_Dr. Bermudez_ [_aside, to Dr. Tomas_]--Let him have his way; call them. [_Dr. Tomas rings a bell; a servant enters, to whom he speaks in a low voice and who then goes out._] _Lorenzo_--It is the final trial; I could almost feel pity for the traitors. Ah! I am sustained by the certainty of my triumph. Be still, my heart. There they are--there they are. I do not wish to see them. To treat me thus who loved them so dearly!--I do not wish, and yet my eyes turn toward them--seeking them--seeking them! * * * * * _Lorenzo_--Inez! It cannot be! She! no, no. It cannot be! My child! [_Hurries towards her with outstretched arms. Inez runs to him._] _Inez_--Father! [_Dr. Bermudez hastens to interpose, and separates them forcibly._] _Dr. Bermudez_--Come, come, Don Lorenzo; you might hurt your daughter seriously. _Lorenzo_ [_seizing him by the arm and shaking him violently_]--Wretch! Who are you to part me from my child? _Dr. Tomas_--Lorenzo! _Edward_--Don Lorenzo! _Angela_--My God! [_The women group themselves instinctively together, Inez in her mother's arms, the duchess beside them. Dr. Tomas and Edward hasten to free Bermudez from Don Lorenzo's grasp_.] _Lorenzo_ [_aside, controlling himself_]--So! The imbeciles think it is another access of madness! Ha, ha, ha! [_Laughing with suppressed laughter. All watch him._] _Dr. Bermudez_ [_aside to Dr. Tomas_]--It is quite clear. _Angela_ [_aside_]--Oh, my poor Lorenzo! _Inez_ [_aside_]--My poor father! _Lorenzo_ [_aside_]--Now you shall see how my madness will end. Before I leave this house, with what pleasure will I turn that doctor out of it. Courage! The coming struggle inspires me with new strength. What! Is a man to be declared mad because he is resolved to do his duty? Ah, it cannot be! Humanity is neither so blind nor so base as that. Enough! I must be calm. Treachery has begun its work; then let the punishment begin too. [_Aloud._] The hour has come for me to perform a sacred duty, though a most painful one. It would be useless to ask you to witness formalities which the law requires, but which you would only find irksome. The representative of the law awaits me in yonder room; and in obedience to another and a higher law, I am going now to renounce a fortune which is not mine, and a name which neither I nor my family can conscientiously bear longer. After this is done I will return here, and with my wife, and--and my daughter--and let no one seek to dissuade me from my purpose, for it would be in vain--I will leave this house which has been for me in the past the abode of love and happiness, but which is to-day the abode of treachery and baseness. Gentlemen [_to Dr. Tomas and Dr. Bermudez_], lead the way; I beg you to do so. [_All slowly enter the study. On the threshold Lorenzo casts a last look at Inez._] Translation made for 'A Library of the World's Best Literature,' by Mary J. Serrano