Chapter 3 An old friend
About a week later Alejandro surprised him with a dinner party at their hacienda. Alejandro's old friend Don Fernando had come over for a visit. He was accompanied by his daughter Carmen who was recently widowed.
After dinner Alejandro ask his son to show Carmen the garden at the hacienda. Diego knew very well what his father had in mind. He and his friend Don Fernando had always hoped to unite their haciendas by marrying their children who were of the same age. Diego and Carmen had been good fellows, but even when they were teenagers it had been clear to them that they would never be more than friends. Now that Carmen was widowed, their fathers were renewing their matchmaking plans again.
Diego did as he requested, but remained taciturnly as he had during dinner. Finally it was Carmen who broke the silence.
"Diego, we have always been good friends and I hope we remain so. Only because our fathers wish for something, it does not mean that we have to acquiesced them. I have no intention of marrying you and I never will."
For the first time something like a smile appeared on Diego's face showing the relief he felt.
"We haven't met for a long time, Carmen. In the last ten years while you have been married to your Alonzo in Monterey, we have met each other rarely and both of our lives have changed a lot in these years. You married and had children while I went to Spain to study and returned home. We are not the teenagers we used to be. Just tell me of your life in the last years."
Carmen told him of her life with Alonzo de Guadalquivir, the man she had been in love with since childhood. His parents had bought a hacienda near Monterey where they had lived together after her marriage at the age of eighteen. With two sons now six and nine years old the marriage had been happy.
"You are not happy now, Carmen," Diego said sympathetically. "You must miss him much."
"Yes," she said hesitatingly making Diego curious.
"There seems to be more to it. Just tell me what worries you. I promise I'll keep to myself, just like in old days."
"I know Diego, you could always keep a secret and there was no better friend than you. Youare right, I miss my husband, but although he is only two months dead, he has been gone for over a year."
"What do you mean by that?"
"Eleven months before his death Alonzo had a terrible riding accident. He was hit hard on the head and suffered a lot of pain from other injuries. At first we all thought he wouldn't make it, but then he survived after all and I was happy about it. It took some time until we became aware of the changes the accident had on him. He was different person afterwards, he became a total stranger to me and his family. A bitter man who no longer loved me or his sons and cared only for himself. He struggled for eleven months to stay alive and in the end he succumbed to his injuries."
"It must have been the hit on the head," Diego added.
"That is what the doctor said too," Carmen continued. "Life was like hell then. Alonzo was constantly demanding my attention while I had to lead the farm on my own. His parents are already
too old to be of help and the only one I could rely on was Alfredo, the head vaquero."
"Let me guess, Carmen. You fell in love with him."
"How do you know?"
"Just the way you speak his name and you wouldn't mention him if he wasn't important to you."
"You are right. I love Alfredo and he loves me."
"Then why are you so unhappy?"
"Because at the moment there is no way we can be together. Neither Alonzo parents nor my father will ever agree if I marry a lowly vaquero. For Alonzo's parents it is like I am unfaithful to their dead son and my father doesn't want his daughter married below her status. And for the year I'm required to be in mourning there is nothing I could do anyway. They all think Alfredo is only interested in making his luck by marrying a rich woman. But he is not like that or I wouldn't fallen in love with him. He promised to wait for me until my mourning year is over as he waited for me while I was caring for my husband never demanding anything of me."
"I understand now why your father suddenly has revived the idea to get us married."
"What about you Diego? Why aren't you married?"
"Life doesn't always work out as we planned," he said evasively.
"Come on, Diego. I just trusted you with my love life and you know you can trust me as well. Are you still in love with Victoria Escalante? Why didn't you marry her?"
"How do you know that?" Diego was surprised.
"Since we were children there was only Alonzo for me and I know that you have always loved Victoria. So tell me what happened?"
"What happened is Zorro."
"Zorro, the famous outlaw? Even in Monterey we have heard of his deeds."
"Victoria fell in love with him and since he appeared she had waited for him to finish his crusade against the alcalde."
"Had waited? What has changed?"
"Zorro split up with her."
"So there is your chance!"
"That is what I had hoped as well. But she made it quite clear that I will never be more than a brother to her." Showing his frustrations Diego had started to pace up and down. Then he stopped again facing her. "As you can see we are in the same boat. We both love someone we can't have."
"Maybe you should be a little more patient, Diego. A woman needs some time to move her affections from one man to another." Carmen tried to cheer him up.
Diego showed a small smile. "Maybe you are right, Carmen," he sounded unconvinced.
"Since you are free then, Diego, would you mind spending some time with me while I'm staying in Los Angeles? I'd rather spend it with someone who has no intentions on me than with a possible suitor."
Diego smiled. "You have always been frank with your talk, Carmen. My father has been trying to match me with some woman for years and I know how that feels like. If we make them believe we get along well, we will both have a respite from their matchmaking."
In the next weeks Diego spent a lot of time together with Carmen who was able to distract him a little from his inner tumults. Carmen knew her father quite well and that he would do anything to marry her off, so she made sure she was always in the company of a maid who served as chaperone.
This was welcome fodder for the local gossip. Had the studious Don Diego made advances on the beautiful senora that a chaperone was necessary? Both seemed to get along well and spent a lot of time together. It was also rumored that they waited with their engagement only because the senora was still in mourning.
Seeing Diego spending most of his time with another woman didn't improve Victoria's mood at all. She wouldn't admit it, but she was jealous that he rarely had time for her now. Diego had become a very elusive person who never came over to the bar anymore for a friendly chat if he came to the tavern at all. She missed the friendship they had had and that had vanished so abruptly after their quarrel.
Carmen tried to be friendly to Victoria with whom she had played together as a child, but even as children they hadn't gotten along well. Victoria rebuffed Carmen's friendly advances and wouldn't believe her assurances that she had no intention to marry Don Diego.
If they weren't in love why were they spending so much time together? Diego was hardly seen without her and of course her maid. Carmen's sons seemed to like him and Diego got along with them well.