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Mariana watched her father treat Simão's arm. When she saw the wound, the young woman fainted. João laughed loudly at his daughter's weakness. Mariana's reaction also surprised Simão. She was used to her father's many wounds. The previous year, Mariana had treated three wounds to his head. She had even shaved his hair with a razor. João concluded that a gentleman's blood must be different. When Mariana came round, she felt ashamed.
João asked whether she wished to care for Simão. ‘Gladly, if Father wishes,’ Mariana replied. João ordered her to remain near the patient. Mariana was to give Simão broth several times. She was also to wash the wound and change the dressings. João recommended plenty of vinegar when the arm grew dark. Mariana was to talk to Simão and distract him. She was not to let him brood or write too much. João asked Simão not to stand on ceremony. He could simply address Mariana as ‘girl’. In that house, she would serve the guest without pride.
João had never forgotten the help given by Simão's father. Domingos Botelho had saved him from prison and a worse fate. Without that help, Mariana might have been left with nothing. João had a small house and some property. Simão suggested that Mariana could marry into a good farming family. João replied that there was no shortage of suitors. Even a church officer wished to marry her. However, Mariana wanted none of them. João did not wish to lose his daughter's company either. Mariana prevented many of her father's fights. At fairs, she drew him away from drink and disorder. She tugged at his jacket and led him away. When she invoked her dead mother, João obeyed. Mariana listened to her father with her face hidden in her apron. Simão appreciated the simplicity and tenderness of that scene.
João was called away to shoe a horse. Before leaving, João entrusted the patient to his daughter. ‘Care for him as if he were your brother or husband.’ The word husband came naturally from João's lips. But Mariana's face turned red.
The young woman remained beside the bedroom door. Simão regretted that she had been made his nurse. Perhaps she would rather sew on the veranda. ‘I care nothing about that,’ Mariana replied. Simão invited her to sit down and bring her sewing. Then he asked for a sheet of paper and a pencil. Mariana reminded him of her father's order. The patient was not to write much. Simão promised to write only a few lines. She gave him the paper, but warned him of a danger. A lost letter could reveal the secret.
Simão asked what secret she knew. Mariana knew of Simão's love for a young lady in the city. She also knew that two men had been found dead. The dead men were servants of that lady's cousin. Mariana understood that the wound came from that encounter. Simão then stopped pretending ignorance. He admitted that he had had a bad encounter. Mariana asked God to let it be the last. She prayed to the Lord of the Stations to help Simão overcome that passion. Simão said that he would go to Coimbra after recovering. The young lady would remain at home. Mariana had promised two measures of wax if that happened. However, her heart told her that Simão would not leave. Simão thanked her for the good she wished him. He did not understand how he had deserved that friendship.
Mariana replied that remembering Domingos Botelho was enough. Simão's father had saved João da Cruz. Mariana had been thirteen when João was imprisoned. If he had been condemned to death, she would have jumped into a well. If he had been sent far away, she would have gone with him. Mariana thanked God each day for her father's salvation. She also prayed for many joys for Domingos Botelho. She had gone to the city to thank Simão's mother. During that visit, she had also met his sisters. Young Rita had given her a skirt. Mariana still kept that skirt like a relic.
Mariana had once seen Simão beat some servants violently. She had told her father about the scene. João had laughed until he fell to the ground. Before his recent arrival, Mariana had had a dream. In the dream, she saw a great deal of blood. Someone very dear fell into a deep pit. Simão said that dreams were not signs. Mariana believed that her dreams came true.
At that moment, João entered with a letter. The poor messenger had brought it from the convent. Simão began to read Teresa's letter. Mariana watched his face closely. Each sign of sorrow made her suffer too. Unable to wait, she asked whether it was bad news. João rebuked his daughter's boldness. Simão replied that Mariana could be his friend. The unhappy knew the value of friends best. Then Simão said that Tadeu had taken Teresa to the convent. João insulted Tadeu and clenched his hands in anger. At that moment, joy shone in Mariana's eyes. The narrator calls that brief joy innocent.
Simão wanted to reply to Teresa at once. Mariana brought a chair closer so that he could write. It was not Teresa who brought the chair. Mariana then went to watch the broth.
‘It is necessary to get you out of there,’ Simão wrote. That convent must have a way out. Teresa was to look for that way out. Then she would give him the night and time of her escape. Simão would wait for her at the agreed place. If Teresa could not escape, Simão would force the doors open. He also considered a possible transfer to another convent. In that case, Teresa was to warn him. Simão would go, alone or with others, to wait for her on the road. There, he would stop the transfer and take Teresa away.
Simão asked Teresa to be brave. She was not to be frightened by his actions. He said that his life had no purpose except to save her. He declared that he believed in Teresa's faithfulness. That faithfulness was to last in life and death. ‘Do not suffer patiently; fight with courage.’ For Simão, obeying an unjust father was shameful. He asked her to write whenever she could. He also said that he was nearly recovered. The loss of blood had not taken away the strength of his heart.
Simão placed the letter in his wallet. Then he took out some silver coins. He gave the letter and the money to João. João was to pay the poor messenger. Simão remained behind rereading Teresa's letter. He also thought about the reply he had just written.
In the kitchen, João spoke privately with Mariana. He suspected that their guest had no money left. The wallet had felt as light as if it were empty. João wished to offer Simão some money. But he did not know how to make him accept it. Mariana promised to think of a solution. She had money earned from her calves. It was the equivalent of ten and three-quarter gold coins. João asked his daughter to devise an explanation. The explanation had to overcome Simão's scruples.
Mariana then took some broth to Simão. The patient was lost in his thoughts. He refused the broth because he had no appetite. He asked Mariana to leave him alone. Mariana asked whether he did not want her there. She promised to return when Simão called her. Mariana's eyes filled with tears. Simão noticed her tears and devotion. But at that moment he said nothing to her.
Simão was left alone with a very practical problem. The heroes of novels also need money. Many writers prefer to hide that need. Yet the lack of money genuinely worried Simão. How would he pay for João's hospitality? How would he repay Mariana's care? If Teresa escaped, how would he support them both? Simão had left Coimbra with a small allowance. Hiring the mount had consumed nearly all of it. He had also paid the helpful muleteer generously. The remainder had been given to the bearer of the letter.
Simão then thought of writing to his mother. But how would he explain his presence in that house? The letter could reveal his hiding place. It could also link him to the deaths of the servants. Moreover, Simão knew that his mother did not love him. Perhaps his mother would send only enough money for the journey to Coimbra.
Tired of thinking, Simão fell deeply asleep. Mariana entered the room without making a sound. She covered his face to protect him from the flies. Then she saw the wallet on a stool. Mariana took the wallet out of the room. She could not read the papers kept inside it. In one compartment she found only two small coins. Mariana returned the wallet to the same place. Next, she examined Simão's clothes. The pockets were completely empty.
Mariana sat in a dark corner to think. She spent half an hour troubled by that problem. Then she spoke with her father for a long time. João initially opposed his daughter's idea. Mariana answered every objection and convinced him. João finally agreed to follow her plan. He would not use the money kept beneath the hearth. The aid would come from Mariana's savings.
The young woman hurried to her chest. She took out a linen purse containing money. There were also necklaces, rings and earrings in the chest. Mariana put the gold jewellery in a small box. Then she gave her father her own purse. João saddled the mare and left the house.
Mariana returned to Simão's side. When he awoke, Mariana told him a lie. She said that Simão's mother knew his hiding place. She also claimed that his mother had summoned João. Simão was astonished by that news. It seemed impossible to him that his mother knew. He feared that they might suspect him of the servants' deaths. Mariana replied that there were no witnesses. João had also said that he was not afraid. Then Mariana offered to fetch the broth.
Simão agreed and called Mariana his friend. ‘Heaven has given me, in you, the friendship of a sister.’ Mariana felt joyful, but she found no words. She returned with a large bowl of broth. She also carried a dish with half a chicken. Simão smiled at so much food. Mariana asked him to eat as much as he could. She had bought a new bowl just for him. She had thought that he had rejected the old bowl. Simão explained that he had no appetite.
‘Eat because I ask you to,’ Mariana insisted. ‘Imagine that I am a sister asking you.’ Simão agreed to eat in order to please Mariana. The food was also necessary for his recovery.
At that moment, an idea passed through Simão's mind. Perhaps Mariana felt love for him. It was only Simão's suspicion, not a certainty. Simão had no love to offer Mariana. Nor did he wish to lie to her about his feelings. Therefore, he decided not to show that he suspected it. Yet Mariana's care gave him comfort. The possibility of being loved also flattered him. Simão remained passionately in love with Teresa.