Page:The Bridge of San Luis Rey (Grossett & Dunlap).pdf/61

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THE MARQUESA DE MONTEMAYOR

“Offended, offended at you, my beautiful, . . . my gifted child? Who am I, a . . . an unwise and unloved old woman, to be offended at you? I felt, my daughter, as though I were—what says the poet?—surprising through a cloud the conversation of the angels. Your voice kept finding new wonders in our Moreto. When you said:

‘Don Juan, si mi amor estimas,
Y la fe segura es necia,
Enojarte mis temores
Es no querarme discreta.
¿Tan seguros. . . .

and so on,—that was true! And what a gesture you made at the close of the First Day. There, with your hand so. Such a gesture as the Virgin made, saying to Gabriel: How is it possible that I shall have a child? No, no, you will begin to have resentment at me, for I am going to tell you about a gesture that you may remember to use some day. Yes, it would fit well into that scene

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