"Well?" he asked.
"Well, my Lord," Jane replied, "the lady not only consents, but desires to see you at once."
"Indeed! everything goes as well as possible," said Lord Wentworth to himself.
"But she has kept old Mary with her," added Jane, "and told me to come right back again."
"Very well, Jane, go. She must be obeyed in everything, you understand. Go, and say that I am but a moment behind you."
Jane went out; and Lord Wentworth, with his heart beating like a lover of twenty, began to mount the stairs which led to Diane de Castro's apartments.
"Oh, what bliss!" he said. "I love her! And she whom I love, a king's daughter too, is in my power!"
CHAPTER XXXVIII
THE AMOROUS JAILER
Diane de Castro received Lord Wentworth with the calm and modest dignity which lent an irresistible potency and charm to her angelic expression and her lovely features. Beneath her apparent calmness there was, however, much anguish of mind; and the poor girl trembled inwardly as she acknowledged the governor's salutation, and with a queenly gesture motioned him to take his seat on a couch a few paces away from her.