Chapter 2 – The Quarrel
Don Alejandro to whom Victoria was like a daughter was angry at Zorro after he heard the news of their parting. Unfortunately it was Diego who had to listen to his tirade increasing the remorse Diego felt.
"Diego have you heard about Victoria and Zorro?" Alejandro was pacing the library up and down.
"First she gets injured to save him and how does he thank her? He splits up with her! As a man he should stand beside her while she is recovering but instead he leaves her alone. I'd never thought that from him."
"Don't you think, Zorro has his reasons, Father?"
"Why are you suddenly defending Zorro? Normally you are not very fond of him."
"Zorro was the reason Victoria got almost killed and now he has made sure she is no longer a bait for him. Sow what is wrong with that?"
"I think it is unfair to have her wait so long for him and then abandon her."
"As long as he fights as Zorro, he can never marry her and no one knows how long the alcalde is going to last."
Some days after he split up with Victoria, he still wasn't himself again. He hadn't slept much recently and that night he decided to ride out as Zorro something more useful than tossing around in his bed.
Instead of riding south that would bring him to the pueblo and Victoria, he wanted to check on the eastern valley where there had been attacks on some farms. He didn't have to search long for the bandits, the light of their fire being easy to catch in one of the few possible hiding spots.
Feeling safe, the bandits hadn't posted a watch and were surprised by his appearance. After he knocked down two of them, he fenced with the third who tried in vain to parry his attacks.
Zorro was just about to disarm him when it happened. In the darkness he stumbled across some log on the ground he hadn't paid attention to. When he fell on his knees, the bandit managed to scratch him across his upper thigh. Under pain he managed to get back on his feet and disarm the bandit with a quick move. Hobbling across the field, he tied the bandits and mounted Toronado again.
Felipe was shocked when he saw him returning home wounded.
"It is nothing serious, Felipe," Diego calmed him. "Just a flesh wound."
'How it happened?'
"I didn't pay enough attention to the ground and one of the bandits scratched me with his sword."
"Yes, you are right, Felipe. Maybe I was too tired to ride out tonight."
"Yes, I will be more careful in the future."
'If I go to sleep now?'
"No, not now, I have to dispatch this letter to Mendoza to let him know where he can pick up the bandits."
Diego pointed at the note he had just written on his desk. Felipe surprised him by snatching the letter from the desk and signing that he would dispatch it. Before Diego could argue with him, Felipe had already left the cave. Diego didn't want Felipe get more involved in Zorro's activities than necessary, but for once he was relieved. The wound hurt more than he had admitted to Felipe and the loss of blood had increased his tiredness even more.
The next day Mendoza repeated in the tavern the claim of the bandits that they had wounded Zorro in a fight.
"Mendoza, you should know better than to repeat these lies about Zorro. The bandits are only boasting with their claim to have injured Zorro. Nobody is able to beat Zorro in sword fight and even less injure him." Victoria scolded him.
"Why don't you believe that Zorro is injured, Victoria?" Diego asked still feeling the pain in his leg.
"No simple bandit could beat Zorro and I will not listen to such lies."
"He is a man after all who can be beaten or killed." Diego insisted.
"But not Zorro," she returned.
"Shouldn't you try you to see more the man than the legend? Why are you still defending him, Victoria? He has split up with you and now you need to think about your future. So, what are you going to do, Victoria?"
"Well, nothing. What should I do?"
"You have been waiting all these years for Zorro, but now you are free again to marry someone else."
Eagerly he waited for her response, hoping she would be willing to accept courtship and he could win her as Diego.
"There is only one man I love and that is Zorro. There will be nobody else for me. But you won't know that since you know nothing about women at all. If I'd chose someone else, it would be someone who is a man of action and ready to stand up against the alcalde. But since I haven't met anyone remotely like him, I'd rather stay on my own than take one of those the matchmaker has presented me."
He listened in horror when Victoria crushed all his hopes to dust. She wasn't willing to accept courtship from someone else and least of all from him. He had lost her for good. There was no hope at all, she would ever accept plain Diego and all his fears suddenly came true. In his despair he replied harsher than he had intended.
"I think you don't really love the man. You are in love with the legend and all he stands for, but not with the man behind the mask. For you, Zorro is invincible and can't be hurt or killed. You don't see the ordinary man who bleeds like any other. Maybe you like the attention your status as Zorro's love has given you. Being the love of the hero of the town makes you stand out from the rest of the people."
Victoria was stunned by his accusations.
"How can you even think that of me. I thought you were my friend, Diego. You should know well enough that I'm not interested in standing out. And I do love the man and not the legend."
"I'm sorry what I said Victoria." Diego apologized, but he didn't sound convinced by her reply. Both were hurt and though they apologized to each other, it was more an act of good manners and they couldn't take back what had been said. They knew each other well and the words had hit where they hurt the most and tainted their friendship.
Diego's mood was lower than ever, now that all his hope was gone. The next days he did not go to the tavern. Except for his work at the newspaper he didn't go to the pueblo either.
Victoria was furious at Diego. How could he talk to her like this. After all these years he should know that her love to Zorro wasn't about being famous or standing out as he had called it. She loved Zorro truly and it wasn't something that simply went away. All she wished for was to marry Zorro and she knew he was feeling the same. If Zorro hadn't feared for her safety, he wouldn't have taken back his proposal. How much she wished that this would be over. No alcalde, no bounty on Zorro's head, just a normal life, married to the ordinary man behind the mask and having a family.
In the years she had been waiting for Zorro, she had gotten many proposals, but after the one time when she had nearly married Juan, there had been no one she had even considered. It wouldn't be fair to any of the men if she married him while her heart belonged to another.
With Zorro she had shared passionate kisses and tight embraces and she couldn't imagine ever being that close to someone else.
But what should she do now? Hoping that Zorro changed his mind and came back to her? Hoping for the alcalde to leave? Become an old spinster and never have a family of her own? What would be more horrible, staying alone for the rest of her life or an unhappy marriage with a man she didn't love? How much longer could she wait until she was too old for a family?
Why did Diego pick now of all time to have a quarrel when she needed someone to talk to? All the years he had been a good friend and now he seemed to have abandoned her. He rarely talked to her any more and their easy friendship had vanished. He was always quite tense around her and avoided her as much as possible.
Alejandro tried to intercede between the two of them after he heard of their quarrel, but the hurt ran too deep. He had never seen his son in such a low state and he couldn't understand why he was suddenly so cross with Victoria. It wasn't the first time she had stated her opinion about his inactivity. Why hadn't Diego been more understanding about Victoria's situation? She suffered from the loss of Zorro and Diego had nothing better to do than to pick a fight with Victoria. What had he hoped to achieve when he accused her that she only loved the legend?
In his opinion both were right with their statements about each other. Diego should really be more active instead pursuing his fruitless studies and Victoria should stop dreaming about her hero and continue with her life.