The Indomitable Lady

3. A Submissive Lady

When they arrived at the Montieiros' farm, Teresa had a different and confused idea of who wanted to be her father-in-law. On the one hand he was rude and authoritative, but he was also considerate and careful with her. All the way, he made sure to make her as comfortable as possible and acted as if the conversation by the river hadn't happened.

At that point he started talking to her about the family she was going to meet, as if he wanted to prepare her

ꟷ I have four children. The oldest, Carlos, who will inherit most of what I have. Alexandre is already married to Luísa. She will be a good friend to you. She's a good wife. Patient and docile. You must follow her example.

Montieiro paused, as if intending her to absorb the last bit of information.

ꟷ The girls are Francisca and Alice. After your marriage to Carlos I have to think about getting them married ꟷ He seemed worried ꟷ Francisca is a good girl , but Alice gives me problems. Her mother has to work hard to teach her the feminine arts, and I suspect she still doesn't know how to sew a sock, and she's certainly never done a complete embroidery. She loves being in nature with her animals and several times I have to forbid her to step outside the house so that her mother can instruct her.

Teresa just thought about what the next step could be to try to get out of that world, that situation.

ꟷ Lord, I made friends with the whole family that welcomed me and especially with Dulce. Will it be possible for me to visit them in the near future?

ꟷ This authorization will have to be granted, in due course, by your husband, but I estimate that you will obtain it easily. My wife and Lady Graça are cousins and we usually get along a lot.

Teresa breathed better at this information. She decided to pretend to be a submissive woman until she could be with Dulce and find a way to talk to the prostitute who might have a story similar to her. Maybe she knew somehow about going back to her time. Being two, maybe they could find a way...

ꟷ Do you have many slaves?

Her father-in-law looked at her suspiciously, but replied calmly:

ꟷ Over 200, I think. There are about 50 acres of land. I have an overseer... well, a nephew to whom I donated some land and he handles the slaves and their records. I'm not sure how many slaves we have, but enough for the coffee plantation, housework and also helping with the cattle. A small part of the farm is for raising cattle and horses, at the request of my nephew Raul

When they entered the estates of the Montieiros' farm, she saw a square and an enormous main house, with two floors, immense windows and a porch along the entire length. The slaves who were at the gate opened the gate and the carriage entered through the main entrance to the Terra - Rei farm

Soon 3 women came out of the house running towards them. The carriage stopped, some slaves also appeared and helped the coachman to unhitch the horses, while Colonel Monteiro took care of bringing it to the ground.

ꟷ Teresa, here are my wife Isabel, my daughter-in-law Luísa and my daughter Francisca.

Isabel, a short, affable woman grabbed her hands

ꟷ I'm very happy to meet you at last , my dear! I finally have another daughter!

Teresa smiled at the nice lady

ꟷ Where is Alice? I thought I had ordered her to stay at home until my return! ꟷ Asked the austere Colonel Montieiro

ꟷ And she stayed...yesterday, husband! This morning she decided to go for a walk, but she shouldn't be long