She burst out laughing, one of those frank, bold laughs such as perhaps she had never known since the time when some rich man, setting her feet on the path of sin, had taken from her the gentle happiness of being poor.
"And you were talking about going to Fornos?" she demanded.
Enrique answered, in shame:
"I'm not good enough for you, Alicia! I'm not worthy of you! I'll take you home."
The girl answered, charmed by the bohemian novelty of the adventure:
"Never mind about the money. I want to have something to eat with you. Take me to some tavern or other, some cheap little dive. It's all right."
He still hesitated. She insisted. The terror of falling from her good graces enfolded him.
"What if the food is bad, and you don't like it?" he asked.
"Fool! I don't want luxury, to-night. I want memories of other times. Was I always rich, do you think?"
"Well, in that case——"