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Here begins the second part of this story. Domingos Botelho awoke to a great commotion in the house. He asked his wife, in the adjoining room, what was happening. As no one answered, he rang the bell frantically. At the same time, he shouted, fearing that the house was on fire. When Rita Preciosa appeared, he was putting his breeches on back to front. ‘What is this uproar, and who is shouting?’ he asked. ‘You are the one shouting the loudest,’ Rita replied. Rita explained that it was their daughters. He demanded the reason in a single word. ‘Simão has killed a man,’ Rita declared. Domingos assumed that the killing had happened in Coimbra. In that case, he could not understand such a fuss. ‘It was not in Coimbra; it was in Viseu,’ Rita corrected him. Rita identified the dead man as Baltasar Coutinho. She added that Baltasar was Tadeu de Albuquerque's nephew. Domingos immediately changed his expression and manner. His first question was whether Simão was under arrest.
Rita replied that he was at the visiting judge's house. Domingos immediately sent for the chief bailiff. Rita asked why he did not dress and visit the judge. Rita told him to learn what had happened from his son. ‘I am not a father: I am the chief magistrate,’ Domingos declared. As a magistrate, it was not his place to question Simão. He ordered his daughters to be quiet or go and cry in the garden. The bailiff later related everything he knew. It had been established that Simão's love for Teresa had caused the disaster. Domingos ordered the judge to enforce the law. If he lacked rigour, the chief magistrate would compel him to act. After the bailiff left, Rita reproached her husband. He would not protect a killer driven by jealousy. Worse still, the jealousy was due to the daughter of an enemy. He would rather see Simão dead than linked to the Albuquerques. He had already threatened to expel him from the family home over that correspondence. He would not sacrifice his integrity for a disobedient son and killer.
Rita argued at length, partly out of maternal affection. She was also driven by her usual spirit of contradiction. However, she had never seen Domingos so furious and harsh. He said that he had tolerated her rule only in small matters, never in questions of honour. ‘Leave me!’ he ordered, with an expression Rita had never seen before. She then felt the full inequality of her position and withdrew.
At that moment, the visiting judge entered the room. Domingos received him sternly, showing no gratitude. The judge began by offering his condolences for the tragedy. Domingos asked whether proceedings had already begun. The judge had accepted the complaint as the law required. Domingos said that he would compel him if he refused. Simão's position, the judge explained, was extremely grave. The young man confessed everything calmly. He said that he had killed the tormentor of the woman he loved. ‘He did very well,’ Domingos interrupted with a dry laugh. The judge had asked Simão whether he had acted in self-defence. He had even signalled to him to answer yes. Simão had rejected that version of events. Had he merely defended himself, he would have used his boot, not a pistol. By legitimate means, the judge had sought answers indicating hallucination, madness or diminished responsibility. Simão, however, always replied calmly and lucidly. Nothing suggested an absence of intention or sound judgement. The judge wished to help him, but could no longer do so. Domingos replied that he neither could nor wished to help him. He asked only whether Simão was already in prison. The judge explained that he was still keeping him at home. He wanted to know whether a decent prison room should be prepared for him. Domingos ordered him to be treated as a man without relatives. The judge reminded him that he was a father; Domingos replied that he was a magistrate. The judge found the severity excessive: the law would suffice without a father's hatred. Domingos denied hating Simão, disowned him and told the judge to do his duty. As a friend, Domingos would later thank the judge for that kindness.
The judge left and found Simão just as calm as before. The judge told Simão that Domingos was irate and refused to influence the proceedings or protect him. ‘What does that matter?’ Simão asked calmly. The judge replied that such help might soften the sentence. To Simão, the sentence did not matter either. The judge asked whether he was indifferent to going to the gallows. ‘No, sir; the fate of my head is a matter of indifference to my heart,’ he replied. The judge revealed that Domingos refused even basic support. Simão saw no difference between dying of hunger and dying on the scaffold. The judge advised him to write to his mother. Simão asked what he could possibly request from his mother. The judge insisted that otherwise no one would feed him. Simão accused him of taking him for a wretch worried about his next meal. Such petty matters of the stomach were not the judge's concern. Irritated, the judge told him to do as he pleased. He handed the prisoner to the chief bailiff without requesting an armed escort.
The gaoler received him respectfully and gave him one of the best rooms in the prison, which was still bare and empty. Another prisoner lent him a wooden chair. Simão sat down, folded his arms and began to reflect. Soon afterwards, a servant brought him lunch and a letter which Rita had sent without her husband's knowledge. Simão left the basket on the floor and read the letter first. Rita called him unfortunate and said that he was lost. She could not help him because Domingos remained inflexible. She had sent lunch secretly and might not be able to send dinner. In her distress, she wished that he had died at birth, as she had first been told, but destiny had not released its victim. She asked why he had left Coimbra and spent a fortnight in hiding without writing to her. Simão stopped reading, confused. His mother had not sent for João da Cruz. Nor had she been the one who sent the money. The servant warned him that his lunch was growing cold. Simão continued reading without hearing him.
Manoel, having fled to Spain, was consuming her savings; perhaps she could only help Simão later. She feared that Domingos would take the family to Vila Real and abandon the trial to the severity of the law. The lecturer had reported the missed classes by letter; the muleteer, Simão's departure for Porto. Domingos had already struck Ritinha for trying to visit her brother. Rita admitted that she had little influence over her furious husband. After reflecting, Simão concluded that the money had come from João. He still did not know that Mariana had given her own savings to her father. João had merely maintained the fiction that the gift came from Simão's mother. Simão's eyes filled with tears. The servant advised him to eat: suffering was for men, and God would help. Simão ordered the lunch taken away and forbade the servant to return: he had no family and wanted nothing from his parents. He sent word to Rita that he was calm, well lodged, happy and proud of his fate. The servant thought him mad, and Rita considered that suspicion likely.
The gaoler returned accompanied by Mariana. Until then, she had never even shaken Simão's hand. Now she ran towards him with open arms. Her face was covered in tears. The gaoler withdrew, thinking her prettier than Teresa. Simão asked Mariana not to cry. If anyone should weep there, it was he. But they would be worthy tears, born of gratitude. He expressed gratitude for all the favours he had received from her and João. He had just learnt that Rita had never sent any money. He therefore believed that the money had come from João. Mariana hid her face in her tear-soaked apron. Simão quietly asked whether João had been in danger. Mariana replied that he had not and was at home. João seemed furious and had wanted to come to the prison. Mariana had prevented him from leaving. No one had pursued João after his escape. Simão asked her to return quickly and reassure him. Mariana first needed to carry out her father's instructions. She would then leave and return a short while later. Simão asked for a table, a chair, paper and an inkpot. He gave her money for the purchases. Mariana promised that everything would arrive quickly; she had money with her, but João had told her to wait and see whether the family would help. Simão repeated that he had no family and offered her the money. She refused to accept it without her father's permission. She then asked about the state of his wound. Simão smiled, for he had even forgotten about it. The wound seemed well and no longer hurt. He then asked whether Mariana had heard anything about Teresa. She had learnt that Teresa was on her way to Porto. Tadeu had ordered her to be placed unconscious in the litter. A large crowd was still gathered outside his house. Simão said that he already knew enough. ‘No unfortunate person is entirely without support,’ he observed. He asked Mariana to think of her guest. He called her his angel of mercy. Tears sprang once more from Mariana's eyes. ‘You shall not die abandoned,’ she promised between sobs. ‘Think of it as gaining a sister today,’ she added. From her large pockets, she took a parcel of biscuits. She also took out a bottle of cinnamon liqueur. She placed both things on the borrowed chair. ‘It is a poor lunch, but I found nothing else ready,’ she explained. She then left quickly, sparing Simão further words of gratitude.