ing sea, and these
watery sands. Say that _yes_, which surely behoves your honour as well
as my happiness. I repeat to you that I am a gentleman, as you know, and
wealthy; that I love you, which you ought to esteem above every other
consideration; and that whereas I find you alone, in a garb that
derogates much from your honour, far from the home of your parents and
your kindred, without any one to aid you at your need, and without the
hope of obtaining what you were in quest of, you may return home in your
own proper and seemly garb, accompanied by as good a husband as you had
chosen for yourself, and be wealthy, happy, esteemed, and even applauded
by all who may become acquainted with the events of your story. All
this being so, I know not why you hesitate. Say the one word that shall
raise me from the depth of wretchedness to the heaven of bliss, and in
so doing, you will do what is best for yourself; you will comply with
the demands of courtesy and good sense, and show yourself at once
grateful and discreet."

"Well," said the doubting Leocadia, at last, "since Heaven has so
ordained, and neither I nor any one living can oppose its will, be it as
Heaven and you desire, senor. I take the same power to witness with what
bashfulness I consent to your wishes, not because I am unconscious of
what I gain by complying with them, but because I fear that when I am
yours you will regard me with other eyes than those with which hitherto
perhaps you have mistakingly beheld me. But be it as it may, to be the
lawful wife of Don Rafael de Villavicencio is an honour I cannot lose,
and with that alone I shall live contented. But if my conduct after I am
your wife give me any claim to your esteem, I will thank Heaven for
having brought me through such strange circumstances and such great
misfortunes to the happiness of being yours. Give me your hand, Don
Rafael, and take mine in exchange; and, as you say, let the witnesses of
our mutual engagement be the sky, the sea, the sands, and this silence,
interrupted only by my sighs and your entreaties."

So saying, she permitted Don Rafael to embrace her, and taking each
other's hand they solemnised their betrothal with a few tears drawn from
their eyes by the excess of joy succeeding to their past sorrows. They
immediately returned to the knight's house, where their absence had
occasioned great anxiety, and where the nuptials of Marco Antonio and
Teodosia had already been celebrated by a