“Señorita, I have read your secret, for that man was the Mexican officer I saved with you from those men that day nearly two months ago.”
“You recognize him, then?”
“Yes, and as a vile cutthroat who joined our army, robbed the paymaster, deserted, and became a fugitive and an outlaw, at last, as we believed, being killed, but, instead, coming here. Did you not know him as all that was bad?”
“Señor, I was deceived by him, for I believed him an officer of the Mexican army. I was left this place, and he urged me to marry him secretly, and I did so, then coming here to live, and obeying him blindly. At times he came here, I believing he was on duty when he was away.
“It was when he was here that you rescued us, and from men I now think were not outlaws, but those who suspected him of certain deeds and determined to kill him. Perhaps they were my own cowboys, who sought to kill him, not wishing a master over them.
“Of late, I have had reason to doubt him, and I meant to know the truth, even if he killed me, as he has often threatened to do.”
“Have no fear now, for he is dead.”
“No, no, it cannot be, for he bears a charmed life.”
“It has ended—the charm is broken, as was the case when you lost your bracelet.”