AN OLD ACQUAINTANCE.
The Wilders' party, after leaving the Waterport, passed through the
Casemate Barrack Square and entered Waterport Street, the chief
thoroughfare of the town. It was a narrow, unpretending street, very
foreign in aspect; the houses tall and overhanging with balconies
filled with flowers; the lattice-shutters gaily painted, having
outside blinds of brilliantly striped stuffs.
The shop fronts were small, the wares common-place; the best show was
at the drapers, where they sold British calicoes and piece-goods in
flaunting colours, calculated to suit the local taste.
The street, both pavement and roadway, was crowded. In the former were
long strings of pack-horses bringing in straw and charcoal from
Spain; small stout donkeys laden with water-barrels; officers, some in
undress uniform, many more in plain clothes, riding long-tailed barbs;
occasionally a commissariat wagon drawn by a pair of sleek mules, or a
high-hooded _calêche_, with its driver seated on the shafts, cut
through the throng. Detachments of troops, too, marched by: recruits
returning from drill upon the North Front, armed parties, guards
coming off duty, and others going on fatigue--all these cleared the
street before them. On the pavement the crowd was as diverse as might
be expected, from the mixed population. Stately Moors rubbed elbows
with stalwart British soldiers; Barbary Jews, dejected in mien, but
with shrewd, cunning eyes, chaffered with the itinerant vendors of
freshly caught sardines, or the newly-picked fruit of the prickly
pear. Now and again, quite out of keeping with her surroundings, a
rosy-cheeked British nursemaid passed by escorting her charges--the
blue-eyed, flaxen-haired children of the dominant race.
General Wilders walked along with head erect, returning punctiliously
the innumerable salutes he received, quite happy, and in his element
in this essentially military post and stronghold. Mrs. Wilders seemed
also to enjoy the busy, animated scene: it was all so new to her, so
different from anything she had expected, as she was at great pains to
explain. The sight of this foreign town held by British bayonets
pleased her, she said; she was proud to think that she was now an
Englishwoman.
"It is your first visit to Gibraltar, then?" said young Mr. Wilders,
anxious to be civil.
"Oh, yes!" she replied; "that is why I am so interested--so amused by
all I see."
Was this absolutely true? She seemed, as she led the way across the
casemate square and up Waterport Street, to know the road without
guidance, and once or twice a passer-by paused to look at her. Were
they only paying tribute to her radiant beauty, or was her's not
altogether an unfamiliar face?
It was evident that there were those at Gibraltar who knew her, or
mistook her for some one else.
As the party reached the Commercial Square, and the main guard, like
that at Waterport, turned out to do honour to the general, a man
pushed forward from a little group that stood respectfully behind the
party, and whispered hoarsely in Mrs. Wilders's ear--
"_Dios mio! Cypriana! Es usted?_" (Gracious Heavens! Cyprienne! Is it
you?)
Mrs. Wilders stopped and looked round. At that moment, too, young
Wilders turned angrily on the man--a black-muzzled, Spanish-looking
fellow, dressed in a suit of coarse brown cloth, short jacket,
knee-breeches, and leather gaiters--the dress, in fact, of a
well-to-do Spanish peasant--and said, sharply, "How dare you speak to
this lady? What did he say to you, Mrs. Wilders--anything rude?"
Mrs. Wilders had recovered herself sufficiently to reply in an
unconcerned tone--
"I did not understand his jargon; but it does not matter in the least;
don't make any fuss, I beg."
The incident had been unobserved by any but these two, and it must
have been speedily forgotten by young Wilders, for he said nothing
more. But Mrs. Wilders, as they passed on, and for the rest of their
walk to the Convent, as the Governor's residence is still styled,
looked anxiously behind to see if the man who had claimed acquaintance
with her was still in sight.
Yes; he was following her. What did he mean?
Half an hour later, when the Wilders had made their bow to the
Governor, and it had been arranged that the general should attend an
inspection of troops upon the North Front, Mrs. Wilders declined to
accept the seat in the carriage offered her. She preferred, she said,
to explore the quaint old town. Mr. Wilders and one of the Governor's
aides-de-camps eagerly volunteered to escort, but she declined.
"Many thanks, but I'd rather go alone. I shall be more independent."
"You'll lose your way; or be arrested by the garrison police and taken
before the town major as a suspicious character, loitering too near
the fortifications," said the Governor, who thought it a capital joke.
"No one will interfere with me, I think," she replied, quietly. "I am
quite able to take care of myself."
She looked it just then, with her firm-set lips and flashing eyes.
"Mrs. Wilders will have her own way," said her husband. "It's best to
give in to her. That's what I've found," he added, with a laugh, in
which all joined.
When the horses were brought out for the parade, Mrs. Wilders, still
persisting in her intention of walking alone, said, gaily--
"Well, gentlemen, while you are playing at soldiers I shall go off on
my own devices. If I get tired, Bill, I shall go back to the yacht."
And with this Mrs. Wilders walked off.
"Here, sergeant!" cried the general to his orderly, McKay. "I don't
want you; you may be of use to Mrs. Wilders. Go after her."
"Shall I report myself to her, sir?"
"I don't advise you, my man. She'd send you about your business
double-quick. But you can keep your eye on her, and see she comes to
no harm."
Sergeant McKay saluted and hastened out of the courtyard. Mrs. Wilders
had already disappeared down Convent Lane, and was just turning into
the main street. McKay followed quickly, keeping her in sight.
It was evident that the best part of Gibraltar had no charms for Mrs.
Wilders; she did not want to look into the shop windows, such as they were;
nor did she pause to admire the architectural beauties of the Garrison
Library or other severely plain masterpieces of our military engineers. Her
course was towards the upper town, and she pressed on with quick,
unfaltering steps, as though she knew every inch of the ground.
Ten minutes' sharp walking, sometimes by steep lanes, sometimes up
long flights of stone steps, brought her to the upper road leading to
the Moorish castle. This was essentially a native quarter; Spanish was
the only language heard from the children who swarmed about the
doorways, or their slatternly mothers quarreling over their washtubs,
or combing out and cleansing, in a manner that will not bear
description, their children's hair. Spanish colour prevailed, and
Spanish smells.
Still pursuing her way without hesitation, Mrs. Wilders presently
turned up another steep alley bearing the historic name of "Red Hot
Shot Ramp," and paused opposite a gateway leading into a dirty
courtyard. The place was a kind of livery or bait stable patronised by
muleteers and gipsy dealers, who brought in horses from Spain.
Picking her steps carefully, Mrs. Wilders entered the stable-yard.
"Benito Villegas?" she asked in fluent Spanish, of the ostler, who
stared with open-mouthed surprise at this apparition of a fine lady in
such a dirty locality.
"Benito, the commission agent and guide? Yes, señora, he is with his
horses inside," replied the ostler, pointing to the stable-door.
"Call him, then!" cried Mrs. Wilders, imperiously. "Think you that I
will cross the threshold of your piggery?" and she waited, stamping
her foot impatiently whilst the man did her bidding.
In another minute he came out with Benito Villegas, the man in the
brown suit, who had spoken to Mrs. Wilders in the Commercial Square.
"Cypriana," he began at once, in a half-coaxing, half-apologetic tone.
"Silence! Answer my questions, or I will thrash you with your own
whip. How dared you intrude yourself upon me to-day?"
"Forgive me! I was so utterly amazed. I thought some bright vision had
descended from above, sent, perhaps, by the Holy Virgin"--he crossed
himself devoutly--"I could not believe it was you."
"Thanks! I am not an angel from heaven, I know, but let that pass.
Answer me! How dared you speak to me to-day?"
"The sight of you awoke old memories; once again I worshipped
you--your shadow--the ground on which you trod. I thought of how you
once returned my love."
"Miserable cur! I never stooped so low."
"You would have been mine but for that cursed Englishman who came
between us, and whom you preferred. What did you gain by listening to
him? He lured you from your home--"
"No more! The villain met with his deserts. He is dead--dead these
years--and with him all my old life. That is what brings me here.
Attend now, Benito Villegas, to what I say!"
"I am listening," he answered, cowering before her, and in a tone of
mingled fear and passion. It was evident this strange woman exercised
an extraordinary influence over him.
"Never again must you presume to recognise me--to address me,
anywhere. If you do, take care! I am a great lady now--the wife of an
English general. I have great influence, much power, and can do what I
please with such scum as you. I have been with my husband just now to
the Convent, the palace of the Governor, and I have but to ask to
obtain your immediate expulsion from the Rock. Do not anger or oppose
me, man, or beware!"
Benito looked at her with increasing awe.
"Obey my behests, on the other hand, and I will reward you. Ask any
favour! Money?"--she quickly took out a little purse and handed him a
ten-pound note--"here is an earnest of what I will give you. Interest?
Do you want the good-will of the authorities--a snug appointment in
the Custom-house, or under the police? They are yours."
"I am your slave; I will do your bidding, and ask nothing in return
but your approval."
"Nothing! You grow singularly self-denying, Señor Benito."
"The señora will really help me?" said Benito, now cringing and
obsequious. "One small favour, then. I am tired of this wandering
life. Here to-day in Cadiz; Ronda, Malaga, to-morrow. At everybody's
beck and call--never my own master, not for an hour. I want to settle
down."
"To marry?" inquired Mrs. Wilders, contemptuously. "In your own
station? That is better."
"I have not forgotten you, señora. But the wound was beginning to
heal--"
She held up her hand with a menacing gesture.
"I will not deny that I have cast my eyes upon a maiden that pleases
me," Benito confessed. "I have known her from childhood. Her friends
approve of my suit, and would accept me; but what lot can I offer a
wife?"
"Well, how is it to be mended?"
"For a small sum--five hundred dollars--I could purchase a share in
these stables."
"You shall have the money at once as a gift."
"I will promise in return never to trouble you again."
"I make no conditions; only I warn you if you ever offend, if you ever
presume--"
"I shall fully merit your displeasure."
"Enough said!" she cut him short. "You know my wishes; see that they
are fulfilled. You shall hear from me again. For the present,
good-day."
She gathered up the skirts of her dress, turned on her heel, and swept
out of the place.
In the gateway she ran up against Serjeant McKay, who had been
hovering about the stables from the moment he saw Mrs. Wilders enter
the courtyard. He had seen nothing of what passed inside, and as the
interview with Benito occupied some time he had grown uneasy. Fearing
something had happened to the general's wife, he was on the point of
going in to look after her when he met her coming out.
"You have been following me," said Mrs. Wilders, sharply, and jumping
with all a woman's quickness at the right conclusion. "Who set you to
spy on me?"
"I beg your pardon, madam; I am not a spy," said the young serjeant,
formally saluting.
"Don't bandy words with me. Tell me, I insist!"
"The general was afraid something might happen to you. He thought you
might need assistance--perhaps lose your way."
She looked at him very keenly as he said these last words, watching
whether there was any covert satire in them.
But McKay's face betrayed nothing.
"How long have you been at my heels? How much have you seen?"
"I followed you from the Convent, madam, to this door. I have seen
nothing since you went in here."
"I daresay you are wondering what brought me to such a place. A person
in whom I take a great interest, an old woman, lives here. I knew her
years ago. Psha! why should I condescend to explain? Look here, Mr.
Sergeant"--she took out her purse and produced a sovereign--"take
this, and drink my health!"
The sergeant flushed crimson, and drew himself up stiffly, as he said,
with another formal salute, "Madam, you mistake!"
"Strange!" she exclaimed, scornfully. "I thought all soldiers liked
drink. Well, keep the money; spend it as you like."
"I cannot take it, madam; I am paid by the Queen to do my duty."
"And you will not take a bribe to neglect it? Very fine, truly!
General Wilders shall know how well you executed his commands. But
there!--I have had enough of this; I wish to return to the yacht. Show
me the shortest way back to the water side. Lead on; I will follow
you."
Sergeant McKay took a short cut down the steep steps, and soon
regained the Waterport. There Mrs. Wilders hailed a native boat, and,
without condescending to notice the orderly further, she seated
herself in the stern-sheets and was rowed off to the _Arcadia_.