La Malquerida/Act 2

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Raimunda. Don't you like it?

Esteban. Of course I do.

Raimunda. You haven't eaten anything. Do you want us to cook something else?

Esteban. Don't bother me, my dear. I have had plenty.

Raimunda. You don't expect me to believe that. [Calling] Juliana! Bring the salad!—Something is the matter with you.

Esteban. Don't be silly.

Raimunda. Don't you suppose that I know you by this time? You ought never to have gone to the village. You've heard talk. We came out here to the grove to get rid of it all, to be away from the excitement, and it was a good thing, too, that we did. Now you go back to the village and don't say one word to me about it. What did you want to do that for?

Esteban. I wanted to see Norbert and his father.

Raimunda. Yes, but you could have sent for them and have had them come out here. You ought to have spared ​yourself; then you wouldn't have heard all this talk. I know how they are talking in the village.

Juliana. Yes, and that is all the good it does us to stay out here and shut ourselves up from everybody, because everybody that goes anywhere in the neighborhood passes through this grove, and then they stop, and smell around, and meddle in what is none of their business.

Esteban. Yes, and you meddle with every one of them.

Juliana. No, señor; don't you make any mistake. I meddle with nobody. Didn't I scold Bernabea only yesterday for talking more than she had any right to with some men from Encinar who were coming down the road? If any one asks questions send them to me, because I've learned what to do from my mother, who had good reason to know: When questioned much, answer little, and be sure you make it just the opposite.

Raimunda. Hold your tongue! And get out. [Juliana retires] What do they say in the village?

Esteban. Nothing. Tío Eusebio and his boys swear they are going to kill Norbert. They refuse to accept the decision of the court; he got off too easily. They are coming over some day, and then there will be trouble. You hear both sides in the village. Some think that Tío Eusebio is right, that it must have been Norbert; others think it wasn't Norbert. They say that the court let him go because he was innocent, and he proved it.

Raimunda. That is what I think. No one could contradict his deposition; not even Faustino's father could find any flaws in it, nor the hands. You couldn't yourself, and you were with them.

Esteban. Tío Eusebio and I had stopped to light our cigars. We were laughing like two fools because I had my lighter, and it wouldn't light; so Tío Eusebio got out his ​tinder and flint and said to me, laughing: "Here, get a light, and don't waste your time with that new-fangled machine. All it is good for is to help fools waste their money. I still make out with this." That was what blinded us. We were fooling over the light when the shot was fired. We started up and could see nothing. Then, when we saw that he had dropped dead, we stood stock-still, as dead as he was. They could have finished us, too, while they were about it, and we would never have known it.

Raimunda. Where are you going, my dear? Don't be nervous.

Acacia. You never talk about anything else. I don't see how you can stand it. Hasn't he told us how it happened over and over again? Do we have to hear the same thing all the time?

Esteban. She is right. If I had my way, I'd never mention it again; it's your mother.

Acacia. I even dream about it at night. I never used to be nervous when I was alone or in the dark, but now I am frightened to death, even in broad daylight.

Raimunda. You are not the only one, either. I get no rest, day nor night. I never used to be afraid. I thought nothing of passing the cemetery after dark, not even on All Souls' Eve, but now the least thing makes me jump, no matter what—noise, silence. To tell the truth, as long as we thought it was Norbert, although he was one of the family, and it would have been a shame and a disgrace to us all, at the same time it couldn't be helped; there was nothing to do but resign oneself—and I had resigned myself. After all, it had an explanation. But now, if it wasn't Norbert, if nobody knows who it was, and nobody can explain why it was that that poor boy was shot—I can't be easy in my mind. ​If it wasn't Norbert, who could have wished him any harm? Maybe it was revenge, some enemy of his father's, or of yours—how do we know but that the shot was intended for you, and since it was night and pitch-dark, they made a mistake, and what they didn't do then they will another time, and.… I can't stand this suspense! I get no rest! Every time that you go out of the house and show yourself on the road, it seems to me that I will go crazy. To-day, when you were late, I was just starting for the village myself.

Acacia. She was out on the road already.

Raimunda. Yes, only I saw you and Rubio from the top of the hill, so I turned and ran back before you passed the mill, so you wouldn't be angry. I know it is foolish, but now I want to be with you all the time, wherever you go—I can't bear to be separated from you for one moment. Otherwise I can't be happy. This isn't living.

Esteban. I don't believe anybody wishes me any harm. I never wronged any man. I go wherever I please, without so much as giving it a thought, day or night.

Raimunda. I used to feel the same; there is nobody who could wish us harm. We have helped so many. But all that you need is one enemy, one envious, evil mind. How do we know but that we have some enemy without our suspecting it? A second shot might come from the same quarter as the first. Norbert is free because they couldn't prove that he was guilty; and I am glad of it. Why shouldn't I be glad when he is my own sister's son—my favorite sister's? I could never have believed that Norbert could have done such a thing as murder a man in the dark! But is this to be the end of it? What is the law doing now? Why don't they investigate, why doesn't some one speak? Somebody must know, somebody must have seen whoever it was that was there that day, hovering along the road. When every​thing is all right, everybody knows who is passing, and what is going on—who comes and who goes—you hear it all without asking; but when you want to know, then nobody knows, nobody has seen anything.

Esteban. I can't see why that is so strange. When a man is going about his business, he has nothing to conceal; but when his intentions are evil, naturally the first thing he does is to hide himself.

Raimunda. Who do you think that it was?

Esteban. I? To tell the truth, I thought it was Norbert, the same as you. If it wasn't Norbert, I don't know who it was.

Raimunda. I suppose you won't like it, but I'll tell you what I have made up my mind to do.

Esteban. What?

Raimunda. Talk to Norbert. Bernabé has gone to find him. I expect him any minute.

Acacia. Norbert? What do you want to talk to him for?

Esteban. That is what I say. What does he know about it?

Raimunda. How can I tell? But I know he won't lie to me. By the memory of his mother, I will make him tell me the truth. If he did it, he knows I will never tell. I can't stand this any longer. I shake all over.

Esteban. Do you suppose that Norbert is going to tell you if he was the one who did it?

Raimunda. After I talk to him I shall know.

Esteban. Well, have your own way. It will only make more talk and hard feeling, especially since Tío Eusebio is coming over to-day. If they meet.…

Raimunda. They won't meet on the road, because they ​come from different directions. After they are here the house is big enough. We can take care of them both.

Juliana. Master.…

Esteban. Why are you always bothering me?

Juliana. Tío Eusebio is coming down the road. Maybe you don't want to see him; I thought you might like to know.…

Esteban. Why shouldn't I want to see him? Didn't I tell you he was coming?—Now bring in the other one!

Raimunda. Yes, he can't come too soon to please me.

Esteban. Who told you that I didn't want to see Tío Eusebio?

Juliana. Oh, don't blame it on me! It wasn't my fault. Rubio says you don't want to see him because he is mad at you. You didn't side with him in court, and that's the reason that Norbert went free.

Esteban. I'll teach Rubio it's none of his business whom I side with.

Juliana. Yes, and there are other things you might teach him while you are about it. Have I nothing to do but wait on that man? God help me, he has had more to drink to-day than is good for him. And that isn't talk, either.

Raimunda. This is the last straw! Where is he?

Esteban. No, leave him to me.

Raimunda. Everything goes wrong in this house. Everybody takes advantage of you as soon as anything is the matter. You don't need to turn your back—it's instinct. They know when you can't take care of yourself.

Juliana. I'll not take that from you, Raimunda, if you mean me.

Raimunda. You know who I mean. Take it any way you like.

​Juliana. Señor, señor! What curse has fallen on this house? We are all poisoned, snared, our feet are caught in some evil vine; we are changed. One takes it out on the other, and everybody is against me. God help me, I say, and give me the strength to endure it!

Raimunda. Yes, and give me the strength to endure you.

Juliana. Yes, me! It is all my fault.

Raimunda. Look at me, will you? Do I have to tell you to your face to get out? That's all I want from you.

Juliana. Yes, you want me to shut up like a tomb. Well, I'll shut up, God help me! Señor! Let me out! Don't talk to me! [Goes out.

Esteban. Here comes Tío Eusebio.

Acacia. I am going. He breaks down and cries whenever he sees me. He doesn't know what he is doing, but it's always the wrong thing. Does he think he is the only one who has lost anything?

Raimunda. I am sure I have cried as much as his mother has. Tío Eusebio is not the same man; he forgets. But never mind. You are right not to see him.

Acacia. I have finished the shirts, mother. I'll iron them as soon as I have time.

Esteban. Were you sewing for me?

Acacia. You can see for yourself.

Raimunda. I don't know how we'd get on if she didn't sew. I am not good for anything. I don't know whether I am alive or dead, God help me! But she can work. She gets through with it somehow. [She caresses Acacia affectionately as she passes out] God bless you, Acacia, my child! [Acacia goes out] It is a terrible responsibility to be a mother. For a long time I was afraid that she was going to get mar​ried and leave me. Now, what wouldn't I give to see her married?

Eusebio. Hello! Where is everybody?

Esteban. Come in, Tío Eusebio.

Eusebio. Good morning to both.

Raimunda. Good morning, Tío Eusebio.

Esteban. Where are your horses? I'll have them put up.

Eusebio. My man will tend to that.

Esteban. Sit down. Come, a glass of that wine he likes so much, Raimunda.

Eusebio. No, no, thank you. I am not feeling well. Wine doesn't agree with me.

Esteban. This wine will do you good. It's a tonic.

Raimunda. Suit yourself. How are you, Tío Eusebio? How is Julia?

Eusebio. Julia? What do you expect? I am going to lose her just as I did the boy; I can see it.

Raimunda. God forbid! Hasn't she four sons yet to live for?

Eusebio. Yes, the more worry! That is what is killing her—worry. Nobody knows what will happen next. Our hearts are broken. We were sure that we would get justice; but now we are bitter. Everybody said it would be like this, but we didn't believe it. The murderer is alive—you pass him on the street; he goes home to his house, shuts the door, and laughs at us. It only proves what I knew all the time. There is no such thing in this world as justice, unless a man takes it with his own hands, which is what they will drive us to do now. That is why I wanted to see you yesterday. If my boys come into the village, send them home. Don't let them stay around. Arrest them—anything rather than another tragedy in our house; although I don't want to see ​his murderer go free—the murderer of my boy—unless God avenges him, as he must, by God!—or else there is no justice in heaven.

Raimunda. Don't turn against God, Tío Eusebio. Though the hand of justice never fall upon him after the foul murder he has done, yet there is not one of us that would be in his place. He is alone with his conscience. I would not have what he has on his soul upon mine, for all the blessings of this world. We have lived good lives, we have done evil to no man, yet all our days are purgatory and torment. He must have hell in his heart after what he has done—of that we can be sure—as sure as of the day of our death.

Eusebio. That is cold comfort to me. How does it help me prevent my boys from taking the law into their own hands? Justice has not been done—and it should have been done. Now they are the ones who will go to jail for it! They will make good their threats too. You ought to hear them. Even the little fellow, who is only twelve, doubles up his fists like a man, and swears that whoever killed his brother will have to reckon with him, come what may. I sit there and cry like a child. I needn't tell you how his mother feels. And all the while I have it in my heart to say: Go, my sons! Stone him until he is dead! Cut him to pieces like a hound! Drag his carcass home to me through the mire—what offal there is left of it! Instead I swallow it all and look grave, and tell them that it is wrong even to think of such a thing—it would kill their mother, it would ruin all of us!

Raimunda. You are unreasonable, Tío Eusebio. Norbert is innocent; the law says so. No one could bring the least proof against him; he proved where he was, and what he was doing all that day, one hour after the other. He and his men were up at Los Berrocales. Don Faustino, the doctor, saw him there and talked with him at the very hour it took place, ​and he is from Encinar. You know yourself no man can be in two places at the same time. You might think that his own people had been told to say what they did, although it isn't an easy thing for so many to agree on a lie; but Don Faustino is a friend of yours; he is in your debt. And others who would naturally have been on your side said the same. Only one shepherd from Los Berrocales would testify that he had seen a man at that hour, and that was a great way off; but he had no idea who it was. From his clothes and the way that he carried himself he was sure that it could not have been Norbert.

Eusebio. If it wasn't, I say nothing. Does it make it any better for us that he hired some one else to do it? There can't be any doubt; there is no other explanation. I have no enemies who would do such a thing. I never harmed any man; I help every one, whether they are our own people or not. I make it easy. If I were to sue for one-half the damage that is done me every day, it would take all of my time. I will die a poor man. They killed Faustino because he was going to marry Acacia. That is all there is to it. Nobody could have had any such reason but Norbert. If everybody had told what they knew, the trial would have ended right there. But the ones who knew most said the least; they said nothing.

Raimunda. Do you mean us?

Eusebio. I don't say who I mean.

Raimunda. It is plain enough; you don't have to mention names nor point your finger. Do you mean to say that we keep quiet because Norbert is one of our family?

Eusebio. Do you mean to say that Acacia doesn't know more about this thing than she is willing to admit?

Raimunda. No, sir, she knows no more about it than you do. You have made up your mind that it was Norbert be​cause you want to make yourself believe that nobody else has anything against you. We are none of us saints, Tío Eusebio. You may have done a great deal of good in your time, but you must also have done some evil; you think that nobody remembers, but maybe the ones who have suffered don't think the same. If Norbert had been in love with my daughter to that extent, he would have shown it before now. Your son didn't take her away from him, remember that. Faustino never said one word until after she was done with Norbert, and she turned him off because she knew he was going with another girl. He never so much as took the trouble to excuse himself, so that when you come down to it, he was the one who left her. That is no reason why any one should commit murder. You can see it yourself.

Eusebio. Then why did everybody say that it couldn't have been any one else? You said so yourself; everybody said so.

Raimunda. Yes, because at first he was the only one we could think of. But when you look at it calmly, it is foolish to say that he is the only one who could have done it. You insinuate that we have something to conceal. Once for all, let me tell you, we are more anxious than you are to have the truth known, to have this thing out and be done with it. You have lost a son, but I have a daughter who is alive, and she has nothing to gain, either, by this mystery.

Eusebio. No, she hasn't. Much less when she keeps her mouth shut. And you haven't anything to gain. You don't know what Norbert and his father say about this house so as to divert suspicion from themselves? If I believed what they said.…

Raimunda. About us? What do they say? [To Esteban] You have been in the village. What do they say?

Esteban. Nobody cares what they say.

​Eusebio. No, I don't believe one word that comes from them. I am only telling you how they repay the kindness you do them by taking their part.

Raimunda. So you are on that tack again? Tío Eusebio, I have to stop and force myself to think what it must mean to lose a child, or I would lose control of myself. I am a mother, God knows, yet you come here and insult my daughter. You insult all of us.

Esteban. Wife! Enough of this. What is the use? Tío Eusebio.…

Eusebio. I insult nobody. I only repeat what other people say. You suppress the truth because he is one of the family. The whole village is the same. What you are afraid of is the disgrace. People here may think that it was not Norbert, but in Encinar, let me tell you, they think that it was. If justice isn't done—and done quick—blood will be spilled between these villages, and nobody can stop it, either. You know what young blood is.

Raimunda. Yes, and you are the one who stirs it up. You respect neither God nor man. Why, didn't you just admit that Norbert couldn't have done it unless he had hired some one to commit the murder? Nonsense! It isn't so easy to hire a man to commit murder. What had a boy like Norbert to give, anyway?—Unless you want us to believe that his father had a hand in it.

Eusebio. Bah! Rogues come cheap. How about the Valderrobles? They live here. Didn't they kill two goatherds for three and a half duros?

Raimunda. How long was it before they were found out? I hey fought over the half duro. When you hire a man to do a deed like that, you put yourself in his power; you become his slave for the rest of your life. There may be people who can afford to do such things, but they must be rich, they must have power. Not a boy like Norbert!

​Eusebio. Every family has a faithful servant who will do what he is told.

Raimunda. No doubt yours has. No doubt you have had occasion to use him too; you know so much about it.

Eusebio. Take care what you say!

Raimunda. Take care yourself!

Esteban. Raimunda! Enough of this. What is the use of all this talk?

Eusebio. Well, you hear what she says. How about you?

Esteban. If we dwell on this forever, we shall all of us go mad.

Eusebio. Yes. You heard what I said.

Raimunda. If you mean by that that you don't intend to let this matter drop until you have found the murderer of your boy, it is only right and proper, and I respect you for it. But that is no reason why you should come here and insult us. Once for all, you may want justice, but I want it more than you do. I pray to God for it every day, I pray him on my knees not to let the murderer go free—and I should pray to him just the same if I had a boy—if it had been my own boy that did it!

Rubio. How about me, master?

Esteban. Well, Rubio?

Rubio. Don't look at me like that; I'm not drunk. We started out before lunch, that was all. I had an invitation and took a drop; it went against me. I'm sorry you feel that way about it.

Raimunda. What is the matter with him? Juliana was right.

Rubio. Tell Juliana to mind her business, will you? I just wanted to tell the master.

Esteban. Rubio! You can tell me later whatever you like. Tío Eusebio is here. Don't you see? We are busy.

​Rubio. Tío Eusebio? So he is. What does he want?

Raimunda. Is it any of your business what he wants? Get out! Go along and sleep it off. You don't know what you are talking about.

Rubio. I know, señora. Don't say that to me.

Esteban. Rubio!

Rubio. Juliana's a fool; I don't drink. It was my money, anyhow. I'm no thief. What I have is my own; and my wife is my own, too. She owes nobody anything, eh, master?

Esteban. Rubio! Go along! Get to bed, and don't show yourself again until you have had a good sleep. What is the matter with you? What wall Tío Eusebio think?

Rubio. I don't know. I don't take anything, understand—from anybody. [Goes out.

Raimunda. What was it that you were just saying about servants, Tío Eusebio? This man has us with our hearts in our throats, yet he is nothing to us. Suppose we had trusted him with some secret? What is the matter with Rubio, anyway? Is he going to get drunk every day? He was never like this before. You ought not to put up with it.

Esteban. Don't you see? He isn't used to it. That is the reason he is upset by a thimbleful. Somebody invited him into the tavern while I was tending to my business. I gave him a piece of my mind and sent him to bed, but he hasn't slept it off yet. He is drunk. That is all there is to it.

Eusebio. Perfectly natural. Is that all?

Esteban. Drop in again, Tío Eusebio.

Eusebio. Thanks. I am sorry this happened—after I took the trouble to come.

Raimunda. Nonsense! Nothing has happened. We have no hard feeling.

Eusebio. No, and I hope you won't have any. Remember what I've been through. My heart is broken—it's not ​scratched. It won't heal either until God claims another one of his own. How long do you expect to stay in the grove?

Esteban. Till Sunday. We have nothing to keep us. We only wanted to be out of the village. Now that Norbert is home, it is nothing but talk, talk, talk.

Eusebio. That's right—nothing but talk. If you see my boys around, look out! I don't want them to get into any trouble, which afterward we might have cause to regret.

Esteban. Don't you worry. They won't get into any while I am around. Blame it on me if they do.

Eusebio. They're working down by the river now. They'll be all right unless somebody happens along and stirs them up. God be with you, I say. Adios! Where is Acacia?

Raimunda. I told her not to come down, so as to spare your feelings. It is hard on her, too; it brings back everything.

Eusebio. That's so. It must.

Esteban. I'll send for your horses.

Eusebio. No, I can call myself.—Francisco!—Here he comes. Take care of yourselves. God be with you! [They move toward the door.

Raimunda. God be with you, Tío Eusebio. Tell Julia not to worry. I think of her every day. I have prayed more for her than I have for the boy—God has forgiven him by this time. Surely he never did anything to deserve such a bad end! My heart bleeds for him.

Bernabé. Señora!

Raimunda. Is Norbert here? Could you find him?

​Bernabé. Yes, I brought him along so as to save time. He wanted to see you himself.

Raimunda. Didn't you meet Tío Eusebio?

Bernabé. No, we saw him coming up from the river when we were a long way off, so we turned and went in by the great corral. Norbert is hiding there until Tío Eusebio starts back to Encinar.

Raimunda. There he goes up the road now.

Bernabé. Yes—under the great cross.

Raimunda. Tell Norbert. No—wait! What do they say in the village?

Bernabé. No good, señora. The law is going to have its hands full before it gets to the bottom of this.

Raimunda. Does anybody think it was Norbert?

Bernabé. You would get your head broke if you said it was. When he came back yesterday, half the town was out to meet him. Everybody was sitting by the roadside. They took him up on their shoulders and carried him home. The women all cried, and the men hugged him. I thought his father would die for joy.

Raimunda. He never did it. Poor Norbert!

Bernabé. They say the men are coming over from Encinar to kill him; everybody here carries a club and goes armed.

Raimunda. Mother of God! Did anything go wrong with the master while he was in the village this morning? What did you hear?

Bernabé. So they have been talking to you?

Raimunda. No. That is—yes; I know.

Bernabé. Rubio was in the tavern and began to say things, so I ran for the master, and he came and ordered him out. He was insolent to the master. He was drunk.

​Raimunda. Do you remember what he said? I mean Rubio.

Bernabé. Oh! His tongue ran away with him. He was drunk. Do you know what I think? If I were you, I wouldn't go back to the village for two or three days.

Raimunda. No, certainly not. If I had my way we would never go back. I am filled with a loathing for it all so great that I want to rush out, and down that long road, and then on and up and over those mountains to the other side, and after that I don't know where I would hide myself. I feel as if some one were running after me, after me, always after me, with more than death in his heart. But the master.… Where is the master?

Bernabé. Seeing to Rubio.

Raimunda. Tell Norbert to come in. I can't wait.

Norbert. Aunt Raimunda!

Raimunda. Norbert, my boy! Give me a hug.

Norbert. I am so glad you sent for me. I've been treated like a dog. It's a good thing that my mother is dead and in heaven. I am glad she never lived to see this day. Next to my father, there is nobody in the world I think so much of as I do of you.

Raimunda. I could never have believed that you did it—not though everybody said so.

Norbert. I know it; you were the first to take my part. Where is Acacia?

Raimunda. In her room. We have our fill of trouble in this house.

Norbert. Who says I killed Faustino? If I hadn't proved, as I did prove, where I was all that day, if I'd done as I meant at first and taken my gun and gone off to hunt ​alone by myself, and then couldn't have proved where I was, because nobody had seen me, I would have spent the rest of my life in prison. They would have had me.

Raimunda. Are you crying?

Norbert. No, I am not crying; but I cried when I found myself in that prison. If anybody had ever told me that I would ever go to prison, I would never have believed it; I'd have laughed in his face. But that isn't the worst. Tío Eusebio and his boys have sworn to kill me. They will never believe that I am innocent; they know I murdered Faustino. They are as sure of it as I am that my mother lies under the ground!

Raimunda. Because nobody knows who did it. Nobody can find out anything. Don't you see? They will never rest at that. Do you suspect any one?

Norbert. I more than suspect.

Raimunda. Then why didn't you say so? You were in court. You had the opportunity.

Norbert. If I hadn't cleared myself I would have told. But what was the use? I am a dead man now if I speak. They will do the same thing to me.

Raimunda. Eh? Will they? What do you mean? Was it revenge? But who did it? Tell me what you think. I must know, because Tío Eusebio and Esteban have always had the same friends; they have always stood together, for better or for worse, whichever it was. Their enemies would naturally be the same. Now, I can get no rest. This vengeance was intended for us just as much as it was for Tío Eusebio; it was to prevent a closer union of our families. Maybe they won't stop at that, either. Some day they will do the same to my husband!

Norbert. I wouldn't worry about Uncle Esteban.

Raimunda. Why, what do you mean? Do you think?…

​Norbert. I don't think.

Raimunda. Then tell me what you know. Somehow I believe you are not the only one who knows it. You think what the rest think—it must be the same—what everybody knows.

Norbert. Well, they didn't get it out of me; that is one thing you can be sure of. Besides, how could they know? It's gossip, that's all—not worth that! Talk in the village! They will never get it out of me.

Raimunda. Norbert, by the soul of your sainted mother in heaven, tell me what it is!

Norbert. For God's sake, I can't talk! I was afraid to open my mouth in court. Now, if I say a word, I am a dead man. A dead man!

Raimunda. But who would kill you?

Norbert. Who killed Faustino?

Raimunda. But who did kill Faustino? Some one was paid to do it, is that it? Rubio said something in the wineshop this morning.

Norbert. Who told you?

Raimunda. Esteban went in and dragged him out; it was the only way he could stop him.

Norbert. He didn't want to be compromised.

Raimunda. What is that? He didn't want to be compromised? Was Rubio saying that he.…

Norbert. That he was the real master of this house.

Raimunda. The master of this house? Because it was Rubio.…

Norbert. Rubio.

Raimunda. Who killed Faustino?

Norbert. Sí, señora.

Raimunda. Rubio! I knew it all the time. But does ​anybody else know? That is the question. Do they know it in the village?

Norbert. He gives himself away; he has money—bills, bank-notes—wherever he goes. He turned on them this morning while they were singing that song. That was why they had to call Uncle Esteban, and he kicked him out of the wine-shop.

Raimunda. That song? Oh, yes! That song—I remember. It goes.… How does it go?

Norbert.

Raimunda. We are the ones who dwell by the Mill; that is what they call us. It is here—our house. And the maid that dwells by the Mill must be Acacia, my daughter. This song that everybody sings.… They call her the Passion Flower? That is it, isn't it? But who loves her in any evil way? How could anybody love her? You loved her, Faustino loved her; but who else ever loved her? Why do they call her the Passion Flower? Look me in the eye! Why did you give her up if you really loved her? Why? I want you to tell me; you have got to tell me. You cannot tell me anything worse than what I already know.

Norbert. Do you want them to kill me? To ruin all of us? I have never said one word—not even when they had me in prison would I say one word! I don't know how it got out—Rubio told, or my father. He is the only one who ever had it from me. He wanted to put the law on them, but I said no. They would have killed him; they would have killed me!

​Raimunda. Stop! Don't you talk! I see it now. I see it all. The Passion Flower! La Malquerida! Come here to me! Tell me everything. Before they kill you, by God, they will have to kill me! It cannot go on like this. Somebody must pay for it. Tío Eusebio and his boys will never rest till they have justice. If they can't get it in any other way, they will take it out of you—revenge! You can't escape. Faustino was murdered so as to prevent him from marrying Acacia. You left her for the same reason—for fear that they would kill you. Was that it? Tell me the truth!

Norbert. They told me to leave her because she was promised to Faustino; she had been for a long time. They said they had an understanding with Tío Eusebio, and if I didn't make the best of it, then I could take the worst of it. But if I ever opened my mouth.…

Raimunda. They would kill you? Was that it? But you.…

Norbert. I believed it—I was afraid—I didn't know what to do. Then I began to run after another girl, who was nothing to me, so as to break off with Acacia. Afterward, when I found out that not a word of it was true, that neither Tío Eusebio nor Faustino had ever spoken to Uncle Esteban.… Then, when they killed Faustino I knew why they killed him. It was because he dared lay eyes on Acacia. There was nothing they could tell him. They couldn't scare him off. Tío Eusebio wasn't a man to stand by and see his son refused. They couldn't refuse, so they agreed to it, and went through with it until the end came, and they killed him. They killed him because I was here to take the blame. Who else could have done it? Of course it was I! I loved Acacia—I was jealous. That was the plot. Praise God, some saint surely watched over me that day! But ​now the crime has come home to him. It lies like lead on his conscience. He betrays himself.…

Raimunda. Is it possible that such a thing could be? I must have been blind not to see. What veil hung over my eyes? Why, it is all as clear as day! How could I have been so blind?

Norbert. What are you doing?

Raimunda. I don't know—I don't know where I am—something so awful, so vast is passing through my mind that it seems as if it were nothing. I can only remember one thing of all that you have told me—that song—La Malquerida! The Passion Flower! I want you to teach me the music. We can sing it together, and dance—dance and drop dead!—Acacia! Acacia! Acacia!

Norbert. No, don't you call her! Don't take it like this! It wasn't her fault!

Acacia. Did you call, mother?—Norbert!

Raimunda. Come here! Look at me—straight in the eye.

Acacia. What is the matter with you, mother?

Raimunda. No, it was not your fault.

Acacia. But what have they been doing? What did you tell her?

Raimunda. What every one else knows already—La Malquerida! The Passion Flower! Your honor is a scorn and a byword. It is bandied about in men's mouths!

Acacia. My honor? Never! No one can say that.

Raimunda. Don't you deny it! Tell me what you know. Why was it that you never called him father? Why was it?

Acacia. Because a child has only one father, you know that. This man could never be my father. I hated, I despised him from the day that he entered this house, and brought hell along after him!

​Raimunda. Well, you are going to call him now, and you are going to call him what I tell you; you are going to call him father. Do you hear? Your father! I tell you to call your father.

Acacia. Do you want me to go to the cemetery and call him? If that isn't what you want, I have no father. This man—this man is your husband; you love him, but all that he is to me is this man! This man! That is all he can ever be! Leave me alone if you know what is good for you—you think you are so smart. Let the law take its course. I don't care. If he has sinned, he can pay for it.

Raimunda. Do you mean for Faustino's murder? Yes—go on! Go on! What else? Out with it!

Acacia. No, mother, no! For if I had consented, Faustino would never have been murdered! Do you think I don't know how to guard my honor?

Raimunda. Then what have you been so silent about? Why didn't you come to me?

Acacia. Would you have taken my word against this man, when you were mad for him? And you must have been mad not to see! He would eat me up with his eyes while you sat there; he followed me around the house like a cat. What more do you want? I hated him so, I had such a horror of him that I prayed to God that he would make himself even more of a beast than he was, so that it would open your eyes, if anything could have opened your eyes, and let you see what manner of man he was who had robbed me of your love, for you have loved him, you have loved him so much—more than you ever loved my father!

Raimunda. No! That isn't true!

Acacia. I wanted you to hate him as I hate him, as my father in heaven hates him! I have heard his voice from the skies.

​Raimunda. Silence! For shame! Come here to your mother. You are all that I have left in the world. And thank God that I can still protect you!

Bernabé. Señora! Señora!

Raimunda. What brings you running in such a hurry? No good, we may be sure.

Bernabé. Don't let Norbert leave the house! Don't let him out of your sight!

Raimunda. How?

Bernabé. Tío Eusebio's boys are waiting outside with their men to kill him.

Norbert. What did I tell you? You wouldn't believe it. They are here—they want to kill me! And they will kill me. Yes, they will!

Raimunda. Not unless they kill us all first! Somebody has sent for them.

Bernabé. Yes, Rubio. I saw him running along the river bank where Tío Eusebio's boys were at work.

Norbert. Didn't I tell you? They want to kill me, so as to save themselves. Then nothing will ever come out. Tío Eusebio's boys will think they have the man who murdered their brother. They will kill me. Aunt Raimunda! Yes, they will! They are too many for one; I can't defend myself. I haven't even a knife. I don't dare to carry a gun—I might kill some one. I'd rather die than be locked up in that cell again. Save me, Aunt Raimunda! I don't want to die. It wasn't my fault! They hunt me like a wolf.

Raimunda. Don't be afraid. If they kill you, it will be over my dead body. Go in there with Bernabé and take that gun, do you hear? They won't dare to come in. If they do, shoot to kill! When I call, shoot—no matter who ​it may be! Do you understand? No matter who it may be! Don't shut the door. [To Acacia] You stand here by me. Esteban! Esteban! Esteban!

Acacia. What are you going to do?

Esteban. Did you call?

Raimunda. Yes, I want to speak to you. Norbert is here in our house. Tío Eusebio's boys are waiting outside. You sent for them to kill him—because you are not man enough to do it yourself.

Esteban. [Making a movement to draw a weapon] Raimunda!

Acacia. Mother!

Raimunda. No, don't you do it! Call Rubio and let him make an end of us all! He will have to make an end of us all to cover your guilt. Murderer! Assassin!

Esteban. You are crazy!

Raimunda. I was crazy! I was crazy the day that you first entered this house—my house—like a thief, to rob me of all I held dear!

Esteban. What are you talking about?

Raimunda. I am not talking; other people are talking. Soon the law will speak. If you don't want that, do as I tell you, or I will cry out—I will rouse the house. You brought them here—take them away again, you cowards that lie in wait for innocent men, to stab them in the back! Norbert leaves this house, but he leaves with me. If they kill him, they kill me. I am here to protect him, and I will protect my daughter—I, alone, against you, against all the assassins you can hire! Go! Here come my people.… Don't you touch me! Hide yourself in the uttermost recesses of those mountains, in caves where the wild beasts dwell. Now I know! You have nothing to hope for from me. ​Oh, I was alone with my child!—and you came. You knew that she was my child; there she stands—La Malquerida! The Passion Flower! Well! I am still here to guard her from you, to tell you that her father still lives in heaven—and to shoot you through the heart if you make one step to lay your hand on her!