He had come to see her with
his daughters to invite her to make his house her home during her stay
in Buenos Ayres. He also wished to help her with her affairs, which,
his friend the General had informed him, were in some confusion. He
had, he concluded, many influential friends in the sister city, who
would be ready to assist him in arranging matters for her.
Demetria, recovering from the nervousness she had experienced on finding
that Paquita's great friends were her visitors, thanked him warmly and
accepted his offer of a home and assistance; then, with a quiet dignity
and self-possession one would hardly expect from a girl coming amongst
fashionable people for the first time in her life, she greeted her
new-found relations and thanked them for their visit.
As they insisted on taking Demetria away with them at once, she left
us to make her preparations, while Paquita remained conversing with
her friends, having many questions to ask them. She was consumed with
anxiety to know how her family, and especially her father, who made
the domestic laws, now, after so many months, regarded her elopement
and marriage with me. Her friends, however, either knew nothing or
would not tell her what they knew.
Poor Demetria! she had, with no time given her for reflection, taken
the wise course of at once accepting the offer of her influential and
extremely dignified kinsman; but it was hard for her to leave her
friends at such short notice, and when she came back prepared for her
departure the separation tried her severely.
Pages:
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368