Exhausted by remorse and grief, I threw myself on my bed and continued
crying until at last I fell into a heavy sleep.

* * * * *

During the week that followed, Catalina hovered between life and death and
good old Dr. Lebon came and went two or three times a day. Teresa never
went to bed, but took short cat-naps in her chair at times, as best she
could, and my father made very rare and short visits to his office,
bringing a good part of his work home with him.

Rosa now replaced Teresa, either in the kitchen or at the bedside of the
invalid, as the case might be. And I continued at school where, thanks to
the fears that filled my heart, I was a model of good conduct.

Paula had quickly learned to make herself useful. She lacked experience in
a house like ours, but her willingness and cheerfulness more than made up
for the clumsiness of her hands as she would say to Teresa, "Let me do
that, dear Teresa; you are so tired, and you have so much work now."
Teresa, accustomed as she was to perform everything herself, hesitated a
little at first; but Paula would look at her in such a beseeching way that
she generally yielded to her.

From the time that Catalina fell ill, Rosa had to make all the purchases in
town, and this was not a small thing, for the distance from the old Convent
to the city was considerable. At times Paula was allowed to go with her.
"Why don't you let me go alone to the city?" Paula said to her. "If you did
not have to go out, you could help Teresa so much more in caring for
Catalina."