he studied
passionately. He rarely went from the house. When he did so, it was
generally to read in the "Ateneo" the books which he was unable to buy.

"You read here a great deal, friend Rivera," some friend would say,
laying his hand on his shoulder.

"It is because I haven't any money," he would reply, with a laugh.

When he returned home at half-past ten or eleven in the evening, his
wife would be just about going to bed. That was the happiest time for
Maximina. Since the birth of the baby they occupied separate apartments;
she slept in a room with two beds, with Juana; he alone, in another
chamber. Miguel enjoyed carrying to her room a little lunch, either
brought in from outside or something already in the house; for as
Maximina was still nursing the baby, who was now fifteen months old, she
felt very weary at this time of the day. How great the poor girl's
pleasure was to see her husband coming in punctually with a slice of ham
or some dainty bit of sweetmeat! If he went to the extravagance of
bringing her something expensive, she would say:--

"That must last three days."

And in spite of all his protests, she would insist upon it being divided
into three parts.

Miguel watched her eating with a peculiar feeling of rapture; he would
offer her a glass of wine, cut the bread for her, and carry away all the
dishes. And then in a whisper, so as not to wake the baby, who was
sleeping in his crib, they would talk sometimes for an hour and more.

Meanwhile Juana, still dressed, would be sound asleep in a room near the
kitchen. Miguel, as he went to his chamber, would waken her (not a very
easy task); and she, staggering with sleep, would go to her mistress's
room for the rest of the night.

The young man, aged fifteen months, gave them, without being conscious
of it, more enjoyment than all the tenors of the opera and the
_zarzuela_ combined. He was constantly travelling, if we can allow that
term to be applied to his going like a drunken man making _s_'s, from
the arms of his father to those of his mother. The tyranny which he
exercised in that house was something scandalous. Above all, toward
Maximina he behaved in a manner exceedingly boorish, without there being
the least reason for him to be offended with her. For though it was very
clear that she was the one who from her own vitality furnished him
nutriment, not only did he not show her the lofty consideration which
she deserved, but he evidently had a p