The Story of Monsieur Goupil
Chapter 1: An Unexpected Arrival
It was already two days since Ricardo had played a prank on Diego. Two days during which he became, with his friend, the center of interest of the pueblo... Not to say the laughing stock... At least, it was his point of view. The promise he made afterward not to make any other jokes, vanished. Swept away the day before when he crossed paths with Monastario. This latter thanked him for the muddy bath which helped him recover a radiant complexion.
The day had been tedious. The idea to discover the real identity of the Fox didn't leave him, but no one in the pueblo seemed to know who was hiding behind the mask. And, like in other pueblos he went through, for Los Angeles citizens Zorro disappeared during an assault against the encampment of the bandit named El Lobo. He then helped the military to find people restrained as hostages, as he heard before.
Ricardo was going to the tavern when he saw them arriving. They made a beautiful couple and quite a pair. Doña Salena had a strong temper and Don Diego was very patient no doubt about this, according to Ricardo's standards. The young couple noticed Ricardo and went to salute him.
"Buenas tardes," Diego said.
"Buenas tardes," Ricardo repeated, kissing Doña Salena's hand. "I didn't think seeing you here so late."
"Don Esteban and Capitán Toledano were wishing to see me. Moreover, my dear wife had a last bit of shopping to do," Diego explained as he turned his back to the plaza, while Salena was going close to a market stall of fabrics, still opened.
A stagecoach stopped and four passengers went out.
"Do you believe that Monsieur Goupil will be there?" a loud voice asked.
"Please, remind me what is the Spanish word for fox?" a female voice said as an answer.
"Zorro," the man asserted.
"And what was the old name of foxes in France in the past?" the young woman asked while their travelling companions went to the inn.
"I don't know," the man admitted while he ran his fingers through his hair.
"It was a goupil," the woman asserted by smiling.
Diego tensed while hearing the beginning of the talk. He knew those voices. His friend saw him turning pale.
"You alright?" Ricardo asked.
"Sorry... You were saying?"
"You don't seem to feel good... You're sure you're alright?"
"Yes, yes. I was elsewhere."
"You're white as a sheet, you should go and see the doctor," Ricardo said by noticing the two strangers.
Was it their presence which was making Diego so nervous and worried? Diego put his hand on his forehead and loosened his shirt collar.
"I really have to go," he whispered while going heavily toward Avila's office.
Ricardo turned again to the couple and looked around him. He noticed Doña Salena coming back with a nice fabric.
"Señor Del Amo, have you seen my husband?" she asked.
"For pity's sake, don't be so... rigid. Call me Ricardo, por favor... Furthermore, your husband just went to the doctor. He suddenly felt bad."
Salena frowned in disbelief.
"However, I had the feeling that the presence of this couple was responsible for it... Do you know them?" he tried by indicating them with a nod.
Salena turned toward them. The señora was charming and a little older than she. The man at her side was tall and owned a strong build which inspired fear and danger. The couple was close to the tavern, facing Zorro's amnesty poster.
"No, I don't know them," she said. "Now, excuse me, I will go and join Diego."
Coincidence or not, the young woman turned toward them at that precise time. Ricardo smiled and saluted her with a nod. She lifted an eyebrow, puzzled. It was well the first Spanish man to salute her like that. While Salena went away, Ricardo made a first step but finally stopped as soon as he saw the man putting his hand on his sheath. Del Amo turned round and ran to Salena who was nearly in front of the doctor's office.
The strangers went then in the tavern. This sort of place was favorable for gossips and other rumors. Maybe they would manage to learn more about this Zorro...
From the main room of the doctor's office, Diego observed the two persons by the window as he waited for Señor Avila. Were they Laetitia and Aldric? He heard a door opening and turned round.
"Doctor Avila," he saluted.
"Don Diego, how are you doing?"
"My right shoulder hurts me a little, consequence to Ricardo's idiocy and I have to admit that I'm feeling also a bit... nauseous. Nothing abnormal in itself, I think?"
"Let me be the judge about it," the doctor smiled, taking him in another room to take care of him in better conditions.
For that reason, Diego didn't see the couple going to the tavern after having looked at Ricardo and above all Salena which was just leaving Señor Del Amo.
Some minutes later, the doctor and Diego heard the door opening and closing twice.
"You have some visitors, it seems," Diego said by raising and turning his head toward the doctor who was behind him.
"I will see to them after... All seems to be fine for you. Your shoulder is well mobile and the cicatrization is going well. There is nothing unusual. However, avoid any hard labor," Avila joked.
"If nobody obliges me, I don't see any inconveniences. Moreover that they are very messy," Diego added by smiling.
"Monastario played a very dirty trick on you."
"The guiltier is my friend. Ricardo Del Amo. It was him who got the brilliant idea to start talking about jokes with Señor Monastario. What is more, are not you the one who confirmed Capitán Toledano's death? How did they convince you?"
"Monastario strongly insisted. I'm ashamed to admit it, but I owe you this... He threaten to let little Diego in my office for a whole day."
"And it made you weaken? Diego is an angel yet."
"A little devil disguised as an angel, yes. He doesn't stay calm when he is not home. His mother came, sometime ago. He didn't stop running everywhere and touched every tool when I was taking care of Doña Isabella. It needed the intervention of his mother to moderate him somehow. At that juncture, you quickly came in my office, dressed in black, and that stopped him straight... Do you remember?"
"Ah! Yes... I even wondered what happened to find your office all topsy turvy... It was little Diego?"
"Yes... You understand, I hope, why I accepted Monastario's deal... He didn't leave me any choice, the devil one."
"As for the participation of Capitán Toledano and Don Esteban, I was left speechless. I never would have imagined the capitán playing such a joke without warning his wife."
"He surely didn't have the time."
"Maybe."
"Well, you could put back your clothes on. I will go and see who my next patients are," the doctor asserted by leaving Diego.
"Señora De la Vega, Señor Del Amo, are you unwell?" Diego heard him asking.
"No, everything is fine. Señor Del Amo told me that my husband came to see you," Salena explained.
"Doña Salena, por favor," Ricardo whined by hearing her calling him so solemnly.
Behind the door, Diego got a little laugh. Salena pertinently knew that she could call him Ricardo, but she was very vindictive and she was still reproaching him for his prank. As much as it would be, she wouldn't call him some other way and Diego knew that fittingly.
"Your husband is fine. He needs to rest... His time on El Camino Real, as short as it was, sapped all his energy once again. Take care that he sojourns in a cool and calm place," the doctor said by looking straight to Ricardo who averted his eyes, ill at ease.
"Thank you," Doctor, Salena smiled.
Diego had chosen this moment to get out of the room. Ricardo found him more colored than before... Did his prank cause so much damage? Obsessed by his searching for Zorro, he forgot to question him concerning his pain that he noticed during their hard labor. No doubt that his faintness was linked to it.
"Diego, honey, don't forget your meeting."
"Yes, my dear. I will go straight away. Gracias, Doctor. And don't be afraid, I will follow your advice."
At the same time, when the couple of strangers came in the tavern, no one, except the innkeeper, cared about them. The general talks were about cattle sales and a few on the nasty prank played on the young De la Vega. The young woman noticed a free table next to the one of two soldiers. She made sign to her friend and went to sit there.
"What is that look for, Corporal?" the one who had a very good stoutness said.
"It's always hard to swallow, Sergeant," Reyes said with his monotonous voice.
"If this is about your drink, I can finish it for you," the sergeant said cheerful.
"This has nothing to do with it," the corporal retorted by moving back his drink like his life depended on the liquid inside it.
"So, what is always hard to swallow?" Garcia asked, as he didn't understand what his friend was talking about if it wasn't the drink.
"You know... That Zorro was..." he began.
He suddenly stopped by muffling a cry of pain... And because... The sergeant just crushed firmly his foot.
"Corporal Reyes, may I recall you that it is forbidden to talk about the former outlaw," the fat sergeant explained by looking around them and noticing the visiting couple who was looking at them oddly.
So, both non-commissioned officers know the identity of this man, the young woman thought.
"Buenas tardes, Señorita, Señor," the innkeeper saluted by arriving close to their table. "What can I serve you?"
"Your better wine, por favor," the young woman asked.
"Si, Señorita."
"Señora," the man corrected him a little too abruptly.
"Perdona me, Señora," Gonzales rectified.
The young woman put her left hand on the one of the man and the sergeant noticed a ring to her annular. They must been newlyweds on honeymoon.
"Sergeant Garcia."
"What is it, Corporal Reyes?"
"It's your turn to pay the bill today," the little corporal said before getting up and slipping away.
The fat sergeant sighed and put his hands in his pockets, miserably empty. He looked around him, hoping that Don Diego will show up... vainly. Then, he took back his goblet and inspected it… It was unfortunately also empty.
When the innkeeper came back to the strangers' table, he put down two glasses and a bottle before turning round.
"Señor," the señora called him.
"Si."
"I'd like to pay the sergeant's bill," she whispered in order not to be heard by the non-commissioned officer.
"You're sure?" Gonzales asked puzzled and opening his eyes wide.
"Si, Señor," she asserted.
"Very well."
He whispered the sergeant's slate and her surprise was huge.
"For today only?" she astonished.
"Oh no... Since the beginning of the week only. Don Diego wasn't there to offer him a drink."
"Don Diego?" she repeated.
Diego... This Diego? It would be too easy.
"Si."
"Where can I find him?" she asked.
"At his home certainly," the innkeeper answered evasively. "Excuse me, Señora, my services are needed," he added after having noticed that new customers were arriving.
"Do you think that if I erase the slate of the... sergeant, the innkeeper would tell me where I can find this man?" the young woman asked to her friend in a whisper.
"I must admit that I don't know. These Spanish are so unpredictable."
"Be careful what you are saying," the young woman reprimanded. "Otherwise, have you seen our travelling companions?"
"I think that they must have asked for a bedroom. I saw them going in a room on the floor above. The journey has been long and they don't have your stamina."
"Yes, indeed," the young woman said by taking a sip of the drink.
She slightly winced.
"Is it that bad?" the man said ironically by raising his drink to his lips and taking a good gulp.
He spat out right away the sip he just took, bringing all the customers' looks on him.
"That's not..." He lost his temper once he stopped coughing.
His ardor was interrupted by the señora who squeezed his hand even more.
"Easy."
She didn't want any troubles, she wasn't there for that. She could have stayed home and waited for her numerous enemies' wrath, who, in spite of their actual positions, were still influential and dangerous. As soon as they arrived in California, they heard stories about the highwayman named Zorro... Somewhere with those stories, she felt close to this outlaw. Where she came from, she was also fighting unfairness and excess of power. But she acted openly and had nothing to fear thanks to her lineage.
"Is everything alright, Señor?" the fat sergeant asked.
"Si, gracias. It went down the wrong way," the man lied by clearing his throat.
The sergeant seemed happy with this explanation and stood up.
"Sergeant Garcia," the innkeeper called him.
This latter turner round, ill at ease.
"Innkeeper," the young woman called using a charming voice.
Gonzales neglected the sergeant and went to the strangers' table.
"What can I do for you, Señora?"
"Don't ask anything to the sergeant, we will pay for him," the young woman asserted by taking out a well-lined purse trying to be as discreet as possible.
In spite of all the discretion she was able, Garcia realized that something was afoot.
"What are you doing?" he came asking.
"The señora just paid your bill," the innkeeper announced without thinking.
"The señora had... Ah! But no, Señor Gonzales. It is out of the question that the señora pays for me," Garcia was losing his temper. "That's neither conventional nor respectable for a lancer of the king," he continued.
"Señor, Señor," the stranger called him twice, raising his voice at the second call.
"Si," the sergeant exclaimed.
"That's not exactly the señora's treat, don't worry. It's myself."
"Really? And for what reason?" Garcia asked as the innkeeper was going back to his desk.
"To recompense you for the good services you bring to... the pueblo," the man underlined.
"Is that exact, Señora?"
"Si. I had proposed my fiancé to offer you a drink and finally we made another choice to thank you for all the kindness you brought."
"Muchas gracias," the sergeant said cheerily by putting his hands on his paunchy belly. "Buenas noches, Señora, Señor," he saluted then jauntily.
"Oh!... One last thing, Sergeant. One of my friends lives in the area, but I don't know where exactly. He told me once to come and visit him if I get the chance."
"What is your friend's name?" Garcia asked naively.
"Don Diego," the young woman retorted with a cajoling smile and crossing her fingers within her.
"Oh! Don Diego... You will find him at the west of the pueblo. He has a big hacienda, you can't get the wrong way. His father is one of the most important rancheros of the land."
"Muchas gracias, Sergeant. You've been a great help. Besides, if you see him, don't say anything about my visit. I want to make him a surprise of my coming."
A real simple minded this sergeant, the stranger though.
It was child's play, the woman though by smiling.
"You can count on me, Señora," Garcia said nearly on attention before leaving the tavern.
Crossing the plaza to join the cuartel, he didn't notice the young De la Vega going out of the doctor's office in the company of his wife and Ricardo.
This latter saluted them before going to the tavern where he went directly to his room without considering the people in the main room.
Diego and Salena went to the magistrado's office which was at the moment a place of meeting for the viceroy. Diego knocked at the door which was opened by Toledano.
"Buenas tardes, Capitán, Don Esteban," Diego and Salena saluted them.
The viceroy stood up straight to welcome the couple.
"What is such an urgent matter?" Diego asked once the greetings were done.
"A message arrived from Madrid. It is from Marcos."
"Is everything alright?"
"Yes... In a way... Some time before I was posted to California, he... owned up," he laughed, "to having been trapped by a señorita."
Diego rose an eyebrow, surprised by the allusion. He thought to know what it was about.
"Oh," he let slip.
"He told me that you advised him not to trust her."
"Why are you talking about this now?" Diego asked.
"The topic of his message refers to it. During your expedition, you would have been helped by a stranger named Monsieur Goupil," the viceroy explained by scratching the two French words.
"Yes, indeed," Diego retorted, hiding a smile of amusement to this memory.
"Marcos wrote me that this... Monsieur... is in great danger. Some people are ardently looking for him. He couldn't know the reason of these searches, nor learn their identities."
"In what way is my husband concerned with this Monsieur Goupil?" Salena asked also scratching both French words.
"That's exactly what I don't know. My son also asked me to warn Diego, here... Do you know this man?"
Thoughtful, Diego didn't hear the end of the talk.
"Honey?" Salena intervened as she put a hand on his arm giving him a start.
"Don Diego?" the capitán said, surprised by the young don's reaction.
"I... Yes... Please excuse me, I was elsewhere... Don Esteban, Capitán Toledano, why don't you come for lunch tomorrow. We will be more in calm to talk about it."
"We will be honored," the viceroy retorted. "We don't restrain you any longer. Have a good evening."
"Gracias. Good evening to you, Don Esteban, Capitán," Diego saluted.
Salena saluted both men at her turn and followed Diego to the carriage.
"Diego?" Salena interrogated.
She said nothing more, but all was in her intonation. She wished to learn more.
"Without saying too much, let's say that Monsieur Goupil is another me."
"You speak French, my dear?" Salena questioned in front of the ease of Diego to say those words.
"That's correct, my love," he answered in French before kissing her tenderly.
…
On the morning after, it was panic for Don Alejandro at the hacienda. It had to be said that his son, coming home late the day before with his wife, didn't wake him to announce the coming of the viceroy and Arturo Toledano.
"Still, Diego, you could have warned me last evening," Don Alejandro grumbled.
"It wouldn't have changed anything, Father."
"Of course it would... I would have woken earlier to inform the servants."
"Patrón, if I may," Cresencia intervened, "Don Diego told us about it as soon as he came home."
"He... And did he tell you what it was suitable to prepare?"
"No, but Doña Salena, yes. What you asked us is complementary to her advices."
Don Alejandro looked at his daughter-in-law with delight.
"Salena, I don't know how to thank you," he said by holding her in his arms.
"You learnt me well," she retorted. "It's to me to thank you."
"Gracias, Cresencia," Diego whispered to her, permitting her to go back to her work.
...
On the end of the morning a coach stopped in front of the hacienda. The capitán and the viceroy came out and were welcomed by Cresencia who led them to the library.
Diego didn't take time to explain the reasons of the sudden invitation. It's true that Don Alejandro would not have stopped asking him questions in the opposite situation.
"Don Esteban, Capitán Toledano," Diego greeted them by inviting them to have a seat once they've saluted Doña Salena and Don Alejandro.
"I thank you to have accepted my sudden invitation," Diego said. "Don Esteban, what did Marcos tell you about his disappearance in February 1819?"
"He just said he brought you troubles, once again, and that you were safe thanks to Monsieur Goupil."
Diego smiled about it.
"Who is this man?" Don Alejandro asked. "And what is the viceroy talking about?"
"That's an old and long story father... Permit me to narrate it to you... But, please, no interruption."
"Very well," Don Alejandro asserted by crossing his arms and taking place in the back of his seat.
"We are all ears, Diego," Don Esteban underlined.
"First, I have to inform you that I may mix up the order of my memories. Don't hold it against me, I beg you."
"Have no fear, Diego," Don Alejandro smiled.
"Gracias... All began in February 1819... I just arrived in Llivia... A Spanish pueblo isolated in French territory..."
