"God grant it may not arrive!" said Geronimo, heaving a deep sigh.
"Do you then fear your uncle's arrival?" exclaimed Mary, in an agitated
voice.
"Do not speak so loud, Mary; your duenna must not hear what I am about to
communicate to you. Yes; since yesterday morning I have dreaded my uncle's
arrival. Previously I implored it of Heaven as the choicest blessing, and
now the thought of it makes me tremble."
"Have you then heard from your uncle?"
"Alas! my friend, at the very moment when all seemed the brightest, when I
was thanking God for a happiness which I thought already mine, a dark
cloud comes to overshadow my life. I seem even now to hear my uncle's
voice pronouncing the cruel sentence which condemns me to a life-long
sorrow."
The young girl turned deadly pale, and anxiously awaited an explanation
of the mystery.
"My beloved Mary," he whispered, "it is a secret which I can only confide
to you in part, and which in strict honor I should perhaps conceal
entirely. Four weeks ago a merchant, highly esteemed, was left by a
curious train of circumstances without funds, and he begged me to lend him
ten thousand crowns. Should I refuse his request, the credit of his house
would be irretrievably ruined. His name I considered sufficient security
for ten times the amount he wished to borrow. At all events, although it
pained me to disobey my uncle's positive injunctions, I could not deny the
assistance which was asked of me. I lent the ten thousand crowns, and
obtained a receipt with a written promise of payment in one month.
Yesterday the note fell due; my debtor asks a delay until to-morrow. I met
him an hour ago, and he has not yet obtained the money."
"But if your debtor is rich and powerful, you need not indulge your fears
to-day; to-morrow, perhaps, he will fulfil his promise," remarked the
young girl, with ill-concealed anxiety.
"My fears may mislead me, Mary, but I am sure that my debtor's affairs are
in a very bad condition. At his urgent entreaty I made no entry of the
loan upon the books, in order to conceal the transaction from the clerks;
but still I have not the amount in hand. O Mary! my uncle has an eagle eye
in business affairs; he will at once discover the deficit of ten thousand
crowns--a deficit resulting from my lending money: a thing he has always
warned me against, and which, even recently, he strictly forbade. My uncle
is a good father to me, but this act of disobedience is sufficient to
deprive me forever of his favor. I foresee many future evils."