"I will go," she answered promptly. "I depend on you. You have given me some hope, if not much. If I fail with Sebastian"—and she closed her eyes and sighed in the agony of the thought—"I will let you know at once."
"And I will do nothing without first sending word to you," I promised in reply.
We parted then, and when she left the room I found Mayhew waiting for me in the corridor.
CHAPTER XXXI
AT THE PALACE
"Your lady visitors call early, Ferdinand," said Mayhew, rather drily.
"Yes, rather embarrassing, isn't it? But what news have you for me? What happened yesterday?"
"More than enough to prove that you are a person of considerable importance, I can tell you. When I got your message by that exceedingly sharp lad, Juan, that you were arrested, I went straight to the chief, and within an hour a protest was in the hands of the Spanish Government, couched in terms calculated to make them sit up, I promise you, and very soon the whole machinery was at work to get you out. They denied all knowledge of you, however; but I expect a good deal would have happened to-day if you hadn't been set at liberty. I told the chief this morning, however, that you were here, and he wants to see you. And that's about all—unless you want the details."
"Did you send any word to the Palace?"
"No, I kept that in reserve for to-day as a broadside, and, of course, I said nothing to anyone about the papers you left with me."