CHAPTER NINE.
INEZ DE GUZMAN.
We were conducted by our guide--an ancient and somewhat pompousindividual--to a large and very pleasantly situated room in the northwing of the castle, from whence, through an opening between the trees, aglimpse of the sea was to be obtained; the foreground being occupied bya kitchen-garden. This room, it seemed, was to be our sleepingapartment. It was somewhat meagrely furnished, according to our Englishideas, and there was only one bed in it--our guide informing us,however, that the commandant had ordered another to be placed thereforthwith--but what little furniture the apartment contained was good,and everything was scrupulously clean, so that, in comparison with ourrecent quarters, those we were now to occupy seemed absolutely palatial.And our gratification was considerably increased when we were informedthat another very large and handsomely furnished room, through which wehad passed to gain access to our sleeping quarters, was to be devoted toour exclusive use and occupation during the day at such times as we werenot engaged in the park. We voted the commandant a trump, there andthen, and mutually resolved to do all that in us lay to retain ourexceedingly comfortable berths until we should find opportunity to quitthem of our own accord for good and all.
Having duly installed us, and suggestively directed our attention to thetoilet gear--of which in truth we both most grievously stood in need--the major-domo left us, first informing us, however, that if, when wewere ready, we would ring a bell, the cord of which he pointed out tous, a servant would bring us some refreshment.
We lost no time in freshening ourselves up and making ourselves aspresentable as circumstances would permit, and then sat down to a plainbut substantial meal, which, after our meagre and coarse prison fare,seemed a veritable banquet. At the conclusion of this meal we wereinformed that the commandant awaited us below, upon which we followedour informant down a sort of back staircase, and issuing from a littleside door found ourselves in the garden before mentioned. It was walledin on all sides, but a door in the wall adjoining the house was pointedout to us, and issuing through it we found ourselves on the nobleterrace which stretched along the whole front of the castle. Here wediscovered the commandant pacing up and down with a cigar in his mouth,and joining him he proposed to conduct us to the scene of our futurelabours.
With all his stateliness, which he never laid aside, Don Luis de Guzmanknew how to be very affable when he chose, and he chose to be so withus. Commencing a long conversation by courteously expressing a hopethat our apartments were to our liking, and kindly informing us that, ifthey were not, a hint to the major-domo would be sufficient to securethe rectification of whatever might be amiss, he then went on to speakof "the unnecessary haste" with which we had been removed from the ship,and of the inconvenience which we must have experienced from thescantiness of our wardrobe, an inconvenience which, he said, he would"take the liberty" of having remedied as speedily as might be. This, ofcourse, was very kind of him, and we ungrudgingly credited him with themost generous of motives; at the same time I have no doubt that thestately don was as heartily ashamed of the two scarecrows whoaccompanied him as we were of our own appearance.
Having thus cleared the ground, as it were, our benefactor proceeded toquestion us closely as to the circumstances connected with and which ledup to the mutiny, at which he expressed the most unqualifiedreprobation; and when we had told him all we knew about it he informedus that the British government had made a formal demand for therestitution of the frigate and the surrender of the mutineers, as wellas the captive officers, a demand which, he said, the Spanish governmenthad seen fit to refuse; and I thought, from his manner of speaking uponthe subject, that he by no means favourable regarded the action of hiscountrymen in the matter. This conversation, and indeed all that wesubsequently held with him, was, I ought to say, conducted in English.He asked us questions innumerable--indeed more than we were able tofully answer--respecting the habits and customs of our nation, our modeof government, and what not; and it was not long before we were able toperceive that his liking for the English was as strong as it waspossible for a thorough-bred Spanish noble to entertain.
A walk, or rather a saunter, of about a mile and a half through the parkbrought us to the scene of our future operations--a lake of, I shouldsay, some four or five acres in extent--and here the subject of ourconversation was diverted to the theme of the commandant's requirementsof us.
The lake, it appeared, was a natural feature of the landscape, with astream some twenty feet in width flowing through it. A walk had beenconstructed right round it, crossing the stream by a couple of rusticbridges; and for about one-half its length the banks had been mostbeautifully laid out as a flower-garden. For the remaining half of itslength, however, nature had been allowed to have pretty much her ownway, except at the point where the stream entered the lake. There theground had been carefully cleared of trees, and trimmed so as to presentthe aspect of a low flat shore, with hills in the rear. And on thisshore, covering an area of some fifty feet square on each side of thestream, the commandant had caused to be constructed an exceedinglypretty and carefully finished model of a town, with streets, houses,public buildings, squares, and even monuments, with a harbour, includingmoles, piers, lighthouses, batteries, etcetera, complete down to theminutest detail. It had evidently been a labour of love with him, ascould be seen at a glance from the care and finish lavished upon thework; and we afterwards learned that it had occupied him and a staff ofa dozen workmen for more than a year. It was to blockade this miniaturetown and port that the fleet of ships which we were to construct wasrequired, the trenches and investing earthworks and batteries on theland side being already finished. It was surprising to see how thismost dignified Spaniard unbent, and how enthusiastic he became as hedescribed his plans to us and gave us instructions respecting thedimensions and number of his pigmy fleet. He was evidently much pleasedwith the admiration we expressed at the care and skill exhibited inworking out his quaint idea; and when we had minutely inspected everypart of it he led us to a comfortable airy little workshop, concealed ina kind of brake among the trees, where we found a good stock of wood,with a capital supply of tools and everything necessary to the propercarrying out of our task. We did not do anything in the way of work onthat day, however, for by the time that we had seen everything and hadtaken a walk to the seaward extremity of the park the sun was gettinglow, and the time had arrived for us to see about getting back to thecastle.
Oh, how we enjoyed the luxury of that first dinner at the castle!--theonly decent meal of which we had partaken since our landing--with thequiet evening which followed it, spent in a large, lofty, well-furnishedapartment, lighted up by a massive silver lamp of elaborate workmanship,and cooled by the light evening breeze which floated in through thewidely-opened casements. Stretched luxuriously in a couple of lowcomfortable sloping-backed chairs, we sat at one of these open casementsdiscussing a bottle of excellent wine, and looking out upon the darkwoods which surrounded the building, watching the full moon soar intothe cloudless sky from behind the gently-swaying foliage, and listeningto the song of the nightingale, amidst which we once or twice thought wedetected the tinkling sounds of a guitar apparently issuing from one ofthe open windows in another wing of the castle.
We retired early to rest that night, after a bath, not so much becausewe were tired, but rather to enjoy the unwonted luxury of rest in anactual bed, with the pleasant accompaniment of clean sweet-smellinglinen.
We were disappointed, however, in our anticipations of a sound night'ssleep. After making shift for so long with a heap of straw spread on ahard pavement, the beds seemed too soft and yielding to our unaccustomedlimbs, and we lay tossing to and fro for a long time before weeventually dropped off to sleep. This trifling inconveniencedisappeared, however, after a few nights' experience.
We were up and stirring by daybreak next morning, and a few minuteslater we might have been seen scudding across the park on our way to acertain rocky pool on the beach, which the
commandant had pointed out tous the day before as a place where we might safely venture to indulge ina swim without fear of the sharks. Taking his word for it we plunged inand swam off, until we found ourselves almost among the breakers, thenreturned to the shore, dressed, and made our way back to the castle,which we reached in good time for breakfast. That meal over we set outfor the workshop, Pedro--the servant who seemed to have been appointedto wait upon us--informing us as we started that he had orders to haveluncheon ready for us by one o'clock. Arrived at the scene of ourlabours we each selected a suitable block of wood, and whilst Courtenayset to work upon a model of the _Hermione_, I, with greater ambition,devoted all my energies to the hewing out of a line-of-battle ship.Thus occupied the time passed swiftly away, and almost before we wereaware of it the commandant, who had looked in upon us to see how we wereprogressing, announced that it was time for us to see about returning tothe castle. He walked back with us, chatting most affably all the way;and on reaching our rooms we found a tailor awaiting us, by his orders,to take our measures for a new outfit of rigging. The first instalmentof this, in the shape of a loose white nankin suit apiece, with shirt,stockings, light shoes of tan-coloured leather, crimson silk sashes--toserve instead of braces--and broad-brimmed cane-hat, all complete,awaited us on our waking a couple of mornings later, much to ourgratification, as the idea grew upon us that the castle contained otherinmates besides the commandant, and we were anxious to avoid a rencontrewith these so long as we retained our ragged, scarecrow appearance.
We had been at work about a week; Courtenay had completed the hull ofhis frigate, and was busy about her spars, whilst I was putting thefinishing touches to a figure-head for my seventy-four, when, about fouro'clock in the afternoon, our workshop suddenly became darkened to suchan extent that we could no longer see to work. Looking up and glancingout of the window, we observed that, unnoticed by us, a heavy thunder-storm had been gathering over the sea, and the clouds, settingshoreward, were now hovering immediately overhead. That it was likelyto be a severe storm was manifest, the sky being blacker than I had everseen it before. We were debating upon the advisability of effecting animmediate retreat to the castle, and taking our chance of reaching itbefore the storm should burst, when a vivid flash of lightning, greenand baleful, quickly succeeded by a most deafening peal of thunder,decided us to remain where we were. Another flash and another rapidlyfollowed, and then down came the rain in a perfect deluge. It fell, notin drops but in regular _sheets_ of water, lashing the surface of thelake into a plain of milky foam, and so completely flooding the groundthat in five minutes the water everywhere, as far as we could see fromthe window at which we had taken our stand, must have been ankle-deep.The storm gained in intensity with startling rapidity, the lightningblazing and flashing about us so uninterruptedly that the wholeatmosphere seemed a-quiver with the greenish-blue glare; whilst therattling crash and roar of the thunder went on absolutely without anyintermission, filling the firmament with one continuous chaos ofdeafening sound and causing the very earth beneath our feet to tremble.This had been going on for some eight or ten minutes, perhaps, when wecaught sight, through the streaming deluge outside, of a couple ofwhite-clad flying figures making their way down the path from the rusticbridge toward the workshop. I sprang to the door and threw it open; andin another moment two young women plunged through the doorway--theirlight flimsy garments streaming with water and clinging about theirlimbs--and flung themselves breathlessly down upon a bench, the tallerand darker of the two panting out:
"A thousand thanks, senors! Madre de Dios, what a storm!"
"It is indeed terrible," I replied in my best Spanish, as I closed thedoor again. "And you have been fairly caught in it. Have you come froma distance?"
"Only from the castle. I am Inez de Guzman, the commandant's daughter,and this," pointing to her companion, "is Eugenia Gonzalez, my foster-sister. We left home about two hours ago to walk through the park asfar as the beach; and it was not until we had emerged from among thetrees near the shore that we noticed the gathering storm. Then wehastened back homeward as quickly as possible, but were overtaken beforewe could gain shelter anywhere. I hope you will excuse our bursting inso unceremoniously upon you. You are the young English officers whohave come to assist my father, I presume?"
Courtenay and I bowed our affirmatives with all the grace we couldmuster.
"Poor papa!" she continued. "Are you not amused at his having taken somuch, so _very_ much trouble just to work out and illustrate his pettheories?"
"By no means," we hastened to assure her. "On the contrary," said I, "Iregard it as an evidence of the thoroughness with which the commandantcarries out all his undertakings."
"Ah, yes!" said she, evidently well pleased, "I see you understand myfather. He is just the same in everything. Heavens, what a flash!Will the storm _never_ cease!"
"There is no present indication of its ending," said I as I glancedthrough the window at the blackness outside illumined only by thequivering lightning flashes. "However, it surely _cannot_ last verymuch longer. Meanwhile you are both wet to the skin, and I fear we areutterly destitute of means to remedy the disaster. I am afraid you willbe chilled sitting there in your drenched garments; and indeed--if youwill forgive me for saying so--I think that, since you cannot possiblybe made more wet than you now are, you would run less risk of takingcold if you were to proceed home to the castle at once, even though youwould have to walk through the storm. We would of course accompany youif you would permit us that honour."
"But," said she with a little shudder indicative of incipient chill,"you are both of you dry and comfortable."
"That is nothing," said I. "It is evident that we shall have to gothrough it sooner or later; so perhaps the sooner the better."
After a little more persuasion on our part and protestations on theirsour fair companions acceded to our suggestion, and we set out, I leadingthe van with the commandant's daughter, and Courtenay following with thefoster-sister.
We stepped out briskly, so as to avert, if possible, any evilconsequences of the drenching already received; and as we picked our wayalong the partially submerged footpath, giving the trees as wide a berthas possible for fear of the lightning which still played vividly aboutus, my fair companion informed me that the commandant on returning fromhis visit to us that morning had found an urgent summons to Cartagenaawaiting him, and that he had started in obedience thereto within halfan hour of its receipt, mentioning, as he hastily bade her farewell,that he could not get back in less than a fortnight at the earliest. Wediscussed this subject and her father's probable present whereabouts fora few minutes, and then the young lady asked me to detail to her theparticulars of the mutiny on board the _Hermione_, which I did as fullyas I possibly could, exciting thereby her keenest anger against themutineers and her tenderest commiseration for the sufferers.
"Poor boy!" said she as I concluded my narrative, "what a dreadfulexperience for you to pass through!"
After that we seemed to get along capitally together; and in due time--an incredibly short time it seemed to me--we reached the castle withoutmisadventure; and, parting with our charges at the chief entrance,Courtenay and I repaired to our own quarters to take a bath and don dryclothing preparatory to sitting down to dinner.
Courtenay, it seemed, had been as favourably impressed with hiscompanion as I had been with mine; and for the next two or three days wecould talk of little but the two charming girls who had burst in upon usso unexpectedly on the afternoon of that, for us, lucky thunder-storm,reiterating our hopes that the soaking had done them no harm, andwondering whether we should ever be favoured with another meeting, and,if so, when. And, indeed, trivial as the incident may seem, itexercised an important and beneficial influence on our lives after theeight months of hardship and misery unspeakable which we had so recentlyexperienced; it gave us something fresh and pleasant to think about, andprevented our dwelling for ever upon the subject of our escape, whichevent seemed ever
y day to assume a more thoroughly impossible aspect.
On the fourth day after the eventful one of the storm, and just when wewere beginning to despair of ever seeing our fail acquaintances again,we were agreeably surprised by seeing them enter the workshop oneafternoon, about half an hour after we had returned from luncheon.
They paused just within the threshold, and Dona Inez, glancing somewhatshyly at me, said:
"Will you allow us to come in and sit down for a little while? Weshould like to watch you at your work."
We replied, as coherently as our fluster of delight would allow us, thatnothing would give us greater pleasure; and, flinging down our tools,Courtenay and I hastened to dust down a bench, place a tool-box in sucha position that it would serve for a footstool, and in other waysarrange as far as we could to make our visitors comfortable.
Our preparations completed, the young ladies sat down, and, Courtenayand I pairing off as before, an animated conversation ensued whichlasted for the remainder of the afternoon, during which I am ashamed tosay that very little work was done.
If we were charmed at our first interview with these young ladies, whenthey appeared under all the disadvantages incidental to a condition ofutter limpness of soaked and draggled clothing, I fear I should laymyself open to the charge of indulging in unbridled rhapsody were I toattempt a description of the effect produced upon our rather susceptiblehearts on the occasion of this their second visit. Not that on thepresent occasion their charms were very greatly enhanced by theadventitious aid of dress; far from it--but the present opportunity isas good as any to describe their appearance.
Dona Inez Isolda Aurora Dolores Maria Francesca de Guzman was a littleabove the average height of her countrywomen, with a somewhat slenderyet perfectly-proportioned figure. Her skin was dazzlingly fair; herluxuriant hair, which floated unconfined in long wavy tresses down herback, was of so deep a chestnut hue that it might easily have beenmistaken for black; and her eyes--well, they sparkled and flashed sobrilliantly that it was difficult for a stranger to determine theirprecise colour. Her features were perhaps scarcely formed withsufficient regularity to warrant her being termed strictly _beautiful_,but she was most assuredly, at least in my eyes, bewitchingly lovely.She possessed just sufficient colour in her cheeks and lips to giveassurance of her being in the most perfect health, and the music of hervoice and laugh was nothing short of a revelation to me. I could seethat, being an only child, she had not wholly escaped being spoiled; butthe slight touch of hauteur and imperiousness which was noticeable inher manner was only just sufficient to add to it another piquant charm.Like her foster-sister she was attired in white, the bodice beingfastened with a white silken lace or cord, and having no sleeves, acouple of shoulder-straps trimmed with lace taking their place. Thatwas the fashion of the country, and was doubtless adopted for the sakeof coolness and comfort. Neither of the girls wore a hat or head-gearof any description, a most graceful and picturesque substitute thereforebeing a lace mantilla folded over the crown of the head with the endsbrought down over the shoulders and knotted across the bosom. Ahandsome feather fan fastened to the loose silken girdle or sash aboutthe waist was both useful and ornamental, and gave the only finishingtouch required to as piquant and graceful a costume as I ever saw.
Courtenay's companion, little Eugenia Gonzalez, was a striking contrastto her foster-sister. She was a couple of inches shorter in stature,and less slender in figure; a blonde, with blue eyes and just thefaintest suggestion of ruddiness in the tints of her hair; a merry,good-humoured expression of countenance; and altogether, though ofhumble parentage, as dainty, piquant a little beauty as anyone wouldwish to see.
As may be supposed, with such visitors as these to entertain, our workthat afternoon did not progress very rapidly; but Courtenay and Iquieted our consciences by entering into a mutual compact to exercisesuch increased diligence in the future as should fully make up for losttime. But when, an afternoon or two later, we overtook our fair friendsin the park as we were making our way back to the workshop after ourmid-day meal, and they seemed again inclined to favour us with theircompany, our good resolves took flight and we once more neglected ourwork in the enjoyment of their society.
This, however, I saw would never do. It seemed pretty evident that,being so strictly secluded within the confines of the castle demesne asthese two girls were, our appearance upon the scene had assumed almostthe importance of an event in their lives, and had wrought sointeresting a change in the somewhat monotonous daily routine of theirexistence that the unsophisticated creatures had each inwardly resolvedto make the most of the novelty whilst the opportunity to do soremained. And in that case our work was likely to suffer both inquality and quantity. This, I felt, ought not to be allowed. At thesame time the pleasure to be derived from their society was a thing notto be lightly given up; and so the end of it all was that we prevailedupon the two girls to walk with us in the park after dinner instead ofvisiting the workshop. This arrangement was rendered all the more easyby the arrival of a letter from the commandant announcing his detentionat Cartagena, and the probable delay of a month in the date of hisreturn.
The Rover's Secret: A Tale of the Pirate Cays and Lagoons of Cuba Page 9
