“Tell her,” he said, at last, “that we are going to a place where she will be kindly and honourably treated; but that you know not the name of it. I am not the commander of this vessel, nor can I direct her course; and I am not allowed to say more than I have.”
“Oh, but you have great influence with him who is commander; and you can make him do what you like, I am sure,” urged the Maltese girl.
“Indeed, I cannot,” answered the young man, mournfully. “My influence extends but a short way, and can be but rarely exerted in the cause of right. Were I to attempt too much, I should become altogether powerless.”
He stopped, as if he had said too much, and seemed about to leave the cabin. He again, however, went up to Marianna, and whispered—“It may be better for your mistress and yourself that she remain as if overcome with illness till the conclusion of the voyage. Urge her not to rise, or to attempt to go on deck; and tell her that the leech who has attended her, has prescribed perfect silence and calmness. You understand me?”
“I do, signor—though I cannot comprehend your reasons,” returned Marianna. “But, at all events, you can tell me when the voyage is to be brought to a conclusion. It has lasted already a long time. I did not think the Mediterranean sea was so large.”
“Even there I cannot satisfy you,” returned he who was called by Marianna Signor Paolo. “Certainly not for many days; it may be even for some weeks. You observe, that we do not always continue sailing. We visit the shore occasionally, and, sometimes, remain hours together at anchor.”
“I cannot say exactly that I discovered that,” answered the girl. “I thought sometimes the ship appeared to sail very slowly, and that we were very near the shore; but I knew not that we were altogether at rest. Yet I cannot understand why you should not tell me where we are going to.”
“Perhaps I myself do not know,” returned Paolo evasively. “The commander of this ship does not always say where he will next steer.”
“There again—who is your commander?” asked the girl. “It is strange you should not have told me his name.”
“You are much too curious, Marianna,” answered Signor Paolo. “I must again warn you to prevent your mistress from asking questions, which you cannot answer; and now I must leave you, for the present; for I dare not remain long at a time here.”