Eça de Queirós

“ The whole garden exhibited an unaccustomed order and fresh neatness, as if neither the wind that strips the leaves, nor the sun that withers, had ever passed over it. Then as evening was coming on, devoured by uncertainty and the mystery of the thing, he took horse and, without squire or groom, departed for Segovia. Bent and secretly, like a fugitive, he entered his palace by the orchard door, and his first care was to hasten to the vaulted gallery, unbar the shutters of the windows, and greedily spy the house of Don Ruy de Cardenas. ”

“ She ascended the steps of Leopoldina’s house, and with feverish hand violently pulled the bell. No sooner had Justina caught sight of her than she began to call out to her mistress from the hall,—
“The Senhora Donna Luiza! the Senhora Donna Luiza! Donna Luiza!”
Leopoldina, in a crimson morning-gown with a long train, and her hair in disorder, hurried to meet her, with open arms.
“Is it you?” she cried. “What miracle has brought you here? I have only just now got up. Come in, come in. Everything is in confusion, but no matter.” ”

“ Would they pity her? Would they cry, “What a shameless creature!” or “What an unfortunate woman!” Behind her window-blinds she followed with her glance the promenades of Senhor Paula on the pavement below, the heavy immobility of the coal-vender at her door, and the movements of the three Azevedos behind their window-curtains. They would all exclaim, “Did we not say so?” How horrible! At other times she suddenly fancied she saw Jorge standing before her, terrible in his anger, with her letters in his hand, and she drew back as if she felt the physical pain of his blows. ”

“ It was an ambush! The Lord of Lara was attracting this Don Ruy to Cabril with a splendid promise, to get him in his power, and certainly to kill him, defenceless and alone! And herself, her love, her body were the shining promises set before the beguiled eyes of the luckless youth. So her husband was using her beauty and her bed as a golden net into which that rash prize was to fall. What greater wrong could there be? ”

“ Perhaps Bazilio had known some other “Luiza” in Lisbon, and in directing the letter had written the name of his cousin by mistake. The momentary joy these fancies gave him only made the reality more cruel. But how did it happen? If he only knew the truth he would be more tranquil. He would tear this love from his heart as if it were some foul parasite; as soon as she was well he would take her to a convent, and he himself would go far away to end his days—to Africa or elsewhere. But—who knew the truth? Juliana! ”

“ And whilst he was circling those garden walls and complaining of her coldness, which seemed to him colder than the cold walls themselves, she had already given him her soul; and, full of constancy, with loving sagacity, suppressing the least sigh, lulling suspicion to sleep, she was preparing the radiant night in which she would also give him her body. Such firmness and such shrewd understanding in the affairs of love made her, in his eyes, all the more beautiful and the more to be desired! ”

“ At this, Ernesto, his hair carefully curled, and with a placid expression on his countenance, made his appearance. He bowed to the audience with a sigh of pleasure, and each time he made his bow he jumped to one side and another, that he might not stain his patent-leather slippers with Cousin Luiza’s blood. She felt herself expiring, when suddenly she heard confusedly a voice saying,—
“Hello! How is every one here?”
It sounded like Jorge’s voice. Whence did it come? From the sky? From the pit? From the hall? She heard a noise as of luggage being thrown on the floor, and she sat up in bed. ”

“ She followed with joy the growing pallor of Juliana’s countenance, and fixed all her hopes on the aneurism. After all, might it not burst any day? And Jorge, meanwhile, was never tired of praising this woman!
Life weighed heavy upon her. No sooner did Jorge close the street-door behind him in the morning than a feeling of melancholy, blended with an indefinable fear, descended upon her soul like a funereal pall; she did not dress till four or five o’clock in the afternoon. Clad in a loose wrapper, her feet thrust into slippers, her hair in disorder, she wandered listlessly about her room. ”

“ They reached Lumiar, and Bazilio, through considerations of prudence, lowered the carriage-blinds. Luiza raised one of them slightly, and looking out, gazed as they passed them by, at the trees covered with dust, the walls of a villa painted a dirty rose-color, some mean-looking houses, an empty omnibus, some women seated before their doors in the shade, combing their children’s hair, and a youth dressed in white, with a straw hat, who stopped to look fixedly at the drawn blinds of the coupé. ”

“ But this short visit of hers to Our Lady of the Pillar sufficed for Don Ruy to fall{5} madly in love with her on the May morning when he saw her kneeling before the altar in a radiance of sunlight, haloed by her golden hair, with her long lashes hanging over a Book of Hours, her rosary falling from between her delicate fingers, all elegant, gentle and white, with the whiteness of a lily blooming in the shade, looking yet whiter amid her black lace and the black satin gown that broke round her graceful form in hard folds over the chapel flags, the ancient flags of burying-places. ”

“ No sooner had Jorge gone away than Juliana swept into Luiza’s room like a whirlwind, closed the door behind her, and began to cry out that the mistress soiled a heap of clothes, the master a heap of shirts, and that without assistance she could not do so much work. “Whoever wants slaves must go to Brazil for them,” she ended. “And I am in no humor to put up with the ill-temper of your husband, do you understand, Senhora? If there is so much put upon me to do I must have help.” ”

“ If Jorge were not there she would enter, with a sense of contentment, into long chats with Marianna while she ate her jelly. At other times she would silently form plans, her eyes fixed on the ceiling; she would go for a few weeks to the country to re-establish her health and on her return she would set to work to embroider strips of cashmere to cover anew the parlor furniture; for she wanted to occupy herself with household matters, and to live quietly. Jorge would not go back to Alemtejo, he would not leave Lisbon again. Thus life would for the future be easy and sweet. ”

“ She had a lover! Motionless in the middle of the room, her arms folded, her gaze fixed, she repeated to herself, “I have a lover!” She recalled the scene in the parlor last night, and those periods of silence in which life seemed to pause, while the eyes in the portrait of Jorge’s mother—eyes whose blackness was enhanced by the pallor of the countenance in which they were set—gazed at her from the wall with the fixed gaze of a portrait. At this moment Juliana entered the room with a basket of freshly-ironed linen. ”

“ And standing before her dressing-table she looked at herself in the glass with a vague wistfulness, as if she sought there her image as it must shortly be, stricken by grief, her eyes weary with weeping. For the crisis had at last come. If Jorge insisted on discharging this woman, she could not, without provoking a terrible explanation, say to him, “I do not wish her to go; I wish her to die here.” And Juliana, finding herself dismissed, desperate, sick, and seeing that Luiza did not interpose in her behalf, would take her revenge. ”

“ Suddenly she flew into a violent passion, demanded her letters, heaped maledictions on Juliana, and in the same breath, in the midst of endearing epithets spoke of sums of money. Jorge feared that in her delirium she would reveal everything to Julião and to the servants, and a cold perspiration covered his brow. At times he would fly like a madman from the room, and throw himself on the sofa in the parlor, sobbing and writhing in anguish. ”

“ Luiza glanced up, dazed, as if a flash of lightning had suddenly passed through the room. But everything was motionless; not a fold of the curtains moved; the two little porcelain shepherds smiled pretentiously as before upon the dressing-table. She took off her wrapper quickly, put on a gown, without waiting to lace herself, then a winter wrap, then her hat, without smoothing her hair, left the house, hurried down the steps, and almost ran through the street, entangling her feet in the folds of her gown. ”

“ When Sebastião was gone, she began to walk up and down the room, preoccupied by this idea. To allow himself to be made love to by the shopkeeper’s wife, the wife of the delegate, and who could tell how many others! She had confidence in him, of course, but after all, he was a man. And suddenly she pictured him to herself in the embrace of the shopkeeper’s wife, or imprinting a kiss on the neck of the wife of the delegate; and imaginary instances of Jorge’s faithlessness thronged tumultuously to her mind. ”

“ They say I have grown thin; you yourself have noticed it. My life is a hell. If Jorge were to know! That vile wretch threatened to tell him everything to-day. I work like a slave. In the morning I sweep and put things in order; often I wash the breakfast things. Have pity on me, Sebastião, if it were only for his sake! Unhappy creature that I am, I have no one in the world to turn to.” And burying her face in her hands, she burst into a fresh fit of weeping. ”

“ Julião ordered another blister. Confusion reigned in the house. Joanna came into the room, when no one looked for her, with some broth that no one had asked for, her eyes red with weeping. Marianna sobbed in corners. Donna Felicidade came and went, shut herself up in the parlor to pray, made vows to the saints, and considered whether it might not be well to call in Dr. Barbosa or Dr. Barral.
Luiza meantime remained motionless; the livid hue of her features imparted to them a rigid and swollen appearance. ”

“ There are so many insects in it that I have to sleep with my clothes on; while if the senhora should feel a single bite, she has the slave take her bed apart, and clean it for her. The servant is a beast of burden; let her work if she can, if not, to the street or to the hospital with her! But my turn has come at last!” she ended, striking her breast with revengeful fury. “It is I who am mistress now!”
Luiza sobbed in silence.
“Does the senhora weep? I, too, have wept a great deal. I wish you no ill; no, Senhora, amuse yourself, enjoy yourself, but I must have my money. ”

“ Luiza sprang up from her seat, livid. “It is Jorge!” she thought. She crushed the letter convulsively in her hand, and tried to hide it in her pocket, but there was none in her morning-gown. Without stopping to think, and half distracted, she threw it into the sarcophagus. She remained standing, waiting in suspense, her hands resting on the table.
The portière was raised, and disclosed the blue velvet hat of Donna Felicidade.
“Shut up here? What were you doing? But what is the matter? You are as white as chalk.” ”

“ Luiza gave him a message for Jorge.
They gazed in silence at the staircase of the hotel, on which the shaded lamps diffused a soft light. Donna Felicidade, curious to know something of hotel life, observed attentively the laundress, who was just then entering with a basket of clothes; then a lady who descended the staircase in evening dress, her feet encased in white satin slippers; and she smiled as she saw the passers-by cast curious glances at them through the open window of the carriage.
“They are dying to know who we are,” she said. ”

“ He returned in a carriage half an hour later with Julião; Luiza was sleeping heavily.
“She needs care; we shall see,” said Julião, shaking his head, while Jorge watched him anxiously from the other side of the bed. He wrote a prescription, and remained to breakfast. The day was cold and cloudy. Marianna, wrapped in a shawl, waited at table, her fingers swollen with chilblains. Jorge felt depressed, as if the mists of the atmosphere were gathering around his soul. What could be the cause of this fever? he asked Julião disconsolately. ”

“ Day was dawning. Jorge stood up, and going over to the window looked out. The rain had ceased, and the pavements were beginning to dry; the light was gray and misty. Silence reigned over everything. A forgotten towel moved slowly in the cold wind on the balcony of the Azevedos.
Jorge went into the alcove. Luiza was muttering in a gasping voice. She was vaguely conscious of the mustard plasters, but the pain in her head had not abated. She began to toss about in bed, and shortly afterwards the delirium returned. Julião ordered her hair to be cut off at once. ”

“ Leopoldina expressed her astonishment. A man who had so many friends, and who could lead so agreeable a life, to leave Lisbon! “Am I not right?” she said, turning to Luiza in order to draw her out of her embarrassed silence.
“Yes, indeed,” murmured Luiza.
She was seated on the edge of a chair, filled with terror, and longing to fly. The persistent gaze of Castro from behind his eye-glasses annoyed her.
Leopoldina leaned back on the sofa, and with an accusing gesture of the finger,—
“Ah, there are petticoats at the bottom of this journey to France,” she said. ”