“Hear me for one moment, lady!” cried the monk, restored to himself by the urgency of the danger; “By all that is sacred and holy, I swear that your daughter’s honour is still unviolated. Forgive my transgression! Spare me the shame of a discovery, and permit me to regain the abbey undisturbed. Grant me this request in mercy! I promise not only that Antonia shall be secure from me in future, but that the rest of my life shall prove.⁠ ⁠…”

Elvira interrupted him abruptly.

“Antonia secure from you? I will secure her! You shall betray no longer the confidence of parents! Your iniquity shall be unveiled to the public eye: all Madrid shall shudder at your perfidy, your hypocrisy and incontinence. What ho! there! Flora! Flora, I say!”