He looked at me steadily for a few seconds.
"Do you know, Señor Trevelyan," he said at last, "I have come to the conclusion that I like you. I did not do so at first, but my opinion of you has changed."
"I am very glad to hear you say so," I replied; "but I confess I can scarcely see why you should have changed your mind regarding myself. If there is one man in the world whom I despise, it is myself."
"And I fancy I can understand why," he continued, still with the same grave look upon his face. "You must not, however, think badly of yourself, for I can assure you, you have managed this business remarkably well. The plot was excellently arranged. There is one thing, however, that puzzles me; that is, how Hermaños managed to overcome the Guards at the cartel? I quite imagined that the men were to be relied on."
"I cannot give you any information on that point," I replied, knowing that it was useless to endeavour to conceal the fact that Hermaños was present on that occasion. "I had no knowledge of the affair until the door was opened and I discovered that I was free."
"Some day I shall hope to be even with our friend Hermaños," Fernandez replied, more to himself than to me. "I have always had my suspicions about the man, but I never dreamt that he would rise to such a height as he has done in this affair. I deemed him a coward throughout."
"And a coward he is," I answered. "He is scheming now to save his own neck."
"The most dangerous conspirator you can have to deal with," Fernandez remarked. "Such a man lacks the saving grace of Ambition. He who risks his life for fame and fortune must have something good in him, but the individual who embarks upon a conspiracy, and who would throw over and denounce his friends on finding that his own participation in the plot is about to be discovered, is neither fish, flesh, nor fowl. There was a time when I could have had Hermaños for the holding up of a finger, but I wanted men of firmer metal, men like yourself, for instance."
"You pay me a great compliment," I answered. "Unfortunately, however, we met too late in the day. My services were already bespoken."
At that moment a steward approached him with a cup of chocolate and a roll.