“But will there be any danger if Brito should have recourse to the police?”
Aunt Victoria shrugged her shoulders impatiently.
“See, go away now,” she said; “for you put me out of patience. The police! These matters are not brought to the notice of the police. Leave it all to me, and come back to dinner at four.”
Juliana went away, feeling as if she floated on air. A conto de reis! It was the conto de reis she had once seen in her dreams come back to her now with the tinkle of gold and the rustle of bank-notes. Her brain was filled with images stretching out in wondrous perspective,—the counter of a millinery-shop, behind which she was to stand, waiting on her customers; a husband at her side at supper-time; innumerable pairs of boots, of the best quality and the most chic fashion. Where should she keep her money? In the bank? No, at the bottom of her trunk; there it would be safer, and more at hand.
To get through the morning, she bought a quarter of a pound of biscuits, and seated herself on a bench in the Gardens, under the shade of her parasol, indulging already in delightful anticipations of the life she would lead, fancying herself already a lady; and she even cast a speculative glance at a peaceable householder who was passing by, and who quickened his pace, scandalized, as he caught her eye.
CHAPTER XIV.
FROM DREAMS TO WAKING.
AT about this time Luiza awoke, and as she hastily sat up in bed, thought,—
“It is to-day.”
A horrible sensation of dread and anguish seized upon her heart. She began to dress herself, trembling at the thought of seeing Juliana again. She had just come to the determination to remain in her room, without going to breakfast, till eleven o’clock, and then to go see Bazilio at his hotel, when she heard the voice of Joanna, calling outside the door,—
“Senhora!”