Alfonso Nayais is an impoverished minor noble, overseas merchant and buyer of his own office whose house has been boarded up and confiscated by royal order through a lettre de cachet.
| Type | Character |
| Occupation | Merchant; purchased office |
| Spanish entry | Alfonso Nayais |
The tower
His house is “a little smaller” than that of the other noble of his district, and “more a tower… with a library as well.” Now “the house is boarded up. It is taken by royal order.” Its cellar holds a prisoner: “it is dirty, like a dungeon,” foul and extremely unhealthy.
Office and trade
He was “the last who entered the list after the intendants,” holding a post that is paid for — “paying some money, but in the end profiting a lot.” Representing the government carries a social cost: «No sos bien visto; los que saben que sos de esos, te quisieran matar» (“You are not well regarded; those who know you are one of them would like to kill you”).
He also says “I am a merchant,” with “work, merchants, explorations abroad,” and “lived abroad a long time.” Through this line came “three strange things from America”: a package of coffee and special tobacco (in comparison, also sugar from Haiti).
Confiscation
A lettre de cachet decreed that “the properties are confiscated,” leaving the tower boarded up.
Household
- “Six new people” appear under his command.
- Rising in class grants “one more servant.”
- His rise carried others: “Marcel, in turn, rose.”
Conflicting accounts
- He calls himself a merchant; others hold him a noble of the robe and intendant. Whether one occupation funds the other is not stated.
Open questions
- His age, appearance, dress and voice are not recorded.
- The third American object; the sum and currency paid for the office.
- The charge behind the lettre de cachet and who executed it.
- The identity of the cellar’s prisoner and who ordered the confinement.
- The tower’s city and district; what the “six new people” are (hires, crew or guard).
- Whether “Nayais” is a surname, a lordship or a place name.