Chapter 32. Missing

Moisés and Dom João had been at the table for more than half an hour waiting for Eliza to have breakfast together. They just stared at each other without exchanging words. Dom João looked at him with hatred and Moisés with indifference. No longer able to stand the silence, Don John asked:

"Didn't you go to see her before you went down to breakfast?"

"No. It is our custom to meet here." Moses replied thoughtfully. "She's really late today, most of the time she's the one waiting for me."

Don João saw a maid passing by with some towels in her hand and called her. She, who had never been noticed in the palace, approached slowly and fearfully.

"Go to my daughter's room, and see why she is taking so long to come down. Tell her that her father and her husband are already waiting impatiently for her. Tell her to make haste, for I shall soon leave and wish to bid her farewell.

The maid, more relieved, bowed