"Some day, some day, I will let you."
But the day never came. She had been obliged to be up at half-past five in the winter, and at five in summer, and there was no help for it. Now that there was no one to torment her, since Miguel dressed as quietly as possible so as not to wake her, she was able to indulge in her slothfulness. When at last she got up she would go straight to the library, and always greet her husband with a timid—
"What will you say to me?"
"What am I going to say to you, tonta? It must have been terrible to get up so early! It is not yet quarter-past nine!"
Maximina, who had noticed in passing, that the clock said that it was almost ten, was delighted with her husband's equivocation, and would kiss him affectionately.
"Listen; you must call me to-morrow when you get up."
"All right, I will."
"On your word?"
"On my word of honor."
It is safe to say that Miguel did not fulfil this promise: he felt that it was too great a pity to do so.