'Damn them to Hell!' Scarface muttered. 'The one time they don't make use of the glass room is the one time that I might have had a clear shot at the lot of them! It's no good- here put the gun away! These Castellans have the luck of the Devil!'
'You said you wouldn't kill the girl,' Slaverer whined. 'You said! The old man himself promised!'
'I have no intention of killing the girl,' Scarface muttered, his thoughts elsewhere. 'Well, she is bound to go riding one of these days. Then you will have her, and we can get away from this devil's maze of an island.' He ran his fingers through his hair and took a deep sighing breath. 'The old man will not be pleased if we have not succeeded before his arrival. He has been plagued by bad dreams- premonitions. They drive him on to the brink of madness, and he becomes more dangerous by the day, to all of us. Who would have thought that so much would ride on the fate of a small slip of a girl!'
'What has she to do with any of this?' Slaverer asked him.
Scarface grimaced and shook his head. 'She has somehow managed to shake the confidence of a giant! And when a giant loses his confidence, it is like ripples caused by a single small stone cast into a still lake. What follows is the unthinkable: when the giants lose their confidence, then the world itself trembles!'
'You speak in riddles,' Slaverer complained. 'What are these giants you speak of, and what do they have to do with anything? A single old man is angry with his daughter for disobeying his wishes! What, do his friends fear that their own daughters will suddenly do the same?'
Scarface shook his head in irritation. 'You have such a small vision of the world you live in- so small and so utterly blind! However . . .' he sighed and began to lead the way back to their concealed horses. 'That also keeps you safe; safe and invisible! And for that I almost envy you.'
The dark night closed in on the two departing figures, while inside the Casa there was laughter and merriment until long past bedtime. At last, the lights of the Casa went out, one by one, until the chateau at the head of the lake was wreathed in silence and starlight.