Chapter 10

After siesta, Diego returned to his office though his mind was still occupied by his memories of his time with his wife. Sitting down at his table, he smiled to himself when he thought about that. Finally, Victoria was his wife and nothing could take that away from him. To have her in his arms, to kiss her, and to love her simply made his life wonderful.

He had written only a few words on his article when there was a knocking on the door.

"Father, what are you doing here?" Diego asked, surprised, as his father entered.

"I was looking for you. Since you didn't give me a chance to talk to you today during breakfast or lunch, I went searching for you."

"Didn't Felipe tell you that I went to work on my articles?"

"Yes, he did, but I'm no longer sure if that's where you are."

"Where else should I be?"

"Diego, please. Since you told me you are Zorro, I no longer know what to believe you. All those lies about your whereabouts when you were riding as Zorro, and the acting you did at home. I realized that I don't really know you."

"I'm still the same one you sent to Madrid. My inactivity was only a pretense as you have realized by now. And it's not true that you don't know me. We met from time to time when I was Zorro. I didn't act then," Diego explained.

"Then your true self is Zorro and not the scientific scholar you pretended?" Alejandro asked. "I can't believe that you could act all the time in my presence, even when we were alone."

"I had to keep my secret from everyone, even you and Victoria, though it got harder each year. Felipe was the only one who knew."

"Tell me how you got the idea to become Zorro," Alejandro asked him.

"It's a long story and there is so much more to tell. I think Victoria wants to hear it too, so let us wait until dinner."

"You haven't talked about it with Victoria either? Didn't you tell her everything by now? I didn't think she would be that patient to wait for your explanations."

"There wasn't any time yet. Just like you, Victoria only found out my identity last night before the wedding and today we had to work. I believe she will join you in your questioning over dinner."

"Is she coming for dinner tonight? Don't you think it might be suspicious if she stays with us two nights in a row? What if de Soto doesn't believe Zorro left her? What if he starts comparing you to Zorro? Shouldn't you be more careful?"

"We are careful, but we're married too. Don't you want those grandchildren you always talked about?"

"Of course, I want them, but can't you wait a little longer until you're officially married? I don't want grandchildren if it means to see you hanged. Did you realize what you have done? You, a de la Vega with connections to the throne, has become an outlaw. There's a price on your head. My only son has a price on his head!" Alejandro shook his head. "If someone had told me that two days ago, I would have laughed at him. My son is an outlaw while our whole family has always been loyal to the crown. Did you even think about the consequences for our family?"

"I did nothing else but think about the consequences. I knew that I could never let anyone find out. Not you, not Victoria or anyone else. Felipe was the only one, but he can't talk. I tried to keep you all safe."

"Safe! How could you keep us safe? The moment you were shot and lying dead at my feet, everyone would know. It wouldn't keep us safe to say that we didn't know because nobody would believe us. How can a father not recognize his own son under the mask? Or a woman the man she loved? Who would believe we could be so stupid? How could I be so stupid?" Alejandro slumped on the only other chair in the office. "Tell me that, Diego. Who would believe it?"

"It did my best to hide it from you, and it wasn't your fault that you didn't recognize me. It doesn't mean you or Victoria are stupid. Don't blame yourself, Father."

"You can say that easily, but the fact remains that I didn't recognize you. Now that I know, the similarities are obvious. How could I not notice that you and Zorro were never seen together? How could I let you fool me that you had changed so much in Madrid when I sent you to study with the best fencing master?"

"Father, I know it's quite a lot to learn about me, but I'll do my best to tell you about Zorro. There will be no more lies. I promise." Diego rose from his chair, and the men embraced each other, patting on each other's back.

"Thank you, Diego." Alejandro unsuccessfully tried to hide the tears in his eyes. "I couldn't bear anymore lies from you. I know why you did it but it still hurts that you didn't trust me. I could have helped you."

"You helped me when you believed in my act of inactive Diego. The alcalde would have become suspicious if you had boasted about my fencing abilities or talked about the mischief of my youth."

"I still should not talk about it if I don't want to lose you to the hangman." Alejandro rose from his chair, unable to stay put any longer. "I have hardly slept last night. Everything kept spinning in my head the whole time. I wanted to check on you if you were really home and safe in your bed, as I did some times when you were a boy, but then I remembered that you are a married man, and I had to stay away. And today, you weren't there either. I wondered if you were really in your office or if the soldiers weren't chasing you right now. What if a bullet hit you? What if you weren't coming home? I couldn't stand it any longer and that's why I went searching for you."

"I'm here, Father, and you can calm down. Everything is all right," Diego assured him.

"I don't know if I will ever sleep again. I wished you were already married officially. I believe Victoria is the only one who can persuade you to stay home at night when I obviously can't, or you wouldn't have roamed the area at night these past years, coming home late and sleeping in the morning."

When Diego looked at him surprised, Alejandro nodded. "Yes, I figured that out last night when I thought about you and the recent years. It totally makes sense now. You weren't reading late, but you were out as Zorro chasing bandits. There were even some mornings when I was present in the pueblo when you handed over your catch to Mendoza in the morning and when I complained that I had a lazy son who spent his time with useless experiments, instead of helping me with the ranch."

"I promised you and Victoria that I would stop riding as Zorro, so you can both relax."

"Don't think you can fool me so easily. I know that nothing can keep you from coming to the rescue if there's an emergency. What will you do if de Soto imprisons Victoria? Will you stand by and leave your wife in jail or will you ride out in the night? Victoria may believe your days as Zorro are over, but Zorro will do everything for the woman he loves. Am I right?"

"Yes, you are right, Father. I will never let anything happen to Victoria or you," Diego admitted.

"What are your plans now for the next months?"

"I will start courting Victoria as myself and marry her as soon as possible."

"That's all you planned? You don't have anything better?"

"What else do you expect?" Diego asked.

"Haven't you thought about the dangers? How will you prevent the alcalde from becoming suspicious? Who will believe Victoria switched her love so easily from Zorro to you, unless you were Zorro? What if she becomes pregnant until the wedding?"

"The baby will be a little early, as it happens all the time. It will be all right, Father. Victoria's helper hinted that she suspects me of being in love with Victoria for years and that it won't be a surprise if I start courting her now after Zorro left. So, don't worry."

"Alicia thinks you're in love with Victoria? That's very observant of her. Why did she notice it when I didn't? I asked you to get married for years and never realized that you were pining for Victoria."

"Yes, she was the only woman I couldn't have because she was in love with the hero of the pueblo and never noticed me, except when she compared me to Zorro in my disfavor."

"Is that why you were so afraid of removing the mask when you talked about it before the wedding? I understand it now, but you shouldn't have worried. Victoria assured me that she loved you and not only the mask, as you name it. You should have trusted her."

"Yes, I should," Diego admitted. "I almost removed my mask once."

"When was that?"

"It was when I proposed to her." Diego recounted to his slightly amused father the circumstances of his proposal and how he nearly messed it up in his nervousness.

"I didn't know your hideout was directly behind the library, but I remember the old escape tunnel now that you mention it. Did I ever tell you that I dreamed about it? That I found myself in a mysterious cave with Zorro's clothing and his horse? Can you believe such a tale? It was so real."

Diego stared at his father, trying to find the right words. "What wrong, Diego? Why are you staring me like this?"

"It's not important."

"I think it is. Since you're making such a face. I insisted that you tell me."

"Father, this won't be easy for you but since you asked me not to lie to you anymore I need to tell you.." Diego couldn't finish because his father interrupted him.

"Tell me what? Another secret you haven't told me yet? Why won't it be easy for me? What else have you done that I don't know about?"

"It's not what I have done but what you did. You see your dream about the cave wasn't a dream. It was real."

Diego recounted how his father had dressed up as Zorro and ridden into the pueblo, only to be arrested as Zorro. The appearance of Diego as the real Zorro saved him from the hangman. "We all thought it would be best that we no longer talked about it and you seemed to have forgotten it, but now that you remember and mention it, it's best you know the truth."

Alejandro had turned pale when Diego told him what had really happened. The embarrassment was written all over his face. The recounting had revived his memory. "You asked the people not to talk about it, but the whole pueblo knows how I made a fool out of myself. How can I ever face them?"

"It happened almost a year ago, and I think the people have already forgotten it," Diego tried to put his father's mind at rest.

"The people will never forget anything. There will always be a gossip monger who will repeat the events at every inconvenient moment. Oh, this embarrassment. I feel like a complete fool now. Not only was I unable to recognize my own son as Zorro, I also acted like a scatterbrain in front of the whole pueblo." Shocked, his father stared at him. "And Dulcinea. Why did I name my horse like that?"

"Because you liked the name from the book!"

"I'll never read Cervantes again!" Alejandro grabbed his head with his hands as if he wanted to pull out his hair in shame. "How could that happen to me?"

"You simply knocked your head, but the doctor assured me there would be no lasting damage."

"No lasting damage! Maybe no damage to my head but to my reputation. You are the hero of the pueblo, and I'm the old fool." Alejandro wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. "I never felt like this. I realize that I have become old without realizing it. I realized so little and the time passed so quickly."

"Father, please don't take it so hard. Just let it go."

"I don't know if I can. My head is bursting from all this. I think I need to ride back and lie down a bit."

"I'll call doctor Hernandez and ask him to pay you a visit."

"I don't think that will be necessary, Diego." Alejandro rose from his chair and Diego noticed that his body was shaking.

"I'll ride home with you, Father. I'm finished here today." Diego quickly locked up, before he guided his father outside. Concerned, he helped him on his horse in front of the office. Before they headed home in a slow trot, Diego had a peasant boy inform the doctor that he was needed at the hacienda.

When they had almost arrived at the gate, Alejandro suddenly stopped his horse.

"Father?" Diego asked, concerned about his pale face. Diego dismounted and approached his father's horse. Alejandro put one hand at his chest, while reaching out to his son for help with the other. "Something does not feel right."

Then he slumped down and would have fallen from his horse if Diego hadn't caught him. "Father!"