"Yes, my hair hurt me, and on untying the ribbon I scratched it with the pin which fastened the bow. Poor Gonzalo could not manage to do it very well, eh?" she added, with a laugh.
"Oh, no!" said the youth with a forced smile, amazed at her calmness. The excuse, well conceived as it was, did not deceive Valentina, who was quite certain of what she had seen.
"Do you think she was taken in by that story of the scratch?" anxiously asked Gonzalo when the girl had left the room.
"Perhaps not, but I don't mind her; she is the most stupid of the lot."
Valentina took the patterns to her mistress, and then started to go home until the following day.
On crossing the hall she distinctly heard the sound of a kiss, and on looking in its direction, toward the dark room, she caught sight of the black and white checks of Nieves's dress.
"So this is the way the wind blows, is it?" she murmured, with that particular little frown that characterized her. Then she descended the staircase and passed into the street, where Cosme was waiting to escort her home.
CHAPTER XI
MEETING IN SUPPORT OF THE FOURTH ESTATE
THE 9th of June, 1860, ought to be recorded in letters of gold in the annals of the town of Sarrio, for Don Rosendo, supported by Alvaro Peña and his son Pablo, appointed the afternoon of that day to meet at the theatre for the discussion of a subject of vital (Don Rosendo would not for the world have omitted the word "vital") interest to the town of Sarrio and its suburbs.
Only four or five of the most intimate friends of the merchant were acquainted with the noble and patriotic project which had prompted the invitation; so, drawn by curiosity as much as by courtesy, those who had been asked arrived at three o'clock precisely, and many came to the meeting who had not received an invitation.