"Lead the English señor forward carefully, and remember I have pledged
my word that he shall be returned safely to the castle of Don Carlos de
Ruiz," said Don Carlos in Spanish. "Farewell, señor," he added in
English. "You will have great stories to tell on your return to
England of your encounter with El Diablo Cojuelo and how you escaped
from him!"
Standish's face contorted in momentary passion, then with a sigh and a
gesture of utter despair he submitted himself to be led away by Mendoza
and Garcilaso. Myra, her face tense and white, took an involuntary
step forward, and instantly Don Carlos's hand closed on her arm.
"You forget, dear lady, that you are the price of his freedom, and your
place is with your husband," he said, as he drew her back into the hall
and touched a lever which released the door.
To Myra the clang of the door as it shut seemed like a death-knell.
Don Carlos took off his cowl and flung it aside, smoothed his jet-black
hair with his hands, and drew a long breath. His eyes and expression
were inscrutable as he gazed fixedly at Myra.
"Exit Mr. Antony Standish," he said slowly, after a pause. "One
chapter of your life is closed, Myra. Now another opens, the most
wonderful chapter of all, in which you will fulfil your destiny."
Myra suddenly found herself cold and trembling, and to gain time and
avoid Don Carlos's eyes she crossed the room to the radiator and held
out her shaking hands to its warmth.
"Are you frightened, Myra mine?" asked Don Carlos gently crossing to
her side. "Are you still afraid of love?"
"If this is your idea of love, I hate it!" responded Myra with sudden
passion. "You have humiliated me until I feel that I am less than the
dust. What greater humiliation could you inflict on any woman than to
prove to her that the man who professed to love her would surrender her
to a bandit? You have humiliated me as much as Tony Standish, and
perhaps you have further humiliations in store."
"If you have a sense of proportion, you should thank me instead of
reproaching me for proving Standish to be at heart a knave," Don Carlos
retorted, the hard note creeping into his voice again. "If you tell me
you still love him, and prefer him to me, I will send you back to him
at once. Can you truthfully say that you still love him and would
marry him if you were free?"