Ribiera chuckled again.
"What are they, Senhor?"
"That you release the daughter of the Senhor Canalejas and pledge your word of honor that she will not be enslaved."
ibiera's word of honor, of course, would be worth rather less than the breath that was used to give it. But his reception of the proposal would be informative.
He chuckled again.
"No, Senhor. I do not accept. But I will promise you as a favor, because my uncle The Master admires you, that within a few weeks you shall enjoy her charms. I do not," he added with amused candor, "find that any one woman diverts me for a very long time."
"Oh," said Bell, very quietly.
He sat still for an instant, and then shrugged, and looked about as if for an ash tray in which to knock the ashes from his cigarette. He stood up, carrying the tube of tobacco gingerly, and moved toward one by Ribiera's elbow. He knocked off the ash, and crushed out the tiny coal. He fumbled in his pockets.