and find herself in the very midst of sin
through no fault of her own--all on account of her niece, who had
converted her holy, her pure, her pious home into an ante-chamber of
hell! And it was the poor woman's superstitious terror, the conviction
of damnation that had seized on dona Pepa's simple soul, that wounded
Leonora most deeply.

"They've robbed me of all I had in the world," she murmured desperately,
"of the affection of the only dear one left after my father died. I am
not the child of former days to auntie; that is apparent from the way
she looks at me, the way she shuns me, avoiding all contact with me....
And just because of you, because I love you, because I was not cruel to
you! Oh, that night! How I shall suffer for it!... How clearly I foresaw
how it would all end!"

Rafael was humiliated, crushed, filled with shame and remorse at the
suffering that had fallen upon this woman, because she had given herself
to him. What was he to do? The time had come to prove himself the
strong, the resourceful man, able to protect the beloved woman in her
moment of danger. But where should he strike first to defend her?...

Leonora lifted her head from her lover's shoulder, and withdrew from his
embrace. She wiped away her tears and rose to her feet with the
determination of irrevocable resolution.

"I have made up my mind. It hurts me very much to say what I am going to
say; but I can't help it. It will do you no good to say 'no'--I cannot
stay under this roof another day. Everything is over between my aunt and
me. Poor old woman! The dream I cherished was to care for her lovingly,
tenderly till she died in my arms, be to her what I failed to be to
father.... But they have opened her eyes. To her I am nothing but a
sinner now and my presence upsets everything for her.... I must go away.
I've already told Beppa to pack my things.... Rafael, my love, this is
our last night together.... To-morrow ... and you will never see me
again."

The youth recoiled as if someone had struck him in the breast.

"Going? Going ...? And you can say that coolly, simply, just like that?
You are leaving me ... this way ... just when we are happiest ...?"

But soon he had himself in hand again. This surely could be nothing more
than a passing impulse, a notion arrived at in a flash of anger. Of
course she did not really mean to go! She must think things over, see
things clearly. That was a crazy idea! Desert her Rafaelito? Absurd!
I