Isaura, the SlavePart 4
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Part 4
--No; I have not yet seen any that equals you, Isaura, I swear to you. Look, Isaura; no one is in a better position than I to secure your freedom; I am capable of forcing Leoncio to free you, because, if I am not mistaken, I have already guessed his plans and intentions, and I promise you that I shall thwart them all; it is an infamy, which I cannot consent to. Besides freedom you will have everything you desire, silks, jewels, carriages, slaves to serve you, and you will find in me a tender lover, who will always love you, and will never exchange you for all the girls in this world, however pretty and rich they may be, because you alone are worth more than all of them together.
--My God!--exclaimed Isaura with a slight tone of mockery;--so much grandeur terrifies me; it would drive me out of my mind. Nothing, my lord; keep your grandeurs for whoever better deserves them; for now I am content with my lot.
--Isaura!... why so much cruelty!... listen,--said the young man throwing his arm around Isaura's neck.
--Master Henrique!--she cried, dodging the embrace,--for pity's sake, leave me in peace!
--For pity, Isaura!--insisted the young man continuing to try to embrace her;--oh!... do not speak so loud!... one kiss ... just one kiss, and I will leave you...
--If you continue, I will scream louder. I cannot work here for a moment, without them coming to disturb me with declarations, which I should not listen to...
--Oh! how haughty she is!--exclaimed Henrique, already somewhat irritated by so much resistance.--She lacks nothing!... she even has the disdainful airs of a great lady!... do not pout like that, my princess...
--Enough, sir!--shouted the slave, now at the height of impatience.--Was not Master Leoncio enough!... now you come too....
--How?... what are you saying?... Leoncio too?... oh!... oh! my heart was indeed guessing it!... what infamy!... but surely you listen to him with less impatience, is it not so?
--As much as I listen to you.
--I do not doubt it, Isaura; the loyalty you owe to your mistress, who esteems you so much, does not permit you to give ear to that perverse man. But with me the case is different; what reason is there for you to be so cruel.
--I cruel to my masters!!! Come, sir, for the love of God!... Do not thus mock a poor captive.
--No! I am not mocking;... Isaura!... listen,--exclaimed Henrique struggling to embrace her and steal a kiss.
--Bravo!... bravissimo!--a voice echoed through the hall accompanied by a sardonic and noisy laugh.
Henrique turned startled. All his amorous exaltation had suddenly frozen in the depths of his heart.
Leoncio was standing in the middle of the doorway, arms crossed and looking at him with a smile of the most insulting scorn.
--Bravo! very well, my brother-in-law!--continued Leoncio in the same mocking tone.--You are putting your moral lessons into practice most beautifully!... courting my slaves!... you are gallant!... you know how to respect your sister's house divinely!...
--Ah! cursed intruder! murmured Henrique, gnashing his teeth with rage, and his first impulse was to charge with clenched fist, and respond with blows to the insolent sarcasms of his brother-in-law. Reflecting for a moment, however, he felt that it would be more advantageous to use against his aggressor the same weapon that had been used against him, sarcasm, which circumstances permitted him to wield in a victorious and decisive manner. He calmed himself then, and with a smile of sovereign disdain:
--Ah! forgive me, my brother-in-law!--said he--I did not know that the rare jewel of your hall deserved so much care from you, that it led you to the point of spying on her; I believe you have more zeal for her than even for the respect owed to your house and your wife. Poor sister of mine!... she is quite simple, and it is surprising that she has not known sooner the fine husband she has!...
--What are you saying, boy?--shouted Leoncio with a threatening gesture;--repeat; what are you saying?
--The same that you have just heard,--replied Henrique firmly,--and be certain that your unworthy conduct will not remain hidden from my sister for long.
--What conduct!? you are raving, Henrique?...
--Do not play the innocent!... do you think I do not know everything?... anyway, farewell, Master Leoncio; I withdraw, because it would be highly inconvenient, unworthy and ridiculous on my part to be arguing with you over a slave.
--Wait, Henrique ... listen...
--No, no; I have no business with you. Farewell!--he said and withdrew precipitately.
Leoncio felt crushed, and repented a thousand and one times for having so imprudently provoked that frivolous and reckless young man. He did not know that his brother-in-law was aware of the passion he felt for Isaura, and of the efforts he employed to overcome her indifference and obtain her favors. It is true that he had spoken to him without much reserve on this subject; but a few words said between young men, in a tone of mere jesting, did not constitute sufficient basis for Henrique to articulate a serious accusation against him in the face of his wife. Certainly the girl had revealed something to him, and this made him foam with spite and rage against one and the other. He cared very little about the disturbance of domestic peace; what enraged him was the danger in which he had placed himself of seeing his perverse designs on the gentle slave thwarted.
--Damnation!--he roared to himself.--That madman is quite capable of thwarting all my plans. If he knows something, as it seems, he will not hesitate to carry everything to Malvina's ears...
Leoncio stood for some moments still, motionless, somber, scowling, his spirit given over to the cruel restlessness that lashed him. Then, casting his eyes around, he caught sight of Isaura, who, ever since Leoncio had appeared, flushed, trembling and breathless, had gone to hide herself in a corner of the room; from there she had witnessed in silent anxiety the altercation of the two young men, like a badly wounded doe listening to the roaring of two tigers disputing between themselves the right to devour her. For her part she too repented from the depths of her soul, and raged against herself for the indiscreet and mad revelation that in a fit of impatience had escaped her lips. Her imprudence would be the cause of the most deplorable discord in the bosom of that family, discord of which in the end she would come to be the principal victim. The disagreement between the two youths was like the clash of two clouds, which meet and continue to hover tranquilly in the sky; but the lightning released from their bosom would have to fall unerringly upon the brow of the unhappy captive.
Chapter IV.
--Ah! you are still there?... you did well,--said Leoncio as soon as he caught sight of Isaura, who, trembling and confused, had not dared to leave the little corner to which she had fled, and where she made a thousand vows to heaven, that her master might not see her, nor remember her in that moment.--Isaura, he continued,--from what I see, you are quite advanced in love affairs!... you were listening to the endearments of that young rascal...
--As much as I listen to yours, my lord; for having no other remedy. A slave who dared to look with love at her masters would deserve to be severely punished.
--But did you say something to that reckless fellow, Isaura?...
--I!?--answered the slave, becoming disturbed;--I nothing that could offend either you or him...
--Weigh your words well, Isaura; see that you do not try to deceive me. You told him nothing about me?
--Nothing.
--You swear?
--I swear,--stammered Isaura.
--Ah! Isaura, Isaura!... be careful. If until now I have patiently endured your rebuffs and disdain, I am not disposed to tolerate that in my house, and almost in my presence, you listen to gallantries from anyone whomever, and much less reveal what happens here. If you do not want my love, at least avoid incurring my hatred.
--Forgive me, sir, what fault is it of mine that they come to persecute me?
--You have some reason; I see that I will be forced to banish you from this house, and to hide you in some corner, where you are not so seen and coveted...
--For what, sir....
--Enough; I cannot hear you now, Isaura. It is not convenient that they find us here conversing alone. On another occasion I will listen to you.--It is necessary to prevent that scatterbrain from intriguing against me with Malvina,--murmured Leoncio withdrawing.--Ah! dog! cursed be the hour when I brought you to my house!
--May God grant that such an occasion never comes--exclaimed the girl sadly within her soul, seeing her master withdraw. She saw with anguish and mortal uneasiness the continual and ever more fierce solicitations of Leoncio, and she could not hit upon a means of putting an end to them. Resolved to resist to the death, she remembered the fate of her unhappy mother, whose sad history she knew well, for she had heard it, whispered in fear and mystery, from the mouth of some old slaves of the house, and the future appeared to her laden with the blackest and most sinister colors.
To reveal everything to Malvina was the only means that presented itself to her spirit to put an end to the audacities of her husband, and to forestall future misfortunes. But Isaura loved her young mistress too much to dare to take such a step, which would pour into her bosom an abyss of sorrows and bitterness, breaking forever the smiling and sweet illusion in which she lived?
She preferred rather to die like her mother, victim of the most cruel severities, than to go with her own hands to cast a sinister cloud on the sky until then so serene and calm of her dear mistress.
Isaura's father, the only being in the world who, with the exception of Malvina, took an interest in her, a poor and simple day laborer, was not in a position to be able to protect her against the persecutions and violences with which she was threatened. In such a cruel situation Isaura knew only how to weep in secret over her misfortune, and to implore heaven, from which alone she could hope for a remedy to her ills.
Well can one now understand that accent so sorrowful, so steeped in anguish, with which she sang her favorite song. Malvina was mistaken in attributing her sadness to some amorous passion. Isaura still kept her heart in the purest state of freedom. With how much more pity would her good and sensitive mistress have lamented her, if she could guess the true cause of the sorrows that were consuming her.
Chapter V.
Isaura, awakening from her poignant and bitter preoccupations, took up her sewing basket and was about to leave the parlor, resolved to vanish into the most hidden corner of the house, or to hide herself in some hiding place in the orchard. She hoped thus to avoid the repetition of indecent and shameful scenes, like those she had just been through. She had barely taken her first steps when she was stopped by an extravagant and grotesque figure, who, entering the parlor, came to stand before her eyes.
It was a monster affecting human forms, a homunculus badly constructed in everything, with an enormous head, a rickety trunk, short legs bowed outward, hair like a bear, and ugly as a monkey. It was like one of those deformed jesters who formed an indispensable part of the retinue of a great king of the Middle Ages, for the amusement of him and his courtiers. Nature had forgotten to form his neck, and the deformed head was born from within a formidable hump, which sheltered it almost like a hood. Well examined, however, the face was not very irregular, nor repugnant, and expressed much prudence, submission, and good nature.
Isaura would have let out a cry of terror, if she had not long been familiar with that strange figure, for it was none other than Sir Belchior, the faithful and excellent islander, who for many years had exercised on that plantation, very worthily and conscientiously, despite his deformity and idiocy, the office of gardener. It seems that flowers, which are the natural symbol of all that is beautiful, pure, and delicate, should have a less deformed and repulsive cultivator. But fate or the caprice of the master of the house willed to establish that contrast, perhaps to make the beauty of some stand out at the cost of the ugliness of the other.
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