n as he bounded out of bed. He needed many
indispensable articles, and he thought of going out to buy them--a
matter of a moment.

"But are you really going out?" asked Leonora with a certain anguish, as
if her feminine instinct sensed a danger. "Are you going to leave me
alone?..."

"Only a moment. I won't keep you waiting long."

They took leave of each other in the corridor with the noisy,
nonchalant joy of passion, indifferent to the chamber-maids who were
walking to and fro at the other end of the passageway.

"Good-bye, Rafael.... Another hug; just one more."

And as, with the taste of the last kiss still fresh on his lips, he
reached the square, he saw a bejewelled hand still waving to him from a
balcony.

Anxious to get back as soon as possible, the young man walked hurriedly
along, elbowing his way among the cab-drivers swarming in front of the
great _Palacio de Dos Aguas_, closed, silent, slumbering, like the two
giants that guarded its portals, displaying in the golden downpour of
sunlight the overdecorated yet graceful sumptuousness of its roccoco
facade.

"Rafael! Rafael!..."

The deputy turned around at the sound of his name, and blanched as if he
had seen a ghost. It was don Andres, calling to him.

"Rafael! Rafael!"

"You?... Here?"

"I came by the Madrid express. For two hours I've been hunting for you
in all the hotels of Valencia. I knew you were here.... But come, we
have a great deal to talk over. This is not just the place to do it."

And the old Mentor glowered hatefully at the _Hotel de Roma_, as if he
wanted to annihilate the huge edifice with everybody in it.

They walked off, slowly, without knowing just where they were going,
turning corners, passing several times through the same streets, their
nerves tense and quivering, ready to shout at the top of their lungs,
yet using every effort to speak softly, so as not to attract attention
from the passers-by who were rubbing against them on the narrow
side-walks.

Don Andres, naturally, was the first to speak:

"You approve of what you've done?"

And seeing that Rafael, like a coward, was trying to pretend innocent
astonishment, asking "what" he had done, observing that he had come to
Valencia on a matter of business, the old man broke into a rage.

"Now, see here, don't you go lying to me: either we're men or we're not
men. If you think you've acted properly, you ought to stand up for it
and say so. Don't imagine you're goi