"Exactly. And that, my lord, is an advantage. If she came here—"
"Oh the deuce!" laughed Constantine. "But won't the men want me to free her by letting that infernal crew go?"
"Not if they think Wheatley will go to Rhodes and get soldiers and return. They love the island more than her. It will all go well, my lord. And this other here?"
I strained my ears to listen. No answer came; yet Vlacho went on as though he had received an answer.
"These cursed fellows make that difficult, too," he said. "It would be an epidemic." Then he laughed, seeming to see wit in his own remark.
"Curse them, yes. We must move cautiously," said Constantine. "What a nuisance women are, Vlacho."
"Ay, too many of them," laughed Vlacho.
"I had to swear my life out that no one was here—and then, 'If no one's there, why mayn't I come?' You know the sort of thing."
"Indeed, no, my lord. You wrong me," protested Vlacho, humorously; and Constantine joined in his laugh.
"You've made up your mind which, I gather?" asked Vlacho.