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14 S. w \^ ' hat night, there was much agitation on the Estrada da Victoria. {JX A n entire family wa s mired in shame. The mother, grandmother , ^f aun t and cousin Catarina wept and fainted more than once, in dramatic displays of hysteria. Papa was foaming, his eyes popping with fury. Aware that he was incapable of attacking his son physically, he had smashed glasses and ripped up pictures and a chair. His skin had turned a shade of purple . The passers-by stoppe d i n front o f the house, alarmed b y the thunderin g voice that filtered throug h the closed windows . All this uproar left Adozindo shaken . It was impossible to erase fro m his family's eye s the evidence of degradation and promiscuity that they had chosen to see in his room and his bed. The maid had described everythin g too explicitly. How low their son had sunk ! 'This i s a n honourable hous e an d no t a den o f whores . You gav e n o thought to your mother, your grandmothe r Adozindo apologised. It was one of those things ... It had all happened so suddenly an d had been impossible to avoid. He had been deceitful, h e had abused the decency of the house, but he wanted to explain things. There was an explanation for it all. 'Disgusting!' 'She's not what you think. ' 'Such a lowly creature. A water-seller with bare feet, an d from Cheo k Chai Un.' 'Her name is A-Leng.' 'A Chinawoman .. . An amuirona. Ho w disgraceful! ' 'And you were doing all this behind Lucrecia's back. What will people say of you?' 'I don't know. This sort of thing happens to the best of people. I seduced her, led her astray. She saved my life. ' This wasn't what her father an d the rest of the family wante d to hear. They wanted him to lay the blame fairly an d squarely on the girl. And what 78HENRIQU EDESENNAFERNANDES was more, they wante d him to show remorse for his thoughtlessness, an d beg for forgiveness. But they were unable to drag this out of him, any more than they could extract a promise from hi m that he would seve r relation s with this gold-digger. By now, his mother was begging them to call Lucrecia. Their son was under the spell of this rustic, barefoot siren . The evidence of this fact was like a knife thrust to his father's heart. He had counted on getting some good news that would fit in with his own plans, and the very opposite had happened, much to his surprise and anguish. He looked a t his handsome so n and his heart shrank. The boy had an affluen t marriage fo r th e taking, whic h woul d ope n u p magnificent opportunitie s for him , an d he was throwing i t all away in some colossal ac t of folly. I t wasn't a s if i t wer e because o f anothe r woma n o f the sam e socia l class . There were plenty who would die for him. But no , he was turnin g hi s back o n all o f this, chasing a 'pigtail' , a braided water-seller , t o make matters wors e from th e disreputable Cheo k Chai Un, and who didn't see m to be acquainted wit h the habit of wearin g shoes. A woman wh o coul d neve r b e presented t o society . What a bitter disappointment! Tiredness overcame all of them, without any solution having been found. One by one, they retired for a night of sad reflection. Fe w of them got any sleep, excep t fo r th e Handsom e Adozindo , wh o collapse d ont o hi s be d exhausted, and fell into a deep slumber. His body was in such a bad shap e that it was a miracle he had been able to stay on his feet for so long. His last memory of that night was of a braid twirling, as if it had a life of its own. Further uproa r an d raise d voice s wok e hi m up whe n i t wa s alread y morning. The clock was striking nine. He leapt...
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