At midday, the gates to the cuartel opened. Sergeant Mendoza, followed by two lancers who were flanking Risendo walked out, heading, through the gathered crowd, towards the gallows erected in the middle of the plaza. Two drummers were following them, a solemn march resounding in the silence that suddenly engulfed the plaza.
The Governor was already waiting on the platform, and, as the noose was placed around the condemned man's neck, the high-ranking official started reading the accusations. When he finished, seeing how there had been no trial, he asked Gilberto if he admitted to his guilt.
The young man nodded. "I am guilty of murdering Inez Riendo," he said.
"But were you justified in your actions?" A voice asked from the crowd, and everyone turned to see the Count.
For a few moments, nobody said anything, then murmurs engulfed the plaza.
"Your Excellency," the Governor uttered, "is there something you wish to say?"
"Yes! May I join you?"
The official hesitated, as he looked around. "Ah… Of course… If you wish…" He replied, unwilling to cause the young, rich man an offense by refusing.
The young man, who had been standing on the tavern's terrace, crossed the plaza through the parted crowd, then climbed the stairs at a brisk pace.
"I know you are all here to witness this man's execution," he said, addressing the people gathered as he reached the top of the platform. "But I don't believe he deserves such sentence."
"What are you doing?" Gilberto asked in disbelief.
The nobleman ignored him. "He stands accused of having murdered his mother. It's why he's here. Is he not, Your Excellency?"
"Yes…" The official said, suddenly doubtful.
"Yet that woman he killed yesterday was not his mother. In fact, she had poisoned his true mother, after which she stole him from his true family, minutes after he was born. She also killed a maid whom she had convinced to aid in her actions. She was a criminal, and should have paid with her life for the lives she had taken, long ago! Don't you agree?"
"Well…" the Governor uttered, "yes… if what you say is true… But what proof do you have, Your Excellency?"
"This," the young man revealed, as he took out from the inner pocket of his jacket a sheet of paper, giving it to the Governor.
"That… that was not yours to take!" Gilberto uttered in horror, only then remembering the letters he had left at his house for anyone to find.
Paying him no mind, the official took it and started reading it. "This… this is signed Inez… This letter… She sent this letter to Antonio Cordoba?" The name stirred a new myriad or murmurs, as he continued. "She mentions in detail how she murdered a servant who had helped her steal a baby… a baby she named Gilberto… and how she had also given some sort of poison to the child's mother…"
"That evil woman's death is not the main reason why I deserve to die…" Gilberto said, worried people were about to find the one thing he had decided to hide until the end. Why had he not burned those letters before leaving home that day?
"No… But it is why you are about to hang, is it not Your Excellency?" The Count asked.
Suspecting the young man was set on having the Risendo pardoned, the Governor nodded. In truth, he, too, was unsure Gilberto deserved such punishment after having read that letter, and had no reason to doubt the veracity of the words in it considering who had presented it to him. "Yes… However, in light of this new information, I cannot, in good conscience –"
"Pull that lever already!" Gilberto shouted. "I deserve to die! I deserve it! If not for killing that woman… For killing… for killing my brother. I am not a matricide, but I surely am a fratricide!" He confessed.
The Governor stared at the Count, as if awaiting his decision. "But you didn't," the young nobleman replied.
"What?" Gilberto asked.
"It is true that this man invented false accusations against his own brother." Don Sebastian told the crowd. "Against his twin brother, to be more precise. He made sure he'd be sent to prison, and never again see anything else but the stone walls of his jail cell. But he did not kill him. In fact, for all anyone knows, his brother drowned while trying to escape prison."
"Because of me! His death is on me!" Gilberto said.
"If he truly died… His body was never found, you see. So who can truly be certain he is dead? Perhaps he's hiding from the authorities, somewhere, to avoid being thrown back in jail," the Count explained. "So… While this man is guilty of several misdeeds and abuse of power –"
"I stole! I took half the money I had collected from the pueblo, the money I was supposed to get back to Spain for the King, and used it for my own purposes… That still deserves a death sentence, does it not?" Gilberto asked.
From the looks of the people gathered in the plaza, many were wondering at that point why he was so keen on being executed.
"Yes… However," the Count uttered, "that money was, in fact, Don Alejandro's. Was it not?"
"That is still stealing…" The Governor pointed out.
"I stole much more from him!" Gilberto said. "It was I to come up with the plot that ended up depriving him of all his remaining fortune. De Soto freed those thugs at my orders!"
"True… But… Seeing how it is Don Alejandro this man's victim, shouldn't he be the one to decide his punishment?"
"That's not how the law works…" the high-ranking official remarked.
"Shouldn't it be… given the circumstances of this particular case?" The nobleman insisted, taking out and giving the Governor another letter, one that seemed to have been crumbled by someone.
"I beg you… Just end my life already…" Gilberto pleaded.
The Governor glanced inquisitively at him, then started reading the paper in his hand, soon realizing why the nobleman had intervened. "Take off that noose, Sergeant," he ordered moments later, then addressed the prisoner. "Señor Ri… Señor… You are hereby found guilty of abuse of power and unlawful imprisonment. Your sentence is commuted to…" at that, he glanced again at the Count, who raised his opened hand to his face, as if trying to arrange his hair, "five years in prison and hard work."
"May I suggest he serves those years right here, in Los Angeles?" The Count asked. "There's much work to be done here, as well, and it is the Los Angelinos he needs to make amends to."
Gilberto shook his head. "No! Don't you understand? I have done too much wrong to deserve a pardon…"
"Which is why you are not pardoned, but due to serve time," the Governor replied. "And yes, I believe him serving his sentence here is a perfect idea, Your Excellency, given the circumstances. Mendoza, escort him back to jail!"
"Si, Your Excellency!" The good man replied.
"Why? Why can't you at least let me die?" Gilberto asked as he was escorted past the Count.
"Because your father deserves a chance to know his son, and your child a chance to know its father…" He answered.
Gilberto stared at him till he was forced inside the garrison and could no longer see the young man.
"What is your stake in all this, Count?" The Governor asked as the people started to disperse, and the two of them climbed down the scaffold behind the lancers. "Why save that man?"
"Because the one guilty of his crimes is already dead. And because he has shown repentance. After all, everyone deserves a second chance, don't you think so?" He replied as his eyes found Victoria, Don Alejandro, Fariz, and Rafael, all watching him from the tavern's terrace, smiles on their lips.
The Governor shrugged his shoulders and, parting with the Count, headed for the alcalde's office.
In turn, the young man directed his steps toward the tavern, which was already overcrowded. He remained on the terrace with the elderly don and some of his friends for a few minutes, then entered the tavern, looking for Victoria.
"But, my dear, you need to find yourself a husband! You'll remain a spinster unless you marry soon!" Doña Maria was just telling the innkeeper as the Count entered.
"I do not need your help, Señora!" She replied, aggravated.
"That is true, Doña Maria," Don Sebastian said, nearing them. "She is young, beautiful, and has plenty of admirers. Besides, my friend, the Count de Lara, is to arrive here shortly, and I would never forgive myself if I'd allow for her affection to already be engaged upon his arrival. Surely, you will find him to be a much better match for the Señorita than any of the caballeros around here."
"Oh?" The elderly woman asked. "And who is this friend of yours, Your Excellency?"
"You'll find out soon enough. Unfortunately, I won't be here by the time his ship is due to set anchor. A shame, really… But I was informed this morning that my presence is needed back in Stambul, so I shall depart within a couple of days."
"You're leaving?" Victoria asked a little baffled. She had no idea what Diego's plan was this time but knew enough to suspect he was plotting something.
"I'm afraid so. But I shall make sure to organize a splendid dinner party at the hacienda in order to take my proper goodbyes. You are both invited, of course." He replied.
Doña Maria nodded and left, surprised by the invitation and eager to be the first to share what she had just learned with her friends and acquaintances.
Victoria, on the other hand, glared at the young man and signed for him to follow her into the kitchen.
"What are you up to now?" She asked her fiancé once she was certain that they were alone and couldn't be overheard.
"I can't very well stop being the Count of Dragonera, Victoria." He said mischievously. "It's why I need to leave so that Diego might return to you."
"But who is this Count De Lara you just mentioned?"
"De Lara was my grandfather's title. I have inherited it upon his death."
"I see…" Victoria uttered with a relieved smile.
ZZZ
"I am not sure I understand…" The Governor asked as he read one of the papers the Count put in front of him the following day. "Why give the hacienda away? I am sure you could sell it… Not easily, considering not many around here would be able to afford it, but…"
The nobleman smiled. "I am not giving it away. You see, it may be my name on the deeds, but another is the true owner of all I have bought here, in California. It was in his name that I made those acquisitions."
"But… I don't understand. Don Alejandro…"
"Don Alejandro will return to being the owner of his former hacienda, as well as the owner of the lands I have been offered by King Ferdinand. The rest of my possessions, however…"
As he said that, the Governor glanced at the other papers he was holding. "You leave everything else to Diego de la Vega, Count de Lara?"
"Don Alejandro's son."
"The one who died?"
"I assure you he's very much alive."
"But how can you know?"
"That is a very long story, actually. And I'd hate to bore you with its details. Suffice to say that I met him back in Spain and I was so impressed to find out what he's been through that I offered to come here while he finished with that tedious inheritance business. You see, he was awfully concerned with what Risedo and De Soto planned on doing while here… quite justifiably, as it turns out."
"True… And Don Alejandro… I assume he knows of his son being alive…"
"I told him, but only yesterday morning. I didn't want to ruin the surprise, but, on the other hand, since I thought he had the right to know Gilberto is also his son, I saw no other option. He's currently trying to come to terms with everything."
"I can imagine. It must have been quite a shock for the old man."
"Indeed, it was."
"It's a shame you're leaving, though. You only just got here…" The Governor said as he signed and sealed every document the Count had given him.
"Perhaps I'll return one day..." the young man said as he stood up and took the documents. "I appreciate your cooperation, Your Excellency! And as a sign of my appreciation, I have instructed my man in Monterey to deliver to your residence that Venetian candelabra you admired the evening we first met. I hope you will do me the honor of accepting it."
"I… I don't know what to say! I thank you very much!" The official said gratefully, then another thought hit him. "You will be taking the rest of the furniture with you, I assume…" he wondered, remembering the dining table and chairs which he had admired even more at the Count's house in Monterey.
"No. I decided to leave it all as a present for Don Diego. I have a debt towards him, you see… I can only hope my actions and generosity are enough to repay it."
"A debt?"
"I owe him my life. And that is a debt not easily repaid."
"Indeed…" The governor uttered slightly disappointed. "Well, I am looking forward to meeting this young man you hold in such esteem… He is also quite wealthy, I assume…"
"Quite. Not as rich as I am, of course… But very few men are." With that, the young man took his goodbye and headed for the door.
Just before reaching it, he suddenly stopped and turned around. "Before I leave," he uttered, "may I ask what you've decided regarding the future leadership of the pueblo?"
"I think I'll let the people decide," the official said. "Let them choose who they want as alcalde. That way, whatever happens, nobody will blame the king for their choice… or me…"
The Count smiled widely at that, then headed out.