“Will the senhora do me the favor to listen to a word?” she said.
She followed Luiza into her room, and burst out furiously,—
“Does the senhora think things are going to remain as they are? Does the senhora think that because her lover steals away, things are going to remain as they are?”
“But what things do you mean, woman?” said Luiza, stupefied.
“Do you think that because your lover is going away, this is going to end in nothing?”
“But for the love of Heaven!”
Luiza’s voice expressed so much anguish that Juliana was silent. Presently she continued in a lower tone,—
“The senhora knows that it was with some purpose I took the letters; I wanted to ask the help of the senhora’s cousin. I am worn out with work, and I want rest. I went to the hotel this afternoon; the cousin of the senhora was gone—to Olivares, or to the devil! The servant was to follow in the evening with the luggage. Does the senhora think I am to be balked in this way?” And she added angrily, bringing down her hand with violence upon the table, “May a thunderbolt strike me dead if I do not make a scandal in this house that will be the talk of all Portugal!”
“How much do you want for the letters, thief?” asked Luiza, standing before her.
Juliana remained silent a moment.