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Like Ursula in the novel, Mercedes looked after the children and managed the home. She brought him sheets of paper and his scotch. She dealt with the outside world and took care of the finances. Marquez’s biographer Gerald Martin informs us that she pawned the telephone, the fridge, the radio, her jewellery, and finally sold off their four-wheeler. She persuaded their landlord to forego their rent for seven months and borrowed money from her friend Mutis and others. The day Gabo wrote the portion where Colonel Aureliano Beundia dies, he got up and went upstairs to Marcedes’ room on the second floor.
