"Thank you," replied Eve, conscious of a feeling of pleasant reliance in this new-found ally. "But I have good friends--the Padre Fortis, my uncle, and--a friend of ours, Mr. FitzHenry." "Of the Kittiwake--at Mahon?" "Yes." "I have the pleasure of knowing Mr. FitzHenry," murmured the Count. "Now," he said, with a sudden smile which took her by surprise by reason of the alteration it made in the whole man, "will you do me a great favour?" "I should like to," answered Eve, with some hesitation. "And you?" said the Count, turning to Captain Bontnor. "Oh yes," replied that sailor bluntly, "if it's possible." "I want you," continued the Count de Lloseta, "to forget that this is the first time we meet, and to look upon me as a friend--one of the most intimate--of your father." "My father," said the girl, "always spoke of you as such." "Indeed, I am glad of that. Now, tell me, who have you in the world besides Captain Bontnor?" "I have no one. But--" "We was thinking," put in the Captain, in ungrammatical haste, "that Eve would come and live with me. It isn't a grand house--just a little cottage. But such as it is, she'll have a kindly welcome." "And, I have no doubt, a happy home", added the Count, with one of his dark smiles. "I was merely wondering whether Miss Challoner intended to live in the Casa d'Erraha or to let it?"' Eve looked up in surprise, and Captain Bontnor's blue eyes wandered from her face to the dark and courteous countenance of Cipriani de Lloseta. "Perhaps," continued the Spaniard imperturbably, "you have not yet made up your mind on the subject." "But the Casa d'Erraha does not belong to me," said Eve, and Captain Bontnor wagged his head in confirmation. "Your own lawyer explained to me that my father only held it on 'rotas.'" "My own lawyer, my dear young lady, thereby proved himself an ass." "But," said Eve, somewhat mystified, "the Val d'Erraha belongs to you, and you must know it. I have no title-deeds--I have nothing." "Except possession, which is nine points of the law. Will you take tea, and cream? I do not know how many points the law has, but one would naturally conclude that nine is a large proportion of the whole." While he spoke he was pouring out the tea. He handed a cup to her with a grave smile, as if the matter under discussion were one of a small and passing importance. "I suppose," he added, "you have learnt to love the Casa d'Erraha. It is a place--a place one might easily become attached to. Do you know"--he turned his back to her, busying himself with the silver teapot--"Lloseta?" he added jerkily. "Yes. My father and I used to go there very often." "Ah--" He waited--handing Captain Bontnor a cup of tea in silence. But Eve was not thinking of Lloseta; she was thinking of the Casa d'Erraha. "My father did not speak to me of his affairs," she said. "He was naturally rather reserved, and--and it was very sudden."