Chapter 16

February 20, Los Angeles.

Joyous was the day when don Alejandro led his soon-to-be daughter-in-law down the aisle. Everyone agreed that the bride looked lovely and that the groom could call himself a lucky man.
The happy event got celebrated grandly. Everyone got invited to attend one of the biggest fiestas the territory had ever seen.

Around midnight, Diego de la Vega carried his bride across the threshold into the hacienda. In the privacy of the bedroom, the newly-weds were alone for the first time that day.
Victoria untied her shawl and threw it over a chair, standing by the window. She then walked towards Diego and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Alone at last."

Diego pulled her against him and whispered in her ear. "Until this moment, I have kissed my wife as deemed appropriate. From now on, I may kiss you as I love you."

Victoria trembled for a moment at seeing and hearing so much restrained love.
Breathless, she said. "That sounds so romantic."

"I intend to say many more romantic things."

Victoria loosened his cravat. "Such as?"

Tenderly Diego caressed her cheek with his fingers. His lips followed the path of his touch. "My love for you has no rhyme or reason. It strikes with a passionate fire that sets my heart on fire. And maybe one day your cool, sweet lips will be able to quench my burning desire."

"You remember it is my favourite poem. I was so angry during that picnic. Back then, I thought you picked it on purpose to hurt me." Victoria admitted feeling ashamed of ever thinking ill of Diego.

"Victoria, I will never do anything to hurt you. I swear I didn't know about it. It was all de Soto's doing. For him, marking that page was a mere coincidence. Victoria, I don't think the writer who can express in words how much I love you or is able to describe your beauty will be born yet. And I doubt he even will."
Diego let his lips glide over her forehead.
"I will devote the rest of my life trying to tell you how much I love you.
While knowing all my efforts are futile and will die in vain.
Forgive this man that he will fall short in this because nothing in the world can do justice to my feelings for you.
However, they say actions are more powerful than words. And perhaps they are. So who knows? Maybe one day I will succeed."

Victoria felt tears burning in her eyes. She didn't want to cry. She wants to tell Diego how much she loves him. "Oh, Diego," Victoria uttered. "Without me realizing it, you have done that countless times. I love you."

"And I love you."

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21 October. Somewhere in the Pacific Ocean, south of the equator.

De Soto stared out over the immense ocean. He was on his way back to his beloved Madrid. De Soto had expected that the weird feeling tormenting him for months would lessen. It hadn't. His actions to give don Alejandro a grandchild had not helped ease his guilt. Everything he had tried had helped lead to nothing.
It was because he had been misguided. The fox had tricked him again.

It was not till after the wedding that de Soto did realise that his guilt was not nourished by what had occurred in the courtyard of the hacienda de la Vega. It was more profound. The thing that haunted him most was that he might be indebted to Zorro.
He had been right at one point. Victoria Escalante had only needed little persuasion to prefer that dimwit of a de la Vega and his money to the black-masked pest. Somehow it saddened him. It did prove all women were the same. All dwelled over finding true love. As soon as the choice must get made between love or prestige and money, none hesitated.

He had tried to convince himself that his nausea was due to blame on the most unlikely love couple that had ever existed. It just was plain nauseating, seeing the two lovebirds swooning in public. For months, de Soto had told himself that he didn't own the black-masked nemesis who, without having asked for it, saved his life numerous times, a favour. The fox had him to thank for not becoming entangled in a woman's web of lies and deceit. No matter how hard de Soto had tried to believe this, the feeling that he had wronged Zorro had only intensified.

Until a point had reached where he could no longer endure this suffering and he became willing to give anything to be released from the sense of guilt that continued to haunt him. And so there had been no other option than to put the distance between himself and Los Angeles as vast as possible. He had said farewell to California. And now he was heading to the most beautiful city on earth. Madrid.

De Soto was the full belief that once in Spain, his nightmares and the gnawing feeling of guilt would stop to fade into oblivion.

11 months later, Los Angeles, hacienda de la Vega.

Diego gazed at the thick envelope coming from Spain, addressed to his father in a familiar handwriting.

His father had gone with Felipe to San Juan. And it would be at least two weeks before they would return.
Much has changed in Los Angeles. De Soto had left a few months after he and Victoria got married. But not after writing out elections. The new alcalde was less corrupt and spent more time tracking down the real criminals. Zorro was only rarely needed.

Ricardo Ortega, the current alcalde, had reduced the money on Zorro's head. And since Zorro rarely showed up anyway, and he no longer had to keep secrets for his loved ones, Diego's life had become much less complicated.

Diego walked to the small desk in the library and picked up the ivory letter opener. The relationship between him and his father had changed drastically. All things concerning the management of the rancho, the men did together. And his father trusted him completely to look after his business affairs in his absence.

Diego unfolded the letter, and another document fell out.

At that moment, Victoria walked into the library. Diego lowered the letter again and smiled. He still didn't know how he loved Victoria most. Since the birth of their daughter, Diego loved seeing her holding their child in her arms. Every time he called Victoria his wife, he felt a warm glow surrounding him. Every morning when waking up, finding her curled up against him, Diego could not suppress a smile. Just as he couldn't believe he was ever to feel happier when he found her waiting for him to return to the cave or wherever in the hacienda. He loved her and no longer doubted Victoria loved the man he was.

"I'm going to put Felicia to bed. Care to come and help me?"

"Um, no." He could tell by the expression on her face it was not the reply that Victoria expected. Therefore, Diego immediately explained why he had refused to do something he usually loved doing. "I want to read this letter first." Diego had noticed some of the words, and these had piqued his curiosity.

"It isn't bad news, is it?"
Victoria siphoned Felicia from one arm to the other.

"No," As Diego's eyes flew over the parchment. "Maybe we'd better read it together."

A few minutes later, Victoria stared at Diego in surprise.
"Does this mean...?"

Diego had picked up the document that had fallen out of the envelope onto the floor to study it. The document bore the royal signature and seal.
"As far as I can see, it's all authentic." He held the parchment up to the light, searching for the royal watermark. "It bears the royal seal, signature and watermark."

Not believing her eyes until Diego told her it could be true, Victoria asked her husband. "So after alcalde Ortega reads this, Zorro is a free man?"

"It looks like it," Diego uttered, feeling somewhat dizzy. It was hard to comprehend. After all these years of fearing for discovery, it all ended this easily.

"And this letter is written by de Soto?" Victoria cried.

Diego nodded.

"So de Soto claims that he made all the possible efforts to get an audience with the King. And when he eventually succeeded, he pleaded by the King for Zorro to get a pardon?."

"Yes, that's what it says."

"For Zorro?!"

"Si,"

"Unbelievable." Victoria stuttered, sinking to the piano stool. Victoria felt that hadn't sat down she most likely would have fainted.

He grabbed his magnifying glass to examine the document more thoroughly. Diego was reading the letter for the fifth or sixth time. He had understood what he was reading. He only couldn't believe what he was reading. "De Soto requests my father to make sure the pardon gets to the current alcalde and to make sure the pardon will be hand over to Zorro."

Victoria was genuinely surprised by this change from the man who had once gone to all possible lengths to make Zorro's life miserable seemed to have endured. "Wow, de Soto really must have turned his life around."

Diego took Felicia over from Victoria, so she could take a closer look at the pardon herself.
He saw she was getting emotional. Him having an alter ego had taken its toll on them both. Before and after their marriage.

Victoria blinked her eyes and wiped away a tear.

Diego uttered. "De Soto writes he has even visited Sebastian Moreno. Remember, he was that writer who once came to Los Angeles to unmask Zorro? De Soto asked señor Moreno for a witness statement on circumstances during his visit to California."

"Didn't de Soto try to kill the man?"

"That was alcalde Ramon. De Soto must read about him in one of Ramon's rapports. I guess señor Moreno helped de Soto to get Zorro pardoned."

Victoria pondered. "De Soto went to a lot of trouble to get Zorro a pardon. Why would he do such a thing?"

"Beats me. Perhaps something happened, and he finally developed a conscience." Diego suggested, giving Felicia a kiss on her nose. "Anyway, the pardon is real."

Victoria looked at Diego, her eyes watery. "You go saddle the horses. I will put Felicia on the bed and ask Maria to keep a eye on her. I assume we are heading to the pueblo to tell the news Zorro is no longer an outlaw."

.

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The end.

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I hope you enjoyed this Christmas story.
I think, in this story, I like the character of dona Francisca most of all. Next to Lucia. Such a naughty girl. ;)

For those of you taking the effort to write a review, thank you. I love reading those. (Wink, wink. ;))

From the Netherlands, I wish you all een gelukkig nieuwjaar.
A happy New Year!