"I will call to them if they chance to be in the vineyard."
And leaning out of the window, she cried:
"Uncle! Victoriano! Uncle!"
Two voices responded.
"What is it? We are coming."
Finding nothing opportune to say, Segundo was silent. Her conscience at rest, now that she had called the elders, Nieves turned toward him and said, with the graciousness of a hostess who knows what are the duties of her position:
"How good this is of you! We had not thought you would care to come before the vintage. And now that the holidays are approaching—indeed I supposed we should see you in Vilamorta before seeing you here, as Victoriano has determined to take a fortnight's course of the waters."
She leaned against the wall as she spoke, and Segundo tapped the toe of his boot with his whip. From the garden came the voice of Mendez:
"Nieves! Nieves! Come down, if it is all the same to you."
"Excuse me, I am going for a parasol."