He paused, looking at his watch.
‘They are in doubt,’ he said, speaking to Conyngham. ‘They are not sure that the Queen is here. We will keep them in doubt for a short time. Every minute lost by them is an inestimable gain to us. That open window will whet their curiosity, and give them something to whisper about. It is so easy to deceive a crowd.’
He sat down and began to peel a peach. Julia looked at him, wondering wherein this man’s greatness lay, and yet perceiving dimly that, against such as he, men like Esteban Larralde could do nothing.
Concha, having supped satisfactorily, was now sitting back in his chair seeking for something in the pockets of his cassock.
‘It is to be presumed,’ he said, ‘that one may smoke—even in a palace.’
And under their gaze he quietly lighted a cigarette with the deliberation of one in whom a long and solitary life had bred habits only to be broken at last by death.
Presently the General rose and went to the window again.
‘They are still doubtful,’ he said, returning, ‘and I think their numbers have decreased. We cannot allow them to disperse.’
He paused, thinking deeply.
‘My child,’ he said suddenly to Estella, ‘you must show yourself on the balcony.’