"I hope you are satisfied.
Although the meeting may not be exactly as you pictured it, at least it has been very ardently sought and desired by you." Speechless, livid of face, his mouth distorted and his breathing laboured, Don Miguel de Espinosa received the irony of that man to whom he attributed his ruin and more beside.

Then he uttered an inarticulate cry of rage, and his hand swept to his sword.

But even as his fingers closed upon the hilt, the other's closed upon his wrist to arrest the action.
"Calm, Don Miguel!" he was quietly but firmly enjoined.

"Do not recklessly invite the ugly extremes such as you would, yourself, have practised had the situation been reversed." A moment they stood looking into each other's eyes.
"What do you intend by me ?" the Spaniard enquired at last, his voice hoarse.
Captain Blood shrugged.

The firm lips smiled a little.