she appears in chapters ix, x, xviii, xx and xxvii under the name "gertrude". her portrait is one of the longest and most detailed of the whole novel; it deals with her previous life, her difficult relationship with her family, her initial rejection for religious life, and the strength and the cruelty of her father which finally forced her to live as a nun. it is a romanticized account, but based on virginia de leyva's character. it is described through a "flashbacks" technique, along with particular combinations of nouns and adjectives which suggests a hidden anguished secret in the nun's previous life.