Nevertheless, he tried to keep the news from his son-in-law, as he had not the same confidence in the loftiness of his spirit and the width of his views. It was therefore kept secret for some days, but suddenly it became current news in the town, without any one knowing who started it. Gonzalo, who always went early in the morning to the Club, read it in a paragraph in "The Youth of Sarrio," which was as infamous as it was hypocritical.
"It is said in the town," it ran, "that a lady, the heroine of a certain romantic drama, enacted not long ago, has fled with her lover from the asylum in which her family had secluded her. We shall be sorry if this report be true, as it will affect certain persons who are well known and much esteemed in Sarriensan society."
Gonzalo felt that his heart was broken--the last ray of hope was gone.
He let the paper fall, and with a nervous smile, and in a strange, sharp voice, said to old Feliciano Gomez, who was the only person present:
"Do you know that my brute of a wife has gone off with her lover?"
Don Feliciano looked at him in surprise, for, although little versed in smiles, he was taken aback at seeing the young man smile like that, and he replied sadly:
"Yes, Gonzalin; yes, I knew that it wasn't all over so soon--But, really, after what happened, this final blow ought not to cause you surprise. Once the rein is broken you can always imagine what will be the end."
"And what for me. What--?" exclaimed the unhappy man, with the same smile, which expressed the ill-restrained excitement of body. "Let her go--Very well! let her go with God's blessing. I have nothing against it--Ah! if the law only permitted me to marry! A month would not elapse without my doing so--And why not? we will see, and why can I not do so? Anyhow, if I can't marry for good, I can take up with somebody. I will carry on with some pretty girl, eh, Don Feliciano? And the devil take the rest!--for if she be bad by profession, my wife is so from choice."
While making these ugly remarks, he walked up and down the room, threw off his hat, shrugged his shoulders, and gesticulated wildly.
"Look here, Gonzalin," said Don Feliciano; "you have just weathered a storm; better weather is in store. There is always good after bad. The things of the world have to be taken easily, my dear. What is the good of putting one's self out, and upsetting one's digestion? Look at me. Last month I lost a ship. Everybody came to condole with me, thinking I must be in despair, and I said to them: