The venerable ecclesiastic rose and took leave of every one, treating
Rey with as much amiability and kindness as if they had been old and
dear friends. The canon, after offering his services to Pepe for all
that he might require, promised to present his nephew to him in order
that the young man might accompany him to see the town, speaking in the
most affectionate terms and deigning, on leaving the room, to pat him
on the shoulder. Pepe Rey, accepting with pleasure these formulas of
concord, nevertheless felt indescribably relieved when the priest had
left the dining-room and the house.



CHAPTER VIII

IN ALL HASTE

A little later the scene had changed. Don Cayetano, finding rest from
his sublime labors in a gentle slumber that had overcome him after
dinner, reclined comfortably in an arm-chair in the dining-room.
Rosarito, seated at one of the windows that opened into the garden,
glanced at her cousin, saying to him with the mute eloquence of her
eyes:

"Cousin, sit down here beside me and tell me every thing you have to say
to me."

Her cousin, mathematician though he was, understood.

"My dear cousin," said Pepe, "how you must have been bored this
afternoon by our disputes! Heaven knows that for my own pleasure I would