We keep moving forward, I think the alcalde and the readers are curious to know what is going on. Thanks for following the story and especially to those of you who comment.
Chapter 8. Unexpected talent.
They broke apart and for a few moments neither of them remembered about the circunstances, the alcalde, Don Alejandro and everything else seemed to not exist, but Diego looked towards the window and she remembered what was going on. With her breathing a bit labored after the kiss, Victoria said to Diego. "You have to go, I have to go to sleep."
He had his face still close to her and said in a deep voice. "Is that what you really want, for me to leave?"
"You're pushing your luck." the alcalde murmured excitedly, as if he could talk to Diego. "She's going to realize it's all an act to get her in bed with you."
"That's what we have to do. I can't let you stay." she said in a doubtful voice.
"I have given you my word of marriage. I only ask you to let me accompany you to your room to say good night to you, as I did yesterday."
"Yes a woman did it, I knew it." muttered the alcalde in a triumphant tone, and realizing that they might have heard him he went back into hiding, hoping he had not given himself away. In fact he had said it so loudly that Diego and Victoria had to pretend they hadn't heard him. Diego only wiggled his eyebrows a little, but Victoria had to bite her lips to keep from bursting out laughing.
"Yesterday was a mistake, we must not repeat it." said Victoria picking up the thread.
"Yesterday was what gave hope when I thought you would never notice me. Having you in my arms has given me the strength to ask you to be my wife." he said in a convincing tone. "Just a few kisses and I'll be on my way."
"All right." she said to the delight of the alcalde, who was having a great time spying on them.
De Soto peeked out the window again and saw them coming up the stairs.
"Which will be her room?" he wondered looking up from below. He didn't have to wonder for long, because he saw the light from the candle Victoria was carrying illuminating the window next to the terrace.
De Soto stood just below the window, which was conveniently open.
"How long do you think it will take your father to arrive?" asked Victoria in a whisper. "Did you agree on what he was going to do?"
"I told him to wait five minutes from the time he saw the light in your window. He'll go out the back of the office and turn around to come in as if he were coming from the hacienda."
Victoria looked at Diego thoughtfully. "What you said down there..." she hesitated and couldn't go on, she looked hurt.
"What's bothering you?"
"The way you spoke to me... you seemed sincere. You could have said the same thing to others, and seduced any woman. You could have anyone you wanted and I wouldn't know."
"The question is not whether I could convince other women and keep it from you, because I haven't and I'm not going to. I don't want to have other women, just you."
"You sound very convincing, but so does what you were saying downstairs and it was a lie. How do I know when to believe you? You've lied to me other times, you're very talented."
"The performance downstairs was an act to convince the alcalde. This is real."
"What if some woman catches your eye in a few years? There are more educated women than me who would be better suited to be your wife, you might get tired of me."
"There are none better than you." she seemed wary. "I know it's my fault you don't trust me now. I have pretended with you when I wore the gentleman's clothes and tried to hide how I felt about you, but the things I said when I was dressed as Zorro were true. Each and every one of them."
She was still thoughtful and he reached over to take her hands. "There's something I never told you while I was wearing the mask. I love you, and I want you to be my companion for the rest of my life. You say I have a talent for convincing, so you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to use that talent to convince you that you are the only woman I want. I'm going to seduce you over and over again until in your heart you're sure how much I love you. I will do it for the rest of my life."
At last she smiled and they were silent again. "Do you think the alcalde is still down there listening?" she said after a moment with a look of distaste on her face.
Diego picked up a small mirror she had on the small table and crouched close to the window. Through the mirror he could see that he was on the side of the building, just below the window.
"Yes, he is."
"He's no nosy. I have an idea." she said, and let out a small moaning in a louder tone of voice than the conversation they had just had. The alcalde looked up at the window, watching intently.
"What are you doing?" asked Diego more with gestures than with his voice.
"I'm going to give him a show." she said in a very low voice. "Do you think he heard me?" Diego nodded and she said more loudly, though not too loudly either "Oh, yes."
The alcalde was still looking up, looking so comical that Diego covered his face with his hand trying to contain his laughter.
"Don't make that face, you're going to make me laugh." whispered Victoria to him.
"Then pretend I'm tickling you."
"No, I'd rather do this." she said defiantly, and again so that de Soto could hear her she moaned again. "Ahhhh!" and then look at Diego and say again in a low voice. "And you're not going to say anything?"
"As you wish." he whispered. "Do you want me to stop? I will if you ask me to." he said with a seductive voice and a gesture of accepting her challenge.
"Yes, we should stop, but... Oh, that, yes, that thing you do... it's so... ah... ahhh!"
Diego looked at her in amazement. "Where did you learn to do that?" he asked in whispers.
"Oh, yes." she moaned, and then very quietly replied. "Over the years there have been many couples who have slept in the tavern, and some were less than discreet."
Meanwhile Don Alejandro had left the newspaper office through the back and was arriving on horseback after making a short detour. Diego and Victoria were distracted with whatever it was they were doing and did not notice that Don Alejandro had arrived on schedule. Don Alejandro had heard the last few sentences and thought the worst. Getting carried away by his temper, and forgetting that it was a set-up, he got off his horse without paying any attention to de Soto and headed for the door of the tavern like a storm. The alcalde decided to stay right where he was.
The tavern door was not yet closed, so Don Alejandro entered and they heard him coming up the stairs.
"Diego, Victoria, what's going on here?" he said opening the door with a bang.
He found something unexpected, his son and future daughter-in-law fully dressed and more than a meter away from each other. He stood in the doorway, not knowing what to do.
"But what...?"
Diego gestured for him not to speak and approached him.
"Victoria had the idea that we pretended I was seducing her right now." he whispered.
"Well, it was very realistic." complained Don Alejandro dumbfounded, even after remembering the plan they had agreed upon.
"You'll have to yell at us. I think the alcalde is still down there."
Don Alejandro nodded. "Diego, this is outrageous! I came looking for you because I wanted to talk to you seriously and worried about you taking so long and look what I find! Take your hands off Victoria immediately!" Victoria made a comically offended face as she exclaimed in a compunctionate voice, "Don Alejandro, I..." and the three of them had to hold back the urge to laugh.
"Father, it's not what you think. She and I are going to get married." said Diego pretending to try to appease him, with a tremor in his voice that, although it was due to laughter and not embarrassment, remained quite convincing.
"Of course you are getting married. Tomorrow we will speak to padre Benitez so that he can read you the banns. In the meantime you will not see each other without being properly supervised" and in his most authoritative tone he said "Diego, button up your shirt. We are going home." "And you" he said looking at Victoria and, after pausing dramatically, added "we'll talk, seƱorita."
Diego smiled when he heard that, because he was wearing his shirt perfectly buttoned.
"See you tomorrow." he said to Victoria kissing her hand.
