Then, at times, she would become
almost animated in conversation, listening with lively interest to all
I told her about the great world of which she was so ignorant, and
laughing, too, at her own ignorance of things known to every town-bred
child. When these pleasant conversations took place in the kitchen the
two old servants would sit gazing at the face of their mistress,
apparently absorbed in admiration. They evidently regarded her as the
most perfect being that had ever been created; and, though there was
a ludicrous side to their simple idolatry, I ceased to wonder at it
when I began to know her better. They reminded me of two faithful dogs
always watching a beloved master's face, and showing in their eyes,
glad or pathetic, how they sympathise with all his moods. As for old
Colonel Peralta, he did nothing to make me uneasy; after the first day
he never talked to me, scarcely even noticing my presence except to
salute me in a ceremonious manner when we met at table. He would spend
his day between his easy-chair in the house and the rustic bench under
the trees, where he would sit for hours at a time, leaning forward on
his stick, his preternaturally brilliant eyes watching everything
seemingly with a keen, intelligent interest. But he would not speak.
He was waiting for his son, thinking his fierce thoughts to himself.
Like a bird blown far out over a tumultuous sea and wandering lost,
his spirit was ranging over that wild and troubled past--that half a
century of fierce passions and bloody warfare in which he had acted
a conspicuous part.
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