I have, of course, many friends in Lisbon, and shall take a house
there the instant I arrive, and Donna O'Connor will be as one of my own
family."
"I am extremely obliged to you, Don Jose. I have been wondering all day as
I rode along what I should do with my cousin if, as is probable, I am
obliged to stay at Coimbra until I receive orders from Lisbon. Your kind
offer relieves me of a great anxiety. I think that it will be prudent for
her to take another name while she is at Lisbon. There will certainly be
no inquiries after her, for the lady superior of her convent will, of
course, conclude that she was accidentally separated from the others in
the crush, and that she was trampled on, or killed; and, indeed, there
will be such confusion in Oporto that the loss of a nun more or less would
fail to attract attention. At any rate, it is likely to be a long time
before any report the lady superior will make to the bishop will reach
him--months, perhaps, for she is not likely to take any particular pains
to tell him news that would certainly anger him.
"Still, if he goes to Lisbon, as no doubt he will, and by any chance
happens to hear that Miss O'Connor was one of those who had escaped from
the sack of Oporto, he might make inquiries, and then all sorts of trouble
might arise, even if he did not have her carried off by force, which would
be easy enough in a place so disturbed as Lisbon at present is.
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