SCENE IX

_Don Lorenzo, Braulio and Benito._ [_Pause._]

DON LORENZO. Who can they be? Enter, pray. [_The keepers advance timidly, and speak abruptly._]

BRAULIO. Dr. Tomás——

DON LORENZO. [_Aside._] Ah, I understand.

BENITO. Told us to wait there——

DON LORENZO. Excuse me, I did not know——

BRAULIO. Not at all, sir.

DON LORENZO. [_Aside._] How odd they look, in sooth. Pray, be seated.

BENITO. Thanks, sir.

BRAULIO. We are well enough standing.

DON LORENZO. I cannot permit it——

BRAULIO. Don't trouble yourself, sir.

BENITO. If the gentleman orders it, it is better to take a seat. [_Both sit down on sofa. Don Lorenzo remains standing._]

DON LORENZO. [_Aside._] Their looks seem to bode no good, or is it, perhaps, that my eyes only reflect the flashes that dart across my mind? [_Inspects them again attentively. Aloud._] It was Miss Avendaña who saw you when she passed, and mentioned it to me.

BRAULIO. Yes, that beautiful young lady.

BENITO. Who looked so sorrowful.

BRAULIO. Like the picture of the Dolorosa. [_The keepers speak shortly, and after these remarks fall into sudden silence, remaining stiff and immovable, looking vaguely before them._]

DON LORENZO. You frightened her, and she almost ran away at the sight of you. But you must not be astonished. The poor girl is very ill—indeed, she is scarce other than a child yet.

BRAULIO. [_Smiling sillily._] It always happens to us in every house.

DON LORENZO. [_Aside, wondering._] In every house!

BENITO. [_Looking for the first time at Don Lorenzo, and again looking steadily in front of him._] Can she be that poor gentleman's daughter,—eh?

DON LORENZO. What poor gentleman?

BENITO. [_Without looking at him._] The gentleman who is—— [_Touches his forehead, still not looking at Don Lorenzo, who, unobserved by the keepers, makes a gesture of surprise._]

DON LORENZO. [_Aside._] Ah—no—what an idea! [_Aloud, with an effort of self-control._] Just so. She is the daughter of—— [_Observes them with increasing anxiety._]

BENITO. Well, she is very beautiful, though so sad.

BRAULIO. 'Tis reason enough she has to be sad.

DON LORENZO. You know——?

BRAULIO. Everything. [_Looks a moment at Don Lorenzo and then away._]

DON LORENZO. Dr. Tomás told you?

BENITO. Not to us.

BRAULIO. He told the doctor.

BENITO. Why should he talk to us? We, in doing our duty——

DON LORENZO. [_Aside._] All my body is bathed in a cold sweat, like the sweat of death. I am raving—This can't possibly be true. [_Repeats mechanically._] In doing your duty——

BRAULIO. We are here on the look-out in case he should become obstreperous.

DON LORENZO. In case he should become obstreperous?—who?

BRAULIO. Why, the gentleman.

DON LORENZO. [_Falls back staring at him in terror; passes his hand over his forehead as if to brush away an idea; retreats still further, staggers, and leans against the table. Then speaks low and abruptly in a dead voice._] So you know everything.

BRAULIO. Nearly everything.

BENITO. As we have been waiting here for some time, we have heard the servants talk.

DON LORENZO. They said——?

BRAULIO. They didn't leave us in the dark, you may be sure. It appears Don Lorenzo had an attack the night before last. You know all about it better than we do.

DON LORENZO. [_In a heavy sombre tone._] Yes.

BENITO. They say he strangled a poor old woman. [_Don Lorenzo recoils in horror, and covers his face with his hands._]

BRAULIO. There's a fellow for you! A good beginning—that's clear enough. It's always the same thing. The family——

DON LORENZO. The family! [_Removes his hands from his face, walks a few steps as if shaken by an electric shock, and stares at them with keen anxiety, speaking in the same dead voice._]

BRAULIO. Yes, the family—'tis natural enough.—Don't they say he wanted to give all his fortune away? ever so many millions. The devil of a lunatic altogether. Nothing else for it but what has been decided—to pack him off. We take him away and the poor ladies are left in peace.

DON LORENZO. I!—they?—Ángela?—Inés—no, no—not possible. [_Recoils again R._]

BRAULIO. [_Staring after him. Aside._] What's the matter with the gentleman? [_To Benito._] Look at him, look. [_Both keepers draw together and bend forward in direction R. looking curiously at Don Lorenzo. This group should be made important._]

DON LORENZO. Air, light! No, not light—darkness! I do not want to see. I do not want to think. [_Falls into arm-chair and lets his head drop into his palms._]

BENITO. I say, I believe that's——

BRAULIO. This is a fine fix.

BENITO. Who would think it!

BRAULIO. Let us go back to our hiding-place.

BENITO. Sh! Say nothing about it. [_They rise and walk cautiously to the closet, closely watching Don Lorenzo._]

BRAULIO. That's settled. Not a word. We were told to stay in here. Then let us stay, and we'd have done better not to budge.

BENITO. Somebody is crying and sobbing. [_They reach the door, stand and look at Don Lorenzo, who has not changed his attitude. Servant enters C., crosses and goes out R._] Leave him alone, leave him alone. Now that he is calm. [_They enter closet and shut door._]