She was vividly conscious of the nakedness of her shoulders, of the low-cut bodice revealing the soft curves of her breasts, moving tumultuously now from the violence of her emotions.

“That’s better,” he said.

His approval seemed even harder to bear than when he had found fault with her.

“I hate you!” she muttered in a low voice fraught with anger. “I hate you!”

“In that case you will continue to amuse me,” he said. “It is the mawkish sentimentality that most women call love that I find intolerable. Hatred is healthy and extremely stimulating.”

Skye gripped the back of a chair.

Afterwards she wondered what she would have answered if the Indians had not entered that moment with dinner.

The meal was even more delicious than the night before with wines of a subtle bouquet that might have graced a banquet in any great Capital of Europe.

But Skye found it hard to make even a pretence of eating. She sipped a little of the wine, waiting until coffee was served before she asked the question that had been trembling on her lips all evening.

“How long are you going to keep me here?”

He looked at her appraisingly, his eyes flickered over her face, vivid and lovely even in its strained anxiety and travelled over the rest of her body from her shining golden head to her silver sandals.

“Until you bore me,” he answered. “Even the novelty of being married will not survive ennui!”

Skye sprang to her feet.

“How can you be so preposterous? Do you imagine that I shall not be missed? Why, by now the Captain of my yacht will have telegraphed to my cousin in Chile. Search parties will be – sent to find me. You will suffer for this outrage.”

“I think not,” El Diablo said quietly. “You see, I have taken every precaution to ensure that you should see undisturbed the country you are so interested in.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Exactly what I say. Even a ‘twopenny bandit’ can have brains, if he cares to use them.”

“Who told you I had said that? This is a nightmare. No one could be so omnipotent – as you pretend to be.”

“I pretend nothing,” El Diablo said. “To set your mind at rest and to assure you that your inestimable cousin is not being disturbed, I will, if you wish, explain what I have arranged.”

El Diablo rose as he spoke and walked across the room to his desk. He took a letter from the blotter and brought it to Skye, holding it out for her to take.

“This is a copy of the letter that the Captain of your yacht received early this morning.”

Skye took the writing paper from him and then stood staring. One glance was enough to make her open her eyes wide in astonishment and her lips part in perplexity.