"I'm going to Palma Sola now," he said. "I'm sending men to look after Lucienne and her place. I'll have my horse saddled. Rest a while here. You needn't hurry."
With Captain Cerro dead, trouble could break out anywhere. He would choose good men for Palma Sola.
Sanity—there was not much sanity. Yet he felt saner as he rode Chico toward Palma Sola through the mist.
Sanity ... was it sanity, taking men from Petaca to guard Palma Sola? he wondered.
But it was something like sanity, seeing Lucienne sitting by her front window, at her piano. The green ocean was calm, swirling its pale color out to the horizon.
Smiling, joyous, she waited for him to dismount and come inside. She was alone.
His spurs clicked, as he came in.
"Darling," she said.
"Lucienne, I..." He kissed her lovingly.
"So sweet of you to come."