Page 110 - nostromo-a-tale-of-the-seaboard

ents must have been great, after all, since they had enabled
him to retrieve his political fortunes so splendidly. Charles
Gould, exposing his business with an imperturbable steadi-
ness, called him Excellency.
The provincial Excellency assumed a weary superiority,
tilting his chair far back near an open window in the true
Costaguana manner. The military band happened to be
braying operatic selections on the plaza just then, and twice
he raised his hand imperatively for silence in order to listen
to a favourite passage.
‘Exquisite, delicious!’ he murmured; while Charles Gould
waited, standing by with inscrutable patience. ‘Lucia, Lucia
di Lammermoor! I am passionate for music. It transports
me. Ha! the divine—ha!—Mozart. Si! divine … What is it
you were saying?’
Of course, rumours had reached him already of the
newcomer’s intentions. Besides, he had received an official
warning from Sta. Marta. His manner was intended simply
to conceal his curiosity and impress his visitor. But after he
had locked up something valuable in the drawer of a large
writing-desk in a distant part of the room, he became very
affable, and walked back to his chair smartly.
‘If you intend to build villages and assemble a population
near the mine, you shall require a decree of the Minister of
the Interior for that,’ he suggested in a business-like man-
ner.
‘I have already sent a memorial,’ said Charles Gould,
steadily, ‘and I reckon now confidently upon your Excellen-
cy’s favourable conclusions.’

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