That dance! Even before it took place it had already been the cause of much fuss and murmuring in Ciudad Real. For it was the first time the Cifuentes family was opening up its house for a party. Up to that point, their reclusive attitude had been traceable to two causes. Idolina, Isabel’s only child, had been confined to her bed for years, immobilized by a paralysis the doctors were unable to diagnose or to heal. As for the other cause, the fact that the Cifuentes family was making such a public display of gaiety was, in some way, a provocation. For it could not have escaped their notice that although they were acknowledged and admitted within the circle of a few families—the good families—in Ciudad Real, this was due only to their increasingly vast wealth. Dazzled by the glitter of gold, many no longer saw the murkiness of Leonardo’s origins. They also managed to forget the scandal of his marriage, which was Isabel Zebadúa’s second. But those on whom such favors were bestowed should always remain conscious that the benevolence they were enjoying, a benevolence that was all the more extraordinary in a society that boasted of its strict standards, was out of proportion to their merits.

Many times, Doña Mercedes had advised Leonardo, “You must be prudent, don’t flaunt your money or make a show of your good fortune. Because envy has a mouth and speaks. And when, as in this case, there are dirty stories to tell. . . .”

But Leonardo had suddenly lost his keen sense of propriety. Encouraged by his successive strokes of luck, eager to cover himself with yet another kind of prestige in La Alazana’s eyes, the prestige of the sumptuous host, he took pains to see to it that this dance would far exceed what people were used to. He hired the best marimba group in Ciudad Real, but he also had a brass band brought in from Acala. Flowers from the local nurseries weren’t enough for him; he had tanales shipped in from Comitán and dazzling red flamboyanes from Tuxtla. The banquet was to be prepared by a famous cook, brought in from Soconusco just for that purpose.