Chapter 21

On the morning of the much anticipated wedding, a disaster was unfolding in the tavern's kitchen. Victoria was on the verge of tears as she saw the state of her beautiful wedding dress that she had made since the time that Diego or rather Zorro had proposed to her. She could have worn the other dress she had when she almost married Juan but she wouldn't do that him, he deserved his bride to be wearing a dress just for him.

So she had sold that dress to a family in Santa Paula, whose daughter was soon to be married and with the money she had received from them, she had bought new fabric and lace and with the help of the dressmaker in San Pedro, they had created a new dress for her future wedding. It wasn't as elaborate as the first one but Victoria felt it was more elegant in it's simplicity, something that her new station as Doña, required.

But now as she stared down at the once beautiful dress, she felt physically sick at the ruined mess. She should have kept the dress in her room but she left it downstairs to air overnight and now look at it. Oh what was she to do now, she moaned softly and she hugged herself tight as she fought back her tears.

Francisco and Ramon saw how distraught their sister was over her dress and no matter what they said to console her, it just made it worse. The brothers exchanged a glance unsure of how to help her but then Francisco had an idea of who could help Victoria. He sighed as he left the tavern and quickly crossed over to the shopkeeper's small business, where Felipe's aunt was staying. He knew that she would be able to help his sister.

Estrella had been renting several rooms from the pueblo's shopkeeper for the last three months, much to Diego's and his father's dismay. They tried to persuade her that she was more than welcome to have her own rooms at the hacienda but Estrella firmly but politely stated that she didn't want to put them to any trouble simply on her account. She was content to stay in the pueblo and besides she had temporarily accepted the position of the pueblo's teacher until the new one arrived from Mexico City. It just made more sense to stay in the small town than to ride the two miles between the De la Vaga's hacienda and the pueblo twice a day.

Francisco knocked on the door just as Estrella opened it. "Ah Francisco, you're early." she paused as she saw the apprehension on his face. "What's wrong?"

He shook his head. "You must come quickly, it's Victoria's dress. It's ruin." he replied without preamble.

Estrella frowned. "What do you mean it's ruined?" she replied as she stepped out and closed the door behind her.

Francisco told her on the way and when she entered the tavern, she heard the heart-wrenching sounds from the kitchen and rushed through the curtains, leaving the two brothers in the main taproom, looking helpless as to how they could help their sister.

Estrella gasped at the sight of the dress they had carefully arranged on a hanger the night before. The bottom half of the dress was ripped, almost shredded. "Madre de dios! What happened?" she asked in shock.

Tears bubbled in Victoria's eyes as she looked at the older lady. "A cat, a stray came inside...I don't know how...what I'm going to do now." she wailed as the tears flowed down her face and her lower lip trembled in grief.

"Oh Victoria." Estrella whispered as she pulled the distressed woman into her arms and tried to soothe her. "It will be alright, we'll fix it."

Victoria shook her head. "You can't, its ruin...Oh Estrella, I wanted today to be perfect." she clung tightly to her friend.

Estrella held her tight. "And it will be Victoria. You are marrying the man you love, how can it not be perfect." She pulled back and gently wiped away her tears. "It will be okay, we'll fix your dress. Now stop your tears, you don't want to go to your husband with bloodshot eyes, now do you?"

Victoria shook her head.

Estrella smiled. "Good, good. Now let's see what needs to be done." she said as she knelt down and gently touched the ruin dress and cursed silently. The stray cat had done a good job of shredding it but to her relief the damage was only limited to the bottom of the front panel, if they can replace it, then they would be able to save the dress. "Do you have any more of this material?" she asked as she stood up.

Victoria nodded. "Si I do." she replied as she walked to the storeroom, opened the chest that was in the far corner, pulled out the extra material and handed it to Estrella.

Estrella smiled warmly. "Good. Come, lets go and get Pilar and the dressmaker and we'll get your dress fixed in no time."

It took the women many hours to fix the dress but they finished it in time for the ceremony. Victoria was almost in tears once more but this time they were happy tears. She was wearing the dress and as she stood in front of the mirror, she couldn't even tell that it wasn't the same one. With great expertise of her trade, Senora Cruz had removed and replaced the whole front of the dress from the waist down so perfectly that no-one would have known about the earlier disaster.

"See, didn't I tell you that everything would be okay." Estrella gently scolded her young friend with a warm smile of her face.

Victoria turned her teary eyes to the older lady. "Si you did..."

There was a knock on her bedroom door and as Estrella was closest, she opened it to find Victoria's eldest brother standing there.

Francisco whistled softly as he saw his sister in her wedding dress. "Dios, you are so beautiful sister, wait until Diego sees you."

Victoria blushed slightly. "Gracias Francisco, are you ready to go?" she asked as she took careful steps towards her brother. Both her brothers had arrived five days ago and it was Francisco who was going to walk her down the aisle this time. She had thought about asking Don Alejandro once more but it just brought back too many memories of her almost wedding to Juan.

Francisco shook his head. "I've just had word that Diego, his father and Felipe are running late. Apparently they were on their way to the pueblo when the axle of their carriage broke. Don Alejandro had sent their driver on the horse to tell us of the delay and they should be here in another thirty minutes or so."

Victoria was worried. "But they are okay aren't they?"

Francisco smiled re-assuringly. "Si, they are, although I think that they might be a little annoyed by what has happened."

Annoyance wasn't what Diego was feeling, he was angry, frustrated and sweaty as they finally reached home after their twenty minute walk back to the hacienda. He knew that he was going to have to freshen up, they would all have to. Everything had gone smoothly until they were half way to the pueblo, when the axle suddenly snapped and it was only good luck that they weren't going fast otherwise they might have sustained injuries but as it was, they were only mildly shaken up.

Don Alejandro shook his head in dismay as he looked at the broken axle. "Well we can't fix that without a blacksmith. Jose, take the horse and tell the padre that we will be somewhat late and then return back to the hacienda." he said to their driver.

"Si, patron." Jose nodded as he unhitched the horse from the carriage and rode bareback towards the pueblo.

Don Alejandro turned to his son and grandson. "We'll walk back and get the other carriage." he stated as he began walking back in the direction of his home.

Diego frowned. "You can't be serious father. Why can't we wait here until Jose returns with our horses?"

Don Alejandro turned around and shook his head. "By the time Jose rides into the pueblo, then ride back to the hacienda to get our horses, then come back to us, we would have already made it back to the pueblo."

Diego's frown deepened. "But I'm sure that there are other carriages that Jose can bring back from there."

Don Alejandro sighed. "That's true but he would have to find the owners first and they may have already unhitched their horse from the carriage or wagons. Besides, I don't want my only son to use a borrowed carriage to bring his bride home in."

Diego shook his head, the de la Vega pride was showing in his father words and tried to explain that it wouldn't matter to him or to Victoria whose carriage they used as long as it worked. "But father.."

Don Alejandro held up his hand. "Believe me Diego, it is better this way. Let me give you a piece of advice, never ever keep your bride waiting." he said with a knowing smile.

Diego snorted. "Okay, okay. We'll walk." he agreed, even though he thought it was a silly idea to walk back to the hacienda and then go all the way back to the pueblo, but when his father is in a stubborn mood, there was nothing he could do or say that would change his mind.

After a quick wash and a change of shirts, the three de la Vega men had finally made their way to Los Angeles in their smaller carriage with no further incidents.

Now that he had arrived at the chapel, Diego was feeling a different kind of anxiety; a nervousness that he never expected to feel as he stood at the front of the chapel, with his son standing beside him. His father sat in the front row with his cousin Rafael and Margaret and their three children. Ramon Escalante sat next to Estrella and her suitor Don Antonio, while their recently arrived Alcalde, Senor Marco Gonzales and his wife Filomena sat in the second row with two of the four children.

Diego kept picking at an imaginary thread on his jacket and it took for his son to nudge him, to make him realise what he was doing. He forced himself to stop and smiled sheepishly at Felipe, who grinned back. Then his eye caught movement at the entrance of the chapel and he gasped as he saw a vision that simply took his breath away. His lady was coming down the aisle on the arm of her brother and he had never seen her so beautiful than she was right at that moment.

Victoria was so nervous that she was trembling as she walked down the aisle on Francisco's arm and when she saw Diego waiting for her, so handsome in his dark grey suit, her heart pounded with her love, she knew without a doubt that this was the man for her. After all they had been through over the last five years and even after the disaster of that morning, they were finally getting married. It felt so right, almost as though they were meant to be together.

As the citizens watched Father Benitez perform the ceremony, they couldn't help but notice the looks of love that the couple were giving to each other. Many of the women had tears in their eyes as they realised that they were watching a wedding between two people who were very much in love with each other. They didn't know what had happened to cause Victoria to love Diego after all the years she had claimed to have loved Zorro but whatever the reason, they were pleased that she had found happiness with Diego and he with her.

Before they knew it, Diego and Victoria were walking back down the aisle as husband and wife to all the best wishes and cheers from the citizens as they crossed over the dusty plaza to the tavern where a large party had been arranged to celebrate their wedding. The tavern itself had been decorated out with lanterns and paper streamers hung from the first floor balcony. A small group of men stood on the raised area and played lively tunes on their guitars, flutes and drums while Pilar, Maria and Teresa served the guests trays of wonderful food and drinks, with large happy smiles on their faces.

Diego was talking with Estrella when his father swept by them with Victoria in his arms as they danced together on the crowded floor. Rafael and Margarite were dancing and both of Victoria's brothers had found their own partners and were enjoying themselves immensely. In fact everyone was having a wonderful time.

Estrella followed his eyes and smiled warmly. "I see that your father is rather pleased with himself."

Diego chuckled. "Si, I don't think I've ever seen him so happy. He's been trying to get me married for the last five years." he turned his attention back to the lady standing beside him. "So you're really returning to Spain then?"

Estrella nodded "Si, I must. If it wasn't for my aunt, I wouldn't have been able to exchange letters with Renata and now that she is very ill, I need to be with her. But I will come back to Los Angeles, I feel as though I belong here." she added softly.

Diego smiled understandingly. "Does it have anything to do with Don Antonio by any chance." he teased the older lady.

Estrella smiled back as a slight flush rose her over cheeks, she had been spending time with Antonio lately and she was enjoying his company and she knew that he was enjoying their time together as well. "Perhaps it does." she paused for a moment. "Diego, I would like to have your permission to take Felipe with me, to introduce him to our family in Cadiz."

He frowned, he wasn't sure if he liked that idea. "You want to take Felipe with you back to Spain?"

She nodded. "Si, I would like to."

He turned slightly as he caught sight of his son dancing with a young senorita and from the looks of it, they were enjoying themselves. Should he let him go to Spain? He had been Felipe's age when he had left for his studies, so it wouldn't be a case of being too young to go. As he watched his son, he noticed how tall he had become, how mature he was for his eighteen years. He had grown up so much since his aunt arrived and he had discovered who he was. He was more sure of himself, more confident than he had ever been, now that everyone knew that he could hear and that he was able to speak more words. How could he stop him from visiting his family, especially since it meant so much to him?

He sighed as he turned back to find Estrella waiting patiently for his answer. "I had hoped to take him myself but I won't stop him if he wants to go, it will be his decision to make and I will tell him so."

Estrella placed her hand on his arm. "Gracias Diego, I know how hard it must be to let him go on his own but I will take care of him."

Diego smiled warmly as he patted her hand. "I know you will." he placed his glass of wine on the table behind him and held out his hand to Estrella. "May I have the honour of this dance Senora?"

Estrella smiled warmly as she took his hand. "It would be a pleasure Senor."