Manuel

Here we arrive in this magnificent city of Madrid, and miss the celebrations on the occasion of the baptism of the new prince by just one hour.

Cosme

Such things happen, for good or ill, for want of an hour: If Pyramus had gone to the fountain an hour earlier he would not have found Thisbe dead or the mulberries turned purple with her blood. You know, the great poets say that the tragedy was written with mulberry juice. If Tarquin had not arrived an hour late, he would have found Lucretia safe and sound. (Of course, playwrights would not have gone from theater to theater trying to find out if she was raped or not.) If Hero had spent an hour thinking and deciding on the best thing to do, she would not have thrown herself from the tower, that’s for sure (in which case, no playwright would have had his greatest triumph writing her into his most famous play, and no actress would have chewed up the scenery playing her). Since we have missed the party by just one hour, let us not waste another before we find our destination. As the story goes, if one arrives late, he must remain outside the gate. Besides, I am dying to see this friend who is waiting for you as though you were a proper gentleman, without knowing how or why such good fortune has come to us. After all, even though we are not competitors in a tournament, it is he who supports us.

51 Manuel

Don Juan de Toledo, Cosme, is the man whom I most dearly call friend. Our friendship rivals the great ones celebrated across the centuries. We studied together, then, passing from letters to arms, we were comrades together in war. In the Piedmont War, when the Duke of Feria made me a captain, I gave my flag to him. He was my lieutenant, Cosme, and suffered a deep wound in the fray; I cared for him in my own bed. He owes his life to me, second only to God. I have forgiven minor debts because it is unseemly to mention them among nobles. For that reason repayment of a favor is depicted as a rich woman with her back turned, meaning that once one has done something nice, discretion requires one to forget about it. Thus Juan, grateful for my friendship and my help, seeing that his Majesty has called me to court to reward my service, has invited me today to stay in his house. It is the least he could do. Although he wrote to me in Burgos, giving his address, I most certainly did not want to ask directions from his neighbors. That is why I left the mules and the baggage at the inn and came on foot to find his house. Then I saw the decorations and the finery and, when I found out the occasion, I hoped to see the celebration, if only by accident. But we arrived an hour too late....

Enter Angela and Isabel, veiled.

Angela

If you are a gentleman, as your appearance would indicate you to be, please help a poor woman who must rely on your sense of duty. Honor and life itself are at stake. That gentleman must not know who I am. I pray you, prevent him from following me. Upon your life, rescue a lady from certain misfortune and dishonor. It might be that one day.... [She starts to leave.] Good-bye! I am undone. [Exit]

Cosme

Was that a lady or a whirlwind?

Manuel

What a turn of events!

Cosme

What do you plan to do?

Manuel

You need to ask? How could my nobility fail to come to her aid and prevent her misfortune and her dishonor? The man must surely be her husband.

Cosme

What are you thinking?

Manuel

I shall detain him by some trick. Of course, if that is to no avail, I shall have to resort to force even though I may have to invent an excuse.

Cosme

If you are looking for a trick, wait... I think I have something here. This letter of introduction from a friend should do.

Enter Luis and Rodrigo, his servant.

Luis

I have to meet her, if only because she goes to such lengths to avoid me.

Rodrigo.

Follow her and you will know who she is.

Cosme approaches; Manuel withdraws.

Cosme

Sir, although I am embarrassed to approach you, might your worship please do me a great favor and read me this letter.

Luis

I am in too much of a hurry. I have no time for such things.

Cosme

Well, if you need a little, I have plenty for both of us.

Luis

Leave me alone.

Manuel

(Aside) (This street is entirely too straight; they are still in sight.)

Cosme

I beseech you, Sir.

Luis

Good God, you are irritating. I shall thrash you soundly if you do me much....

Cosme

For that reason, I’ll just do you a little.

Luis

I have no more patience for you. Get away!
[He pushes Cosme.]

Manuel

(Aside) (I must intervene. Let valor finish what caution began.) [He approaches Luis.]

Sir, this servant is mine, and I do not know how he must have offended you for you to mistreat him so.

Luis

I do not respond to those who doubt or complain about my actions. Good day.

161 Manuel

You may be quite certain that if I required satisfaction, I should not leave without it, despite your arrogance. My asking how he has offended you, so that I may punish him for his error, deserves more courtesy. Since courtly manners demand it, please do not disparage it, even when a stranger should come to teach it to you who have the obligation, as nobles at court, to know it.

Luis

Who dares think that I lack courtesy?

Manuel

Silence your tongue; let your sword speak.
[They draw swords.]

Luis

You speak well.

Cosme

Good God! They’re going to fight!.

Rodrigo

[To Cosme] Draw your sword.

Cosme

Oh, no! It’s a virgin. Without express permission, it’s not allowed to show its face.

Enter Beatriz restraining Juan, accompaniment

Juan

Let go, Beatriz.

Beatriz

You must not go.

Juan

But the fight is with my brother.

Beatriz

Oh, wretched fortune.

Juan

I am here to help.

184 Luis

Juan, wait. Rather than helping me, you are making me look like a coward. This stranger needs no help; he even has a servant. Please go, for God’s sake. As a nobleman, I can do my own fighting, and even more so with an adversary of such skill and grace. Now please leave.

Manuel

I am taken by your charm and gentle manner. But if you still have the slightest quarrel with me, I shall meet you at your convenience.

Luis

Agreed.

Manuel

Agreed.

Juan

I cannot believe my eyes and ears. Manuel!

Manuel

Juan!

Juan

My soul is in turmoil and cannot decide what to do. My brother and my friend, which is the same thing, ready to fight? I cannot believe it. I must know the cause.

Luis

Then listen: This gentlemen intervened on behalf of his servant, a fool who provoked me to speak harshly to him. This is the result.

213 Juan

Since that is all it is, please allow me to welcome our guest with a warm embrace. This gentleman is Manuel, the houseguest we have been expecting. Luis, I want you two, who have demonstrated equal valor, to be friends. Shake hands.

Manuel

Before I do, because I have witnessed his courage and skill, I am bound by honor to offer my service to Luis.

Luis

I consider myself your friend, and lament that I did not recognize you. Your valor should have been enough to identify you.

Manuel

Yours leaves mine humiliated. See? You have wounded my hand.

Luis

A thousand times over do I wish the wound were mine!

Cosme

What a courteous fight!

Juan

Wound? Come, we shall have it bandaged. Luis, you stay here and see Beatriz to her carriage. You can give her our apology. Come, Manuel, to my house, which is also your house, where you may get treatment.

Manuel

But it is nothing.

Juan

Come along.

Manuel (Aside)

How sad that Madrid should receive me thus with blood!

Luis (Aside)

How sad that I was unable to find out who that woman was!

Cosme

How nice that things turned out well for my master, unlike Don Quixote when he tried to save a maiden!

Exeunt Manuel, Juan and Cosme. Luis approaches Beatriz, who is standing off to one side.

Luis

The storm has passed. Once again, madam, allow me to restore to bloom the flower of your beauty that an accident has caused to wither.

Beatriz

Where is Juan?

Luis

He asks your forgiveness, but necessary obligations have called him away, as well as the desire to care for the health of an injured friend.

Beatriz

Oh my! I am undone! Is Juan injured?

Luis

Madam, it is not Juan. I could not possibly remain here so calmly if my brother were wounded. Be not afraid; it is not right, since he is not injured, that between the two of us you should suffer and I should be in pain. I say in pain because I see you so captivated by an imagined ill and it hurts me all the more.

Beatriz

My dear Luis, you know how much I appreciate your attentions; I know they are heartfelt and sincere. But I cannot repay them. Only fate can alter love and it suffers no entreaties. If what is most scarce is today most cherished at court, hold in esteem the truth, for it is indeed a rare commodity.

Luis

Go in peace. [Exit Beatriz with her maid.] There is nothing, Rodrigo, that turns out well for me. If I see a well-born lady and wish to meet her, a fool and a fight interrupt me. I do not know which is worse, for if I fight, my brother arrives and my enemy is his friend. If my brother leaves his lady in my keeping, she rejects my sincere overtures. A veiled lady flees from me, a fool torments me, a stranger wants to kill me, a brother brings him home as a guest in our house, and another lady spurns me. Things couldn’t get much worse.

Rodrigo

I think I know which of all your woes troubles you most.

Luis

How could you know?

Rodrigo

The one you feel most strongly is your jealousy of your brother and the beautiful Beatriz.

Luis

You are quite mistaken.

Rodrigo

Then what is it?

Luis

If I speak truthfully, and I feel I can trust only you, what causes me most alarm is that my brother casually invites a handsome young man to our house, knowing that in it there is also our sister, a young widow, as you know, who lives so cloistered that the sun scarcely knows where she lives. Beatriz is the only person who visits her.

330 Rodrigo

I know that her husband was a port administrator with a modest salary, and that he died owing the crown a tidy sum, and that she came to court in secret to see to his affairs in private. This excuses your brother. If you consider that as a widow no one is allowed to visit her, and even though your guest is Manuel, no one is to know that such a woman is imprisoned in your house, what harm can come from having him there? Especially since, as a result of considerable care and thought, the door to his room opens directly onto the street. The old door to the rest of the house has been closed up, and in front of it has been placed a cupboard with mirrored doors designed in such a way that no one would suspect that there is a passageway behind it. In this way you all suspicion is removed with the door closed, yet it still allows one to be able to open it again.

Luis

You think this gives me a sense of security? The very fact fills me with dread. What you are telling me is that nothing stands in defense of Angela’s honor except a few mirrored panes of glass, which can easily broken with one blow.

Exeunt.

[Angela’s room]

Enter Angela and Isabel.

Angela

Isabel, hand me that scarf. What a miserable life! I must live in a shroud, dead to the world as a result of my enormous misfortune.

Isabel

Take it quickly. If your brother should come and have the slightest suspicion, at least your appearance should not give you away. He must not see you dressed as you were at court this morning.

379 Angela

God help me! I am dying entombed by these four walls. The sun hardly knows of my existence. But my woes can be neither contained nor cured in the course of a single day. Even the inconstant moon, who learns her fickleness from me, cannot say that she has seen me weeping in misery. In effect, I have lived my life in a cage, completely without freedom, only because I was widowed by a husband and now as good as married to two brothers. That it should be a crime to leave this house, to go where people are, where there are plays and gossip and important events! Just to walk about the streets in disguise, causing no dishonor, flouting no authority! Oh cruel stars! Oh wretched fortune!

Isabel

Madam, there is no doubt that your zealous brothers are concerned for your well-being. You are, after all, a widow, young, beautiful, and intelligent. Your status is the one that leads to the most problems with love. Even more so today, when men at court frequently entertain their perfumed “widows”! My God! When I see perfumed hussies gallivanting around town pretending to be so virtuous, so saintly, so modest, so circumspect. All they really care about is showing off their new dresses. Take away their finery and pious gestures and they become as flighty as a ball of paper on the wind, talking to all the young men they meet. But let us leave this discussion for another time. How is it we have not mentioned the stranger who came to the rescue of your honor, the one who presented himself today as your savior?

Angela

You have read my soul by speaking of him. The thought of him has me quite unnerved, not on his account but on mine. Afterwards, when I heard the sound of knives, I thought — and these are just fantasies, Isabel — that he might take my misery so much to heart that he would draw his sword in my defense. I was foolish to implicate him in such a fashion, but a woman in turmoil, what is she to think or do?

Isabel

I do not know if he stopped him; I only know that your brother followed us no more.

Angela

Wait, listen!

Enter Luis.

Luis

Angela!

Angela

Dear brother! What brings you here in such a state? What has happened? What is wrong?

Luis

A terrible burden, a question of honor.

Angela

(Aside) Oh no! Doubtlessly Luis recognized me!

Luis

And I am most worried that our honor is in danger.

Angela

Has someone caused you to feel uneasy?

Luis

How strange! Here in your presence, Angela, I feel that same uneasy feeling as before.

Isabel

(Aside) Another shock?

Angela

But Luis, how can I cause you displeasure? You know....

Luis

You are the cause. Seeing you....

Angela

Oh my!

Luis

Angela, our brother has so little esteem for you...

Angela

That must be it!

Luis

...that he heaps new troubles on top of those that brought you here. I was right to turn the anger I feel for our brother against our guest. Without recognizing him, I wounded him prophetically.

Angela

Do tell.

Luis

I went to the Palace Square on foot. It was full of coaches and gentlemen. I went over to a group of friends who were happily enthralled talking to a veiled lady. They all celebrated her wit and praised her intelligence and humor. From the moment I arrived, she spoke not a word. One gentleman even asked her why she fell silent when I joined the group. Her actions made me most uncomfortable. I looked to see if I knew her, but I could not make out her face. She wrapped her veil more tightly around her to hide her identity and protect herself. Because I could not see her face, I was determined to follow her. As she walked, she kept turning around to see if I was behind her. Her nervousness piqued my interest all the more. We were walking along in this manner when a man, the servant of our guest, stopped me so that I might read a letter for him. I answered that I was in a great hurry. I believe he stopped me on purpose because I saw the lady speak to him in passing. He was so insistent. I said something or other to him and our guest, looking all menacing and military, came to his defense. To make a long story short, we drew swords, but that is all. It could have been much worse.

515 Angela

What an evil woman to have put you in such a situation! Oh, these conniving women! I should assume that she did not know who you were, and that she only did what she did because you were following her. I have told you repeatedly, if you will remember, that you should not go chasing after these silly women who know only how to cause the ruin of men.

Luis

What have you been doing this afternoon?

Angela

I have been here, at home, passing the hours weeping.

Luis

Have you seen our brother?

Angela

He has not been here since this morning.

Luis

I simply cannot tolerate his inattention.

Angela

Think no more of it. Sometimes it is best to suffer in silence. He is our older brother, and we live off his fortune.

Luis

Well, if you are not upset, then neither am I. I was only worried about you. Since you think that he and I can mend our friendship, I shall go see him and perhaps even engage in some diversion with him.

Exit Luis.

Isabel

In light of this cruel shock, my lady, what have you to say about what is going on in our own house? The one who defended your life today is now a wounded guest in your home?

Angela

I suspected as much, Isabel, when I heard my brother’s account of the incident and when I saw that our guest was wounded. But I could not bring myself to believe it. What an extraordinary coincidence that a man should come to Madrid, that a woman should immediately ask him to defend her life, that one brother should wound him and another should give him shelter. This is all too much! Although it may be true, I shall not believe it until I see it with my own eyes.

Isabel

If you are determined to discover the truth, I know how you can see him, and even more, if you wish.

Angela

You are mad. How, if his room is so far from my own?

Isabel

There is a way to get from one room to the other. Do not be alarmed.

Angela

Not because I want to see him, but only because I am just generally curious, tell me, how? I hear you, but I do not believe you.

Isabel

Have you not heard that your brother had a cupboard built over the door?

Angela

I think I understand your plan. You want us to make a hole in a plank of the cupboard so that we can see into his room?

Isabel

Oh, it’s much better than that.

Angela

Go on.

Isabel

Your brother closed up and covered over the door that was here and that led to the garden, but he also wanted a way to be able to open the door again at a later time. He had built a movable cupboard. Even though it is covered with mirrors, it slides open and shut quite easily. I know it well because once I was cleaning the cupboard and had placed a ladder against it. It started moving under my weight little by little until we all fell: me, the ladder, and the cupboard. I left the cupboard in such a state that, by moving it, anyone can pass through the door.

Angela

Before I prove the truth of your words, I need to know more. If I want to go to the other room, and have moved the cupboard, can it be moved from the other side as well?

Isabel

Of course. What makes it even better is that I have set two nails that are easy to remove, but only those who know to remove them can move the cupboard.

Angela

Tell the servant who brings him candles and linens to let you know if and when our guest leaves the house. If I am right, his wound will not require him to stay in bed.

Isabel

My God! Will you actually go?

Angela

I have a foolish desire to know if he is the one who saved my life. If I have caused him concern and he has even spilled his blood for me, Isabel, it is right that I see after his wound. I hope to return the favor, but I must be certain that I shall not be found out. Let us go; I want to see this cupboard. If I can pass from one room to the other, I shall take care, without his realizing it, to repay his kindness.

Isabel

This is going to be an adventure! What if he figures it out?

Angela

He will not. A man whose strength I assume to be equal to his nobility and discretion since he proved his worth to me in my first meeting with him, a man who is valiant and daring, bold and gallant, a man so richly endowed is not going to cause me to reveal my secret. It would be a notable waste for such a noble man to tell all he knows to anyone who passes by.

Exeunt.

[Manuel’s room]

Enter Juan, Manuel and a servant with a candle.

Juan

Get some rest, for God’s sake.

Manuel

This wound is nothing, Juan. Honestly, it is unseemly for me to pay it any mind at all.

Juan

I thank my stars that it is nothing worse than that, for I could never be consoled if my happiness in seeing you came at the cost of having you indisposed in my house and seeing you with your hand wounded, not by me, but by my brother.

Manuel

He is a worthy gentleman. I am envious of his ability with a sword and his noble style, and I hope to be a good friend to him and his servant.

Enter Luis and a servant with a covered basked with a sheathed sword inside.

Luis

Sir, I am your humble servant, and I hope to demonstrate the pain I feel by dedicating my life to you. So that the instrument that caused your wound not remain in my power, since it can no longer serve me nor please me, I shall send it from me much as one would an unworthy servant who causes his master some displeasure. This, Sir, is the sword that wounded you. I offer it to you and ask you to forgive it, if it is at all blameworthy. With it, take your revenge against me and against it.

Manuel

You are most noble and discreet; I am won over. I accept the sword so that it may show me how to be valiant. I intend to live confident from this day forward, for who would not feel safe with your sword at his side? Of it alone was I afraid.

Juan

Since Luis has showed me how to treat a guest properly, I hope you will receive another gift from me.

Manuel

I can never hope to repay such generosity. You seem to be competing to shower me with honor.

Enter Cosme, laden with baggage

697 Cosme

May two hundred thousand demons give testimony of their infernal fury and turn against me two hundred thousand snakes who might seize me and send me on my way to the great beyond if I would not rather live in peace in Galicia or Asturias than in this city and this court.

Manuel

What?

Cosme

Porter reporting for duty.

Juan

What are you talking about?

Cosme

Just what I said. The one who gives passage to his enemy is a traitor.

Luis

What enemy? Wait.

Cosme

The water from one fountain or another.

Manuel

Water upsets you?

Cosme

Here I am, lost beneath this mountain of baggage, when of course I trip against the foot of a fountain and end up filthy. These things are not fit to bring indoors.

Manuel

Get out of here, you’re drunk.

Cosme

If I were drunk, I wouldn’t be so angry at the water. I read in a book that fountains sometimes have their water transformed into other things. It wouldn’t be so bad to see a fountain have its water turned into wine.

Manuel

If he gets started, he will not finish in a year.

Juan

He has an odd sense of humor.

Luis

I would like to know something. If you can read, since you mentioned a book, why did you stop me at such an inopportune moment to read a letter?

Cosme

Well, I know how to read from books, but not from letters.

Luis

What an answer!

Manuel

Please pay him no mind, for the love of God. You will come to know him and see that he is a joker.

Cosme

I hope to make my jokes famous. You are welcome to them.

Manuel

If it is not too late, I should like to pay a visit, one of some importance to me.

Juan

I hope to see you again for dinner.

Manuel

Cosme, don’t get anything dirty with the mud from that baggage when you open it and take out my clothing.

Cosme

Good grief!

Juan

If you wish to lock your room, here is the key. I have a master key because I frequently come home late, after two, but you may be sure that this is the only key and that there is no other door. If you leave it in the lock, the servants will come daily to clean.

Exeunt Luis, Juan, and Manuel

752 Cosme

Where are you, my little fortune? I want to see you first of all and determine how much we have pilfered along the way. People in roadside inns do not look after every little thing as carefully as they do in private houses. There is a greater opportunity for benefit by putting my hand, not on my heart, but in another’s purse.

(He opens a suitcase and pulls out a purse.)

Here it is! Safe and sound. Just this morning it was a maiden and now, look, it’s quite pregnant. Let’s have a count. No, that’s not necessary. After all, it’s not as though I have just sold my master some sheep and need to figure the amount down to the last coin. What I have is what I have. Well, then. His suitcase is over there. I need to take out clothes in case he goes to bed soon. He ordered me to do that, but just because he ordered it, do I have to do it quickly? Just because he ordered it doesn’t mean I have to do it at all, for I am a servant. I could just as easily go out to a local tavern for a bit. Would you like that, Cosme? Why yes! Then let’s go, because our wishes come before our masters’.

Exit. The cupboard moves and from behind it  emerge Angela and Isabel.

Isabel

Rodrigo said the room was empty; the guest and your brothers left.

Angela

I would have done this just to have this adventure!

Isabel

You see that there is no trouble getting from one room to the other.

Angela

All the troubles I envisioned, Isabel, were groundless. We met no resistance at all. The door opens and closes easily and no one is the wiser.

Isabel

Why have we come?

Angela

Just to have a look and come right back. For two women to create some mischief they only have to think about it. We are here just because we happened to speak of it a couple of times. I am determined, if in fact this gentleman is the one who risked his personal safety for me, to repay his attention.

Isabel

Here is the gift your brother gave him, and a sword on a desk.

Angela

Come here. They brought my writing desk here?

Isabel

Yes. They thought he might like to write a message, or read a book.

Angela

There are two suitcases on the floor.

Isabel

Open, too! Shall we see what is in them?

Angela

Yes. It is foolish, but I want to see what clothing and other finery he has.

Isabel

He’s a soldier and a pretender at court. I doubt he has much to look at.

They take the things out of the suitcases as they talk about them, and strew them about the room

Angela

What’s this?

Isabel

Sheets of paper.

Angela

From a woman?

Isabel

No, madam. Just bound documents. They are quite heavy.

Angela

Well, if they were from a woman, they would be more lightweight. Do not waste your time on them.

Isabel

There is some underwear.

Angela

Does it smell good?

Isabel

Yes, it smells clean.

Angela

That is the best perfume.

Isabel

It has all three qualities: thin, white, and soft. Madam, what is this leather case full of various instruments?

Angela

Let me see. This thing looks like dentist’s pliers. These are tweezers, that is a curling iron for his hair and here is another one for his moustache.

Isabel

Here is a brush and comb. This man comes prepared. I wouldn’t be surprised to find shoe trees!

Angela

Why?

Isabel

Because here they are.

Angela

Is there more?

Isabel

Yes, my lady, a second pouch full of letters.

Angela

Let me see. These are from a woman, and there is more than letters. Here is a portrait!

Isabel

That fascinates you?

Angela

Just seeing beauty, even painted, is a pleasure.

Isabel

It seems that finding it has troubled you.

Angela

How foolish you are. Look no further.

Isabel

What are you thinking?

Angela

I shall leave him a note. Take this portrait.

She starts writing.

862 Isabel

Meanwhile, I’m going to check out the servant’s bag. This is money: coins, but of little value. In a world where doubloons are king, these are peasants. I think I’ll play a little trick. I’m going to take the lackey’s money and leave in its place some coals. You may wonder where I’ll get coals, but remember, this is winter and there is a brazier in the room.

Angela

There! All done! Where should I leave this letter so that our guest will find it but my brother will not?

Isabel

Here, underneath the bedspread. When he turns it down, he cannot help but find it, but no one else will see it.

Angela

Good idea! Put it there and pick these things up.

Isabel

Look! They are turning the lock!

Angela

Leave all this, then. We must hide. Come, Isabel.

892 Isabel

May the cupboard protect me!

Exeunt through the cupboard, which appears as it did at first. Enter Cosme.

Cosme

Now that I have taken care of myself I am more of a mind to do my master’s bidding—and I won’t even charge him extra! But wait! Who has been in our room tossing our things about? Christ's blood! Our nice little room with our nice little possessions… now it all looks like a Turkish bazaar! Who is here? There is no one, by God, or if there is someone, he does not wish to answer. Fine. Don’t answer me. I am proud to say I don’t much care for talkers. Whatever it may be, to tell the truth, I am trembling like a leaf. On the other hand, if the intruder leaves me my money, let him make his mischief a thousand times a thousand. But what’s this? God’s wounds! My money converted into coals? Here now, little spirit! Whoever you were and are, turn your money into anything you desire, but the money I steal... why?

Enter Juan, Luis and Manuel.

Juan

Why are you shouting?

Luis

What’s wrong?

Manuel

What has happened? Speak!

Cosme

A pretty situation this! Why did you invite us to stay here in a room already occupied by a ghost? I was absent for just a second, and I returned to discover the clothing as you see it, strewn about. It looks like a clearance sale!

Juan

Is anything missing?

Cosme

Nothing. Just the money that I had in this purse. It was mine, and now it has been turned into coals.

Luis

I see. This is another one of your jokes.

Manuel

What a cold and graceless deception.

Juan.

How evil and impertinent.

Cosme

It is no joke. For the love of God.

Manuel

Quiet. This is so like you.

Cosme

That’s true, although I am also accustomed to being sane from time to time.

Juan

I’ll take my leave, Manuel. Have a good night, and may the spirit of the house watch over you. And do advise your servant that we expect more of his wit in the future. (Exit.)

950 Luis

It is not for nothing that you are as valiant as you are if you have to spend all your waking moments solving the disputes and problems created by this fool. (Exit.)

Manuel

You see how they treat me because of you? Everyone thinks me a madman because I put up with you. Wherever I go, a thousand misfortunes befall me on your account.

Cosme

We are now alone; there is no reason to deceive you. You cannot finesse a card trick with only two players. May two thousand devils take me if it is not true that when I left, someone or something entered and created this mess.

Manuel

You just want me to forgive you. Pick up these things you have strewn about and get ready for bed.

Cosme

Sir, may I end up a galley slave....

Manuel

Enough! Hush, or, as God is my witness, I’ll break your head open! (Exit into the alcove.)

Cosme

It’s bad enough that I should have gone through such a trauma, but now I have to put back everything in these suitcases. Good heavens! May my money come back from the dead just as it will on Judgment Day!

Manuel returns with a sheet of paper.

Manuel

A light, Cosme.

Cosme

What is it, sir? Have you perhaps discovered someone else in the house?

Manuel

I went to get ready for bed, Cosme, and I discovered under my bedspread this sealed note. The address on the envelope has me fascinated.

Cosme.

Who is it for?

Manuel

Me, but the strange manner of its words has me entranced.

Cosme

What does it say?

Manuel

(Reads.) “Let no one open me, for I belong only to Manuel.”

Cosme

God Almighty! And you didn’t believe me! Do not open it, I beseech you, without first exorcising its evil.

Manuel

Cosme, what has me transfixed is its novelty, not its fearfulness. He who admires something cannot fear it.

(Reads.) “Your well-being has me preoccupied, since I was the cause of your misfortune. Appreciative but worried, I beseech you to tell me how you are and to call on me. There will be occasion for both if you leave your answer where you found this note. Be warned that secrecy is paramount, because the day that one of your friends discovers this, my life and my honor will be forfeit.”

Cosme

How strange!

Manuel

Strange?

Cosme

You don’t find this strange?

Manuel

Not at all. This actually clears up a few mysteries.

Cosme

How?

Manuel

It is quite clear that the veiled lady who was fleeing Luis so blindly and so desperately, was his lady, Cosme. She cannot be his wife because he is unmarried. And since this is quite certain, how difficult is it to imagine that his lady should have access to her beloved’s house?

Cosme

That’s all very well and good, but it doesn’t calm my nerves. Let’s say she is his lady and the encounter happened as you say. But how was she able, from her position on the sidewalk, to know what was going to happen in order to have this note prepared and waiting for you on your bed?

Manuel

After our meeting, she could have given it to a servant.

Cosme

Even if she had done that, how did a servant get in here to place it? No one entered the entire time I was in here.

Manuel

It could have happened earlier.

Cosme

Of course. But finding the suitcases and our clothing cast about here and there, not to mention the note, leads me to suspect something more.

Manuel

See if the windows are locked.

Cosme

Locked, and with iron grates on the outside.

Manuel

You leave me with greater doubts and a thousand suspicions.

Cosme

What about?

Manuel

I do not know how to explain them.

Cosme

And now, what are you to do?

Manuel

I intend to write an answer to this note in order to find out the truth of the situation. I shall use a style that conceals any astonishment or fear on my part. I have no doubt, since paper is involved, that we shall have occasion to see who brings it and takes it away.

Cosme

And should we not tell our hosts?

Manuel

No. I do not wish to cause the slightest problem for this woman, since she trusted her honor to me.

Cosme

Then you prefer to dishonor the man you consider to be her beloved?

Manuel

No, not that either. Without causing her any problem I can still carry out my plan.

Cosme

No, sir. There is more here than you know of, and every moment my suspicion grows.

Manuel

How so?

Cosme

You see that papers come and go around here with no visible way in or out. How do you suppose that happens?

Manuel

There exists some trick or artifice for entering and leaving, for opening and closing, somewhere in the room. I may lose my mind if I do not figure out how this happens, Cosme, but I shall never believe it is a supernatural phenomenon.

Cosme

Are there no spirits?

Manuel

No one has seen them.

Cosme

Ghosts?

Manuel

Just fantasies.

Cosme

Witches?

Manuel

Hardly.

Cosme

Demons?

Manuel

Please.

Cosme

Imps?

Manuel

No.

Cosme

Enchantresses?

Manuel

Neither.

Cosme

Magicians?

Manuel

Foolishness.

Cosme

Necromancers?

Manuel

Ridiculous.

Cosme

Sorceresses?

Manuel

What madness.

Cosme

I know, by God, now I’ve got you! Devils?

Manuel

Not that I know of.

Cosme

Are there souls in purgatory?

Manuel

That fall in love with me? Is there greater lunacy? Leave me alone; I am tired.

Cosme

So, what have you decided?

Manuel

To be attentive, day and night; to be exceedingly cautious. I base my discovery of the truth on this. There is no need to resort to spirits or sorceresses.

Cosme

Well, I do assume that some demon is involved. And it appears that he can come and go, bring things and take them, all in a puff of smoke.