He began his speech to Cartwright as he had rehearsed it.
“Estoy indignado——”
But Cartwright cut him short with an expression of mock fear. “Horroroso! You are indignant, are you? Well, come, little man, and tell me why you are indignant.”
“Señor,” said the man solemnly, “you have put upon me a humiliation and a shame which all my life I shall regret.”
The conversation was in Spanish, but Maxell was an excellent Spanish scholar.
“What’s the trouble?” he asked, before Jose, still labouring under the sense of his wrongs, could get going again.
“Listen to him and discover,” mocked Cartwright. “I have taken from his incomparable company its joy and its gem.”
“In other words, the amiable Miss O’Grady,” said Maxell.
“Yes, yes, señor,” broke in Jose. “For me it is ruin! The money I have spent to make my company perfect! It is financed by one who is the greatest man in Tangier and it is his son who tells me that, unless I bring back this lady—for me there is the street and the gutter,” he wept.
Maxell looked slyly at his companion.