"Madam," he ventured, timidly, "will you allow me to ask you one question."
"Speak."
"I have not had the happiness," he continued, with hesitation, "to see Doña Diana since her return. I trust that the fatigue she must have felt has not made her ill, and that her precious health is still good."
Doña Emilia frowned, and a cloud of dissatisfaction spread over her face; but at once recovering herself, she replied, gently—
"Doña Diana is well, Melchior."
"Oh, all the better, madam," he said, with an outburst of passionate joy which he could not repress.
Then, bowing deeply to Doña Emilia, he fell back to leave the room.
"Poor boy!" Doña Emilia murmured, as she looked after him.
At the moment when he reached the door, she called him back.
"I forgot," she said; "be kind enough to tell Father Sandoval that, if his occupations permit, I should like to speak with him for a few moments after oración this evening."