"An angel is what you are!" exclaimed Enrique, instantly losing his senses: as proof of it, his hat, which just before he had dashed to the floor, he now flung to the ceiling, then he immediately sprang after it into the air, making three or four portentous pirouettes; quickly realizing the enormity of his behavior, he took Maximina's hands, and began to kiss them in a perfect frenzy.
"You will forgive me this sudden freak, won't you, Miguel? Your wife is better than if she were made of gold and diamonds!"
"I suppose so; what could I do with a wife made of gold and diamonds?"
"Man alive! don't be so literal; that is a saying! Maximina, every one speaks so well of you ... even my sister Eulalia, which means a great deal, as you can imagine. But no one knows what your worth is! As soon as I take part in another corrida, I will present you the bull."
"No, no, Enrique," protested Maximina, laughing.
The young man's face darkened.
"That is a fact; a bull killed by me has little value. But I assure you that I am going to, or at least I can get Lagartijo, the great Lagartijo himself to present you one in a benefit fight."
"You misunderstood me; I said no, because I never go to bull-fights."
"What! doesn't Miguel take you? Shameless wretch! Never you mind, child; leave it to me, and at the first corrida that takes place, you shan't fail of a private box, or at least two front seats."
The padrino chosen to stand with Maximina was a cavalry captain, an old comrade of the bridegroom's.