She went up to his room one morning, carrying his breakfast. Her father had been ordered to the barracks, and her mother was not well; the service therefore fell upon her.
The prisoner did not seem to heed her when she entered; at least, he gave no sign, until she approached him, and even then was not the first to speak. Going to the window, her eyes followed his to the garden below.
"It looks well this morning," she said, pleasantly.
"Yes,—but I have seen prettier," he answered.
"Where?" she asked, so quickly that Manuel almost smiled as he looked at her before he answered. He knew why she spoke thus, and was not offended by the compassion of her sympathy.
"In my own home, Elizabeth," he answered.
"Aren't you ever going back to it, Sir?" she asked, hurriedly.
He did not reply.
"Won't you ever see it again?" she persisted.
"Banishment,—a prisoner for life," said he, for the first time explaining to any person his dread sentence.