"I do not feel them. Don't imagine I am thinking of the money. We will not touch the money. Give it to whomever you like; I feel the claims of justice. There are your grandfather's wishes to be respected; there is the crime your grandmother has committed. You who are so religious should perceive that Divine Justice has brought this document to light. Would you place yourself between this woman and Divine Justice?"
"Let Divine Justice alone," Franco retorted, hotly. "What do we know of the ways of Divine Justice? There is also Divine Mercy. She is my father's mother, think of that! And have I not always despised this accursed money? What did I do when my grandmother threatened not to leave me a penny if I married you?"
Unable to speak, he drew Luisa's head to his breast.
"I despised the money for your sake," he went on in a stifled voice. "Would you have me try to regain it now by going to law?"
"No indeed!" Luisa broke in, raising her head. "You may give the money to whomever you wish. I am talking of justice. Don't you also feel the demand of justice?"
"Dio mio!" said he, with a deep sigh. "It would have been better if I had not spoken to-night."
"Yes, perhaps. If you were bound never to alter your decision, it would perhaps have been wiser."
Luisa's voice expressed sadness, not anger, as she uttered these words.
"In any way, that document no longer exists," Franco remarked.
Luisa started. "It no longer exists?" said she anxiously, in an undertone.