A fresh attempt to see his cousin that evening failed, and Pepe Rey shut himself up in his room to write several letters, his mind preoccupied1 with one thought.
“To-night or to-morrow,” he said to himself, “this will end one way or another.”
When he was called to supper Doña Perfecta, who was already in the dining-room, went up to him and said, without preface:
“Dear Pepe, don’t distress2 yourself, I will pacify3 Señor Don Inocencio. I know every thing already. Maria Remedios, who has just left the house, has told me all about it.”
Doña Perfecta’s countenance4 radiated such satisfaction as an artist, proud of his work, might feel.
“About what?”
“Set your mind at rest. I will make an excuse for you. You took a few glasses too much in the Casino, that was it, was it not? There you have the result of bad company. Don Juan Tafetan, the Troyas! This is horrible, frightful5. Did you consider well?”
“I considered every thing,” responded Pepe, resolved not to enter into discussions with his aunt.
“I shall take good care not to write to your father what you have done.”
“You may write whatever you please to him.”
“I deny nothing.”
“You confess then that you were in the house of those——”
“I was.”
“And that you gave them a half ounce; for, according to what Maria Remedios has told me, Florentina went down to the shop of the Extramaduran this afternoon to get a half ounce changed. They could not have earned it with their sewing. You were in their house to-day; consequently—”
“You do not deny it?”
“Why should I deny it? I suppose I can do whatever I please with my money?”
“But you will surely deny that you threw stones at the Penitentiary8.”
“I do not throw stones.”
“I mean that those girls, in your presence—”
“That is another matter.”
“And they insulted poor Maria Remedios, too.”
“I do not deny that, either.”
“And how do you excuse your conduct! Pepe in Heaven’s name, have you nothing to say? That you are sorry, that you deny—”
“Nothing, absolutely nothing, señora!”
“You don’t even give me any satisfaction.”
“I have done nothing to offend you.”
“Come, the only thing there is left for you to do now is—there, take that stick and beat me!”
“I don’t beat people.”
“What a want of respect! What, don’t you intend to eat any supper?”
“I intend to take supper.”
For more than a quarter of an hour no one spoke9. Don Cayetano, Doña Perfecta, and Pepe Rey ate in silence. This was interrupted when Don Inocencio entered the dining-room.
“How sorry I was for it, my dear Don José! Believe me, I was truly sorry for it,” he said, pressing the young man’s hand and regarding him with a look of compassion10.
“I refer to the occurrence of this afternoon.”
“Ah, yes!”
“To your expulsion from the sacred precincts of the cathedral.”
“The bishop12 should consider well,” said Pepe Rey, “before he turns a Christian13 out of the church.”
“That is very true. I don’t know who can have put it into his lordship’s head that you are a man of very bad habits; I don’t know who has told him that you make a boast of your atheism14 everywhere; that you ridicule15 sacred things and persons, and even that you are planning to pull down the cathedral to build a large tar16 factory with the stones. I tried my best to dissuade17 him, but his lordship is a little obstinate18.”
“Thanks for so much kindness.”
“And it is not because the Penitentiary has any reason to show you these considerations. A little more, and they would have left him stretched on the ground this afternoon.”
“Bah!” said the ecclesiastic19, laughing. “But have you heard of that little prank20 already? I wager21 Maria Remedios came with the story. And I forbade her to do it—I forbade her positively22. The thing in itself is of no consequence, am I not right, Señor de Rey?”
“Since you think so——”
“That is what I think. Young people’s pranks23! Youth, let the moderns say what they will, is inclined to vice24 and to vicious actions. Señor de Rey, who is a person of great endowments, could not be altogether perfect—why should it be wondered at that those pretty girls should have captivated him, and, after getting his money out of him, should have made him the accomplice25 of their shameless and criminal insults to their neighbors? My dear friend, for the painful part that I had in this afternoon’s sport,” he added, raising his hand to the wounded spot, “I am not offended, nor will I distress you by even referring to so disagreeable an incident. I am truly sorry to hear that Maria Remedios came here to tell all about it. My niece is so fond of gossiping! I wager she told too about the half ounce, and your romping26 with the girls on the terrace, and your chasing one another about, and the pinches and the capers27 of Don Juan Tafetan. Bah! those things ought not to be told.”
Pepe Rey did not know which annoyed him most—his aunt’s severity or the hypocritical condescension28 of the canon.
“Why should they not be told?” said Doña Perfecta. “He does not seem ashamed of his conduct himself. I assure you all that I keep this from my dear daughter only because, in her nervous condition, a fit of anger might be dangerous to her.”
“Come, it is not so serious as all that, señora,” said the Penitentiary. “I think the matter should not be again referred to, and when the one who was stoned says that, the rest may surely be satisfied. And the blow was no joke, Señor Don José. I thought they had split my head open and that my brains were oozing29 out.”
“I am truly sorry for the occurrence!” stammered30 Pepe Rey. “It gives me real pain, although I had no part in it—”
“Your visit to those Señoras Troyas will be talked about all over the town,” said the canon. “We are not in Madrid, in that centre of corruption31, of scandal—”
“Here we are very observant of one another,” continued Don Inocencio. “We take notice of everything our neighbors do, and with such a system of vigilance public morals are maintained at a proper height. Believe me, my friend, believe me,—and I do not say this to mortify33 you,—you are the first gentleman of your position who, in the light of day—the first, yes, señor—Trojoe qui primus ab oris.”
“How grateful I ought to be,” said the young man, concealing35 his anger under the sarcastic37 words which he thought the most suitable to answer the covert38 irony39 of his interlocutors, “to meet with so much generosity40 and tolerance41, when my criminal conduct would deserve—”
“What! Is a person of one’s own blood, one who bears one’s name,” said Doña Perfecta, “to be treated like a stranger? You are my nephew, you are the son of the best and the most virtuous42 of men, of my dear brother Juan, and that is sufficient. Yesterday afternoon the secretary of the bishop came here to tell me that his lordship is greatly displeased43 because I have you in my house.”
“And that too?” murmured the canon.
“And that too. I said that in spite of the respect which I owe the bishop, and the affection and reverence44 which I bear him, my nephew is my nephew, and I cannot turn him out of my house.”
“This is another singularity which I find in this place,” said Pepe Rey, pale with anger. “Here, apparently45, the bishop governs other people’s houses.”
“He is a saint. He is so fond of me that he imagines—he imagines that you are going to contaminate us with your atheism, your disregard for public opinion, your strange ideas. I have told him repeatedly that, at bottom, you are an excellent young man.”
“Some concession46 must always be made to superior talent,” observed Don Inocencio.
“And this morning, when I was at the Cirujedas’—oh, you cannot imagine in what a state they had my head! Was it true that you had come to pull down the cathedral; that you were commissioned by the English Protestants to go preaching heresy47 throughout Spain; that you spent the whole night gambling48 in the Casino; that you were drunk in the streets? ‘But, señoras,’ I said to them, ‘would you have me send my nephew to the hotel?’ Besides, they are wrong about the drunkenness, and as for gambling—I have never yet heard that you gambled.”
Pepe Rey found himself in that state of mind in which the calmest man is seized by a sudden rage, by a blind and brutal49 impulse to strangle some one, to strike some one in the face, to break some one’s head, to crush some one’s bones. But Doña Perfecta was a woman and was, besides, his aunt; and Don Inocencio was an old man and an ecclesiastic. In addition to this, physical violence is in bad taste and unbecoming a person of education and a Christian. There remained the resource of giving vent50 to his suppressed wrath51 in dignified52 and polite language; but this last resource seemed to him premature53, and only to be employed at the moment of his final departure from the house and from Orbajosa. Controlling his fury, then, he waited.
Jacinto entered as they were finishing supper.
“Good-evening, Señor Don José,” he said, pressing the young man’s hand. “You and your friends kept me from working this afternoon. I was not able to write a line. And I had so much to do!”
“I am very sorry for it, Jacinto. But according to what they tell me, you accompany them sometimes in their frolics.”
“I!” exclaimed the boy, turning scarlet54. “Why, you know very well that Tafetan never speaks a word of truth. But is it true, Señor de Rey, that you are going away?”
“Is that the report in the town?”
“Yes. I heard it in the Casino and at Don Lorenzo Ruiz’s.”
Rey contemplated55 in silence for a few moments the fresh face of Don Nominative. Then he said:
“Well, it is not true; my aunt is very well satisfied with me; she despises the calumnies56 with which the Orbajosans are favoring me—and she will not turn me out of her house, even though the bishop himself should try to make her do so.”
“As for turning you out of the house—never. What would your father say?”
“Notwithstanding all your kindness, dearest aunt, notwithstanding the cordial friendship of the reverend canon, it is possible that I may myself decide to go away.”
“To go away!”
“To go away—you!”
A strange light shone in Doña Perfecta’s eyes. The canon, experienced though he was in dissimulation57, could not conceal36 his joy.
“Yes, and perhaps this very night.”
“Why, man, how impetuous you are; Why don’t you at least wait until morning? Here—Juan, let some one go for Uncle Licurgo to get the nag58 ready. I suppose you will take some luncheon59 with you. Nicolasa, that piece of veal60 that is on the sideboard! Librada, the señorito’s linen61.”
“No, I cannot believe that you would take so rash a resolution,” said Don Cayetano, thinking himself obliged to take some part in the question.
“But you will come back, will you not?” asked the canon.
“At what time does the morning train pass?” asked Doña Perfecta, in whose eyes was clearly discernible the feverish62 impatience63 of her exaltation.
“I am going away to-night.”
“But there is no moon.”
In the soul of Doña Perfecta, in the soul of the Penitentiary, in the little doctor’s youthful soul echoed like a celestial64 harmony the word, “To-night!”
“Of course, dear Pepe, you will come back. I wrote to-day to your father, your excellent father,” exclaimed Doña Perfecta, with all the physiognomic signs that make their appearance when a tear is about to be shed.
“I will trouble you with a few commissions,” said the savant.
“A good opportunity to order the volume that is wanting in my copy of the Abbe Gaume’s work,” said the youthful lawyer.
“You take such sudden notions, Pepe; you are so full of caprices,” murmured Doña Perfecta, smiling, with her eyes fixed65 on the door of the dining-room. “But I forgot to tell you that Caballuco is waiting to speak to you.”
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1
preoccupied
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| adj.全神贯注的，入神的；被抢先占有的；心事重重的v.占据（某人）思想，使对…全神贯注，使专心于( preoccupy的过去式) | |
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distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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pacify
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| vt.使(某人)平静(或息怒)；抚慰 | |
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countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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exculpate
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| v.开脱，使无罪 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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penitentiary
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| n.感化院；监狱 | |
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spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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compassion
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| n.同情，怜悯 | |
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perplexed
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| adj.不知所措的 | |
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bishop
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| n.主教，（国际象棋）象 | |
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Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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atheism
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| n.无神论，不信神 | |
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ridicule
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| v.讥讽，挖苦；n.嘲弄 | |
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tar
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| n.柏油，焦油；vt.涂或浇柏油/焦油于 | |
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dissuade
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| v.劝阻，阻止 | |
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obstinate
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| adj.顽固的，倔强的，不易屈服的，较难治愈的 | |
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ecclesiastic
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| n.教士，基督教会；adj.神职者的，牧师的，教会的 | |
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prank
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| n.开玩笑，恶作剧；v.装饰；打扮；炫耀自己 | |
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wager
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| n.赌注；vt.押注，打赌 | |
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positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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pranks
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| n.玩笑，恶作剧( prank的名词复数 ) | |
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24
vice
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| n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的 | |
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25
accomplice
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| n.从犯，帮凶，同谋 | |
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26
romping
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| adj.嬉戏喧闹的，乱蹦乱闹的v.嬉笑玩闹( romp的现在分词 )；（尤指在赛跑或竞选等中）轻易获胜 | |
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27
capers
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| n.开玩笑( caper的名词复数 )；刺山柑v.跳跃，雀跃( caper的第三人称单数 ) | |
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28
condescension
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| n.自以为高人一等，贬低(别人) | |
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29
oozing
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| v.（浓液等）慢慢地冒出，渗出( ooze的现在分词 )；使（液体）缓缓流出；（浓液）渗出，慢慢流出 | |
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30
stammered
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| v.结巴地说出( stammer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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corruption
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| n.腐败，堕落，贪污 | |
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32
vilest
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| adj.卑鄙的( vile的最高级 )；可耻的；极坏的；非常讨厌的 | |
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33
mortify
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| v.克制，禁欲，使受辱 | |
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34
amity
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| n.友好关系 | |
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35
concealing
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，遮住( conceal的现在分词 ) | |
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conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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37
sarcastic
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| adj.讥讽的，讽刺的，嘲弄的 | |
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38
covert
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| adj.隐藏的；暗地里的 | |
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irony
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| n.反语，冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事，嘲弄 | |
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40
generosity
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| n.大度，慷慨，慷慨的行为 | |
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41
tolerance
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| n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差 | |
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42
virtuous
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| adj.有品德的，善良的，贞洁的，有效力的 | |
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43
displeased
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| a.不快的 | |
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44
reverence
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| n.敬畏，尊敬，尊严；Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称；v.尊敬，敬畏，崇敬 | |
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45
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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46
concession
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| n.让步，妥协；特许(权) | |
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47
heresy
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| n.异端邪说；异教 | |
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48
gambling
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| n.赌博；投机 | |
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49
brutal
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| adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的 | |
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50
vent
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| n.通风口，排放口；开衩；vt.表达，发泄 | |
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51
wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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52
dignified
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| a.可敬的，高贵的 | |
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53
premature
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| adj.比预期时间早的；不成熟的，仓促的 | |
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54
scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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55
contemplated
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| adj. 预期的 动词contemplate的过去分词形式 | |
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56
calumnies
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| n.诬蔑，诽谤，中伤（的话）( calumny的名词复数 ) | |
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57
dissimulation
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| n.掩饰，虚伪，装糊涂 | |
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58
nag
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| v.(对…)不停地唠叨；n.爱唠叨的人 | |
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59
luncheon
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| n.午宴，午餐，便宴 | |
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60
veal
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| n.小牛肉 | |
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61
linen
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| n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的 | |
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62
feverish
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| adj.发烧的，狂热的，兴奋的 | |
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63
impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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64
celestial
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| adj.天体的；天上的 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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