A Escrava Isaura 9.122 · 9.122

Miguel's cry — 'que monstro, meo Deos!' — names Leôncio at last with the plain word father and daughter have circled, and then comes the terrible weariness: 'eu já esperava por tudo isto', I already expected all this. He is not surprised, because he knows these men; he buried the proof, Isaura's mother, years ago. The line quietly explains his cautious footsteps and his readiness: he came prepared because he foresaw the worst. Guimarães lets the old man's resignation double as foresight — the same knowledge of Leôncio's cruelty that breaks his heart is what has readied his plan of escape. The despair and the rescue spring from the same root.

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