laced her in thy arms, and bade
thee see that she had already learned thy smile; and were these the
signs of falsehood? Oh, how I pined for the sound of thy footstep when
thou wert gone! how all the summer had vanished from the landscape; and
how, turning to thy child, I fancied I again beheld thee! The day after
thou hadst left me there was a knock at the cottage; the nurse opened
it, and there entered your former rival, whom my father had sought
to force upon me, the richest of the descendants of the Moor, Arraez
Ferrares. Why linger on this hateful subject? He had tracked us to our
home, he had learned thy absence, he came to insult me with his vows. By
the Blessed Mother, whom thou hast taught me to adore, by the terror
and pang of death, by my hopes of Heaven, I am innocent, Roderigo, I am
innocent! Oh, how couldst thou be so deceived? He quitted the cottage,
discomfited and enraged; again he sought me, and again and again;
and when the door was closed upon him, he waylaid my steps. Lone and
defenceless as we were, thy wife and child, with but one attendant I
feared him not; but I trembled at thy return, for I knew that thou went
a Spaniard, a Castilian, and that beneath thy calm and gentle seeming
lurked pride, and jealousy, and revenge. Thy letter came, the only
letter since thy absence, the last letter from thee I may ever weep
over, and lay upon my heart. Thy relation was dead, and his wealth
enriched a nearer heir. Thou wert to return. The day in which I might
expect thee approached--it arrived. During the last week I had seen and
heard no more of Ferrares. I trusted that he had at length discovered
the vanity of his pursuit. I walked into the valley, thy child in my
arms, to meet thee; but thou didst not come. The sun set, and the light
of thine eyes replaced not the declining day. I returned home, and
watched for thee all night, but in vain. The next morning again I went
forth into the valley, and again, with a sick heart, returned to my
desolate home. It was then noon. As I approached the door I perceived
Ferrares. He forced his entrance. I told him of thy expected return, and
threatened him with thy resentment. He left me; and, terrified with a
thousand vague forebodings, I sat down to weep. The nurse, Leonarda, was
watching by the cradle of our child in the inner room.

"I was alone. Suddenly the door opened. I heard thy step; I knew it; I
knew its music. I started up. Saints of Heaven! what a meeting--wha