“I tried to come last night,” the count said, “but I found that I was too weak to venture out. I could not understand what you said when you went away so suddenly, but I guessed that it was the call of duty. I did not know your name, but inquiring this morning who were the officers that entered with the general yesterday, I was told that his aide de camp, Lieutenant Stilwell, was alone with him. That is how I found you. And now, let me again thank you for the immense service you have rendered me and my wife and child. Remember, henceforth the life of the Count de Minas and all that he possesses is at your service.”
When the interpreter had translated this, Jack said in some confusion, “I am very glad, count, to have been of service to you. It was a piece of good fortune, indeed, on my part that I happened so providentially to ride along at the right moment. I was about this morning to do myself the honor of calling to inquire how the countess and yourself were after the terrible scene of yesterday.”
“The countess prayed me to bring you round to her,” the count said. “Will you do me the honor of accompanying me now?”
Jack at once assented, and, followed by the interpreter, proceeded with the count to his house. The room into which the count led him was not that in which the fray had taken place the day before. The countess rose as they entered, and Jack saw that, though still pale and shaken by the events of the previous day, she was a singularly beautiful woman.
“Ah, senor,” she said, advancing to meet him, and taking his hand and laying it against her heart, “how can I thank you for the lives of my husband and my boy! One more minute and you would have arrived too late. It seemed to me as if heaven had opened and an angel had come to our aid when you entered.”
Jack colored up hotly as the interpreter translated the words. If he had expressed his thoughts he would have said, “Please don't make any more fuss about it;” but he found that Spanish courtesy required much more than this, so he answered:
“Countess, the moment was equally fortunate to me, and I shall ever feel grateful that I have been permitted to be of service to so beautiful a lady.”
The countess smiled as Jack's words were translated.
“I did not know that you English were flatterers,” she said. “They told us that you were uncouth islanders, but I see that they have calumniated you.”
“I hope some day,” Jack said, “that I shall be able to talk to you without the aid of an interpreter. It is very difficult to speak when every word has to be translated.”