aria Theresa smiled again, and Rusty accepted it as a supreme
compliment.

"You are a diplomat, Rusty," she said.

"No, lady--I mean, Mrs. Princess.... I'm a Republican," and Rusty
started for the door.

"Go lock yourself in there, and don't talk to anyone. Remember you are
deaf and dumb. Understand, deaf and dumb!"

"Yassir--dumb's de word!"

As the door closed behind him, the girl turned toward Jarvis, a
troubled cloud overshadowing her pleasant features.

"There is something I must tell you ... my cousin, the Duke of Alva, is
on board of the _Mauretania_."

He smiled whimsically as he replied, "Yes, and he professes to love you
devotedly."

She flushed furiously, and looked at the pattern of the rug.

"You overheard?"

"I underheard. The trunk was not my idea but yours, you know.... You're
afraid of that man, too. What's the trouble? He's very sure of himself,
isn't he?"

The girl hesitated, and then replied almost timidly:

"Carlos is very powerful.... I may be driven into his hands."

"You mean he may make you marry him?"

"Yes ... if you fail," and she cast an apprehensive glance toward the
door to the promenade deck.

"If I fail," and Warren was dumbfounded, even after the unreal scenes
which had prologued this situation. "If _I_ fail. What do you mean?
Wait a minute--let me get my bearings: things are coming too fast and
furious for my poor intelligence.... I--you--the Duke--how do I fit
in?"

The girl tried to regain her composure.

"You mustn't ask now: take things for granted until we can explain them
together, alone. He may come in any minute. I can tell you before we
get to the castle."

Warren lost his patience.

"I think I should know about this castle nonsense now. I admit you
saved me from the police last night--although undoubtedly they may be
on board the ship now, for we have not passed the three-mile limit yet.
Can't you be frank with me, in spite of that ridiculous oath of
allegiance which I took?"

"It was not ridiculous, Mr. Jarvis. It was in life-and-death
earnestness. I would not have felt that I could truly trust you unless
you had gone through that. Remember, I am a product of a different
civilization from your own: I am still superstitious, if you please to
term it so, in the Old-World sense. I speak your language, and indeed
think in it with you. But back in the inner shrine of my being I am a
Spanish woman, true to my heredity. You are essentially an
American--