Loyalty and Betrayal

The Theme in the Work

In chapter XXI, on the train, Cristiano Palha asks questions, agrees, and his eyes shine when Rubião says he will stay at Court and perhaps go to Europe. On hearing of the inheritance, his eyes no longer shine: he reflects, and only then asks for discretion.

In chapter XXIII, Palha visits Rubião at the inn, recommends a lawyer, a relative of his, and invites him to dinner in Santa Teresa.

In chapter XXV, someone denounces the will on the grounds of the philosopher's dementia. The charge is dropped, and Palha celebrates the end of the probate.

In chapter XXVIII, in the Botafogo garden, Rubião wrestles with temptation over Sofia, the wife of the friend who guided him.

In chapter XLV, going down the hill between remorse and hope, Rubião recalls the debt and the three promissory notes he accepted on Palha's behalf.

In chapter L, Sofia tells her husband what Rubião did in the garden. Palha minimizes it, but confesses he owes his friend a great deal of money, and she promises to cool the arrangement gradually.

In chapter LV, Palha tries to guess why Rubião wants to leave, and the narrator calls his soul a patchwork quilt.

In chapter LIX, Palha and Camacho understand each other with a glance in order to hold Rubião at Court: one proposes to accompany him later, the other dangles the deputy's seat.

In chapter LXIX, Rubião is Palha's partner and enters the partnership without understanding the figures.

In chapter CXXVIII, Palha, who invokes Camacho as an argument, proposes dissolving the partnership, and Rubião accepts the reasoning.

In chapter CXXX, Major Siqueira complains that the Palhas did not invite him to the birthday or the wedding, and Rubião speaks of confusion.

In chapter CLXIV, Sofia flees from Rubião in a bookshop, and Palha complains of the nuisance, but she insists.

In chapter CLXV, Palha installs Rubião and the dog in a little house on Rua do Príncipe. The friends of Botafogo feel the change as exile, and hear from Palha that their friend needs rest.

In chapter CLXXIX, when he returns from the delirium, Rubião seeks out his friends, and Camacho receives him coldly and pretends to consult books in order to dismiss him.

In chapter CLXXXI, Major Siqueira shows him to the door, without violence but with tenacity, while he waits for Dona Tônica's fiancé.

In chapter CLXXXV, Palha and Dr. Falcão, finally keeping a promise that had been delayed, commit Rubião to a sanatorium.

In chapter CXCI, in a note to Dona Fernanda, Sofia says Palha liquidated Rubião's assets and collected three contos and two hundred.

In chapter CXCIV, Palha, who found Rubião sane, gives him a hundred mil-réis and asks the director not to hasten his discharge.

Nobody betrays Rubião all at once. The betrayal is made of small gestures from those who keep treating him well: Palha guides him at every stage, dissolves the partnership on the reasoning of a bank that does not exist, installs him in a little house for rest, and gives him a hundred mil-réis while asking that his discharge be delayed. Camacho cools without saying why, and the major shows him to the door with courtesy. The book does not mark, in any chapter, the point at which friendship turns into calculation, and it is this silence that leaves loyalty without proof and betrayal without a scene.

Where It Appears

• Chapter XXI: On the train, Cristiano Palha stops shining on hearing Rubião value the inheritance at no less than three hundred contos, reflects, and asks him for discretion.
• Chapter XXIII: Cristiano Palha visits Rubião at the inn, recommends a lawyer, a relative of his, and invites him to dinner in Santa Teresa.
• Chapter XXV: While Rubião often dines in Santa Teresa, someone denounces the will on account of Quincas Borba's dementia; the charge is dropped, and Palha celebrates the end of the probate.
• Chapter XXVIII: Rubião wrestles, in the garden, with temptation over Sofia, the wife of his friend Cristiano Palha himself.
• Chapter XLV: Rubião goes down the hill, now exalted, now repentant, accusing and defending Sofia, and recalls the debt and the three promissory notes he accepted for Cristiano Palha.
• Chapter L: Sofia tells Cristiano Palha what Rubião did in the garden, and he, who owes his friend a great deal of money, minimizes the affair, while she promises to cool the arrangement gradually.
• Chapter LV: Cristiano Palha imagines why Rubião is leaving: punishment, flight from passion, or marriage. He is disappointed by the last hypothesis, and the narrator calls his soul a patchwork quilt.
• Chapter LIX: Cristiano Palha and Camacho understand each other with a glance, like a calling card exchanged between two consciences, and hold Rubião at Court.
• Chapter LXIX: Rubião is Cristiano Palha's partner and, at the same ball, Carlos Maria declares himself to Sofia, the partner's wife.
• Chapter CXXVIII: Palha, backed by Camacho, wants to dissolve the partnership with Rubião, claiming he is going to run a bank, and Rubião asks whether there is a hidden motive before accepting the reason.
• Chapter CXXX: Major Siqueira complains to Rubião that the Palhas did not invite him to the birthday or the wedding, and Rubião speaks of confusion.
• Chapter CLXIV: Sofia flees from Rubião in a bookshop and meets him in the hall of Dona Fernanda's house, and Cristiano Palha complains of the nuisance, but Sofia insists.
• Chapter CLXV: Cristiano Palha installs Rubião and the dog in a little house on Rua do Príncipe, and the friends of Botafogo, who feel the change as exile, hear from Palha that their friend needs rest.
• Chapter CLXXIX: When he returns from the delirium and seeks out his friends, Rubião is received coldly by Camacho and withdraws wounded.
• Chapter CLXXXI: After applauding Major Siqueira's speech and promising him a decoration, Rubião is shown to the door by the major, without violence but with tenacity, with the story of a carriage on the Campo.
• Chapter CLXXXV: Fulfilling at last the promise that had been delayed, Cristiano Palha and Dr. Falcão commit Rubião to a sanatorium, and he invites them to a military review.
• Chapter CXCI: Sofia avoids visiting Rubião at the sanatorium and says that Cristiano Palha collected three contos and two hundred from his assets.
• Chapter CXCIV: Cristiano Palha, who found Rubião sane days before his disappearance, gives him a hundred mil-réis and asks the director not to hasten his discharge.

Passages

Palha advises discretion after reflecting on the inheritance.

Palha and Camacho agree without a word.

Rubião replies with a jest.

Rubião's return from the delirium is a painful ascent.