"Hear the truth, even to the last syllable; for even _thy_ good opinion I will not purchase by subterfuge. To Villafana,--a wretch, whose manifold villanies thou couldst not dream, (for know, that, being a sailor in the ship that bore the unlucky sisters, he devised and accomplished its destruction, that he might impiously obtain the holy vessels of silver and gold--Ay, it was Villafana, and not the tempest, that drove us upon the rocks of Alonso--) to Villafana, from whom I learned the cause of the duel and of thy flight, I committed the charge of obtaining this recantation.--Was this wrong?" she exclaimed, giving way to affright, for Juan's looks of horror could not be mistaken: "they were two fiends together,--the villain struck the villain,--the--" "Murderess! murderess!" cried Juan aloud, recoiling from her. A ghastly smile passed over her countenance, and it grew into a faint laugh, which, to Juan's mistaken eye, (for he thought it the merriment of satisfaction or indifference,) seemed unnatural and dreadful, while she replied, her voice hysterically belying her feelings, as much as did her countenance, "Thou dost not think I employed him to do murder? I appeal to heaven, I did not dream he would do aught but compel the recantation from the wounded man.--What! bid him kill one so defenceless! Had he been strong and well armed, then perhaps, indeed,--then perhaps, I might have thought it. I sought but for the paper; the rest was the deed of Villafana." "Oh heaven! oh holy heaven!" cried Juan; "speak not another word: rather let me die than hear more. Away! avaunt! thou art not a woman, but a fiend! and all is now as it was, and worse.--What, blood-stained! blood-stained!"-- Magdalena strode towards him, striving to speak, but could only utter the words, 'Injustice! injustice!' mingled with the charge, 'Leave Mexico,' that still made a part of her perturbed thoughts. Had not Juan been entirely overwhelmed by his horror, he must have observed, that her mind was, at this moment, convulsed beyond the degree of any former agitation; that she was, in fact, in a condition both alarming and pitiable. Her countenance was most deathlike, her accents wholly unnatural, and there was something of delirium or idiotcy in the manner with which, while still muttering the broken reproof, 'Injustice,' and the charge, 'Leave Mexico,' she, all the while, extended the blood-stained paper, as if entreating him again to receive and peruse it. As it was, he gave utterance to his horror in the words,-- "Miserable woman! the denial forced from the lips of the murdered man, is of a piece with the spirit that compelled it--False, false, all!" At these words, the paper dropped from her hands, another vacant smile distorted her visage, and she turned to depart; but before she had taken two steps, she tottered, and fell to the floor, with a dreadful scream, that instantly brought the guards into the prison.