“I’ve had my doubts for some time now,” her husband said gravely. “Her previous matrimonial modesty, in both her marriages, cannot be reconciled with the positive frenzy for silks, velvets, laces, and precious stones she has displayed since her return from Rio de Janeiro. That was when I began to observe her closely. Her conversations revolved entirely around such fripperies; if I talked to her about the royal courts of olden times, she would immediately ask about the dresses worn by the ladies; if she received a visit from a lady when I was out, before telling me the purpose of the visit she would first describe the visitor’s outfit, approving of some items and criticizing others. One day, which I am sure Your Reverence will remember, she offered to make a new dress every year for the statue of Our Lady in the parish church. These were all serious symptoms in themselves, but it was last night that her complete insanity manifested itself. She had carefully selected and made all the final alterations to the gown she was planning to wear to the municipal ball; her only hesitation was between a garnet or sapphire necklace. The day before yesterday, she asked me which one she should wear; I replied that either one would go very well. Yesterday, she repeated the question over breakfast; shortly after lunch I found her silent and thoughtful.

“ ‘What’s the matter?” I asked her.

“ ‘I’d like to wear the garnet necklace, but the sapphire one is so pretty!’

“ ‘So wear the sapphire one.’

“ ‘But then what about the garnets?’

“Anyway, the afternoon and evening passed without any further developments. We had supper and went to bed. In the middle of the night, sometime around one-thirty, I woke up and she wasn’t there. I got out of bed, went to our dressing room, and found her with the two necklaces, trying them on in front of the mirror, first one, then the other. She was obviously deranged, so I had her committed at once.”

The alienist’s response did not satisfy Father Lopes, but he said nothing. The alienist, however, understood the priest’s silence and explained to him that Dona Evarista’s case was one of “sumptuary mania,” not incurable, and certainly worthy of study.

“In six weeks she’ll be cured,” he concluded. “I’m sure of it.”

The eminent doctor’s selfless devotion further enhanced his standing in the town. Rumors, suspicions, and doubts all crumbled into dust, for he had not hesitated to lock up his own wife, whom he loved with all his heart. No one could oppose him now, still less accuse him of having anything but strictly scientific motives.

He was a great and austere man, Hippocrates and Cato rolled into one.

Chapter 11

ITAGUAÍ’S ASTONISHMENT