"Be it so; we listen to you."
And the partisan resumed with a wearied air the seat that he had quitted. Although he put a good face upon it, an observer would have seen that he felt annoyed. The Frenchman, put on his guard by Tyro, and who, till this time, had seen nothing in what passed that concerned himself, did not allow this circumstance to escape him, slight as it was. Feigning entire indifference, he redoubled his attention, and imposed silence on Don Pablo's secretary, who—no doubt warned by his master—had suddenly felt inclined to talk with the young man, to whom he had previously not condescended to accord the least mark of politeness.
Thus rebuffed, Señor Vallejos felt constrained to subside again into the same silence that had previously distinguished him.
The Portuguese captain, taking advantage of the permission that had been given him, advanced a few paces, and after having ceremoniously bowed to Don Pablo, he commenced in a firm tone—
"Señor Colonel," said he, "my name is Don Sebastiao Vianna; I have the honour to serve, in the capacity of captain, in the army of his Majesty the King of Portugal and the Algarves."
"I know it, caballero," drily answered Don Pablo; "come to the fact, if you please, without further delay."
"I will do so, Señor; but before acquitting myself of the message with which I am charged, I was bound first to make myself officially known to you."
"Very well; continue."
"General Don Roque, Marquis de Castelmelhor, commander in chief of the second division of the corps of occupation of the Banda Oriental, of whom I have the honour to be aide-de-camp, sends me to you, Don Pablo Pincheyra, colonel commanding a squadron in the service of his Majesty the King of Spain, to beg you to explain yourself clearly and fully on the subject of the Marchioness of Castelmelhor, his wife, and Doña Eva de Castelmelhor, his daughter, whom—according to certain reports which have reached him—you retain, against the law of nations, prisoners in your camp at Casa-Frama."
"Ah!" cried Don Pablo, with a gesture of denial, "Such a supposition attacks my honour, Señor Captain; beware!"