He was supported by four officers and a
friar in the black and white habit of St. Dominic.
Don Miguel opened his arms to his nephew, whose lingering panic he
mistook for pleasurable excitement, and having enfolded him to his
bosom turned to greet Don Esteban's companion.
Peter Blood bowed gracefully, entirely at his ease, so far as might
be judged from appearances.
"I am," he announced, making a literal translation of his name,
"Don Pedro Sangre, an unfortunate gentleman of Leon, lately
delivered from captivity by Don Esteban's most gallant father."
And in a few words he sketched the imagined conditions of his
capture by, and deliverance from, those accursed heretics who
held the island of Barbados. "Benedicamus Domino," said the
friar to his tale.
"Ex hoc nunc et usque in seculum," replied Blood, the occasional
papist, with lowered eyes.
The Admiral and his attending officers gave him a sympathetic
hearing and a cordial welcome. Then came the dreaded question.
"But where is my brother? Why has he not come, himself, to
greet me?"
It was young Espinosa who answered this:
"My father is afflicted at denying himself that honour and pleasure.
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