No one could even tell whether he would come at all after he had consulted with Antonio Perez.

The skilful favourite desired a quarrel between his master and Don John with all his heart, but he was not ready for it yet.

He must have possession of Dolores first and hide her safely; and when the quarrel came, Don John should believe that the King had stolen her and imprisoned her, and that she was treated ill; and for the woman he loved, Don John would tear down the walls of Madrid, if need be, and if at the last he found her dead, there would be no harm done, thought Perez, and Don John would hate his brother even to death, and all Spain would cry out in sympathy and horror.

But all this Dolores could neither know nor even suspect.

She only felt sure that the King and Perez were even now consulting together to hinder her marriage with Don John, and that Perez might persuade the King not to see his brother that night.
It was almost intolerable to think that she might wait there for hours, wasting the minutes for which she would have given drops of blood.
Surely they both were overcautious.