hat I cannot remove the
continued dejection that preys upon you?"

"Forgive me, Lope," she answered; "the expression of my grief I know is
painful to thee, but a dismal foreboding obtrudes itself upon my mind,
which I strive in vain to banish. Alas! it is fraught with a most
fearful, but indefinite anticipation; a woeful presage that freezes my
very soul."

"Hush such foolish chimeras," said Gomez Arias; "it is true that, for
greater security of avoiding observation, I have been obliged to seek
studiously the most unfrequented paths, and travel through these wild
and solitary passes; but our journey draws to a conclusion, and all the
appalling images of Moorish ruffians will soon be entirely dispelled."

"Alas! the dreaded sight of those infidels is not the only cause of my
emotion," sadly replied Theodora.

"What else can occasion it?" demanded Gomez Arias, with anxiety.
"Surely, my Theodora repents not the hour she intrusted herself to the
protection of Gomez Arias?"

She spoke not for some time;--a flood of tears relieved her bursting
bosom: then, as if struggling to collect her forces which were almost
overpowered by sad recollections, she exclaimed--"Oh! never mention the
hour of my crime--for crime it was, and a deadly sin, to abandon the
best of parents, in his old age; and yet," she added, sobbing,
"conscious as I am of my guilt, were the sin again to be committed, for
thy sake, Lope, I should again brave the voice of self-reproach.--Gomez
Arias, wert thou to read the hidden pages of my heart, there thou
wouldst find a tale of boundless love and never-ending sorrow, which no
words of mine can describe, but which must embitter the future portion
of my existence, unless we speedily obtain the forgiveness of my injured
parent."

"Nay, Theodora, this weakness is as unreasonable as it is unjust; nor
can I at all imagine why thy future life should be embittered with
grief, united as it is with the very being of Gomez Arias."

"I am sensible," cried Theodora, "both of the tenderness and sincerity
of your love, and you know full well with what fervent devotion it is
requited."

"What, then, can urge your mind to form such desponding anticipations?
Have you seen aught in my conduct,--have you discerned anything in my
words, that can afford even the shadow of justice to your
apprehensions?"

"No, Gomez Arias," she answered; "your conduct to me has always been
kind; your words breathing the same solicitude for