The discussion was long and rather stormy.

In the result, I was asked whether I would go with them quietly to the queen's house or be taken thither, _nolens volens_.

On answering that I would go quietly, I was unbound and allowed to mount my horse.
I do not think I am a coward, and in helping Senora de la Vega to escape and sending her off with Gahra, I knew that I had done the right thing.
Yet I looked forward to the approaching interview with some misgiving.
Barbarian though Mamcuna was, I could not help entertaining a certain respect for her.

She had treated me handsomely; in offering to make me her husband she had paid me the greatest compliment in her power; and how little soever you may reciprocate the sentiment, it is impossible to think altogether unkindly of the woman who has given you her love.

And my conscience was not free from reproach; I had let her think that I loved her--as I now perceived, a great mistake.