"I suppose the wisest and safest course will be to make no reference
whatever to the letter, and to pretend I don't know what he is talking
about if Don Carlos has the cheek to refer to it," Myra soliloquised,
as she dressed. "After all, I deliberately provoked him, and I should
have been disappointed if he had taken no notice. I shall keep the
letter and challenge him about it later. Meanwhile I shall hold him to
his promise not to make love to me, yet do my utmost to make him break
his word. I wonder what will happen if I do make him fall in love with
me in earnest. Life is becoming quite an adventure!"
So she made no reference to the letter when by chance she found herself
alone with Don Carlos for a time during the course of the afternoon,
but continued to exert herself to be "nice" to him. And when Myra
Rostrevor set herself out to fascinate, she was an exceedingly alluring
and seductive creature. Her sweetness, graciousness, and the inviting
and enticing glances of her blue eyes obviously had a strong effect on
Don Carlos, and fired his ardour.
"Myra, why are you torturing and tantalising me in this fashion?" he
burst out suddenly. "Confess that you love me, darling, and release me
from my promise not to make love to you."
"Why, you dear, conceited man, don't you understand it is only because
you pledged your word not to make love to me that I am being nice to
you?" Myra replied, with her bewitching smile. "If you break your
promise, I shall immediately freeze up again and keep you at a
distance."
"You are cruel, señorita," commented Don Carlos, with a shrug and a
sigh. "You are the most tantalising, puzzling and exasperating girl I
have ever met, as well as the loveliest and the most adorable."
"Really!" laughed Myra. "I wonder you consort with such an annoying
person!"
"Consort? Consort? I like that word, Myra," he responded. "I intend
to be your consort for the rest of my life, and you shall be my queen
and the empress of my heart."
"What a horrible threat!" exclaimed Myra. "And I am afraid,
incidentally, it is camouflaged love-making. You must keep to the
spirit as well as the letter of your promise, Don Carlos, if you wish
to continue on our present footing."
"I am but human, sweet lady, and you are torturing me," said Don
Carlos. "I am like unto a man dying of thirst, and you hold a cup of
water to my lips, only to snatch it away when I try to drink. But I
promise you I shall yet drink my fill from your fountain of love."