"But what could I say?"
"Some words," he answered; "I should think any words in your voice--"
"Mr. d'Alcacer!"
"Or you could perhaps look at him once or twice as though he were not
exactly a robber," he continued.
"Mr. d'Alcacer, are you afraid?"
"Extremely," he said, stooping to pick up the fan at her feet. "That is
the reason I am so anxious to conciliate. And you must not forget that
one of your queens once stepped on the cloak of perhaps such a man."
Her eyes sparkled and she dropped them suddenly.
"I am not a queen," she said, coldly.
"Unfortunately not," he admitted; "but then the other was a woman with
no charm but her crown."
At that moment Lingard, to whom Hassim had been talking earnestly,
protested aloud:
"I never saw these people before."
Immada caught hold of her brother's arm. Mr. Travers said harshly:
"Oblige me by taking these natives away."
"Never before," murmured Immada as if lost in ecstasy. D'Alcacer glanced
at Mrs. Travers and made a step forward.
"Could not the difficulty, whatever it is, be arranged, Captain?" he
said with careful politeness. "Observe that we are not only men here--"
"Let them die!" cried Immada, triumphantly.
Though Lingard alone understood the meaning of these words, all on board
felt oppressed by the uneasy silence which followed her cry.
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