"Well, yes; I own it. Your husband has in his hands the whole of my little possessions. If I lose it I shall be absolutely destitute. I do not know what will become of me. I would rather beg than be dependent on my son-in-law."
"Beg! No, you need not do that. I will engage you as my companion in the place of Pascuala," said Clementina scornfully, for her pride was by no means propitiated.
Pepa was more stung by this than she had ever been before, but still she controlled herself.
"Well, my dear," she said, again taking her hands with a caressing gesture, "do not fling your millions in my teeth. If I come to worry you about the matter, it is because I regard you as my best friend. I know, of course, that there is a great deal of exaggeration, and that envy is rampant. More than half that is said about Osorio's losses is probably not true."
"And even if it were, it really matters very little to me. Only to-day my stepmother told me that she meant to leave me her whole fortune."
Pepa's eyes opened very wide.
"The Duchess! And she cannot have less than fifty million francs! Poor soul! I am afraid she is very ill."
"Pretty bad."
At this moment arrogance had the upper hand in Clementina of every instinct of affection. She spoke the two words "pretty bad" in a tone of freezing indifference.
The two ladies had soon come to a perfect understanding. Pepa, still affecting an easy manner, flattered her friend in every possible way: she was beautiful, rich, a model of elegance. Clementina allowed herself to be flattered, inhaling the incense with intense satisfaction. In return she promised Pepa that she should not lose a centime of her capital.