“Ah! Isabel, my child!” continued the noble, as at that moment she appeared on deck, and he bent to kiss her high forehead; “I have been burthening our friend with the tale of our family misfortunes.”
Dressed in a light muslin with a flowing skirt, her dark hair heavily braided, with the high comb, and mantilla, Dona Isabel would have looked beautiful enough; but with the left arm bound up and worn in a sling made with a crimson Andalusian scarf, and the air of fatigue and languor which late events had caused still hanging over her, Hughes thought he had never seen her look so lovely.
Nestling in between her father and her lover, Isabel passed her right hand through the arm of the old noble, who looked down fondly into her face.
The brig’s stern was now no longer pointed towards the land, for she was moving slowly along parallel with it. The click of the capstan, as the sailors stamped round with a measured step, was heard, and the vessel was slowly drawing up with the entrance to the Bay. The parrots were screaming on shore and the gulls overhead, the last rays of the evening sun tinging the tops of the fan-like leaves of the ravinala trees, just as the “Halcyon” arrived abreast of the “Onglake” river, which here discharged itself into the sea.
“It is a beautiful scene,” said Isabel, “and who could believe that it is the same quiet Bay which a few hours since rang with the demoniac yells of those horrible pirates!”
“If we have any wind it will come towards sunset, the captain says, and we shall shape our course for the Cape,” said Dom Maxara. “What leave of absence remains to you, Senhor Enrico!”
The name seemed singular to Captain Hughes; it was the first time he had heard it used; but it was, after all, decidedly prettier than plain matter-of-fact Henry.
“About eighteen months,” replied he, “which could easily be prolonged.”
“And have you any plans for the future, Enrico mio?” asked Isabel, raising her large dark eyes to his face.
If “Enrico” seemed pleasant from the mouth of the stately old noble, what was that first “Enrico mio” from those ruby lips?