received my caresses as a proof of the greatness of my love and the
purity of my feelings.

"Dearest," she said, "what you say puzzles me; there are two things which
I can't understand. How could Tiretta succeed in committing this crime
with my aunt, which I think would only be possible with the consent of
the party attacked, but quite impossible without it; and this makes me
believe that if the thing was done it was done with her hearty good
will."

"Very true, for if she did not like it she had only to change her
position."

"Not so much as that; she need only have kept the door shut."

"There, sweetheart, you are wrong, for a properly-made man only asks you
to keep still and he will overcome all obstacles. Moreover, I don't
expect that your aunt's door is so well shut as yours."

"I believe that I could defy all the Tirettas in the world.

"There's another thing I don't understand, and that is how my blessed
aunt came to tell you all about it; for if she had any sense she might
have known that it would only make you laugh. And what satisfaction does
she expect to get from a brute like that, who possibly thinks the affair
a matter of no consequence. I should think he would do the same to any
woman who occupied the same position as my aunt."

"You are right, for he told me he went in like a blind man, not knowing
where he was going."