d tenderly into her face. She saw some inscrutable change
there. All was the same, and all was different. She did not understand
that it was in the eyes, those lookouts of the soul. They had lost the
frank, inquisitive stare of childhood; they were tender and misty;
they reflected a heart passionate and fearful, in which love was making
himself lord of all.

Antonia was not without experience. There was in New York a gay,
handsome youth, to whom her thoughts lovingly turned. She had promised
to trust him, and to wait for him, and neither silence nor distance
had weakened her faith or her affection. Don Luis had also made her
understand how hard it was to leave Isabel, just when he had hoped to
woo and win her. He had asked her to watch over his beloved, and to say
a word in his favor when all others would be condemning him.

Her sympathy had been almost a promise, and, indeed, she thought Isabel
could hardly have a more suitable lover. He was handsome, gallant, rich,
and of good morals and noble family. They had been much together in
their lives; their childish affection had been permitted; she felt quite
sure that the parents of both had contemplated a stronger affection and
a more lasting tie between them.

And evidently Don Luis had advanced further in his suit than the Senora
was aware of. He had not been able to resist the charm of secretly
wooing the fresh young girl he hoped to make his wife. Their love must
be authorized and sanctioned; true, he wished that; but the charm
of winning the prize before it was given was irresistible. Antonia
comprehended all without many words; but she took her sister into the
garden, where they could be quite alone, and she sought the girl's
confidence because she was sure she could be to her a loving guide.

Isabel was ready enough to talk, and the morning was conducive to
confidence. They strolled slowly between the myrtle hedges in the
sweet gloom of overshadowing trees, hearing only like a faint musical
confusion the mingled murmur of the city.

"It was just here," said Isabel. "I was walking and sitting and doing
nothing at all but looking at the trees and the birds and feeling happy,
and Don Luis came to me. He might have come down from the skies, I was
so astonished. And he looked so handsome, and he said such words! Oh,
Antonia! they went straight to my heart."

"When was this, dear?"

"It was in the morning. I had been to mass with Rachela. I had said
every prayer