Sebastião was confounded. Every one in the neighborhood! Perhaps, then, it was true! She went out every day now, and when Jorge was at home she hardly ever left the house. The neighbors, who had gossiped about the visits of the other one, began to make remarks about her going out. This would injure her reputation. And he could do nothing. Should he go and warn her? What for? To have another scene like the former one? That could not be. He tried to see her,—not that he wished to touch on this matter at all; he only wanted to see her. She was not at home. He returned two days later. Juliana said to him at the door, with her nauseously sweet smile,—
“She left the house a moment ago; she went in the direction of the Patriarchal.”
At last he met her one day at the head of the street of S. Roque.
Luiza appeared very much pleased at seeing him.
“Why did you remain so long in Almada? What a desertion!” she said.
He told her the carpenters had been there, that it was indispensable to superintend the work, and that he had, in truth, found it somewhat tiresome.
“Jorge writes that he will be obliged to remain away some time longer,” Luiza said; “I begin to lose patience, now. Without Julião, without the counsellor, without any one—”
Donna Felicidade was the only person who went to see her occasionally, and then only to stay a moment. She was always now at the Encarnação. Those pious people—
And she burst into a laugh.
Where was she going now? Sebastião asked her.