Page:Plays by Jacinto Benavente - Second series (IA playsbyjacintobe00bena).pdf/202

 mistake about that. She told me so herself; she is only waiting for her parents

. To consent?

. No, to refuse. Don't you see?

. May that girl avenge upon her father the wrongs of Moraleda! But they will never refuse; they are too clever for that. He has devised other means. Don Baldomero is going to send me away.

. You?

. Yes, he has me in his power. Don Baldomero understands. If it were only a question of myself, if I were the only one, but when it concerns another, the dearest, the most respected… You can guess.

. My husband?

. I said the dearest—if I said respected, it was only because I respect that which is exacting of respect.

. Are you speaking of me? Has Don Baldomero been speaking to you of me? You don't mean to say that he is going to oblige you to renounce your marriage with Esperanza, to leave Moraleda upon my account?

. As far as the marriage is concerned, I could renounce that well enough. It was you who advised me to make up to Esperanza.

. She asked me to. It would have been a brilliant match for you, and she would have lost nothing by it. What a difference between you and these country fellows who don't know enough to move out of the club! They never had a serious thought in their lives, but they have all the vices of Madrid—yes, they have. Besides, I had set my heart on it. Our friendship—well, the long and the short of it is that our friendship is a friendship between a man and a woman, and such friendships are always dangerous.