"You have had a dream, my darling?"
"Yes, an awful dream, Antonia! Mary! Mary! Tender Mary,
pity us!"
"And you think we should not go to the house of the marquis?"
"Oh, Antonia! I have seen the way. It is black and cold, and
full of fear and pain. No one shall make me take it. I have
the stiletto of my grandmother Flores. I will ask Holy Mary
to pardon me, and then--in a moment--I would be among the
people of the other world. That would be far better than Fray
Ignatius and the house of Gonzaga."
The Senora was quite angry at this fresh complication. It was
really incredible what she had to endure. And would Antonia
please to tell her where else they were to go? They had not
a friend left in San Antonio--they did not deserve to have
one--and was it to be supposed that a lady, born noble, could
follow the Americans in an ox-wagon? Antonia might think it
preferable to the comfortable house of her relation; but
blessed be the hand of God, which had opened the door of a
respectable shelter to her.
"I will go in the ox-wagon," said Isabel, with a sullen
determination; "but I will not go into my uncle's house. By
the saint of my birth I swear it."
"Mother, listen to Antonia. When one door shuts, God opens
another door. Our own home is yet undisturbed. Do you
believe what Fray Ignatius says of the coming of Santa Anna?
I do not.
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