The Secret of Augusta E-Book

Machado de Assis

• Herausgeber: SAMPI Books
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2025

Seitenzahl: 37

Beschreibung

In "The Secret of Augusta", Machado de Assis weaves a tale of intrigue and appearances. Vasconcelos, a man in debt, tries to marry off his daughter Adelaide to Gomes to restore his fortune but faces unexpected resistance from his wife, Augusta. The reason for her refusal remains a mystery until an ironic and revealing secret comes to light, exposing the vanities and weaknesses of the society of the time.

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

The Secret of Augusta

SYNOPSIS

NOTICE

I

II

III

IV

V

VI

VII

The Secret of Augusta

Machado de Assis

SYNOPSIS

In “The Secret of Augusta”, Machado de Assis weaves a tale of intrigue and appearances. Vasconcelos, a man in debt, tries to marry off his daughter Adelaide to Gomes to restore his fortune but faces unexpected resistance from his wife, Augusta. The reason for her refusal remains a mystery until an ironic and revealing secret comes to light, exposing the vanities and weaknesses of the society of the time.

Keywords

Secret, appearances, revelation

NOTICE

This text is a work in the public domain and reflects the norms, values and perspectives of its time. Some readers may find parts of this content offensive or disturbing, given the evolution in social norms and in our collective understanding of issues of equality, human rights and mutual respect. We ask readers to approach this material with an understanding of the historical era in which it was written, recognizing that it may contain language, ideas or descriptions that are incompatible with today's ethical and moral standards.

Names from foreign languages will be preserved in their original form, with no translation.

I

It's eleven o'clock in the morning.

D. Augusta Vasconcelos is reclining on a sofa with a book in her hand. Adelaide, her daughter, runs her fingers over the piano keyboard.

"It's Dad awake yet?" Adelaide asks her mother.

"No," she replied, without lifting her eyes from the book.

Adelaide got up and went to Augusta.

"But it's so late, Mom," she said. "It's eleven o'clock. Dad sleeps a lot."

Augusta dropped the book into her lap and said, looking at Adelaide:

"It's just that he's naturally gone to bed late."

"I've noticed that I never say goodbye to Papa when I go to bed. He's always away."

Augusta smiled.

"You're a farmer," she said, "you sleep with the chickens. Here the custom is different. Your father has to do it at night."

"Is it politics, Mama?" asked Adelaide.

"I don't know," replied Augusta.

I began by saying that Adelaide was Augusta's daughter, and this information, necessary in the novel, was no less so in the real life in which the episode I'm about to tell you took place, because at first glance no one would have thought there was a mother and daughter there; they looked like two sisters, so young was Vasconcelos' wife.

Augusta was thirty and Adelaide fifteen, but in comparison the mother looked even younger than her daughter. She retained the same freshness of her fifteen years, and she had what Adelaide lacked, which was an awareness of beauty and youth, an awareness that would be praiseworthy if it didn't result in an immense and profound vanity. Her stature was medium, but imposing. She was very tall and very ruddy. Her hair was brown and her eyes were large. Her long, well-made hands looked like they had been created for the caresses of love. Augusta used her hands better; she covered them with soft leather.

Augusta's graces were all in Adelaide, but in embryo. At the age of twenty, Adelaide was expected to rival Augusta, but for the time being there were remnants of childhood in the girl that didn't emphasize the elements that nature had placed in her.

However, she was quite capable of falling in love with a man, especially if he was a poet and liked fifteen-year-old virgins, not least because she was a little pale, and poets have always had a soft spot for pale creatures.

Augusta dressed with supreme elegance; she spent a lot, it's true, but she made good use of her enormous expenses, if that's what it is. Augusta never haggled; she paid the price she was asked to pay for anything. She put her greatness into it, and thought that to do otherwise was ridiculous and lowbrow.

In this respect, Augusta shared the sentiments and served the interests of some merchants, who considered it dishonorable to knock something off the price of their goods.

Augusta's fabric supplier, when talking about this, used to tell her:

"To ask for one price and give the fabric for another lower price, is to confess that there was an intention to rob the customer."

The supplier preferred to do things without the confession.

Another justice that we must recognize was that Augusta spared no effort to make Adelaide as elegant as she was.

It was no small feat.