opular that his real kindness of
heart atoned for his absurdities only with those that knew him best.
Rezanov was not one of these nor aspired to be. Like all highly
seasoned men of the world, he had no patience with the small vanities
of the provincial, and although diplomatically courteous to all, in his
present precarious position, he had taken too little trouble to
conciliate Gervasio to find him of use in the absence of his friends.

At the end of three days Rezanov had forgotten his cargo, and would
have sent the Juno to the bottom for ten minutes alone with Concha. He
had been on fire with love of her since the moment of his actual
surrender, and he was determined to have her if there were no other
recourse but elopement. All his old and intense love of personal
freedom had melted out of form in the crucible of his lover's
imagination. That he should have doubted for a moment that Concha was
the woman for whom his soul had held itself aloof and unshackled was a
matter for contemptuous wonder, and the pride he had taken in his keen
and swift perceptive faculties suffered an eclipse. Mind and soul and
body he was a lover, a union unknown before.

On the fourth morning, his patience at an end, he was about to leave
the Juno to demand a formal interview with Don Jose when he saw Luis
and Santiago dismount at the beach and enter the canoe always in
waiting. A few moments later they had helped themselves to cigarettes
from the gift of the Tsar and were assuring Rezanov of their
partisanship and approval.

"We were somewhat taken aback at the first moment," Luis admitted.
"But--well, we are both in love--Santiago no less than I, although I
have had these six long years of waiting and am likely to have another.
And we love Concha as few men love their sisters, for there is no one
like her--is it not so, Rezanov? And we quite understand why she has
chosen you, and why she stands firm, for we know the strength of her
character. We would that you were a Catholic, but even so, we will not
sit by and see her life ruined, and we have called to assure you that
we shall use all our influence, every adroit argument, to bring our
parents to a more reasonable frame of mind. They have already risen
above the first natural impulse of selfishness, and would consent to
the inevitable separation were you only a Catholic. I have also talked
with the Governor--we arrived at midnight--and he flew into a terrible
temper--the poor