They resumed their life together and were as happy as they had been at the start, he would have said even happier. So strong was his wife’s passion for him that he came to love her as he had before. They lived like this for two years. By then his ardor had waned, and a few fleeting love affairs came between them. Contrary to what she had said, Maria Cora forgave him these minor flings, which, besides, were not as long-lasting or as important as the Dolores affair. They did have quarrels, though, major ones. There were violent scenes. It seems that, more than once, she even threatened to kill herself; but, although she didn’t lack the necessary courage to do so, she made no actual attempt on her life, because it would have grieved her to leave the very cause of her distress, namely, her husband. João da Fonseca realized this and possibly exploited the power he had over his wife.

Politics further complicated this situation. João da Fonseca was on the side of the revolution, knew several of its leaders, and personally detested some of their opponents. Because of certain family ties, Maria Cora was against the Federalists. These opposing views were not enough to cause them to part, nor can it be said that it soured their life together. She, who was passionate about everything, was no less passionate in condemning the revolution, calling its leaders and officials by the very coarsest of names; and he, equally given to excess, responded with equal loathing, and yet these political tiffs would merely have added to their numerous domestic disagreements had not a new Dolores appeared on the scene—this time a woman called Prazeres, who was neither Chilean nor an acrobat—thus reviving the bitter times they had lived through before. Prazeres had connections with the rebels, not only political, but sentimental, for she was married to a Federalist. I met her shortly afterward, and she was, indeed, a beautiful, elegant woman; and since João da Fonseca was a handsome, seductive man, they seemed fated to fall passionately in love, and so it was. Various other things happened, some graver than others, until one decisive incident brought about the couple’s final separation.