Chapter Seventeen Summary

Aunt Julia, Marito, Pascual and Javier arrive in Chincha, and after checking in at a hotel they all wait for the mayor. His secretary soon brings news that the mayor had gone straight to lunch. They go to see the mayor at the restaurant where he is dining and he is clearly already drunk and they leave.

Within the hour, they are summoned back to the mayor's office. The mayor's secretary brings the papers in announcing that Marito is too young for an authorized marriage. The mayor agrees and refuses to put his job at risk for the couple. He sends them to Tambo de Mora, a nearby village, to find the Martin, the mayor there. Unfortunately, after waiting for hours, the mayor of Tambo de Mora also refuses to marry them. Martin the mayor is sympathetic and suggests they try...