Then, again, "How well you managed Villamor's chocolate business for the widow and children, friend Eugenio—you did, indeed. Don Rosendo was just telling me he let the business slip through his fingers like a fool."
As Don Rosendo was the best man of business in the town, Don Eugenio could not help feeling flattered at these words.
After chatting for some little time with the Belinchon family, Don Mateo took leave, to prosecute, as usual, his visits to the other boxes; but before going he turned to Cecilia, and said:
"When does he arrive?"
The young girl flushed slightly, and replied:
"I can not tell you, Don Mateo."
Then Doña Paula, smiling mischievously, came to her daughter's rescue, by saying:
"He ought to arrive in the 'Bella Paula,' which sailed from Liverpool."
"Oh! then we shall be having him here to-morrow or next day. You have prayed a good deal to the Virgin de las Tormentas—the Virgin of the Storms—eh?"
"She has actually had a nones—six candles have been burning for days before the image," said Venturita.