Joseph Conrad: Nostromo

PART THIRD: THE LIGHTHOUSE 7. CHAPTER SEVEN (continued)

A long course of reading historical works, light and gossipy in
tone, carried out in garrets of Parisian hotels, sprawling on an
untidy bed, to the neglect of his duties, menial or otherwise,
had affected the manners of Pedro Montero. Had he seen around him
the splendour of the old Intendencia, the magnificent hangings,
the gilt furniture ranged along the walls; had he stood upon a
dais on a noble square of red carpet, he would have probably been
very dangerous from a sense of success and elevation. But in this
sacked and devastated residence, with the three pieces of common
furniture huddled up in the middle of the vast apartment,
Pedrito's imagination was subdued by a feeling of insecurity and
impermanence. That feeling and the firm attitude of Charles
Gould who had not once, so far, pronounced the word "Excellency,"
diminished him in his own eyes. He assumed the tone of an
enlightened man of the world, and begged Charles Gould to dismiss
from his mind every cause for alarm. He was now conversing, he
reminded him, with the brother of the master of the country,
charged with a reorganizing mission. The trusted brother of the
master of the country, he repeated. Nothing was further from the
thoughts of that wise and patriotic hero than ideas of
destruction. "I entreat you, Don Carlos, not to give way to your
anti-democratic prejudices," he cried, in a burst of
condescending effusion.

Pedrito Montero surprised one at first sight by the vast
development of his bald forehead, a shiny yellow expanse between
the crinkly coal-black tufts of hair without any lustre, the
engaging form of his mouth, and an unexpectedly cultivated voice.
But his eyes, very glistening as if freshly painted on each side
of his hooked nose, had a round, hopeless, birdlike stare when
opened fully. Now, however, he narrowed them agreeably, throwing
his square chin up and speaking with closed teeth slightly
through the nose, with what he imagined to be the manner of a
grand seigneur.