"No," replied Marcelino, looking across the table at Don Alfonso.
"Don Carlos, you see, trusts us more than you do," replied the young lady, with a slight toss of her head.
"It is not want of trust that kept me silent. But secrecy implies danger; to admit you to the secret admits you to the danger also."
"Among sixty! Did you not say there were sixty, Don Carlos?" asked Magdalen.
"Yes; and the secret of sixty is not much of a secret," answered Evaña.
"I do not see why it should be a secret at all," said Magdalen. "The Princess Carlota could not be queen without the consent of her brother. Did you see her when you were at Rio?"
"Yes, Gordon took me with him to a ball at the British Embassy, and she was there for about half an hour."
"What is she like?" asked Magdalen, but before Marcelino could answer Don Alfonso turned towards him and asked abruptly:
"You were at the British Embassy, did you speak with Lord Strangford?"
"Yes, he took me to one side and asked me a great many questions about this country and about Whitelock's affair."