"Do with it? Put it in the first fire you see. Shall I lend you a match?"
She shook her head, still with the gleam of a smile on her vivid face. "Too late, Manuel. I have disposed of the dangerous evidence."
"So? Good. You took my advice before I gave it, then."
"Not quite. I couldn't be less generous than our enemy. So I have sent the letter back to him and told him to use it."
The young man gave her his best bow. "Magnificent, but not war. I might have trusted the daughter of Don Alvaro to do a thing so royal. My cousin, I am proud of you."
"What else could I have done and held my self-respect? I had insulted him gratuitously and my people had tried to kill him. The least I could do now was to meet him in a spirit like his own."
"Honors are easy. Let us see what Mr. Gordon will now do."
The sound of a light footfall came to them. A timid voice broke into their conversation.
"May I see Doña Valencia—alone—for just a minute?"
Miss Valdés turned. A girl was standing shyly in the doorway. Her soft brown eyes begged pardon for the intrusion.