"That is true, Excellency;--forgive me, I had forgotten it. Alas! Since the misfortune has burst upon us, my poor head has been so bad."
"Recover yourself, my good fellow," the young man said, kindly. "I know how much you love me. You have not forgotten," he added, with a bitter sorrow, "that your wife, poor Juana, nourished me with her milk. I know nothing; am even ignorant why my father ordered me so suddenly to come hither. The servant who handed me the letter was doubtless unable to tell anything, and, indeed, I should not have liked to question him."
"Alas! Excellency," the old servant continued, "I am myself ignorant why you have been summoned to the hacienda; but Hernando, he may know."
"Ah!" said the young man, with a nervous start, "My brother is here, then?"
"Have I not already told you that I am utterly ignorant of everything connected with this house?"
"Yes, yes, Excellency. Don Hernando is here, and has been here a long time. Heaven guard me from saying anything against my master's son; but perhaps it would have been better had he remained at Guadalajara, for all has greatly changed since his arrival. Take care, Sir, for Don Hernando does not love you."
"What do I care for my brother's hatred?" the young man answered haughtily. "Am I not the elder son?"
"Yes, yes," the old servant repeated, sadly, "you are the elder son; and yet your brother commands here as master. Since his arrival, it seems as if everything belonged to him already."
The young man let his head sink on his chest, and remained for some minutes crushed; but he soon drew himself up, with flashing eye, and gently laid his hand on the old servant's shoulder.
"Perote," he said to him affectionately, "what is the motto of my family?"
"What do you mean, Excellency?" the manservant asked, startled at the singular question his master asked him.
"You do not remember it," the young man continued, with a smile, as he pointed to an escutcheon over a door. "Well; look, what do you read there?"
"You know that motto better than I do, as it was given to one of your ancestors by King Don Ferdinand of Castile himself."
"Yes, Perote, I know it," he replied, in a firm voice; "and since you will not read it, I will repeat it to you. The motto is: 'Everything for honour, no matter what may happen.' That motto dictates my conduct to me; and be assured, Perote, that I will not fail in what it orders me."