permission to be frank with us?" [Pg 16] "You are shrewd," she answered, smiling. "He has some confidence in my judgment. I spent the years that should have been happiest in poverty and loneliness. Are you surprised that I'm a conspirator? If you value your safety, you will beware of me." "You might prove dangerous to your enemies, but I believe you'd be very staunch to your friends." "Gracias, señor. I'm sure I can at least hate well." A mulatto boy came out on to the balcony, and the girl's stout duenna, who had been sitting silent and apparently half asleep, rose and approached the table. "Don Martin is disengaged," she said to Blanca; and when the girl waited a moment Grahame imagined that something had been left for her to decide. He did not see any sign exchanged, but he thought with some amusement that he and his companion had passed a test when the duenna said to them: "Don Martin would speak with you." Walthew turned to Blanca, saying in Castilian: "Until our next meeting! I kiss your hands, señorita." The girl rose with a grave curtsy and there was a touch of stateliness in her manner. "May you go in safety, señores! We expect much from you." The mulatto led them away, and, passing through the house, they found their host and another man sitting by a dim lamp in a room with the shutters carefully closed. Don Martin Sarmiento wore an alpaca jacket, a white shirt, and a black silk sash round the[Pg 17] waist of his duck trousers. He was dark-haired and sallow, lightly built and thin, but his expression was eager and his eyes were penetrating. One could have imagined that his fiery spirit had worn down the flesh. [Pg 17] The other man was of coarser type. His skin was very dark, his face hot and fleshy, and Grahame noticed that his hands were wet with perspiration. His glance was restless and he had a rather truculent air, though there was something in it that hinted at uneasiness. Grahame thought that while he might show a rash boldness now and then, his nerve was not very good.
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