"Which do you like best?"
And as he bent toward his future brother-in-law he cast an earnest look at Ventura, who returned it with a peculiar glance. Then both turned their eyes to Cecilia, but she had not raised her head from her embroidery frame.
"Nieves," replied Pablo, without hesitation, in his falsetto voice.
"I knew it, and I applaud your taste," said Gonzalo, laughing. "What a smooth skin—what teeth!"
"And what a figure! First rate, don't you know?"
Both looked at the embroideress, who raised her head, and seeing that the conversation was about her, she made a face.
"Come, don't talk in a whisper," said Doña Paula with asperity peculiar to the women of the people.
"Let them be, señora," returned Nieves; "they are talking about me, and in that they show their good taste."
"Certainly. Pablo was calling my attention to the ruddiness of certain lips, the transparency of a certain skin, and the golden hue of certain hair."
"Then they were talking of you, Valentina," said Nieves, blushing and nudging her companion.