Quinola You are already in the secrets of the viceroy, you have the confidence of the Brancadori lady. That is a good beginning! Work a miracle and give us some clothes first of all, and if we two, taking counsel with a flask of liquor, do not discover some way by which my master and Marie Lothundiaz may meet, I will not answer for the consequences. For the last two days his constant talk has been of her, and I am afraid he may some day entirely lose his head. Monipodio The maiden is guarded like a condemned convict. This is the reason: Lothundiaz has had two wives; the first was poor and gave him a son, the second had a fortune, and when she died left all to her daughter, and left it in such a way that she could never be deprived of it. The old man is a miser whose only object is his son's success. Sarpi, the secretary of the viceroy, in order to win the rich heiress, has promised to obtain a title for Lothundiaz, and takes vast interest in the son-- Quinola There you are--an enemy at the very outset. Monipodio We must use great prudence. Listen. I am going to give a hint to Mathieu Magis, the most prominent Lombard in the city, and a man entirely under my influence. You will find everything you need at his palace, from diamonds down to low shoes. When you return here you shall see our young lady. (Exeunt.) SCENE THIRD Paquita and Faustine. Paquita Madame is right; two men are on sentry under her balcony and are going away on seeing the day dawn. Faustine The old viceroy will end by disgracing me! He suspects me, even at my own house, while I am within sight and hearing of him. (Exit Paquita.) SCENE FOURTH Faustine and Don Fregose. Don Fregose Madame, you run the risk of catching cold; it is too chilly here. Faustine Come here, my lord. You tell me, that you have faith in me; but you put Monipodio to watch under my windows. Your behavior is not to be excused like the excessive prudence of a young man, and necessarily exasperates an honest woman. There are two kinds of jealousy: the first makes a man distrust his mistress; the second leads him to lose faith in himself. Confine yourself, if you please, to the second. Don Fregose Do not end so charming a celebration, senora, by a burst of anger which I do not deserve. Faustine Was Monipodio, through whom you learn everything that goes on in Barcelona, under my windows last night, or was he not? Answer me on your honor as a gentleman. Don Fregose He might have been in the neighborhood to prevent our gamesters from being attacked on their way home. Faustine This is the evasive stratagem of an old general! I must know the truth. If you have deceived me I will never see you again so long as I live! (She leaves him.) SCENE FIFTH.