"Have I guessed aright?" said the mayor domo.
"Perhaps you have, Estevan; but how does that concern you?"
"More than you think, Fernando. Such an expedition is as dangerous as can be imagined; you yourself said so. I will not let you commit so great a folly as to attempt it alone. Remember that, from our first meeting, we have been irresistibly attracted to each other; we are bound together by ties of friendship which nothing can sever. Everything ought to be in common between us. Who can tell the danger to which you would be exposed in the expedition you are about to undertake! This is what I have come to tell you: half of that danger is mine; I come to claim the share you have no right to withhold from me."
"Brother," replied Stoneheart, much moved, "I feared this would happen; I dreaded the demand you have just made. Alas! You have guessed truly; the expedition is indeed desperate, and who can say whether I shall succeed? But why link yourself to my evil fate? Has not my whole life been one long sorrow? It will make me happy to sacrifice it for the poor father, pining for the child who has been torn from him. Every man has a destiny in this world; mine is to be wretched. Let me fulfil it. Your destiny smiles upon you; you have a mother whom you cherish, and who adores you. I am alone. If I perish, none save yourself will regret me. Should you fall by my side, you leave me a lifelong sorrow for having caused your death. No length of life could obliterate my remorse."
"Fernando, my determination is irrevocable. Whatever you may say, I shall follow you. Fidelity is an heirloom in our family; and I must do this day what my father did not hesitate to do long ago for the family to whom we are attached. I repeat once more, Fernando, my duty compels me to be with you."
"Think no more of it, Estevan; think of your mother, and her grief."
"I think of nothing but what honour bids me."
"Estevan, I cannot consent to what you wish. Again I say, think of your mother's grief if she should lose you."
"My mother, Fernando, would be the first to bid me go, were she here."
"Spoken like a man!" said a gentle voice behind them. They turned, and saw Ña Manuela. "I have heard all," she said. "Thanks, Don Fernando, for speaking as you did; I will never forget your words. But Estevan is right: duty compels him to follow you. You lose your time in trying to dissuade him. He springs from a race who never tamper with their duty. Let him go with you. If he falls, I shall weep,—perhaps I shall die; but I shall die blessing him, for he will fall in the service of those whom, through five generations, we have sworn to serve faithfully."