The surface meaning is: he left Antonia, abandoned by Father Corbelan and her servants, to be evacuated from Sulaco by Mrs Gould before Pedro Montero's arrival. But why not say "the Goulds?" Charles Gould would have seen to her evacuation equally well. On the surface, Mrs Gould is the altruist, and Decoud naturally thinks of her when someone needs "care." But there is also something allegorical in abstract idealism (Antonia) being left in the care of altruism at this point. Until now idealism has relied on the nation as the means to advance mankind, but now the nation lies in ruins around them, so idealism "tacitly" falls under the wing of altruism; that is, it reverts to nothing more than the desire to advance mankind.