CHAPTER XIX.
THE LANDING OF THE SPANIARDS.
It was a strange moment.
There were the representatives of the President of Munster, two of the justices from Limerick—these stood for the Queen.
There were Grace O’Malley, her gentlemen, and myself—proclaimed rebels.
There were Desmond and his Geraldines.
And now here were de Vilela and this stranger from Spain! And we were all met together in the great hall of the castle of Askeaton.
A strange moment, and a strange meeting!
De Vilela advanced towards Desmond, and, with that grace of manner which this man possessed in greater perfection than any other I have ever seen, presented the new comer to the Earl. I leant forward to catch the name. It was the family name of the famous Lieutenant of Santa Cruz, the still more celebrated Grand Admiral of Spain. A brother or a cousin of Martinez, I said to myself, as the two men bowed low before Desmond.