Several times she crossed his path, smiling at him, hunting a pretext for beginning conversation.

Such insistence was not particularly gratifying to his pride; for she was a female of protruding bust and swaying hips, a cook with a basket on her arm, like many others who were passing through the Rambla in order to add a bunch of flowers to the daily purchase of eatables.
Finding that the sailor was not moved by her smiles nor the glances from her sharp eyes, she planted herself before him, speaking to him in Catalan.
"Excuse me, sir, but are you not a ship captain named Don Ulysses ?..." This started the conversation.

The cook, convinced that it was he, continued talking with a mysterious smile.

A most beautiful lady was desirous of seeing him....

And she gave him the address of a towered villa situated at the foot of Tibidabo in a recently constructed district.