"Can you not read their meaning, Don Juan?"
"No."
"You cannot?"
"I cannot," he answered defiantly.
"Say rather that you will not," replied the Frenchwoman, scornfully. "You fear to commit yourself by an avowal which may seem like a confession of guilt. Shall I tell you the meaning of those words?"
"Yes."
"You are a brave man, Don Juan Moraquitos, you do not fear to hear the truth?"
"I do not."
"Then listen to me. Those words have relation to an event which occurred thirteen years ago!"
"My memory is no longer that of a young man," answered Don Juan; "I cannot remember all the events which happened at that date."