She had gone towards him warily, afraid, as an animal might be afraid of some inviting trap. Then, as she reached him, she had looked up to see a strange expression on his face that somehow belied the sudden fire within his eyes.

She wanted to run away, but an innate pride prevented her from doing so. And, as if he guessed at the effort with which she held herself in check, there was a sudden twist to his lips as he reached out and took her hand in his.

“You came through that with flying colours,” he said. “Let me assure you that the ceremony was most necessary from my point of view.”

He bent his head as he spoke and kissed her fingers.

She snatched them away from him.

“It’s too late now to tell you what I think of you,” she cried. “Besides, you know already.”

He laughed at that.

“Still so fiery?” he questioned. “I thought perhaps you were too tired to be angry with me anymore.”

“Angry!” she retorted in a low voice. “I am past anger – I loathe you. I hate and despise you. You are everything that is low and despicable. No, you are right. I am not angry!”

He laughed again and before she was aware of what he was about, bent forward and kissed her lightly on the lips. He took her by surprise and, before she had time to cry out or try to struggle against him, he was gone.

The curtain that he had released fell forward and Skye found herself alone in her bedroom.

It was then she looked round wildly, wondering for a moment how she could barricade herself in, realising even as she thought of it that the idea was ridiculous. There was nothing in the room that El Diablo could not push aside with the greatest of ease. There was nothing, indeed, with which she could protect herself.

And so she had waited, standing first by the window and then moving restlessly backwards and forwards across the fur rugs.

Still he had not come! Why had he spared her? Skye asked herself now. For what reason? She could not find an answer, she could only lie back against her pillows and go over the events of yesterday as they had taken place, one by one, and know herself to be utterly bewildered and even more frightened than she had been before.

How right Jimmy had been in warning her that she had no idea of the dangers she might encounter in Mariposa!

Never in her wildest imaginings had she thought that something like this might occur. She had felt utterly sure and complacent of her own inviolability. Her British nationality and her American dollars had always seemed to safeguard her against any contingency and yet neither had been the slightest use in grappling with El Diablo.

A sudden sound now made Skye hold her breath with an agonising fear.