Cecilia turned deadly pale, and let her mother kiss the hand she held in hers, astonished at this emotion.
"What has happened, mama?—speak."
"A terrible thing—my heart—an infamous, infamous thing—I would rather die this moment than see the ruin and the misery of one of my daughters."
"Calm yourself, mama; you are ill, and you will do yourself great harm if you allow yourself to become so excited."
"What does it matter! I tell you I would rather die—I would give my life for you not to love Gonzalo—You do love him, dear heart? You love him deeply?"
Cecilia did not reply.
"Tell me, for God's sake, that you do not love him."
Cecilia was still silent; at the end of some minutes, trying in vain to give a firm tone to her voice, she said:
"Gonzalo declines to marry me, is that it?"
Doña Paula was now silent in her turn, and hid her weeping face in her hands.