"Little angel! Who could have been so wicked? Poor little soul! What stony-hearted creatures! Oh, my goodness! Look how beautiful he is! Has he been left in the cold long? The little thing must be perished. Paco, let me touch it."
The basket was passed from hand to hand. The ladies, who were very interested and trembling with emotion, pressed so many tender kisses on the cheeks of the newly-born that it was aroused from its sleep.
A feeble cry from the little pink creature filled every heart with pity, and some of the ladies burst into tears.
"Let us take it upstairs so that it may be warmed a little."
"Yes, yes; let us take it upstairs."
And forthwith the chattering crowd rushed into the hall and up the staircase of the mansion of the Quiñones, carrying the mysterious basket in triumph.
Amalia was standing pale and motionless in the middle of the drawing-room when the doors were re-opened. Don Pedro had been taken to bed by Manin and another servant. The fresh sudden invasion seemed a great surprise to the lady of the house.
"What is the matter? What is this?" she exclaimed, in an agitated voice.
"A baby, a baby!" was the simultaneous cry of many voices.
"We have just found it in the doorway," said Manuel Antonio, putting down the basket which he had carried upstairs.