Sections 10-11, pages 92 - 117 Summary

In the next two sections of Baltasar and Blimunda by Jose Saramago, we see the young couple travel to Baltasar's parent's house in Mafra, where work is beginning on the new convent for King Joao the fifth.

Beginning at the moment that Baltasar knock on the door of his childhood home, he surprises his ageing mother and father; both with relief and shock. His parents are relieved that he is alive and that he is well, but also shocked to discover that he has lost a hand to the war and also, now has a wife. Baltasar's mother, Marta Maria in particular is a little suspicious of Blimunda (as her name is typically Jewish), and that there seems to be something ethereal about the young girl. Baltasar's parents ask them if they are indeed married before God...