Elena received the words with a smile. Poor man! And yet there were people who said he was no better than a bandit! To her at that moment he seemed the most interesting male creature in the region; he was the only gentleman to offer her assistance!
When the half-breed went out of the room Elena remained standing near the window, her eyes following the passers-by as they came and went in constantly increasing numbers. Several times she stepped back at sight of groups of workmen on horseback or in carriages returning from Fuerte Sarmiento. They must undoubtedly be those who had gone to the contractor’s funeral. All of them, she noticed, looked askance at the house before they passed on.
At dusk she saw a solitary rider go by, his head obstinately held down. It was Richard Watson. From his dust-covered clothing, and the lagging pace of his horse, she concluded that he had not been to the funeral. He must have spent the day riding in the open, undoubtedly on the Rojas ranch or wandering near the river with that girl who was so free with her whip.—“And I have to stay shut up here like a wild beast to escape the insults of this miserable and unjust rabble ... and then they wonder that I do the things I do....”
She remained motionless, her eyes closed, while the shadows of twilight crept out of the corners of the room, and came to mingle their darkness in the core of her being. A faint and fading light from outside gave a certain bluish phosphorescence to the window panes, outlining Elena’s motionless silhouette.
When night had fallen she called Sebastiana, who answered, saying that she was bringing the light.
And she appeared bearing a large lamp which she placed on the table in the centre of the parlor.
She was on the point of going away, believing that she had discharged her full duty, when her mistress stopped her.
“Do you know where that Manos Duras you spoke to me about a while ago is now?”
The half-breed, always inclined to chatter, produced a long preamble before giving a definite reply. Manos Duras was going about these days with some friends of his from the mountains who were staying with him at his ranch ... they were a poor sort and not at all God-fearing. No telling what they might be up to ... and he had said while he was talking at the gate that he might soon go away on a long trip and that this was the principal reason why he had come to bother the señora, in case she should want him to do anything for her.