and of acting plays, I asked my brother, who is a year younger than myself, to tell me what sort of things these were, and many more that I had never seen; he explained them to me as well as he could, but the only effect was to kindle in me a still stronger desire to see them. At last, to cut short the story of my ruin, I begged and entreated my brother⁠—O that I had never made such an entreaty⁠—” And once more she gave way to a burst of weeping.

“Proceed, señora,” said the majordomo, “and finish your story of what has happened to you, for your words and tears are keeping us all in suspense.”

“I have but little more to say, though many a tear to shed,” said the damsel; “for ill-placed desires can only be paid for in some such way.”