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                               LEON ROCH

                               A ROMANCE

                                  BY

                            B. PÉREZ GALDÓS
                       Author of “Gloria,” etc.

                    FROM THE SPANISH BY CLARA BELL

                        --AUTHORIZED EDITION--

                         TWO VOLUMES--VOL. II.

              REVISED AND CORRECTED IN THE UNITED STATES

                               NEW YORK
                   WILLIAM S. GOTTSBERGER, PUBLISHER
                           11 MURRAY STREET
                                 1888




  Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1886

  BY WILLIAM S. GOTTSBERGER

  in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington


  THIS TRANSLATION WAS MADE EXPRESSLY FOR THE PUBLISHER




CONTENTS.

VOLUME II.


  CHAPTER                                            PAGE

  I.--WHICH TREATS OF THE CASTILIAN NOBILITY,
      OF THE LAWS OF MORALITY, OF ALL THAT
      IS MOST VENERABLE, AND OTHER SMALL
      MATTERS,                                          1

  II.--A PICTURE WHICH MIGHT BE A ZURBARAN BUT
       IS ONLY BY GOYA,                                14

  III.--THE REVOLUTION,                                22

  IV.--SUING OR DEFIANT?                               40

  V.--THE ICE GIVES WAY,                               50

  VI.--RETURN TO CONSCIOUSNESS,                        72

  VII.--WILL SHE DIE?                                  78

  VIII.--LEON ROCH PAYS A VISIT,                       92

  IX.--A PARTING,                                     103

  X.--BREAKFAST,                                      109

  XI.--THE PRIEST LIES AND THE COCK CROWS,            119

  XII.--THE STRIFE OF WORDS,                          128

  XIII.--ICES, HAM, CIGARS AND WINE,                  138

  XIV.--A NOCTURNAL VISIT,                            144

  XV.--LATET ANGUIS,                                  153

  XVI.--AN EXCESS OF ZEAL,                            161

  XVII.--THE TRUTH,                                   175

  XVIII.--THE BATTLE,                                 183

  XIX.--VULNERANT OMNES, ULTIMA NECAT,                205

  XX.--IN THE _Incroyable_ DRAWING-ROOM,              214

  XXI.--IMPOSSIBILITIES,                              227

  XXII.--VISITS OF CONDOLENCE,                        245

  XXIII.--THE VICTIMIZED HUSBAND,                     252

  XXIV.--THREE AGAINST TWO,                           268

  XXV.--THE END,                                      282




LEON ROCH




LEON ROCH.

PART II.




CHAPTER I.

WHICH TREATS OF THE CASTILIAN NOBILITY, OF THE LAWS OF MORALITY, OF
ALL THAT IS MOST VENERABLE, AND OTHER SMALL MATTERS.


The crisis through which the house of Telleria was passing remained
unsolved. In fact the catastrophe was so complete that to try to stem
it seemed madness; nothing could be done but to conceal it as long
as possible. The incorrigible actors in the wretched drama strained
every nerve to prolong their reign before abdicating disgracefully and
retiring into poverty; and though, behind the scenes, they were forced
to soliloquise on the fact that they had no servants, that there was
not a shop that would trust them, that they had not the bread of vanity
in the form of a carriage, to the world they made it known that they
were all ill. The marquis, poor man, suffered terribly from rheumatism;
the marquesa--it was most distressing--had sunk into an alarming state
of debility; the whole family were depressed and ailing. They received
no one, not even their most intimate friends; they gave no dinners, not
even to the hungry; they went nowhere, not even to the most interesting
first nights.

At church was the only place where they could appear with such rueful
countenances. What can be more edifying than to listen to the counsels
of religion and to shed a tear at the feet of the Mother of Sorrows.
Poor Milagros! The parishioners, who saw her come in and go out with a
penitent air that was an example to all, paid her woes the tribute they
claimed:

“Poor woman! what a trouble her sons have been to her!”

The evening meetings at the Marquesa de San Salomó’s, which were the
only refuge of the distressed family, were very quiet and consisted
of one or two poets, a few handsome women, half a dozen models of
