"Brother, you possess nearly all the proofs of the horrible crimes I have committed; and," approaching a table drawer, which he burst open, "here are the ones you want," he added, handing him a bundle of papers. "Unconsciously, perhaps, remorse had already entered my heart, here is my will, take it, it appoints my nephew my sole heir, while establishing his rights in an undeniable manner; but the name of de Tobar must not be sullied. For your own sake, and of that of your nephew, whose name is mine, do not carry out the cruel vengeance you meditated against me. I swear to you on my word as a gentleman, on the spotless honour of my ancestors, that you shall have full satisfaction for the crimes I have committed, and for the sorrowful existence to which I condemned my sister-in-law."
Don Jaime and Dominique remained gloomy and silent.
"Will you refuse me? Are you pitiless?" he anxiously exclaimed.
At this moment, doña María left the sofa on which her son had laid her: walking with a slow and mechanical step toward don Horacio, she placed herself between him, her brother and her son. Then, stretching out her arm with supreme majesty, she said in a voice marked with ineffable sweetness—
"Brother of my husband, vengeance belongs to God alone! In the name of the man whom I loved so dearly, and whom your cruel hand tore from me, I forgive you the frightful tortures you have inflicted on me, the nameless sorrows to which you condemned me, a poor innocent woman, for the last two and twenty years. I pardon you and may God be merciful to you!"
Don Horacio fell prostrate on his knees. "You are a saint," he said, "I am unworthy of forgiveness, I know it, but I will strive to expiate the crimes of my life as far as depends on myself by my death."
He then rose and tried to kiss her hand, but she recoiled with a start of horror.
"It is just," he said sadly, "I am unworthy to touch you."
"No," she replied, "since repentance has entered your heart."
And turning away her head, she offered him her hand. Don Horacio respectfully pressed his lips to it, and then turned to his brother-in-law and nephew, who had not moved.