ESTEBAN
Long pause. Presently she raised her head: “Are you still there, Unfriendly?”
“Yes, señora . . . you can trust me to do anything for you . . . you can trust . . .”
“If I ask you to write one letter for me, or two letters, you promise never to mention to a human being what is in them, or even that you wrote them?”
“Yes, señora.”
“What do you promise by?—by the Virgin Mary?”
“Yes, señora.”
“And by the heart of Saint Rose of Lima?”
“Yes, señora.”
“Name of the Name, Manuel, anyone would think you were as stupid as an ox. Manuel, I am very angry with you. You are not stupid. You don’t look stupid. Please don’t say just Yes, señora again. Don’t be stupid or I’ll send for Esteban. Is anything the matter with you?”
Here Manuel cast himself upon the Spanish
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