Page:Plays by Jacinto Benavente - Second series (IA playsbyjacintobe00bena).pdf/324

. I told you that you could make me believe whatever you wished, whether the truth or a lie. You are so good, so very good, that you can do what you say no woman can ever do, however saintly she may be!

. I am exhausted.

. Was he too much for you? What is the trouble?

. No, but I have lied so sincerely, so honestly, that it really seems to me as if I had not been lying. To lie like that does not lie upon the conscience; it is absolved by the heart.

. You lie?

. Let us talk of something else. I have been impatient to see you, to-day of all others.

. I have been thinking of you so busily that doubtless I have appeared forgetful.

. Have you forgotten your promise?

. Not for an instant. Vigilance has been necessary of late—to the limit.

. Of late? How so? What do you know?

. María Antonia and Pepe live in a state of open warfare.

. They never come to see us, in spite of Gonzalo's illness. I called at their house to-day, but they were out; and the maid, a girl whom I trust, as I placed her with María Antonia, told me the whole story. They quarrel incessantly; there are recriminations at all hours. To continue like this is impossible.

. It is positively dangerous for María Antonia.

. What have you heard?

. I have heard of chance encounters in the Prado Gallery.

. Between whom? María Antonia and

. Oh, they are purely casual; quite by chance. As if you were to say to me, casually: Do you know, I am