After such excursions, the senora would appear as majestic and dazzling as a basilica of Byzantium--ears and neck decorated with great pearls, her bosom a constellation of brilliants, her hands radiating points of light of all colors of the rainbow.
"Too much, mama," Chichi would protest.

"They will take you for a pawnbroker's lady!" But the Creole, satisfied with her splendor, the crowning glory of a humble life, attributed her daughter's faultfinding to envy.

Chichi was only a girl now, but later on she would thank her for having collected all these gems for her.
Already the home was unable to accommodate so many purchases.

In the cellars were piled up enough paintings, furniture, statues, and draperies to equip several other dwellings.

Don Marcelo began to complain of the cramped space in an apartment costing twenty-eight thousand francs a year--in reality large enough for a family four times the size of his.