Mendoza bowed low, and went out again, Eudaldo closing the door behind him. He would not be at liberty until the last of the grandees had gone home, and the time he had consumed in accompanying the Princess was just what he could have spared for his supper. She gave a short sigh of relief as she heard his spurred heels and long sword on the stone pavement. He was gone, leaving Dolores in her power, and she meant to use that power to the utmost.
Eudaldo shuffled silently across the hall, to the other door, and she followed him. He drew the bolt.
"Wait here," she said quietly. "I wish to see Doña Dolores alone."
"Her ladyship is in the farther room, Excellency," said the servant, bowing and standing back.
She entered and closed the door, and Eudaldo returned to his big chair, to doze until she should come out.
She had not taken two steps in the dim room, when a shadow flitted between her and the lamp, and it was almost instantly extinguished. She uttered an exclamation of surprise and stood still. Anywhere save in Mendoza's house, she would have run back and tried to open the door as quickly as possible, in fear of her life, for she had many enemies, and was constantly on her guard. But she guessed that the shadowy figure she had seen was Dolores. She spoke, without hesitation, in a gentle voice.
"Dolores! Are you there?" she asked.
A moment later she felt a small hand on her arm.
"Who is it?" asked a whisper, which might have come from Dolores' lips for all Doña Ana could tell.
She had forgotten the existence of Inez, whom she had rarely seen, and never noticed, though she knew that Mendoza had a blind daughter.