he motive will easily be guessed. Nothing of either friendship or
humanity actuated Santander. Alone the passion of love; which had to do
not with Don Ignacio--but his daughter. In New Orleans he himself dared
no longer live, and so could no more see Luisa Valverde there. Purely
personal then; a selfish love, such as he could feel, was the motive for
his intercession with the political chief of Mexico to pardon the
political criminal. But if he had been the means of restoring Don
Ignacio to his country, that was all. True, there was the restitution
of the exile's estates, but this followed as a consequence on
reinstatement in his political rights. The after honours and
emoluments--with the appointment to a seat in the Cabinet--came from the
Chief of the State, Santa Anna himself. And his motive for thus
favouring a man who had lately, and for long, been his political foe was
precisely the same as that which actuated Carlos Santander. The
Dictator of Mexico, as famed for his gallantries in love as his
gallantry in war--and indeed somewhat more--had looked upon Luisa
Valverde, and "saw that she was fair."

For Don Ignacio himself, as the recipient of these favours, much may be
said in extenuation. Banishment from one's native land, with loss of
property, and separation from friends as from best society; condemned to
live in another land, where all these advantages are unattainable,
amidst a companionship uncongenial; add to this the necessity of work,
whether mental or physical toil, to support life--the _res augustae
domi_; sum up all these, and you have the history of Don Ignacio
Valverde during his residence in New Orleans. He bore all patiently and
bravely, as man could and should. For all he was willing--and it cannot
be wondered at that he was--when the day came, and a letter reached him
bearing the State seal of the Mexican Republic--for its insignia were
yet unchanged--to say that he had received pardon, and could return
home.

He knew the man who had procured it for him--Carlos Santander--and had
reason to suspect something of the motive. But the mouth of a gift
horse must not be too narrowly examined; and Santander, ever since that
night when he behaved so rudely in Don Ignacio's house, had been chary
in showing his face. In point of fact, he had made but one more visit
to the Calle de Casa Calvo here, presenting himself several days after
the duel with a patch of court plaister on his cheek, and