FELISBERTO HERNANDEZ
399
And then came a memorable afternoon when , in spite o f the mild
wea ther, Mary fill ed Da isy w ith ho t wa ter, pac ked him into bed with
her for hi s nap , and went out.
Th a t evening he kept scanning her face as if wa tchin g for an
enemy. She no ti ced hi s qui ck, nervous ges tures, his stilted wa lk. He
was wa itin g for th e si gn tha t he' d been found out.
Fin a ll y, one morning, it happened .
Once, some time ago, when Mary had been compla ining of Al ex 's
bea rd , Horace had said: " Beller than those twin maids of yours th at you
can 't tell apart !"
She' d answered: "Why, do you have anything spec ial to say to
either one o f them? Have you gOllen them mixed up in some way?"
" Yes, I was calling you once, and who do you think came in ?The
one tha t just happens to carr y your name."
After which the twins had been ordered to stay o ut o f sight when
he was home. But see ing one vani sh through a door once a t hi s
approach , he'd ch ased her, thinking she was a stranger, and run into
his wife. Since then Mary had them come in onl y a few ho urs in the
morning and never took her eye off them .
T he day he was fo und out , Ma ry had caught the twins raisin g
Da isy's ni ghti e when it was n 't time to dress her or changer her wa ter.
As they left the bedroom , she went in . In a lillie whil e the twins saw her
rush across the courtya rd into the kitchen , and back aga in , with the big
cho pp in g knife. They were fri ghtened and tried
to
fo ll ow her; but she
slammed the door on them . When they peeped through the keyho le her
back bl ocked their vi ew; so they moved to a nother door. She had Da isy
spread o n a ta ble, as for an opera ti on , and was sta bbing her a ll over,
fl a iling away as the wa ter spl ashed in her face. Two small spurts rose
from one o f Da isy's sho ulders, mixing in the air, like the wa ter from
the fountain in the ga rden ; and there was a gush from her bell y,
stirring under her torn ni ghtgown . One o f the twins had knelt on a
cushi on , with a hand over one eye, the other eye stuck to the keyho le.
When the draft tha t came through the ho le made her eye run , she
changed pl aces with her sister. Ma ry was a lso crying as she fin a ll y
dropped the knife on Da isy and fell into an armchair, burying her face
in her hands. The twins lost interes t in the scene and returned
to
the
kitchen . But soon she call ed them bac k up to help her pack. She' d
decided to handl e the situa ti on with the wounded di gnity o f a fall en
queen . Determined
to
puni sh Horace, she instructed the twins to say
she would not receive him, in case he showed up before she was ready.
She started ma kin g arrangements for a long trip, and gave the twins
