"You have given me the only happiness I ever knew—and you ask me to believe that you could make me unhappy in any way except by not loving me! Consuelo—my darling—are you out of your senses?"
"No. I am too much in them. I wish I were not. If I were mad I should—"
"What?"
"Never mind. I will not even say it. No—do not try to take my hand, for I will not give it to you. Listen, Orsino—be reasonable, listen to me—"
"I will try and listen."
But Maria Consuelo did not speak at once. Possibly she was trying to collect her thoughts.
"What have you to say, dearest?" asked Orsino at length. "I will try to understand."
"You must understand. I will make it all clear to you and then you will see it as I do."
"And then—what?"
"And then we must part," she said in a low voice.