“To acts, very well!” said Doña Perfecta, roaring rather than speaking. “Don’t suppose that in Orbajosa there is no civil guard!”
“Good-by, señora. I will now leave this house. I think we shall meet again.”
“Go, go! go now!” she cried, pointing with an energetic gesture to the door.
Pepe Rey left the room. Doña Perfecta, after pronouncing a few incoherent words, which were the clearest expression of her anger, sank into a chair, with indications of fatigue, or of a coming attack of nerves. The maids came running in.
“Go for Señor Don Inocencio!” she cried. “Instantly—hurry! Ask him to come here!”
Then she tore her handkerchief with her teeth.
CHAPTER XX
RUMORS—FEARS
On the day following that of this lamentable quarrel, various rumors regarding Pepe Rey and his conduct spread through Orbajosa, going from house to house, from club to club, from the Casino to the apothecary’s and from the Paseo de las Descalzes to the Puerta de Baidejos. They were repeated by every body, and so many were the comments made that, if Don Cayetano had collected and compiled them, he might have formed with them a rich “Thesaurus” of Orbajosan benevolence. In the midst of the diversity of the reports circulated, there was agreement in regard to certain important particulars, one of which was the following: