XLI
The Fifth Bull; and After
Hundreds—thousands, it seemed—of automobiles and carriages were before us; and as the Gloria was stopped by the stopping of others in front, a shout rang up to the sky, from behind the high brown walls of the bull-ring. It was the welcome which the public gave their King and his bride as they appeared in the royal box.
We were too late to intercept Carmona; for as the royalties had taken their places, he was certain to be already in his, with his fiancée by his side.
Covered with dust, burnt by the sun which had shone hotly since Manzanares, all but spent with fatigue, I leaned back in my seat. For a moment I did not hear what Dick was saying, although I was conscious that he spoke; but suddenly the meaning of his words broke in on my tired brain.
“It'll be two hours before the King and Queen leave their box and lesser folks can move,” he said. “I'm not going to have you sitting here in the heat and dust.”
“I must wait till they come out,” I answered dully. “It's the only way.”
“No, it isn't. I told you Pilar'd sent me a ticket. The card says ‘sombra,’ so the seat's in the shade all right, and you're going to have it.”
“But you?” I said. “Pilar would never forgive me—”