The lady looked anxiously up the stairs, on either side, and round the whole range of the hall, to see if any one was about, but everything was still as death, and the hall seemed to have no other inmates but themselves. Apparently satisfied on this point, the lady moved forward again, and, with a light but quick step, ascended to the gallery, followed by her silent gallant.
At the summit of the stairs, a few feet from the landing, was a narrow door, which the lady opened. A flood of light poured through the aperture, and, looking in, Hildebrand discovered a well-lighted and elegant room, furnished as a sitting-chamber. The lady held the door open, and Hildebrand, perceiving that she wished him to enter first, passed in. His companion followed in his wake, and shut the door behind them.
Up to this moment, Donna Inez—for such was the name of the fair Spaniard—had spoken but once, and then only to request Hildebrand to be silent. But the effects of Hildebrand’s first approach had now worn off, and the excitement of her progress from the garden, through a part of the house which might have exposed her to unfriendly observation, and which, therefore, involved some degree of peril, had re-nerved her, and her features had lost all trace of confusion or embarrassment.
As she closed the chamber-door, she turned round, and fixed her eyes full on the face of her gallant.
“Thou art not an Andalusian,” she said, wistfully surveying his features, “nor art thou from Catalonia: wast born in Spain at all?”
“No, lady,” answered Hildebrand: “I am from the North.”
“Ah, methought thou hadst not our accent,” returned Donna Inez; “and yet, though they be foreign, thine accents are good, and become thee right well. Be the Northerns true?”
“Thou wilt find me true, lady,” replied Hildebrand.
“Thou’lt say so, I warrant,” said Donna Inez. And thrusting her hand under her mantilla, she drew forth a small dagger, and continued:—“Regard thou the temper of this steel! Consider, while thou admirest its flashing lustre, how ready it is to defend, and how prompt to revenge! Canst thou be true as this?”