Lesson 4: Lies have no feet and liars have tells
"How does he do it?" Antonio de Parma, one of Diego's colleagues in the Architecture class asked while he, the tall caballero and a few others were watching Ignacio de Soto laughing as he was discussing his learning strategies with his own friends. "I never see him in the library, and everyone knows where to find him every evening, since he spends them with those Hector and Miguel. Still, he manages to get the best marks? We study, and get passing marks, he doesn't, and gets the best mark in class!
"Speak for yourself! Our Californian friend here did better than just passing!" Nicolás, another of Diego's colleagues, contradicted Antonio.
"Yes! Diego is the exception. Still, that doesn't explain how Ignacio succeeds to get even better marks than him. And it's not just with this class. He's been among the first three in every class he's attended since our second year. Although, if I remember correctly, he barely passed the first." Antonio insisted.
"It probably took him a while to adapt." Diego suggested, trying to find an explanation to his friend's dilemma.
"Or he found a way to cheat." Antonio pointed out.
"What does it matter?" Nicolás asked, unwilling to continue that conversation. "The important thing is we all passed, and it's time to celebrate!"
"And how do you propose we do that?" Diego wondered.
"I know this little place, not far from here, where we can have a good time." Antonio promised, putting a hand around Diego's shoulder and guiding him outside, as Nicolás followed.
They picked Emmanuel, Armando and a couple more of their friends on the way, and they all headed towards a large tavern situated a few streets away from the campus.
The place was big – twice as big as the Escalantes' tavern, Diego thought – and, considering it was full of students, was very animated. Half of the taproom was used as a dance floor, most of the tables placed by the walls and, while it didn't seem to serve food, since no one was eating, most people had a glass in hand, cheerfully toasting, singing, talking or verbally fighting over the few señoritas there.
It was not exactly Diego's cup of tea, since everyone seemed to be misbehaving somehow. The young women allowed the men to take a few more liberties with them than it was considered decent, several pairs being easily-observed kissing in the corners; the few older men seemed dedicated to their glasses and most of them lacked balance; and the tavern owner was preoccupied with pouring water in the half-empty wine bottles, not caring much that others saw him doing that.
By the end of the night, though, after a few glasses of watery wine, and a rather amusing quarrel between two señoritas, who both seemed very interested in him, the tavern easily became one of Diego's favorite places in Madrid and he, his friends, and colleagues went there every time there was something they wanted to celebrate – from passing their exams to birthdays or just good news.
ZZZ
Diego's first letters from Madrid, his Christmas presents, as well as another letter he had written to his father, just a few days after the previous ones, all arrived in Los Angeles a day before Diego's birthday and Don Alejandro was barely able to stop Felipe from opening everything before even getting home a few hours after the mail arrived.
Victoria and Ramon accompanied them to the hacienda that day, as Don Alejandro had promised the Escalantes some bottles of brandy for their tavern, although, in truth, after having already opened their own letter and presents, they were mostly interested to find out what Diego had written to Felipe and his father.
The boy eagerly ripped the paper from the box in which he knew his presents were as soon as they all sat down in the library, and opened it to find a Spanish translation of Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe, a book of drawings depicting the wildlife of Africa, a hand-painted white-and-brown wooden toy horse, and a beautifully-crafted wooden sword. The child didn't even know which of the gifts he should focus on, but, eventually chose a different one: a pie Victoria had baked for him and Don Alejandro that morning.
Don Alejandro opened his present after Felipe did his, and found an original first edition of Cervantes' El Ingenioso Hidalgo Don Quijote de la Mancha, as well as a pair of white leather riding gloves, a painting of Puerta del Sol, and a box filled with flower bulbs to plant in the hacienda's garden.
A few minutes later, Felipe was also the first to open the letter Diego had sent him, and which included several sketches of Madrid and of some birds he had seen there and which did not exist in Los Angeles. He, Victoria, Ramon and Don Alejandro spent almost half an hour marveling at them as the caballero was telling the two younger people about his own impressions and memories of the places they depicted.
Finally, the aging don started reading Felipe's letter to them, which mentioned Diego's former tutor and his new wife, as well as his first impressions of the town, but it strangely omitted including anything about the De Laras.
Don Alejandro opened his letter next, and, as he had done in the case of the letter Diego had sent Felipe, he also started reading this one out loud:
"Dear Father,
"I hope my letter finds you well and in good spirits. With a bit of luck, you have received my message from Cadiz at least a month ago, and you know that I have arrived safely in Spain.
"The country is as beautiful as you, Mother and Mateo have always described it to me, and I find myself deeper and deeper in love with it, the more I see. Living in Madrid is a completely different experience than living in Los Angeles, but I have to admit that I very much miss California, you, Felipe, and my friends.
"I wish I could give you news of Grandfather and of my uncles and aunt, but, unfortunately, I have not been able to make their acquaintance as of yet. As it turns out, my grandfather would rather not meet me, and has forbidden the household from…" Don Alejandro stopped reading out loud at this point, but continued reading for himself, his face turning red with anger.
"What does it say?" Victoria asked.
"It says that my father-in-law forbade his household from either receiving or reaching out to Diego, so he has been staying in his former tutor's house in Madrid." He uttered dumbfounded. "I can't believe this! The Count always mentioned in his letters how much he wanted to meet Diego. The two of them wrote to each other every few months! They've been in correspondence since my son learned how to read and write, and now he doesn't want to know anything about him? I can't understand this…"
"I'm sure there must be an explanation!" Victoria uttered. "Doesn't he say anything else?"
"He says he's been mostly alone after Mateo and his wife left on their honeymoon, but met a nice older gentleman in the park of El Retiro with whom he has taken the custom of playing chess and discuss philosophy and politics every afternoon."
Victoria offered the don a sad smile. "I am sure there has to be an explanation to all that, Don Alejandro. Perhaps it's some sort of misunderstanding," she said before glancing at her brother.
"Don't worry Don Alejandro!" Ramon tried to assure him "Even if his grandfather doesn't want to see him, I am certain he will soon make lots of friends! In fact, he had certainly already made lots of friends by now, considering the letter has been written months ago."
"There's also another letter he wrote about a week after this one. I hope it has better news." Don Alejandro muttered as he took the second envelope and opened it.
"Dear Father," he started reading out loud again.
"I must start by underlining that I am alive and well. I am unsure if any message to the contrary might have reached you, but, if such a message has arrived, please know it's not true. I am not completely sure, at this point, if it's a mistake, a very bad joke, or an intentionally malicious act. But, in case no such message reached you, allow me to explain myself.
"It started a few weeks back and you already know part of the story. When nobody from the De Lara household greeted me as I arrived in Madrid, I headed for my grandfather's house. There, a servant turned me away, informing me that orders had been given that I should not be received.
"All that turned out to have been a lie, even if the reason behind it remains a mystery.
"My grandfather had not been informed that I was to come to Madrid, since all correspondence from you and myself was intercepted by one of his servants. That was the real reason why nobody expected me. It was by pure coincidence, or a twist of fate, that the older gentleman I had befriended during my walks in El Retiro, and whom I mentioned in my previous letter, turned out to be none other than Grandfather Emmanuel. When we finally introduced each other, he insisted I go meet my uncles and aunt right then. As I did, Uncle Juan Carlos and my Aunt Carolina told Grandfather that they had just received a message informing them of my death at sea, in a shipwreck. The letter, was, of course, nothing but a forgery, delivered by the same servant who had turned me away from their house two weeks earlier, and who accused me of being an impostor, then ran away. It was by searching through her room that we found some of the letters she had intercepted during the last eight months, starting with the one delivered by Señor Mateo, informing him of my arrival.
"Now, as everything was cleared up– except, of course, the reason why the servant acted as she did – I am happy to let you know that I've been received with open arms by Mother's family, my Grandfather insisted that I stay with them until classes are due to start, after which I am still expected to spend the weekends with him, my Uncles and my Aunt. I fear they might spoil me.
"Hoping you and everyone in Los Angeles is in good health and begging you to give them all my regards,
"I remain your devoted son,
"Diego."
"Incredible!" Don Alejandro uttered after finishing Diego's letter.
"See, Don Alejandro? I was certain that there had to be another explanation." Victoria muttered, unable to think of anything else to say.
"Indeed! But I just can't understand who would do such a thing, and why?" The caballero wondered.
Two weeks later, when a letter arrived informing him of Diego's death in Madrid, Don Alejandro compared the sending date with that of the letter he had received from his son, and was relieved to find that Diego's letter to had been written after the other one. He mentioned it in a letter he sent to Diego, then put it away for safekeeping, in the hope to one day find out who would write him with such devastating news and why, knowing full well that it was false.
ZZZ
"Tell me, Diego," his uncle Álvaro wondered one Saturday as the two of them were at a soiree organized by a bachelor nobleman who enjoyed hosting his friends every week, "has your father taught you how to play cards?"
"No. He loves chess, but he's not much of a cardplayer." Diego answered, smiling at his uncle from behind the latest edition of Diario de Madrid – a newspaper one of the host's friends was just starting and, initially, tested it on his peers so that they would offer their opinion of it.
"Then I shall! A young man should know how to, at least, play Whist, Veintiuno**, Faro and Poker***. It teaches one not only to pay attention but also to recognize the signs that someone else is lying… or not." His uncle decided and stood up, inviting the younger man to follow him to one of the other rooms.
Diego carefully folded his paper and left it on the table before going with his uncle to one of the other salas, where several tables were placed and some of the caballeros there were playing various games, from chess to the card games already mentioned. The first thing he noticed was that it was harder to breath there, since many of the men were smoking, a custom he never understood or liked. The second thing he realized was that everyone was drinking and being as noisy as they could be. How can anyone focus in these conditions is beyond me! He thought to himself as both he and his uncle sat down at one of the tables.
"Don Álvaro!" One of the older gentlemen greeted him cheerfully. "And you brought Don Diego, I see! So nice to have new victims!"
"You should know I'm no one's victim, Don Camilo! And my nephew is only here to learn. Can you imagine he made it almost to 20 without being able to play any card game?" Álvaro replied.
"Really? Then what do you do at dinner parties in California?" Another man sitting at the table asked.
"That mostly depends on the party and guests. Sometimes we merely talk, sometimes we play or listen to music, sometimes we dance. At some parties, we even put on fencing demonstrations." Diego answered.
"So a lot like here, minus the card games." Don Camilo concluded.
Diego nodded with a grin and, as the cards were dealt, his uncle started explaining to him the rules of Poker, which was rapidly becoming the club members' favorite game, the others also contributing in the beginning. Since it was a rather simple game, they soon started playing for real.
As they left that evening, his uncle started explaining to Diego how every one of the men they had been playing with had their own tells which were enough to tell others if they were in possession of a good hand or just bluffing.
Whist, Veintuno and Faro Diego learned during his following visits to the club with his uncle. In fact, he became very good at all the mentioned games, in a rather short amount of time, as he had a natural skill for guessing the other player's tells. Eventually, though, Diego was asked by his grandfather to stop playing after Álvaro entered the house one evening to inform his father how Diego had just won over 1000 pesos at Poker, from the other club members.
"He can't lose!" His uncle uttered as he finished the story, proud of his nephew.
"The only man who doesn't lose at cards is the one who doesn't play!"* The Count contradicted him. "Now, listen, young man!" He addressed Diego, who had simply followed his uncle to the house. "There are four vices you must always avoid: alcohol, cards, tobacco and women. Avoid them or you'll end up their slave!"
"Father, Diego is a young man, and you basically want him to become a monk." Álvaro pointed out.
"By no means! You know what? Add religion to that list! I lost my first son to it, so I don't want to lose you, as well.
"What I mean to say, Diego, is that people become addicted to such things. Alcohol numbs the brain, but will never solve any problem for you.
"Card games provide an enjoyable distraction, and many people become addicted to the thrill of winning. But, just as easily as you win, you can also lose. And many have lost entire fortunes to the game.
"Tobacco I never liked. One can hardly breath after years of smoking, and none of my friends was ever able to quit it. It can't be healthy for you!
"As for women – they are the most dangerous of all vices. Each one can do as much harm as all the others combined. You can never win against them but can end up losing your entire fortune if you chose the wrong one; they numb a man's brain worse than alcohol; and just try to breath while kissing one! Not to mention many men worship them as if they were goddesses. Me included! Dios knows how much I loved my wife and daughter… There's only one exception with women, in fact: the one you want to marry. They may all be as intoxicating, but when you truly love one, and she loves you back, the world is yours, my boy! Just don't trifle with them, and listen to you heart, not your groins, before choosing the one you'll want to spend your life with."
"Yes, Grandfather!" Diego agreed, rather amused, and did his best to respect the old man's wishes, although he did, at one point or another during his time in Spain, utterly fail.
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*Quote from the NWZ TV Show – episode Broken Heart, Broken Mask, written by Eugene Pressman.
**Veiniuno = 21; the game played in Spain at the time was an older version of the modern Blackjack. One of the first references to it can be found in one of Cervante's writings.
***Poker – Historically, the game was either not invented yet or mostly unknown at the time. However, since the TV show does include references to it, I decided to accept its existence as canon, mostly because it is a better suited game for what I had in mind with this chapter.
AN: I hope you enjoyed this chapter and the story so far. Unfortunatelly, considering I might not have internet for some time, I am afraid you'll probaby have to wait a little longer than normal for the next chapter.