She had watched until the officers and the servants had gone out and the way was clear.
Nothing could have been simpler or easier.
He would have burnt the letter at the lamp before the picture, had he not feared that some one might see him do it, and he folded it again and thrust it back under his doublet.

His face was grave as he turned away, for the position, as he understood it, was a very desperate one.

He had meant to send Dolores to Villagarcia, but it was almost impossible that such a matter should remain unknown, and in the face of the King's personal opposition, it would probably ruin Quixada and his wife.

He, on his side, might send Dolores to a convent, under an assumed name, and take her out again before she was found, and marry her.

But that would be hard, too, for no places were more directly under the sovereign's control than convents and monasteries.