Strange fancies rioted through his excited mind as he stood there and stared—the situation was remarkable enough to arouse the most extravagant and marvelous thoughts.
At the same time Roderic was conscious of a powerful desire to take this bold maid of San Juan to his heart, for his love was still strong within him.
And as he thus stood and looked at her, perhaps with reproach upon his face, the anger seemed to gradually die away from her eyes, the color returned to her cheeks, her upraised hand that had flung Inez so violently back fell to her side and she trembled with a mixture of emotions.
Strange place indeed for an explanation and yet Roderic knew it was bound to come.
He wished to know many things, and on her part a revolution of feeling must take part in her heart toward the devoted being whom she had so scornfully thrust aside.
Of the three then, Inez was the first to find her tongue, to give utterance to the anguish that racked her soul.
"Holy Mother," she wailed, "he knows me not—they have robbed him of reason—they have broken my heart. Oh! Leon, unsay those cruel words—tell me that you still love me, or I too must go mad!"
The prisoner of the fortress doubtless heard, but never once were those luminous midnight orbs removed from Roderic's face.
His disguise might have baffled some but it was of no avail where those eyes were concerned.
One look and the mask had been torn away—she had known him from the instant he rushed through the arched doorway.