For that is how he regarded the perils of Fernando Noronha.

He was young, and the ethics of youth cling to romance.

It seemed only right and just that he should have been proved worthy of Iris ere he gained the heaven of her love.

There might be portals yet unseen, with guardian furies waiting to entrap him, and he would brave them all for her dear sake.

But his very soul rebelled against the notion that he had become her chosen knight merely to gratify the unholy ardor of some decrepit millionaire.