On the fifth evening Moreno came rushing in to announce that Pirovani had returned. “He may be here at any moment now!”
And since Pirovani had provided them all with a subject for speculation, everyone had the sense of waiting for him to put in an appearance.
Then the door opened; and pausing on the threshold as Canterac had done, in order to allow the onlookers to get the full effect of his attire, Pirovani appeared, in a frock coat that was resplendent with lapels of a heavily ribbed silk, the fibres of which were as thick as those of wood, a white waistcoat richly embroidered, a white camelia in his buttonhole, and a large ribbon from which dangled a monocle.... Needless to say, he had never learned to wear one!
His aspect was solemn and magnificent, like that of a circus director, or a world-famous prestidigitator. Making manful efforts to preserve his calm and conceal his emotions, he nodded with masculine indifference to the men, and bowed low before the marquesa, whose hand he raised to his lips.
Elena’s eyes gleamed with suppressed amusement. Everything about Pirovani always seemed to her humorous. But, perceiving that this transformation had been accomplished in her honor, she welcomed him affectionately, and made him sit down beside her. Canterac, visibly offended by his rival’s triumph, abruptly left the group, while Moreno, with a scandalized expression, made a gesture towards Pirovani and muttered to Robledo,
“So that’s the important business he took a trip to Bahia Blanca for! That’s what he made such a mystery about!”
Robledo, however, left him to mutter alone, and went on talking to Watson, who, still dazed by the contractor’s theatrical entrance, was watching him with considerable amusement.
“From dinner coats to swallow-tails,” growled Robledo. “We’ll be holding carnival out on the desert soon, and this woman will be driving us all crazy before we get through!”
He glanced with relief at the young American, who, like himself, still wore his simple work clothes, and mentally compared his appearance with that of the other men in the room.
“What a commotion that sort of woman stirs up in a frontier settlement, where men live alone, and have no other distraction from their work!” he thought. “And she’s only just begun.... Who knows what she’ll try next? We may all end up by killing one another on her account! Perhaps this is Helen of Troy in our midst....”