Chapter 28
"There you are...I was wondering where you were, Victoria," Diego bent and kissed Victoria's cheek gently, "I should have known that you were out here. I know how much you love the garden and the roses."
"I was just out here thinking, Diego….about how things have changed…our engagement…our relationship…."
"Life would be boring without change, Victoria. It is the one thing you can count on…."
"Last year, all I was wondering about is if I would ever marry the man of my dreams…."
I wonder why she is bringing this up. I thought that her feelings for Zorro were in the past… "Zorro was very important to you."
"He was but I am not an idealistic woman waiting for her knight in shining armor. I was living in a romantic fantasy. I want a real relationship...a relationship that is built on trust. If Zorro really loved me, why didn't he trust me enough to show himself to me?"
"Maybe, he was afraid that you could not love the man under the mask or maybe he was afraid of the danger that you would be in if you knew who he was…."
"You sound as if you understand how Zorro feels, Diego...As if you identify with him..."
"I can only imagine how it feels...to live constantly afraid of being rejected...to live on the edge of danger each and every day...to love someone so deeply that you would do almost anything for them. I am a man, Victoria...a man of flesh and blood like Zorro. I know what it means to be in love."
"What is love without trust? Sometimes you have to take a risk, Diego."
"No one can control what happens in life and fear can make a person do strange things."
"Fear should not control a person's life, Diego...life is not without risks...I suppose that fear can make a person do strange things but what about love?"
"It can make a person do strange things as well…"
"I love you, Diego. Do you believe that? Something is wrong. I can see it in your eyes. Tell me, Diego. What is it?"
"Nothing is wrong, Victoria," he lied. Tell her...she needs to know...
"Something is wrong, my love. I know you, Diego or at least I thought than I did. You have hidden from me not just by your words but by your actions, Diego de la Vega...You have hidden a part of yourself that is brave and heroic…self-sacrificing…I cannot believe that I didn't figure it out...that I believed that a man who was so brave...so impetuous could change so much...a boy that loved riding horses...that was a leader among all the other boys...who was so much like his father could come back so changed...I was so blind...so trusting... I know that you, my dearest friend, my one and only love are Zorro," Victoria stated sadly, "I have done a lot of thinking tonight and I finally figured it out. Zorro said that I needed a husband...someone like you, Diego...It was all so obvious and I refused to see it...I ...The fact that you and Zorro appeared at the same time. It all makes sense now."
"I wanted to tell you, so many times but I was afraid that you would reject me...that you could not love the man behind the mask," Diego looked into Victoria's eyes which shimmered with tears.
"You should have trusted me as much as I trusted you, Diego. You never gave me the chance to know the man behind the mask...You should have been honest with me...had faith in our love...You lied to me over and over again not just with your words but with your actions...The one thing that we had going for us was honesty...We were friends. How could you hide this from me...I love you, Diego but I don't know if I can trust you," Victoria slid the engagement ring off her finger, walked up to her fiancée and kissed his cheek gently, "What is love without trust?"
Diego stared at the beautiful ring that Victoria had placed in his palm. Why didn't I tell her? She is right…What is love without trust? How can I earn her trust after what I have done?