“My friends and countrymen,” he said, “I am glad you are here tonight because those who have been invited to the Palace come as your guests and it is in your name that I entertain them. This is the first party I have ever given here in Jācara and it will be the last for a long time.

“There is work to do, for, as I told you this morning, you and I are going to work so that Mariposa can take her place among the other great States of the Americas. Tonight, then, I wish to get to know the people who have long and honourable connections with our country and whom we can trust to help us In the future. In your name I bid them welcome and I would like you to show that you welcome them too.”

Cheers and shouts went up at that.

The cheering continued as El Diablo received his guests in full view of the people outside. They shook hands and then went past him into the Palace.

Skye slipped her hand into El Diablo’s.

She felt herself tremble as his fingers touched hers and something in his eyes as he looked down at her upturned face made her heart leap with a sudden gladness.

He wanted her still, she was sure of it.

There was the same magnetism about him, the same strange air of compelling possessiveness that she had felt so often and fought against so fruitlessly.

Another guest claimed his attention and she walked with Jimmy at her side into the Palace.

It was even lovelier than she had imagined. Time and a succession of Dictators had not spoiled the old Spanish atmosphere or its original architecture. The great cool rooms, carved ceilings, the walls patterned with beautiful woodwork, painted and gilded, had remained unchanged throughout the centuries.

There were courtyards and flowery patios, marble halls and mosaics, eighteenth century crystal chandeliers glittering with light, and balconies on which one could stand and look out over the sea, which reflected the shimmering stars and the silvery pathway of the moon.

Skye and Jimmy wandered down the long corridors and in and out of the rooms. There was so much to see and so much to admire.

Eventually they went back to the reception rooms where the new President moved among his guests.

There was no exaggerated or extravagant entertainment. El Diablo was showing the people of Mariposa from the very start that his régime was going to be one of stern austerity and Skye thought as she looked around her that many of the Mariposans seemed to appreciate this, even those who might have expected to be feted royally so that he could gain their support.

The women had other reasons for appreciating him.

“He’s magnificent,” Skye heard one say.

“Why not?” a Dowager replied stiffly. “He’s a Veremundo.”

“More than that,” the younger one smiled, “he’s a man!”