The boat was already sailing the gentle waves

 On a clear, sapphire morning, Camilla and Ruth entered with Theodoro and Dr. Gervasio on the speedboat— Aurora —on Neptune 's quest .

The sun covered the surface of the waters with a net of gold; it was hot.

The ladies smoothed the ruffles of their linon skirts in the back seat, and opened their pale parasols.

“I'd always like to have those sun hats proved to me. They don't protect anything. They are useless objects. If I were a woman, I would never be subject to fashions, said Theodoro.

“It would hurt. As for the hats, I think they're pretty; are very decorative. See how the pink color of Ruth's parasol and the cream of Dona Milla harmonize with this blue background. Say what you will; for me the intuition of art is in the woman, replied Gervasio.

-It might be. I only like what is positive and practical. Anyway, in the ladies I still lost certain niquices...

Theodoro knew that a man's spirit and position are mirrored in his clothes; that's why hers were always serious.

For everything but work, he wore his frock coat, buttoned tightly over his rounded stomach.

His shiny top hat, well cared for, assured the crowds that someone of courtesy and respect was there; it was as if his title of commander shimmered on the saddle of that fur. He did not leave the house without carrying a parasol made of excellent Portuguese silk and a golden handle, which would protect him in a wide circle, should rains fall unexpectedly. He foresaw everything; skillfully, he would harmonize the manner of his attire with his speeches, always interspersed with: such as , in ways that , however , such and such things ...

The boat was already sailing the gentle waves, when he told Dr. Gervasio that some of her colleagues there wanted to get her a title in Portugal; he had indicated that she would not accept the distinction, but if the thing came, what was she to do?

The doctor replied with a vague gesture, in which the shadow of a smile passed through.

—Others will use these titles with less right, continued the merchant, I won't say no; in any case...

Milla recalled that, to justify this honor, the large sums with which he entered the subscriptions would suffice.

She laughed.

"I see you want to be viscountess, eh?"

Ella shrugged. In truth, she had never thought of that. She liked to live well, wide, with lots of money. This one had it, that was enough.

They were all silent, when Ruth sighed:

"I'm sorry I didn't bring the violin!"

—What nonsense! it had to be fun!

“Mommy, when I move, I like to touch. I get along so well with music!

The parents laughed at the blunder and Dr. Gervasio stared at the girl's pale face. This one didn't laugh.

The Aurora launch , very cute, gleaming in its metals, cut the waters quickly, letting out hissing noises that scared the ladies.

—This tour is opening my appetite for a trip... If things continue as they have been, it is a settled fact that I will take my people to Europe this year," Francisco Theodoro said.

Camilla and the doctor exchanged a startled look.

Seeing Milla's beautiful face, always so fresh and so young, her black hair, her full neck, her velvet eyes, provocative and passionate, all that figure of a loving, warm and serious woman, that he doesn't tired of holding her in her arms, the idea of ​​a separation seemed to her impossible and monstrous.

It seemed to him that he loved her even more that day than he had ever loved her; the sweetness of her coexistence touched him, as if he had already glimpsed her through nostalgia.

Ella assured him with a smile that she wouldn't leave. There would be no forces capable of tearing her from her love.

Francisco Theodoro was now showing his daughter the white hull of a warship, where the washed clothes of sailors draped the bow castle in blue. On top of a mast, a man who untied rigging, had, at the time, the proportions of a puppet.

Dizzy seagulls flew in circular flocks, garlands of fugitive wings in the pristine blue. In the distance, the town houses, with their towers, were smoky in a pink haze, faded into violet diaphana.

—How beautiful! Ruth exclaimed brightly, drinking in the air that came full of the bar. It seems to me that if I were a boy I would be a sailor.

—Another nonsense.

—Mommy, blue is such a beautiful color!

"If you were a boy... if you were a boy... really before you were the boy and Mario the girl..." grumbled Theodoro.

—Poor Mario… he was late… Milla said.

“That's not bad-mouthing; it is the truth.

"Isn't it wrong to say that he has no skills, that he is insignificant?"

“I didn't say such.

“But he hinted. I don't even know how good he is, listening to so many insinuations. If it had been someone else, God knows what would have happened! It's because she really has a very good heart. The mistakes she makes are natural to age...

-Madam! do not defend it. You know why I say things. I don't fail.

No, she didn't know; what she saw was a great injustice, weighing continually on her son's head. What else did they want the poor man to do? Elle wasn't born for the rough jobs of commerce, he was a delicate one. Surely she wasn't old enough to enjoy playing fetch as a family; her nineteen-year-old had other demands. Everyone noticed that it was very natural...

—How naturalissimo, what nothing! Indecent, yes, it was. A little bully, that Mario guy. Only the day before he had learned of new exploits. Elle had left France, yes, gentlemen; seemed to yield to her mother's advice; but for what? To walk in public arm in arm with others, perhaps worse, and enter gambling houses, which the police attack!

Camilla showed Ruth to her husband, with an afflicted look, to temper the fury of her language.

Happy to cut the dialogue, the doctor pointed to a steam, which could already be seen up close.

—Neptune … is cute, mind you.

"It's not ugly, no..." muttered Theodoro, already distracted from his thoughts; but... wait! there on the deck seems to be a woman. What the hell! will captain Rino be married?

-If it's possible! if he were married we would be tired of knowing. You say every nonsense...

— Oh, nonsense! what harm did the man get married, eh?

-To me? none certainly. What do I care!... and Milla laughed, wanting to forcefully subdue the anger that had remained in her over the argument with her husband.

The doctor became somber. What harm would it do if the other were married? none!...certainly. And if they said the same thing about him to Milla, what would she say! the same thing? with the same shrug, with the same disdain? She had the urge to ask him; but how? Alli was impossible...she was left for later.

The launch docked at Neptuno , and Captain Rino descended from the gangway, dressed in white flannel, with a beautiful red rose in his lapel.

His bearing was strange, they found him much more elegant; looked like another. He had come down to help the ladies. Ruth jumped out of the launch, showing her slender legs, pleased by this novelty, that sea surrounded by blue mountains, those white sails and those floating, tarred hulls that she had passed on the way. Captain Rino barely looked at her; he lifted her, with a strong pulse, to the bottom rung of the stairs, and then turned to Camilla, his eyes anxious, extending his arms to her. Ella landed full on his broad chest and laughed apologetically. She was so heavy! Elle blushed, dizzy, trembling, not finding a word with which to respond.

Francisco Theodoro, careful with his top hat and the flaps of his wide frock coat, did not do without the captain's helping hand; The Doctor. Gervasio came at last, taking off his molle hat in greeting.

Above, on the quarterdeck, sailors sauntered past, indifferent to the visitors. Next to the portal was a lady, the same woman, evidently, that they had seen from the launch.

She was a slender woman, white and blond, with a pair of eyes similar to Captain Rino's, faience blue, and a vague physiognomy, like a decorative angel. In contrast to the type, she wore a scarlet toilette , which enhanced her pale lily skin, and seemed an insult to her virginal body. The captain immediately introduced her to everyone with two words:

-My sister.

It was later, little by little, during Neptune 's visit , that they saw from the deck to the basement, that they learned that this sister, until then ignored, was called Catharina, and lived in the company of her stepmother, a widow, in a leafy farmhouse in the Cosme Velho.

Catharina helped her brother show Neptune , and sometimes her explanations were more clear than hers. If he stopped, she would take the word from him, complete it, and move forward with complete ease.

After touring the ship, Captain Rino invited everyone to an ice-cold vermouth in his cabin.

The space wasn't big, Camilla, Ruth and Catharina huddled together on the same divan, in olive morocco, framed in cedar; Francisco Theodoro leaned back in an armchair at the foot of the table, while the doctor arranged himself beside a slender bookcase, crammed with books, and the captain, standing, narrated to the merchant various episodes of his travels to the north.

—What a father! what a wonderful country of ours! he completed.

“It's a pity we don't have people. Sentenced Theodoro.

“It's not pity. All these lands, still virgin today, will be the glory of the world in a better day, when he, exhausted by the exploitation of the others, returns to them eyes of love. They save their fecundity for another race of great ideas, which is yet to come. Such beautiful promises are not made in the wind...

—Another race…another race…coming from where?! born from whom?!

—Ours, perhaps; and others. The generations that languish in old countries are perfected and invigorated in new ones. The future of the world is ours, and it will be the crowning of our goodness and virtues, since the Brazilian people are good.

Francisco Theodoro did not at all agree; he could not forgive the Republic. That revolution had been a revelation. He felt choking on the emperor's exile. He thus twisted the conversation to a new subject.

Dr. Gervasio knew Francisco Theodoro's political ideas; he always heard the same comments. He was aware; as for the other's, it did not seem to him that he should profit much from hearing them. He turned his back on her and began to read the spines of the books on the shelf:

— Virgilio ... Homero ... Dante ... Camões ... Gonçalves Dias ... Shakespeare ... Bravo!

What sort of man was this Captain Rino then? Would he actually read those poets?! The doctor haphazardly opened the first book within reach, and immediately noticed that it was written down, in pencil, with firm signs, of a well-directed will, perfectly aware of his clear judgment. It was Cid . On the first page where Dr. Gervasio fell, there was this verse marked with a fat line:

L'amour n'est qu'un plaisir, l'honneur est un devoir.

Fallava D. Diogo. The doctor reread the verse with a sarcastic smile.

L'amour n'est qu'un plaisir ...

Well yes! Don Rodrigo's old father would be well forgotten, or he had not been able to love with love in his youth!

After that, Dr. Gervasio leafed through other literary books, out of curiosity, despising the Technicians, and in all of them he found traces of an intelligent reading. It was enough; he was beginning to understand the man. He had deluded himself until then, judging Rino as a mediocre and a simple one. A simple one would be, but a mediocre one would not. He had never feared him as a rival, despite seeing him in love with Milla; he had thought him weak, inferior, without resources, lacking in elegance, which is always what seduces women, physically and intellectually; he had never passed in her eyes as a rude, naive sailor, without the grace of the word in time, nor the line of personal distinction.

What would Captain Rino keep in his brain from so much disquieting and extraordinary reading? What were those nerves, so perfect, that after so many tortures and delights they seemed untouched by artistic emotions?

From there—who knows?—all that booklet that he had marked with his name, in the domain of possession, would come from some auction, from some inheritance, not representing in that cabinet more than a mere adornment. It was right. It was even the only credible hypothesis; he did not admit that Captain Rino was a friend of intellectuals. That brute! She stared at him intently.

No! it wasn't those clear eyes, nor those footsteps that made the hard floors shake, that would reveal to no one investigations of the old art, disturbing like fever or like rare wine. No one would believe that that big man, with tough flesh, rosy cheeks like a healthy boy, and good-natured manners, could understand Shakespeare!

Reading such books, writing them down, loving them, enjoying their coexistence, was work for another species of creatures. That was a mockery, it was nothing else. It allowed him to read one or another Portuguese classic of calmer study and regular pulse; he remembered even now that he had surprised him with some words with an ancient flavor that had made his delicate ears itch with strangeness. The sensation was heightened, the reminiscence induced him to study the man. He turned his gaze to her again and summed up his judgment in one stroke:

— A beautiful animal!

The captain's sister served vermouth, showing her pointy, uneven teeth in a kind smile. In going to the doctor, she forced him to deviate from his observation; and he, carelessly, reflecting in the phrase an idea that crossed his mind, thanked him in English.

"You think I look like a miss , don't you?" Perhaps you are right; You're not the first person who's given me this idea...

"If you don't like it..."

-Absolutely nothing; why? There was some foreign ancestor in our family, a Danish great-grandmother, I believe... however, I can assure you, we are very Brazilian, even a little nativist... I have already been told, by the way, that they are the descendants of foreigners exactly the most exalted patriots. But don't you want ice?

-Thanks...

Ella passed on, and the doctor took his first sip of vermouth.

«A Danish grandmother, I believe...» Extraordinary, this detachment from its origins! This saying confirmed to him well, that those people were not for inquiries or for wasting time with objects of no immediate use.

The good practice was this: look ahead, which is where you can find stumbling blocks. Path taken, path lost. Goodbye!

From the armchair, Francisco Theodoro threw his last bomb against the Republic, lamenting this great country, so worthy of better luck...

Rino got up; he had other opinions and a sincere faith in the destiny of the country. America's new soul could only harbor feelings of freedom. Monarchy was the dust of tradition accumulated over the centuries in old European lands. There it would have its raison d'être, perhaps; but not here! she concluded.

The skirts of the ladies rustled, as they stood up, tired of the argument, abhorring politics...

Outside, on the quarterdeck, the sun spread its clear light, made of gold. Then they went under the awning.

How wonderful!

Ruth threw herself overboard, waving her handkerchief. A ferry from Nitheroy was passing, full of passengers, white, light, with its foamy tail. The entire surface of the sea, paletted with lights, trembled like young skin at a voluptuous caress. In the distance, the Serra dos Orgãos outlined its slate blue contours in the sky. To the sides of the bar were mounds of dull silver on which the sun, glistening on the stones, ran smudges of polished silver, and violet-colored rocks were mirrored in the water, between mountains of intense green.

There were moments of astonishment and concentration, and it was in that silence that the doctor noticed a look from Camilla to the captain of the Neptune .

That simple movement was enough to ignite jealousy in the doctor's chest. It was done; the other would win; he had known how to wait and revealed himself in time. It was the first time that he felt his lover's zeal, always so hers, so submissive to the arbitrariness of his unequal temperament of a nervous man. Who can trust a woman's loyalty? anyone, and justice was that she should deceive him and betray him, as she betrayed and deceived her husband through him...

He was well aware that Captain Rino was handsomer, younger, and those two qualities alone were enough, in his view, to make a man preferable in the eyes of a forty-year-old woman...

" Are you in your spleen days today , Doctor?" Ruth asked suddenly, in her jerky, reckless way.

Elle took her arm and explained that she didn't; she wanted to be silent to see better. Then she asked him, bluntly, if she didn't think Captain Rino was very different from what he always seemed to them in Botafogo.

“I already told him that, and I found out why; it's because it's always in the dark, and today it's in white!

"And with a flower on her chest!"

-It is true.

“There is yet another reason; is that she is happy. Ruth, the influence of colors is great on creatures, but that of impressions is even greater. Joy forces you to be beautiful. The captain's soul today is dressed in white and fragrant like his red rose on his lapella... A beautiful flower!... Don't believe that a tailor is enough to give a cock's face the expression that hers today ; the tailor's great influence stops at the neck. The head is...

"From the hairdresser?"

“From passion. I don't think the most frivolous women are so frivolous as to be content with the smell of an ointment, or the good cut of a frak...

"But who spoke of women!?"

"You're right, nobody!" Look how nice that fishing boat is... You like these things; it's good. The love of nature and the love of art are the only saviors and worthy of pure souls. The others, pff!

The scarlet stain of Catharina's dress appeared before them; the captain's sister invited them to lunch; then they noticed that the others had already entered and soon the doctor predicted that Milla had gone by Rino's arm...

And out; and there they were both standing at an angle to the table, in front of Francisco Theodoro, who was gesticulating, in the heat of a discussion that was still political.

At the table, they sat down at random, with the exception of Camilla and her husband, to whom the captain assigned seats. The doctor chose a seat between Catharina and Ruth.

There was appetite; the first courses were well received. Catharina, feeling a little at home, helped her brother; she was the one who seasoned the shrimp salad and sprinkled the sugar and ice strawberries; her very white hands were well honed in the habit of serving.

The created came and went from the buffet to the table, with the lofty seriousness of a necessary entity.

In the long, narrow room, they occupied one of the long tables, the one on the left, the same one always occupied by the captain on his journey; the other, empty and unclothed, showing the black varnish of the oilcloth, gave the compartment a sad look. It has been said, on the subject of travel, when in that same room there was not a single empty place, and that the sound of voices was joined by the clinking of crockery and cutlery... Only on stormy days, when the steam was shaken by the fury of the waves, the affluence diminished and appeared, scattered and sad, only the strong passengers, with a good stomach...

Francisco Theodoro recalled the banal episodes of his only voyage, from Portugal to here, and almost all of them looked at the captain with a certain interest, as if they were a hero. At home, in the comfortable rooms of Botafogo, so rich and so bourgeois, his profession had never seemed sympathetic; now they understood his dangers and watched him with respect. The sea is so perfidious! What was the point of the trip that you liked the most? asked Milla.

The entry into the Amazon, Rino replied; and he described, moved, the formidable aspect of the river, the thick current of its deep waters, its sonorous noise, of new rhythms, that no language expresses and no musical sound imitates; and the dazzling changes of the sunsets, spilling into the water infinite multicolored branches, where never-before-seen tones sparkled, which appeared to be extinguished, and were extinguished to reappear in other points, equally luminous and fugitive.

—What splendor of sunsets!

Then the green islands, veritable gardens, stretches of woods emerging from the deep water and reflecting in it. I feel there, he repeated, a new world, guarding virginities and mysteries for a race of giants, not yet born... Ah, the burning lands of the North are a wonder!

There was another point in the journey that made him even more emotional; it was when, already back, he entered the bay of Rio de Janeiro. The wide poetry of that show sweetened his mood spoiled by the monotony of the high seas...

Dr. Gervasio was finally putting his finger on the captain's soul. It was just like that; the books on the shelf belonged to her: there was a man there. The mercenary boat took off his pilot's suit and appeared as a gentleman and poet. Why had he been wrong for so long? The explanation came shortly after, when Rino stated that despite his complaints, he was only doing well on Neptune ; He had withdrawn so much from society that he felt uneasy about it, and that he believed he always left a bit of his soul on his ship when he went ashore.

—Only on land, he said, do I understand the love I have for my boat, my books, my pipe and my hammock, to which solitude and habit have made friends; meanwhile at sea, I miss the land, the family, the distractions, everything that together makes it delicious...

Francisco Theodoro, on the subject of the North, spoke of the prosperity of Pará, in the rubber trade, and discussed its incomes and its customs. There, yes, there were thoughtful people, with good examples. That's what the people are: patriotism, discretion, good intentions. Fall me out of it.

agreed. There was a pause, in which the full glasses were brought to their mouths.

The Brazilian turkey came to provoke praise for Neptuno 's cook . Magnificent!

Francisco Theodoro immediately stated that that dish seemed to be made, as tasty as it was, by a woman. The Brazilian has a special knack for seasoning pans, he said; It is true, true, just as she was not to be called to the offices held by men, so men were not to usurp theirs from her. The kitchen should be locked to ugly sex.

Elle said this as a joke, for joy.

Catharina, cracking a crust of bread between her thin fingers, asked smiling, with an air of malicious curiosity:

“You are against the emancipation of women, of course.

“My lady, I am of the opinion that the woman was born to mother of a family. She raises her children, is faithful to her husband, manages her house well, and she will have accomplished her mission. This was always my judgment, and I didn't get into trouble with it; I didn't want to marry a wise woman. It is in the mediocre that the Wives are found.

The Doctor. Gervasio and Captain Rino exchanged a glance.

"And what about the others?" Women that an honorable man should not allow near his daughters.

Camilla made an affirmative signal. She was of the same opinion.

"Not serious," he concluded.

"That's why," replied Catharina, "how many women are talked about in society and who can barely read?"

-Of a few...

“Of many. Mr. Theodoro, could you please give me the wine?

"Why, ladies don't know the world!" exclaimed Theodoro, passing the bottle to the doctor, who filled Catharina's glass and said with a laugh:

"They won't know the world and we, my friend, don't know them!" The sweetest and most honest woman, they say, dissimulates and deceives with an art capable of driving Mephistopheles himself crazy...

"Man, what idea do you have of women's honesty!"

“I have an idea it must be a lot more difficult to maintain than ours.

-Good; When I said women's honesty, it wasn't with the thought that there were two honestys.

“For if I had had such a thought, I would have thought it quite rightly. There's two.

“We have another one! If it's tidal, explain the difference to us.

“I'm not on a tide, but I'll explain: it's small. Let us materialize the comparisons, to make them very clear. Suppose, for example, that our honesty is a black coat and the ladies' is a white dress. Everything is clothes, they both have the same destiny, but what different aspects and responsibilities!

So, our coat, sometimes we wear it on one side, sometimes on the other, disguising the little knots. The cloth is thick, with a brush, all the dust of the immundicie flies away; and we got decent. Ladies honesty is a white, unlined satin dress. A little sweat, if it's hot, stains it; the simple brushing of a wall, in search of the pleasant shadow, stains it; a pin prick, which had only the intention of holding a fragrant violet, takes on that vast candidness unpleasant proportions... Really, it must be very difficult to know how to defend a white satin dress that never takes off the body. I don't know how they do it, and frankly, I don't think life deserves such luxury.

“You're the rambling man; it was a positive issue. I used to say that ordinary women are more serious than others... at least they seem...

—Why don't we scan their satin stains... They go unnoticed...

-Goodbye!

“Now it's serious; I'm going to repeat to you what I just said to your daughter, whom, by the way, you educate to art. It was more or less this:

Many passions do not fit in the human soul, and the best are those that lead us astray from our fellow men, who are always deceiving. Only the ideas of art do not pervert, but purify and teach good. Women should cultivate them with special care. I therefore follow Dona Catharina's opinions and drink to her health, My Lady!

As he drank, Camilla watched him in amazement; she knew he didn't have those ideas. She had always been told that a woman should remain in her place of submission.

—So, do you regret not being a voter? Francisco Theodoro asked Rino's sister, with a mocking smile.

-I? God forbid! I hope they leave me alone in my corner, with my rose bushes and my animals. I never fail for myself, Mr. Theodore. I was born for a woman.

"Then for the others?"

—For others who have activity and courage.

"And the house, my lady?" and the children? No one responds to this argument!

-It's old.

—But it is good, it proves that a woman is born with the purpose of raising children and loving with obedience and fidelity to one man, her husband. What does our doctor also say to this?

"That she might have been born with those intentions, as you said, but that she twisted them after a certain age." It would not be without cause that Francis I said:

Souvent femme varie.

Francisco Theodoro didn't understand, but he smiled.

The doctor said that to Camilla, who avoided his sharp gaze, perceiving his treachery.

"That's called talking to say nothing..." observed someone.

Catharina poured the coffee; when she passed the last cup, she said:

“Women are misunderstood. Look at that engraving. There is a man defying danger, advancing in the darkness with his sword in hand, and the woman barely illuminated him with the candlelight, sewing herself in fear behind his back!

"Which proves the woman is fearful!" exclaimed Theodoro triumphantly.

-But it's not true; at least in Brazil. We do not hide behind the man who seeks to defend us. If he advances towards the enemy, we feel that we have no luck, and it is always with impetus that we launch ourselves in the race, wanting to help him to win or avoid his defeat. This is our character; who can debunk me!

The Doctor. Gervasio watched Catharina closely.

Ella was on her feet, her nostrils flaring, her cheeks burning.

Yea; now it was the caboclo blood that flowed through her veins: she was a Brazilian. That Danish grandmother gave all the place to another indigenous grandmother, descendant of some wild tribe.

Two hours later, the visitors left Neptune ; Captain Rino and his sister led them to the doghouse, where they parted ways. It was then a great relief to Dr. Gervasio, who was terribly irritated by the other's presence.

Francisco Theodoro couldn't get enough of praising the order and cleanliness in which he found everything; he began to venerate Captain Rino: he found him eloquent, superior... he remembered insignificant details, very grateful to the boy's courtesies. Catharina had disliked him, with her independent ways. She had found her ugly. A woman wants to be with meat,—good volumes, he would say, glancing sideways at his wife's round figure.

At Rua 1º de Março he said goodbye to the group. He took the opportunity to visit a sick colleague; and instructed the doctor to accompany the family.

Then the three of them went, Ruth onward, with her absent-minded manner, with her chin up and her firm steps; Camilla next to the doctor, through the almost deserted Sunday streets. At first nothing was said. Camilla guessed the next storm, without knowing the cause. She had found Gervasio's phrases strange at the table; she still felt the pain of the teasing he had secretly thrown at her. He lacked the courage to ask a question; more out of submission than indolence, she always expected him to be the first to speak and act, in that torturous slave passivity into which her love had thrust her.

She failed. She said she was surprised by the sweetness of a nascent love; who was not surprised by Rino's victory. She thought she should say goodbye; that saw her well delivered...

Camilla caught it all at a glance; tears welled up in her eyes, without her being able to respond to the brutality of the offense. Her face turned red in a wave of shame that suffocated her; Seeing her silent, he insisted softly, stubbornly, irritatingly, spacing out the words, letting out all the jealousy contained during the hours on board.

Ella then muttered, vexed, through her teeth:

—I don't like Rino... I don't like...

And why talk like that, on the street? It's reckless...

“I didn't have time to choose to log in. This is good for the calm ones. Then, seeing myself threatened with abandonment, I hasten to say goodbye. This had to be now.

“How proud and unjust men are!

“They will. And the women? fickle!

—Almost always the woman still loves and is already considered by the man as a nuisance!... That's our volubility...

They were silent; passed people. After a long pause, it was she who said first:

—What do I care about Rhino! I'm ready to undo it, if with that...

The doctor interrupted her softly, but with alacrity:

"Now I'm the one who reminds you that we're on the street..."

Ruth, always ahead of the curve and always distracted, didn't notice anything; the two followed her automatically. It was she who, suddenly, seeing a bakery still open, remembered to take sweets to Nina and the children, and stopped at the door, waiting for the doctor and her mother. As they arrived, a young woman came out of the bakery, all in mourning.

When he saw her, the doctor retreated abruptly and she, as soon as she saw him, blushed to the roots of her hair and hesitated too. The shock was rough and quick. Elle stood firm on the pavement, very pale, with contractions in her cheeks, and she passed seriously, in an uneasy and tortured rigidity.

Camilla felt the other's woolen dress brush against her pale dress; she breathed in his violent scent of an unknown essence; she saw the whiteness of his velvety skin between his crepe collar and the part of his face where the little veil of his hat ended; She caught, in that gesture of surprise from both of them, some mystery, a betrayal, an infidelity, an ignominious lie to the sincerity of her passion.

-Who is it? ... who is it?! she asked with phrenetic eagerness, recklessly tugging at the doctor's sleeve.

The Doctor. Gervasio, still in the same place, looked at the grieving woman who followed in the hurry of someone running away; At Camilla's voice, he turned around in a daze, smiled with obvious effort, and then, low, very low, but with a nervous, shaken way, he said:

“Don't pay attention: a woman I loved and who died.

A black cloud obscured Camilla's view and her heart sped into a mad beat.

Ruth, with all the patience, chose the sweets that a clerk was separating for a cardboard plate.

The Doctor. Gervasio asked Camilla to calm her spirit. Elle would tell him everything later. She rested, that it was a thing of the past, perfectly extinct.

Ella pretended to accept the promise; deep down he doubted her; but why attempt a recrimination, if her weak tongue could not convey her strong feelings? She would stay in her role as a woman: she would wait silently...