“I had the pleasure of seeing her pass my house almost every day last summer, on the road to the Arroios, sometimes on foot and sometimes driving.”
Jorge manifested some surprise as he heard these words. The counsellor, however, began to express his regret at not seeing her here a guest at their modest banquet; but as he was a bachelor and had no wife to do the honors—
The Senhora Philomena, entering the room with an air of solemnity, here placed a bottle of champagne on the table before him.
Savedra asked the counsellor to hand it to him to open, as he knew how to do it with chic. As soon as the cork had been drawn and the glasses filled, in the midst of the silence that followed the operation, Savedra, who remained standing, thus began,—
“Counsellor—”
Accacio, pale with emotion, bowed.
“Counsellor! it is with the sincerest pleasure that we all drink to the health of a man who,”—here he gave an eloquent pull to the cuff of his shirt,—“on account of his personal qualities, his exalted position, and his vast information, is one of the notabilities of our country. Your health, Counsellor!”
Cries of “The Counsellor!” “The Counsellor!” “Our friend the counsellor,” followed these words.
The toast was drunk enthusiastically. Accacio wiped his lips, passed his trembling hand over his bald head, rose, and began:—
“My good friends, I did not anticipate this honor; if I had expected it, I would have prepared some remarks beforehand. I am not gifted with the eloquence of a Rodrigo or a Garrett, and my emotions overpower me.” He went on to speak of himself with modesty; he acknowledged, he said, that with orators or illustrious statisticians so accomplished as there were in the city, he was a zero on the wrong side. And raising his right hand he described with his thumb and forefinger a O in the air. He proclaimed aloud his love for his country, declaring that if its institutions or the royal family should one day need his support, he would willingly place his person, his pen, and his modest fortune at their disposal. He would gladly shed his blood for the throne. He quoted extensively from the “Eurico,” the Belgian Institutes, Bocage, and his own introductions. He was proud to belong to the society of the 1st of December—