“Well, señor?”
“I have seen you, señorita; I have heard your voice and looked into your eyes. And I intend to win you for my wife, else have no wife at all!”
“Señor! You dare?”
“To speak the truth——?”
“I might have known insults would be my pay for speaking to you!”
“Is it an insult to have a gentleman say that he loves you above all women he ever has seen, that he loved you when first he saw you, that he hopes one day to call you wife?”
“It is an insult coming from such as you, señor!”
“Ah! I beg your pardon! I had forgotten for the time being my name and station.”
“Captain Fly-by-Night would do well to always remember those things, especially in the presence of reputable persons. I forgave you the boast concerning myself, señor; but I cannot forgive you this latest insult to my face. Go or remain as you will, your affairs are no concern of mine longer, señor. Though you starve on the doorstep of the chapel, I’ll not recognise your presence!”
Señora Vallejo had been calling in a soft voice for the past five minutes. Now the girl turned from the caballero and hurried after her duenna. Leaning against the curb of the well, he watched her until she had disappeared through a hole in the wall and across the plaza.