Hiring a boat, he went on board. He determined to maintain his character as a Spaniard to the last, as he would thereby avoid all questions; and it was, accordingly, in that language that he arranged for a passage for himself and his wife, the captain taking him for a Spanish gentleman having business with the Court in London.
Having settled this, Roger returned on board and, late in the evening, was rowed with Amenche to the English ship, which was to sail early the next morning. The wind was favorable, and the ship made a quick passage. The captain and sailors amused Roger by their comments on his appearance. Never, they agreed, had they seen a Spaniard of such size and strength before.
"He stands six feet three, if he is an inch," an old sailor said, "and he is as broad as any man I ever saw. He is never a bit like a Spaniard in appearance, with his blue eyes and light brown hair. If you were to put him in good English broadcloth, and teach him to talk like a Christian, no one would dream he was other than an Englishman. The Spaniards generally have solemn faces, but this chap looks as if he could laugh and joke with the best of us. One could almost swear that he understood what I am saying, now."
Roger was several times tempted to say that he did understand, but he kept his counsel.
As soon as they landed, near London Bridge, they went to an inn; and when the sailors who had carried his trunk for him had left, he addressed the landlord in English.
"Can you direct me to a clothier, where I can obtain suitable clothes?" he said. "I have been staying in Spain and, having been wrecked and lost all my outfit, had to rig myself in Spanish fashion. I also wish to purchase clothing of English fashion for my wife."
"I thought you were an Englishman, by your looks," the landlord said; "though the fashion of your clothes was altogether foreign, and you speak, too, with a strange accent."
For indeed, Roger found the English words come with difficulty; after having, for nearly six years, spoken nothing but Mexican and Spanish.
"I have been some time away," he said; "and have been talking with the Spaniards until I have well-nigh forgotten my own tongue."
Two hours later, he was attired in the fashion of a well-to-do merchant; and Amenche made, as he told her, the prettiest wife merchant ever had. They stayed for a week in London, Amenche being greatly amused and interested in all she saw. At the end of that time, having purchased a stout horse, and a sword to defend himself against any robbers he might meet with on the way, Roger started to ride down to Plymouth, with Amenche behind him on a pillion.