“Ha! Can you speak with plain meaning?” the woman asked.
“Did you believe the story of Captain Ramón?” the señorita demanded. “I did, too, at first! And then I thought differently. You are getting old, you see, and fat.”
“Wench!” the woman cried, threatening her.
“If you strike me, Barbados will punish!”
“Barbados punish me? Ha!”
“Are you so easily fooled?” the señorita asked. “It is plain to me what is to happen. Barbados means to have me for himself. There is no escape. So I may as well make the best of it. And since I am to be the woman of the pirate chief, I must be loyal to him. If things must be so, is it strange that I hope he gets much ransom and loot?”
“By the devils of Hades!” the woman swore. “If I thought this to be truth—”
“Can you not see that it is?” the señorita queried. “Captain Ramón may have dealings with Barbados, but it does not follow that Captain Ramón is to have me. That was just a little falsehood to fool you, possibly.”
“Ha! So you would take my place?” the woman cried.
The señorita recoiled as the other approached, and held up one of her hands.