Derrick could not help being struck by the fact that his favourable

reception and appointment had aroused no surprise and very little

curiosity on the part of the household; and he concluded that Donna

Elvira's rule was so despotic that her law passed unquestioned, and that

no action of hers was received with astonishment. His position was

accepted by everyone without question or remark; the man who had brought

him his coffee had evidently been told off as his body-servant, and he

served Derrick's meals in a little room adjoining the bedroom, or on the

verandah; as the young fellow showed some intelligence, Derrick took him

on as an assistant, much to the peon's delight and pride, and initiated

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him into the elementary mysteries of machinery.

Long before his examination had finished, Derrick had come to the

conclusion that it would be necessary to scrap the existing machinery

and set up new in its place; and he was anxious to consult Donna Elvira;

but though he learnt that she had sustained no injury from the accident

in the salon, she did not make her appearance until three days had

elapsed. On the evening of the third, as he was sitting on the verandah,

smoking a cigarette after an excellent dinner, and dreaming, as the

exile must dream, however flourishing his position, of the land he had

left, he saw her coming towards the verandah. He sprang to his feet,

and, bare-headed, hastened to meet her and give her his hand to ascend

the steps. She was dressed in black, and her lace mantilla, worn in

Spanish fashion, half-shrouded her face, which was paler and even more

worn than when he had first seen it.

"I hope your Excellency has quite recovered?" he said, as he led her to

a chair and set a cushion for her feet; and he performed the little act

with a courtesy which was as genuine as strange in Derrick, who, like

most men of his class, was not given to knightly attentions; but, every

time he had seen this proud and sorrowful woman, some tender chord had

been touched in his heart and given forth a note of pity and respect. "I

can't blame myself enough for not keeping an eye on that lamp. I hope

you were not burned?"

"No, it was nothing," she said in a low voice, her eyes covered by their

lids, her lips set. "It was the shock, nothing more. I came to speak to

you here because it is cooler, and I wished to see that you

were--comfortable; that is the English word, is it not?"




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