"Is Don Louis dead?" he asked, earnestly.
"No," Valentine answered, more and more astonished; "I even hope that in a few days he will be cured."
"So much the better," said Don Tadeo, feelingly; "I am indeed glad to hear that."
And, crossing his arms upon his broad chest, he resumed his hasty walk about the room. The three men looked at each other, surprised at this stoicism, which to them was unintelligible.
"Will you then abandon Doña Rosario to her ravishers?" Don Gregorio asked, in a reproachful tone.
Don Tadeo darted at him a look charged with such bitter irony, that Don Gregorio quailed beneath it.
"Were the ravishers concealed in the entrails of the earth, I would discover them, be they who they may!" Don Tadeo replied.
"A man is on their track," said Trangoil-Lanec, advancing; "that man is Curumilla. He will discover them."
A flash of joy for a moment shot from the eye of the King of Darkness.
"Oh!" he murmured, with clenched teeth, "beware, Doña Maria, beware!"