"You might have been ready for me, child. Where had you hidden yourself?" said her mistress, in a tone at once cross and indifferent.
"I was in the kitchen. I went to put a few stitches into Teresa's skirt; she had torn it on a nail," replied the girl, with affected servility.
Clementina made no reply, absorbed, no doubt, in thought. Standing in front of the mirror to take off her cloak, she gazed at herself with the perennial interest which a pretty woman feels in her own face.
"Did you go to Escobar's?" she asked at length.
"Yes, Señora."
"And what did he say?"
"That he has no silk so thick of that colour, but that he would send for it if the Señora wishes."
"Turura! That journey won't kill him! And to the milliner's?"
"Yes, they will send the caps on Saturday."
"Did you inquire after Father Miguel?"