Page:Plays by Jacinto Benavente - Second series (IA playsbyjacintobe00bena).pdf/298

 fided her heart to him with all its illusions, for the rest of her days. Men are always so sure of themselves. When you embark upon an affair, you fancy you know beforehand exactly how far you will go, and you expect us to be as certain of it as yourselves. But it is never possible to answer for the heart, and it is dangerous to trifle with it, whether it be one's own, or belong to another. It is difficult to resign oneself, as I have learned by experience. Perhaps, even, resignation is not a virtue; it may be no more than temperament. There are persons who never resign themselves, who protest, who fight—and I have told you already that it is not safe to trifle with the heart; it is dangerous.

. But how shall I convince you? Who invented this story?

. Poor Pepe! Do you really believe that you can deceive me? What are your shifts and devices beside those of my Don Juan, whom I have always with me? Merely by looking in his face, I read his innermost soul,

. But all men are not the same. I begin to suspect that you are the one who has been tampering with María Antonia.

. If you are foolish enough to believe that, I shall never speak to you again. I am interested in your happiness—I wished to warn you in time. Now you may thank me for it… But never mind. Some one is coming… María Antonia!

. María Antonia! What are you doing?

. What is the matter?

. As I had no intention of encountering him at home, perhaps it is fortunate that I have happened upon him here. Didn't you expect me? I told you that I had an idea, and that I would not rest until I had put it into