"FORTUNATA AND JACINTA" "CHAPTER 5" " Who is going to sleep here?" " Your brother." " Nicolás?" " Yes." "The other one in the empty room." "Ugly, fish face." "Idiot." "You're ugly as sin." "They won't let you get married." "Stupid." "Get out, or I'll smash your teeth in." "You?" "I'd knock you to kingdom come with one blow." "Your brothers have arrived." "I told them you'd get up for lunch." " How do you feel?" " How should I know?" " Does it still hurt?" " No." " Do you want the Lludanum?" " No, I'll get up for lunch... but I can't sleep next to Nicolás." "There's no alternative." "Rest now." "If you want anything, call me." "Pass me your plate." "When there's little to do, she's a disaster." "But when she has a chance to shine, she's gold." "I found her scavenging on a rubbish dump, in rags." "She was a beggar, that's why she tends toward idleness." "But a good thwack now and again is straightening her out." "I'll make a woman of her in the full sense of the word." "Service in Madrid must be so awful, you don't notice her defects." "Here." "Now that we're together, I shall inform you of affairs in Molina." "Our inheritance from our aunt comes to 750000 pesetas." "After bequests and the transfer of authority... we are left with 675000, 225000 each." "Now, I do not need country property... and as a large part of the inheritance is real estate..." "I propose that mine be in cash and mortgages." "You can share out the land and properties... which have been valued by experts." "That way the matter can be settled definitively." " Any objections?" " None." "I also think we should settle the debt... our father left with Samaniego, the chemist." "He never demanded anything... but I think paying would be the honorable thing to do." "It is 60000 quarters." "Are you both agreed?" "You should go back to bed." "I'll tell Papitos to bring you the Lludanum." "You're stupid." "Your brother will take the cash and spend it." "And you get vineyards, bogs and hills." "Lying estate agents who don't do their sums." "You're such a clot." "Me, signaling, and you ignoring me." "Idiot." "And you want to have character?" "You're on the right road." "Go on, get to bed." "What are we to do with your brother?" "What's it got to do with me?" "Maximiliano is an adult, let him do as he chooses." "It's very serious, Aunt, very serious." "I have to say it is my business." "I'll talk him out of it." "I'm a dab hand at that sort of thing." "You'll see, once we're alone, I'll give him a dressing down." "God, if that man gave me a chance like that..." "I'd grab him by his coat tails... and not let go until we'd been blessed by a priest." "He's a good man." "If you don't like his face... just turn off the light." "He has money... a degree... a name, and what's more, he loves you." "If he could give me a child, I'd put up with him forever." "Nothing would matter with a child of my own." "What's wrong with him?" "I don't know." "So, can everyone do as he pleases... without a care for the law of God or man... making a mockery of religion, dignity and family?" "Listen, I don't want a sermon." "I know what I must do." "You're going to hear a few home truths, you great prankster." "Are you going out again?" "Yes, Aunt." "Won't you tell me what's wrong?" " Why?" " You look sad." "Ever since you joined the Carlists, I knew what would happen." "I was a Carlist, but not anymore." "They threw me out." "Didn't you know?" "Yes, but I'm worried." "I think you're still involved with them." "Don't worry, I can take care of myself." "All right." "All right." "Jesus, how awful." "My God." "Close the door." "Tell Fortunata he'll visit her." " Who?" " My brother, the priest." "She should speak sincerely and without fear." "Tell her I'm ill and won't see her until tomorrow." "Don't be afraid, I won't eat you." " Do you know why I'm here?" " Yes, sir." "No." "I mean, I can guess." " Maximiliano has already..." " He's a crackpot." "Now, he's decided to marry you." "I want you to get that out of your head." "Just that." "I am willing to do as you command." "Good, very good." "Perfect." "I like people like that." "What if I command you to run away so he cannot find you?" "I will do." "Yes, sir." "But, he would follow me." "You don't know how mad he is about me." "So we would gain nothing by dodging him?" "Nothing, sir." "Do you have no family?" "No, sir." "So you have no choice but to choose a life on the streets... free love, if you know what I mean." "I have no alternative." "That's a great responsibility for me." " Do you mind if I smoke?" " Not at all." "I lack the courage to send you into sin." "When a man is drowning, it is inhuman to kick him... one should offer a hand, or a stick to grab onto." "Yes, sir." "But I need to see clear signs of repentance." "Let's see, is it long since your last confession?" "Ten or twelve years." "How many men have you known?" "That's difficult." " When you say known..." " I mean, had intimate contact with." "Men you have lived with for a month or two." " Well, it must be..." " Come on." "Don't be afraid of the number." "It must be about... eight." " Let me remember..." " 8, 12 or 812, it's all the same." "Does remembering your scandals repulse you?" "Yes, sir." "Believe me, I am repentant." "Would you go with another man, if he asked?" "With no one." "Think about it." " With one." " The first, of course." "Yes." "But I can't." "He is married and has forgotten me." "We'll see, we'll see..." "But, basically, you confess it is he you really love." "The only one you really desire to love." " And that, that nonsense..." " The only one." " The rest can die, for all you care." " The rest, nothing." "What about my brother?" "Your brother, neither." "I don't love him, not truly, do you understand?" "But I value him and am fond of him." " So you have no dreams at all?" " No, sir." " I could love him, in time." " Perfect." "Because you must know something." "Dreams are complete drivel." "Dreaming about some gentleman, just because of his eyes... his moustache, his straight back, or his fine words... is typical of uncivilized females." "That is not love... it is perversion and vice, my child." "True love is spiritual." "And the only way of loving... is to love someone for their soul." "You will be told that love and physical beauty are related... you will hear of Greece and pagan naturalism." "Satan distributes propaganda through poets, novelists and other idlers." "Believe in nothing, my child, except the fondness of the soul." "To defend the other, is to deny Catholicism and return to mythology." "Of course." "That way, a beautiful woman can love an ugly man." "Everything else is imagination... it is pure madness." "You'll take time to control it." "But you will despise it and do the opposite of what it tells you." "I'm here to help you control your imagination..." " and to edify your soul." " Yes, sir." "Do you want to establish the possibility of marrying Maximiliano?" "Yes, sir." "I will come every day to teach you." "We will face the problem... and find solutions." "Child, give me something to eat." " How is Maximiliano?" " Better, his pains have lessened." "Let me try that." "I'm weak and should eat frequently." "What can I do?" "I feel like there's a dog in my belly... biting my insides." "If I don't feed him, he makes me suffer." "You were here?" "I just arrived, I was hungry." "So, what is she like?" "Is she pretty?" "She's a real woman." "Married women shouldn't be too beautiful." " You must have more to tell." " What do you want to know?" "Everything." "How she dresses, how she talks... how tidy her house was." "Everything." "You can start." "The elder sons of Sagunto and Numancia... who saw all the thrones of the lower lands... prostrated before their glory." "They, who with the beat of drums, gave law to the Romans..." "laid out Mahommedan pride in the revolts..." " Mrs. Guillermina." " Yes." "I wanted to consult you about something." "It's a private, family affair, but your advice..." "I'll be pleased to hear you, but after the play." "Thank you, Mrs. Guillermina." " Who is she?" " Mrs. Guadalupe, an officer's widow." "She is a moneylender, but makes regular donations." " Tell me about that woman." " She learns fast and has a good soul." "I shall visit her." " I have a suggestion for her." " What?" "We'll talk when I've thought it over." "Why don't you leave the lad alone?" "That's like throwing him head first into hell." "That's his problem." "It's better that way." "Trust in me and my sacred ministry." " I'm only thinking of him." " I'll tell you something." "If there's someone I'll never trust, it's a priest... even if you are one." "You know nothing of the world or reality." " You're daydreaming, my dear brother." " Shut up." "First, you will hear what I think." "If Don Carlos has not triumphed, it is the fault of the priests." "You people in cassocks, who spread gossip and slander." "Traitors and dimwits, that's what you are." "Don Carlos V was lost due to priests... and Carlos VII didn't learn his lesson." "You wanted religion." "Well, there!" "Stuff all priests!" "That has no foundation and is motivated by resentment." "You are meddlers and idiots, brother." "Why kid ourselves?" "You're mad and you talk nonsense." "So you better shut your mouth..." " and stop talking rubbish." " No one tells me to shut up." "I'm not afraid of black cassocks, not even purple ones, do you hear?" "Listen to me." "If you want to argue, get out." "I'll have no uproars here." "Be quiet, a minute." "Papitos." "Go and buy "La Gaceta"." "Something big has happened, you'll see." " They're not shouting "La Gaceta"." " What, then?" "The first strawberries are out, the market's full." "Strawberries." " How much are they?" " Three quarters." "All right, buy strawberries." "We'll eat them in peace." "He comes, sits down... asks to be fed, and then he talks." "He talks about miracles and the saints." "Then he asks questions to see if I'm learning." " Is Maxi there?" " Yes." "His aunt is on her way." "She's asking at the door." "I'll go out." "Fix yourself up." "Don't argue." "If she speaks of money, agree with her." "She's coming." " Do you know who I am?" " Yes, ma'am, I know you." "Please, come in." "You must take the following test." "There is a religious institution in Madrid, one of the best... that takes erring women and converts them... through prayer, work and seclusion." "Have you heard of it?" "Yes, ma'am." "The Micaelas Convent." "That is it's name." "Well, you are to go there." "You will stay there for three or four months." "I got you a place, thanks to a good friend." "If, after this time, you are found to have a disposition... worthy of our family... you might join it." "What do you say?" "Do you need to think about it?" "No, there's nothing to think about." "I want to enter the convent." "Do you like the idea?" "Yes, I do." "The good things that can happen may balance all the bad things." "I'll be a new woman." "I'll be better when I come out." " Tell me something." " What?" " Will I wear a white head-dress?" " Maybe, I can't say." "Wait." "What's wrong?" "I wanted say I'll miss you when you enter the convent." "I know." "I'll be jealous of all those who can look at you." "Come on." "Come on." "Come here." "Calm down." "Calm down." "Calm down." " Spare a coin, father." " A coin." " Spare a coin." " A coin." " Spare a coin." " Thank you." "Thank you, sir." "Don León Pintado." "Say good-bye." "Were you looking for me?" " No." " You're leaving, aren't you?" "Yes, they'll take the furniture today." "Where is the woman?" " Do you know?" " Why?" "She was nice." "I just wanted to know." "Nothing happened to her, she's fine." " Aunt, I'm here." " Jesus." "I remember when I had to battle for hours to wake you up." "Don't go." "Wait." "What's wrong?" " I hardly sleep." " No, you slept too much before." " I'm very worried about something." " What?" "I can tell you." "Sometimes I think I'll never see her again." " Is she going to die?" " No... but she might like the spiritual life... she might like it there and forget me." "Not want to marry me, but Jesus, the husband of nuns." "It wouldn't be the first time a bad woman, I mean, frivolous... has suddenly converted... becoming so pure, they've had to be made saints." "But it's not a topic to discuss at seven-thirty in the morning." ""St. Domingo de Guzmán's mother... dreamt that her son had a torch in his mouth." "Other times, she saw a blinding light... illuminating her beloved son's bedroom." "Another day, she saw, on Domingo's mouth... a swarm of bees, the image of sweetness." "Domingo de Guzmán became a saint." "He traveled around France and saw the havoc caused by heretics." "Then, in cities and fields, in temples and streets... in the palaces of the mighty and the huts of shepherds... just as the rain revives the plants, so fell..."" " We have little time." " I know." " How are you?" "Do you like it?" " Yes, don't worry." "I like the celebrations, masses and prayers." "I'm fine." "Don't like it so much I can't get you out later." "Look at me." " What do I look like?" " Beautiful." " As always, why?" " There are no mirrors here." " I'll bring you one." " They're not allowed." " Do you like me coming to see you?" " Of course." "Let me do it." "You." "We know each other." "They call me Tough Mauricia." " Do you remember me, from Paca's?" " Yes, I think so." "That day, just after you left..." "Juan Santa Cruz visited Paca." " What day?" " The day you were there." "The day I met you." "I fought with Visitación, she stole a scarf from me." "I grabbed her ear... and pulled out her earring, ripping her earlobe." "She bit me, but I blacked her eye." "She still can't open it." "I scratched off part of her skin." "If they hadn't grabbed me, I'd have killed her." "You never came around again." "I asked Paca if the Santa Cruz boy returned." "She said he'd had pneumonia, and almost died." "I asked Feliciana about you." "She said you were going to marry the chemist..." "The turkey woman, Mrs. Lupe's nephew." "I know Mrs. Lupe well." "I've told her more tales than I've hairs on my head." "I was fine then." "But, suddenly, I got sick..." "I had such stomach problems I couldn't pass a thing... everything I ate felt like fire inside me." "My sister Severiana took me in... and there, I got such cramps, I thought I'd had it." "One night, seeing that it wouldn't stop..." "I went out and drunk three shots of liquor at the inn." "I fell down." "The lads surrounded me... two coppers saw me and took me to the station." "But a lady we know..." "Mrs. Guillermina, you'll have heard of her... took it upon herself to bring me here." "I only went to Paca's twice." "And I'd rather not have been ever." "Necessity." "Later, I met the boy I'm going to marry... and I didn't return." "Why was that man looking for me?" "Why?" "Men are very willful... and when they have you... they ignore you, like the furniture." "But speak to another, and they want to come back." "If you become honorable, they're crafty enough to notice." "And if you pray, confess and take communion... they get even more homesick... and they get crazy for us if we become religious converts." "Watch." " What are you going to do?" " Quiet." "Mauricia, Mauricia." "It wasn't me." "Why are you staring?" "Do you want a portrait?" "Is the enemy loose again?" " Lock her up." " Lock me up?" "Really?" "Don't give me that, darling." "Mauricia, obey." "You know you don't scare us." "We're not afraid of bitches here." "Come on." " Do as you're told." " Well." "Look what an idea the mad cow has had now." "Locking me up." "Where I'm going is home." "There, to my house... the house they tricked me into leaving." "I was as honorable as can be... and all they've taught me is craftiness." " Go on." " Get moving." " Go down to the patio." " I just love... the sanctity of this idle church lot." "They lock themselves up here to frolic with the priests." " They're crafty." " Shut up." "Get back to work." "You want to lock me up like a criminal... when if I wanted, I could knock you all down." "Thieves!" "Worse than thieves!" "They won't listen." "It's not you talking..." " it's the devil inside you." " You're the devil, despot!" " You're grotesque, a scarecrow." " Get the poison out, go on." "Go on, get in." "Cripple!" "Tortoise!" "Come back here and you'll see what you get." "Stick-user!" "Half a leg!" "Despot!" "Come back!" "Let me out!" "My little cripple." "My lovely stick-user." "I love you so much." "There goes the duckling waddling off." "One, two, three." "Light of the convent, come and listen..." "I want to tell you something." "Sister Marcela, if you knew how ill I am." "My insides are being ripped out with red hot tongs." "I am tempted to hang myself from these bars." "Little cripple, funny thing." "Shrimp." "Don't be stubborn." "Look, listen." "If you want me to love you more than my life... and to obey you like a dog... bring me a drop of that divine glory... the doctor gave you for your stomach ache." "Angel." "I'm begging you, from the heart... because the pain I have won't go away." "I think I'm going to die." "Go on, my love, my angel with a cane... bring me what I ask." "Then God will give you celestial glory, you've more than earned it." "The cherubs will crown you when you get to heaven with your lame leg." "I was only to give you bread and water." "You deserve nothing more." "But, although I try not to have a heart, I can't do it." "Here, come here." "Hey, hands off." "If you don't behave, I'll leave." "I know what it is to have a weak stomach, and how much you suffer." "Denying the sinful prisoner everything is not good." "The Lord would not want that." "We have mercy and console the sad." "That's enough." "Give it to me." "Give it to me, come on." "Give it to me." "Do you want to dance?" "The music is good." "I like it." "I hear you're a friend of the Santa Cruz family." " Me?" " That's what I heard." " Who from?" " Mauricia." "I know Juan, but nobody else." " He was very ill." "Did you know?" " Yes." "His wife gave us the Virgin's mantel... the monstrance and the silver vases to give thanks for his recovery." " Do you know them?" " Yes." "Jacinta is one of the people who has supported this house the most." "You know, they've no children." "She's lovely and has it all... goodness, beauty, talent, virtue..." "My husband was friendly with Don Baldomero... and I have visited Lady Bárbara myself." "I have a girl." "I called her Adoración, she's with my sister Severiana." "Jacinta, your man's wife, buys her clothes... and she wants to take her away with her... like the one she thought was your son." "She's dying to have children and the Lord won't give her any..." "It's not right, children should be for the rich... and not for those who can't keep them." "You're such a pig." "Drop that." "Do you want to try?" " Where did you get it?" " Guess." "The builders threw it to you." "If Mother Superior finds out, you're in trouble." "I don't know how you can enjoy it." "They've enough already, but men still invent new vices every day." "Manolita." " Mrs. Manolita." " What?" "Come." "The duchesses and other ladies are here." " I know." " Look at them." "They're more sinful than all of us together." "Tell me, is that Jacinta?" " Yes, that's her." " I knew it." "She isn't like the others." "Stop pacing up and down." "Not until you tell me why she has to stay a year." " We discussed it." " We did not." "We agreed she'd stay 4 or 5 months... depending on her behavior." "They're happy, she's good and humble... she can read, write and has manners." "She works hard at her chores." "Why a year?" "Hasn't she been there long enough?" "No, she'll stay a few more months and then we'll talk." " When will you see her?" " Next Thursday." "Tell her to get ready." "We don't think seclusion will solve everything." "What she has learned is useless if she doesn't go out into the world." "She'll leave after the summer." "The next day, you'll marry." "And that's that." "I finished my degree." "I've found a house." " What house?" " Our house, where we'll live." "Of course, how stupid of me." " What's it like?" " Big." "Well, not very... but it's bright, it gets sun from all sides." " It's on Sagunto street." " I'm really want to leave." "Next time, tell me about the furniture." "As we can't buy it together, I'll get an idea of it." "I'll give you a list of things we'll need in the house." "Crockery, cooking pots and everything I think of." "I know Mrs. Lupe better than the back of my hand." "When you see her, ask her about Tough Mauricia... you'll see how she raves about me." "The bread I've taken her!" "They call me "Tough"... but they should call her "Stingy"." "That's how it is." "She's got millions in the bank, she's a clever one, all right." "I've seen her nephew once or twice." "I heard he was stupid, neither use nor ornament." "All the better for you, girl." "If you husband is a fool, sing hallelujah... because it's just like being in heaven." "It's even good for keeping your honor." "I've got to be honorable, I want no more trouble." "Yes, it's best, but you never know what'll happen... you say, "I want this" and do it, but then find... the fish you wanted is a frog." "You're lucky." "God has come to see you." "You can frustrate Santa Cruz boy... because when he sees you're decent now..." " he'll be like a cat chasing cream." " Get away." "He doesn't even remember my name." "Are you daft?" "When he sees you're decent, he'll lose his head." "His wife will be furious!" "And don't you be stupid, don't pity her." "Just as she didn't pity you when she took what was yours." "No one respects the poor." "That's what their world is like." "Whenever you can upset them, do it... show them what's what!" "Don't let them laugh at you anymore for being poor." "Take back what she took from you in the first place." "None of it will happen." "Do you want to bet?" "Haven't you seen him hanging around the convent?" "You're stupid." "You're the stupid one, leave me alone." "And he does come around, what do I care?" "Good afternoon." " It's so hot." " Yes, very hot." "The woman is in there." "They visit her on Thursdays, but I couldn't give her your message." "I thought about a new recruit... but there's no movement, no one comes." " Are you sure she's hasn't left?" " No, I'm sure." "Do you want me to keep trying?" "All right." "I don't have to return the money, do I?" "I don't have to return the money, do I?"