‘Were you hurt?’ she asked sharply.
‘Not this time, señorita.’
Then she turned with a sudden laugh towards her father. ‘Did I play my part well?’ she asked.
‘Yes, my child.’ And even he was grave.
‘Unless I am mistaken,’ he continued, glancing at the shuttered windows, ‘we have only begun our task.’ He was reading, as he spoke, some despatches which a servant had handed to him.
‘There is one advantage in a soldier’s life,’ he said, smiling at Conyngham, ‘which is not, I think, sufficiently recognised—namely, that one’s duty is so often clearly defined. At the present moment it is a question of keeping up the deception we have practised upon these good people of Toledo sufficiently long to enable the Queen Regent to reach Madrid. In order to make certain of this we must lead the people to understand that the Queen is in this house until, at least, daylight. Given so much advantage, I think that her Majesty can reach the capital an hour before any messenger from Toledo. Two horsemen quitted the Bridge of Alcantara as we crossed it, riding towards Madrid; but they will not reach the capital—I have seen to that.’
He paused and walked to one of the long windows, which he opened. The outer shutters remained closed, and he did not unbar them, but stood listening.
‘All is still as yet,’ he said, returning to the table, where Father Concha was philosophically cutting up a cold chicken. ‘That is a good idea of yours,’ he said. ‘We may all require our full forces of mind and body before the dawn.’
He drew forward a chair, and Estella, obeying his gesture, sat down and so far controlled her feelings as to eat a little.
‘Do queens always feed on old birds such as this?’ asked Concha discontentedly; and Vincente, spreading out his napkin, laughed with gay good humour.