By processes strangely unlike, she and Alessandro had both been
kept strangely free from thoughts of love and of marriage,-- he by
living in the shadow, and she by living in the sun; his heart and
thoughts filled with perplexities and fears, hers filled by a placid
routine of light and easy tasks, and the outdoor pleasures of a
child.
As the days went on, and Felipe still remained feeble, Alessandro
meditated a bold stroke. Each time that he went to Felipe's room to
sing or to play, he felt himself oppressed by the air. An hour of it
made him uncomfortable. The room was large, and had two
windows, and the door was never shut; yet the air seemed to
Alessandro stifling.
"I should be as ill as the Senor Felipe, if I had to stay in that room,
and a bed is a weakening thing, enough to pull the strongest man
down," said Alessandro to Juan Can one day. "Do you think I
should anger them if I asked them to let me bring Senor Felipe out
to the veranda and put him on a bed of my making? I'd wager my
head I'd put him on his feet in a week."
"And if you did that, you might ask the Senora for the half of the
estate, and get it, lad," replied Juan, Seeing the hot blood
darkening in Alessandro's face at his words, he hastened to add,
"Do not be so hot-blooded.
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