All complaints against the alienist ceased, as did any lingering traces of resentment for what he had done. Ever since he had declared the Casa Verde’s inmates to be completely sane, they had all been filled with a sense of profound gratitude and fervent enthusiasm. Many of them felt that the alienist deserved special recognition for his services and even gave a ball in his honor, followed by further dinners and celebrations. The chronicles say that, at first, Dona Evarista considered asking for a separation, but the sad prospect of losing the companionship of such a great man overcame any wounded feelings, and the couple ended up even happier than before.

The friendship between the alienist and the apothecary remained equally close. The latter concluded from Simão Bacamarte’s memorandum that, in times of revolution, prudence is the most important virtue, and he greatly appreciated the alienist’s magnanimity in extending him the hand of friendship when he granted him his liberty.

“He is indeed a great man,” said Soares to his wife, referring to the alienist’s gesture.

Needless to say, Mateus the saddler, Costa, Coelho, Martim Brito, and all the others mentioned earlier were free to return to their former habits and occupations. Martim Brito, locked up on account of that overenthusiastic speech in praise of Dona Evarista, now gave another speech in honor of the eminent doctor “whose exalted genius spreads its wings far above the sun and leaves beneath it all other spirits of the earth.”

“Thank you for your kind words,” replied the alienist, “which only serve to remind me how right I was to release you.”

Meanwhile, the council, which had replied to Simão Bacamarte’s memorandum saying that it would set out its position concerning the end of paragraph four in due course, finally set about legislating on the matter. A bylaw was adopted, without debate, authorizing the alienist to detain in the Casa Verde anyone whose mental faculties were found to be in perfect equilibrium. And after the council’s previous painful experience, a clause was included stating that such authorization was provisional in nature and limited to one year, so that the new theory could be put to the test, and authorizing the council to close down the Casa Verde at any time, should this be deemed advisable for reasons of public order. Councillor Freitas also proposed a provision that under no circumstances should any councillor be committed to the mental asylum, and this clause was accepted, voted through, and included in the bylaw, despite Councillor Galvão’s objections. The latter’s main argument was that the council, in passing legislation relating to a scientific experiment, could not exclude its own members from the consequences of the law; such an exemption was both odious and ridiculous. As soon as he uttered those two words, the other councillors erupted in howls of disapproval at their colleague’s audacity and foolishness; for his part, he heard them out and simply repeated, calmly, that he would vote against the exemption.