"Is Madame d'Aranjuez coming back next winter?" asked the young man.
"Madame d'Aranjuez will probably come back, since she is free to consult her own tastes," answered Spicca gravely.
"I hope she may be out of danger by that time," said Orsino quietly. He had resolved upon a bolder attack than he had hitherto made.
"What danger is she in now?" asked Spicca quietly.
"Surely, you must know."
"I do not understand you. Please speak plainly if you are in earnest."
"Before she went away I called once more. When I was coming away her maid met me in the corridor of the hotel and told me that Madame d'Aranjuez was not quite sane, and that she, the maid, was in reality her keeper, or nurse—or whatever you please to call her."
Spicca laughed harshly. No one could remember to have heard him laugh many times.
"Oh—she said that, did she?" He seemed very much amused. "Yes," he added presently, "I think Madame d'Aranjuez will be quite out of danger before Christmas."
Orsino was more puzzled than ever. He was almost sure that Spicca did not look upon the maid's assertion as serious, and in that case, if his interest in Maria Consuelo was friendly, it was incredible that he should seem amused at what was at least a very dangerous piece of spite on the part of a trusted servant.