Was she justified in placing herself so entirely in the hands of the Earl? There was the rub. My mistress, however, had declared that she was well pleased with the way in which our affairs were moving, and with that assurance I had perforce to be content. And I verily believe she had no doubt but that she could do with Desmond as she chose.
I had been ordered to keep a look-out for the Spanish ships, and I put in at various bays and havens where I thought it might be possible that they had anchored, but I reached Dingle without having seen anything of them. And I well remember that it was towards evening, after we had borne the blaze of the July sun all day, that we came up alongside of Don Juan de Ricaldo’s vessel, and de Vilela and myself went on board of her with her captain.
Next morning I put out to sea again, and, sailing slowly down the coast for perhaps a couple of hours, fell in with the rest of the Spanish ships, tacking to the north-westward.
Having made signs that I wished to speak to them, they lay to. As I approached I saw a man waving his hand to me from the ship that was nearest us, and him I afterwards knew to be Sir James Fitzmaurice, a relative of the Earl of Desmond, and having the reputation of being a skilful soldier. He had already fought against the English in Ireland, but had been beaten by them, and compelled to sue for peace.
Beside him there stood three or four priests, and, a little way off, a group of men wearing armour, their swords shining brightly in their hands. There was also a goodly muster of footmen, having arquebuses, spears and other weapons. And my heart warmed when I beheld this array.
Quitting my galley, I went on board of the ship, and presently had told Fitzmaurice, who evidently was the leader of the expedition, who I was, and for what purpose I was come. I also delivered to him letters which de Vilela and de Ricaldo had given me for him. Having read these over very carefully, he began to ply me eagerly with many questions.
Was Desmond well? What preparations had he made to rise against the English? What was the general state of the country? Did its princes and chiefs know that he was coming, and were they ready to drive the English into the sea? Were the English in force, and where lay their army? Who was there now at Limerick?
All these and many other things did he inquire of me, listening to my replies with the closest attention, comparing what I said with what was written in the letters I had brought, and making a commentary of his own. But I soon found out that he was in reality as well informed as I was.
Here was one, I said to myself, who was a very different man from Desmond. The way he bore himself was so instinct with firmness, courage and resolution that he at once instilled a feeling of confidence in all who met him. Then the questions he had addressed to me impressed me as being just such questions as a soldier and a man of action would ask. But what struck me most was that when he spoke of Desmond, while he said not a word in his dispraise, he was apparently not certain of him. And this was so much in my own manner of thinking of the Earl that my fear of him was intensified.