"By my faith, señora," replied he, laughing, "I confess I feel some difficulty in replying."
"Why so, señor?"
"For the simple reason that I have no idea where I was born."
"But you are hijo del país" (literally, a son of the country),—"a Mexican, at all events?"
"Everything leads me to think so, señora; but I would not swear it."
"That is very singular. Does not your family reside in the province?"
A shadow crossed the face of Don Fernando. "No, señora," he replied dryly.
The mistress of the house perceived she had touched a tender chord, and hastened to turn the conversation.
"Of course you know Don Pedro de Luna?"
"Very little, señora; accident threw us together once. It is true the circumstances were too singular for him to forget them easily; but it remains to be seen whether I ever set foot in his hacienda."