“Did you run away from Leyden to marry him?”
“How dare you ask such a question?” replied Elsa with a flash of spirit.
“Perhaps, then, you would explain?”
“What is there to explain? I thought that you knew. They dragged me away, and last night, just before the flood burst, I was gagged and married by force.”
“Oh! Adrian, my friend,” groaned Foy, “wait till I catch you, my friend Adrian.”
“To be just,” explained Elsa, “I don’t think Adrian wanted to marry me much, but he had to choose between marrying me himself or seeing his father Ramiro marry me.”
“So he sacrificed himself—the good, kind-hearted man,” interrupted Foy, grinding his teeth.
“Yes,” said Elsa.
“And where is your self-denying—oh! I can’t say the word.”
“I don’t know. I suppose that he and Ramiro escaped in the boat, or perhaps he was drowned.”