When Maria told her that the master of the house wanted to see her, Juliana hurried towards the library, where her master awaited her. Don Alejandro, Senor Montoya, and Fariz were also there, also waiting for her, she easily realized.

"You asked for me, Patron?" She inquired, head bowed.

"Yes, I did." The Count replied. "But before I explain why, please take a seat!" He encouraged her.

She glanced inquisitively at her young master, then at the other men in the room, eventually resting her eyes on Don Alejandro, who nodded kindly, pointing towards an armchair next to him.

"No, I… I can stand, Your Excellency." She said, fearful.

"Nonsense! You must sit. You're expecting a baby for goodness sake!" Don Alejandro insisted.

Again glancing between the two men she considered to be her masters, she did as asked, and sat down, keeping her head bowed.

"We called you here because a few things have recently come to light. Things that involve you and your unborn child." The Count started.

"What things?" She asked, quickly glancing at him before returning to fixating the floor.

"Juliana," Don Alejandro said, hesitantly, "it appears that the baby you are carrying is my grandson."

"What?" She asked, this time staring at the old man. "I don't understand."

"A letter has recently come into our possession. One that gives us good reason to suspect that Gilberto Risendo, the father of your unborn child, is, in fact, Gilberto de la Vega. Don Alejandro's firstborn son." The Count clarified.

Her eyes grew in disbelief at that news, and she shook her head. "But… But he tried to hurt you! Maria told me he almost had you executed!" She addressed the elderly man.

"Yes, well… His actions were certainly not those of a good son. But, on the other hand, he had been stolen from my wife at birth. I did not know of his existence before now and he grew up to believe I had rejected him." Don Alejandro said, having remembered the conversation he and Gilberto had had a couple of months earlier, when they had been taken hostages by the bandits who had tried to rob him of his fortune. "Still… Seeing how Gilberto is a De la Vega, married or not, as far as I am concerned, so are you, my dear."

"Me?"

"Yes. And, as a consequence, beginning right now, you will stop being a servant." The Count said, standing up. "You will move into one of the front rooms of the house, and I will make sure you are treated as a doña."

"But… But then people will know I am not Señor Montoya's cousin… "

"People are about to find out that I have a long-lost son who put his brother in jail and almost executed me." Don Alejandro said. "That your child is his will hardly be the main focus of the gossipers."

Juliana just glanced around the room, wondering if the men had gone mad.

"Besides, Rafael, Fariz, and I are to leave California soon and it would hardly be fair to Don Alejandro if we were to take you with us, thus depriving him of his grandson or granddaughter." The Count added.

"You're leaving?"

"I'm afraid so. Things are about to change, in more ways than one; for you and everyone here." He replied. "But, be assured, you will not need to fear these changes."

She nodded reticently, but inwardly she was screaming in fear. She liked her master far more than she had ever liked another man. She was not in love with him or anything like that. However, despite the short time she had spent in his house, she had come to admire him, to trust him as she had never trusted another man before, and to care for him as she imagined she'd have cared for a big brother, had God given her a sibling.

"However…" the Count continued, "we were also wondering if you might like to help us."

"Help you? How?" She wondered, fearing that, even though she had no intention of refusing whatever they'd ask of her, she might not rise to their expectations.

"Gilberto, as you might already know, is to hang later today. Yet, was the Governor to be informed about the circumstances of his crime, his reasons for it, I doubt he would go on with the execution." Don Alejandro said.

"You want me to talk to the Governor?" She asked in disbelief.

"No! No…" the nobleman replied. "You see, I have the power to save Gilberto's life. But, considering all he's done, I am not sure he can be trusted. I need some degree of certainty that, should I ensure his pardon, his eventual release, I won't be doing a disservice to Don Alejandro, Victoria, and who knows how many others. We… all of us here, want to believe that he can change; and that, given the opportunity, he might become a better man. But, for that, we need your help."

ZZZ

The Count's coach arrived in the plaza about an hour before midday.

Strangely enough, for all those expecting to see the young nobleman descend from it, it wasn't him to step down, but a well-dressed young woman that nobody recognized. She shyly glanced around, then headed for the Alcalde's office.

Mendoza politely welcomed her, inviting her to sit down. She smiled and shook her head, in turn, giving him a note signed by the Count.

The Sergeant took it with some dismay, read it; then, without asking any question, he escorted her to the jail, leaving her alone with the prisoner.

"I have no need for your services, Padre. My sins can't be absolved… and I do not want them to." Gilberto just uttered from his cot, not even standing up to see who it was to have entered the jail.

The young woman did not say anything right away. Hearing his voice, after all that time, stirred the memory of that night she had spent with that young man. It was the first and only time she had given herself, her hopes, and her dreams to a man; one who turned out to be undeserving and a truly huge mistake. Yet, a mistake that had led her to a place she actually loved, to people she cared for and who, Juliana felt, cared for her. "It's not a confession I need from you." She said in reply.

Gilberto must have been surprised to hear a woman's voice, for he stood up at once, and neared the barred door, looking at her. "I know you," he said. "You… You are the tavern helper… from San Diego…"

"Yes. My name is Juliana." She replied.

The young man nodded, and her heart skipped a beat as he stared into her eyes. "For God's sake!" She chided herself. "He's a bad man who did many bad things! I must never forget that!"

"Why are you here, Juliana?" He inquired.

"I…" She hesitated, wondering why she was suddenly so uncertain of her words. She had rehearsed them many times on her way to the pueblo. She knew what she had to do and say. She knew why she was there, and she was not going to fail her mission. She was not going to fail Don Sebastian, Don Alejandro, and everyone else who was counting on her. "I wanted you to know that… That I am carrying your child." She finally blurted out.

"My child?"

"Yes."

He slightly shook his head in disbelief. "That can't be!"

"I assure you it is true!" She replied, encouraged at the thought that, while Gilberto might deny the veracity of her words, at least the Count and Don Alejandro believed her. "But don't worry. I want nothing from you. I just thought you should know."

Silence fell in the room and Juliana looked at the floor, unable to face him for reasons she, herself, couldn't understand.

He returned to the cot and sat on it. "One more regret to take with me to my grave…" He muttered after a few minutes.

Juliana raised her head to look at him and he turned towards her, sadness in his eyes. "I thought about you often since that night we spent together. However, truth be told, I didn't expect to ever see you again… I didn't expect to think of you so often, either." He uttered. "But how did you manage to come from San Diego on such short notice?" He inquired.

"I didn't come from San Diego. I have been in Los Angeles for several weeks now."

"You have?"

"Yes. After my masters found out I was with child, they sent me away… So I came here. I walked almost the entire way. I did so hoping you would care about the baby. That you would at least take care of it..."

"Then, why did you wait for so long to tell me?" He asked reproachfully, standing up again, and heading for the barred door.

"I went by your hacienda as soon as I arrived. Your mother made sure to let me know you wanted nothing to do with either me or our child."

"My mother… She sent you away?" He said, an angry look on his face as he clenched the bars on the door to his cell.

The young woman nodded, a hurt look in her eyes. "She said you wanted nothing to do with me."

"She was lying. I didn't know… She never told me you were here…"

Juliana just nodded. "It hardly matters anymore."

Gilberto shook his head. "Had I known… What will you do?" He wondered.

"Why do you even care?"

"How wouldn't I? No matter what you might think about me, I… I don't want my child to grow up like I did… without a father…"

"You grew up without a father?"

"I grew up without my family, to be fair…"

"I am not alone if that offers you any consolation," Juliana said. "I was… After your mother turned me away…"

"She was not my mother!"

"She said she was…"

"She lied… She was a wretched woman who stole my life from me."

"Whoever that woman was – she said you wanted nothing to do with me and I believed her. I left your hacienda feeling hopeless. I had nowhere to go. I even considered taking my own life… I was a penniless vagabond with nothing to offer a child. So why bring it into this world?

"But God took mercy on me and sent me Señorita Escalante. Or, perhaps, He sent me to her… Whatever the case, I now have a roof over my head thanks to Victoria. To her and the Count, who agreed to take me into his employment despite my condition…"

"Señorita Escalante… and the Count helped you?"

Juliana nodded.

"The evening I met her, without knowing anything about me, Victoria took me into her home, fed me, listened to me, and gave me a room for the night. The following day, since she could not also offer me employment, she took me to see the Count. He offered me a place to stay and a good income… He even made sure to let everyone know that I was Señor Montoya's widowed cousin…"

"The Count… He knows whose child you are expecting?"

"He's known since he hired me."

"And he's been kind to you?"

"Very kind. Everyone there has been treating me kindly. Don Alejandro even keeps telling me that he will make sure to spoil my child as he would his own grandchildren."

Gilberto stared at her in disbelief, then shook his head. "I was such a fool!" He said. "He's a good man and I did all in my power to hurt him… I came inches away from having him killed…"

"Don Alejandro?"

"My father… He's my father, Juliana!" Gilberto said, tears falling from his eyes.

"Your father?"

"Yes… Though he doesn't know it. Before you came here, I hoped he would never know… But… now… Now, I'm not so sure that secret should die with me… Nor am I sure it should ever be revealed…" He said pensively.

"I don't understand. How can he be your father?" She asked, hoping her words seemed honest, though they were not.

"It's a long story." He replied. "I am Don Alejandro's firstborn son. A son he never knew existed, for I was stolen as soon as my mother gave birth to me. I was raised to believe that my real parents had rejected me; plotting my revenge against my real family. It is because of me that his other son, Diego, my twin brother, never returned home. I used my power and influence to condemn him to prison, though he had done nothing wrong. He was innocent, and I doomed him out of jealousy. I caused his death, and it is for that crime, as well as several others, that I must die today.

"I leave this world with many… many regrets, Juliana. I regret never truly knowing my real family, I regret my blindness; I regret most of my actions… And you just added two more things for me to regret: having done you wrong and never knowing my child.

"I wish I could change something… anything… give you my hacienda, perhaps… But it was bought with money stolen from Don Alejandro, so it will, most probably, go to him upon my death...

"I would gladly give you my name, but Risendo was never my true name and I was never worthy of being a De la Vega.

"All I can offer you is my truth. That, and the hope that, after I am gone, our child might offer the man who should have raised me the consolation of knowing that his bloodline will not end with him…"

"I only ask this of you: do not tell anyone who I truly am until my body lays cold in the ground."

She nodded, though made no promises. "Do you want me to tell him anything? After you are gone?"

"Just that… That I die regretting all the harm I ended up causing him, Victoria, and, most of all, Diego. That I wish things had been different... That I had been a better, wiser man…"

"Wouldn't you rather tell him all that yourself?"

"No! No… I could not face him… And I have no intention of causing him even more harm by telling him the truth just before I am to be hung. He's lost too much already…"

Juliana nodded, then turned around, and headed for the prison door.

"Adios!" She said.

"May God give you a happy, long life, Juliana!" He uttered. "Forgive me if you can, and tell the Count I am grateful to him. For helping you… and for opening my eyes."

She glanced at him one more time, then headed away.