Froth: A Novel

by Armando Palacio Valdés

"And these Bedouin savages are to have rights and liberties! Let them first be made decent, civil, and well-behaved, and then we will talk about it."

The law of elective affinity had drawn together Raimundo Alcázar and a man who was somewhat out of his element in this riotous company. This gentleman, with whom he was walking, was between fifty and sixty years of age, short and thin, with a white moustache and beard, and prominent eyes, with a somewhat absent gaze through his spectacles. His name was Don Juan Peñalver; he held a chair of philosophy at the University, and had been in the Ministry. He enjoyed a high and deserved reputation for learning, and for a dignity of character rare in Spain. This naturally brought him into ill-odour with the "Savages," who affected to treat him with contemptuous familiarity. It is obvious that nothing can be more offensive to the average "Savage" than Philosophy. Peñalver's intellectual superiority and fame was a stab to their pride. Their scorn did not trouble him; he was by nature cheerful, warm-hearted, and absent-minded; he was incapable of discriminating the various shades of social manner, and, in fact, had not been much seen in the world since retiring from political life to devote himself exclusively to science. He had joined this expedition to oblige his brother-in-law, Escosura, who held a large number of shares in the Riosa mines. Of late years he had been an ardent student of natural science, as the surest way of combatting the metaphysical idealism to which he had devoted his early life. It was with real pleasure that he found himself accidentally thrown into the company of a youth so well-informed on scientific matters as Raimundo. The rest of the party bored him past endurance, so taking Alcázar by the arm, without inquiring whether he wanted him or no, he began discussing physiology.

Raimundo was in a fit of despondency and gloom. He had observed that this Escosura had been definitively making love to Clementina; he was quite shameless in his attentions to her wherever he happened to meet her, and affected to ignore her connection with Raimundo. Both in mind and person Escosura was the exact opposite of his brother-in-law Peñalver. He was tall and stout, with a burly person and noisy manners; rich, of some influence politically, a vehement orator, with a voice so unusually sonorous that, according to his enemies, it was to that he owed his parliamentary successes. He was a man of about forty, and had never been Minister, though he asserted that he should soon be in office. Clementina had already repelled his addresses several times, and this Raimundo knew, and was proud of his own triumph. At the same time he could not divest himself of some anxiety whenever, as at this moment, he saw them talking together.

They were sitting in a summer-house with several other persons, but conversing apart with great animation. Each time he and Peñalver went past them, his heart swelled with a pang; he scarcely heard, or even tried to hear, the learned disquisition his companion was pouring into his ear. Clementina could read in his anxious gaze how much he was suffering, and after watching him for a little while she rose and joined the two men, saying with a smile:

"And what plot are you two sages hatching?"

"You flatter me," said the younger with a modest bow. "The only sage here is Señor Peñalver."

"Well, Señor Peñalver can bestow a lecture on the Condesa de Cotorraso, who is anxious to make his acquaintance, while you come with me to see a Gothic cathedral which is about to explode in fireworks," and she put her hand through her lover's arm.

Alcázar was happy again. He did not even speak to her of the anguish he had suffered but a moment ago; on other occasions when he had made such a confession it had only led to double pain, for Clementina would answer him in a tone of light banter which wounded him to the heart. They watched the wonderful, blazing cathedral till it was burnt out; the gentle pressure of her hand, the scent—always the same—which hung about her sweet person were too much for the young man, who was predisposed to be overcome by the proof of affection his beloved had just given him. She, who knew him well, as she felt him press her arm more closely, looked in his face, sure that she should see tears in his eyes. In fact, Raimundo was silently weeping. On finding himself detected, he smiled in a shamefaced way.

"Still such a baby!" she exclaimed, giving him a caressing little pinch. "Pepa is right when she says you are like a school-girl in a convent. Come, let us walk about; some one might see your face."

They went into a more retired part of the garden. From one spot in the grounds they could see a very curious landscape. The full moon lighted up the crest of the nearest hill, which divided Villalegre from Riosa, making it look like the ruins of a castle. Clementina wished to see it closer, so they went out by one of the side-gates, where no one was to be seen, and slowly wandered on—the knoll was barren of vegetation, a pile of boulders, in fact, of fantastic shapes, looking precisely like a mass of ruins. It was not till they were close to it that they could convince themselves of the truth.