Angelica had a moment’s doubt as to whom he might mean, and how much of herself he might be likely to know, but it was no more than a baseless fear, such as must come often to those who wear a disguise; for, as the conversation went on, she found that when he talked of Sir John, it was the Grand Master he meant, he having known La Valette in much earlier days, so that he would always be Sir John to him, and sometimes John alone in a careless phrase.
He did not press the point when he found that Don Garcio was not disposed to drink, for he was easy with others, as with himself; but he explained that he was driven to much consumption of wine while he had been in St. Elmo’s fort, the only water supply being from a well they had sunk, and that being brackish at times, which was not surprising
