He put his hand to his forehead as if to wipe away his troubles.
“I have been in some devilish bad scrapes before, but this undoubtedly beats the lot!”
“But if you send me away – will they not think it very strange?” Ventura asked timidly.
“That’s just it,” Lord Lynke replied. “If I send you away. I will have to explain what has happened to you. If I keep you, I am deliberately putting my head into a noose as far as my life is concerned in any Court, Spanish or British.”
“I am – sorry,” Ventura murmured meekly.
“Sorry!” Lord Lynke shouted, “And so I should think! I have done a lot of damn-fool things in my life, but even I could not think up anything as stupid as this one. A girl smuggled into the most respectable Court in Europe!”
He threw back his head and laughed.
“It’s no use, I
