The prestige of mystery
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E tem de mais a mais a vantagem da novidade, e esse prestigio do mysterio, que a envolve. Estou ardendo de impaciencia por lhe ser apresentado; desejo admiral-a mais de espaço.
And she has, into the bargain, the advantage of novelty, and that prestige of mystery which wraps her. I am burning with impatience to be introduced to her; I long to admire her more at leisure.
Geraldo names the cruel mechanism plainly: the very 'mysterio, que a envolve', the mystery that wraps her, is a 'prestigio', a source of allure. Isaura's concealment, adopted for survival, has become the most seductive thing about her; the more hidden she is, the more the world burns to uncover her. The doctor's own suspicion has flipped, at the sight of her, into 'impaciencia', an eager desire to know her better. This is the trap sprung in miniature: the secrecy that should keep her safe instead whets the appetite of everyone who beholds her, drawing precisely the attention it was meant to deflect. And Geraldo's wish to 'admiral-a mais de espaço', to study her more at leisure, is the doubled-edged phrase — the closer, longer look that admiration and detection both require. The man who wanted to unmask a swindler now wants only to gaze; but a long, close look is exactly what a fugitive cannot afford.
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