"Good," said the Prince; "then tell me why you have come. Are you the ambassador of the Sultana?"
"I have the honour to bear a note from her," and he withdrew it from the sash of his robe, "which will explain the object of my intrusion upon your Highness. Will you be pleased to read it?"
The Prince took the envelope. After having examined the seal, he carefully opened it and read the contents.
"This only states that thou art a Bishop of the Christian Church at Goa; and, as such, thou art welcome. Wilt thou proceed to tell thy business? Is it secret or political?"
"Neither, my Prince," was the reply; "but personal only as regards the effects of one Dom Diego di Fonseca, who was a priest of the Christian Church, and who died of wounds received in the assault yesterday."
"Dead!" cried those present. "Dead! and thou knowest this of a certainty?"
"I dressed his wounds during the night, my lords; but it was hopeless; and I buried him this morning before the sun rose.
"He was a gallant soldier, if a Nazarene priest," said one of the elder officers. "Peace be with his memory, and the peace of God rest upon him."
"Ameen!" murmured the others. "With a hundred like him we had won the fort."
"And thy business, Señor Padré?" asked the Prince.