PART 2
"Father," I say as I approach him in his study. "I have to talk to you."
He looks up and begins to smile, but stops when he sees the look on my face. "This looks serious, my son. What's the matter?"
"Father, today--uh, I'm sorry. I was stopped--by Zorro--He told me that there was a man named Ramirez, who wanted me dead, waiting to ambush me when I rode into the plaza," I tell him, stuttering like a ten-year-old child confessing to the breaking of a glass.
"What!" Father stands in amazement.
"Father, please, sit," I say, taking charge of my voice. I have to do this horrible task, and stuttering my way through will only make it harder on Father. "Father, Ramirez is 'Francisca's' lover." My father's face looks pinched. "It seems--She is not the widow de la Peña. She is a con woman who was trying, with her lover, to get the de la Vega estates."
"Is Zorro certain Francisca is involved? Is he sure that she isn't who she says she is?" Father looks shell-shocked. I have only seen him this upset once before in my life--the night of my mother's death. He had the same look of disbelief and grief on his face then. I know Francisca's deception will be quickly forgotten in a way that mother's death never will be.
"He saw her with Ramirez in his room at the tavern. He had warned me earlier that Francisca was not who she appeared to be. I tried to tell you earlier, but--I confronted Francisca, and she confessed the whole plot to me. I'm afraid the Widow de la Peña is dead; Ramirez murdered her. He is the one who sent the letters suggesting marriage. I'm sorry." I look in his eyes the entire time, but I wish I could look anywhere else as I see the pain increase.
"I've been such a fool. You tried to warn me, but I guess just wanted to believe the beautiful face instead," Father sighs, looking older than his years.
"I don't think so. You were half in love with the woman of the letters. You wanted to a chance to love that woman. Francisca's beauty was only an added bonus to you," I reassure him. I know, in my heart, that if the Widow de la Peña had ever made it to Los Angeles, my father would have married her. They somehow connected in all those letters they exchanged during the last five years. I regret her passing far more than I thought possible. Was it not I who, only a couple of days ago, chided Father for considering marriage to a woman he had never met? I now find myself mourning the loss of a stepmother I never had.
Father shakes his head. "You can't understand, Diego."
"Understand what? The way the craving for love changes your brain to mush? How looking on her face seems to make the day better? The knowing that the day you marry her you are going to be the happiest man in the world? I understand, Father. I understand," I tell him, lost in thoughts of Victoria. She will bring joy and laughter to this house.
I notice that Father is now looking at me curiously, his thoughts about Francisca forgotten for a moment. I realize that to him I am much like Felipe. To his knowledge, a woman has never taken my heart. He does not know about Victoria, and I cannot share it with him now.
However, I can share Zefira with him. It shocks me to realize that I have not done so yet. When I first returned home, I planned on telling my father everything about my time at university, but then Zorro was born and secrets were created that had to be kept. I do not think I told him a single event or person that I knew outside of the classroom, but I find it hard to believe that I did not even share my near marriage with him. Part of the reason I know is because Victoria quickly filled my broken heart. Zefira was a young man's first love. She broke my heart, but I am glad she did. She left it open for Victoria.
"I meet a young señorita when I was in Spain. I was passionately in love with her. She had the most beautiful smile I had ever seen. I was lonely in Madrid. I had a lot of friends, but I missed home. I missed the people and the places I grew up knowing. She took away that loneliness. With graduation approaching, I decided to ask her to be my wife." My voice is shaky as I admit my long-forgotten emotions.
Father gasps in surprise. His wide, unblinking eyes stare at me. "You planned on asking a lady to marry you? You never even told me anything about her."
I smile at him, trying to help soothe the sting of my secret. "I did mention her once in a letter. I went into great detail about the beautiful lady I met the night before at a ball. I think I even admitted to writing a couple of pieces of poetry about the lovely Zefira."
He grins at me, and I watch as he begins to relax. "Zefira--I remember, but that was the only letter you mentioned her in, and usually your letters were filled with details about your studies. I just assumed--I never thought you had gotten close enough to a woman to think about marriage to her."
Marriage--I plan on marrying Victoria. She will make a perfect de la Vega, and she will keep me on my toes. Just the kind of wife I need and want. "I did more than plan, Father. I asked her just a few days before your letter arrived asking me to come home."
"She turned you down?" he asks quietly, understanding.
"No, she accepted. I planned on us coming home and getting married here, but she said she wanted to be my wife immediately. So, I went to the priest and made arrangements." I am again lost in the memories. Looking back, I wonder why she never showed. She was always an honest and direct person, so her failure to contact me in any way was unlike her. I thought she was the type to tell me if she had changed her mind.
"You almost got married? You never told me! I--What happened?" His hands shake slightly as he walks back towards his seat behind his desk.
"I don't know. For some reason she never showed, and you called me home before I ever saw her again. I don't know why." He is hurt that I kept such an important event in my life from him. One day he will be furious when he finds out that I kept Zorro from him. Father was my closest friend when I was growing up, and I mourn the loss of that closeness. I am thankful that I have Felipe with whom I can share my secrets, but I wish I could have them both as confidantes.
"I never thought to even ask, Diego. I should have asked a few more questions about Madrid, but you were so eager to discuss what happened here while you were away. Now I know why the beautiful señoritas here haven't attracted your attention," Father grins, so relieved to know that I am interested in one day getting married that he has decided to forget the fact I kept a near-marriage a secret from him. "I'll make a deal with you, Diego. You work on getting over your broken heart, and I'll work on getting over mine. We need the touch of a lady in this household."
I wish I could tell him about Victoria. "Deal! Now let's go wake the lovely 'Francisca' or whatever her name is from her siesta."
***
I knock on her door. She opens it and her eyes widen when she sees me standing behind it. After all, she did expect me to be dead by now. She looks down and the hand on the doorknob trembles. She knows she has been caught. There are no options for her now.
Her voice is calm. "The soldiers are coming." It is not a question. She knows the answer.
"They are on their way here right now." My words are so cold I am surprised that ice does not hang from my words. Earlier, I sent Felipe to the cuartel with a note for Mendoza, so he and his lancers should be here any minute if I have judged correctly.
"I'll get my cloak," she says softly, turning back into the room. Her shoulders are slumped in defeat. My father, standing beside me, watches her sadly. One day, I will be able to forgive her for the pain she has caused. One day, but not today.
***
Outside, I listen as "Francisca" talks with my father. "Señor, the real Francisca showed me some of your letters. You made her very happy," she tells him, and I am pleased that she is helping to heal some of his pain. I wish my father had a chance to meet the real letter writer. I wish she had a chance to meet my father. Ramirez stole much from my family, something of a far greater value than all of our money.
"I only wanted to say, if I had met a man like you instead of a man like Ramirez, I think I would have been a better woman," she finishes. It only takes me a moment to realize that she is telling the truth. She is an easily influenced woman.
I think again of my Victoria. Her pure heart would have been broken if she had fallen in love with a man like Ramirez, but she would have stopped him from harming anyone, even if she was hurt herself in the process. I am blessed to be falling in love with such a wonderful woman. She is the kind of woman who demands that her man live up to her standards, instead of being willing to live down to his. Her heart and loyalty are unquestionable. We will be stronger together than apart, like my parents were, like her parents were.
Father watches "Francisca" ride away in the paddy wagon that Mendoza is driving. I assure him that he will be over it soon enough. "In the meantime," he begins. "There's a widow that lives in the next valley, Morena Gonzales. She has a very pretty and very marriageable daughter, and I thought perhaps you and I could take a trip over there--"
I'm amazed he is even considering it again so soon. "Father, surely you're not--"
"Not for me, Diego! For you my boy! Babies, Diego! I want babies!" he says laughing. I cannot help laughing with him.
We turn to walk back into the hacienda with lighter hearts. "By the way, what ever happened to that fine bust you did of yourself?"
I want to laugh, but I cannot. "Oh. I've started another one."
"Why? I thought it was very good," Father says.
"I'm afraid it received a rather critical public reception," I reply, thinking of the large hole now in its cheek from Ramirez's gun. Father would be amazed at how critical the reception actually was.
The End
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