"But, Cayetano!"

"But, Perfecta! There! Now you will insist upon it again that I have
been asleep."

"No, indeed; how could I insist upon any thing so absurd! But you
haven't told me what you think about that young man."

Don Cayetano placed the palm of his hand before his mouth to conceal a
yawn; then he and Dona Perfecta entered upon a long conversation. Those
who have transmitted to us the necessary data for a compilation of
this history omit this dialogue, no doubt because it was entirely
confidential. As for what the engineer and Rosarito said in the garden
that afternoon, it is evident that it was not worthy of mention.

On the afternoon of the following day, however, events took place which,
being of the gravest importance, ought not to be passed over in silence.
Late in the afternoon the two cousins found themselves alone, after
rambling through different parts of the garden in friendly companionship
and having eyes and ears only for each other.

"Pepe," Rosario was saying, "all that you have been telling me is pure
fancy, one of those stories that you clever men know so well how to put
together. You think that because I am a country girl I believe every
thing I am told."

"If you understood me as well as I think I understand you, you would
know that I never say any thing I do not mean. But let us have done
with foolish subtleties and lovers' sophistries, that lead only to