“Unsullied!” she cried. “How can that ever be now, since Rojerio Rocha has done this thing?”
“I would not dwell on that, señorita, at the present time. The night is passing, and we must hurry on to the mission, and we can make none too good time considering the señora’s horsewomanship.” She was sure there was the sound of mirth in his voice. “I ask you only to trust me for the time being, and to do one other thing—when the fighting begins at the mission, repair to the guest house with your duenna and remain there, despite any orders to the contrary. Do this, and I swear you’ll never meet death at the hands of hostiles.”
“How can you promise that, when you dare not approach the mission or presidio yourself?” she asked.
“Trust me, and ask no questions.”
“I cannot forget you are Captain Fly-by-Night. It is almost an insult to be rescued by such a man.”
She felt his hands grip her for an instant, then the pressure of them relax, and to her ears came a whisper so low that even Señora Vallejo could not hear.
“Señorita! Since first I saw you I have longed to hold you in my arms as I am doing now. Since you taunted me down by the creek I have loved you. You are mine, though you think it not. And do not now speak of insults, else will I crush your red lips with mine! What I have been, or who, or what or who I am now—still I love you as a strong man loves, with my whole heart—and for you I would gladly die if it would save you pain.”
He started the horses again, since she did not answer. Neither did she struggle to get from his arms, as he had expected she would do. For half a mile they rode in silence, carefully, making their way over the hills toward the mission, avoiding all roads and trails. And then, suddenly, two arms slipped around his neck to pull down his head, and a voice breathed into his ear:
“Prove your words, Captain Fly-by-Night. I am motherless, fatherless, and the man who was to have been my husband has cast shame upon my family. There seems just now no future for me among reputable persons. Who am I to taunt you with your past and reputation—I, daughter of a family of traitors?”
“Do not speak so, señorita!” he said.