Cugina Eufemia

Cugina Eufemia is an elderly relative and companion of Donna Fedele Vayla, present as Donna Fedele Vayla prepares to travel, cares for Lelia Camin, and faces the possibility of her own death. She does not direct the central relationships, but her attentive, sometimes anxious presence makes her an important witness to their consequences. In particular, she helps turn Donna Fedele Vayla’s private decisions into practical arrangements: she carries correspondence and luggage, accompanies her on the journey, and objects when a change of plans seems to threaten her cousin’s health.

Identity and Place in the Household

Cugina Eufemia appears as an elderly cousin entrusted with the ordinary work of companionship. Donna Fedele Vayla relies on her with the travel baggage, while Cugina Eufemia remains close enough to bring her the post and attend to her needs. Her care is practical rather than authoritative: she does not decide what Lelia Camin should do, but she is present as Donna Fedele Vayla weighs that question and makes plans for her.

The narrative gives her character through gestures and exchanges rather than a separate history. Donna Fedele Vayla jokes about the old, redyed shawl Cugina Eufemia intends to wear despite the heat, and imagines the two travelers looking dazed among the crowd. The teasing establishes their familiarity, while Cugina Eufemia’s later distress shows the concern beneath the lightness. Their relationship allows affectionate humor to coexist with the awareness that Donna Fedele Vayla is seriously unwell.

Care and the Decision to Delay the Journey

As Donna Fedele Vayla sits considering the objects she would want beside her if she were to die in Turin, Cugina Eufemia interrupts her thoughts with the post and a plate of six trout from the Astico River. The small domestic errand places her within the daily routines that continue around Donna Fedele Vayla’s fears and preparations. She also looks after the baggage, leaving the more inward work of choosing what matters to Donna Fedele Vayla herself.

The turning point comes when Donna Fedele Vayla receives a letter from Lelia Camin. After reading it, she asks to be left alone, then calls Cugina Eufemia back and dictates two telegrams: one to Massimo Alberti and another postponing the arrangements at the hospital in Turin. Cugina Eufemia is startled by the instruction to defer the journey. She resists writing the word, treating it as though she were being asked to record a death sentence, and wonders what could have happened in the letters to justify postponing an operation she understands to be urgent. Donna Fedele Vayla rebukes her impatience. The exchange reveals both the cousin’s alarm and the limits of her knowledge: she sees the medical risk, but not the full emotional and moral reasoning behind Donna Fedele Vayla’s choice.

That same evening, Cugina Eufemia returns after leaving Donna Fedele Vayla alone for an hour. Through the doorway she sees her cousin standing against the starry sky, her head inclined over clasped hands, apparently praying. She withdraws without disturbing her. A few minutes later, summoned by the bell, she helps write the telegrams. Her role is modest but intimate: she witnesses the prayer and assists with the outward acts that follow it, without being told everything the letters have changed.

Journeying with Donna Fedele Vayla

The next morning, Cugina Eufemia accompanies Donna Fedele Vayla on the journey toward Turin. At the station Donna Fedele Vayla insists on walking rather than boarding an omnibus for the short distance, and brings Cugina Eufemia onto the train so that they can take leave more comfortably. As departure approaches, Cugina Eufemia repeatedly regrets not having pressed to go to Valsolda instead. Donna Fedele Vayla answers with teasing disbelief, asking what Cugina Eufemia would do there; the older woman counters that Valsolda is hardly the end of the world. Their exchange makes her concern legible without turning it into a formal argument: she would rather accompany her cousin toward the place she believes matters, even though Donna Fedele Vayla has chosen another destination.

Cugina Eufemia is also part of the later journey that brings Donna Fedele Vayla to the inn where Lelia Camin is staying. When Lelia Camin hears that two older women have arrived by boat, one small and one tall with white hair, she recognizes Donna Fedele Vayla and rushes downstairs. Cugina Eufemia is there beside her cousin and the innkeeper. Her presence confirms that Donna Fedele Vayla has not made the journey alone, even while the scene’s emotional center is Lelia Camin’s astonished reunion with her.

Practical Support and Narrative Significance

At the inn, Donna Fedele Vayla discusses with Massimo Alberti what should happen next. She insists that Lelia Camin cannot remain in Valsolda and proposes taking her away, despite Lelia Camin’s distress at the prospect of returning to Velo. Cugina Eufemia belongs to the practical world of this decision: the plan involves recovering the trunk she has been minding, arranging the onward journey, and directing Lelia Camin’s letters from San Mamette to Santhià. The passage gives Cugina Eufemia no independent authority over the plan, but her presence and care are part of the support that makes travel possible.

Later, when Donna Fedele Vayla is examined by the doctor, the examination remains incomplete because she will not permit the full examination needed to assess her condition. The doctor tells Lelia Camin that Donna Fedele Vayla’s heart is very weak and that he fears for her life. Cugina Eufemia watches Lelia Camin and Massimo Alberti with anguish as Donna Fedele Vayla falls unusually silent. Her concern registers the change in the household before anyone openly names what it may mean. Across these scenes, she functions as a companion whose ordinary acts—bringing the post, helping with telegrams, managing baggage, and accompanying a sick relative—give physical form to care. Her presence also provides a quiet contrast to the intense decisions around her: she cannot resolve them, but she remains close as their costs become harder to ignore.