Isaura, the SlavePart 12
Página 1 de 8
Part 12
--I was expecting that already; however, the affair is no less dramatic; the story of your loves with that mysterious fairy is taking on the air of a fantastic poem.
--Nevertheless it is the pure truth. As they were wet and bedraggled, I invited them to get into my carriage. They accepted after much reluctance, and we drove to their house. There is no need to tell you the rest from then on, although with some shyness the threshold of the mysterious grotto was opened to me.
--And from what I see,--asked the doctor,--you love that woman very much?
--Whether I love her! I adore her more and more, and what is more, I have reasons to believe that she ... at least does not look at me with indifference.
--God grant that you are not bewitched by some Circe of a brothel, by one of those adventuresses, of whom there are so many in the world, and who, knowing that you are rich, sets snares for your money! That keeping away from society, that mystery, in which they try so carefully to wrap their life, does not speak much in their favor.
--Who knows if they are criminals trying to escape the investigations of the police?--observed a gentleman.
--Perhaps counterfeiters,--added another.
--I am suspicious,--continued the doctor--every time I see a beautiful woman traveling in strange countries in the company of a man, who usually claims to be her father or brother. Your fairy's father, Alvaro, if he is indeed her father, is perhaps some gypsy, or gentleman of industry, who speculates on his daughter's beauty.
--Good God!... mercy!--exclaimed Alvaro.--If I had guessed that I would see the person of that angelic creature judged with such atrocity, or rather so impiously profaned, I would rather have been struck dumb than have brought her into the conversation. Believe me, you are too unjust toward that poor girl, my friends. I would sooner judge her a dethroned princess, if I did not know that she is an angel fallen from heaven. But you will soon see her, and she and I will be avenged; for I am certain that all of you with one voice will proclaim her a divinity. But the worst is that from now on I can count on a rival in each of you.
--For my part,--said one of the gentlemen,--you can rest easy, for I have always had a horror of mysterious girls.
--And I, who am no more than a simple mortal, am very much afraid of fairies,--added the other.
--And how is it,--asked Dr. Geraldo,--that living thus withdrawn from society, she could resolve to leave her mysterious solitude, to come to this ball so public and crowded?...
--And how much it cost me, my friend!--answered Alvaro.--She came almost by force. For a long time I have been trying to convince her by all means that a young and beautiful lady, such as she is, hiding her charms in solitude, commits a crime, contrary to the designs of the creator, who formed beauty to be seen, admired and adored; for I am the opposite of those jealous and bilious lovers, who would wish to have their beloveds hidden in the depths of the earth. Arguments, entreaties, supplications, all was lost; father and daughter constantly refused to appear in public, alleging a thousand different pretexts. I resorted in the end to a trick; I made them believe that that manner of living withdrawn and without contact with society in a country where they were unknown was already beginning to give people something to talk about and to attract suspicions upon them, and that even the police were beginning to look at them with distrust; lies, which were not without their plausibility...
--And so much so,--interrupted the doctor,--that perhaps they are not very far from the truth.
--I made them see,--continued Alvaro,--that however unfounded and futile such suspicions might be, it was necessary to remove them from themselves, and for that they absolutely had to frequent society. This deception produced the desired effect.
--So much the worse for them,--retorted the doctor;--there is a very bad sign, and one that confirms me further in my suspicions. Were they innocent, they would care very little about the suspicions of the public or the police, and they would continue to live as before.
--Your suspicions have not the least foundation, my doctor. They have few means, and therefore they avoid society, which really imposes harsh sacrifices on persons unfavored by fortune, and they ... but here they are, arriving... See and convince yourselves with your own eyes.
At that moment a young and beautiful lady entered the antechamber on the arm of a man of mature age and respectable presence.
--Good evening, Senhor Anselmo!... good evening, Dona Elvira!... happily here they are!--thus Alvaro said to the newcomers, separating himself from his friends and hurrying to greet them with all amiability and courtesy. Then offering one arm to Elvira and the other to Senhor Anselmo, he leads them to the inner halls, where the most numerous and brilliant society is already swirling. Alvaro's three interlocutors, as well as many other persons who were there, stood in a row to see Elvira pass, whose presence caused a sensation and murmuring, even among those who were not forewarned.
--Indeed!... she is of a dazzling beauty!
--What a queenly bearing!...
--What Andalusian eyes!...
--What magnificent hair!
--And her neck!... what a neck!... did you not notice?...
--And how she dresses with such elegant simplicity!--thus murmured the three gentlemen among themselves as if impressed by a celestial apparition.
--And did you not notice,--added Dr. Geraldo,--that bewitching little mark she has on her right cheek?... Alvaro is right; his fairy is going to eclipse all the beauties of the salon. And she has moreover the advantage of novelty, and that prestige of mystery that envelops her. I am burning with impatience to be introduced to her; I wish to admire her more at length.
In this tone they continued to converse, until after a few minutes, Alvaro, having fulfilled the pleasant commission of presenter of that new pearl of the salons, was again among them.
--My friends,--he said to them with a triumphant air.--I invite you to the salon. I want to present Dona Elvira to you now to dispel once and for all the unjust and injurious apprehensions that you still nourished a short while ago regarding the most beautiful and purest being that exists under the sun, although I am certain that with the simple sight of her you will be penetrated with astonishment to the marrow of your bones.
The four gentlemen withdrew and disappeared amid the whirlwind of the inner halls. They were, however, immediately replaced by a group of lovely and elegant young ladies, who, sparkling with silks and precious stones like a flock of birds of paradise, strolled along conversing. The subject of the talk was also Dona Elvira; but the pitch was totally different, and in no way harmonized with that of the young men's conversation. No harm will be done us by listening to them for a few moments.
--You will not be able to tell us, Dona Adelaide, who that girl is, who entered the room a short while ago on Senhor Alvaro's arm?
--No, Dona Laura; it is the first time I have seen her, it seems to me she is not from these parts.
--Certainly; what a startled air she has!... she looks like a country girl who has never set foot in a ballroom; do you not think so, Dona Rozalina?
--Without doubt!... and did you not notice her toilette?... my God!... what poverty! my maid has better taste in dressing. It is Dona Emilia here who perhaps knows who she is.
--I? why? it is the first time I have seen her, but Senhor Alvaro had already given me news of her, saying she was a marvel of beauty. I see nothing of the sort; she is pretty, but not so much as to astonish.
--That Senhor Alvaro is always an eccentric, a peculiar one; everything that is novelty seduces him. And where would he go to dig up that pearl, which keeps him so dumbfounded?...
--She came drifting in from the southern seas, my friend, and judging by appearances she is not altogether bad.
--If it were not for that black mark she has on her face, she would be more bearable.
--On the contrary, Dona Laura; that mark is what still gives her a certain particular grace...
--Ah! pardon, my friend; I did not remember that you also have a little mark like that on your face; that one indeed suits you very well, and gives you much grace; but hers, if I noticed correctly, is too big; it does not look like a fly, but rather a beetle that has landed on her face.
--To tell you the truth, I did not notice well. Come, let us go to the salon; we must see her more closely, study her more slowly so that we can give our opinion with certainty.
And having said this, off they went with arms entwined, forming like a long garland of variegated flowers, which went serpentining away to lose itself among the crowd.
Chapter XI.
Alvaro was one of those privileged beings on whom nature and fortune seem to have wished to pour out in emulation the entire coffer of their favors. Only son of a distinguished and opulent family, at the age of twenty-five he was orphaned of father and mother, and master of a fortune of about two thousand contos.
He was of regular stature, slender, well built and handsome, more for the noble and sympathetic expression of his physiognomy than for his physical features, which nevertheless were not irregular. Although his mind was not very cultivated, he was endowed with a lucid and robust understanding, capable of rising to the sphere of the most transcendent conceptions. Having completed his preparatory studies, as he was a philosopher who weighed things gravely, considering that the fortune of which he was master by the chance of birth could by another chance be taken from him, he wished, in order to have some profession, to devote himself to the study of Law. In the first year, while he hovered through the high regions of the philosophy of law, he still found some pleasure in academic studies; but when he had to plunge into the intricate labyrinth of that arid and tedious casuistry of positive law, his eminently synthetic spirit recoiled in disgust, and he had no courage to continue on the path he had begun. An original soul, full of great and generous aspirations, he took more pleasure in the investigation of high political and social questions, in dreaming brilliant utopias, than in studying and interpreting laws and institutions, which for the most part, in his opinion, had as their basis only the most absurd errors and prejudices.
He hated all privileges and social distinctions, and it is unnecessary to say that he was liberal, republican and almost socialist.
Comentarios (0)