“What do you mean?”

“I come to tell thee that thou art the last branch of the Rionuevos.”

“Yes, but adulterous.”

“You are mistaken: natural, and very natural.”

“That may be, but who is to prove it?”

“Precisely what I am about to tell thee.”

“Speak!”

“Listen, and do not interrupt me. The Countess is the stumbling-block in thy existence.”

“I know it.”

“She holds thy happiness in her hands.”