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In March 1846, a revolt began in Minho. The Setembrists of Braga helped to provoke the riots in Lanhoso. In England, Lord Bentinck gave another explanation in Parliament. According to him, the Cabrais had ordered cemeteries to be built. However, the cemeteries had no walls. Dogs, cats and wild boars entered and dug up the dead. Some Portuguese people called the movement the revolt of the rabble. A note links this account to a letter to Joseph Hume. The Portuguese translation was by António Pereira dos Reis and dated 1847. The narrator jokes about this strange explanation. The narrator imagines enormous Portuguese cats working with the dogs. Even the wild boars from Gerês enter his joke. The narrator pretends that these animals caused the revolt. German journalists called the movement a model of legality. But the real revolt brought very serious dangers. It devastated Alto Minho and Trás-os-Montes. The rebels burnt tax papers. They also drank the wine from rural taverns. Franzini calculated a loss of seventy-seven and a half million cruzados. The narrator criticises the minister's political ideas. However, he recognises his great talent with numbers.
Near Guimarães, Zeferino prepared to act at once. When he heard the alarm in Ronfe, he rang the bell. He gathered workers and idle men from three parishes. They all shouted against the Cabrais. Zeferino tried to explain the land register. But he confused cadastro with canastro, a large basket. He said that the Cabrais were listing all the land. According to him, they wanted to give Portugal to England as security for a debt. He ordered them to burn the papers and kill the Cabralists. The crowd invaded the administrative office in Santo Tirso. It broke windows and burnt every paper it found. Afterwards, the crowd moved towards Famalicão. Many men were drunk on stolen wine. Zeferino appointed himself leader of that crowd. He proposed arresting any parish administrators they found. He also told a lie about Joaquim of Vilalva. He said that Joaquim had beaten the people during the elections. The drunken listeners accepted the lie as a fact. In truth, Zeferino wanted revenge on José Dias. He hoped that José would be killed, imprisoned or sent away.
Vilalva lay in the crowd's path. José heard the shouting and saw the group in the distance. An old religious banner flew above the men. José asked his father to flee. Joaquim refused, as he had never harmed anyone. He thought that they could only remove him from office. José knew about Zeferino's threats and was afraid. People said that thieves and murderers had joined the guerrilla band. Maria told her son to flee to Caldelas. Even at that moment, she blamed Marta for the danger. José put the saddle on the mare and galloped away. His father stayed at home and waited for the rebels.
Zeferino arrived with his father's old sword. The sword had not left its sheath since the old attack on Santo Tirso. Zeferino seized Joaquim and arrested him as a Cabralist. He also ordered the house to be surrounded and searched. Joaquim realised that Zeferino was seeking José because of Marta. Joaquim said that his sons had gone out. He then demanded a legal order for the arrest. Zeferino replied that there was no longer a civil governor. He also claimed that King Miguel I already reigned. With insults and threats, he forced Joaquim to go to prison. Thousands of people entered Famalicão shouting. They cheered King Miguel, the new laws and religion. Sá Miranda said that they should not yet cheer King Miguel. He told them to shout against the government and in favour of religion. Joaquim was guarded by several workers in a tavern. The owner signalled to him, and Joaquim escaped through the yards. Joaquim went to Braga, where the general, the Count of Antas, was staying. José feared that he would be pursued in Caldelas. He therefore also sought refuge in Braga. There, he enlisted in the serezinos battalion. Canon Monte Alverne commanded that battalion.
Meanwhile, Feliciano Rodrigues Prazins returned from America. He was Simeão's brother and Marta's uncle. He stayed in Prazins for only a few days because he feared the guerrilla bands. He went to Porto to secure his financial papers. He returned when the fall of the Cabrais brought greater safety. He then looked more closely at his niece. He gave Marta several gold cords. He then told Simeão that he did not mind marrying her. Simeão lied and claimed that Marta liked her uncle.
Feliciano was forty-seven years old. He was very thin, unlike other wealthy emigrants returning from Brazil. He said that he had a strong body and never took medicine. He saw very poorly and wore only one round monocle. The monocle had a cheap buffalo-horn frame. In Pernambuco, people said that he even saved money on the second lens. He had worked and saved for thirty years. In this way, he had amassed a fortune of three hundred contos. Until then, he had never loved anyone. His chastity was well known among the Portuguese in Recife. The narrator even cites employees, overseers and enslaved women. Some acquaintances called him Feliciano Pudicício. He himself spoke about his chastity to the priest. He explained that work left him no time for vices. He had refused marriages with wealthy women. He did not need them to increase his fortune. He also distrusted the poor young women who sought him. He thought that they loved only his money. When saying sexo, Feliciano pronounced it seixo. Like Hamlet, he said that neither men nor women pleased him.
However, Marta changed that part of his nature. Perhaps the young woman's contempt increased her uncle's desire. The gold gift was a rare break in his miserliness. Marta accepted the cords without joy. Her father had already spoken about the possibility of her marrying her uncle. The gift therefore caused her nausea and almost hatred. Marta felt great relief when Feliciano fled to Porto. For a moment, the narrator seems to attribute tolerance to Feliciano. Immediately afterwards, he corrects that idea. Feliciano did not suspect his niece's dishonour. Nor did he understand the intimacy between Marta and José. Marta was sixteen, but he thought her very innocent. The mason's assistant knew the window story better.
Simeão told his daughter about Feliciano's wish. Marta became frightened and angry. She had grown up without a mother and had been greatly indulged. For this reason, she spoke to her father very firmly. She said clearly that she would not marry her uncle. If her father did not reject the proposal, she would speak to Feliciano herself. José had written from Braga through Father Osório. He asked Marta to be brave. He promised to marry her after the war. That hope gave Marta strength to resist. Simeão said that, below the king, Feliciano was perhaps the richest man in Portugal. Marta always answered with contempt. When her father insisted, she made a terrible threat. She said that she would throw herself into the river like her mother. Simeão lost his appetite. He walked around the house groaning with sadness. Marta stopped appearing at the table. She pretended to be ill so that she would not meet Feliciano.
José and his father remained in Braga. There was still Miguelist unrest in the province. The new government was weak, and Zeferino kept his weapons. The serezinos fought and arrested the Royalists. José took part in a military expedition to Vila Verde. He went on foot despite his poor health. On that journey, he developed severe bronchitis. He remained in bed for a long time. He later seemed to improve, but that hope was false. In fact, his tuberculosis was getting worse. Father Osório visited José and spoke to the doctor. The doctor believed that José would not survive. Osório reminded José's father of his promise about the marriage. Osório said that Marta had trusted José and had been harmed. Joaquim saw no benefit for Marta in such a short marriage. José's parents would inherit their son's property. Even so, Joaquim agreed to keep his word. He would give permission if Maria also agreed. He explained that all the Vilalva property belonged to his wife. He himself had brought very little to the marriage. Joaquim repeated that José would marry only with his mother's permission. He also asked Osório not to speak to him about Marta. He thought that the sick man should think only about salvation. Osório answered with an ironic remark.
José, however, remained cheerful. He was used to suffering and had forgotten perfect health. At times, he coughed with less effort and breathed more easily. At those moments, he believed that he was almost cured. He took syrups, Burgundy pitch and cod-liver oil. He wrote cheerful letters to Osório and Marta. He thanked God and Our Lady for the improvement.
Marta would have refused Feliciano directly. But Zeferino's jealousy changed the situation. He learnt that Feliciano wanted to marry his niece. He also heard that José was close to death in Braga. Zeferino gathered the men in his gang. He invented a political accusation against Feliciano. He said that Feliciano had requested a regiment from General Antas. He also claimed that Feliciano would pay all the troops' expenses. The gang decided to arrest him as a Cabralist. It also wanted to force him to hand over money. Metro, a neighbour, knew about this plan. He secretly warned Feliciano to hide. Feliciano immediately fled to Porto. He wanted Marta to go as well and offered to buy a house in Porto. Marta replied that she was too ill to leave. Simeão accused her of pretending because of José. He said that he had spoken to Doctor Pedrosa. According to the doctor, José had tuberculosis and would soon die.
Marta answered calmly and with a desperate resolve. If she did not marry José in this world, she would marry him in the next. Simeão cursed his daughter but then changed his tone. He said that Feliciano was already old and very thin. In his opinion, her uncle would die quickly. Marta would become rich and could later marry a nobleman. Marta looked at an image of Our Lady of Sorrows. She then murmured that she wished to die.
In the damp cold of November, José became much worse. The tuberculosis entered a second stage. He had chest pains, shortness of breath and fever at night. He was extremely thin and no longer wanted to eat. The doctors told his father to take him home. There, he would have a gentler death beside his family. José was carried to Vilalva in a litter. During the journey, he said that he was breathing more easily. He thought that he would have recovered if he had left Braga earlier.
Maria screamed when she saw her son so ill. She cursed Marta and said that she had killed José. The neighbours agreed with this cruel accusation. However, José was dying of tuberculosis, not because of Marta. That scene distressed José, who cried like a child. He asked his father to take him to Caldelas. He wanted to stay at his friend Osório's house. He also said that he could not bear to see his mother. He did not want Maria near his bed if he died. The fever increased his pain and anger. Father Osório arrived and managed to calm him. Osório promised that José would go to Caldelas the next day. But José never got up again.
Osório remained beside his friend. On Sundays, he left only to celebrate Mass. He then returned with Marta's replies. They were short notes, but they still showed some hope. Even Osório could not persuade José to receive his mother. José could not forgive her hatred of Marta. He said that Maria was responsible before God for Marta's dishonour. Maria heard those words but did not believe them. At last, José could no longer write. He could not even lift his head from the pillow. Even so, he always asked about Marta. He asked them to tell her that he was too ill to write. That message led Marta to write the letter in the Introduction. However, José was no longer able to read it. Maria forced the priest and his companions to enter the room. The priest brought the last rites to the dying man. Other men carried a bell, holy water and torches. After this entrance, José fell into a deep coma. From time to time, he had a weak, dry cough. At those moments, he opened his eyes and looked at Osório. He also seemed to search fearfully for his mother. Osório did not allow Maria to enter the room. José died naturally from tuberculosis.
In Prazins, Marta heard the death bell from Vilalva. She asked her father who had died. Simeão answered calmly. He said that José Dias was now with God. He told his daughter to pray for José's soul. Marta gave a great cry and ran across the fields. She knew where the deep pool in the River Ave was. Her mother had died there by suicide. Simeão ran after his daughter and called for help. Several farm workers also ran after her. They were close to reaching Marta when she fell. Marta lay on the ground in severe convulsions. She did not reach the river and did not die. They carried her home unconscious. Several women stayed to watch over her in bed.
The news reached Caldelas soon afterwards. Dona Teresa and her brother then went to Prazins. They persuaded Simeão to let Marta go with them. She would stay at their home for a while. Marta wept deeply and clung to Osório, José's friend. Simeão told his daughter to stop crying. Osório told him to let Marta cry. Osório concluded, "Stupidity is cruel!"