“I suspect him of being more intimate with the authorities than an honest man can be.” “He allows he has influence with them, Mr Thorne; my father has the utmost confidence in him--their interests are bound up together; may he not honestly exert what influence he has for my father’s safety?” “How can he have influence with them except he lends himself to their schemes and plots? Even were he honest in his intentions to secure Mendoza’s interests--and God forbid that he be not!--who can say that his influence will outweigh the value of Mendoza’s doubloons and lands?” “Mr Thorne,” said Anita, during another interval in the dance, “I know that Señor Le Brun will _now_ use every effort in his power to secure my father and his interests. Have you--I beg you--I beg you most earnestly to answer me distinctly and at once, for we have not one moment to spare--have you any _positive_ knowledge of Le Brun’s acting a dishonourable part, of his being a spy in fact?” “I have not.” “Is he suspected of being so in the town?” “As far as I know, he is not.” “What are your reasons for suspecting him in respect to my father?” “I met him in close and secret communication with the notorious ----.” “My dear Mr Thorne, excuse me, I have heard all that explained by my father. His confidence must go further with me than the suspicion of another, even if that other be----Oh, Mr Thorne, you can scarcely fancy how much I am relieved, how much I am indebted to you for your frankness; but I _must_ trust Le Brun. And now, as the dance is finished--which, by the way,” said she with a smile, “you appear to have forgotten--I shall feel obliged to you for a glass of wine, for indeed I feel very faint.” In spite of every exertion of our hero, the small party went off very stiffly, and at an early hour the whole company had disappeared except the two midshipmen, Thorne, and Griffin; when Mendoza and Le Brun entered the _sala_ with the air of men who had just escaped from a long, troublesome, and anxious job, and who rub their hands with delight at having finished it. “Come, Le Brun,” said Mendoza, “after our long _sederunt_, let us have a glass of the best the girls can give us. Ha! Thorne, how are you? wherever you are there is sure to be champagne--so champagne be it.” But Le Brun declined, and bidding an affectionate adieu to the ladies, and making a formal bow to Thorne, he withdrew. “Hang me if I like that man!” said Thorne. “I never knew a man who flinched from his liquor stand by his friend; and I shall make a point of telling him so,” said Griffin, following up Thomas’s resentment. “That may be the case in Ireland, friend, but cannot apply here,” said Mendoza. “But come, we can finish a bottle of champagne without any assistance. I leave you to-morrow, Thorne,” he said in a whisper: “the blood-hounds are on the _qui vive_, but you will see me double them.”