'That you will not be jealous, and that you will go no more to the Pica-pica balls.'
'I have been only once this season, mi vidita.'
'My black maid Gumersinda was there, and she says that you danced all night with the mulattoes.'
'I was practising the difficult step of La Danza Criolla.'
'It is danced very improperly by the coloured people at the Pica-pica.'
'Many of my white acquaintances go to these balls, and I am only following their custom and that of the country.'
'Promise not to go again this season.'
'I promise; so, deme un beso.'
Cachita inserts her soft face between the obliging bars of the huge window, and as nobody is passing at that moment, I take an affectionate leave of my 'Piedra.'
My interviews with Cachita at her window become rare on account of Don Severiano's suspicions, and as Cuban ladies of all ages never leave their homes to visit their next-door neighbour without a trusty escort, I have no other opportunity for an uninterrupted tête-à-tête. Occasionally I meet my fair one at early mass in one of the churches, or at the musical promenade in the public square, but on these occasions she is always accompanied by a friend or a relative, and a couple of black attendants.