In the evening, after the table was set and Uncle Manolo was gone, the young couple were left alone with the servants.
Maximina shut herself in her room to dress, and Miguel did the same.
When he had finished his toilet he ordered all the lamps to be lighted.
Shortly after the house was illuminated, Maximina came from her room, looking like a rosebud.
"Oh, how sweet!" exclaimed Miguel, when he saw her coming into the study, where he was selecting the books to be scattered over the tables.
The young wife smiled and blushed.
"Come, don't make sport of me!"
"Why should I make sport of you, darling, since you are lovelier than ever!"
In point of fact, Maximina, who had grown much prettier since her marriage, now beamed in all the fresh and artless beauty with which Heaven had endowed her.
Her dress was of a delicate brown, and to cover the opening they devised an under-handkerchief of a very fine grenadine.