Just one word, but what an effect it had upon the other--the prisoner of the dungeon burst into tears, all the while protesting and accusing Roderic of duplicity, declaring that her love had turned to hate, and yet giving this assertion the lie by the very emphasis with which she spoke. It was a tirade of almost meaningless phrases, just such as one might expect from an impulsive whole hearted daughter of the tropics, who loved and suffered, and whose brave front, artificially sustained, had given way under this sudden shock. Roderic did not wince--Roderic knew he held the magic power in his grasp whereby he could change this mourning into rejoicing--he knew she loved him in spite of what she might say, yes loved him with an undying affection such as only a woman of her stamp could experience. He waited a minute or so until she had exhausted the violence of her emotions. When finally she had hidden her face in her hands, as if she dared no longer let him gaze upon her weakness, Roderic took a step toward her and spoke gently. At the sound of his beloved voice she trembled like an aspen leaf, and as she heard the astounding intelligence imparted by his calm words, first she looked from between her fingers, then both hands fell from her face, and finally with bated breath she hung upon his closing sentences, utterly transformed, radiant with a sudden return of happiness such as she had believed could never again be her portion on earth. What he said was but a hurried review of this meeting with Inez under such strange conditions, the appointment he had made for a rendezvous in the plaza, and last of all their desperate undertaking in company on this night, resolved to save Leon if it be in mortal power to do so. She looked toward Inez, into whose brain something of the wonderful truth was beginning to enter. That look no longer spoke of contempt and hatred--there was a new light in her eye as though her soul had awakened to a glorious realization of the possibilities opening before. In Inez the devoted daughter of Morro's stern governor, the girl who had saved Leon from a prison cell in Cuba, the woman whose love had made her that same Leon's wife and who was therefore her own sister, she saw a different being from the dark-eyed houri whom she once believed had stolen Roderic's heart--circumstances alter cases, and the same scene we have looked upon in the deceptive moonlight becomes transformed in the garish light of day. "His wife--my brother's wife--oh! what is this strange thing you tell me--that would be too much happiness--I must be dreaming." The girl had met with such a revulsion of feeling that she threatened to become incoherent again; but Roderic, advancing another step laid a hand upon her arm, his touch acting like magic, for he seemed to infuse some of his own calmness into her.