LOVE COMES SWIFTLY
The _despensero_ hurried to open it.
"I regret that Don Diego is not at home, _señor_," he said. "He has
gone to his _hacienda_."
"I know as much. Don Carlos and wife and daughter are here, are they
not?"
"Don Carlos and his wife are out on a visit this evening, _señor_."
"The _señorita_--"
"Is here, of course."
"In that case, I shall pay my respects to the _señorita_," Captain
Ramón said.
"_Señor!_ Pardon me, but the little lady is alone."
"Am I not a proper man?" the captain demanded.
"It--it is scarcely right for her to receive the visit of a gentleman
when her _dueña_ is not present."
"Who are you, to speak to me of the proprieties?" Captain Ramón
demanded. "Out of my way, scum! Cross me, and you shall be punished. I
know things concerning you!"
The face of the _despensero_ went white at that, for the captain spoke
the truth, and at a word could cause him considerable trouble and
mayhap a term in _cárcel_. Yet he knew what was right.
"But, _señor_--" he protested.
Captain Ramón thrust him aside with his left arm, and stalked into the
big living-room. Lolita sprang up in alarm when she saw him standing
before her.
"Ah, _señorita_, I trust that I did not startle you," he said. "I
regret that your parents are absent, yet must have a few words with
you. This servant would deny me entrance, but I imagine you have naught
to fear from a man with one wounded arm."
"It--it is scarcely proper, is it, _señor_?" the girl asked, a bit
frightened.
"I feel sure no harm can come of it," he said.
He went across the room and sat down on one end of the couch, and
admired her beauty frankly. The _despensero_ hovered near.
"Go to your kitchen, fellow!" Captain Ramón commanded.
"No; allow him to remain," Lolita begged. "My father commanded it, and
he courts trouble if he leaves."
"And if he remains. Go, fellow!"
The servant went.
Captain Ramón turned toward the girl again, and smiled upon her. He
flattered himself that he knew women--they loved to see a man show
mastery over other men.
"More beautiful than ever, _señorita_," he said in a purring voice. "I
really am glad to find you thus alone, for there is something I would
say to you."
"What can that be, _señor_?"
"Last night at your father's _hacienda_ I asked his permission to pay
my addresses to you. Your beauty has inflamed my heart, _señorita_, and
I would have you for my wife. Your father consented, except that he
said Don Diego Vega also had received permission. So it appears that it
lies between Don Diego and myself."
"Should you speak of it, _señor_?" she asked.
"Certainly Don Diego Vega is not the man for you," he went on. "Has he
courage, spirit? Is he not a laughing-stock because of his weakness?"
"You speak ill of him in his own house?" the _señorita_ asked, her eyes
flashing.
"I speak the truth, _señorita_. I would have your favor. Can you not
look upon me with kindness? Can you not give me hope that I may win
your heart and hand?"
"Captain Ramón, all this is unworthy," she said. "It is not the proper
manner, and you know it. I beg you to leave me now."
"I await your answer, _señorita_."
Her outraged pride rose up at that. Why could she not be wooed as other
_señoritas_, in the proper fashion? Why was this man so bold in his
words? Why did he disregard the conventions?
"You must leave me," she said firmly. "This is all wrong, and you are
aware of it. Would you make my name a by-word, Captain Ramón? Suppose
somebody was to come and find us like this--alone?"
"Nobody will come, _señorita_. Can you not give me an answer?"
"No!" she cried, starting to get to her feet. "It is not right that you
should ask it. My father, I assure you, shall hear of this visit!"
"Your father!" he sneered. "A man who has the ill-will of the governor!
A man who is being plucked because he possessed no political sense! I
fear not your father! He should be proud of the fact that Captain Ramón
looks at his daughter."
"_Señor!_"
"Do not run away!" he said, clutching her hand. "I have done you the
honor to ask you to be my wife--"
"Done _me_ the honor!" she cried angrily, and almost in tears. "It is
the man who is done the honor when a woman accepts him."
"I like you when you rage," he observed. "Sit down again--beside me,
here. And now give me your answer!"
"_Señor!_"
"You will wed me, of course. I shall intercede with the governor for
your father and get a part of his estate restored. I shall take you
to San Francisco de Asis, to the governor's house, where you will be
admired by persons of rank!"
"_Señor!_ Let me go!"
"My answer, _señorita_! You have held me off enough!"
She wrenched away from him, confronted him with blazing eyes, her tiny
hands clenched at her sides.
"Wed with you?" she cried. "Rather would I remain a maid all my life,
rather would I wed with a native, rather would I die than wed with you!
I wed a _caballero_, a gentleman, or no man! And I cannot say that you
are such!"
"Pretty words from the daughter of a man who is about ruined."
"Ruin would not change the blood of the Pulidos, _señor_. I doubt
whether you understand that, evidently having ill-blood yourself. Don
Diego shall hear of this. He is my father's friend--"
"And you would wed the rich Don Diego, eh, and straighten out your
father's affairs? You would not wed an honorable soldier, but would
sell yourself--"
"_Señor!_" she shrieked.
This was beyond endurance. She was alone, there was nobody near to
resent the insult. So her blood called upon her to avenge it herself.
Like a flash of lightning her hand went forward, and came against
Captain Ramón's cheek with a crack. Then she sprang backward, but he
grasped her by an arm, and drew her toward him.
"I shall take a kiss to pay for that!" he said. "Such a tiny bit of
womanhood can be handled with one arm, thank the saints!"
She fought him, striking and scratching at his breast, for she could
not reach his face. But he only laughed at her, and held her tighter
until she was almost spent and breathless, and finally he threw back
her head and looked down into her eyes.
"A kiss in payment, _señorita_!" he said. "It will be a pleasure to
tame such a wild one."
She tried to fight again, but could not. She called upon the saints to
aid her. And Captain Ramón laughed more, and bent his head, and his
lips came close to hers.
But he never claimed the kiss. She started to wrench away from him
again, and he was forced to strengthen his arm and pull her forward.
And from a corner of the room there came a voice that was at once deep
and stern.
"One moment, _señor_!" it said.
Captain Ramón released the girl and whirled on one heel. He blinked his
eyes to pierce the gloom of the corner; he heard Señorita Lolita give a
glad cry.
Then Captain Ramón, disregarding the presence of the lady, cursed, once
and loudly, for Señor Zorro stood before him.
He did not pretend to know how the highwayman had entered the house;
he did not stop to think of it. He realized that he was without a
blade at his side, and that he could not use it had he one, because of
his wounded shoulder. And Señor Zorro was walking toward him from the
corner.
"Outlaw I may be, but I respect women!" the Curse of Capistrano said.
"And you, an officer of the army, do not, it appears. What are you
doing here, Captain Ramón?"
"And what do you here?"
"I heard a lady's scream, which is warrant enough for a _caballero_ to
enter any place, _señor_. It appears to me that you have broken all
the conventions."
"Perhaps the lady has broken them also."
"_Señor!_" roared the highwayman. "Another thought like that and I cut
you down where you stand, though you are a wounded man! How shall I
punish you?"
"_Despensero!_ Natives!" the captain shouted suddenly. "Here is Señor
Zorro! A reward if you take him!"
The masked man laughed. "'Twill do you small good to call for help," he
said. "Spend your breath in saying your prayers, rather!"
"You do well to threaten a wounded man."
"You deserve death, _señor_, but I suppose I must allow you to
escape that. But you will go down upon your knees and apologize to
this _señorita_! And then you will go from this house, slink from it
like the cur you are, and keep your mouth closed regarding what has
transpired here. If you do not, I promise to soil my blade with your
life's blood!"
"Ha!"
"On your knees, _señor_, and instantly!" Señor Zorro commanded. "I have
no time to waste in waiting."
"I am an officer--"
"On your knees!" commanded Señor Zorro again, in a terrible voice. He
sprang forward and grasped Captain Ramón by his well shoulder, and
threw him to the floor.
"Quickly, poltroon! Tell the _señorita_ that you humbly beg her
pardon--which she will not grant, of course, since you are beneath
speaking to--and that you will not annoy her again! Say it, or, by the
saints, you have made your last speech!"
Captain Ramón said it. And then Señor Zorro grasped him by the neck
and lifted him, and propelled him to the door, and hurled him into the
darkness. And had his boots not been soft, Captain Ramón would have
been injured more deeply, both in feelings and anatomy.
Señor Zorro closed the door as the _despensero_ came running into the
room, to stare in fright at the masked man.
"_Señorita_, I trust that I have been of service," the highwayman said.
"That scoundrel will not bother you further, else he feels the sting of
my blade again."
"Oh, thank you, _señor_--thank you!" she cried. "I shall tell my father
this good deed you have done. _Despensero_, get him wine!"
There was naught for the butler to do except obey, since she had voiced
the order, and he hurried from the room, pondering on the times and the
manners.
Señorita Lolita stepped to the man's side.
"_Señor_," she breathed, "you saved me from insult. You saved me
from the pollution of that man's lips. _Señor_, though you deem me
unmaidenly, I offer you freely the kiss he would have taken!"
She put up her face, and closed her eyes.
"And I shall not look when you raise your mask," she said.
"It were too much, _señorita_," he said. "Your hand--but not your lips."
"You shame me, _señor_! I was bold to offer it, and you have refused."
"You shall feel no shame," he said.
He bent swiftly, raised the bottom of his mask, and touched lightly her
lips with his.
"Ah, _señorita_!" he said. "I would I were an honest man and could
claim you openly. My heart is filled with love of you!"
"And mine with love of you!"
"This is madness! None must know!"
"I would not fear to tell the world, _señor_!"
"Your father and his fortunes! Don Diego!"
"I love you, _señor_."
"Your chance to be a great lady! Do you think I did not know Don Diego
was the man you meant when we spoke in your father's _patio_? This is a
whim, _señorita_."
"It is love, _señor_, whether anything comes of it or not. And a Pulido
does not love twice."
"What possibly could come of it but distress?"
"We shall see. God is good!"
"It is madness--"
"Sweet madness, _señor_!"
He clasped her to him and bent his head again, and again she closed her
eyes and took his kiss, only this time the kiss was longer. She made no
effort to see his face.
"I may be ugly," he said.
"But I love you."
"Disfigured, _señorita_--"
"Still, I love you!"
"What hope can we have?"
"Go, _señor_, before my parents return. I shall say nothing except that
you saved me from insult and then went your way again. They will think
that you came to rob Don Diego. And turn honest, _señor_, for my sake!
Turn honest, I say, and claim me.
"No man knows your face, and if you take off your mask forever, none
ever will know your guilt. It is not as if you were an ordinary thief.
I know why you have stolen--to avenge the helpless, to punish cruel
politicians, to aid the oppressed! I know that you have given what you
have stolen to the poor. Oh, _señor_!"
"But my task is not yet done, _señorita_, and I feel called upon to
finish it."
"Then finish it, and may the saints guard you, as I feel sure they
will. And when it is finished, come back to me! I shall know you in
whatever garb you come!"
"Nor shall I wait that long, _señorita_. I shall see you often. I could
not exist else!"
"Guard yourself!"
"I shall in truth, now, since I have double reason. Life never was so
sweet as now!"
He backed away from her slowly. He turned and glanced toward a window
near at hand.
"I must go," he said. "I cannot wait for the wine."
"That was but a subterfuge so that we could be alone," she confessed.
"Until the next time, _señorita_, and may it not be long!"
"On guard, _señor_!"
"Always, loved one! _Señorita, á Dios!_"
Again their eyes met, and then he waved his hand at her, gathered his
cloak close about his body, darted to the window and went through it.
The darkness outside swallowed him.