +Under these circumstances, after consulting several eminent lawyers, +they determined to petition the Court for a decree pronouncing him +incompetent or incapable of managing his own affairs. He had, lately, it +was said, had a fresh attack, which had left him quite imbecile. This +report seemed to be confirmed by his never leaving the house, and by his +most intimate friends being refused admittance to see him. It was under +these circumstances that, either from some sudden impulse of her +impetuous nature, or because some of her acquaintances had suggested it +to her, Clementina determined to deal a decisive blow, which would at +once put an end to the litigation and to all the difficulties bound up +with it. + +"My father is shut up," said she, "I will go and turn that woman out of +the house." + +Her husband tried to dissuade her, but in vain. + +One morning, therefore, she drove to her father's palace. The porter, on +opening the gate to the Senora Clementina, was at once amazed and +pleased; for though she was neither so smooth-tongued nor so liberal as +the ex-florist, a sense of justice led the Duke's household to respect +his daughter and contemn his mistress. The haughty lady, without looking +at the man, merely said: + +"Well, Rafael?" and went quickly up the steps. + +"How is papa?" she asked of the servant who met her in the hall. + +He was too much astonished to be able to reply. + +"Well, fellow!" she repeated impatiently, "Where is papa? In the office, +or in his study?" + +"I beg your pardon, Senora; the Duke is well. I think he is in his +study." + +At this juncture, a waiting-maid, who had caught sight of her from the +end of a passage, and heard her inquiries, flew off to warn the Senora, +while Clementina hastened up the stairs to the first-floor. But before +she could reach her father's room, the lady in possession stood in her +path, looking straight into her face, with flashing eyes. + +"Where are you going?" she asked, in a voice husky with excitement. + +"Who are you?" asked Clementina, lifting her head with supreme disdain, +and looking down on her. + +"I am the mistress of this house," was the reply, but the speaker turned +pale. + +"The sick nurse, you should say. I never heard that there was a mistress +here." + +"What! Have you come to insult me in my own house?" exclaimed Amparo, +setting her arms akimbo, as if she still were on the market-place. + +"No. I have come to turn you out, before the police arrive and do it for +me." + +Her antagonist made a movement, as though she would fall on her and rend +her; but she checked herself, and began to scream as loud as she could: +"Pepe, Gregorio, Anselmo! Come here, come all! Turn this insolent +creature out of the house! She is insulting me." + +Some of the servants came at her call; but they stood confused and +motionless, contemplating this strange scene. At the same moment the +door of the Duke's room was opened, and Salabert stood before them in a +dressing-gown and cap. He had grown terribly old in a few weeks. His +eyes were dull, his face colourless, his cheeks pendant and flabby. + +"What is all this? What is the matter?" he asked thickly. On seeing his +daughter, he staggered back a step. + +"This woman," cried Amparo, in a yell of vulgar rage, "after having you +declared an idiot, comes here to insult me!" + +"Papa, do not heed her," said Clementina, going up to him. + +But her father drew back, and holding out his trembling hands he +exclaimed: "Go--go away! Do not come near me!" + +"Listen to me, papa." + +"Do not come near me, wicked, ungrateful child!" repeated the Duke, in a +quavering voice, but with melodramatic emphasis. + +"Yes, leave this house, shameless creature," added the woman, encouraged +by the old man's attitude. "Dare you show your face here, after treating +your father so?" + +Clementina stood petrified, colourless, staring at them with a look of +terror rather than anger. For an instant she was on the point of +fainting away; everything seemed to be whirling round her. But her pride +enabled her to make a supreme effort; she stood rooted to the spot, and +incapable of moving, as white as a marble statue. Then she turned on her +heel slowly, for fear of falling, and reached the stairs, down which she +went, almost tottering at each step. Her father, spurred by Amparo's +cries, followed her to the top of the flight, repeating with increasing +fury: + +"Go--go. Leave my house!" And he held up a tremulous hand in theatrical +menace. + +His mistress, meanwhile, poured forth a string of abuse with an +accompaniment of gestures, sarcastic laughter and gibes, learnt and +remembered from her early experience. + +By the time Clementina had reached the garden, her cheeks were tingling. +She leaned against the pedestal of one of the lamps for a minute to +recover herself, and then ran like a mad creature to the gate, where her +carriage was waiting; she sprang into it and burst into tears. On +reaching home she was lifted out in a miserable state, and helped up to +her room by two maids. When Osorio came up, it was only in broken and +incoherent sentences that she could tell him what had occurred. + +She kept her bed for eight or ten days in a state of utter prostration, +and she rose from it at last so possessed by the desire for revenge, +that she really seemed to have gone mad. + +The lawsuit, under the hot breath of her malice, was fanned to an +imposing blaze. It was regarded in Madrid as a matter of public +interest. The opinions of the most distinguished physicians, Spanish and +foreign, were taken on both sides as to the Duke's mental incapacity. On +one part he was pronounced an idiot, so hopelessly childish that there +was nothing to be done with him; on the other it was asserted that he +was mending steadily, his mind clearer every day, and his intellect a +marvel of acumen and sound sense. And on one point all the authorities +concurred--namely, in requiring enormous fees. The press took sides with +one or the other party. Clementina subsidised one or two papers. Amparo +had bribed others, for the Duke, as a matter of fact, was incompetent to +direct the case. And through their columns the two women, more or less +disguised, contrived to hurl insolence at one another, reviving, in an +allegorical dress, an extensive selection of scandalous tales. + +In this warfare the daughter had the worst chance. She could not be so +liberal as the mistress, who sowed bank-notes broadcast. On the other +hand, Clementina had the support of her husband's creditors, and of her +friend Pepa Frias--who was indefatigable in her visits to the doctors, +the lawyers, and the newspaper editors--the Condesa de Cotorraso, the +Marquesa de Alcudia, her brother-in-law, Calderon, General Patino and +Jimenez Arbos; and, more helpful than all these, as in duty bound, her +lover _en titre_, Escosura. He, holding a post of high importance, had +no small influence on the course of the lawsuit. + +What a life of excitement, anxiety, and misery! Clementina could not +eat, she could not sleep. She was always holding conferences with +lawyers and judges, always writing letters. Even at her parties and +dinners, nothing else was talked about, till at length the more +indifferent of her acquaintance rebelled, and ceased to come. To others, +however, she communicated some of her own flame; they became her ardent +partisans, and brought or carried reports, volunteered advice, broke out +in cries of indignation whenever Amparo was even mentioned. And although +Clementina's haughty temper prevented her being a favourite in Madrid +society, as she stood forth, after all, as the representative of justice +and decency, her cause found most supporters. To this her antagonist's +folly contributed, for she paraded herself and her splendour everywhere, +with the imbecile and degraded old man. + +The Duke was in fact perishing before their eyes. After a stage of +excitement and violence, when he had behaved like a madman, came a +period of nervous prostration; by degrees he became almost idiotic. He +lost his wits so completely that he could not even understand business. +Everything was left to Llera. This would have been all right, but that +Amparo would interfere and do all kinds of mischief. She took the +greatest pains, however, to hide Salabert's condition; on days when he +was over excitable or incoherent, she kept him in his room. It was only +when he was calm and rational that she ventured to take him out, and +then never allowed him to talk to any one. But her efforts were not +always successful. Salabert went out by himself on various pretences, +and amply betrayed his deranged condition. On one occasion he was found +outside the town at four in the morning. Another time he went into a +jeweller's shop, and after ordering some trinkets he pocketed some +others, believing he had not been observed. The jeweller had seen it, +however, but he said nothing, knowing the millionaire. He sent the bill +in to Amparo, who hastened to pay it, and went in person to beg that the +matter should not be divulged. In short, before long it was established +beyond a doubt, in spite of the contending evidence of physicians, that +the Duke was absolutely _non compos_; and it was said that the lawsuit +would be decided in that sense. + +Two days before the decision was made public, Amparo vanished from the +Requena palace, after sacking it very completely, and carrying off with +her many objects of great value. Her savings already amounted to several +thousand dollars, and in anticipation of disaster she had drawn the +money out of the Bank of Spain and placed it in foreign securities. She +was afterwards heard of in France, and a few months later it was +reported in Madrid that she had married the crazy Marquis. + + * * * * * + +On the very day of Amparo's flight--for it may be called a +flight--Clementina and her husband took possession of the Requena +palace. She found her father in a pitiable state of total imbecility. He +spoke as though they had met but the day before and nothing of any +importance had occurred, he asked for Amparo, and sometimes mistook his +daughter for her. The daughter's heart, it must be owned, was not +severely wrung. This catastrophe by no means satisfied the bitterness +which possessed her soul when she recalled all the wretchedness she had +endured. Her vengeance was incomplete, for Amparo was rich and content. +She longed to prosecute her as a criminal, while Osorio, satisfied with +the enormous fortune which had dropped into his hands, did not regard +her thefts as worth a thought. + +The Duke de Requena, the famous financier who for twenty years had been +the wonder and admiration of the banking world in Spain and abroad, the +man who had been so much discussed by the public and the press, was ere +long, in his own house--now the Osorio palace--a useless and worthless +chattel. To avoid comment, or to be more secure as to his condition, or +perhaps out of some dim fear lest he should recover, the Osorios did not +send him to a lunatic asylum; they had him cared for at home. Salabert +was no more than a child. He thought of nothing but his meals. He spoke +very little, but sat hour after hour, looking at his nails or rubbing +one hand over the other, now and then uttering some strange, +inarticulate cry. He was in the charge of an attendant, who, when he was +tiresome, would fly in a rage and slap him. But the person he held in +most respect, it may be said in real awe, was his daughter. It was +enough for Clementina to frown and speak a scolding word; he submitted +at once. For his son-in-law, on the other hand, he did not care a pin. + +When his attendant found him quiet and went to amuse himself for an hour +with the other servants, the crazy old man would wander about the house, +more especially to gaze in the mirrors. His principal mania was for +picking up pieces of bread and storing them in a corner of his room, +where they lay till they were mouldy. When the pile was too large the +servants cleared it away in baskets and flung it out on the dust-heap. +Then when he missed it he was furious, and his keeper had to use strong +measures to pacify him. One morning, soon after the Osorios' +breakfast--the old man ate alone in his own room--three or four of the +servants were together in the great dining-room, cleaning the plate and +putting it away in the side-board cupboards. They were in high spirits +and playing games, hitting each other with the long loaves they had +taken up for sticks, running round the table and laughing loudly. Their +mistress was upstairs and could not hear them. Suddenly the old imbecile +appeared on the scene, with the tray on which he was wont to carry off +the broken pieces as a precious booty to his room. He had on a greasy +old shooting coat, and his head was bare. And, in spite of its white +hairs, that head was not venerable; the yellow unshaven cheeks, the +colourless, loose lips, the stony, expressionless eyes had no trace of +the beauty of old age, but only the decrepitude of vice, which is always +repulsive, and the stamp of idiotcy which is always terrible. + +Seeing so many persons, he paused a moment, but he made up his mind to +come in, and went straight to the drawers of the side-board, where he +began an eager search, picking up every scrap he found there and +collecting them on the tray. The servants watched him with amusement. + +"Hunt away, old fellow!" cried one. "When are you going to ask us to try +the broth, daddy?" + +The old man made no reply, he was much too busy. + +"The broth, sir," said another, "you had better ask us to share a ten +dollar-note." + +"I shall not ask you," mumbled the Duke with some irritation, "I shall +only ask Anselmo." + +"Oh yes, we know why you ask Anselmo, it is because he keeps the stick! +Never fear, if that is all, you shall ask me too." + +The others all shouted with laughter, and the youngest, a boy of about +sixteen, seeing him with his tray filled, and about to depart, slipped +behind him and, giving him a jerk, upset all the bits, which were +scattered on the floor. The Duke's rage was terrific, with yells of rage +he went down on his knees to pick them up again, while the servants +applauded the joke. As soon as he had collected them all again on his +tray, and was shuffling off as fast as he could to escape from their +rough fun, the same fellow again came behind him and snatched it away. +The madman's frenzy was indescribable; gnashing his teeth and glaring +with fury, he rushed on the lad, but the others seized him. The poor +lunatic began to utter cries which were anything rather than human. + +At this moment Clementina's voice was heard in high wrath: + +"What is the matter? What are you doing to papa?" + +The servants let him go, and vanished from the room. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +A PASSION BURNT OUT. + + +Raimundo's love affairs hung only by a thread. In these latter days +Clementina, entirely absorbed by her triumph and thirst for revenge, had +hardly given him a thought. They still met frequently, for the young man +did not cease to visit her, but their love-passages were fewer every +day. If he timidly complained of her neglect, the lady excused herself +on the score of Escosura's jealousy. It was in vain that she had tried +to persuade him that she was "off with the old love." "And you see," she +said "if he finds out that I have deceived him, he will have good cause +for a furious scene." + +Raimundo was so utterly lost that he admitted, or feigned to admit, this +reasoning as valid. Through this abject humiliation he still contrived +to be happy in the illusion that his idol preferred him, loved him best +at the bottom of her heart, that she only flirted with the Minister for +the sake of her lawsuit. Clementina fostered this belief by sending him +from time to time, when she could forget her vexations, a few lines +appointing a meeting, "to-day at four," or "this afternoon in our +rooms." And at these interviews she would make him as happy as of old by +swearing eternal fidelity. + +But all joys are brief in this world; Raimundo's were brief indeed. The +very next day, after some such meeting, he would find his mistress as +cold as marble, disdainful of him, and, what was worse, absorbed in +conversation with Escosura, in a recess of the drawing-room. He had +innocently believed that the end of the lawsuit would restore his +happiness, that Clementina, no longer needing the great man's help, +would again be wholly his. But his hopes were blown to the winds like +smoke. The lawsuit was decided in her favour, but far from dismissing +her official cavalier, she showed him greater respect and affection. + +One morning, two months after the close of the business, he received a +note from Clementina, saying: + +"Meet me at two this afternoon." + +His heart leaped for joy. It was more than a fortnight since Clementina +had given him rendezvous at their little _entresol_. By one o'clock he +was there to wait for her, and as soon as he saw her from afar he ran to +open the door with as much agitation as though she had been a queen, and +far more tender devotion. She seemed grateful and affectionate, and +accepted his passionate caresses with gracious kindness. + +But after they had chatted for about an hour, as they sat side by side +on the sofa, she looked at him with a slow, compassionate gaze, and +said: + +"Do you know, Mundo, that this is the last time we shall ever sit here +alone together?" + +The youth looked at her in speechless amazement; he did not, he would +not, understand. + +"Yes, I cannot keep up this mystery any longer. Escosura is very +indignant, and with reason. Besides, I am ashamed--it is horrible of me. +And, after all, you have nothing to complain of. I have always been nice +to you. If I ever loved a man truly, it was you, and the proof of it is +that it has lasted so long. But nothing in this world can last for ever, +and as matters stand we had better part. You see, Mundo, I am growing +old--you are but a boy. If I did not break with you, sooner or later you +would throw me over. Such is life. Though you still think me handsome, +these are but the last remains of beauty. I must bid farewell to all the +follies we have indulged in together, but I shall always look back on +them with pleasure. I swear to you that you will always symbolise to me +the happiest period of my life. So now, henceforth, we will still be +good friends. It will always be a satisfaction to me to be able to serve +you, for I owe you many hours of happiness." + +The young man listened to this cruel speech, motionless and stricken. +His face was perfectly colourless. + +"Do you mean it?" he said at last, in a husky voice. + +"Yes, my dear boy, yes. I mean it," she replied, with the same sad, +patronising smile. + +"It is impossible! It cannot be!" he exclaimed vehemently, and starting +to his feet he looked down on her with a mixture of horror and +indignation. + +This expression in his eyes roused her pride. + +"But you will see that it can be!" she retorted with a touch of irony +which was the height of cruelty. + +He stood frozen for a moment, gazing at her with intense anguish, then +he fell on his knees at her feet, with clasped hand, imploring her: + +"For God's sake, do not kill me! Do not kill me!" + +Clementina's face softened, and her voice broke a little. + +"Come, Mundo," said she, "do not be a baby. Get up. This had to come. +You will find other women far more worthy than I." + +But the young man held her knees clasped, kissing them in a frenzy of +grief, his whole frame shaken by sobs. + +"This is horrible, horrible, horrible!" he kept saying. "Oh! what have I +done that you should kill me with misery?" + +"Come, come," she said, gently stroking his hair. "Get up, be +reasonable. Do you not see that this is ridiculous?" + +"What do I care?" he cried, his face hidden in her silk skirts. "For you +I would be ridiculous in the eyes of the whole world." + +Clementina tried to soothe him, but without any emotion or pity. There +is no wild beast more cruel than a woman whose love is satiated. She let +his grief have its way for a while, and when he grew calmer she rose. + +"I am grateful to you for all this feeling, Mundo. I, too, have gone +through a terrible struggle before I could make up my mind to part." + +"It is false!" cried Raimundo, still kneeling, with his elbows on the +sofa. "If you still loved me, you could not be so cruel, so base." + +Clementina stood silent for a minute, looking at his shoulders in great +irritation. At last, touched by pity, she said: + +"I forgive you the insult in consideration of the agitation you are in. +Though you may abuse me you will still be able to think of me with +affection; and even when you have quite forgotten me, the memory of your +face and the happy hours we have passed together will remain engraved on +my heart. But now we must come to an explanation," she added, in a +sterner tone. "Let us be worthy of each other, Raimundo. You must, +please, take a hackney coach to your house and bring me back every line +I ever wrote to you, that we may burn them. I have none of yours; you +know I always destroyed them immediately." + +Raimundo did not stir. After waiting a few moments she went up behind +him, leaned over him, and laid her hands on his cheeks, saying kindly: + +"Foolish boy! Am I the only woman in the world?" + +He thrilled at the touch of those soft hands, and, turning suddenly, +seized them and covered them with kisses, pressed them to his heart, +laid them on his brow. + +"Yes, Clementina, the only woman; or, if there are others, I do not know +them--I do not want to know them. But is it true? Is it true that you do +not love me?" + +And his tearful eyes looked up at her with such an expression of woe +that she could not but lie. + +"I never said I did not love you, but only that we can meet no +more--like this." + +"It is the same thing." + +"No, it is not the same thing, foolish boy. I may love you, and yet, in +consequence of special circumstances, I may not be able--we cannot have +everything we wish for in this world." And she wandered into incoherent +argument and specious reasoning, which she knew was false, and could not +utter without hesitancy; the same commonplaces, repeated in different +words, trying to give them the weight they lacked by emphasis and +gesticulation. + +But Raimundo was not listening. In a few minutes he rose, dried away his +tears, and left the room without a word. Clementina watched him in +surprise. + +"I will wait for you," she called after him into the passage. + +Twenty minutes later he returned, carrying a parcel. + +"Here are your letters," he said with apparent calm, but his voice was +thick and his face deadly pale. + +Clementina glanced at him keenly, not without some uneasiness. But she +controlled herself, and said simply: + +"Thank you very much, Mundo. Now, we will burn them, if you please, in +the kitchen." + +He made no reply. They went together to the cold, unfurnished kitchen, +which no one ever used, and Clementina, with her own hand, laid the +packet on the hearth. But suddenly, just as she was about to strike the +match which Raimundo had given her, she paused. Then she said, with a +smile: + +"Do you know that this is dreadfully prosaic? To burn my love-letters on +a kitchen hearth! It seems to me that they might have a more romantic +end. Shall we go and burn them in the fields? That will give us a last +walk together and a fitter parting." + +"As you please," he said, in a scarcely audible voice. + +"Very well. Fetch a carriage." + +"I kept one." + +"Then come." + +Raimundo took up the packet of letters, and together they quitted the +room whither they were never to return. + +The hackney-coach carried them along the road to the eastward. It was an +afternoon in Spring, misty and fresh. Clementina had closed the blinds +for fear of being seen; but when they were outside the Alcala gate she +asked Raimundo to let them down. Unluckily the moment was inopportune, +for at that very moment they met an open carriage, in which sat Pepe +Castro with Esperancita Calderon, now his wife. She had barely time to +lean back in the corner and cover her face with her hand, and even so +was not sure that they had not recognised her. + +Raimundo, by a great effort, had recovered some self-control, but not +completely. Clementina did all she could to divert his mind, talking to +him, like a friend, of indifferent matters, of their acquaintances, and +taking it for granted that he would continue to visit at her house. When +Castro and his wife had gone past she discussed them with much +animation. + +"You see, I was right, Mundo. They have not been married three months, +and Pepe and his father-in-law are squabbling over money matters. No one +knows Calderon better than I. If he does not die before long, the poor +children will be dreadfully hard up, for they will never get any money +out of him." + +Raimundo replied to her remarks, affecting a calm demeanour, but there +was a peculiar accent in his voice which the lady could not help +noticing. It seemed foggy, as though it had passed through many tears. + +At last, in a very deserted spot, they bid the driver stop, and got out. + +"Wait for us here; we are going for a little walk," Raimundo explained. + +But then observing a doubtful glance in the man's eyes, he turned back +when he had gone a few steps, and taking out a five-dollar note he +handed it to him saying: + +"You can give me the change presently." + +They turned off from the high road and wandered away over the dreary +deserted fields which stretch away to the east of Madrid. The ground is +slightly undulating, but burnt and barren, cutting the horizon with a +long level line--not a house, not a tree was in sight. Clementina's +dainty shoes sank in the dust as they walked on in silence. Raimundo had +no spirit to talk, and she, too, was oppressed by the sadness of the +little drama, to which that of the landscape contributed; she had enough +good feeling not to speak a word. Now and then she looked back to assure +herself whether they could still be seen from the high road. When she +thought they had gone far enough she stopped. + +"Why should we go any further?" she said. "Will not this place do?" + +Raimundo also stopped, but made no answer. He dropped the parcel on the +ground and looked away--far away to the horizon. Clementina untied it, +looked with some curiosity at her letters, all carefully preserved in +the envelopes; then she made a little heap of them, and after waiting a +minute or two for Raimundo to look round, finding that he did not move, +she said: + +"Give me a match." + +The young man obeyed, and gave it her lighted, in perfect silence. Then +he looked away again while Clementina set fire to the papers, and +watched them burn one by one. The process took some minutes, and she had +to turn the blazing fragments with her gloved hands to prevent their +remaining half-burnt. Now and then she cast a half uneasy, half pitying +glance at her lover, who stood as motionless and absorbed as a sailor +studying the signs of the weather. + +When nothing remained but black ashes, Clementina rose from her stooping +posture, waited a moment, not liking to intrude on Raimundo's deep +abstraction, and at last, with a cloud of tender pathos on her beautiful +face, hastily looked about her, went up to him, and laying her arm on +his shoulder, said in a fond tone: + +"And now that we are alone for the last time, shall we not bid each +other a loving farewell?" + +"How ought we to part?" he replied, looking at her and making a great +effort to smile. + +"So!" she exclaimed, and she threw her arms round his neck, and covered +his face with passionate kisses. + +Raimundo stood rigid. He let her kiss him many times, like an inert +creature, and then his knees failed, and with a heartrending cry: + +"Oh Clementina, this is death!" he fell senseless on the ground. + +She was terribly frightened. There was no one to help; no water near. +She raised his head, resting it on her lap, fanned him with her hat, and +held a scent-bottle she had with her under his nose. He presently opened +his eyes, and could soon stand up. He was ashamed of his weakness. +Clementina was most affectionate and helpful. As soon as she saw that he +was in a state to walk, she took his arm and said: + +"Let us go." + +And she tried to amuse him by talking of a little dance she meant to +give, to which she urgently pressed him to come; he was on no account to +fail her. + +"And on Saturdays, as usual, you know. You are to be sure not to desert +me. In my house you will always be what you have been--my friend; and in +my heart, so long as I live, you will fill the dearest place." + +Raimundo's only answer was a forced smile. + +Thus they made their way back to the spot where they had left the coach. +As they drove back, still she talked, while he, as they got nearer to +the town, turned even paler than before; nor could he even smile. + +Seeing him thus, with despair in every feature, Clementina at last +ceased talking so lightly, and, moved with pity, she again kissed him +tenderly. But he shrank from her touch; he gently pushed her away, +saying: + +"Leave me alone--leave me. You only hurt me more." + +Two tears rose to his eyes and remained there without falling. At last +they dried away, or returned to the hidden fount whence they had sprung. + +They reached the Alcala gate once more. Clementina bid the driver stop +at the corner of the Calle de Serrano: + +"You had better get out here. You are close to your own house." + +Raimundo, speechless, opened the door. + +"Till Saturday, Mundo. Do not fail me. You know I shall look for you." +And she grasped his hand tightly. + +He, without looking at her, merely said: + +"Good-bye." + +He sprang out. The lady saw him walk up the street, staggering like a +drunken man, and he did not once look round. + +THE END. + +PRINTED BY BALLANTYNE, HANSON AND CO. LONDON AND EDINBURGH + + * * * * * + +Heinemann's International Library. + + +EDITOR'S NOTE. + +There is nothing in which the Anglo-Saxon world differs more from the +world of the Continent of Europe than in its fiction. English readers +are accustomed to satisfy their curiosity with English novels, and it is +rarely indeed that we turn aside to learn something of the interior life +of those other countries the exterior scenery of which is often so +familiar to us. We climb the Alps, but are content to know nothing of +the pastoral romances of Switzerland. We steam in and out of the +picturesque fjords of Norway, but never guess what deep speculation into +life and morals is made by the novelists of that sparsely peopled but +richly endowed nation. We stroll across the courts of the Alhambra, we +are listlessly rowed upon Venetian canals and Lombard lakes, we hasten +by night through the roaring factories of Belgium; but we never pause to +inquire whether there is now flourishing a Spanish, an Italian, a +Flemish school of fiction. Of Russian novels we have lately been taught +to become partly aware, but we do not ask ourselves whether Poland may +not possess a Dostoieffsky and Portugal a Tolstoi. + +Yet, as a matter of fact, there is no European country that has not, +within the last half-century, felt the dew of revival on the +threshing-floor of its worn-out schools of romance. Everywhere there has +been shown by young men, endowed with a talent for narrative, a vigorous +determination to devote themselves to a vivid and sympathetic +interpretation of nature and of man. In almost every language, too, this +movement has tended to display itself more and more in the direction of +what is reported and less of what is created. Fancy has seemed to these +young novelists a poorer thing than observation; the world of dreams +fainter than the world of men. They have not been occupied mainly with +what might be or what should be, but with what is, and, in spite of all +their shortcomings, they have combined to produce a series of pictures +of existing society in each of their several countries such as cannot +fail to form an archive of documents invaluable to futurity. + +But to us they should be still more valuable. To travel in a foreign +country is but to touch its surface. Under the guidance of a novelist of +genius we penetrate to the secrets of a nation, and talk the very +language of its citizens. We may go to Normandy summer after summer and +know less of the manner of life that proceeds under those gnarled +orchards of apple-blossom than we learn from one tale of Guy de +Maupassant's. The present series is intended to be a guide to the inner +geography of Europe. It offers to our readers a series of spiritual +Baedekers and Murrays. It will endeavour to keep pace with every truly +characteristic and vigorous expression of the novelist's art in each of +the principal European countries, presenting what is quite new if it is +also good, side by side with what is old, if it has not hitherto been +presented to our public. That will be selected which gives with most +freshness and variety the different aspects of continental feeling, the +only limits of selection being that a book shall be, on the one hand, +amusing, and, on the other, wholesome. + +One difficulty which must be frankly faced is that of subject. Life is +now treated in fiction by every race but our own with singular candour. +The novelists of the Lutheran North are not more fully emancipated from +prejudice in this respect than the novelists of the Catholic South. +Everywhere in Europe a novel is looked upon now as an impersonal work, +from which the writer, as a mere observer, stands aloof, neither blaming +nor applauding. Continental fiction has learned to exclude, in the main, +from among the subjects of its attention, all but those facts which are +of common experience, and thus the novelists have determined to disdain +nothing and to repudiate nothing which is common to humanity; much is +freely discussed, even in the novels of Holland and of Denmark, which +our race is apt to treat with a much more gingerly discretion. It is not +difficult, however, we believe--it is certainly not impossible--to +discard all which may justly give offence, and yet to offer to an +English public as many of the masterpieces of European fiction as we can +ever hope to see included in this library. It will be the endeavour of +the editor to search on all hands and in all languages for such books as +combine the greatest literary value with the most curious and amusing +qualities of manner and matter. + +EDMUND GOSSE. + + +Recent Publications. + +=A MARKED MAN=. Some Episodes in his Life. + By ADA CAMBRIDGE, Author of "Two Years' Time," + "A Mere Chance," &c. &c. In Three Volumes. Crown + 8vo, 31s. 6d. + +=IN THE VALLEY=: A Novel. By HAROLD + FREDERIC, Author of "The Lawton Girl," "Seth's + Brother's Wife," &c. &c. In Three Volumes. Crown 8vo. + +=THE BONDMAN=: A New Saga. By HALL CAINE. + Author of "The Deemster." In One Volume. Fourth + Edition. Crown 8vo, 3s. 6d. + +=HAUNTINGS=: Fantastic Stories. By VERNON LEE, + Author of "Baldwin," "Miss Brown," &c. &c. In One + Volume. Crown 8vo, 6s. + +CONTENTS:--Amour Dure--Dionea: in the Country of Venus--Oke of + Okehurst: A Phantom Lover--A Wicked Voice. + +=A VERY STRANGE FAMILY=: A Novel. By + F. W. ROBINSON, Author of "Grandmother's Money," + "Lazarus in London," &c. &c. In One Volume. Second + Edition. Crown 8vo, 3s. 6d. + +=THE LABOUR MOVEMENT IN AMERICA=. By + RICHARD T. ELY, Ph.D., Associate in Political Economy, + Johns Hopkins University. In One Volume. 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There is a chapter also +on Avogadro's law and the Kinetic theory, which chemical as well as +physical students will read with interest. + +In the third volume Dr. Thurston treats, in a popular way, on "Heat as a +Form of Energy"; and his book will be found a capital introduction to +the more exhaustive works of Maxwell, Carnot, Tyndall, and others. + +On account of the requirements of the subject, a large number of +wood-cuts have been made for the first volume, and the following volumes +will also be fully illustrated wherever the subject is susceptible of +it. + +The first three volumes are now ready. Others will follow, written, like +these, by thoroughly competent writers in their own departments; and +each volume will be complete in itself. + + +Heinemann's Scientific Handbooks. + + +I. + + MANUAL of ASSAYING GOLD, SILVER, COPPER, AND LEAD ORES. By WALTER + LEE BROWN, B.Sc. Revised, corrected, and considerably enlarged, + with a chapter on THE ASSAYING OF FUEL, &c., by A. B. 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By HENRY + SETON MERRIMAN and STEPHEN + GRAHAM TALLENTYRE. With 30 Illustrations + by E. COURBOIN. 3s. 6d. + + THE OLD MAIDS' CLUB. By I. + ZANGWILL, Author of "The Bachelor's + Club." With Illustrations by F. H. + TOWNSEND. 3s. 6d. + +London: WM. HEINEMANN, 21 Bedford Street, W.C. + + * * * * * + +The following typographical errors were corrected by the etext +transcriber: + +with s look of proud disdain=>with a look of proud disdain + +he passed for an accompished soldier=>he passed for an accomplished +soldier + +same!" exclamed Cobo=>same!" exclaimed Cobo + +to see the prudish marquesa.=>to see the prudish Marquesa. + +knowlege of human nature=>knowledge of human nature + +saying with determined forboding=>saying with determined foreboding + +Like some other who were to be seen at the club every day=>Like some +others who were to be seen at the club every day + +when she illtreats me=>when she ill-treats me + +Baro nwas=>Baron was + +Pepe Frias announced to the servant behind her=>Pepa Frias announced to +the servant behind her + +Hand your's over to Pepe=>Hand yours over to Pepe + +very place occupied shortly before y=>very place occupied shortly before +by + +"Antonio," he said, "We have come to quarrel with you very +seriously."=>"Antonio," he said, "we have come to quarrel with you very +seriously." + +the foremost place in you affections=>the foremost place in your +affections + +borethe taint=>bore the taint + +"Becaue I will not allow it;=>"Because I will not allow it; + +he was by nature cheerful, warm-heated, and absent-minded=>he was by +nature cheerful, warm-hearted, and absent-minded + +never stired an inch further=>never stirred an inch further + +exclamed Salabert in a triumphant=>exclaimed Salabert in a triumphant + +stand as canditate for Navalperal=>stand as candidate for Navalperal + +rejoicing ever the prospect of so many millions=>rejoicing over the +prospect of so many millions + +indignant at these base inuendoes=>indignant at these base innuendoes + +On seeing her daugher the Duchess turned=>On seeing her daughter the +Duchess turned + +greetings and and smiles=>greetings and smiles + +he said in in a lazy tone=>he said in a lazy tone + +but she repelled him with with=>but she repelled him with + +who do all the the real work=>who do all the real work + +far above her ancles=>far above her ankles + + * * * * * + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[A] About L400. + +[B] Above 19,000,000 of dollars; about L4,000,000 sterling. + +[C] About L600. + +[D] About L80. + +[E] In the Roman Catholic Church. + +[F] From 10d. to 1s. 3d. + +[G] 1s. 7d.; its purchasing value is probably at least half as much +again. + +[H] About L1100. + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Froth, by Armando Palacio Valdes + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FROTH *** + +***** This file should be named 38411.txt or 38411.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/8/4/1/38411/ + +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) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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