She blew her nose
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Minha mãe assoou-se sem responder.
My mother blew her nose without answering.
Dona Glória answers only with tears.
The narration takes over, and Machado gives grief the least grand gesture imaginable: 'assoou-se sem responder' — she blew her nose without answering. No speech, no scene, only a woman quietly wiping her face and leaving Cosme's question unanswered. The homeliness is the point; real feeling in this novel arrives without eloquence, in a handkerchief rather than a soliloquy. And the silence is her answer — she will not defend the vow because she does not need to; her tears have already carried the day, and everyone in the room, including the boy behind the door, understands that Bento is going to the seminary.
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