‘I should like to know who wrote it,’ exclaimed Conyngham, with a sudden flash of anger in his eyes. The General laughed pleasantly.
‘So should I,’ he said. ‘Merely as a matter of curiosity.’
And he turned towards the door, which was opened at this moment by a servant.
‘A gentleman wishing to see me—an Englishman, as it would appear,’ he continued, looking at the card.
‘By the way,’ said Conyngham, as the General moved away, ‘I am instructed to inform you that I am attached to your staff as extra aide-de-camp during your stay in Madrid.’
The General nodded and left Estella and Conyngham alone in the drawing-room. Conyngham turned on Estella.
‘So that I have a right to be near you,’ he said, ‘which is all that I want.’
He spoke lightly enough, as was his habit; but Estella, who was wise in those matters that women know, preferred not to meet his eyes, which were grave and deep.
‘Such things are quickly said,’ Estella retorted.
‘Yes—and it takes a long time to prove them.’