RUMORS--FEARS
On the day following that of this lamentable quarrel, various rumors
regarding Pepe Rey and his conduct spread through Orbajosa, going from
house to house, from club to club, from the Casino to the apothecary’s
and from the Paseo de las Descalzes to the Puerta de Baidejos. They were
repeated by every body, and so many were the comments made that, if Don
Cayetano had collected and compiled them, he might have formed with
them a rich “Thesaurus” of Orbajosan benevolence. In the midst of the
diversity of the reports circulated, there was agreement in regard to
certain important particulars, one of which was the following:
That the engineer, enraged at Doña Perfecta’s refusal to marry Rosario
to an atheist, had raised his hand to his aunt.
The young man was living in the widow De Cusco’s hotel, an establishment
mounted, as they say now, not at the height, but at the depth of the
superlative backwardness of the town. Lieutenant-colonel Pinzon visited
him with frequency, in order that they might discuss together the plot
which they had on hand, and for the successful conduct of which the
soldier showed the happiest dispositions. New artifices and stratagems
occurred to him at every instant, and he hastened to put them into
effect with excellent humor, although he would often say to his friend:
“The role I am playing, dear Pepe, is not a very dignified one; but to
give an annoyance to the Orbajosans I would walk on my hands and feet.”
We do not know what cunning stratagems the artful soldier, skilled in
the wiles of the world, employed; but certain it is that before he had
been in the house three days he had succeeded in making himself greatly
liked by every body in it. His manners were very pleasing to Doña
Perfecta, who could not hear unmoved his flattering praises of
the elegance of the house, and of the nobility, piety, and august
magnificence of its mistress. With Don Inocencio he was hand and glove.
Neither her mother nor the Penitentiary placed any obstacle in the way
of his speaking with Rosario (who had been restored to liberty on the
departure of her ferocious cousin); and, with his delicate compliments,
his skilful flattery, and great address, he had acquired in the house
of Polentinos considerable ascendency, and he had even succeeded in
establishing himself in it on a footing of familiarity. But the object
of all his arts was a servant maid named Librada, whom he had seduced
(chastely speaking) that she might carry messages and notes to Rosario,
of whom he pretended to be enamored. The girl allowed herself to be
bribed with persuasive words and a good deal of money, because she
was ignorant of the source of the notes and of the real meaning of the
intrigue, for had she known that it was all a diabolical plot of Don
José, although she liked the latter greatly, she would not have acted
with treachery toward her mistress for all the money in the world.
One day Doña Perfecta, Don Inocencio, Jacinto, and Pinzon were
conversing together in the garden. They were talking about the soldiers
and the purpose for which they had been sent to Orbajosa, in which the
Penitentiary found motive for condemning the tyrannical conduct of the
Government; and, without knowing how it came about, Pepe Rey’s name was
mentioned.
“He is still at the hotel,” said the little lawyer. “I saw him
yesterday, and he gave me remembrances for you, Doña Perfecta.”
“Was there ever seen such insolence! Ah, Señor Pinzon! do not be
surprised at my using this language, speaking of my own nephew--that
young man, you remember, who had the room which you occupy.”
“Yes, I know. I am not acquainted with him, but I know him by sight and
by reputation. He is an intimate friend of our brigadier.”
“An intimate friend of the brigadier?”
“Yes, señor; of the commander of the brigade that has just arrived in
this district, and which is quartered in the neighboring villages.”
“And where is he?” asked the lady.
“In Orbajosa.”
“I think he is stopping at Polavieja’s,” observed Jacinto.
“Your nephew and Brigadier Batalla are intimate friends,” continued
Pinzon; “they are always to be seen together in the streets.”
“Well, my friend, that gives me a bad idea of your chief,” said Doña
Perfecta.
“He is--he is very good-natured,” said Pinzon, in the tone of one who,
through motives of respect, did not venture to use a harsher word.
“With your permission, Señor Pinzon, and making an honorable exception
in your favor, it must be said that in the Spanish army there are some
curious types----”
“Our brigadier was an excellent soldier before he gave himself up to
spiritualism.”
“To spiritualism!”
“That sect that calls up ghosts and goblins by means of the legs of a
table!” said the canon, laughing.
“From curiosity, only from curiosity,” said Jacintillo, with emphasis,
“I ordered Allan Kardec’s book from Madrid. It is well to know something
about every thing.”
“But is it possible that such follies--Heavens! Tell me, Pinzon, does my
nephew too belong to that sect of table-tippers?”
“I think it was he who indoctrinated our valiant Brigadier Batalla.”
“Good Heavens!”
“Yes; and whenever he chooses,” said Don Inocencio, unable to contain
his laughter, “he can speak to Socrates, St. Paul, Cervantes, or
Descartes, as I speak to Librada to ask her for a match. Poor Señor de
Rey! I was not mistaken in saying that there was something wrong in his
head.”
“Outside that,” continued Pinzon, “our brigadier is a good soldier. If
he errs at all, it is on the side of severity. He takes the orders
of the Government so literally that, if he were to meet with much
opposition here, he would be capable of not leaving one stone upon
another in Orbajosa. Yes, I advise you all to be on your guard.”
“But is that monster going to cut all our heads off, then? Ah, Señor Don
Inocencio! these visits of the army remind me of what I have read in
the lives of the martyrs about the visits of the Roman proconsuls to a
Christian town.”
“The comparison is not wanting in exactness,” said the Penitentiary,
looking at the soldier over his spectacles.
“It is not very agreeable, but if it is the truth, why should it not be
said?” observed Pinzon benevolently. “Now you all are at our mercy.”
“The authorities of the place,” objected Jacinto, “still exercise their
functions as usual.”
“I think you are mistaken,” responded the soldier, whose countenance
Doña Perfecta and the Penitentiary were studying with profound interest.
“The alcalde of Orbajosa was removed from office an hour ago.”
“By the governor of the province?”
“The governor of the province has been replaced by a delegate from the
Government, who was to arrive this morning. The municipal councils will
all be removed from office to-day. The minister has so ordered
because he suspected, I don’t know on what grounds, that they were not
supporting the central authority.”
“This is a pretty state of things!” murmured the canon, frowning and
pushing out his lower lip.
Doña Perfecta looked thoughtful.
“Some of the judges of the primary court, among them the judge of
Orbajosa, have been deprived of office.”
“The judge! Periquito--Periquito is no longer judge!” exclaimed Doña
Perfecta, in a voice and with the manner of a person who has just been
stung by a snake.
“The person who was judge in Orbajosa is judge no longer,” said Pinzon.
“To-morrow the new judge will arrive.”
“A stranger!”
“A stranger.”
“A rascal, perhaps. The other was so honorable!” said Doña Perfecta,
with alarm. “I never asked any thing from him that he did not grant it
to me at once. Do you know who will be the new alcalde?”
“They say a corregidor is coming.”
“There, say at once that the Deluge is coming, and let us be done with
it,” said the canon, rising.
“So that we are at the brigadier’s mercy!”
“For a few days only. Don’t be angry with me. In spite of my uniform I
am an enemy of militarism; but we are ordered to strike--and we strike.
There could not be a viler trade than ours.”
“That it is, that it is!” said Doña Perfecta, with difficulty concealing
her fury. “Now that you have confessed it----So, then, neither alcalde
nor judge----”
“Nor governor of the province.”
“Let them take the bishop from us also and send us a choir boy in his
stead.”
“That is all that is wanting--if the people here will allow them to
do it,” murmured Don Inocencio, lowering his eyes. “They won’t stop at
trifles.”
“And it is all because they are afraid of an insurrection in Orbajosa,”
exclaimed Doña Perfecta, clasping her hands and waving them up and down.
“Frankly, Pinzon, I don’t know why it is that even the very stones
don’t rise up in rebellion. I wish you no harm; but it would be a just
judgment on you if the water you drink turned into mud. You say that my
nephew is the intimate friend of the brigadier?”
“So intimate that they are together all day long; they were
school-fellows. Batalla loves him like a brother, and would do anything
to please him. In your place, señora, I would be uneasy.”
“Oh, my God! I fear there will be an attack on the house!”
“Señora,” declared the canon, with energy, “before I would consent
that there should be an attack on this honorable house--before I would
consent that the slightest harm should be done to this noble family--I,
my nephew, all the people of Orbajosa----”
Don Inocencio did not finish. His anger was so great that the words
refused to come. He took a few steps forward with a martial air, then
returned to his seat.
“I think that your fears are not idle,” said Pinzon. “If it should be
necessary, I----”
“And I----” said Jacinto.
Doña Perfecta had fixed her eyes on the glass door of the dining-room,
through which could be seen a graceful figure. As she looked at it, it
seemed as if the cloud of apprehension which rested on her countenance
grew darker.
“Rosario! come in here, Rosario!” she said, going to meet the young
girl. “I fancy you look better to-day, and that you are more cheerful.
Don’t you think that Rosario looks better? She seems a different being.”
They all agreed that the liveliest happiness was depicted on her
countenance.