We were received by the Spanish Governor immediately after our landing.
I had already pictured him, in my thoughts, as a man of commanding
presence, with keen, dark eyes set in a stern countenance; crisp,
curling locks--such as Melinza's--but silvered lightly on the temples;
an air of potency, of fire, as though his bold spirit defied the heavy
hand of time.
'Twas therefore a matter of great surprise to me--and some relief--when,
instead, I beheld advancing toward us a spare little figure with
snow-white hair and a pallid face. His small blue eyes blinked upon us
with a watery stare; his flabby cheeks were seamed with wrinkles, and
his tremulous lips twitched and writhed in the shadowy semblance of a
smile: there was naught about him to suggest either the soldier or the
man of parts.
He was attired with some pretension, in a doublet of purple velvet with
sleeves of a lighter color. His short, full trousers were garnished at
the knee with immense roses; his shrunken nether limbs were cased in
silken hose of a pale lavender hue, and silver buckles fastened the
tufted purple ribbons on his shoes. On his breast was the red cross of
St. James--patent of nobility; had it not been for that and his fine
attire he might have passed for a blear-eyed and decrepit tailor from
Haberdashery Lane.
I plucked up heart at the sight of this little manikin.
"Can this be the Governor and Captain-General of San Augustin?" I
whispered in the ear of my betrothed.
"'Tis not at the court of _our_ Charles only that kissing, or promotion,
goes by favour!" was his answer, in a quick aside. Then he met the
advancing dignitary and responded with grave punctilio to the suave
welcome that was accorded us.
Melinza's part was that of master of ceremonies on this occasion. He
appeared to have laid aside his rancour, and his handsome olive
countenance was lightened with an expression of great benignance when he
presented me to the Governor as--"_the honourable and distinguished
señorita Doña Margarita de Tudor_."
I looked up at Mr. Rivers with an involuntary smile.
"My betrothed, your Excellency," he said simply, taking me by the hand.
The blear-eyed Governor made me a compliment, with a wrinkled hand upon
his heart. I understood no word of it, and he spoke no French, so Mr.
Rivers relieved the situation with his usual ease.
This audience had been held in the courtyard of the castle, which is a
place of great strength,--being, in effect, a square fort built of
stone, covering about an acre of ground, and garrisoned by more than
three hundred men.
We stood in a little group beneath a dim lamp that hung in a carved
portico which appeared to be the entrance to a chapel. Captain Baulk and
the rest were a little aloof from us; and all around, at the open doors
of the casemates, lurked many of the swarthy soldiery.
Suddenly light footsteps sounded on the flagged pavement of the chapel
in our rear, and a tall, graceful woman stepped forth and laid her hand
upon my shoulder. Through the delicate folds of black, filmy lace
veiling her head and shoulders gleamed a pair of luminous eyes that
burned me with their gaze.
She waved aside the salutations of the two Spaniards and spoke directly
to me in a rich, low voice. The sight of a woman was so welcome to me
that I held out both hands in eager response; but she made no move to
take them: her bright eyes scanned the faces of our party, lingering on
that of my betrothed, to whom she next addressed herself, with a little
careless gesture of her white hand in my direction.
Mr. Rivers bowed low, and said, in French: "Madame, I commend her to
your good care." Then to me: "Margaret, the Governor's lady offers you
the protection of her roof."
His eyes bade me accept it, and I turned slowly to the imperious
stranger and murmured: "Madame, I thank you."
"So!" she exclaimed, "you can speak, then? You are not dumb? I had
thought it was a pretty waxen effigy of Our Lady, for the padre here,"
and she laughed mockingly, with a glance over her shoulder.
Another had joined our group, but his bare feet had sounded no warning
tread. The sight of the coarse habit and the tonsured head struck a
chill through me. Two sombre eyes held mine for a moment, then their
owner turned silently away and re-entered the chapel door.
Melinza was standing by, with a gathering frown on his forehead.
"Such condescension on your part, Doña Orosia, is needless. We can
provide accommodations for all our English guests here in the castle."
"What! Would Don Pedro stoop to trick out a lady's boudoir?--Nay, she
would die of the horrors within these gloomy walls. Come with me, child,
I can furnish better entertainment."
I turned hastily toward my dear love.
"Go!" said his eyes to me.
Then I thought of Barbara, and very timidly I asked leave to keep her by
me.
"She may follow us," said the Governor's lady carelessly, and sharply
clapped her hands. Two runners appeared, bearing a closed chair, and set
it down before us.
"Enter," said my self-elected guardian. "You are so slight there is room
for us both."
In dazed fashion I obeyed her, and then she followed me.
I thought I should be crushed in the narrow space, and the idea of being
thus suddenly torn away from my betrothed filled me with terror. I made
a desperate effort to spring out again; but a soft, strong hand gripped
my arm and held me still, and in a moment we were borne swiftly away
from the courtyard into the dark without.
I wrung my hands bitterly, and burst into tears.
"_O cielos!_ what have we here?" cried the rich voice, petulantly. "'Tis
not a waxen saint, after all, but a living fountain! Do not drown me, I
pray you. What is there to weep for? Art afraid, little fool? See, I am
but a woman, not an ogress."
But 'twas not alone for myself that I feared: the thought of my dear
love in Melinza's power terrified me more than aught else,--yet I dared
not put my suspicions into words. I tried hard to control my voice as I
implored that I might be taken back to the fort and to Mr. Rivers.
"Is it for the Englishman, or Melinza, that you are weeping?" demanded
my companion sharply.
"Madame!" I retorted, with indignation, "Mr. Rivers is my betrothed
husband."
"Good cause for affliction, doubtless," she replied, "but spare me your
lamentations. Nay, you may _not_ return to the fort. 'Tis no fit place
for an honest woman,--and you seem too much a fool to be aught else.
Here, we have arrived----"
She pushed me out upon the unpaved street, then dragged me through an
open doorway, across a narrow court filled with blooming plants, and
into a lighted room furnished with rich hangings, and chairs, tables,
and cabinets of fine workmanship.
I gazed around me in wonder and confusion of mind.
"How does it please your pretty saintship? 'Tis something better than
either Padre Ignacio's hut or Melinza's galley, is it not? Are you
content to remain?"
"Madame," I said desperately, "do with me what you will; only see, I
pray you, that my betrothed comes to no harm."
"What should harm him?" she demanded. "Is he not the guest of my
husband?"
"His guest, madame, or his prisoner?"
She gave me a keen glance. "Whichever rôle he may have the wit--or the
folly--to play."
I wrung my hands again. "Madame, madame, do not trifle with me!"
"Child, what should make thee so afraid?"
I hesitated, then exclaimed: "Señor de Melinza bears him no good
will--he may strive to prejudice your husband!"
The Governor's wife looked intently at me. "Why should Melinza have
aught against your Englishman?"
I could not answer,--perhaps I had been a fool to speak. I dropped my
face in my hands, silently.
Doña Orosia leaned forward and took me by the wrists. "Look at me!" she
said.
Timidly I raised my eyes, and she studied my countenance for a long
minute.
"'Tis absurd," she said then, and pushed me aside. "'Tis impossible! And
yet----a new face, a new face and passably pretty. Oh, my God, these
men! are they worth one real heart pang? Tell me," she cried, fiercely,
and shook me roughly by the shoulder, "has Melinza made love to you
already?"
"Never, madame, never!" I answered quickly, frightened by her vehemence.
"Indeed, their quarrel did not concern me. 'Twas about two lads that had
a wrestling-match upon the galley. And although they were both angered
at the time, there may be no ill feeling between them now. I was foolish
to speak of it. Forget my imprudence, I pray you!"
But her face remained thoughtful. "Tell me the whole story," she said;
and when I had done so she was silent.
I sat and watched her anxiously. She was a beautiful woman, with a
wealth of dark hair, a richly tinted cheek, glorious eyes, and a small,
soft, red-lipped, passionate mouth--folded close, at that moment, in a
scornful curve.
Suddenly she rose and touched a bell. A young negress answered the
summons. Doña Orosia spoke a few rapid words to her in Spanish, then
turned coldly to me.
"Go with her; she will show you to your apartment, and your woman will
attend you there later on. You must be too weary to-night to join us at
a formal meal, and your wardrobe must be somewhat in need of
replenishing. To-morrow you shall have whatever you require. I bid you
goodnight!"--and she dismissed me with a haughty gesture of her white
hand.
The chamber that had been assigned to me--which I was glad to share with
the good Dame Barbara--was long and narrow. There was a window at one
end that gave upon the sea; and through the heavy barred grating, set
strongly in the thick casement, I could look out upon the low sea-wall,
and, beyond that, at the smooth bosom of the dreaming ocean, heaving
softly in the quiet starlight, as though such a sorrow lay hidden in its
deep heart as troubled even its sleep with sighs.
If I pressed my face close against the bars I could see, to the left of
me, the ramparts of the castle, where my dear love was. The slow tears
rose in my eyes as I thought that this night the same roof would not
shelter us, nor would there be the same swaying deck beneath our feet.
While we had been together no very real sense of danger had oppressed
me; but from the first hour of our parting my heart grew heavier with
forebodings of the evil and sorrow which were yet to come.