"Haven't they caught him?"
"No. He was too quick for them."
"And he got away?"
"Yes."
The mystery surrounding the criminal increased Alicia's uneasiness. Still, it was an agreeable sensation, which caused her a certain vanity. "Suppose the robbery really has been done for me!" she thought. She felt a proud, unhealthy emotion, like that of man when he meets his friends and they know some woman has killed herself for love of him.
Candelas, who could read Alicia's thoughts, exclaimed:
"Strange if the criminal were Enrique Darlés!"
"I don't think it could be!"
"Well, now—it might."
"That would be a terribly bad thing for him to have done."