"Ah, Juan!" she sighed. "How can I answer you? I fear that it will be never!"
"Never!"
"My uncle has asked me to sacrifice myself for the sake of the revolution."
"By marrying the Viceroy?"
"No!"
"No?—Then whom?"
"The Governor-General."
"Him—Salcedo?—that old tyrant?"
"It is my uncle's wish. He says it would free millions of people, my countrymen."
"Your countrymen? You come from Old Spain! No! And what if that man should sell himself for your beauty? Could such a man be trusted? Yet suppose he held true to his pledge to lead the revolution, and suppose the revolution should triumph, would it not be the triumph of Salcedo? Would this wretched land be less oppressed under Salcedo the King than under Salcedo the Governor-General? Answer me, Alisanda Vallois. You know the man!"