"Why should I? Have you forgotten what I told you yesterday?"
"It would be hard to forget that, though you told me no details. But it is not easy to imagine how you can see him at all if he killed your husband deliberately in a duel."
"It is impossible to put the case more plainly!" exclaimed Maria Consuelo.
"Do I offend you?"
"No. Not exactly."
"Forgive me, if I do. If Spicca, as I suppose, was the unwilling cause of your great loss, he is much to be pitied. I am not sure that he does not deserve almost as much pity as you do."
"How can you say that—even if the rest were true?"
"Think of what he must suffer. He is devotedly attached to you."
"I know he is. You have told me that before, and I have given you the same answer. I want neither his attachment nor his devotion."
"Then refuse to see him."