"I have lost several; but if I lost one whom I loved, you mean?"
"Yes—and who loved you well and truly?"
"I would face ten thousand cannon to avenge him!—Augustina did nothing that I would not dare and do!" replied Isidora, as her eyes sparkled, and she pressed her clenched hand into the soft cheek that rested on it.
"A beautiful little spitfire!" thought Quentin.
"But, senor, you must be aware that neither Palafox the Arragonese nor the girl Augustina could have achieved all they did, save for the aid of our Lady del Pilar?"
"What lady is she?" asked Quentin.
"Madre divina, listen to him! It grieves me sadly, amigo mio, to think—to think——"
"What?" asked Quentin, as she paused.
"That you are a heretic, innocently, through no fault of your own, and yet born to perdition."
"You are not very complimentary, yet I pardon you, my dear senora," replied Quentin, laughing as he kissed her hand—which we fear he did rather frequently now.