La Luna de Miel Chapter Eighteen: The Governor's Ball
The afternoon was spent in their room doing what young married couples were supposed to do on honeymoons, but Mano had stopped on the way to their suite and arranged for the staff to bring hot bathwater at six. His forethought puzzled Carmen, but she was learning to like surprises. He had whispered to her maid as well, and after a nap and her bath, she found her satin dress, a deep midnight blue, almost black, hanging, ready to be donned. The maid assisted her and then scurried out. Coiffed and smoothed, Carmen walked into the sitting room where Mano, now clad in his black suit, awaited. He stood, his hands behind his back. She held her strand of pearls in her hands.
"Por favor, will you help me…" her voice trailed off. "Manolo, what have you there, behind your back, my love?" She tried to peer around him,
"Ah ah, not yet," he smiled. "I have the tiara, of course. It was delivered this afternoon."
"What else?" she teased. "I can see you have two packages in those hands of yours."
"A kiss first, and you shall see." She complied and he held out a hand which contained a velvet box and bag. "All right, mi vida, all right. Here you are, I hope you like what you find."
She opened the larger item, the velvet box containing the tiara, which sparkled and glistened. The velvet bag held another box, smaller, "Oooh," she exclaimed when she opened it to see a pair of drop earrings, each boasting a large and perfect pearl and embellished with a dangling strand of small sapphires.
"Manolo! They are so beautiful!" she gasped. "Perfect with the tiara and my pearls. So much, mi vida! So much." She smiled. "When did you do all this?"
"Your husband has his ways. I sent to the finest jeweler in Paris as soon as I met you…" he began, till her skeptical look gave him pause. He chuckled. "All right. I bought them in Mexico City when I bought your pearls. I wanted to wait to give them to you until you had seen the tiara. Do you like them?"
"Oh yes!" She moved to the mirror above the dressing table and took a seat, He stood behind her as she looked at her face in the glass. Taking the pearls from her, he draped them across her neck and, with his long fine fingers, fastened them as she put the earrings into her ears after removing the ones she had at first chosen. He lifted the tiara and set it into her coiffeur at the base of the lace mantilla, then stepped back while she admired the results. When she stood and turned, he moved toward her, clasping her hands in his and bringing her fingers to his lips. "My beautiful wife," he said with smile. He let go her hands and offered his arm, which she took, not at all caring that she hadn't the slightest idea where they were going.
As they reached the lobby, the manager signaled and the doorman rushed outside, whistling. Carmen pulled her mantilla around her shoulders against the chill and they climbed into a waiting carriage which set off at a good trot. Neither spoke but her eyes shone. The ride was brief.
Carmen and Manolo Montoya-looking every bit the Spanish aristocrats-climbed down from the carriage. "Manolo! This is the governor's palace!" she exclaimed, distracted by the other arrivals. "How did you manage this?" she asked as they joined several couples ascending the steps into the entrance hall.
"Well, as you know, the governor was a friend of my father," he explained as they walked up. "When we arrived in Hermosillo, I sent a note by way of Jorge, informing the governor of our marriage and presence here on our luna de miel, requesting an appointment so that I might introduce my wife. He replied with this invitation. And so you shall meet him at the ball." Mano smiled.
Carmen's eyes widened, and arm in arm, they walked into the vast marble ballroom. Gas lights flickered and chandeliers sparkled. Gilded chairs around tables along the sides of the room gleamed. The marble floor shone as a mirror. The governor took Carmen's hand in the receiving line and kissed it as Mano, smiling and proud, introduced her and also shook his hand.
"Ah, if only your father had known this beautiful daughter-in-law, Manolito," the governor said with a broad smile before moving to greet the next in line.
The evening swirled away in dance upon dance. Mano and Carmen paused only for glasses of wine or champagne...and once in a great while to rest. But mostly they danced. Rumors spread of the attractive young couple's luna de miel, so none dare cut in, although it is doubtful Mano would have allowed it. His eyes were only for Carmen.
The music stopped at ten for the governor's official welcome. All paused with polite applause to gather around the large staircase where the governor stood, surveying the crowd from the first landing. Several flanked him, including a large moustached man with a red ceremonial sash across his chest and some sort of gold medal on a ribbon round his neck. The man looked familiar to Mano. Ah, politicians must have their moment, he thought, trying to look interested as the governor acknowledged guests and dignitaries. At last, the governor announced the presence of a special guest of honor who...
Just then, the noise of men running drew Mano's attention. Two men in greatcoats rushed in from a side entrance, halting at the foot of the steps and looking up at the governor and surrounding dignitaries. Mano pulled Carmen closer and moved to one side as the men, with frantic gestures, motioned for the crowd to step back. Mano and Carmen recognized the intruders. Those beards could not be mistaken.
"Mira" he whispered in Carmen's ear. Wide-eyed, she watched as the scene unfolded while Mano moved his hand to the inside pocket of his jacket, where he kept a small loaded revolver.
The men pulled off their greatcoats to reveal bright plaid shirts, black suspenders and thick black pants stuffed into thick boots: clownish, cartoonish attire. They cupped their hands around their mouths and called to the landing, where the man with the medal and sash burst into a grand smile.
"Do something, Mano!" Carmen whispered.
"Wait," he replied, glad in a moment that he did.
"Oyez, oyez, M'sieur De Montigny, bonne anniversaire!" the men called as they began to dance to music supplied by an accordion player who appeared at the bottom of the stairway. The musician also looked as though he had just emerged from the Canadian woods. The crowd, hushed at first, soon began clapping in time as the two bearded men sang and danced a wild French Canadian woodsman's refrain. Mano and Carmen joined in the laughter. This was the terrible event they had feared-a birthday celebration for a visiting dignitary, the famed architect De Montigny. What a marvelous joke! Ah, so this was it.
"Oh, Mano, I feel so silly!" Carmen exclaimed as she laughed at the spectacle.
"Sí, but at least we did not alert the policía, so let us be grateful for that," Mano added.
The bearded lumberjacks ended the dance and made extravagant bows, to the applause of the guests. Then a man on the landing beside De Montigny and the governor stepped forth-Mano supposed him to be the city mayor-and with a flourish offered the architect the key to the city. At this signal, champagne corks popped in the ballroom and waiters circulated with trays of sparkling wine so that all might drink a toast. Those noises would have been gunshots in the desert, Mano thought, raising a glass to the dignitaries and laughing as Carmen cocked her eyes at him sideways with a slight shake of the head. So silly have we been, my husband, the look said.
VKS & MJRod claim the creation of Carmen Navarro, although we took her first name from a David Dortort script proposal. We also are the creators of the Vargas clan , Rancho Navarro and its people including Delgado, and all of the characters in and around Hermosillo. We would have nothing to create were it not for our favorite western, "The High Chaparral," to which we pay tribute.