The young lady remained pensive for a moment, then putting back on its rosewood perch the parrot with which she had been playing up till now, she leaped from her hammock, and seated herself a short distance from the count.
"Cousin," she said to him, "I have a service to ask of you."
"Of me? At length I shall be of some use to you."
"This service," she continued, "is not of great importance in itself."
"All the worse."
"But I fear, lest it may cause you great annoyance."
"What matter, cousin, the annoyance I may experience, if I can be of service to you."
"Cousin, I thank you, this is the affair: I must take a rather long ride today, for reasons you will soon appreciate. I cannot and will not be accompanied by any of the inhabitants of the hacienda, whether masters or servants. Still, as the roads are not, at this moment, perfectly secure, and I dare not venture to traverse them alone, I want with me, in order to protect and defend me if necessary, a peon whose presence at my side could not give rise to any malevolent suppositions. I have thought of you as my companion on this expedition. Do you consent, cousin?"
"With delight: I would merely remark that I am a stranger to this country, and might lose my way on roads I am unacquainted with."
"Do not trouble yourself about that, cousin, I am a native of the country, and have no fear about losing my way for fifty leagues round."