“Of course I will! open your heart to me, child. In confidence, is it not so? You may tell me anything. I have seen so many things—there is nothing that could surprise me.”
“Listen,” said Lucía, “I want to know, at all costs, how Don Ignacio Artegui’s mother is.”
Pilar drew back, disappointed; then laughing, with her cynical laugh, she cried:
“Is that all? A great secret that! What a big handful three flies make.”
“For Heaven’s sake!” entreated Lucía uneasily, “don’t give a hint of this to any one. I am dying to know, but if any one should hear—Miranda or——”
“Simpleton! I shall soon learn what you wish to know, and without any one hearing anything about it. I have a hundred ways of finding out. I promise you your curiosity shall be gratified.”
Pilar tapped Lucía, who looked serious and a little confused, two or three times on the cheek.
“Are we going to take a walk to-day, madam nurse?” she asked.
“Yes, and you shall drink some milk in Vesse. But put on a warmer dress, for Heaven’s sake; you are so careless, you are quite capable of exposing yourself to taking a cold. Have you not observed how fragrant the roses are? In Leon there are hardly any roses; I remember that I used to place all I could find before the image of the Virgin, which I have there in my room.”