An employé of the Plaza shouted ill-humouredly from inside that there was no entrance that way, they must go round to the other door, but as the voice outside continued to insist he finally opened the door.
A man and a woman entered, he wearing a white Cordoban felt hat, she dressed in black with a mantilla.
The man shook the employé's hand, leaving something in it, which evidently softened his asperity.
"You know me, do you not?" ... said the new comer. "Really, don't you know me? I am Gallardo's brother-in-law, and this lady is his wife."
Carmen looked all around at the deserted courtyard. Through the brick walls she could hear the sound of music and the humming of the crowd, varied by cries of enthusiasm, or murmurs of curiosity.
"Where is he?" enquired Carmen anxiously.
"Where should he be, woman?" replied her brother-in-law roughly. "In the Plaza, fulfilling his duties.... It is folly to have come here. What a flighty woman you are!"
Carmen looked round her undecidedly, perhaps half repenting having come; after all, what was she going to do there?
The employé, whose hand-shake with Antonio had made a marvellous difference, suggested that if the lady wished to wait till the end of the corrida she could rest in the gate-keeper's room, but if she wished to see the corrida he could find her a very good seat even if she had no ticket.
Carmen was terrified at this proposal. See the corrida? No! She had never seen her husband fight; she would wait there as long as she possibly could.