"That is true; but they are not yet pronounced, as my dear Maria will be with us shortly."
"They will be so within three months at the most."
"Ah!" she exclaimed lightly, "before then the donkey and its driver will die, as the proverb says."
"My daughter," the general remarked, gravely, "the colonel holds your word, and what you have just said is wrong."
The girl blushed: two transparent tears sparkled on her long lashes; she rose quickly, and ran to embrace her father.
"Forgive me, father; I am a madcap."
Then she turned to the colonel, and offered him her hand.
"And do you also forgive me, Don Pedro? For I did not think of what I was saying."
"That is right," the general exclaimed; "peace is made, and I trust that nothing will disturb it in future."
"Thanks for the kind wish," said the colonel, as he covered with kisses the hand which Inez abandoned to him.