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Teresa's heart was not telling her father the truth. Teresa had promised to obey, but she still loved Simão. The young woman had strength and pride. She also knew how to act carefully. She did not want to break openly with Tadeu. She hoped to protect the future without entering the convent. In her first letter, she told Simão what had happened. However, she concealed Baltasar's threats. She knew that those words might bring Simão back from Coimbra. She knew the young man's pride and violence.
For a while, everything seemed peaceful. Tadeu spoke of neither marriage nor the convent. Baltasar returned to his home in Castro Daire. Teresa sent good news every week. Simão joined the happiness of love to hard work. He studied without rest and dreamt of a respectable future. That calm ended on a Sunday in June 1803.
Before dawn, Teresa was summoned for the first Mass. She dressed fearfully and went to her father. Tadeu welcomed her with an unnatural cheerfulness. He asked whether she wanted to make his old age happy. Teresa remained silent. Today you will give Baltasar your hand in marriage. Let your father guide you without questions. According to Tadeu, his daughter would be happy after taking that step. He called a father's violence love. He said that he had been kind and patient. Another father might have mistreated her. He might also have shut her in a convent. He might even have reduced her inheritance. Tadeu said that he had waited for his daughter's good sense. For that reason, he had not asked for her opinion again. Teresa looked at him, but barely heard him. The shock had carried her far from her father's words.
What answer can I give you, Father? Tadeu asked her for that sacrifice so that he might be happy. Will my sacrifice make my father happy? Her father rejected the word sacrifice. He assured her that her feelings would change the next day. He presented Baltasar as wealthy, educated, virtuous and handsome. Teresa asked whether Baltasar still wanted to marry her. She had already refused him clearly. Tadeu replied that her cousin was still in love. Baltasar believed that she would come to love him. I shall hate him for ever. Now I detest him more than I thought possible. Teresa raised her hands and began to weep. Kill me, but do not force me to marry him. I shall not marry Baltasar.
Tadeu lost all his calm. He said that Teresa would have to marry. If she refused, she would be cursed for ever. She would die in a convent without seeing sunlight. The house and inheritance would pass to Baltasar. Tadeu said that his daughter was unworthy of the family name. He also recalled the insult made by Domingos. He sent Teresa to her room and shut her in. Teresa rose without tears. She entered her room calmly. Tadeu went to tell Baltasar that he no longer had a daughter.
The narrator now reveals a hidden plan. Teresa did not yet know that plan. After the first refusal, Baltasar had returned to Castro Daire. Before leaving, he had promised to free Teresa from her love for Simão. He did not want Tadeu to send her to a convent. Public opinion might invent shameful stories. He advised Tadeu to keep Teresa at home. Then they would wait for Simão to return from Coimbra. Tadeu accepted his nephew's reasoning. That was why he suddenly became calm. Teresa found that change strange. She suspected a new form of violence. However, she did not know what Baltasar was preparing.
Teresa wrote to Simão at once. This time, she told him everything that had happened. She included Baltasar's threats as well. She warned Simão about her suspicions. The letter did not say that Teresa knew the plan. She merely feared a hidden danger. Simão reached the threats and could barely see. He trembled, and the veins in his forehead were swollen. It was not merely his loving heart. His wounded pride heated his blood. His first idea was to go to Castro Daire. He wanted to kill Baltasar inside his own house. Simão hired a horse and dressed for the journey. The horse was half an hour late.
That wait began to moderate his fury. In his imagination, Teresa appeared as a good angel. Simão looked at the books on his desk. Every page reminded him of Teresa. She had helped him overcome the weariness of study. Love had promised him happiness through work and honour. If he killed Baltasar, he would lose that future. He would have to flee as a murderer. His own father would become his enemy. Teresa too would be horrified by the revenge. Simão read the letter twice more. On the third reading, the threats seemed less powerful. The final lines were full of tenderness. Teresa promised constancy and asked for his love. Those words showed that she did not despise him. Simão abandoned the idea of killing Baltasar. Love moderated his first impulse. However, it erased neither his pride nor the danger.
He decided to return to Viseu in secret. He wanted to hide and see Teresa during the night. He could not stay at an inn. Someone would soon recognise him. The horseman had a cousin near Viseu. That cousin was the farrier João da Cruz. João lived about a kilometre from Viseu. Simão gave the man a jacket and a silk sash. He promised him more if he kept the secret. The next day, João received Simão carefully. His companion took a letter to a beggar woman in Viseu. She delivered the letter to Teresa and brought back the reply.
Teresa's reply was a cry of joy. That night, the family was celebrating Tadeu's birthday. Many relatives would be gathered at the house. At eleven o'clock, Teresa would go to the garden. She would open the door to Simão. Simão had expected only to speak from the street to her window. The possibility of entering the garden filled him with emotion. He imagined holding her hand and feeling her breath. He even thought of an embrace or a kiss. They were only hopes in his imagination.
At the time of departure, Simão was trembling. He did not understand his own shyness. At eleven o'clock, he was beside the garden door. His companion waited farther away with the horse. The music from the house surprised Simão. For three years, he had never heard music in that place. The rooms were usually closed and silent. The merriment of the celebration stirred many doubts in him. He pressed his ear to the keyhole. He heard the flutes and the beating of his own heart.