Rogelio

“ The very personality of these recollections lent them a singular charm in Rogelio’s eyes. While he listened to the girl’s words, it seemed as if the vanished memories of his childhood took definite and distinct shape in his mind. The room seemed to be filled with rural scents of mint, anise, new-mown hay. The illusion was so strong that he drew Esclava’s{223} head toward him and smelled it. “Your hair smells like—like the fields,” he said. While the girl talked, his determination to go home grew every moment stronger. “If I don’t go home,” he thought, “I shall never be a man. ”

“ You will make it double, or the girl goeth to Xauxa this night; and I'll have the Señor Inca notified—or mayhap, Mendoza."
"Scoundrels, bandits, thieves!" screamed Rogelio, his face purple and hands shaking. Duero took a step toward him with a movement to his sword-hilt, and the victim retreated to the wall, hugging his gold and rolling his eyes in terror. The soldier surveyed him with contempt.
"Well," he demanded, "what do you say? Must we lug her back to Xauxa? Answer, and quickly, for I sicken."
"Oh, gentlemen!" wailed Rogelio, "be honest. Be just. Be considerate of a poor man." ”

“ At breakfast, when Esclava brought Rogelio his pills or his syrup of iron, or when she handed him some favorite dish, there passed between them (and it would have been useless to try to persuade Doña Aurora to the contrary, for she had seen it only too well) an exchange of glances, at times languishing and sentimental, at times flashing and ardent. When Esclavita went to open the door at Rogelio’s ring she showed an eagerness which she was very far from showing when it was one of the tiresome old men who rang the bell ”

“ With what enjoyment did Rogelio go to warm himself by the fire before taking off his cloak when he came in from college, stretching out his hands, cold as icicles, to the blaze. The genial heat thawed his stiffened muscles, quickened his impoverished blood, and gave him strength to ask, with a comical pretense at scolding and coaxing entreaties mingled, for his breakfast, almost regretting the promptness with which it was served, since it left him a subject the less for his humorous jests. Before it had crossed the threshold of the door, Doña Aurora was already crying out:{9}
“Fausta! Pepa! ”

“ That is what he wants, and that is what he sighs for, and he is trying to steal away from you the one you have chosen for your boy. I am speaking in earnest; as sure as my name is Nicanor he is crazy for your maid, for Esclava, or whatever her name is. No boy of twenty could be more desperately in love than he is with her. I am certain that Rogelio is not half so deeply smitten.”
On hearing Rogelio’s name, and observing{250} the tone in which it was uttered by Candás, Señora de Pardiñas started, and let her knitting fall on her lap. ”

“ Rogelio had never had any liking for these books, but now, whenever he opened one of them to go over a lesson, a thick fog seemed to envelop his faculties, and a sort of moral dissolution to take place in his spirit, where a rebellious voice would whisper softly such{155} heresies as these: “Go, child, give up those futilities, renounce that dry, worthless, empty, sapless science of the schools. Real life and humanity are something altogether different from this. ”

“ The sarcastic Don Nicanor called Rojas a “puppet of the law.” He said that everything about him, mind and character alike, was wooden, neither seeing nor wishing to see that this kind of men, if laws were perfect as far as it is possible for human laws to be, might, by their firmness and integrity in applying them, bring back the golden age.
Often, of an afternoon, especially if it was very cold, or if it snowed or rained, Rogelio, instead of going out, would settle himself comfortably in a corner of the broad sofa and listen to the drowsy chat of the old people. ”

“ As soon as Rogelio goes to college——”
There are in the tones of the human voice mysterious notes of warning which in certain situations reveal our inmost thoughts before we have put them into words. The simple words, “Come here, Esclavita,” words such as a servant hears innumerable times in the course of a day, echoed on this occasion with an ominous sound in the soul of the young Galician. All the{294} blood in her body rushed to her heart, and when she entered the room where her mistress was awaiting her she already knew by intuition the purport of what she was about to hear. ”

“ Rogelio, laying his hand on her forehead, noticed that it was hot, a fact which kept him from sleeping, without preventing him, however, from wondering a little if Esclavita would come to chat a while with him, a thing which he at once feared and desired. Debating this question in his mind, he at last fell asleep, and waking toward morning, he saw the girl approach his bedside. Leaning over him, she said quickly, “I can’t stir from there; she is continually asking for water. She complains of pains all over her body. It is all the effect of the fall.” ”

“ She is a true Galician: she keeps everything to herself, and one can never be sure of her, for she never lets you see what is passing in her mind. Well, then, against deceit greater deceit. Wait, wait for awhile; I shall find a way to get rid of you, and to get rid of you decently, in a way that will give you no room for complaint; on the contrary, you will be obliged to say that you are contented. And now—one nail drives out another, and boys will be boys—I am going to provide Rogelio with an amusement. I am going to give you a rival. Wait, girl; against wiles, counter-wiles. ”

“ Be charitable. Be virtuous. Faugh! You offend my bile. Come. Yes, or no! Do you double it? 'T is indifferent to us, for the Inca, or Mendoza, will know how to reward. But answer!"
Rogelio rolled his eyes to heaven, then lagged forward to the table and took up the scales. "Oh, my good men, 't is—"
"Cease!" commanded Duero. "We are no good men. Had we been, you had not approached us. Weigh out, and be done."
The veedor heaved a long, shuddering sigh, and weighed the gold.
"Now," said Duero, "to your horse, and to Xauxa."
"Oh, curses!" protested the veedor. "Art not finished? ”

“ The Marchioness, who was of a vain and lively disposition, said that she thought of going to Vigo soon, displaying at the same time a new bracelet of sapphires and diamonds,{313} with an air of mystery. “She is evidently thinking of marrying again,” thought Doña Aurora. “Who may her intended be? God grant she may choose well.”
Rogelio had quietly slipped away without saying a word to any one. ”

“ How slowly he walks, poor man. ’Tis easy to see that he suffers from rheumatism as I do. The more’s the pity! I like him on that account, and not on that account alone, but because I know that he is indulgent and that he will give Rogelio a good mark in his examination.{4} Now comes Ruiz del Monte, so stiff and so conceited. He looks as if he were made all in one piece. Poor us! Neither favor nor influence nor anything else is of any use with him. He would have the boys know the studies as well as he does himself. If he wants that let him give them his place in the college—and the pay as well. ”

“ God has always looked on you with disfavor. Didn’t you know it, Señorito?”{197}
“Yes, I knew it, Suriña. But it is dreadful to say that. Why should God look on you with disfavor?”
The girl half raised herself in her place, her eyes wide open, terrified at seeing that the fact which she was trying to bring herself to disclose was already known.
“Don’t be foolish,” murmured Rogelio, kindly. “What fault is it of yours, child? The same thing might have happened to me or to any one. We don’t choose our parents. Foolish girl!” ”

“ Rogelio, as the only son of wealthy parents, indulged in a more luxurious mode of conveyance; his mother allowed him to keep a dashing brougham and a pair of spirited horses at the livery stable of Augustin Cuero, so that on feast days he might drive in the Retiro, or wherever he might like. She would not consent to his keeping a saddle horse, through fear of an accident. But nothing in the world would have induced Señora Pardiñas herself to make use of that toy equipage. ”

“ Her father we must not even mention; still less her mother—for the wretched woman is still living and wandering about the world, leading Heaven knows what sort of a life.”
“Well,” responded Rogelio, recovering his good humor, “it seems then that we are to regard the girl as if she were a mushroom. If the question ever turns on fathers or mothers I will say to her—“Of course I know you never had any. Will that do?”
“Child, don’t be absurd. Eat that other biscuit. What I mean is that you must not tease her. People who have suffered great misfortunes are very sensitive ”

“ By the sacrament, I can promise them they shall have that, for a surety!"
"They will have it anyway," replied Felipillo.
"Demonio!" retorted Rogelio, testily. "But they will value a formal permit. I'll give it. Bring hither their chiefs to-morrow night. Smuggle them in, dost understand? and I'll wag a parchment before their eyes with a seal and ribbons on it. Thou'lt see! A liberality with chicha will make the bargain easy. What sayst thou? Wilt deal with them for me? ”

“ We will sign a treaty of peace, the illustrious kitchen-maid and I.”
In reality, Rogelio was extraordinarily flattered and pleased by Esclavita’s complaint. If his coldness and indifference touched her so profoundly,{122} it was because the girl did not regard him as a child, or, as she said, a boy. Is any one vexed or troubled by what a child does or says? There was not a doubt but that she looked on him as a man, and a man on whose conduct her peace of mind depended ”

“ In the first place, his companions would ridicule him unmercifully if they should chance to meet him accompanying so politely a girl wearing a shawl over her head and dressed in a plain merino skirt. In the second place, Rogelio was at the age when a boy brought up under maternal influence in the pure atmosphere of home cannot avoid a feeling of painful shyness when brought in contact with persons of the other sex with whom he is unacquainted. It is true that women of an inferior station did not confuse him so much; young ladies were like death to him ”

“ Suriña,” for the second time exclaimed Rogelio, now superstitiously affected by this strange conversation, “you are crazy! Don’t you know, Suriña, that scores of people die or are at the point of death every night in Madrid? Just imagine; if the dogs have to announce all those deaths they have enough to do. ”

“ It is as natural for one who is sad to seek consolation as it is for one who is hungry to seek food.
“Mamma is very fond of you,” he{200} repeated. “You don’t seem to believe me. Silly girl! why, she herself scolded me because I treated you—well—a little coldly at first. She told me you were unhappy on that account.”
Esclavita lowered her eyes, doubtless lest they should betray her thoughts and forebodings regarding the future.
“See,” said Rogelio, softly, “if you knew how well I feel with you here beside me! ”

“ There is nothing wrong in having a{158} sweetheart, and even if mamma should find it out, she will not be vexed on account of it. One nail drives out another. That will be my chief distraction.”
The post being created, it now only remained to find some one to fill it. Rogelio passed in mental review all the young ladies with whom he was acquainted. Some of them were ugly; others were already engaged; this one was too old; that one was never to be met outside her house; one would turn him into ridicule; another would require him to prove his affection for her by performing some difficult task. ”

“ Esclavita gave the student a curiously{215} penetrating and meaning glance, and then answered:
“I prayed earnestly to Our Lady of Slavery that the mistress might get better. I offered her a mass, besides. You see how the Virgin has listened to my prayers, Señorito.”
“Of course. You must have a great deal of influence with the saints.”
“Yes,” murmured the girl, “I have—to obtain what is against myself.”
“Against yourself!” exclaimed Rogelio, surprised and somewhat displeased. “And is it against yourself that my mother should get well?”
“That she should get well—no,” stammered Esclavita ”

“ And there is no denying that as boldness and want of decorum in a woman repel, so neatness and modesty are an additional attraction.”
Here Señora de Pardiñas was obliged to use all her efforts to keep from bursting out laughing, for Rogelio, who had followed the conversation from his corner on the sofa, made a comical grimace and winked at her roguishly to give point to the old man’s remarks.{134}
But before many days were over the benevolent admiration of Señor de Febrero was converted into a keen interest, an irrepressible curiosity to know all that related to “our little country-woman.” ”

“ Like her palms, they were hot and dry, and it seemed to Rogelio as if they burned his flesh, causing him a sensation that was painful rather than pleasant. Only, caresses were a resource to render this last painful interview a little less intolerable, and the student, in default of arguments by which to console the poor deserted girl, had recourse to caresses, without being influenced by a motive less pure or noble....{322}
“Suriña, Suriña, I think I hear the marchioness saying good-by in the hall. If she is going, it is because every one else has gone. ”

“ Rogero stands confused; he finds no end
To his perplexing thoughts, and cannot see
Who should defy him, who that message send,
To speak him ill, and do him courtesy.
Who thus as faithless him should reprehend,
Or any reprehend, whoe'er it be,
Nor knows he nor imagines; least of all
On Bradamant the knight's suspicions fall.
LXV
To think 'twas Rodomont the youthful peer
Was more inclined than any other wight;
And wherefore even from him he this should hear,
Muses, nor can the cause divine aright;
Save him, in all the world the cavalier
Knows not of one, that has him at despite. ”