"She doesn't like blood."
"Stay with me a while longer."
"I can't, Lucienne. Who knows what my father may do? With me away, he may press every advantage."
"You must turn Pedro over to the rurales."
"I know," he said.
"Don't wait."
"I've waited too long already," he said. "But Pedro's not hanging around Petaca, waiting to be turned over to the rurales. They'll have to get him."
A banging started beyond the hedge, where the gardener had resumed his clipping. Raul glanced in the direction of the noise.
"They're trying to mend a damaged spring in the victoria," she explained. "I want them to do something to it, to make it better, for your trip tomorrow. It will be a hard-enough trip for you, I'm afraid." She sat by him, smiling.
"As long as it doesn't fall apart," he said.