At length, when I had done, she opened them again, and again she turned them full upon me.

Their brightness seemed to increase a moment, and then I saw that she was quietly weeping.
"And you were there to save me, Lazzaro ?" she murmured brokenly.
"Lazzaro mio, it seems that you are ever at hand when I have need of you.

You are indeed my one true friend--the one true friend that never fails me." "Are you feeling stronger, Madonna ?" I asked abruptly, roughly almost.
"Yes, I am stronger." She stood up as if to test her strength.

"Indeed little ails me saving the horror of this thing.

The thought of it seems to turn me sick and dizzy." "Sit then and rest," said I."Presently, when you are more recovered, we will set out." "Whither shall we go ?" she asked.
"Why, to the Palace, to your brother." "Why, yes," she answered, as though it were the last suggestion that she had been expecting, "And to-morrow--it will be to-morrow, will it not ?--comes the Lord Ignacio to claim his bride.