"I am inclined to think that Sir Antony Conway may be right, Colonel," broke in the voice of Señor Congosta. "The Princess's welfare must be our first consideration. To take her to Livadia at present is out of the question, and I don't know any place where she would be safer from Da Freitas than in this house. We have had personal proof of the excellence of Sir Antony's arrangements. As for her being identified in any way with our plans--" he paused--"well, the Republican government has been recognized by England, and it would be madness on our part to give them any avoidable cause for complaint." There was still a doubtful frown upon the Colonel's brow. "I do not approve of the situation," he said stiffly. "It is not fitting that the future Queen of Livadia should be living in this house--unchaperoned and unprotected." With a solemn face Tony drew himself up to his full height. "Sir!" he said. "You forget that you are addressing a member of the English nobility." The magnificence of the retort seemed to have a temporarily paralysing effect upon the Colonel, and before he could recover Señor Congosta, who was evidently the directing brain of the two, had taken the matter into his own hands. "It is well spoken," he said with another low bow. "Sir Antony Conway--on behalf of my country, permit me to express the confidence and gratitude with which we accept your assistance." CHAPTER XII MOLLY BECOMES AN ALLY Guy sat in his chair, and for a moment surveyed the admirably kept garden of Goodman's Rest with a thoughtful frown. Then his gaze travelled back to Tony and Isabel. "We are in an extraordinary situation," he observed slowly. It was just at half-past ten in the morning, and they were all of them sitting on the lawn at the back of the house, in a pleasant blaze of spring sunshine which streamed down out of a cloudless blue sky. Tony, who was smoking a cigar, had just finished giving his cousin a full and spirited description of his interview with Congosta and Saltero, for by the time he had returned to the house on the previous evening, Guy, who had been suffering from a slight headache, had already gone to bed. "I don't see anything so very extraordinary about it," said Tony placidly. "Everybody seems to me to be behaving in a most natural and reasonable manner. In fact I am just a bit disappointed. I always thought that people who went in for revolutions and that kind of thing were much more mysterious and exciting." "Well, I don't know what you want!" retorted Guy. "You appear to have got both the Royalists and the Franciscans on your track, and as far as sticking at trifles goes, I shouldn't imagine there was much to choose between any of the parties in Livadia." "You must remember that you are speaking of Isabel's native land," protested Tony reprovingly. "Oh, he can say what he likes about Livadia," said Isabel. "It's all true."