Chapter 11

"Is this not better?" Diego asked.

"Much, much better," she sighed into his chest.

They had danced purposefully, if not sneakily, right out of the dancing crowd and were now upon the greensward that lined the eastern side of the mission. The turf was springy beneath their feet as the two swayed to the distant music filtering through the high bank of bushes.

Being so close to the crowd, yet so separated, brought a feeling of timelessness to their dancing. Victoria found herself wishing for the music never to end. She wanted more of this…

"Victoria?"

"Mmm?" she answered dreamily as she drank in his scent. Unmistakable!

"Victoria, I think …I don't know how to ask…"

She drew back from him, locking her arms about his waist. Their eyes had become adjusted to the low light seeping through the shrubbery, and she could just make out the barest minimum of his features. The dim light let the deep shadows play across his face to leave their own mask there. If there was any doubt left in her heart, she had only to look at him now and see the truth.

"You want to know if I know your secret," she stated. An impish grin tugged at the corners of her mouth. "I should let you suffer a bit longer. I should lie to you as you've lied to me for all these years." She shook her head. "But I won't. I did not travel all the way from Spain. I am not one of those high-bred señoritas looking for a husband. But I want exactly what they want. Yes, Diego, I know."

"You'll accept me as…me?"

"Yes!" she replied with a passion that surprised him. Suddenly, she reached up to lock her arms around his neck and jumped upwards slightly. Diego caught her up in his arms so that her feet were off the ground. "You are mine, Diego de la Vega! Tell that to those traipsing señoritas!"

He laughed, but almost immediately, his face grew serious. As he held her at his own level, he had only to lean his head forward to kiss those welcoming lips. Long, long minutes afterwards, he set her back down on her own feet, but kept his arms wrapped tightly around her.

There, under the darkness of the new moon, the two kissed with a passion she had only thought possible in the arms of Zorro. And, in truth, she had been right. Only Zorro could give her that thrill of utter pleasure with each touch of his lips, each caress of his hands. It had always been only Zorro for her for so long. Now, she realized that it was only Diego that could have been Zorro.

With the intensity of their passion growing as each deep, smoldering kiss was exchanged between them, Victoria felt her knees begin to weaken. They finally buckled, giving way beneath her and pulling him forward slightly. If not for Diego's excellent sense of balance, they would have both tumbled down onto the grass. Diego chuckled silently as he caught her halfway to the ground, fearful of her mood lest another dress be ruined this night, no matter what the reason.

"My father will be —" Diego began as he caught and held her in the awkward stance, but he was cut off by the voice from behind him.

"Your father will hear about this!" Señora Sanchez stood there with arms crossed, glaring at him.

"Señora Sanchez! We…we were just…just —" Diego stammered as Victoria giggled.

"I can imagine what you were 'just-just' doing! Come with me, young man!" With that, she grabbed his arm forcefully and dragged him back toward the crowded plaza.

Diego cast an apologetic look back at Victoria, only to see her trying to keep from laughing. He rolled his eyes, for there was nothing to do but subject himself to the punishment to come. As the señora pulled on his arm, he allowed himself to be visibly, and very publicly, dragged through the crowd, gathering surprised looks on the way.

The señora grumbled under her breath all the way up to a spot directly in front of Don Alejandro. She jerked Diego to a stop as if to present him before a judge.

"Don Alejandro! Your son, I believe?" The señora nearly spat the word "son" out and then stood back, crossed her arms, and held her head tilted high in righteous indignation.

Don Alejandro stepped back a bit, surprised by the sudden appearance of Diego and his being manhandled (or was it woman-handled?) in such a manner. Then he recovered his composure quickly and adopted a passive countenance.

"Yes, Señora Sanchez, this is my son, Diego. What seems to be the problem here?"

"Your son," she shot Diego a withering look and gathered herself for the onslaught, "your son was in the bushes with Señorita Escalante! Heaven only knows what —"

"In the bushes?" Don Alejandro repeated and allowed his mouth to fall open.

"Yes!"

Don Alejandro looked over at Diego just in time to see him wince. But there was something else there too in his face. What was it?

"Diego? What have you to say?"

Diego drew himself up to his full height and sighed heavily. "We were just talking, and —"

"You don't have to be in that position to talk!" Señora Sanchez declared loudly enough to turn the heads of everyone nearby. Dancers stopped in their tracks and turned toward the conversation.

"Well, we were —" Diego began with an almost diffident air. He knew he and Victoria had done nothing wrong. He also knew the futility of trying to deny the accusations of the dueña he himself had hired.

"We all know very well what you were doing!" she interjected quickly and then began a long tirade of abuses against decorum that she would have expected to see if she had not been there to intercede. With each sentence she proclaimed, the crowd behind them grew greater until almost everyone in the plaza was paying rapt attention.

As the woman wailed, Alejandro watched Diego. Yes, there was definitely something there. Was it…triumph? Diego wasn't being embarrassed by all this; he was ecstatic that it was happening! Well, maybe not ecstatic, but he was certainly not displeased with being berated so in public. Surely he knows what has to happen now!

Alejandro pursed his lips to keep from smiling. Then he began to try to rein in the señora's ranting by agreeing with her. "Yes, yes. You are totally right. I couldn't agree more. It is, after all, this very type of behavior that you are trained to….uh…"

But the look of indignation on the señora's face and the very idea of her trying to shame a grown man like Diego were just too much. Alejandro clamped a hand across his own mouth and cleared his throat to keep himself from bursting out laughing. After a long moment of silence in which he suspected there were others in the crowd around them doing the same, he finally turned to Diego, facing him like a judge addressing a condemned man.

"Diego, what have you to say for yourself? You seem to have compromised Victoria's reputation. I will not have that!"

"Yes, Sir… I mean, no, Sir. I totally understand. But, you see, Victoria and I, well, Sir…"

"You will marry her." It was a statement. There was no argument.

"Yes, Father, I am very willing to marry her. But it really is up to her, isn't it? I would …" His voice trailed away as he became aware of Victoria sideling up next to him.

"Don Alejandro, I am afraid I was as much to blame as Diego in this." Thoroughly embarrassed at being in such a situation, Victoria tried not to look at any one person in the crowd and kept her eyes on Don Alejandro. "It was all very innocent…" she began as she searched for the right way to explain. But as she said the word "innocent" she was very aware that Andrea had moved up behind Don Alejandro and was standing there, smiling knowingly.

All at once, Victoria didn't want to sound so "innocent" anymore. So she changed what she would have said and reached out to take Diego by the arm warmly. "We just got carried away by the celebration, the dancing, by the romantic moment under the stars. "I have known Diego all my life." She looked up into his eyes and suddenly forgot that there was anyone else present but him. "Diego, if you really mean —"

"Oh, I do," he said softly and turned to her then. Taking her hand, he held it over his heart and leaned down to kiss her sweetly on the cheek. "I always have," he said simply.

Señora Sanchez erupted, "Well, I never!" Then the crowd broke into applause at the unexpected turn of events. Laughter broke out as well, and the señora huffed off and disappeared into the crowd.

Don Alberto stepped forward from the throng surrounding them and slapped Don Alejandro on the back heartily. "Well, well, Don Alejandro! It looks like it is to be your son and a local señorita for the first wedding!" The applause died away and he continued. "People of Los Angeles, this night I have heard of other weddings to come as well!" The people cheered again. "Padre Benitez!" His eyes found the padre standing on the outskirts of the crowd. "Padre, you are about to be very busy indeed!"

A cheer went up and the celebrations began anew. The music struck up a happy tune and the dancers took up the beat. Many stepped forward to congratulate Diego and his father and the men all gave Victoria a smile and kissed her hand. Any embarrassment she had felt before melted away into a happiness that warmed her like a cozy, comfortable fire.