'It is on account of your relationship with Lisala,' de Pombal promptly informed him.
His worst fears confirmed, Roger decided that, instead of expressing regret and bowing under the abuse he expected the outraged father to heap upon him, he would carry the war into the enemy's camp. With all the dignity he could muster, he said firmly:
'Your Lordship has long been aware of my passionate, attachment to your daughter. I informed you of it the day after the Nunez sailed from Lisbon, and that I wished to marry her. That matters are at present as they are is entirely due to your refusal to allow us to become affianced. You have only to give your consent, and I will happily make Lisala my wife.'
With a mildness that, in the circumstances, Roger found truly amazing, the Marquis replied, 'Mr. Brook, I willingly concede that the present situation is of my own making; because, although I refused my consent to an engagement, I did give you permission to make Lisala the object of your attentions. Seeing that the two of you were about to be confined for several weeks in the close quarters of a crowded ship, I saw no alternative. But now that we are settled here in Brazil I cannot allow the association to continue. The fact that you are living under the same roof, and your constant attendance on her wherever we go, is prejudicial to my arranging for her a ... er ... please forgive the expression but I must be plain ... a more suitable marriage.'
Roger's surprise at de Pombal's forbearance was swiftly overtaken by relief. His last words were a clear indication that, after all, he did not know that his daughter was Roger's mistress. He was simply anxious to secure for her a husband of his own choice; and, as long as the handsome Mr. Brook continued to be her constant companion, that would prove a serious obstacle to arranging a match.
The relief Roger felt was only momentary. He had escaped the scathing reproaches of an indignant parent, but was still faced with the prospect of being again separated from his bewitching Lisala. With a frown, he asked:
'In what way, milord, do you consider me an unsuitable husband for your daughter? I possess a not inconsiderable fortune and from England I can, in due course, have funds transmitted to me here. Whereas the Portuguese nobility now in Brazil are cut off from their sources of revenue; and will remain so as long as the Emperor Napoleon continues master of the Continent. With regard to birth, I consider few of your friends my superior. I am the son of an English Admiral and, on my mother's side, have noble blood. She was the daughter of a Scottish Earl.'
De Pombal's eyes suddenly grew hard, and his voice harsh. 'So you say; but I have no guarantee that you are speaking the truth!'
'My Lord!' Roger began an indignant protest
Angrily the Marquis cut him short. 'Can you deny that when we first met you styled yourself M. le Colonel Chevalier de Breuc?’
This bombshell took Roger entirely by surprise and he could not altogether conceal his dismay as the hatchet-faced Marquis went on scathingly:
'Have you recently regarded yourself in a mirror? If so, you must have seen that, since leaving Lisbon, your hair has reverted to its natural colour. There, owing to your excellent English, you practised a clever deceit upon me by pretending to be your cousin. But you could not change your mannerisms.
When we first met at Persopolis, you had a decided limp. Evidendy you were taking great pains to rid yourself of it; for when we met again three months later, it was no longer noticeable. But while on board the Nunez you became too ill to control your walk so carefully. Within a week of being at sea I realised the truth.
'Had I disclosed that when we first met you were in the service of the Corsican brigand, you would have been hung from the yardarm. I refrained only because I at least gave you credit for having been inspired to this duplicity by a deep love for Lisala. It may be that you are now telling the truth, and that it is Bonaparte whom you have deceived. Be that as it may, I can regard you only as an unscrupulous adventurer; and nothing would induce me to give my daughter's hand to such a man.'
Under this torrent of acid denunciation, Roger paled, then said in a low voice, 'I thank you, milord, for your forbearance during the voyage. That I am, in fact, an Englishman, I vow upon my honour; but I do not deny that for many years past I have served the Emperor. That I should have done so does not weigh upon my conscience, and I will happily give you a full explanation.'
'I desire no explanation,' de Pombal replied coldly. 'At best it could be that you are a spy—so dishonourable a trade that it debars all those who practise it from respectable society. I had hoped that when you left the Nunez at Macod I would see you no more. Then, we landed here in Rio and learned of the exertions you had gone to in order to secure for us this comfortable accommodation, I could not bring myself to repudiate you. But now I can no longer defer taking steps to safeguard Lisala's future; and our continued association stands in the way of my doing so. It remains now only for you to say if you are prepared to make the house over to me or if I must find other quarters for myself and my family.'
Ruefully Roger admitted to himself that he was completely defeated. All hope of his marrying Lisala or remaining there as her secret lover had been swept away. Standing up, he bowed and said:
'My Lord. It should be easier for me to find quarters for one than you for four, together with your servants; and I am anxious that the ladies should continue to enjoy such comforts as are available here. However, I paid only a deposit on this property, so no doubt you will be willing to relieve me of further liability.'
'Certainly,' the Marquis replied promptly. 'I brought with me from Portugal ample funds. Let me have particulars. I will both make myself responsible for the purchase and reimburse you for such outlays as you have already made. Moreover, I wish to make it clear that I have no vindictive feelings towards you. I shall not disclose to anyone that you have created for yourself a dual identity; and when we meet in future, as we are bound to do if you remain in Rio, it will be as acquaintances who have simply decided that we have not found it agreeable to continue living under one roof.'
Roger bowed again. 'For that I thank you, milord.' As he had been considerably worried about how he was to find the further instalments to pay for the house, its being taken over was a relief. But that had hardly crossed his mind when de Pombal delivered another blow:
'You will agree, I am sure, that a formal leavetaking would prove most painful to Lisala; so it would be best if you left here some time today, without giving any particular reason, I will then tell her that, after you and I had discussed her future, you volunteered to leave rather than continue to compromise her by your attentions.'
For Roger that meant that he would be deprived of a last night with his beloved, the opportunity to tell her the truth about what had taken place and that, her father's having identified him as Colonel de Breuc had wrecked all hope of their marrying. But, since he could not say that to the Marquis, he saw no option other than to agree.
He went upstairs with fury in his heart, packed his belongings into two small bags, then sat down to write a note to Lisala. In it he told her the reason for his tearing, said that he would do his utmost to devise a way by which they could meet in secret, and vowed his eternal devotion.
His next problem was to get it to her unseen. As he carried his bags out to the stable, he ran into the giant Negro, Baob. It then occurred to him that this neweomer to the household was much more likely to prove trustworthy than one of the servants whom the Marquis had brought with him from Portugal. So he gave Baob the note, together with a muriodor and charged him to give the missive to Lisala when no-one was looking. With a cheerful grin the colourfully-clad black man accepted the commission.