sky, was tinted a vivid cerulean blue. "She personifies every
virtue; she is--delectable." He pursed his wet lips, daintily
picked a kiss from between them with his thumb and finger, and
snapped it into the air.

Inasmuch as Isabel had always hated the girl venomously, she did
not trust herself to comment upon her caller's enthusiasm.

"She is now eighteen," the fat suitor went on, ecstatically, "and
so altogether charming--But why waste time in pretty speeches? I
have decided to marry her."

De Castano plucked a heavily scented silk handkerchief from his
pocket and wiped a beading of moisture from his brow and upper
lip. He had a habit of perspiring when roused from his usual
lethargy.

"Rosa has a will of her own," guardedly ventured the stepmother.

Don Mario broke out, testily: "Naturally; so have we all. Now let
us speak plainly. You know me. I am a person of importance. I am
rich enough to afford what I want, and I pay well. You understand?
Well, then, you are Rosa's guardian and you can bend her to your
desires."

"If that were only so!" exclaimed the woman. "She and Esteban--
what children! What tempers!--Just like their father's! They have
never liked me; they disobey me at every opportunity; they
exercise the most diabolical ingenuity in making my life
miserable. They were to be their father's heirs, you know, and