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ingly upset, stomping about and asking where she was and what was taking so long. 35
Meanwhile, at Dilermando's, Ana told him about the conversation with his aunts and
averredthatLucindaandNenémwould“upsettheirhappiness.” 36 LifeforAnainanyof
the households where she might land (that of her natal family, her lover, or her husband)
was impossible in different ways. At length she proceeded to her mother's house and re-
vealed her situation. She spent Thursday night there.
The following day, Friday August 13, another highly unpleasant altercation ensued at
lunch.Euclides asserted thatAnawascompletely brazen,heknewthetruth,andhadshe
any concept of shame, she would no longer be under his roof: they should divorce. He
described her as “the treacherous offspring of a tamboleiro father”—making derogatory
reference to the military coterie of Solon Ribeiro. She pointed out that he hadn't wanted
a divorce when it should have been done, and that she would not be alone after she left
his house. For the moment Ana removed herself to her mother's with little Luis. 37
Euclides came later to speak to Ana's mother, Tulia, and these two proceeded to the
parlor.Augusta,Ana'ssister-in-law,reportedthatEuclideswantedto“return”Anatoher
family's household—an extremely embarrassing turn of events that would reflect badly
ontheRibeiros. 38 AnaandherbrotherAdroaldo(nogreatfanofAna)stayedoutsidethe
parlor,perhapsearstothedoor.Finally,afterhearingtheterm unfaithful ,Anasweptinto
the room and, swearing her truthfulness in front of the portrait of her dead father Solon,
reported the unpleasant details of her married life and challenged Euclides to state “if
herwords,swornonherfather'smemory,weren'ttrue.” 39 Afterthisscene,Euclidesand
the ailing dona Tulia left the parlor, and soon Tulia entered into to a “nervous crisis.”
Adroaldo urged Ana to return to her husband in order to avoid further devastating their
mother, who was very unwell. Ana indicated that she would think it over. The family
honor was quite publicly at stake.
That evening Ana proceeded to Dilermando's house, where, after he returned from
horseback riding, they dined together, and Ana, according to her testimony, revealed the
extensive rancor and the discussions of divorce that now were part of her home life. De
Assis was not yet twenty-one; he lived on a student stipend and whatever Ana could
provide. He could certainly not give her the kind of life she had enjoyed with Euclides.
Strapped as they always were, the da Cunhas still resided in a good neighborhood, in a
big house with servants. Dilermando urged Ana to seek out the Sisters of Charity while
hefinishedhisdegree,andthenhewouldseekapostingtothatrefugeofthesociallyex-
iled, Mato Grosso. 40 Given Ana's obviously sexual nature, sending her off to a nunnery
would have served as a means of both penance and rehabilitation, as well as of stash-
ing her out of sight until public attention had moved onto other titillating scandals. Ana
spent Friday night at Dilermando's home.
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