"You have seen the signorina at the hotel?" put in the Governor. "No, I came straight from the yacht. I thought it advisable." "But the affair has been misrepresented. It is a mere bagatelle. There exists, shall we say, a certain disagreement between you and Signor Alfieri. There was an unhappy mistake, which I would have rectified without any help from the yacht. You see, rumor is apt to exaggerate." "I think you are taking a very reasonable and proper view, your Excellency. It will be best for all parties if we try to regard the incident in that light." Marchetti was vaguely conscious of a too complete agreement in the lady's tone. But he seized the apparent advantage. "Then that is settled," he said cheerfully. "I have already apologized to Signor Fenshawe. To-morrow a more ample explanation and expression of regret should remove any cause of friction." "I have reason to think there will be no difficulty in arriving at an amicable settlement, provided you fall in with the suggestion I am here to make." "And that is?" "That you release the Baron von Kerber to-night." "Ha!" snarled Alfieri, but the Governor angrily motioned him to be silent. "No one is better aware than yourself, signora, how utterly impossible is your request," he said. "The proposal is not even worthy of debate, then?" "But no." "That is a pity. My small experience of life has taught me that when two reasonable people, or even three, hold different views on any given subject, there is always something to be said in favor of each contention. Indeed, wisdom leans towards a compromise in such a case." "You presuppose a mere divergence of opinion. Here we have no room for it. Your confederate, signora, if you will pardon a harsh term, is believed to have stolen valuable documents from my friend, Signor Alfieri. My Government has instructed me to arrest him, and to use every means, not stopping short of armed force, to prevent the _Aphrodite_ from undertaking what is little else than a piratical expedition. You see, therefore, that it is not in my power, if I were so minded, to set Baron von Kerber at liberty. Compromise in any other direction would appeal to me. Where Baron von Kerber is concerned, I am helpless." His Excellency was firmly planted on the gubernatorial dais once more. Mrs. Haxton evidently demanded plain speaking. Being a blunt man, he gave it to her. But she smiled again, quite pleasantly. "That is what I may describe as the correct official attitude," she said. "If it were founded on fact, it would be unassailable. But Signor Alfieri can tell you that the Baron most certainly did not steal anything from him. If a culprit must be found, it was I, not Franz von Kerber, who should be charged with theft." "Ah, _Dio mio_, you hear? She admits!"