d he
soon began to behave as if he were madly in love with me. I was not
averse to him, for he was young, handsome, and aristocratic. And what
else does a girl of sixteen look for? I naturally had no difficulty in
understanding his glances and his sighs, but it went on for months
without his making me a formal proposal. One day he wrote me a letter
eight pages long, in which he informed me that, as he possessed nothing
in the world but his sword, he dared not venture to lift his eyes to
the heiress of the richest landowner in Old Castile; beside that, he
was not worthy of me, only a king could be that--the wretch! But I will
come back to that later on. On the other hand, however, he could not
live without me, and if I did not return his love he was resolved to
put a bullet through his brain. Of course I instantly saw him with a
bullet-hole in his forehead, and shed tears for the poor young man. I
did not want anybody to die for my sake. I pictured to myself how
beautiful it would be to make a young man, without fortune or position,
with nothing but his love for me, happy, rich, and great by the gift of
my hand. I showed the letter to my mother, and asked her what was to be
done. She at once took up the young man's cause. My soul would most
assuredly fall a prey to the devil if I let poor Pozaldez kill himself.
He was of good family, and would soon make his way as the son-in-law of
the Marquis de Henares. I must unquestionably do something to raise his
spirits. My mother's advice coincided with my own feelings. I allowed
the count a secret interview, and he had permission to ask my father
for my hand. He did so in fear and trembling. He was dismissed with
scorn and contumely. My mother and I then used all our influence to
turn my father, and--I was married to Count Pozaldez before I was
seventeen."

She was silent for a little while, and then went on: "I will make my
story short. One year afterward, when I was in bed with my first child,
he brought his mistresses to the house. I was determined to leave him
on the spot. My mother brought about a reconciliation. Soon after that
he began to ill-treat me. I suffered that in silence too, to avoid a
public scandal, and more particularly for my father's sake. He would
have killed him if he had known. Later--later--I must tell it you, so
that you may grasp the whole situation--the villain did all he could to
direct King Amadeo's attention to me--he had just come to Madrid. When