n Luis.
'E say, 'What you do next, senor Don Osmundo?' You tell 'im, sir--is
my advice."

"But I don't know what I am going to do," said Manvers irritably. "How
the deuce should I know?"

"You tell 'im that, sir," Gil said softly. "Thata best of all."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, sir, then 'e tell you what Don Luis, 'e do."

"Show him in," said Manvers.

The Marques de Fuenterrabia was a white-whiskered, irascible personage,
of stately manners and slight stature. He wore a blue frock-coat, and
nankeen trousers over riding-boots. His face was one uniform pink, his
eyes small, fierce, and blue. They appeared to emit heat as well as
light; for it was a frequent trick of their proprietor's to snatch at
his spectacles and wipe the mist from them with a bandana handkerchief.
Unglazed, his eyes showed a blank and indiscriminate ferocity which
Manvers found exceedingly comical.

They bowed to each other--the Marques with ceremonious cordiality,
Manvers with the stiffness of an Englishman to an unknown visitor. Gil
Perez hovered in the background, as it were, on the tips of his toes.

The Marques, having made his bow, said nothing. His whole attitude
seemed to imply, "Well, what next?"

Manvers said that he was at his service; and then the Marques explained
himself.

"My friend, Don Luis Ramonez de Alavia," he said, "has entrusted me
with his confidence. It appears that a series of occurrences,
involving his happiness, honour and dignity at once, can be traced to
your Excellency's intromission in his affairs. I take it that your
Excellency does not deny----"

"Pardon me," Manvers said, "I deny it absolutely."

The Marques was very much annoyed. "_Que! Que!_" he muttered and
snatched off his spectacles. Glaring ferociously at them, he wiped
them with his bandana.

"If Don Luis really imagines that I compassed the death of his son,"
said Manvers, "I suppose he has his legal remedy. He had better have
me arrested and have done with it."

The Marques, his spectacles on, gazed at the speaker with astonishment.
"Is it possible, sir, that you can so misconceive the mind of a
gentleman as to suggest legal process in an affair of the kind?
Whatever my friend Don Luis may consider you, he could not be guilty of
such a discourtesy. One may think he is going too far in the other
direction, indeed--though one is debarred from saying so under the
circumstances. But I am not here to bandy words with you. My