They could do nothing except obey. The soldiers looked to the sergeant for instructions, and the sergeant was afraid to risk the señorita's death, knowing it would call down upon his head the wrath of the governor, who would say that he had bungled.
Perhaps, after all, it would be better to let the girl leave the house. She might be captured afterward, for surely a girl could not escape the troopers.
She watched them closely as she darted across the room to the door. The knife was still held at her breast.
"Fray Felipe, you wish to go with me?" she asked. "You may be punished if you remain."
"Yet I must remain, señorita. I could not run away. May the saints protect you!"
She faced Gonzales and the soldiers once more.
"I am going through this door," she said. "You will remain in this room. There are troopers outside, of course, and they will try to stop me. I shall tell them that I have your permission to leave. If they call and ask you, you are to say that it is so."
"And if I do not?"
"Then I use the knife, señor!"
She opened the door, turned her head for an instant and glanced out.