CHAPTER VII.
THE MARQUIS DE CASTELMELHOR.
The man whom the marquis had called immediately after his interviewwith the mameluco, and whom he had at once ordered to enter his tent,was short and thick, but well made and strong, and about forty years ofage.
An Indian of a pure race, he bore on his countenance, which neithertattoo nor paint disfigured, the distinctive traits, although a littleeffaced, of the Mogul race. His black eyes, lively and full, hisstraight nose, his large mouth, his rather high cheekbones, formed aphysiognomy which, without being handsome, was not wanting in a certainsympathetic charm. As we have said, he commanded some soldados daconquista attached to the caravan.
The captain, for such is the title that he bore, respectfully salutedthe marquis, and waited till it might please him to speak to him.
"Sit down, Diogo," said the marquis, kindly; "we must have a long talktogether."
The Indian bowed, and seated himself.
"You saw the man who went out of this tent a minute ago, did you not?"resumed the marquis.
"Yes, your Excellency," answered the captain.
"And without doubt you recognised him."
The Indian smiled, without otherwise answering.
"Good; what do you think of him?"
"Of whom, your Excellency?" said he.
"Of the man of whom I am speaking."
"Why, your Excellency, I think of him what you yourself think,probably."
"I ask your opinion, Senor Don Diogo, in order to judge if it tallieswith mine."
"Eh, eh," said the Indian, shaking his head.
"Which is--"
"That this man is a traitor, my lord."
"So you also believe in treason on his part?"
"Well, my lord, to speak frankly, for 'tis a frank explanation you askof me is it not?"
"Certainly."
"Well, I am convinced that this accursed mameluco is quietly leading usto some trap that he has artfully prepared."
"That is very serious, you know," answered the marquis, in a reflectivetone.
"Very serious indeed, your lordship. Malco is a sertanejos, and in thelanguage of the desert, Sertao is the synonym of treason."
"Well, I avow to you the suspicions you utter do not astonish me."
"I am happy, my lord, to see you share my opinion."
"What! You have no suspicions?" cried the marquis.
"No, I am certain."
"Certain! And you have told me nothing of it up to the present time?"
"I am morally certain, but it would be impossible to prove what Iadvance at the present time."
The marquis allowed his head to fall on his breast, and remained silentfor some moments.
"But," pursued he, "this moral certainty is founded on certainindications?"
"Oh, indications do not fail, my lord. Unhappily, these circumstanceswould appear very frivolous, if I revealed them to persons who were notforewarned; that is why I have abstained from saying anything to youbefore you asked me."
"Perhaps you are right, but now the situation is changed; it is I who,of my own accord, have asked this interview with you. The situation inwhich we are is critical; it may become more so."
"Come what may, I know I am doing my duty, and that is sufficient forme, even if Malco should come to affirm to your lordship that I havenot spoken the truth about him."
"You have nothing to fear about senor Malco."
"Violent and wicked as he is, your lordship," answered the captain,with some animation, "I do not fear him, and he knows that well. Thisis not the first time we have fallen out."
"I did attach to my words the meaning you give to them; you havenothing to fear from Diaz, for the simple reason that he is no longerin my service."
"What! Your lordship," cried the Indian, with astonishment, "you havedismissed him?"
"No, it is he himself, of his own accord, who has left us to ourselves."
"Your Excellency was wrong to allow him to leave; when people have intheir power a rascal of that stamp, they should not let him go."
"What could I do? His engagement was up, and he refused to renew it, oreven to prolong it for some days; so I was obliged to consent to hisdeparture."
"That is right, your Excellency; pardon me. This man was free, so youcould not retain him; but, under similar circumstances, I should nothave acted so, especially after my suspicions."
"I know well that is wrong; unhappily, I had no pretext to give him, noplausible reason to keep him."
"Yes, yes, all that is true; but believe me, my lord, if Malco has soabruptly left us, it is because he had strong reasons for doing so, andthat he has near here some accomplices, in conjunction with whom he ispreparing our ruin."
"I think with you, Don Diogo; but who are these accomplices? Where arethey hidden?"
The captain smiled with cunning.
"Only birds and fishes do not leave traces of their path," said he;"skilful as a man may be, we can always discover his track."
"So you would give much to know where this man has gone to?"
"Certainly, my lord; notwithstanding the precautions by which he hassurrounded his flight, and the care which he has taken to hide histracks."
"Unhappily, before undertaking anything, we must wait for sunrise."
"Why should we wait till tomorrow, my lord? I ask your pardon fordaring to interrogate you."
"Why, it appears to me that to discover a track, even if it were everso plainly indicated, the first condition is to see clearly."
"That is of little importance, my lord," answered the captain; "for aman accustomed as I am to track the desert at all hours, darkness doesnot exist."
"So," cried the marquis, with a movement of satisfaction, "if I orderedyou to mount horse--"
"I would mount immediately, my lord."
"And you would bring me news?"
"No doubt of it; am I not an Indian myself, my lord--a civilisedIndian, it is true; but, nevertheless, I have preserved sufficient ofthe sagacity of the race to which I belong to fear no failure in a stepwhich may appear to you very difficult."
"Since it is to be so, Don Diogo, put yourself in the saddle as soonas possible, and go, for heaven's sake. I await your return with mosteager impatience."
"Before the rising of the sun I will return, and with good news; but Iwant you to allow me to conduct the affair in my own way."
"Act as you please, Captain; I trust to your sagacity."
"I shall not deceive your expectation, my lord," answered the captain,rising.
The marquis accompanied him as far as the curtain of the tent, andthen returned to sit down; but, after some minutes of reflection, heabruptly rose, went out, and walked rapidly towards the mysterious tentof which we have already had occasion to speak.
This tent, much larger, than that erected for the marquis, was dividedinto several compartments by canvas sheets, ingeniously adapted, andrather resembled, for luxury and comfort, a habitation intended to lastseveral months, than a camp merely constructed for a few hours.
The compartment which the marquis entered was furnished with sofas; acarpet was spread on the ground, and a silver lamp, curiously chased,placed on a piece of furniture, diffused a gentle and mellow light.
A young Negress of about twenty, of sprightly countenance and prettyfigure, was occupied, on the entry of the marquis, in playing with amagnificent ara perched on a slip of rosewood, to which he was attachedby a gold chain fastened to one of his legs.
The Negress, without leaving off the occupation in which she seemedto take delight, and making the bird utter discordant cries, leantcarelessly towards the marquis, half turning in his direction witha movement full of arch insolence, and gave him a roguish look frombeneath her long eyelashes, and waited till he should address her.
The marquis, without appearing to observe the hostile attitude assumedby the slave, took some steps towards her, and, touching her lightlywith his finger--
"Phoebe," said he to her in Spani
sh, "will you please to take noticethat I am here?"
"What is your presence to me, Senor marquis?" answered she, slightlyshrugging her shoulder.
"To you, nothing; it is true, Phoebe, as it is not for you that I havecome, but for your mistress."
"At this hour?"
"Why not?"
"Because dona Laura--fatigued, as it appears, by the long journey thatshe has been obliged to make today--has retired, ordering me not toallow anyone to come near her."
A feverish flush suffused the countenance of the marquis; he knittedhis eyebrows so as to make them meet; but considering, no doubt, theridiculousness of a scene with a slave who was only acting according toorders, he soon mastered himself.
"Well," said he, intentionally slightly raising his voice, "yourmistress is free in her own house to act in her own way; only, thisinterview, which for some days she has refused me with such obstinacy,I shall know how to compel her to accord to me."
Scarcely had he pronounced these words, when a curtain was drawn aside,and dona Laura entered the room.
"You threaten me, I think, Don Roque de Castelmelhor," said she, in asharp and loud voice. "Retire, Phoebe," added she; "but only go so faras you may be able to come to me immediately."
Phoebe bowed her head, cast a last look at the marquis, and left theroom.
"Now, Senor caballero," pursued dona Laura, "since the slave hasretired, speak; I will listen to you."
The marquis bowed respectfully to her--
"Not, Senorita, before you have deigned to take a seat."
"What good will that do? But," she added, "if that mark ofcondescension will abridge this interview, it would ill become me notto obey you."
The marquis bit his lip, but did not answer.
Dona Laura seated herself on the sofa farthest removed, and crossingher arms on her chest with a wearied air, while she fixed on herinterlocutor a haughty look--
"Speak now, I beg you," said she. "Phoebe has not lied to you; I amextremely fatigued."
These words were hissed, if we may employ the happy expression of anold author, from the most sharpened beak than can be imagined, and donaLaura leant her head on a cushion, feigning a slight gape.
But the resolution of the marquis had been taken, not to see orunderstand anything.
Dona Laura was sixteen years of age; all grace and delicacy. Hercharmingly developed figure had that sprightliness which Spanish womenalone possess. Her bearing was marked by that careless and voluptuouslanguor, the secret of which the Hispano-Americans have obtained fromthe Andalusians. Her long deep chestnut hair fell in silky ringlets onbrilliantly white shoulders; her blue and dreamy eyes seemed to reflectthe azure of the sky, and were crowned by black eyebrows, the delicateoutline of which was traced as with a pencil. Her finely chisellednose, and her charming little mouth, which, in half opening, discovereda double row of pearly teeth, completed a beauty rendered more gentleand noble by the delicacy and transparency of her skin.
Dressed in gauze and muslin, like all Creoles, the young girl wasravishing, seated on a sofa like the beija flor in the chalice of aflower, especially at that moment when anger, suppressed and masteredwith difficulty, caused her virgin bosom to palpitate, and covered hercheeks with a crimson flush, dona Laura had something seductive, andat the same time majestic about her, which imposed respect, and almostcommanded veneration.
Don Roque de Castelmelhor, notwithstanding the decision, and the formalintention he had manifested, could not resist the powerful charm of abeauty so noble and pure. His look fell before that of the young girl,which was filled with hatred and almost with contempt.
"We have reached, Senorita," he said, "after great fatigues, the limitof the civilised countries of Brazil; for, if I do not deceive myself,the route it is now necessary to follow is hidden in deserts intowhich, before us, a few hardy explorers only had dared to venture. Ithink, then, that the time has come to exchange explanations frankly."
Dona Laura smiled with disdain, and, interrupting him with a gesture:
"As that situation, caballero," said she, with bitterness, "cannotbe rendered clearer and more decided, I will spare you, if you wishit, the embarrassment of entering into certain details... Oh, do notinterrupt me," said she, with vivacity, "here is the fact in a fewwords: my father, don Zeno Alvarez de Cabral, a descendant of one ofthe most illustrious conquerors of this country, a refugee in theenvirons of Buenos Aires, from reasons of which I am ignorant, butwhich doubtless little concern you, rendered hospitality to a losttraveller, who, in the middle of the night, during a frightful storm,presented himself at the door of his hacienda. That traveller wasyou, Senor, you, a descendant of a race not less illustrious thanours, since one of your ancestors was governor of Brazil. The name ofthe marquis, don Roque de Castelmelhor, offered to my father all theguarantees of honour and good faith he could desire; you were received,then, by the exile, not as a foreigner, not even as a compatriot, butas a friend and a brother. Our family became yours; all that is true,is it not?"
"All that is true, Senorita," answered the marquis.
"I see, with pleasure, that you have, in default of other qualities,frankness, Senor," ironically replied the girl. "Robbed of all itsproperty, my family, exiled for nearly a century from the countrydiscovered by one of its ancestors, could live but with difficulty. Youpresented yourself to my father as a victim of the political intriguesof people into whose hands the king of Portugal had delegated hispowers; this reason was sufficient for our house to become yours, andfor my father not keeping secrets from you. There was one, however,of which, notwithstanding all your skill, it was impossible for youto obtain the revelation; it is on the discovery of that secret thatdepended the future fortune of his family, if, as my father hoped,the king should permit him someday to return to Brazil. This secret,which my father, my brother, and myself alone knew, by what means yousucceeded, if not in wholly discovering it, at least in penetrating itsufficiently that your covetousness and your avarice should be arousedto the point of making you betray your benefactors--that is what Ishall not seek to explain. In a word, although you had, during severalmonths, lived intimately with us, without appearing to honour me withthe least attention--treating me rather as a child than as a younggirl, suddenly you changed. You see that I also am frank."
"Go on, Senorita," answered the marquis, smiling, "I know your candour.It remains for me to learn whether you possess as much perspicacity."
"You shall not be long judging of that, Senor," replied she,ironically. "Perhaps your cares and devotion would have obtained theresult you hoped for, and I might have been brought, if not to loveyou, at least to be interested in you; but, happily for me, I was notlong in seeing clearly into your heart. Carried away by insatiableavarice, you allowed yourself on several occasions in my presence, tospeak to me of everything but your pretended love."
"Oh, Senorita," exclaimed the marquis.
"Yes," answered she, with bitter raillery; "I know you are a consummateactor, and that it would not be my fault were I even now to believe inthat passion of which you make so great a display."
The young girl paused for some moments, to allow the marquis theopportunity of answering, but, instead of doing so, he bit his lips andbowed his head.
Dona Laura smiled.
"The brutal way in which you have traitorously carried me off is themost decided proof to me of the odious scheme of which I have been thevictim. If you really loved me, nothing was easier to you than to askmy hand of my father."
"Senorita, did you not answer to the demand I had the honour to addressto you by a refusal?" asked the marquis.
"Certainly; but I am only a young girl," answered she, with animation,"a child, as you yourself have said, who does not know herself. Thatoffer of marriage ought not then in any way, and especially with regardto the rules of society to have been addressed to me, but to my father.But no! You had another design: that marriage was but a pretext for youto seize on the immense riches you covet. At this moment you would notd
are to maintain the contrary."
"Who knows?" murmured he, with an air of raillery.
"So you have preferred to cause me to fall into a snare, to carry meaway from my family, whom my disappearance has plunged into the mostprofound despair, and to force me to follow you--I, a poor defencelesschild, a prisoner in the midst of bandits, of whom you are the chief."
"Since, according to your own expression, Senorita, I have so brutallycarried you away from your family, have I conducted myself towards youotherwise than as a gentleman of my name and race ought?"
"It is true," answered she, bursting into a fit of laughter; "I mustadmit that. But what is the cause of these attentions and this respect?"
"Love most sincere and most--"
"Enough of lies, Senor;" she cried, "your first word on entering underthis tent betrayed you."
"Senorita!"
"You believe yourself to have arrived in the latitude of the diamondcountry discovered by one of my ancestors, and you wish at last totry and obtain from me--for avarice blinds you--the revelation of thesecret you believe I possess!"
The Guide of the Desert Page 7