Chapter 26. Wifely duties.
On the day of the wedding the groom was much more enthusiastic than the bride. The days he had been courting Doña Marina had seemed very promising to him. Despite her mistrust, she was still sensitive to flattery and small gestures. De Soto believed that his interest in her son had also been an important factor, and he did not dislike the idea of contributing to his education, because he found it worrying to think that his son would end up being as naïve as his mother. As for her, he did not lose hope that in time he could get her to be attracted to him again, it was going to be a challenge, but that made it even more interested.
After the ceremony the newlyweds left the church and headed for the tavern, where Victoria and her assistants had prepared a celebratory meal for them. Marina was quite animated, she wanted to believe that Ignacio had been sincere when he read his vows.
De Soto was very pleased with the wedding. In addition to the Count, there were other guests of a certain rank, not the Count's most distinguished relatives, who lived far from California, but certain members of the local administration and several important men from Monterrey. After the meal he set out to talk to all of them and get information that might later prove useful. Marina at first accompanied him and introduced him to several people she knew, but gradually she withdrew, tired of talking to people who barely spoke to her because she was a woman.
Some of the men began to talk as if she wasn't in front of them, especially the bride's cousin, who looked at de Soto condescendingly.
"It seems that at last the little scandal has been resolved. I hope that now that Marina is a married woman she will be more discreet. My mother was in a dreadful displeasure when she found out."
"You have nothing to worry about, I assure you." replied de Soto coolly.
"Tie her up short. She was her father's favorite, and was brought up a savage. My mother always assured me that she has no refinement or elegance; that will hurt her in Madrid if she does not remedy it. I advise you to remind her often that a wife's duty is to obey her husband."
De Soto decided not to argue with that numbskull, who clearly had no idea about women, and took pity on his wife if any woman had ever been foolish enough to marry him.
"Anyway, if necessary lock her up at home. You know better than anyone what she is capable of if she is not properly guarded."
"I intend to take care of her and our child as they deserve."
"Well, remember that what she needs is a man of character."
Marina walked away from them to a less crowded area, which turned out to be a mistake, because several ladies took the opportunity to approach her and give her their opinion about married life.
After the dance, Victoria was busy attending to other guests. Her situation as the wife of a gentleman and owner of the tavern at the same time meant that she could speak fluently with practically everyone in attendance. Pilar approached discreetly and when Victoria finished a conversation with the daughter of one of the landowners she whispered, "The bride is in that corner over there, and I think she's had a few wines."
"Is she drunk?"
"Quite a bit, but I don't blame her, if I had to sleep with de Soto tonight I would have drunk even more than she did."
Victoria walked over to Marina. "I'm sorry I left you alone."
"Don't worry, you were attending to my guests. Someone has to do it for me, since apparently I'm insignificant."
From her voice Victoria could confirm that she had had too much to drink. "How many drinks have you had?" Marina shrugged.
Victoria searched with her eyes and located Diego a few feet away. When he turned to greet another gentleman she waved him over. He ended the conversation with that person and approached her.
"Do you need something?"
"It's Marina who needs to get some air."
Diego took a good look at her and nodded. "We could walk her outside for a moment."
Victoria shook her head. "She needs to be taken to the barracks, to her quarters. We can tell she's tired and needs to retire now."
" Alright, I'll go get the alcalde." volunteered Diego.
"Hurry up, I'm going to walk her to the door."
Pilar saw what was going on and went towards them trying to dissimulate a little.
Diego approached the alcalde and gave him a little tap on the shoulder to get his attention.
"Yes, Don Diego?"
"It's about your wife. She's tired, she's told Victoria that she didn't sleep well last night, with the nerves of the wedding. You know how brides are on their big day. I think she wants to retire now."
"I'll say goodbye to the guests and join her."
Diego shook his head slightly. "She is not feeling well. If you would like we can escort her and her personal maid to the barracks and you meet her there."
"Yes, thank you Don Diego, tell her I'll be right with her."
Diego caught up with the girls and asked Pilar as she approached the door to fetch Señora de Soto's maid.
"Right now I'll tell her to go to the barracks."
"Thank you."
As he left he saw that Marina was leaning somewhat against Victoria and was having trouble walking in a straight line.
"Let me offer you my arm." he said gracefully, but he caught her with more force than usual to keep her from falling, and he did so just in time.
"Where is Ignacio?" she asked.
"Saying goodbye to the guests. He'll join you shortly."
"Yes, now he's got what he wanted and isn't so eager to spend time with me." she said despondently.
They dissimulated as best they could as they crossed the square. They were almost there when Leandra, Madame's lady-in-waiting joined them. She looked at Marina with concern.
"This is not like her."
"I don't think the guests have noticed. We'd better go in."
When de Soto entered the room, Leandra and the maid had already helped her out of her wedding dress, into a nightgown and robe, and brushed her hair. In the time that had passed she had sobered up a bit, sat up in bed and seemed to stare at the wall. When he closed the bedroom door she looked at him with a disgusted look on her face.
"And now what does my lord husband command?"
"I beg your pardon?"
"That by the looks of it I have to obey and respect you, even if you have no intention of respecting me, that's the way things are. Are you going to want to exercise your conjugal rights?"
De Soto made a quizzical face.
"I heard you talking to my cousin. Apparently I'm little more than your slave now. Shall I take off my clothes so you can finish as soon as possible or is that enough?" she said lying down on the bed and staying completely still.
"I have no intention of doing anything you don't want me to do." he said offended.
She sat up on one elbow to look him in the face. "Well, it seems you didn't make that very clear to Nicasio. You seemed to agree that I should be tied up short so that I don't behave like a slut again. On the other hand, while you were socializing, several ladies have been busy reminding me that a lady should not be vulgar in bed."
"Was that your cousin Nicasio? I didn't manage to keep all the names. I didn't want to contradict him because his opinion doesn't matter, especially now that we're going to Madrid in a few days. Nor do I care what the other ladies say about what we should or shouldn't do."
Her disappointed expression was completely ruining the evening. She also looked quite drunk.
"We'd better get some sleep. Tomorrow, better in the afternoon when your hangover is gone, we'll talk about this." said de Soto.
"So you're not even going to touch me? You're going to go sleep in another room?"
"No, that's just what I need to get people talking even more. Soldiers can be more gossipy than any doña. I'll sleep in this room with you. This bed is big enough."
De Soto went over to the closet to get his nightclothes. He changed, thinking that this had not turned out as he had hoped. Maybe he could fix it later, though at the moment he had no idea how he was going to do it.