And as little suspected she when one of the house domestics came upon the azotea and handed her a large ornamental envelope, bearing the State arms, that it was part of the malignant scheme. Breaking it open she drew out an embossed and gilded card--a ticket. It came from the Dictator, inviting Dona Luisa Valverde to be present in a grand procession, which was to take place on the following day; intimating, moreover, that one of the State carriages would be at the disposal of herself and party. There were but few ladies in the city of Mexico who would not have been flattered by such an invitation; all the more from the card bearing the name, Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, signed by himself, with the added phrase "con estima particular." But little cared she for the flattery. Rather did it cause her a feeling of disgust, with something akin to fear. It was not the first time for the ruler of Mexico to pay compliments and thus press his attentions upon her. Soon as glanced over, she let the despised thing fall, almost flinging it at her feet; and once more bent her eyes upon the Tacubaya Road, first carrying her glance along the side of the aqueduct to assure herself that her messenger had not in the meanwhile rounded the corner. He had not, and she continued to watch impatiently; the invitation to ride in the State carriage being as much out of her mind as though she had never received it. Not many minutes longer before being intruded on. This time, however, by no domestic; instead a lady--like herself, young and beautiful, but beauty of an altogether different style. Though of pure Spanish descent, Luisa Valverde was a _guera_; her complexion bright, with hair of sunny hue. Such there are in Mexico, tracing their ancestry to the shores of Biscay's famous bay. She who now appeared upon the azotea was dark; her skin showing a tinge of golden brown, with a profusion of black hair plaited and coiled as a coronet around her head. A crayon-like shading showed upon her upper lip--which on that of a man would have been termed a moustache-- rendering whiter by contrast teeth already of dazzling whiteness; while for the same reason, the red upon her cheeks was of the deep tint of a damask rose. The tones of all, however, were in perfect harmony; and distributed over features of the finest mould produced a face in which soft feminine beauty vied with a sort of savage picturesqueness, making it piquantly attractive. It was altogether a rare bewitching face; part of its witchery being due to the _raza Andalusiana_--and beyond that the Moriscan--but as much of it coming from the ancient blood of Anahuac--possibly from the famed Malinche herself. For the young lady delineated was the Condes Almonte--descended from one of Conquistadors who had wedded an Aztec princess--the beautiful Ysabel Almonte whose charms were at the time the toast of every _cercle_ in Mexico. CHAPTER SIXTEEN. A MUTUAL MISAPPREHENSION.