"No, thanks!"
Suddenly, without knowing what he was about, he grabbed her round the waist. She tried to defend herself, turning away, pushing him from her. But, kissing her desperately, he murmured:
"Come now, quick, quick—before he gets here!"
Then, after a brief moment of silent struggle:
"Darling! Don't you see? It had to be this way——!"
The wife of Zureda did not, in fact, put up much of a fight.
A year later, Rafaela gave birth to a boy. Manolo Berlanga stood godfather for it. Both Rafaela and Amadeo agreed on naming it Manolo Amadeo Zureda. The baptism was very fine; they spent more than two thousand reals[B] on it.
[B] About $100.
How pink-and-white, how joyous, how pretty was little Manolín! The engineer, congratulated by everybody, wept with joy.