Once landed in the service as you say of Senor Burke, it is not
so surprising that you should have gone freely about Spain. But
your other adventures are wonderful, and you and your friend were
fortunate indeed in succeeding as you did in carrying off the lady
he loved; and deeply they must have mourned your supposed death
on the deck of the Moorish galley. And now tell me what are your
plans when you arrive in Spain?"
"We have no fixed plans, save that we hope some day to be able to
return home," Geoffrey said. "Stephen here could pass well enough
as a Spaniard when once ashore without being questioned, and his
idea is, if there is no possibility of getting on board an English
or Dutch ship at Cadiz, to ship on board a Spaniard, and to take
his chance of leaving her at some port at which she may touch. As
for myself, although I speak Spanish fluently, my accent would at
once betray me to be a foreigner. But if you will take me into your
house for a time until I can see a chance of escaping, my past need
not be inquired into. You could of course mention, were it asked,
that I was English by birth, but had sailed in the Armada with my
patron, Mr. Burke, and it would be naturally supposed that I was
an exile from England."
"That can certainly be managed," the trader said. "I fear that it
will be difficult to get you on board a ship either of your countrymen
or of the Hollanders; these are most closely watched lest fugitives
from the law or from the Inquisition should escape on board them.
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