"No, Juan, it cannot be!" he replied, and his sigh proved that his regret was real. "You would add strength to our cause, but not what may be gained elsewhere. There are men in New Spain who, if they joined the revolution, could singly bring over whole provinces." "You would give her to another!--as a bribe to win the support of another!--when you know she loves me?" "God bear me witness, it is not for myself but for my country. What a small price to pay--the disappointment of two lovers--in turn for the freedom and happiness of millions!" "It is not your heart you would break," I retorted. "Do you then believe I can look upon her grief and yours without sorrow?" "Let another pay the price!" "There is none other as precious--none other that can win him over. All turns upon her beauty and charm. He whose aid I am resolved to gain by the bestowal of her hand can be won only by the most lovely woman in New Spain. And he is one whose leadership would at once bring us the support of all the land, from across the borders of the Viceroyalty to Santa Fe." I stood dumb, staring at him in deepening despair. "Juan, can you not look at the matter through my eyes?" he urged. "The time is ripe. There are rumors that the Corsican is preparing to clutch Old Spain out of the feeble grasp of King Ferdinand. It is well known that the revenues from our mines have already for a long time been flowing through the Spanish treasury into the coffers of France. Our people are fast losing faith in Old World rulership. They hate and fear the French." "Then let them rebel and win freedom with their blood, as did my people. A people who would buy liberty by the sale of a helpless girl are worthy only of utter slavery." He flushed a dull red beneath his swarthy skin, yet kept his temper well in hand. "You do not understand, Juan. Listen. It is now only ten years since the people of the Viceroyalty rose and proclaimed the Viceroy, Barnardo Count of Galvez, King of Mexico. In his misguided loyalty, Barnardo crushed the insurrection with merciless vigor,--for which he was duly honored and then duly poisoned by his royal master. Had he been wise, he would to-day be ruling over a freed country of devoted subjects. But that revolution came to naught; the vast projects of your discredited statesman Aaron Burr have failed most miserably; and now we lovers of liberty here are left to do the best we can with our unaided strength." "And the purchasing power of divine and innocent beauty!" I cried. "So be it!" he replied, with a hardness of determination which I realized all my anger and despair could not move a hair's-breadth. Yet as he went on, his voice quivered with unfeigned commiseration for my suffering. "Juan!--Juan! If I could sell my soul instead, and thereby save her for you, I would do it. The thought of her anguish rends my very heart cords! Yet it cannot be. She alone can win over the second Galvez who shall free my country."