No word came from Don Carlos, but he duly presented himself aboard the
Killarney, Tony Standish's yacht, on the appointed day. And he
looked as little like a heart-broken, forlorn lover as anyone could
imagine. Indeed, he seemed to be in exceptionally high spirits, talked
gaily of the enjoyable time he had had in Paris, explaining that he had
combined business with pleasure.
He made no attempt to speak to Myra alone on the first night aboard,
and joined a party of men playing poker in the smoking-room, in
preference to dancing.
"He is really the most baffling and exasperating creature," Myra told
herself. "I expect he thinks he is vexing me by being so casual, the
conceited fellow. I am annoyed with myself for feeling annoyed."
She encountered Don Carlos next morning, when she went up on deck from
her state room to take a stroll before breakfast, and he greeted her
smilingly.
"Buenos dias, señorita," he said, with a gallant bow. "I start the day
well by meeting you, my Myra. Has absence made your heart grow fonder,
my heart's desire?"
"Yes, I am fonder of Tony than ever," answered Myra lightly. "I think
I really ought to thank you, Don Carlos, for pretending to Tony that
you had fallen in love with me. I was vastly amused, but Tony actually
took you seriously, and he has been the most adorably devoted lover
ever since. I am half inclined to suspect that you must have given
Tony some lessons in love-making!"
Don Carlos flashed a searching glance at her, and his smile faded.
"If I thought that Standish would hold you to your promise to marry
him, knowing that you love me, I should kill him," he said, quietly,
calmly and deliberately.
"In that case, Tony is a doomed man," commented Myra, with a mocking
laugh. "But perhaps the fact that I do not love you will induce you to
spare his life," she added hastily. "Don't you find it rather
difficult to be melodramatic and to talk farcical nonsense before
breakfast, Don Carlos?"
"I am debating with myself how best to get rid of Standish," responded
Don Carlos unsmilingly. "An opportunity may present itself during this
cruise. I do not wish to kill him, and would much prefer him to
surrender you to me voluntarily. But if he is obstinate, and if you
persist in refusing to obey the dictates of your heart to break with
him, he, as you have said, is a doomed man."