"Your father!" he sneered. "A man who has the ill-will of the governor! A man who is being plucked because he possessed no political sense! I fear not your father! He should be proud of the fact that Captain Ramón looks at his daughter."
"Señor!"
"Do not run away!" he said, clutching her hand. "I have done you the honor to ask you to be my wife—"
"Done me the honor!" she cried angrily, and almost in tears. "It is the man who is done the honor when a woman accepts him."
"I like you when you rage," he observed. "Sit down again—beside me, here. And now give me your answer!"
"Señor!"
"You will wed me, of course. I shall intercede with the governor for your father and get a part of his estate restored. I shall take you to San Francisco de Asis, to the governor's house, where you will be admired by persons of rank!"
"Señor! Let me go!"
"My answer, señorita! You have held me off enough!"
She wrenched away from him, confronted him with blazing eyes, her tiny hands clenched at her sides.