Derrick could not help being struck by the fact that his favourable
reception and appointment had aroused no surprise and very little
curiosity on the part of the household; and he concluded that Donna
Elvira's rule was so despotic that her law passed unquestioned, and that
no action of hers was received with astonishment. His position was
accepted by everyone without question or remark; the man who had brought
him his coffee had evidently been told off as his body-servant, and he
served Derrick's meals in a little room adjoining the bedroom, or on the
verandah; as the young fellow showed some intelligence, Derrick took him
on as an assistant, much to the peon's delight and pride, and initiated
him into the elementary mysteries of machinery.
Long before his examination had finished, Derrick had come to the
conclusion that it would be necessary to scrap the existing machinery
and set up new in its place; and he was anxious to consult Donna Elvira;
but though he learnt that she had sustained no injury from the accident
in the salon, she did not make her appearance until three days had
elapsed. On the evening of the third, as he was sitting on the verandah,
smoking a cigarette after an excellent dinner, and dreaming, as the
exile must dream, however flourishing his position, of the land he had
left, he saw her coming towards the verandah. He sprang to his feet,
and, bare-headed, hastened to meet her and give her his hand to ascend
the steps. She was dressed in black, and her lace mantilla, worn in
Spanish fashion, half-shrouded her face, which was paler and even more
worn than when he had first seen it.
"I hope your Excellency has quite recovered?" he said, as he led her to
a chair and set a cushion for her feet; and he performed the little act
with a courtesy which was as genuine as strange in Derrick, who, like
most men of his class, was not given to knightly attentions; but, every
time he had seen this proud and sorrowful woman, some tender chord had
been touched in his heart and given forth a note of pity and respect. "I
can't blame myself enough for not keeping an eye on that lamp. I hope
you were not burned?"
"No, it was nothing," she said in a low voice, her eyes covered by their
lids, her lips set. "It was the shock, nothing more. I came to speak to
you here because it is cooler, and I wished to see that you
were--comfortable; that is the English word, is it not?"