“I do not know, Master Adonis,” answered the magnificent lieutenant, very politely.  “But if you wish it, I will enquire.”

“You are most kind and courteous, sir,” answered the dwarf ceremoniously.  “I have a message for the lady.”

The officer turned away and went towards the King’s apartments, leaving the jester in the corner.  Adonis knew that he might wait some time before his informant returned, and he shrank into the shadow to avoid attracting attention.  That was easy enough, so long as the crowd was moving and did not diminish, but before long he heard some one speaking within the hall, as if addressing a number of persons at once, and the others began to leave the vestibule in order to hear what was passing.  Though the light did not fall upon him directly, the dwarf, in his scarlet dress, became a conspicuous object.  Yet he did not dare to go away, for fear of missing the officer when the latter should return.  His anxiety to escape observation was not without cause, since he really wished to give Don John’s message to Dolores before any one else knew the truth.  In a few moments he saw the Princess of Eboli coming towards him, leaning on the arm of the Duke of Medina Sidonia.  She came from the hall as if she had been listening to the person who was still speaking near the door, and her handsome face wore a look of profound dejection and disappointment.  She had evidently seen the dwarf, for she walked directly towards him, and at half a dozen paces she stopped and dismissed her companion, who bowed low, kissed the tips of her fingers, and withdrew.

Adonis drew down the corners of his mouth, bent his head still lower, and tried to look as unhappy as possible, in imitation of the Princess’s expression.  She stood still before him, and spoke briefly in imperious tones.

“What is the meaning of all this?” she asked.  “Tell me the truth at once.  It will be the better for you.”

“Madam,” answered Adonis, with all the assurance he could muster, “I think your Excellency knows the truth much better than I.”

The Princess bent her black brows and her eyes began to gleam angrily.  Titian would not have recognized in her stern face the smiling features of his portrait of her—­of the insolently beautiful Venus painted by order of King Philip when the Princess was in the height of his favour.

“My friend,” she said, in a mocking tone, “I know nothing, and you know everything.  At the present moment your disappearance from the court will not attract even the smallest attention compared with the things that are happening.  If you do not tell me what you know, you will not be here to-morrow, and I will see that you are burned alive for a sorcerer next week.  Do you understand?  Now tell me who killed Don John of Austria, and why.  Be quick, I have no time to lose.”

Adonis made up his mind very suddenly that it would be better to disobey Don John than the angry woman who was speaking to him.