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This man was the Marquis Don Vegal, knight of Alcantara, of Malta, and of Charles III. He had a right to appear in this pompous equipage; the viceroy and the archbishop could alone take precedence of him; but this great nobleman came here from ennui and not from ostentation; his thoughts were not depicted on his countenance, they were concentrated beneath his bent brow; he received no impression from exterior objects, on which he bestowed not a look, and heard not the envious reflections of the mestizoes, when his four horses made their way through the crowd.
Thus the Sambo had put face to face two mortal enemies, and, deceived by the presence of Martin Paz in the house of Don Vegal, the soldiers rushed upon the dwelling of the marquis. André Certa was intoxicated with rage. As soon as he perceived Martin Paz, he rushed upon him. "Here!" exclaimed the young Indian, and quitting the stone steps which he had so valiantly defended, he joined the mestizo.
Paz made no allusion to his recent adventures; but seemed to take a lively pleasure in his conversation. But the next day Martin Paz had left Chorillos, and Don Vegal, tortured with anxiety, hastily returned to Lima. The marriage of André Certa with the daughter of the wealthy Samuel, was an important event.
Each of these establishments possessed a chapel, so that there were at Lima more than a hundred edifices for worship, where eight hundred secular or regular priests, three hundred religieuses, lay-brothers and sisters, performed the duties of religion. As Don Vegal entered the church of Santa Anna, he noticed a young girl kneeling in prayer and in tears.
"Sir," replied the Spaniard, gravely, "I depart to-morrow for the Baths of Chorillos; if you please to accompany me, you will be for the present safe from pursuit, and will never have reason to complain of the hospitality of the Marquis Don Vegal." Martin Paz bent coldly without manifesting any emotion.
There he met Father Joachim de Camarones, his confessor and his oldest friend; he acquainted him with his mode of life. What was the astonishment of the good father to learn the existence of Martin Paz. He promised Don Vegal to watch also himself over the young Indian, and to convey to the marquis any intelligence of importance.
The canoe was hurried on with increasing rapidity and began to whirl. Suddenly a man appeared on the opposite shore It is Martin Paz! Beside him, are Don Vegal and Liberta. "My daughter! my daughter!" exclaims the father, kneeling on the shore. "My father!" replied Sarah, raising herself up with superhuman strength. The scene was indescribable.
Martin Paz remained silent; but a terrific conflict was going on within him. The Sambo had roused the most sensitive chords of his proud nature to vibrate; placed between a life of fatigues, of dangers, of despair, and an existence happy, honored, illustrious, he could not hesitate. But should he then abandon the Marquis Don Vegal, whose noble hopes destined him as the deliverer of Peru!
Attentive and resigned, the young girl comprehended what danger she had escaped; and she confided her future happiness to the care of the Spaniard. But amid phrases interrupted by sighs and mingled with tears, Don Vegal perceived the intense attachment of this simple heart for him whom she called her deliverer.
Formerly the husband of an adored wife, the father of a charming little girl, he had seen himself deprived, by a horrible event, of both these objects of his love. Since then, no bond of affection had attached him to earth, and he suffered his life to float at the will of events. Don Vegal had thought his heart to be indeed dead, when he felt it palpitate at contact with that of Martin Paz.
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