"Calm yourself, I implore you, sister; I will see, I will seek--I will redouble my efforts, and perhaps I shall at length succeed--" "No," she interrupted him, "never, never shall we be able to effect anything; he is condemned, condemned by my father; that implacable man will never restore him to me! Oh! I know my father better than you do; you are a man, Sancho, you can try to struggle against him, but he has crushed me, crushed me at a single blow; he broke my heart by a deadly pressure in making me the innocent accomplice of an infernal vengeance! Then he coldly reproached me with a dishonour which is his work, and at the same blow eternally destroyed the happiness of three beings who would have loved him, and whose future he held in his hands." "And you, my dear Clara, do you know nothing--have you discovered nothing?" "Yes," she replied, looking at him fixedly, "I have made a horrible discovery." "You terrify me, Clara; what do you mean? Explain yourself." "Not at present, my dear Sancho, not at present, for the time has not arrived; so be patient. You know that I never had any secrets from you, for you alone have always loved me. I wrote to you to come that I might reveal this secret to you: in three days at the latest you shall know all, and then--" "Then?" he said, looking at her intently. "Then you shall measure, as I do, the immense depth of the gulf into which I have fallen; but enough of this subject for the present, I am suffering terribly, so let us talk of something else." "Most willingly, my dear Clara; but what shall we talk about?" "Well, whatever you like, dear, the rain, the fine weather, your journey, or anything of that sort." Don Sancho understood that his sister was suffering from extreme nervous excitement, and that he would aggravate her already very serious condition by not acceding to her wishes; hence he made no objection, but readily yielded to her caprice. "Well then," he said, "my dear Clara, since that is the case, I will take advantage of the opportunity to ask you to give me some information." "What is it brother? I live in great seclusion as you see, and doubt whether I can satisfy you, but speak all the same." "You know, little sister, that I am a stranger in Hispaniola, where I only arrived four days ago, and then for the first time." "That is true; you have never visited the island; what do you think of it?" "It is frightful, that is to say admirable; frightful as regards roads, and admirable for scenery: you see that my proposition is not so illogical as it at first appeared." "In truth the roads are not convenient." "Say that there are none, and you will tell the truth."; "You are severe." "No, I am only just; if you had seen what magnificent roads we possess in Mexico, you would be of my opinion; but that is not the point at present." "What is it then?" "Why, the information I want of you." "Ah, that is true, I forgot it; but explain yourself, I am listening."