‘I should like to go with them,’ said Acia, listening to the sounds of the voices gradually growing fainter.
‘Are you so religious?’
‘I should like to go far away on a pilgrimage, on some great exploit,’ she went on. ‘As it is, the days pass by, life passes by, and what have we done?’
‘You are ambitious,’ I observed. ‘You want to live to some purpose, to leave some trace behind you.…’
‘Is that impossible, then?’
‘Impossible,’ I was on the point of repeating.… But I glanced at her bright eyes, and only said:
‘You can try.’
‘Tell me,’ began Acia, after a brief silence during which shadows passed over her face, which had already turned pale, ‘did you care much for that lady?… You remember my brother drank her health at the ruins the day after we first knew you.’
I laughed.
‘Your brother was joking. I never cared for any lady; at any rate, I don’t care for one now.’