Chapter 21

Ignacio de Soto was filling in some tedious paperwork regarding the charges against that damn deaf-and-dumb boy – pushing pencils in three or four copies, not the most exciting part of his function, he sighed inwardly – when Don Diego just barged into his office bellowing something about the boy. And without even knocking, at that!

To make his disapproval of such manners known of him, de Soto did not even raise his head from his papers.

"Don Diego," he interrupted as he dipped his pen in the inkwell not looking up from his page, "I have much to do… I know that's a notion that's totally unfamiliar to you, but I therefore suggest that you should come back later. We can set up an appointment if you–"

"Señor Alcalde," then interrupted a female voice he didn't recognise, "I am well aware that you must be a very busy man but I beg you to hear me out."

Startled, Ignacio Soto finally looked up and the sight he discovered only accentuated his initial surprise. There, before him, stood a woman indeed, but she was in an attire rather... motley, to say the least... unusual... and which Ignacio was not quite sure it was entirely decent.

Just imagine: a man's suit jacket far too large for her – undoubtedly Don Diego's! – which sleeves she had not even slipped on but that she was keeping tightly wrapped around her chest, a white apron and a patterned shawl tied around her waist! Besides, underneath it all, she did not seem to wear any real clothes, but just... just a mere long shirt! Hum, not that long, he noticed as he stood up to greet the newcomer – he might be alcalde and very busy, he nonetheless made a point to be courteous to ladies of apparently quality, even dressed like a scarecrow! Her nightshirt didn't even come down to her ankles and Ignacio's eyes unintentionally paused on these bits of naked calves displayed to his sight.

He quickly snapped out of it and of his initial surprise, only to have it replaced by an equally shocking second one: my, my… Don Diego seemed to be doing pretty well for himself, the little sneak, the sly little fox! De Soto would never have thought that he had it in him… but de la Vega had apparently been playing his cards close to his chest! And what's more, she was obviously rather young to boot... and was clinging to him for dear life!

But no, the alcalde thought immediately, Don Diego certainly didn't barge in his office without even knocking in the sole haste to gloat about his latest – and perhaps one and only – conquest, and not even dressed again at that! The poor sod was certainly pretty pathetic albeit rather annoying, yet not that pathetic! The mere idea was preposterous.

"Señor Alcalde," the young woman went on, "I've come here as soon as possible in order to dispel a horrendous misunderstanding and to end a terrible injustice."

"What do you mean, Señora? Señora...? Señorita...?"

"Alacen," she completed. "Luz Alacen, at your service, Señor Alcalde."

"Señora, I am your humble servant. Ignacio Soto, alcalde of the pueblo de Los Ángeles," he introduced himself in an impeccable salute before bowing and leaning forward to kiss her hand.

There was in the way this young woman was speaking something that sweetly sounded of Spain, like a reminiscence of the Motherland. Aaaah, Spain! de Soto sighed inwardly. He was delighted to find in her, in her words as well as in her intonations, the purest Castilian he'd heard in a very long time in these remote colonies of the New World, except for himself and for the diction Don Diego had brought back from his years in Madrid.

During this exchange of courtesies, Diego had been tapping his feet on the ground, champing at the bit. Seeing this the young woman, who had broken away from him, told de Soto:

"Señor Alcalde, the young man who is being held in your gaols..."

She paused for a short while, which was enough for de Soto to figure out exactly who this woman was.

"He didn't..." she went on, "he is... I assure you that he never intended to do me any harm. He didn't assault me, Señor Alcalde, all this is nothing but a terrible misapprehension, I swear."

Ignacio then threw a very suspicious glance at de la Vega. Then, slowly, he looked back at the señora or señorita – she hadn't specified anything about this point, he remembered – and said:

"I am immensely relieved, Señora, to see that you are feeling much better and are finally out of danger. However, I'd like to be sure that your condition allows you to–"

"Rest assured, Señor Alcalde, I feel perfectly fine," she lied, "and my memories of what happened right before I f-... uh... I... passed out came back to my mind intact and unaltered. This young man..."

She then turned to de la Vega.

"Felipe, right?"

Don Diego nodded.

"Well," she then said, "Señor de la Vega's son has had no inappropriate gesture toward me nor did he try to… to attack me. He just wanted to help me, and then everything unfolded horribly wrong and the next moment your soldiers arrived and misread the situation. Not that I hold it against them, if anything it is entirely to their credit as soldiers and decent men that they came to my rescue in the situation they believed they were facing."

Ignacio had listened to the young woman without interrupting, only barely repressing a disdainful pout when she mentioned de la Vega's 'son'. Apparently Don Diego had not been completely honest with her about the boy, and notably he failed to tell her that he was just some mere servant whom he had taken an unreasonable liking to.

The alcalde therefore looked at Diego more suspiciously than ever. And some parts of a sordid puzzle began to assemble in Ignacio de Soto's mind.

The lady's attire... the way Diego had been holding her pressed to his him just a minute earlier... his jacket wrapped around this woman... de la Vega's haste to have her speak to the alcalde... Sepulveda having to go back to the garrison the night before and therefore leaving them one to one, together...

Well well! de Soto thought, Don Diego seemed to have infringed his apparent vow of celibacy and had probably scarified himself a bit to secure a testimony that would be favourable to his deaf-mute, thinking that if he seduced and satisfied the lady she would be willing to say whatever he wanted her to... unless, taking advantage that her mind was just emerging from the coma and was still easily influenced, he hoped she would believe the version of the facts a considerate lover would suggest to her clouded memory, and then repeat it.

Not that de Soto had ever before imagined that de la Vega could be able to fully satisfy the ladies, especially considering his lack of... well, energy, to begin with, but also of known… achievement under his belt in this area – quite literally, indeed! At least for what the Los Angelinos were aware of… But after all, the poor boy had to have at least one or two hidden talents in life and couldn't be worthless at absolutely everything... And yes, for his deaf-mute Don Diego was certainly ready to exceptionally make a bit of a personal effort and to… well, to lay himself on the line, so to speak. The line of duty.

Not that it must have been very displeasing to him, by the way... there were indeed much more unpleasant duties! Admittedly, the lady certainly wasn't the most beautiful woman in Alta California, but all the same she wasn't downright repulsive either; and according to what her rather... well... light... attire left to imagination, she didn't look too badly shaped either, quite the opposite!

Oh God gracious! Ignacio quickly snapped out of it. He had just caught himself undressing with his eyes a witness he had to interrogate. Damn de la Vega, this was entirely his fault! While focusing on the señora or señorita's face – and her face only – he told her:

"All right, I'm all ears: tell me what happened then, according to you."