"That is strange," Doña Anita murmured. "Alas! what news can I learn?"
"Who knows?" said her young companion, and then continued--"'Before all, Doña Anita must be prudent; and however extraordinary what she hears may appear to her, she must be careful to conceal the effect produced by this revelation, for she must not forget that if she have devoted friends, she is closely watched by all-powerful enemies, and the slightest imprudence would hopelessly neutralize all the efforts that we are making to save her. You cannot, my dear sister, lay sufficient stress on this recommendation.' The rest," the maiden added, with a smile, "only relates to myself, and it is, therefore, unnecessary for me to read it to you."
And she refolded the letter, which disappeared in her dress again.
"And now, my darling, you are warned," she said; "so be prudent."
"Good heaven! I do not understand the letter at all, nor do I know the Valentine to whom it alludes. It was by your advice that I asked for a confessor."
"That is to say, by my brother's advice, who, as you know, Anita, placed me here, not merely because I love you as a sister, but also to support and encourage you."
"And I am grateful both to you and him for it, dear Helena; if I had not you near me, in spite of the friendship our worthy and kind mother condescends to grant me, I should long ago have succumbed to my grief."
"The question is not about me at this moment, my darling, but solely about yourself. However obscure and mysterious my brother's recommendation may be, I know him to be too earnest and too truly kind for me to neglect it. Hence I cannot find language strong enough to urge you to prudence."
"I seek in vain to guess what the news is to which he refers; and I acknowledge that I feel a secret repugnance to see the confessor he announces to me. Alas! I have everything to fear, and nothing to hope now."
"Silence," Doña Helena said, quietly. "I hear the sound of footsteps in the walk leading to this arbour. Someone is coming. So we must not let ourselves be surprised."
"In fact, almost at the same moment the lay sister, who had already informed the Mother Superior of the arrival of Don Serapio de la Ronda, appeared at the entrance of the arbour.