Chapter 32. They Envy You.
Marina was absorbed in her thoughts as the carriage moved down the road towards Mexico City. She had been sorry to say goodbye to Los Angeles, where Victoria, Don Diego and Don Alejandro had shown her that there were good people in the world. She was not sure she would be able to identify them on the first try, but now she was more cautious and trusted that Leandra would be able to help her. Things would have been very different if she had listened to her in San Rafael, but then her son Diego would not have been born, and she would not be married to Ignacio, whom sometimes in spite of herself, she could not help but love.
"We are arriving in the city." said de Soto disguising his enthusiasm without quite succeeding.
She knew he was looking forward to finding himself in more refined places than Los Angeles, but she didn't value those things too much, she would have been happy anywhere, living more modestly with friends who treated her well, and she knew that in the city she would meet people she didn't like.
Ignacio was looking out the carriage window, excited but keeping himself composed so as not to look like a bumpkin, which Marina found a little funny.
"Why are you smiling?" asked Ignacio somewhat quizzically.
"I'm glad you're enjoying the city."
"Of course I am, I was sick of being in that secluded place." he said for the third or fourth time. It was the second most repeated phrase, only surpassed by I'm looking forward to finding myself in more refined places.
At last they stopped in front of a luxurious house and the servants greeted them. One of them alerted the count, who met them at the entrance to the house.
"Welcome." he said graciously. "You are lodged in the family wing, in the best rooms after mine."
Marina looked at Ignacio out of the corner of her eye and it seemed to her that he had suddenly grown a couple of inches.
"We'll have dinner at 8, if you're not too tired and prefer a light supper in your rooms."
Ignacio went to answer directly, but then turned to her, thinking it possible that she might prefer to retire early that night.
"Marina, what do you think, do you want to go down for dinner?"
That came as a pleasant surprise to her, who was used to never being taken into account. Seeing her husband's enthusiasm she decided it was worth giving him that treat.
"I think if I rest in the room for an hour I'll be ready to go down to dinner."
"Excellent." said de Soto with his best smile.
"It's this way." said Marina, to which de Soto responded by offering her his arm to accompany her.
A couple of days later they both prepared to attend a dinner party at the home of one of the count's friends. Marina put on some of her most elegant dresses, while de Soto dressed in his best clothes, miraculously rescued from the second-hand pea puree. He was not very satisfied, he had ordered better quality garments from one of the tailors in town while they waited for the right ship to leave Veracruz, but he had not yet been able to pick up any of the new suits and would have to make do with what he had brought from Madrid.
She met Marina on the staircase landing to go downstairs together. "You look beautiful, my angel." de Soto said gallantly to his wife as he offered her his arm.
She smiled, a little uncomfortably. "You shouldn't call me that, I'm not an angel."
"To me you are." he replied. "Too good for me, but you'll have to be content with me." he said kissing her hand.
She decided then and there that she would leave the candle burning that night. Then she thought about dinner that night and couldn't help a worried expression.
"Are you nervous?" he asked a little worried.
"It's just...there will be people who know what happened." she replied looking down.
"You shouldn't feel bad about it. It was my fault, and I'm not ashamed. A lot of people would say it's because I have no shame, and they're partly right." she couldn't help a small laugh. "The point is that now I have you, and if I wasn't a scoundrel I wouldn't have had the chance. Padre Benitez insists that I should repent, but I don't get it."
She looked up at him, who kissed her hand again. "You were set up, in which I willingly participated. That woman was jealous of you, and that she didn't even know how far above her you are."
"She's smarter."
He shrugged. "Smarter and more devious I'm sure she is, but society doesn't value that in a woman. What is asked of a lady is that she be well-born, wealthy and beautiful, and you surpass her in all those respects. No wonder she hates your guts. You are also a good person and she is not, but that I fear society does not value either."
"That's horrible what you say." she said somewhat shocked.
"It's the rules, they're unfair and absurd, but it is what it is. I don't dictate them, I just take advantage of them when I can. Don't worry, we'll face this night together." he said with a seductive smile. She nodded.
They met up with her brother, with whom they were to ride in the carriage to their friend's house.
The ex-alcalde helped his wife into the carriage and settled next to her on the seat. He felt enormously satisfied.
"You look pleased, Ignacio." said the count using his first name for the first time.
De Soto stroked his beard, thoughtful for a moment at this unexpected show of familiarity.
"I am. I've been wanting to trade that little town for a place more..." he looked around for a moment. "...refined." he added. Marina smiled slightly, it was the fourth time he had repeated that word in the last half hour.
The count looked at him thoughtfully. "Well, I'm glad you're finding your new life enjoyable."
De Soto unconsciously looked at his wife with a small smile and lightly squeezed her hand. The gesture did not go unnoticed by the count. "I am enormously grateful for the opportunity I have had to join your family, Count."
Marina smiled at her husband much more openly, her brother could see it was a sincere smile.
"You may call me Fadrique." said the count, thinking that if all went well he would not have to end up giving orders to have his brother-in-law beaten up and forced to stay away from Marina and the child.
"It will be an honor."
The dinner was a grand affair, with ladies dressed in glittering fabrics and showing off their jewelry. Many of them were more decked out than Marina, but it did not escape de Soto's notice that she was much more elegant in less showy clothes. He hadn't realized the difference until then.
After dinner small groups formed while a quartet played music in one of the rooms and other rooms were used for guests to chat. An acquaintance came over to greet Marina, and took her by the hands with a fake smile.
"Darling, long time no see."
Marina smiled tensely. "That's true." she replied tersely.
"Oh, yes, I haven't seen you again since your visit to my parents' house. I suppose you know that I am now engaged to Señor Robledo. Our wedding is going to be the event of the season."
Marina withdrew the hands the other woman had taken and said in a somewhat distant tone. "My husband and I leave for Madrid in three weeks, so I'm afraid we won't be here for those dates." She was glad she didn't have to attend that wedding, since that woman was the one who had allowed de Soto and her to be left alone and him to seduce her. For a moment she felt sorry for her future husband, because she didn't think she really loved him, but then she remembered the letter she had received from her after their son was born, saying that he had found out about everything and thought she was a slut. Maybe they were such a match.
"I didn't congratulate you on your recent marriage." said the false friend.
Marina realized that wasn't congratulations. At that moment de Soto joined them as he saw his wife in an awkward situation.
"Don't worry, señorita, come to think of it I'm afraid we haven't congratulated you on your engagement either." he said with aplomb.
The other woman was a bit puzzled by this answer, because she had not been congratulated either. She decided to withdraw before she let on that she was puzzled. "It has been a pleasure to greet you, Marina. Señor." she said, making a slight gesture toward de Soto.
Marina fell silent, and he knew she had been affected by the conversation, so he decided to move her to a more discreet corner.
"Don't let women like her get to you. As I told you, they actually envy you. You'll find plenty of them in Madrid if we socialize."
"She was the one who told me that what we were doing was right." she said in a very low voice.
"I know, she told me that you liked to toy with men and play innocent. It was later that I knew you weren't pretending."
"Did you think I was toying with you? Who would do such a thing?"
"It's quite frequent." he said with a slight shrug. Then he looked at her seriously. "Do you want to know more about her?"
"What do you mean?"
"I can ask her for a dance and invite her for a private conversation on the terrace. The powder room is upstairs. If when you see us leave you discreetly go upstairs and out onto the balcony on that landing." he said pointing to the top of the stairs. "I'll position myself with her just below and I'm sure you'll be able to hear us."
"And what are you going to talk to her about?"
"About you, and I'm convinced you won't like what you hear, but it will help you to learn how women like her think."
"Are there many women who behave like that?" she said with a worried look on her face.
"There are many more women like her than there are women like you." he said, feeling proud of her, though he didn't know exactly why.
"They're smarter, I can't compete with them."
"It's not a question of intelligence. As I get to know you I realize that you don't lack understanding, you lack experience. I hope you never become false and mean like them, but I'm sure you can outsmart them if you practice. The question is whether you want to hear a conversation between her and me or not."
She thought for a moment. "I want to know what she really thinks."
"All right, I'll give it a try, see what I coax out of her."
De Soto walked confidently across the room, and approached the young lady, asking her for a dance. She gladly accepted, and Marina watched them as she took a drink.
Out of the corner of her eye she saw a gentleman, and thought it odd that he stopped and looked at her hesitantly. Turning around she realized it was her former friend's fiancé. She nodded to him and he finally decided to approach.
" Señorita... excuse me, I mean Señora de Soto. Is that correct, isn't it?"
"That's right, I am now Señora de Don Ignacio de Soto."
"Congratulations on your marriage." he said.
"Thank you." she replied, not sure how to continue this tense conversation. She decided on the obvious: "I have learned that you are only a few weeks away from marrying Señorita Eloísa Laredo. I also congratulate you."
"Yes, thank you." he said, averting his gaze.
The piece was already ending, and she saw that Eloísa had decided to accompany de Soto to the terrace. Marina decided to say goodbye so she could go upstairs and go out to the balcony he had indicated.
"If you'll excuse me." she said by way of farewell.
He saw that his fiancée was talking to another man and looked at her quizzically. "Is that your husband?"
"That's right."
"Where is he going with my fiancée?"
"Just to the terrace, I don't think there's anything to worry about."
"Is that all right with you?" he said tensely.
"Actually... I..." she didn't know what to say to him, and then she thought that maybe he could do with knowing how his future wife thought, too. Maybe he too had been cheated on. "Come with me." she finally said, and without waiting for a reply she started for the stairs.
He followed her without understanding what she intended. She stepped out onto the balcony very determinedly and invited him with a gesture. She left the door open, so that they were in full view of people passing by, she didn't want there to be any malicious rumors about her, she had had enough of that.
"What are we doing here?" he asked.
"Keep your voice down and listen." she replied.
A conversation stood out over the noise of the party. They could both recognize Eloise's voice.
"It's very kind of you to congratulate me on my engagement. I think you should also thank me for what I did in San Rafael. After all, I did give you the opportunity to marry a wealthy heiress." There was a little chuckle. "And to have a son with her, even if he bears the false name you gave to throw her off the scent. I was very surprised that they managed to find you in spite of everything. You said that this Diego is an expert at evading his responsibilities when things get ugly. And now your firstborn is named after him. Isn't that funny?"
"It doesn't matter too much." said de Soto somewhat annoyed. The fact that his son bore the name of Don Diego de la Vega was uncomfortable for him. Not even by returning to Spain was he going to be able to get rid of him for good.
"The thing is, now you can have what you wanted, and it's all thanks to me." she continued with an air of superiority.
"And I thank you for it, although at the time you didn't know who she was."
"I thought she was a penniless, that's why I didn't worry too much, until Manuel started to notice her. I think he would have asked for her hand even though she wasn't supposed to be able to bring much to the marriage. Good thing I intervened. She would have bored him to death. I don't think you'll have that problem, with her money and living in Madrid I'm sure you can meet up again with old friends, and girlfriends, to have fun with."
"I'm a married man now, my life will be very different from when I studied there."
"I don't think that will stand in your way. I know you're ambitious and like to enjoy life."
"Maybe you don't know me as well as you think you do."
"Sure I do, I don't think you can settle for someone like her after knowing what it's like to be with someone superior."
De Soto laughed briefly. That woman's vanity knew no bounds. "If you mean yourself you're wrong."
"Now you will tell me that you don't intend to have a date alone with me before leaving for Spain." she said in a seductive tone.
"Not really, I had no intention of seeing you alone."
"You are a liar."
"I lie when it suits me, but in this case I do not. When I have a lover I like to please her, so I have them one at a time, and now the position is filled, I'm afraid permanently." said de Soto, at first to make her angry, but he realized it was true. He himself was taken aback.
"You sure have been in a hurry to find someone to give you what your bland wife can't give you." she said with contempt.
"I'm talking precisely about her. She's the best lover I've ever had."
"Liar. She's dumber than a stone. She doesn't know what to do."
"She's very different from women like you. It's true she doesn't usually think about several things at once, but you know what? That's an advantage. She's willing to do what I ask her to please me, and when she does it's not to get something in return. She's fully focused on me, and I know that when she tells me she likes something she's being sincere, so I'll tell you again: she's the best lover I've ever had, and you're not even in my top ten favorites."
Marina and her companion were so astonished that they were both startled to hear the crack of the slap Eloísa gave de Soto. He chuckled as she turned around and went back inside the house. Being nice to everyone was not something he was used to. Life in Los Angeles, surrounded by humble and kind-hearted people had been very frustrating for him. In Madrid he would be much better off, with people with whom being devious was a must. Practicing a bit of evil was just what he needed to make the night perfect. Well, that and for his favorite lover to leave the candle burning, of course.
Marina decided to go downstairs to join her husband, and left Eloise's fiancé there, who still hadn't moved and didn't look like moving for quite a while.