Storia do Mogor 265.20.1

265.20.1

Eight days afterwards the same priest came straight from the widow's house to find me, and directly he saw me began once more to complain harshly, saying I should be the cause of that woman losing her reputation. He begged me, for the love of God, to abandon any such thoughts. Feeling myself quite innocent in the matter, I replied to the padre that never had I dreamt either of stopping or of marrying in Goa. As it seemed to me, it was she who wanted to marry me, and had thus called in the padre as intermediary and made use of this artifice. I laid before him many similar affairs that had happened in India. But the priest was not a practical man, and had not been long in India ; so he believed what the woman said, and made me out the culprit. He told me I was not speaking the truth ; and finding my arguments did not prevail, I gave my word to the priest that in a short time I would quit Goa, if he would only give me the time to prepare, and this he did.