Rafael grasped her arm so tightly that she gasped.
"To San Juan?" he demanded. "Alone?" But he was certain of the answer before she spoke.
"Holy Maria! What a grip you have! No. Did I not tell you? Well, we are crazy over it all; we forget. No; she went with your wife, and wild horses could not have held either one of them."
"A malediction on the pair of them!" burst out Rafael. "God curse the horses they ride, that they break their necks on the way!"
"Rafael, for Jesus' sake, not so loud!" and Doña Refugia tried to put her hand over his mouth, but he dashed it aside in fury.
"Loud! Holy God! What do I care?" he demanded, wrathfully. "Do you know why they go like that? It is all a lie, that ambush story. That devil Ana Mendez has schemed to have some one ride past and call that out to you, so that they could pretend an excuse to ride anywhere away from here; and do you know why?"
Doña Refugia was past speech, and could only shake her head dumbly.
"Well, I will tell you. It is because Raquel Estevan did not mean to meet the friends you said you would be pleased to entertain on their arrival from Los Angeles. Doña Maria she will speak to, but Doña Angela is one of the heretics she vows her doors will not open to. That is the reason."
"But, Rafael—"
"Now listen to me," and he turned his fierce stride across the hall, "and God curse me if I do not keep my word!"