Victoria became silent for a few moments before suggesting an alternative. "Perhaps… Perhaps there's another solution." She said. "But I will need your help."
"What do you have in mind?"
"Make sure he doesn't say anything. Every time he tries, we must interrupt him or change the subject."
Don Alejandro thought about it. "That might actually be a good idea, Victoria! Very well! We'll try that."
ZZZ
Diego spent his afternoon making sure the evening's dinner would go as well as possible under the circumstances. In his mind, he rehearsed several times the speech he was going to make, even taking the time to utter aloud a few times "I am Zorro" – the three words he could still hardly convince to come out of his mouth, despite the easiness with which he had started uttering them while trapped in the loop that past January.
He also made sure Maria made his father's and Victoria's favorite dishes. He even checked on their progress several times, until the cook – annoyed with her young master's sudden impatience – forbade him from returning to the kitchen till dinner.
Resigned, he headed for the library just as a letter arrived for him from Monterey, and he smiled at finding inside an invitation to Manuel Hernandez's wedding. He allowed his mind to fantasize a few minutes about his own wedding to Victoria, then put the invitation back, and the envelope into one of the drawers, just as he heard horses arriving in the courtyard.
"Good evening, Son!" Don Alejandro greeted him at entering the door, accompanied by a radiant-looking Victoria who, just like the young caballero, had made sure to look her best.
"Father, Victoria," he greeted back. "I was waiting for you. Dinner is ready." He answered as he took Victoria's hand to his lips to gallantly kiss it, a gesture he hadn't done as Diego since their first reencounter, the day he returned from Madrid.
Her eyes grew wide, and she glanced at Don Alejandro as if saying "See? I told you!"
"Perfect! I am famished!" The older don interrupted their tender moment, heading for the dining room and dragging Victoria with him.
Diego stared after them rather confused with the older man's behavior, but followed the two to sit at the table, just as Felipe, looking as dashing and elegant as his adoptive father, also joined them.
Maria came to serve them, then left them alone, returning to the kitchen.
Sensing his moment and gathering all his courage, Diego decided time had come to tell the two what he had, for so long postponed telling them. "Well…" he started, "I should perhaps get into the reason –"
"Oh! I was meaning to ask: Victoria, do you have any way to contact Zorro? I would really like him to be there tomorrow when I announce the pardon." Don Alejandro interrupted.
"I'll see what I can do, Don Alejandro, although I believe he might already know about it." She replied, focusing on the elderly caballero.
"Yes… As I was saying –" Diego tried to return to his confession, feeling it was the perfect moment for him to do so.
"So you suppose he might publicly propose?" Victoria nervously asked, in her turn interrupting Diego.
"I'm sure he will… As proper, considering he's been sort-of courting you for a very long time already. If he doesn't marry you on the spot, I'll certainly make sure to give him a piece of my mind." The elderly don answered.
"Indeed…" The tall caballero tried to utter, suddenly feeling he was being warned.
"Do you think he might want children?" The taverness inquired, glancing at the tall caballero.
"Ah… Yes, I am sure he does." He answered with a nod, his tone and the look he gave her making the young woman more nervous.
"I hope so, too! I want a house full of children. Six or seven at least!" She replied.
"That might just be too many–" Diego uttered hesitantly, certain he didn't want to risk losing Victoria six or seven times in childbirth.
"Do you really think he'll take off his mask tomorrow?" Victoria again interrupted to ask Don Alejandro, a dreamy look in her eyes. "I have always had this image in my mind: the Alcalde gives him a pardon and Zorro takes off his mask in front of everyone, then declares his love for me."
Now it was becoming embarrassing, so Diego was starting to hesitate.
"That would, indeed, be quite romantic, Victoria. Don't you think so, Son?" Diego didn't answer since he had the distinct feeling neither of them was actually talking to him. "And I'd be honored if you'd allow me to escort you down the aisle." The elderly caballero continued.
"Of course, Don Alejandro!" She uttered with a nervous smile.
Felipe was just staring at them, like his adoptive father, unsure of what was happening.
"Yes… About that… Victoria, Father, there is something very important I need to tell you." Diego informed them, silencing the two.
Victoria turned to look at him, and the look he gave her convinced her he was moments away from declaring he was in love with her.
So, as he opened his mouth, she stood up and covered the distance separating the two of them at the dining table in an effort to silence him, and hoping he'd understand she didn't want him to say anything. Instead, she ended up hitting a red-wine-filled pitcher next to Diego, who, too baffled by her attitude and gestures to react in time, saw his favorite suit and best white shirt stained red.
"Ay, Dios! I didn't mean to do that! I promise!" She said, taking her hands to her mouth. "I'm so sorry! I'm usually not that clumsy!"
Diego, noticing her nervousness, drew the only possible conclusion he could draw. "You know what I was meaning to say already, don't you?" He asked with a smile, as he was assessing the damages, glancing between his damaged suit and the young woman.
She stared at him with wide eyes and a scared face. "I… think I do. But I'd rather you didn't say it. I'm sorry, Diego. I was just trying to make sure you understood that you can't… Not now." She answered. "I… I'm really sorry! I think I should leave."
The tall caballero didn't know what to say as he watched the woman he loved walking towards the door.
"I'll accompany her to the tavern." The older don said as he also left the table, giving his son a scolding look.
Diego glanced at Felipe, who just shrugged his shoulders.
ZZZ
"I think you did well in there, Victoria!" The don congratulated the young woman as he reached her at the stables.
"Well? I ruined his shirt and his suit. I'm so sorry Don Alejandro… I was just trying to stop him from saying what we both know he was trying to say!" She answered.
"Oh, don't worry about that. He has plenty of clothes... I am so sorry, my dear! Had I known my son was in love with you, I would have made him confess everything far sooner. Then you could have either set him straight or accepted him, and we wouldn't be in this situation now."
"I'm sorry, Don Alejandro… but you agreed with me. He needs to understand it would be best that he never said out loud what he was about to say. For all our sakes." She answered, as both she and the don exited the courtyard, mounted on their horses.
Diego, who had slowly followed them, standing in the shadows, only heard that last part of their conversation as the two passed by the main door without noticing him there.
"Women truly make no sense!" He concluded as he returned to the house, at a failure to understand Victoria.
"What happened?" Felipe signed asking.
"I guess they did catch those clues I've been giving them, and they don't want me to publicly unmask. They've been trying to make me see it would not be a good idea, although I can certainly think of better approaches to doing that…" The tall caballero replied pensively. "Do they believe me so afraid of marriage that the mere mention of walking down the aisle and having children might make me feel so threatened that I'd do anything in order to avoid such fate?"
Felipe just shrugged his shoulders, feeling there was more to that strange dinner conversation than even his adoptive father surmised.
ZZZ
"Good morning!" Diego greeted the older don the following day as he joined him for breakfast.
"Oh, Diego. You woke up early today!" Don Alejandro mocked.
"I do that on occasion." His son answered light-heartedly. "I… I believe it's time for us to have a proper conversation."
"We certainly will. But not right now. Please… I have enough on my mind at the present…" The don replied while re-reading his speech. "Besides, I am too upset with you right now."
"Father…"
"No, Diego! I don't want to hear it! You had ten years to say it, and for ten years you kept your secret… What prevented you from telling me, and, most of all, Victoria, for that matter, how you truly felt? You know what… It doesn't matter right now. I don't want to hear it! We'll discuss it tonight, when we return from the pueblo!"
The older don didn't give his son the time to answer as he folded his papers and was soon on his way, not sparing Diego a second glance.
ZZZ
The plaza was buzzing when the younger De la Vegas arrived there. The people were enthusiastically waiting for the announcements their new Alcalde was to make, as everyone already knew one of them involved an official pardon for Zorro, and nobody wanted to lose the moment their hero would finally reveal his true identity.
"Good afternoon, my friends," Don Alejandro greeted from atop a box, which allowed everyone to see him and for him to see them. "Most of you already know why I invited you here today, and I don't intend to make this any longer than it needs to be, so I'll get to the point.
"Firstly, there are some important aspects concerning the future of this pueblo we need to discuss.
"After reviewing all the registries, I found that a sum of 9, 324 pesos has been collected from us all, during the times of Luis Ramone, money he registered as funds to be used for improvements to the pueblo. The mentioned money was never actually used, however, and it's, thus, available to be employed as we deem necessary. So, for the last couple of weeks, with my son's help, I've been working on a plan to use it so that we could all benefit from it.
"That was my first reason to have you all here: to present you that plan and give you the chance to express your own opinions before I finalize it and put it into action."
As he said that, Diego, who was standing next to the tavern, smiled at seeing the disconcerted faces of the Los Angelinos. What his father was doing had never been done before. None of his predecessors, not even the alcaldes who had preceded Luis Ramone, had ever asked for the people's opinion on anything, and they didn't know how to react when someone finally did.
"We have identified," the older don continued, taking out a paper from his jacket and glancing at it, "a list of four projects to be implemented as soon as possible.
"The first one is building a new bridge to Santa Paula. The old one has collapsed twice already in the past five or six years due to the floods and to it being situated in the wrong location. For that reason, it is not only necessary to build a new bridge, but also to build a half-a-mile road to the new site where the bridge is to be located, and a similar one to unite it to the main road on the other side. The total costs for this endeavor, including materials and workers, amount to approximately 2, 500 pesos.
"The second priority is a new school for the pueblo's children. As per our calculations, this second endeavor should cost approximately 350 pesos, including the furniture."
"Thirdly, my son suggested, and I agree with him, that a new dam, able to prevent future floods, as well as a system of channels for the water to be redirected towards those parts of the territory lacking it, so it might be used for farming, should also be built. The dam could also be useful as an additional water supply during the dry summers, so that Los Angeles would never be left without at least two different water sources – the current aqueduct to the plaza, and the dam. The costs for such an ambitious project should reach, yet not much surpass, 6000 pesos, which leaves us 450 pesos for the last project: the extension of the medical office, due to become a true hospital."
The caballero took a break after this to look inquisitively towards his audience. "If there are those among you who believe we should consider other priorities than the ones already discussed, the floor is yours, my friends." He uttered, and, for a few moments, nobody said anything.
"How about a storage house and a permanent market?" Victoria was the only one brave enough to inquire. "The farmers need to carry their vegetables, fruits, meats and other products back and forth from their houses, and, at present, can only sell them on market day." She explained.
"Indeed, my son also mentioned that issue, proposing to postpone the expansion of the medical office and build the storage instead." Don Alejandro replied, and several other voices were heard mumbling, although nobody said anything further.
"I also agree!" Jessie, the only De Soto present at the meeting replied. "A storage and a permanent market for the people to sell and buy their produce is more important at present than expanding the hospital. Most of the time, the current medical office is large enough for the injured and the sick and, unless something really bad happens, it should be enough for a while longer, until funds could be found to extend it."
The crowd cheered its consent.
"Very well, then." Don Alejandro agreed. "Instead of using the money to expand the medical office, we'll create a permanent, covered market and a storage facility."
Cheers followed.
"Besides the projects I already mentioned, though, as you must all know, we also need to work on improving the roads to San Pedro and to Capistrano, hire a new teacher, make repairs on the municipal stable and corral, and build new roads to help those further away from the pueblo get here. All of that is due to cost an additional 7,000 pesos." The new Alcalde then added.
"The good news, though, is that we also have that money, or, at least, most of it, in the form of the reward money for Zorro… whom, in light of the years he had spent helping this community, is hereby offered a full and absolute pardon..." As he said that, taking out the official document, the entire plaza erupted into cheers.
"I'm afraid that won't happen." A voice was heard from behind the crowd as soon as the cheers quieted down, and a man in a white uniform reminiscent of that worn by Emissary Risendo, made his way towards Don Alejandro, accompanied by ten lancers. "But you may use that money as soon as you capture and hang the masked menace. That is a direct order from Governor Frasquez. Just as it's also the direct order of the governor for this pueblo to pay 10,000 pesos in taxes as a proof of loyalty to the Spanish Crown."
"Proof of loyalty?" Victoria questioned just as the man handed Don Alejandro several scrolled papers. "This territory now belongs to Mexico! You can't ask for any more money from us to pay a king who never even cared about Los Angeles!"
"Arrest her!" The man ordered two of his lancers, who hurriedly obeyed. "I will not have anyone fomenting revolution around here! Put her in front of a firing squad right away!"