Chapter 8
At the beginning of his third year Ignacio had a new lecturer in political studies, Professor Andres Moreno. Moreno introduced his class to Machiavelli and urged debate about on what Machiavelli was saying, did he really mean what he wrote or was he being a satirist. When Ignacio read Machiavelli's book "The Prince" he found his writings intriguing and he soon felt that Machiavelli was a genius in his political thinking. It mirrored some of Ignacio's own thoughts on power. That the end justified the means, it didn't matter what he had to do, even if he had to lie and cheat to achieve the outcome that he wanted, then so be it. Morality didn't come into the equation, unless it helped in his goals.
Ignacio de Soto had found his hero.
During that year, Ignacio began to immerse himself more and more into politics. He was in a select group of six students that Professor Moreno had established as an extra class dedicated to this hardline politics. He found to his delight that Moreno had a very wide circle of friends, many with political positions in the government and he was being introduced to them, especially one Senor Carlos de Sanchez, who was one of the most influential men in Madrid. He could make or break politically aspiring men.
When Senor Carlos de Sanchez met Ignacio de Soto the first time, he wondered who this arrogant upstart was, he was a no-one, from nowhere and had been surprised that Moreno thought that this young man would bear watching in the future. So Sanchez did some checking on his own. He found that de Soto had been a common soldier and when he heard that Doña de Alvaro was his patron, he smiled. He knew the reputation of the wife of the general and what it meant; de Soto had been her lover.
But that intrigued him. Doña de Alvaro was known for her careful judgement of potential lovers and for her to take a common soldier to her bed, was fascinating. So he dug more into his background and found that his paternal grandfather had once been a small landowner, who had lost everything to the Castillo family. Sanchez thought carefully about de Soto, he was impressed that he had the drive to improve himself and everything that he had discovered pointed to an ambitious, arrogant and somewhat ruthless man, everything that made for a fine politician. Sanchez decided that he would keep an eye on the young man
Due to his increased political ambitions, Ignacio didn't have the time for all of his studies. He still kept up with his military history but his literature course was floundering. He needed to keep his marks up to standard in all his subjects in order to graduate at the end of the following year. So he decided to pay a fellow student a small fee to write his papers up. He would of course still sit the exams but the work prior would be done by someone else. It worked out well for both of them. Ignacio passed his third year exams, including literature.
A month into his fourth and final year, Ignacio saw a chance to mix with the wealthy sons in a more relaxed situation, he saw a flyer for a new Passion Play being staged by the Dramatic Society and decided to audition. There were several roles still unfilled including the Roman Commander and Judas. After an initial audition, Ignacio won the role of Judas.
On the first day of rehearsals, Ignacio was introduced to the rest of the cast by the director of the play, Senor Luis Marcus.
Marcus led Ignacio towards two young gentlemen standing by the far wall. "Senors, let me introduce Ignacio de Soto who will be playing Judas in our little drama. This is Oscar Ramiro, who will be playing Mary Magdalene..."
Oscar scowled slightly as he shook hands with Ignacio. "It's not what I was hoping for Luis."
"Oh I don't know Oscar, I think you would look handsome in a dress." teased the other young man.
Oscar snorted. "That's because you don't know anything better de la Vega."
Luis chuckled. "Don't mind these two Ignacio, they seem to enjoy baiting each other. This is Diego de la Vega, who is a freshman and is all the way from California."
"Ah from the colonies in the Americas." de Soto replied as he held out his hand.
Diego smiled. "Si, not many people know where California is." he replied as they shook hands for the very first time.
Ignacio nodded. "I have noticed the ignorance of many of the students here. One would think that with the money for private education, they would have been taught about the furthest reaches of the empire and not just about which fork to use at dinner."
The three men exchanged a quick glance of surprise at his comments.
"Ah, you're the one on a scholarship, aren't you?" Oscar asked.
Ignacio nodded warily. "Si, I am. You say that as if it's something wrong with scholarships."
"Good lord man, of course not." Oscar spluttered. "It just explains your viewpoint of education. What do you say Diego?"
Diego shrugged. "It goes to show that there should be more scholarships offered."
Ignacio looked intently at the younger man. "Why do you say that?"
"Well for a start it would make a for a more exciting place for debate when you have differing opinions, instead of the same old viewpoints." Diego replied.
Ignacio raised an eyebrow in surprise, he never thought he would hear such comments from someone who obviously came from a wealthy family. "So you believe that more places should be available to those who can not afford it?"
Diego nodded thoughtfully. "Si, education should be for all who want it."
Oscar snorted. "Don't tell me that you are one of those damnable French revolutionists who believe in equality for all. Just how old are you de la Vega?"
Diego sighed, what did his age have to do with it. "Nineteen."
"Ah the outlook of youth." Luis said with a knowing smile. "Come de Soto, there are others I need to introduce you to."
The next several weeks passed quickly for the group as their rehearsals took up a lot of their free time. The trio of Ignacio, Oscar and Diego had many discussions on various topics, including politics, education, science and the arts. Ignacio found the young men intriguing in that they represented what he thought was the worse of the upper class. Although de la Vega showed some promise with his more liberal opinions.
While they talked about education for the masses, neither one of them could work out a plan to make it work, it would cost too much for the higher classes to subsidise the fees, they believed that it would attract the worse of the lower classes, that they would come to believe that they are equals to the ruling class. Ignacio shook his head at the inborn arrogance of the higher class which he has always hated and always would.
The opening night of the play was a huge success and the audience gave several standing ovations at the end. The following day, the cast gathered to hear the reviews. Luis Marcus stood in front of the group and read out the comments.
"And lastly, all the reviews made the same remark for Ignacio De Soto's performance. To a man, they all agreed that they had never seen a man who played the role of Judas with such authenticity, with such conviction, that they urge de Soto to stay with the dramatic society for the remaining of his time here at the university."
Ignacio felt a huge wave of pride crash over him at the praise and was very ecstatic that the majority of the reviews were about his performance, except for a few praising de la Vega's portrayal of Jesus. The offer to stay with the society was tempting but Carlos de Sanchez had begun to mentoring him and there was a possibility of further introductions to the political arena.
Sanchez had watched de Soto for some time and came to the conclusion that he could use him to further his own power base. So he invited de Soto, along with another fifteen other like minded men and their ladies to a dinner party, where he would make an announcement to the younger man.
Ignacio was thrilled when he found the invitation to Sanchez's dinner party. He realised that being invited to this party, he had been accepted into the tight circle of influential political men, his future was looking better than ever. Even Professor Moreno told him that if he played his cards right, he would learn something to his advantage, so he dressed in a new suit of dark grey with matching sash, a new pristine white shirt with a mass of ruffles on the cuffs and down the front. A white silk cravat completed the suit.
As he stood in front of the mirror, he was satisfied by what he saw. A gentleman. The only issue he had was with his hair. He always had fair hair but in the last year or so, it had turned, to what can only be described as white. But he refused to darken it by chemicals, like some other men have done. He simply accepted it and then ignored it. He gave his clothes one last tug, smoothed his moustache and goatee and left his quarters.
The dinner progressed well, with much heated discussions, the food was splendid and the service by the servants exemplary. After dinner the ladies withdrew, leaving the men to their port and cigars. The men split into several smaller groups and discussed a wide variety of topics.
Carlos de Sanchez caught up with Ignacio. "So de Soto, you will be graduating soon I hear." Sanchez said politely.
"Si Senor, in three months."
"Have you any thought to what you will do once your studies are over?"
Ignacio took a careful sip of his wine. "I am keeping my options open at the moment until I make a final decision."
Sanchez nodded. "Well perhaps I can help you with that. A position has come up as a junior advisor to the Mayor of Guadalajara. It is a minor role but it could open doors for you. That is, if you are still interested in politics."
Ignacio had to mask his excitement, he didn't want to appear to eager. "That is most gracious of you Senor, to consider myself for such a position."
Sanchez smiled. "Of course it depends on whether you pass your exams. The mayor is quite strident about the educational standards of his staff."
Ignacio nodded. "I understand and I will pass my exams." he said with self confidence.
"So, shall I forward your name to Mayor Javier Garcia?"
"I would be honoured senor."
"Good, good. I believe you have a solid future ahead of you." Sanchez slapped Ignacio on the shoulder before they all moved back to the sitting room with the ladies.
Three months later Ignacio graduated from Madrid University with exceptional grades in political science, military history and of course literature. He was pleased with his marks for literature, considering that he had not attended classes nor sat the final exams. The student that he had been paying to write his papers, now attended the exams in his place for a few extra pesos. They had a new professor and no-one was the wiser and therefore Ignacio was able to cheat his way through the fourth year.