Joseph Conrad: Nostromo

PART FIRST: THE SILVER OF THE MINE 7. CHAPTER SEVEN (continued)

Charles talked with the alcaldes, with the fiscales, with the
principal people in towns, and with the caballeros on the
estates. The commandantes of the districts offered him
escorts--for he could show an authorization from the Sulaco
political chief of the day. How much the document had cost him
in gold twenty-dollar pieces was a secret between himself, a
great man in the United States (who condescended to answer the
Sulaco mail with his own hand), and a great man of another sort,
with a dark olive complexion and shifty eyes, inhabiting then the
Palace of the Intendencia in Sulaco, and who piqued himself on
his culture and Europeanism generally in a rather French style
because he had lived in Europe for some years--in exile, he said.
However, it was pretty well known that just before this exile he
had incautiously gambled away all the cash in the Custom House of
a small port where a friend in power had procured for him the
post of subcollector. That youthful indiscretion had, amongst
other inconveniences, obliged him to earn his living for a time
as a cafe waiter in Madrid; but his talents must have been great,
after all, since they had enabled him to retrieve his political
fortunes so splendidly. Charles Gould, exposing his business
with an imperturbable steadiness, called him Excellency.

The provincial Excellency assumed a weary superiority, tilting
his chair far back near an open window in the true Costaguana
manner. The military band happened to be braying operatic
selections on the plaza just then, and twice he raised his hand
imperatively for silence in order to listen to a favourite
passage.

"Exquisite, delicious!" he murmured; while Charles Gould waited,
standing by with inscrutable patience. "Lucia, Lucia di
Lammermoor! I am passionate for music. It transports me. Ha! the
divine--ha!--Mozart. Si! divine . . . What is it you were
saying?"

Of course, rumours had reached him already of the newcomer's
intentions. Besides, he had received an official warning from
Sta. Marta. His manner was intended simply to conceal his
curiosity and impress his visitor. But after he had locked up
something valuable in the drawer of a large writing-desk in a
distant part of the room, he became very affable, and walked back
to his chair smartly.