He was in
an exceedingly ill temper. He realized that if he had done nothing
positively discreditable in the unusual and difficult position into
which Fate had thrust him, at least he had done nothing creditable.
This might have mattered less but that the spectator of his
indifferent performance was a lady. He was determined if possible
to do better now.
"I am Don Miguel de Espinosa," he was answered. "Admiral of the
Navies of the Catholic King."
Lord Julian gasped. If Spain made such a hubbub about the
depredations of a runagate adventurer like Captain Blood, what could
not England answer now?
"Will you tell me, then, why you behave like a damned pirate?" he
asked. And added: "I hope you realize what will be the consequences,
and the strict account to which you shall be brought for this day's
work, for the blood you have murderously shed, and for your violence
to this lady and to myself."
"I offer you no violence," said the Admiral, smiling, as only the
man who holds the trumps can smile. "On the contrary, I have saved
your lives.
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