ed of the art, the labor,
and the time employed in the details. She would have it appear, on the
contrary, as if all this beauty and grace were the free gift of nature,
something inherent in her person, no matter how she might, owing to the
vehemence of her passions, neglect it on occasion.

Pepita, so far as we have been able to discover, spent more than an hour
in these labors of the toilet, which were to be perceived only by their
results. She then, with ill-concealed satisfaction, gave herself the
final touch before the looking-glass. At last, at about half-past nine,
taking a candle in her hand, she descended to the apartment, in which
was the _Infant Jesus_. She first lighted the altar-candles which had
been extinguished; she saw with something of sorrow that the flowers
were drooping; she asked pardon of the sacred Image for neglecting it so
long, and, throwing herself on her knees before it, prayed in her
solitude with her whole heart, and with that frankness and confidence
that a guest inspires who has been so long an inmate of the house. Of a
_Jesus of Nazareth_ bearing the cross upon his shoulders, and crowned
with thorns; of an _Ecce Homo_, insulted and scourged, with a reed for
derisive scepter, and his hands bound with a rough cord; of a _Christ
crucified_, bleeding and moribund, Pepita would not have dared to ask
what she now asked of a Saviour, still a child, smiling, beautiful,
untouched by suffering, and pleasing to the eye. Pepita asked him to
leave her Don Luis; not to take him away from her, since he, who was so
rich and so well provided with everything, might, without any great
sacrifice, deny himself this one of his servants, and give him up to
her.

Having completed these preparations, which we may classify as cosmetic,
indumentary, and religious, Pepita installed herself in the library, and
there awaited the arrival of Don Luis with feverish impatience.

Antonona had acted with prudence in not telling her mistress that Don
Luis was coming to see her until a short time before the appointed hour.
Even as it was, thanks to the delay of the gallant, poor Pepita, from
the moment in which she had finished her prayers and supplications to
the _Infant Jesus_, to that in which she beheld Don Luis standing in the
library, was a prey to anguish and disquietude.

The visit began in the most grave and ceremonious manner. The customary
salutations were mechanically interchanged, and Don Luis, at the
invit