I expounded José Dias’ idea to Capitu. She listened attentively to me, then looked sad:
“If you go,” she said, “you’ll completely forget me.”
“Never!”
“You will. They say Europe is so beautiful, and Italy most of all. Isn’t that where the singers come from? You’ll forget me, Bentinho. Isn’t there some other way? Dona Glória is dying for you to leave the seminary.”
“Yes, but she thinks she’s tied by the promise.”
Capitu could think of no other way, but neither could she persuade herself to adopt this one. In any case, she asked me, if I did go to Rome, to swear that I would be back in six months.
“I swear.”
“Do you swear by God?”
“By God, by anything you want. I swear that at the end of six months I’ll be back.”
“And if the Pope hasn’t released you yet?”
“I’ll send a message saying just that.”
“And what if you lie?”
These words hurt me a great deal, and I couldn’t immediately think how to reply. Capitu treated the matter as a joke, laughing and calling me a sly dog. Afterwards, she said she believed I would keep my word, but even so she did not consent at once; she was going to see if there was not some other way, and wanted me to do the same.
When I went back to the seminary, I told everything to my friend Escobar, who heard me with the same attention, and at the end had the same sadness on his face that she had had. His eyes, usually so elusive, almost ate me up with avid attention. Suddenly, I saw a flash of light in his face, the reflection of an idea. I heard him say eagerly:
“No, Bentinho, that’s not necessary. There’s a better way—not better, because the Holy Father is always better than anything—but there’s something that will produce the same effect.”
“What is it?”
“Your mother made a promise to God to give him a priest, didn’t she? Well, give him a priest, but not you. She can easily take an orphan lad, get him ordained at her expense, and a priest is presented at the altar, without you …”
“I see, I see, that’s it.”
“Don’t you think so?,” he went on, “Consult the protonotary about it; he’ll tell you if it’s not the same thing, and I’ll consult him myself, if you want; and if he hesitates, we’ll speak to the bishop.”
I reflected:
“Yes, I think that’s the way; it is true that the promise is kept, if the priest is not forfeited.”
Escobar observed that, from the financial point of view, it was an easy matter; my mother would spend the same as on me, and an orphan would not be in need of any great luxuries. He quoted the total of the house rents, 1,070 milreis, not to mention the slaves …
“That’s the way,” I said.
“And we’ll leave together.”
“You too?”
“Me too. I’m going to improve my Latin and leave; I won’t bother with theology. Even Latin is unnecessary; what use is it in business?”
“In hoc signo vinces,” I said laughing.
I was in joking mood. Oh, how hope brightens everything! Escobar smiled, and seemed to like my reply. Then we began to think about our own affairs, each of us staring into the distance, probably. That was what he was doing, when I came out my reverie, and again thanked him for thinking of the plan; there could be no better solution. Escobar listened to me, delighted.
“Once again,” he said gravely, “religion and liberty link hands.”