ere a thread of silver;
otherwise, his fresh and ruddy cheeks, his white and carefully brushed
teeth, and his easy, graceful gestures, made him seem like a boy; his
travelling-costume was affectedly elegant, with certain Parisian
refinements unknown in Madrid. Julita took all this in at one rapid
glance. He was not at all the man that she expected to meet. Having
heard her cousin spoken of as a spendthrift, she had always imagined him
as jaundiced, lean, scrubby, and inflicted with a cough, like some
hair-brained Madrilenos whom she knew by sight.

When he saw the young lady, he arose hastily to his feet.

"Oh, what a pretty cousin!" he exclaimed, at the same time taking her
hand in a frank and affectionate manner. "You will forgive me for having
disturbed you in what you were doing, will you not?"

"I was not doing anything.... Won't you sit down, sir?"

Don Alfonso remained a moment in a state of uncertainty, and then as he
sat down, he exclaimed with a gesture of resignation:--

"What a terrible blow to my illusions, aunt! Your daughter has not dared
to say _thou_ to me.... These cursed gray hairs!"

Julita flushed a deep crimson.

"That is not the reason!"

"Then it is because you have been prejudiced against me; confess it!...
But it is not my fault either that I am old, or that your mamma has
disturbed you on my account."

Julita, flushing deeper and deeper, did not know how to defend herself;
her mother came to her aid.

"It is neither the one thing nor the other, Alfonso; the trouble is
that, as having never met you before, she is confused."

"Is that so?" he asked his cousin, at the same time looking at her with
a bright smile.

Julita gave an affirmative gesture, and returned his smile.

"That is not so bad.... But I still feel a keen sense of remorse. It
will be very gratifying to me if you will tell me that I am forgiven."

Julita, with difficulty overcoming the timidity that choked her, said in
a low tone:--

"I have nothing to forgive you for."

"Thanks, little coz," pursued Don Alfonso, rising, and with an elegant
and graceful gesture again shaking hands with her.

Then he began to talk with his aunt about family affairs; asking her
many questions about his whole circle of relatives, and learning many
particulars of which he had been ignorant.

Then the conversation turned on the customs of Paris, which he described
pleasantly and attractively, taking pains to extol Spain, instead of