The half-breed shook her head.
“No. I never once the whole evening long saw the gringo.”
Then she burst out laughing, slapping the enormous muscles of her thighs, which served to bring them into still greater relief under the thin stuff of her skirt.
“I knew it, niniña, I knew it! I’ve heard how you and the gringo are always riding around together, and how not a day goes by that you don’t see each other. But if ever you give him your lips to kiss, little one, be sure to pick out a spot where no one can see you, to do it in. These people around here talk too much, it’s meat and drink to them. And don’t forget that those folks down at the river have very long spectacles, and they can see for miles and miles....”
Celinda blushed, and at the same time protested at her nurse’s insinuations.
“Yes, he’s a fine young man,” the half-breed went on. “That don Ricardo is a handsome gringo, and he’d make a grand husband for you if don Carlos, with his contrary nature, doesn’t stand in the way of your marrying him. When these gringos from America don’t drink, they make fine husbands. I had a friend who married one of them, and she leads him about by the nose. And I know another one who....”
But Celinda wasn’t interested in Sebastiana’s friends and interrupted her.
“So don Ricardo wasn’t here last night?”
“Neither last night, nor any other night. I’ve never seen him around here at all.”
Sebastiana looked at the girl with a gleam of amusement in her eyes, while a good-natured smile spread over her wide, copper-colored face.