"Why, if he displeases you?"
"I prefer seeing him. I do not know why, but that man almost terrifies me."
The waiting maid blushed and turned her head away, but recovered almost immediately.
"Still he is entirely devoted to Don Louis and yourself, señorita."
"Do you think so?" she said, fixing a piercing glance on her.
"Well, I suppose so; his conduct up to the present has been most honourable."
"Yes," she murmured dreamily. "Still there is something at the bottom of my heart which tells me that this man hates me. I experience, on seeing him, an insurmountable feeling of repulsion. This is something inexplicable to me; but, though everything seems to prove to me that I am wrong, still, whether right or wrong, there is at times an expression in his glance which makes me shudder. The only thing a man cannot disguise is his look, for it is the reflex of his soul, and God has decreed it so, in order that we may put ourselves on our guard, and recognise our enemies. But he is doubtlessly tired of waiting. Let him come in."
Violanta hastened to execute her mistress's orders. Don Cornelio entered with a smile on his lips.
"Señorita," he said, after a graceful bow, which the maiden returned without leaving her hammock, "pardon me for daring to trouble your solitude; but a worthy priest, a French missionary, desires that you will grant him the favour of a few minutes' interview."
"What is the missionary's name, Señor Don Cornelio?"