The Illusions of Doctor Faustino illusions of Doctor Faustino: a novel

12. The Marquis of Guadalbarbo

125 [ 12 ] T HE M ARQU I S OF GUA DALBA RBO the PersoN whose name serves as the heading for this chapter was around fifty years of age and enjoyed upwards of twentyfive thousand duros annual income. He was a widower and childless . On the fertile and vast Guadalbarbo estate there was a feudal castle, from which, as the marquis told it, his heroic ancestors fought against the Moors for six or seven centuries. The detractors claimed that the marquis’s grandfather had been a summons server who, having prospered during the reign of Carlos III,1 had purchased that estate and other properties, and that his father, whose buffoonery made María Luisa2 laugh a great deal, had taken the title afterward. But, however that may be, either by spilling the blood of the infidels or causing the faithful to weep or bringing sweet laughter to the lips of a lively queen, the fact is that the marquis of Guadalbarbo had income and a title, wherever and whatever their source. He had inherited some of the gay character, along with the sparkle and pleasantry, that served his father so well, but at bottom he was a very grave, restrained, and at times austere man. His older sister, the countess of Majano, was almost in the odor of sanctity, and the marquis often consulted her and usually sought her out as a norm and gauge for his conduct. 1. Proclaimed king of Spain in 1759. 2. María Luisa de Parma (1751–1819), frivolous and dissolute queen of Spain; married to Carlos IV, son of Carlos III. 126 MA RQUIS OF GUA DA LBARBO Desirous of visiting his lands and forsaking the din and intrigues of the capital city of Madrid, at least for a short spell, he had come to Don Alonso’s neck of the woods where he owned some property. He had been there for a month. The countess of Majano was at a loss to explain what could detain him so long. The marquis scarcely wrote to her, and when he did he was very laconic. Finally, some ten days after Doctor Faustino’s departure, the marquis wrote his sister a long letter giving her all the particulars of his stay. We transcribe it here in its entirety. My deAr sister: When I relate the causes and reasons that detain me here, you won’t continue to be surprised. you yourself, by deploring the vices, scandals, and turmoil of the capital, made me see my annoyance with it and prompted me to come among these simple people. I’m as happy as a lark here. I have made an excellent friend in the town’s foremost gentleman, whose name is Don Alonso de Bobadilla. This Don Alonso combines qualities that are rarely found together: he is active, takes good care of his possessions, and knows a thing or two about agriculture. He knows, in short, which side his bread is buttered on, but atthe same timehe’s the most God-fearing,churchgoing,anddevoutman that I’ve met in my life. When he’s not out in the country looking after his properties, he’s at a special religious service or at a novena, hardly ever at the Casino. This man’s friendship has served me very well, both for improving my holdings with his advice and for my spiritual contentment with his pleasant companionship. Don Alonso is a widower like me, but blessed with a delightful daughter . I have never seen a more ingenuous creature. But don’t go thinking that she’s silly, ignorant, or slow. Quite the contrary: Costancita, which is her name, is exceptionally bright and sharp-minded. Her clear understanding of things shows refinement, and her education has been sound and very Christian, even bordering on austerity. What an interesting contrast you see between her youthful mischief, her laughter, her jokes, and the utter ignorance of all things evil, which from the depths of her pure heart seems to illuminate her innocent pranks! The seclusioninwhichCostancita was brought upbyanaunt of hers, a lifelong spinster, was extraordinary and yielded, as you might expect, the best of results. Since Costancita is a grown woman and, as her father says, “has now taken wing,” she is not even chaperoned by her aunt. The aunt MA RQUIS OF GUA DA LBARBO 127 lives apart from them, and Costancita is almost always at her papa...