Katie showed no horror at all, no excitement whatever, and Lopez was proportionally amazed. He had not expected this.
"I can"t tell," said he; "the court-martial will deal with him. I dare say he is a spy, and I fully expect that he will be shot."
"Well," said Katie, "I dare say he must be. You seem to hate him so, and you say he has insulted you, so you will take this way of being revenged.
All the same, I shouldn"t like to deal that way with my enemy. Poor Mr.
Ashby! It"s very, very sad! Oh, what would "His Majesty" think if he were to hear this!"
Once more Lopez was struck dumb. He had counted with certainty upon producing a strong effect on Katie. By holding Ashby"s doom over her head, he hoped to influence her. But this tremendous blow had fallen, and had evidently not been felt. For Ashby and for his fate Katie had nothing but the most commonplace expressions of pity--no horror, no grief, no despair, nothing of the sort.
In fact, so completely overcome was Lopez by this unexpected result of his interview with Katie that he left abruptly.
He was full of wonder. "Is it possible," he thought, "that this is her English stubbornness? Can she have so much of that infernal English stolidity as to be able to conceal so perfectly her deepest feelings?
Impossible! Does she love Ashby? She cannot! Does she love anybody? No!
Can she love? I don"t believe it! What a girl! what a girl! And she seems so gentle, so timid, but in reality she"s as bold as a lion, and as fierce as a she-tiger. By heavens! she shall be mine, if she"s the Evil One himself.
"And that poor fool Ashby thinks she loves him! Bah! she cares no more for him than she does for me. The idiot! This is a sweeter vengeance for me than anything else. And, by heavens! he shall still be present at our marriage. For married we shall be in spite of fate, even if I have to gain her consent with the muzzle of my pistol against her brow."
CHAPTER XLV.
IN WHICH HARRY ASKS A FAVOR, AND LOPEZ BEGINS TO SEE A LITTLE LIGHT.
While Lopez was thus chafing and fuming he was accosted by Harry.
Harry"s position was peculiar, and not particularly enviable. He had been informed that he was a free man, and master of his own actions. Lopez had nothing against him, and by this time had forgotten even his existence.
After his deliverance, Harry had gone mooning about, stared at by all in the castle, until at length he had fallen asleep.
In the morning he made a great discovery. This was the fact that his freedom to go was useless, and that he was still a prisoner here--a prisoner, though a voluntary one--a prisoner bound to this place by bonds stronger than iron manacles or walls of stone. These bonds were the feelings which had started up within him before he was aware, and now held him fast tied to Katie. He awoke to feel that his present freedom was far less sweet than his late captivity--that delightful captivity with its stolen interviews, and the sweet thoughts of her who was so near.
And where was she now? He had seen nothing of her. Had she fled? But how, and why, and where would she have fled from him? Had she been captured?
But why? Who would capture her? Yet where was she? These were the questions that came thronging upon him to vex his soul and destroy his peace; so that it was for the purpose of finding out something definite about her that he had sought out Lopez.
He looked pale and agitated. Lopez, preoccupied though he was, could not help noticing this, and he thought that Harry must be suffering from anxiety about his friend Ashby. This, however, he immediately found, from Harry"s first question, to be a great mistake.
Harry was far from suspecting the state of mind in which Lopez was--how full of love and jealousy and suspicion; how at that very moment he was eager to penetrate into the secret of Katie"s heart. In fact, Harry suspected nothing at all, and so was not at all on his guard, but blurted out all his feelings.
"Captain Lopez," he began, "did you see a young English lady here last night--a Miss Westlotorn?"
"Yes," said Lopez.
"Did you? Is she--Did--Is--is--is she in--in the castle?" stammered Harry, in distress and deep agitation.
There was not one expression on Harry"s face nor one tremor in his faltering voice that was not instantly marked by Lopez. There seemed in this to be some clue to the mystery.
"She is in the castle," said Lopez.
"Where--when--where?" said Harry, excitedly. "I"ve been looking for her everywhere. I"ve gone over the whole castle. I hope she isn"t hurt! Is she safe? Did she fall into the hands of the soldiers?"
"She fell into my hands," said Lopez, bluntly.
Harry fastened on him a look of devouring anxiety.
"Did you--Is she--What did--When--that is--is she safe?"
"She is safe," said Lopez.
Harry drew a long breath.
"You see," said he, with a little more composure, "I have felt anxious about her. I have been worried, you know, and I have felt anxious about her--in fact, you know, I have felt anxious about her."
"She is kept out of the way just now," said Lopez, "on account of the riot in the castle and the dread we have of an attack. I don"t care about letting the men know she is here."
Harry drew a breath of relief.
"I"m glad," he said.
Another sigh followed. Then he looked wistfully at Lopez.
"Would it be too much to ask--if I were to ask--if you would present me--to--to pay my respects to her, as an old friend?"
"Impossible, senor," said Lopez. "She is with the women; you couldn"t visit her. You will be able to pay your respects to her after she reaches Vittoria, or some other place of safety. Until then it is impossible. As for yourself, I hope you are comfortable; and whenever you wish to go you may go."
Harry sighed, and stood as one in a dream.
"I think," said he, "I shall not go--just yet. Perhaps I may wait till the rest are going."
"Good-morning, senor," said Lopez, walking away.
Harry stood rooted to the spot.
As Lopez walked off, he felt that he had got hold of something which might be used against Katie. "Another"--he said to himself--"another poor fool who has become infatuated, like myself, but now the power is mine, and I will use it. Yes; perhaps she herself may feel toward this man something of what I feel toward her. If so--if so--I"ll drag the secret out of her. But, by heaven! that poor fool is standing there yet. There"s a mad lover for you! Ha, ha! Is he any worse than I have been? Let me see. Suppose I had been taken prisoner as he has been, shut up with her in a castle, then freed; would I not long to see her? Would not liberty be useless without her? That man can"t leave his prison-house. She is here--she is here; that"s enough. Yet what is she to him? Is not this man Ashby"s friend? I saw them meet at the hotel in Burgos as I watched Ashby. They greeted like brothers, and went off together for the night.
And _he_--why, he has fallen in love with his friend"s betrothed! his friend"s--ha, ha!--betrothed--ha, ha!--and, by Jove! why not? That girl could make a saint fall in love with her. That girl--why she oughtn"t to be allowed to go at large, and therefore I"ve shut her up; and shut up she shall be for the remainder of her days, like a good Spanish wife. But I must have a few more words with my moon-struck lover."
With these thoughts Lopez sauntered back to where Harry was standing, fixed upon the spot where he had left him.
"Pardon, senor," said he, "but it seems to me that you take a deep interest in the senorita. May ask if she is a relative? In that case some allowance might be made: she might not object to see a relative."
"Oh," said Harry, eagerly, his whole face gleaming with joy, "she will never object to see _me_. Ask her; ask her. She will be delighted to see _me_."
At this there were two distinct feelings struggling for the mastery in the breast of the Spaniard; one was exultation at the ready way in which Harry had fallen into his trap; the other was one of jealousy at Harry"s easy confidence. He had never felt such confidence at finding a welcome reception from Katie. However, he was now on the right track, and he determined to follow it up.
"Are you a relative of the lady"s?" he asked.
"Well, no--not exactly a relative," said Harry.