"I have nothing to get over. And after all, no one can run to as many pounds as you," retorted Ramon, much nettled.
"You have more graces."
"Come, that will do; do not come talking such nonsense here, for it is very bad form, especially in the presence of these young ladies."
"Why must you two always be quarrelling?" exclaimed Pepa Frias. "Have done with this squabbling, or the world will not be wide enough to hold you both."
"No, the place that is not wide enough for these two, is Calderón's house," said Pinedo, in an undertone.
"Nothing of the kind," Cobo exclaimed, in a cheerful voice "friends who quarrel are the best friends—eh old fellow?"
And taking Ramoncito's head between his hands, he shook it affectionately. Maldonado pushed him away crossly.
"Have done, have done; you are too rough."
Cobo and Maldonado were intimate friends. They had known each other from infancy, they had been at school together; then in the world of fashion they had kept up a close acquaintance, chiefly at the club which both frequented regularly. As they followed the same profession, that, namely, of "men about town," on horseback, on foot, or in a carriage, as they visited the same houses, and met everywhere and every day, their mutual confidence was unlimited. At the same time, they were always on terms of mild hostility, for Cobo had a true contempt for Ramon, and Ramon, suspecting the fact, was constantly on his guard. This hostility did not exclude liking; they were insolent to each other, and would quarrel for hours on end, but afterwards they would drive out together, just as if nothing had occurred, and arrange to meet at the theatre. Maldonado took everything Cobo said quite seriously, and Cobo delighted in contradicting him whenever he spoke, till he had succeeded in putting him out of patience.
But all affection vanished from the moment when they had both cast their eyes on Esperanza de Calderón; hostility alone remained. Their relations were apparently the same as before, they met every day at the club, often walked out, and went hunting together, but at the bottom of their hearts they hated each other. Each spoke ill of the other behind his back; Cobo, of course, with more wit than Ramon, because, with or without good reason, he had a real and sincere contempt for his rival.