"Stay, brother, and hear me out; the best is to come. I have done so lately. But until assured how thou wouldst regard the matter, I cared not to ask questions, the answers to which might wound thy heart."
"You are in no doubt now. What heard you from Señor Cristobal?"
"I heard that Dr. Egidius named the Conde de Nuera as one of those who befriended Don Rodrigo. And that he had been present when that brave and faithful teacher privately expounded the Epistle to the Romans."
"There!" Juan exclaimed with a start. "There is the origin of my second and favourite name, Rodrigo. Brother, brother, these are the best tidings I have heard for years." And uncovering his head, he uttered fervent and solemn words of thanksgiving.
To which Carlos added a heartfelt "Amen," and resumed,--
"Then, brother, you think we are justified in taking this joy to our hearts?"
"Without doubt," cried the sanguine Don Juan.
"And it follows that his crime--"
"Was what in our eyes constitutes the truest glory, the profession of a pure faith," said Juan with decision, leaping at once to the conclusion Carlos had reached by a far slower path.
"And those mystic words inscribed upon the window, the delight and wonder of our childhood--"