The servant approached his master before he answered, and bowing, whispered in his ear: "Don Diego Pedrosa."
"He!" said the master, frowning. "Is he alone?"
"I do not think he has more than two or three soldiers with him."
"Which means," said Don Guzman, looking more and more gloomy—
"That he has another score or two concealed close at hand."
"What does the man want with me? It is hardly the hour for a visit. Don Bernardo is scarcely so intimate with me," he added, with a bitter smile, "that he would act with so little ceremony towards me without an urgent reason."
"Exactly what I did myself the honour to remark to him, your Excellency."
"And he persists?"
"Yes, Excellency. He tells me he has business of the utmost importance to communicate."
Don Guzman strode up and down with a pensive air.