“No.”

“Settled, then. At noon we’ll all meet at Señora Benita’s restaurant, near the Pier and Sotillo Bridge.”

“Agreed.”

“And now let’s be off to catch a snooze.”

Which they did. At twelve Manuel and La Justa left the house and made their way to the restaurant. The others had not yet arrived.

They sat down upon a bench; La Justa was in bad humour. She bought ten céntimos’ worth of peanuts and began to nibble at them.

“Want any?” she asked Manuel.

“No. They get into my teeth.”

“Then I don’t want any, either,” and she threw them to the ground.

“What do you buy them for, if you throw them away afterward?”