He gave her the letter in its romantic pink, scented envelope with a
half-suppressed smile at her eagerness. Would anybody--would
Estella--ever be thus agitated at the receipt of a letter from
himself? They were at the lower end of the inclosure, which was
divided almost in two by a broader pathway leading from the house to
the centre of the garden, where a fountain of Moorish marble formed
a sort of carrefour, from which the narrower pathways diverged in
all directions.

Descending the steps into the garden from the house were two men,
one talking violently, the other seeking to calm him.

'My uncle and the Alcalde--they have seen us from the windows,' said
Julia quickly. All her nervousness of manner seemed to have
vanished, leaving her concentrated and alert. Some men are thus in
warfare--nervous until the rifle opens fire, and then cool and
ready.

'Quick!' whispered Julia. 'Let us turn back.'

She wheeled round, and Conyngham did the same.

'Julia!' they heard General Vincente call in his gentle voice.

Julia, who was tearing the pink envelope, took no heed. Within the
first covering a second envelope appeared, bearing a longer address.
'Give that to the man whose address it bears, and save me from
ruin,' said the girl, thrusting the letter into Conyngham's hand.
She kept the pink envelope.