"Oh! no, he left it behind——"
"Where?" queried the marquis. "Come, you must tell us, or I shall have no more confidence in you, boy. Where did he leave it?"
"In my father's heart!" replied Mario, in whose eyes there shone an extraordinary light. He longed to pour out his heart; the mystery weighed heavily upon him; he had said the first word and he could not keep silent.
"Adamas," said the marquis, moved by a sudden, indefinable emotion, "close the doors, and do you, my child, come here and speak out. You are with friends, have no fear, we will defend you, we will see that you have justice. Tell me all that you know about your family?"
"If you love me," said the child, "you must punish Monsieur de Villareal, because he murdered my father."
"Murdered him?"
"Yes, Mercedes saw him!"
"When was that?"
"The day I was born, the day my mother died."
"Why did he murder him?"