"Where is he imprisoned?"
"At the Cabildo. He is not in a dungeon; papa says he is only under arrest, but no one is allowed to speak to him. One has been very active and offered to papa to break into the Cabildo and rescue him by force—Captain Asneiros; his Andaluces would follow him anywhere, and there are some of Marcelino's Morenos in one battalion of the Patricios, who, he says, would dare anything for their old chief. But papa would not let him; he says that the indignation of the whole city will force Marshal Liniers to set him free. Ah! if you were only there, Don Carlos, you would do more than Captain Asneiros, and even than papa, for Don Cornelio Saavedra and the Patricios would all listen to you, and without them the Viceroy is nothing, papa told me so."
"Asneiros!" said Evaña to himself, rising from his seat and walking up and down the verandah, "Asneiros! I begin to understand. This is a trap, and if we are careless we will run our necks into the noose."
Then again he paused in front of Dolores and asked her:
"But nothing has been done, he remains in prison, and no one has spoken to him, not even Don Roderigo?"
"No one. Not even papa is allowed to speak to him, and nothing has been done, but to-morrow you will be there, and something will be done," said Dolores, looking up at Evaña with a flush on her cheek, and a trustful look in her gray eyes.
"Not to-morrow, but to-night I will go in, but I do not tell you that I will do anything to set Marcelino at liberty. Believe me, it may be best for him to remain where he is just at present, but not for long, not for long. This affair will not have the end which they think it will."
"Don Carlos!" exclaimed Dolores; "best for him to remain in prison! What has he done, Don Carlos? You know something."
"He has done nothing to deserve imprisonment, yet for other reasons it may be best for him to remain where he is for a few days. He is innocent and therefore he is in no danger."
"Innocent! of course he is, and yet you would let them treat him as a criminal, and will do nothing to help him. Are you not my friend, Don Carlos? Are you not his brother?"