There came a little cry of happy surprise out of the recess of a wide dormer window, and the next moment don Ramon held Lenora de Vargas in his arms. VIII Lenora with the golden hair and the dark velvety eyes! Thus do the chroniclers of the time speak of her (notably the Sieur de Vaernewyck who knew her intimately), thus too did Velasquez paint her, a few years after these notable events--all in white, for she seldom wore coloured gowns--very stately, with the small head slightly thrown back, the fringe of dark lashes veiling the lustre of her luminous eyes. But just at this moment there was no stateliness about donna Lenora: she clung to don Ramon, just like a loving child that has been rather scared and knows where to find protection; and he accepted her caress with an easy, somewhat supercilious air of condescension--the child was so pretty and so very much in love! He patted her hair with gentle, soothing gesture and thanked kind Fate for this pleasing gift of a beautiful woman’s love. "I did not know that you were in Brussels," he said after awhile, and when he had led her to a seat in the window, and sat down beside her. "All this while I thought you still in Segovia." His glance was searching hers and his vanity was pleasantly stirred by the fact that she was pale and thin, and that those wonderful, luminous eyes of hers looked as if they had shed many tears of late. "Ramon," she whispered, "you know?" "The Duke of Alva," he replied dryly, "gave me official information." Then seeing that she remained silent and dejected he added peremptorily: "Lenora! how long is it since you have known of this proposed marriage?" "Only three days," she replied tonelessly. "My father sent for me about a month ago. The Duchess of Medina Coeli was coming over to the Netherlands on a visit to her lord, and I was told that I must accompany her. We started from Laredo in the _Esperansa_ on the 10th of last month and we landed at Flushing a week ago. Oh! at first I was so happy to come ... it is nine months and more since you left Spain and my heart was aching for a sight of you." "Then ... when did you first hear?" "Three days since, when we arrived in Brussels. The Duchess herself took me to my father’s house, and then he told me ... that he had bade me come because the Lieutenant-Governor had arranged a marriage for me ... with a Netherlander." Don Ramon muttered an angry oath. "Did he--your father I mean--never hint at it before?" he asked. "Never. A month ago he still spoke of you in his letters to me. Had you no suspicions, Ramon?" "None," he replied. "It was he of course who obtained for you that command under don Frederic, which took you out of Spain." "It was a fine position and I accepted it gladly ... and unsuspectingly."