Chapter 2

"So father, who's our guest?" Diego asked as they drove along the dusty road towards the hacienda.

Don Alejandro smiled as he gently shook the reins and urged the two horses into a gentle but steady pace. "Teo." he replied.

Diego frowned. "Teo? Teo Cervántez?"

The older man nodded. "That's right."

Diego's eyebrow rose in surprise. "What's he doing here, he once said that nothing would make him come out to the Americas because of his sea sickness." he grinned as he remembered a story of Teo being sick on board a ship that was only anchored in the harbour at Cadiz, who then blamed it on the food he had eaten earlier in the day but no-one believed it.

Don Alejandro chuckled. "That's very true." he replied.

Victoria spoke up. "Who's Teo?"

Diego grinned as he turned to his wife. "He happens to be a close friend of the King and as well as old family friend. I enjoyed many dinners with Teo and his wife while I was studying at university in Madrid. In fact if things had been different, he could have been my father." he said with a teasing gleam in his blue eyes.

She frowned as she gazed at the two men. "A friend of the King? Your father? I don't understand."

Don Alejandro laughed and shook his head. "Teo was my rival for the affections of Diego's mother but luckily for me, she returned mine and not Teo's, much to his disbelief. He just couldn't believe that she would actually consider entering into a courtship with a common solider and the thought of her marrying one was too much for him to bear and he tried any number of ways to get me out of the way." he paused as he grinned at the memory of one of Teo's pranks.

"I remember once, he had sent a note to me, in my commanding officer's name mind you, requesting for me to travel to Barcelona and escort some twenty or so new recruits back to Madrid for further training. It was a very convincing letter but unfortunately for Teo, my commanding officer was with me at the time that I received it and he was lucky that the Colonel saw the funny side of it and didn't call him out for a duel."

Victoria laughed; it wasn't often she heard them talk about Doña Felicidad and it was wonderful to learn more about Diego's mother and her courtship with her soon to be husband. "Did she ever find out what happened?"

Don Alejandro shook his head as he turned the horses off the main road and onwards towards their home. "Not at the time, but I told her after we were married and she just laughed and called us boys. Which I suppose was how we were behaving, like schoolboys playing practical jokes on each other and not like the grown men that we were. It may seem strange but even as we fought over Felicidad's hand, a friendship grew between us and we've remained friends ever since. In fact it was just over a year after I married Diego's mother, Teo found someone to love once more and this time, she loved him back. We attended their wedding a week before we left for California to take over the ranch from my father."

Victoria smiled warmly at the story. "It just goes to show that there's someone special for everyone, you just have to find him or her."

Diego shook his head in amusement. "How like a woman to say that."

Victoria's smile turned into a small frown. "Just what do you mean by that Diego? Are you saying that love is only for women and that no-one has a soul mate?" She asked with growing annoyance. "If that was the case then we why did we wait for the last six years if we weren't meant to be together?"

Don Alejandro felt his son's eyes on him but he refused to be drawn into a disagreement between husband and wife; his son would soon learn which battles to fight but most importantly which ones not to fight.

Diego held back a sigh as he turned to his irritated wife; he should have known better than to offend Victoria's strong beliefs about the fairer sex. "Of course not, it's just that women seem to talk more openly about love then men do." he reached out and took her hand in his. "I knew from that first day when I walked into the tavern that we were meant to be together." he raised her hand and planted a lingering kiss to her soft skin. "Without you I would be nothing." he said quietly.

Victoria's irritation faded at the sincerity of his words as well as the love in his eyes and silently cursed herself for getting annoyed without a really good reason. She remembered what her mother once told her about marriage; that there would be plenty of misunderstandings, on both sides and that she must to decide if it was worth fighting or not and in this case, it wasn't.

She squeezed his hand. "I'm sorry. I love you too Diego." she replied softly just as they pulled up outside the front gate of their home but not before he kissed her hand once more.

Don Alejandro was pleased by what he saw and heard; both were willing to see the other side and apologise. He also knew that not all arguments would end so easily. He leapt down and grabbed their bags while Diego helped his wife from the carriage. "You never told us why Teo is here father."

Don Alejandro shrugged. "I'm not really sure but I think it's something to do with you." He replied as they walked up to the front door.

Diego frowned. "Me!" He said somewhat surprised as his father opened the door and they walked inside.

"Hey Teo, we're back." Don Alejandro called out as he handed over the bags to Manuel who smiled warmly the newlyweds. "Welcome home Doña Victoria, Don Diego."

"Gracias Manuel." Diego replied before a loud booming voice called out. "Diego, not only do I find that you have a teenage son who beat me rather soundly at chess but you went and got yourself married."

Diego turned around and grinned as a tall, well dressed older man emerged from the library with a beaming Felipe behind him. "Yes, that's right Teo." he replied as he shook the older man's hand. "Father should have warned you that we both taught my son how to play chess."

Teo chuckled. "He did but as always I didn't listen. He's a very good player Diego, you should be proud of him."

Diego grinned as he saw the tips of his son's ears turn pink. "I am." he replied as Felipe came up to him and signed his greetings before they embraced warmly.

Teo turned his attention to beautiful young woman standing beside Diego. "Well now, I must meet the woman who finally captured Diego de la Vega."

Diego chuckled at his choice of words as he exchanged a knowing look with Victoria; she certainly captured her masked hero. "Teo, this is my wife, Victoria. Victoria, this is Teodoro Roldán Cervántez, an old friend of the family," he introduced them with a wink to his father, who shook his head with a grin.

Teo smiled warmly as he reached for her hand. "An honour to meet you Doña Victoria. May I congratulate you on your marriage to Diego." he said as he raised her hand to place a light kiss to her skin as required by his station as a gentleman.

Victoria felt a slight flush rise over her lovely features at his gallantry. "Gracias Teodoro, I'm pleased to meet you too."

"Please call me Teo, everyone does. Only my mother calls me Teodoro. A most horrible woman, if I may say so." he commented with a teasing gleam in his brown eyes.

Victoria didn't know how to take his words but by the way Diego and his father chuckled, she was sure it was spoken in jest. At least she hoped it was. "Teo it is then."

"So Teo, what brings you all the way out here, especially when you swore that you never would, after what happened in Cadiz." Diego asked with a grin.

Teo shook his head. "You're never going to let me forget that, are you Diego?" he paused as he glanced Don Alejandro who seemed to understand what he wanted.

"Why don't the two of you go and freshen up after your journey and then we can all sit down together comfortably over a leisurely lunch and catch up on gossip." Don Alejandro suggested as he placed his hand on his son's shoulder and gave a gentle squeeze.

Diego picked up on the silent message and became even more curious as to what Teo was doing here. "That's not a bad idea father, I wouldn't mind a change of clothes, what about you Victoria?"

She too had noticed the odd behaviour between the men but she took her cue from Diego and looked down at her dusty clothes with a wry smile. "Yes, I would love to get out of these dusty clothes and have a rest."

Teo grinned. "Well that's settled then. Take your time, I'm not going anyway. I might even have another game of chess with your young man and see if I can regain some of my pride." he said as he glanced at the young teenager, who grinned back.

Diego smiled warmly. "Well until later then. Father, Teo." he said as he put an arm around Victoria's waist and guided her in the direction of their rooms.

Once they were out of earshot and walking down the hallway, Victoria spoke up. "Your father knows something."

"Yes, he seems to know something, doesn't he." he replied as they came to a stop outside their rooms and before Victoria knew it, she was swept off her feet and into her husband's arms.

"Diego, what are you doing?" she giggled in delight; she loved being picked up in his strong arms. She knew it was a little silly; after all she was perfectly capable of walking into the room herself but at the same time it felt romantic and somewhat heroic to her. Just like a certain masked bandit.

He chuckled as he carried her inside his room. "Just carrying my bride across the threshold."

An hour later Diego and Victoria walked into the sala, feeling refreshed; both had bathed and changed into clean clothes and were highly curious as to what Teo was doing in Los Angeles. After a light lunch, in which they chatted about family gossip and the general happenings in Los Angeles and in Spain, they all moved into the library where Victoria and Diego took the lounge, while Don Alejandro, Felipe and Teo sat on the chairs.

Teo cleared his throat and smiled. "I guess the time has come to tell you the reason for my visit." he paused as he glanced at Don Alejandro before he continued. "Alejandro only knows that I'm here on a mission for the King and that you're involved Diego."

Diego exchanged a glance with his father, who shrugged and then he gazed at Victoria, who was equally confused. "Me? What have I done?" He asked, hoping that it wasn't anything to do with Zorro. He knew that the exploits of the masked bandit had reached Madrid but he doubted that anyone knew the identity of Zorro except for his father, Felipe and Victoria and of course Ignacio de Soto.

Teo shook his head. "No, you haven't done anything. In fact, it's your father who has."

Don Alejandro's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Me! I think you need to explain yourself Teo. I haven't done anything against the King." he said heatedly. He had always been loyal to the King.

Teo held up his hand to stop him; he knew all too well the temper of the de la Vegas, having had personal experience of it all those years ago when they were both vying for the attentions of the same lady. "It's nothing like that Alejandro, everyone knows of your loyalty to the King and it's that very loyalty that the King has decided to reward you and your family."

Don Alejandro looked impressed. "Well that's generous of the King. Is he going to increase the credits we get for the cattle to offset against our other taxes?"

Teo chuckled. "No but I'm sure that could be arranged, however it's much more that just money." he said as he glanced at Diego before he turned his attention back to Don Alejandro.

"In recognition of the last thirty five years of loyal service to the King and to Spain, first as a military officer and secondly for the many years of supplying vital food supplies to both the military and the people, the King has decided to bestow upon your son, Diego Sebastian de la Vega, the noble title of Marqués of Villafranca." he said to a suddenly silent room with the only sound coming from a clock ticking on the mantelpiece above the fireplace.