“What of it, Señor?”
“Only this; I have made inquiries and——”
Lysbeth looked up unable to conceal her anxiety.
“Oh! Jufvrouw, let me beg of you to learn to control your expression; the open face of childhood is so dangerous in these days.”
“He is my cousin.”
“I know; were he anything more, I should be so grieved, but we can most of us spare a cousin or two.”
“If you would cease amusing yourself, Señor——”
“And come to the point? Of course I will. Well, the result of my inquiries has been to find out that this worthy person is a heretic of the most pernicious sort. I said inquiries, but there was no need for me to make any. He has been——”
“Not denounced,” broke in Lysbeth.
“Oh! my dear lady, again that tell-tale emotion from which all sorts of things might be concluded. Yes—denounced—but fortunately to myself as a person appointed under the Edict. It will, I fear, be my duty to have him arrested this evening—you wish to sit down, allow me to hand you a chair—but I shall not deal with the case myself. Indeed, I propose to pass him over to the worthy Ruard Tapper, the Papal Inquisitor, you know—every one has heard of the unpleasant Tapper—who is to visit Leyden next week, and who, no doubt, will make short work of him.”