with a wife made of gold and diamonds?"

"Man alive! don't be so literal; that is a saying! Maximina, every one
speaks so well of you ... even my sister Eulalia, which means a great
deal, as you can imagine. But no one knows what your worth is! As soon
as I take part in another _corrida_, I will present you the bull."

"No, no, Enrique," protested Maximina, laughing.

The young man's face darkened.

"That is a fact; a bull killed by me has little value. But I assure you
that I am going to, or at least I can get Lagartijo, the great Lagartijo
himself to present you one in a benefit fight."

"You misunderstood me; I said no, because I never go to bull-fights."

"What! doesn't Miguel take you? Shameless wretch! Never you mind, child;
leave it to me, and at the first _corrida_ that takes place, you shan't
fail of a private box, or at least two front seats."

The _padrino_ chosen to stand with Maximina was a cavalry captain, an
old comrade of the bridegroom's.

"I am afraid that he may not be to your mind, Madrina" (from that moment
till the end of his days, Enrique never called Miguel's wife anything
else); "for though he is a very distinguished man, he is rather a
misogynist,[47] do you see?"

"I don't understand you...."

Miguel burst into a laugh.

"That is, he does not enjoy ladies' company."

"Ah, very good," rejoined the young wife; "I will promise not to trouble
him."

"How could you trouble him, star of the morning?" exclaimed Enrique,
losing his balance again; "It is worth more to hear you talk than
Tamberlik, in the _credo_ of '_Il Poliuto_'! What I fear is, that he
will not hold his tongue."

The time set was Wednesday, and the hour seven in the morning. The day
broke clear and magnificent; in the Madrid streets not a speck of mire
could be seen; that which soiled the good name of the Rivera family was
purely metaphorical. Miguel and Maximina went to the bridal apartment,
which was the third-story room on the same Calle del Bano, not facing
the street.

Enrique had rented it after consultation with his lady-love, and had
furnished it little by little, bringing every day, like a goldfinch, his
bit of straw in his bill: one day the wardrobe; another, a table;
another, a couple of cane-seated chairs; and then again, a few dozen of
dishes; and so on. The nest was plain and small, but pleasant, like all
that is new and prepared for and by love.

Enrique had not told a falsehood: no _lady_ was prese