FLORENCIO. Ah! But this must be stopped. I shall run at once to the offices of the papers, to the judicial authorities, to the governor, to all the booksellers. As for this Casalonga--Ah! I will settle with him! Either he will retract and confess that these letters are forgeries from beginning to end, or I will kill him! I will fight with him in earnest! CAROLINA. Florencio! Don't forget yourself! You are going too far. You don't mean a duel? To expose your life? FLORENCIO. Don't you see that it is impossible to submit to such an indignity? Where is this thing going to stop? Is nobody's private life to be secure? And this goes deeper than the private life--it impugns the sanctity of our intentions. CAROLINA. No, Florencio! FLORENCIO. Let me go! CAROLINA. Florencio! Anything but a duel! No, no! FLORENCIO. Ah! Either he will retract and withdraw the edition of this libel or, should he refuse.... CAROLINA. Zurita! FLORENCIO. My friend.... You are just in time! [_Zurita enters._] ZURITA. Don Florencio.... Carolina.... Don't say a word! I know how you feel. FLORENCIO. Did you see it? Did you hear it? Is this a civilized country in which we live? CAROLINA. But surely he has not heard it already? ZURITA. Yes, at the Club. Some one had the book; they were passing it around.... FLORENCIO. At the Club? ZURITA. Don't be alarmed. Everybody thinks it is blackmail--a case of _chantage_. Don Patricio could never have written such letters. FLORENCIO. Ah! So they think that? ZURITA. Even if he had, they deal with private matters, which ought never to have been made public. FLORENCIO. Exactly my idea--with private matters; they are confidential. ZURITA. I lost no time, as you may be sure, of hurrying to Valdivieso's shop, where the books are on sale. I found him amazed; he was entirely innocent. He bought the copies supposing that the subject was of timely importance; that it was of a serious nature. He hurried at once to withdraw the copies from the window, and ran in search of the author. FLORENCIO. Of the author? Is the author in town? ZURITA. Yes, he came with the books; he arrived with them this morning. FLORENCIO. Ah! So this scamp Casalonga is here, is he? Tell me where I can find him! ZURITA. At the Hotel de Europa. CAROLINA. Florencio! Don't you go! Hold him back! He means to challenge him. ZURITA. Never! It is not worth the trouble. Besides, you ought to hold yourself above such things. Your wife is above them. FLORENCIO. But what will people say, friend Zurita? What will people say? ZURITA. Everybody thinks it is a huge joke. FLORENCIO. A joke? Then our position is ridiculous. ZURITA. I did not say that. What I do say.... FLORENCIO. No, no, friend Zurita; you are a man of honor, you know that it is necessary for me to kill this man. CAROLINA. But suppose he is the one who kills you? No, Florencio, not a duel! What is the use of the courts?