"Why don't you answer me? Do you think it impossible that I—that any woman—for love, and thinking all the time of him...? Is it impossible? Tell me the truth. If you don't tell me what you really think you're not my friend. Is it possible? Answer me!"
"It would be if it depended only on us. But people make it so hard for us! They don't want us to be good, Nacha!"
Both girls knew how true that was, and remained silent a long time, saddened, hurt, looking at one another like little children who have lost their mother.
Nevertheless Nacha determined to make one more attempt to save herself. She would find Monsalvat. She would seek him to the ends of the earth! So she began questioning the two students who lived in the house, a pair of lazy rascals, who took small interest in anything beyond their immediate horizon. One of them, Grajera, a short dark youth, as ugly as he was talkative, a chronic law-student, dissipated, incapable of telling the truth, had tried every makeshift for raising money. He had taught the art of skating, delivered lectures on tuberculosis, acted in cheap theatres, written articles for small town newspapers, and invented a system for never paying hotel or boarding house bills. Nacha had known him years ago in her mother's boarding house, and, because Grajera had made Riga's acquaintance there, was on friendly terms with him. He was besides an amusing table companion. Nacha implored him to find out where Monsalvat lived, and Grajera willingly promised to do so. The only trouble was that he always forgot to attend to this commission.
The other youth, also nominally a student, although it would have been hard to discover of what, was of a family from Córdoba, the son of a well-known judge, whose death after a laborious and austere life, had been generally lamented. Panchito, who had been sent away from home on account of early misbehavior, returned to Córdoba after his father's death, but was now once more in Buenos Aires, incorrigible as ever, always on the lookout for a chance to play a trick to his advantage, always running after women and always lying to everybody. Nacha asked him also to try to discover Monsalvat's whereabouts; but Panchito never thought about anything except the next races, handicaps, betting favorites and other topics of the turf. He always jotted down in a note book the wind velocity, the weight of each horse, the condition of the track, and other highly significant details. Yet, notwithstanding all this care, and the scientific accuracy of the data on which Panchito based his calculations, he invariably lost.
When she saw that her friends were not going to help her much, Nacha had recourse to a woman who told fortunes from cards. She had been recommended by Sara, who asserted that she never failed to foretell exactly what was going to happen. Nacha sent for her, and watched breathlessly, in tense excitement, while the dirty, yellow-skinned old sybil prepared to read her fate from a greasy pack of cards, which had been shuffled by Nacha, and cut with her left hand.
"The ace of diamonds and the four of clubs mean recovery from sickness. But here's the four of hearts; that means successful love; completely successful; because here's the two of hearts, do you see, which means a proposal! Then—here's a dark woman, and serious illness!"
"Yes. It's a woman. But there's nothing here that means love. It's certainly a woman, Miss."
Nacha tried to find an interpretation that would fit all of this. Could Monsalvat be ill? or in love with another woman? Such an idea was unbearable. Then she asked the question that was uppermost in her mind. "Where did Monsalvat live?"