Then Ramón went on to the boat, the men saluting him with the Quetzalcoatl salute as he came near.
‘It is wonderful, really,’ said Kate, as they rowed over the water, ‘how—how splendid one can feel in this country! As if one were still genuinely of the nobility.’
‘Aren’t you?’ he said.
‘Yes, I am. But everywhere else it is denied. Only here one feels the full force of one’s nobility. The natives still worship it.’
‘At moments,’ said Ramón. ‘Later, they will murder you and violate you, for having worshipped you.’
‘Is it inevitable?’ she said flippantly.
‘I think so,’ he replied. ‘If you lived here alone in Sayula, and queened it for a time, you would get yourself murdered—or worse—by the people who had worshipped you.’
‘I don’t think so,’ she said.
‘I know,’ he replied.
‘Why?’ she
