A Escrava Isaura 7.26 · 7.26

The reflex is a prayer — 'Cross! Hail Mary!' — the sign of the cross thrown up against an evil word, as if Joaquina's warning could summon what it names. And the answer is despair's arithmetic: if that is coming, better to be killed once than die slowly. The women reckon their own worth in exactly the master's terms.

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