"That is not so, Don Facundo; that is not so.... It is because our professions are so unlike.... Besides, I was afraid that mamma would find out...."
He could not give an excuse. The truth was that he had forgotten the saintly old man.
"No use, my dear fellow, no use; you were ungrateful.... You forget those who love you, and go and ask favors of men who did not even know your father."
"You are right...."
"Well, then, I have scolded you sufficiently. Let us come to what interests us more closely at present. I have come to offer you a place in the bank of Andalucia. For more than a month I have been begging it for you. At last, this very day, they put it at my disposition. Salary, sixty duros a month. Will you take it?"
Miguel"s only answer was to squeeze his hand violently. After a moment he exclaimed, with his eyes full of tears:--
"If you only knew, Don Facundo, how opportunely this comes!"
"Haven"t you any money?"
"Not a peseta!"
"Haven"t you found anything to do?"
"Yes; that of a.s.sistant proof-reader in the printing-office just below here."
"How much salary?"
"Three pesetas a day."
"Jesus! Jesus!" exclaimed the apothecary, raising his hands to his head and remaining in a thoughtful att.i.tude.
He had the delicacy not to ask him a question about his ruin.
Nevertheless, Miguel of his own accord told him all, even to the smallest particulars. When Don Facundo had heard the whole story, he said:--
"See here, Miguel, I am going to ask a favor of you."
"You shall!"
"I want you to accept these six thousand reals[62];" and he laid the bills on the table. "I am an old bachelor: the money that I have is amply sufficient."
"Don Facundo, I cannot...."
"I demand it in the name of the friendship that bound me to your father."
There was no way of declining it.
"Besides, you must give me your word that if the sixty duros a month are not sufficient for your living expenses, and you find yourself in a tight place, you will come to me first of all.... I will not leave the house unless you promise me."
The brigadier"s son gave the promise. Then he called in Maximina, and the three talked a long time about various matters. Don Facundo seemed to lose his wits over the baby. When it came the time for him to take his departure, Miguel seized him by the hand, and said with emotion:--
"Don Facundo, I give up trying to tell you what is pa.s.sing through my heart at this moment. I will simply repeat what I said once before: _You are a great personage_."
"Miguelito, if you persist in saying these foolish things, I will never come to your house again."
"Then what name do you want us to give those who come only when there is some misfortune to alleviate?"
With this opportune visit, thanks to G.o.d, the anxiety of our young friends ended. The sixty duros, carefully husbanded, were sufficient for them to live comfortably. Nevertheless, Miguel did not care to relinquish the idea of the place in the Council of State, and when the examinations were given, he secured one with a salary of sixteen thousand reals; thereupon he resigned his place in the bank, which gave him too much work. With this salary and three or four thousand reals more that he earned by writing articles from time to time for the papers and reviews, he felt himself perfectly happy.
And he was in reality happy. Poverty had more than ever strengthened the cords of love. The cruel rebuffs that society had made him feel caused him to realize that his home was the only place where true happiness was to be found,--a corner of heaven where Maximina played the role of angel.
His love to her did not increase, for that was impossible; but his admiration did. This young wife"s lofty spirit had never showed itself so admirable, so worthy of being adored, as during the critical and painful days through which they had just been pa.s.sing. So great had come to be the love and admiration felt by our hero, that when he found in his study any object that Maximina had left there, he would kiss it tenderly and respectfully, as though it had been a sacred relic.
During the hours that he was free from his duties, he studied pa.s.sionately. He rarely went from the house. When he did so, it was generally to read in the "Ateneo" the books which he was unable to buy.
"You read here a great deal, friend Rivera," some friend would say, laying his hand on his shoulder.
"It is because I haven"t any money," he would reply, with a laugh.
When he returned home at half-past ten or eleven in the evening, his wife would be just about going to bed. That was the happiest time for Maximina. Since the birth of the baby they occupied separate apartments; she slept in a room with two beds, with Juana; he alone, in another chamber. Miguel enjoyed carrying to her room a little lunch, either brought in from outside or something already in the house; for as Maximina was still nursing the baby, who was now fifteen months old, she felt very weary at this time of the day. How great the poor girl"s pleasure was to see her husband coming in punctually with a slice of ham or some dainty bit of sweetmeat! If he went to the extravagance of bringing her something expensive, she would say:--
"That must last three days."
And in spite of all his protests, she would insist upon it being divided into three parts.
Miguel watched her eating with a peculiar feeling of rapture; he would offer her a gla.s.s of wine, cut the bread for her, and carry away all the dishes. And then in a whisper, so as not to wake the baby, who was sleeping in his crib, they would talk sometimes for an hour and more.
Meanwhile Juana, still dressed, would be sound asleep in a room near the kitchen. Miguel, as he went to his chamber, would waken her (not a very easy task); and she, staggering with sleep, would go to her mistress"s room for the rest of the night.
The young man, aged fifteen months, gave them, without being conscious of it, more enjoyment than all the tenors of the opera and the _zarzuela_ combined. He was constantly travelling, if we can allow that term to be applied to his going like a drunken man making _s_"s, from the arms of his father to those of his mother. The tyranny which he exercised in that house was something scandalous. Above all, toward Maximina he behaved in a manner exceedingly boorish, without there being the least reason for him to be offended with her. For though it was very clear that she was the one who from her own vitality furnished him nutriment, not only did he not show her the lofty consideration which she deserved, but he evidently had a preference for Juana, and this was caused by nothing else than the fact that the Guipuzcoana maid made him laugh more with her caresses and dandling of him.
Poor Maximina could not bring herself to believe in this cruel preference. One day after breakfast, as the three were playing with the baby in the corridor, Juana wanted to give proof of it.
"Come, now, go to your mamma," she said to the little one.
But he clung with all his might to her.
"It is evident that he loves you only when he is hungry," said Miguel, making fun of her.
Maximina became grieved and even vexed, and tried to take the child from Juana, but he objected and squealed.
"Come now, see if he won"t come to me," suggested Miguel.
"Why not?" As soon as his papa spread open his arms, the capricious infant sprang into them.
"Do you see?" he exclaimed, leaping up in triumph.
Then Maximina, full of sorrow and mortification, the more because her husband and Juana laughed so heartily at her defeat, was going to pull him away by main force. Miguel started to run. Maximina, growing more and more nervous and incensed, trying not to cry, ran after him. At last, unable to overtake him, she went into the study. There Miguel shortly after found her standing up, leaning against the mantel-piece, her eyes hidden with one hand, and evidently crying. He went up to her on tiptoe, laid the baby on the rug, and said to him:--
"There now, go and ask forgiveness of your mamma, and tell her what you have just whispered in my ear: that you love her better than any one else in the world."
At the same time he put the child"s mouth to his wife"s hand, as it hung by her side.