And all the time her insinuating soft eyes were fixed on Castro with such inviting looks, as were really quite embarrassing. She had always been told, and it was true, that she had a most innocent face, and to make the most of it she assumed the expression of an idiot.
Castro agreed to all she said, as much to flatter her as out of any ill-feeling towards Clementina. When Clementina cast him off he had consoled himself by paying attentions to Lola, in whom he really felt no interest, though at the same time he had been careful not to let the world know that he was discarded.
"And do you believe that she is really in love with that school-boy?"
"Who can tell! Clementina likes to be thought original. This last whim is just like her. And look at that baby's sentimental gaze at her from afar."
Raimundo, who was standing at the end of one of the tables, never took his eyes off his mistress while she moved to and fro, attending to the requirements of those guests whom she most desired to please. From time to time she bestowed on him a faint smile of recognition, which transported him to the seventh heaven.
Pepa Frias, who, having had her fill, could eat no more, was picking up a fruit here and a bonbon there, while behind her chair stood Calderón, Pinedo, Fuentes, and two or three more, laughing at her and with her. But the widow was not to be caught napping; she could defend herself, parrying and retorting with masterly skill.
"Where do you have the gout, Pepa, did you say?" asked Pinedo.
"In my feet, in my feet, where all your wits are."
"What is the miniature in that brooch? Is it a family portrait?"
"No, Fuentes," said she, as she handed it to him to look at. "It is a mirror."