Doña Hermosa smiled bitterly: she had brought the lion captive to her feet; she had vanquished man in his pride. Now she was sure of her revenge.
"What answer shall I give my father?" she said.
He drew himself up to his full height; his eyes flashed, his features grew radiant, and he answered in a low tone:
"Señorita, my happiness is immeasurable. Say to your father, that the devotion of a whole life cannot repay the bliss of this interview. As soon as the presidio of San Lucar is taken, I shall present myself at the hacienda of Don Pedro de Luna."
[CHAPTER XII.]
WOMAN'S WILL.
Every extreme situation, as soon as it reaches its culminating point, must necessarily subside into a reaction of an opposite tendency. This was exactly what happened after the scene we described in the last chapter.
Don Torribio, beside himself with joy, could not accept Doña Hermosa's protestations of love without a certain degree of mistrust. Yet the improbability of her having taken this decided step from other motives than the one she professed, had materially aided her in the successful attempt to hoodwink her admirer.