We walked with stealthy tread and stood before the alcove without a sound of our approach having been noted.
The grating had been set wide open and held from swinging to by a big vase set against it. In the center of the alcove a light burned upon a low taboret, and near it squatted Mai Lo, absorbed in selecting and arranging a mass of jewels piled up before him.
So occupied was the governor with this pleasant task that he never looked up until after we had entered and stood in a silent row before him.
Then his body gave a twitch beneath his broidered robes, but his passive face showed no expression at all. Perhaps it was incapable of expression. Even the eyes had no more animation beneath their surfaces than shoe-buttons.
“So you have escaped,” he said.
“Oh, there was nothing to escape,” I answered with a smile.
“My guards surrounded you.”
“They tried to, but there were not enough of them. And they are fewer in number now than they were.”
He stared at us without reply; without altering his position. He even rubbed the ruby that was in his hand against the satin of his sleeve as if to polish it.
“Hasn’t all this nonsense gone far enough, Mai Lo?” I inquired. “Are you not getting tired of opposing us when you know we can defy your power and carry out our plans without your consent?”