DON DIEGO RETURNS
Señorita Lolita had to tell her parents, of course, what had happened
during their absence, for the _despensero_ knew, and would tell Don
Diego when he returned, and the _señorita_ was wise enough to realize
that it would be better to make the first explanation.
The _despensero_, having been sent for wine, knew nothing of the love
scene that had been enacted, and had been told merely that Señor Zorro
had hurried away. That seemed reasonable, since the _señor_ was pursued
by the soldiers.
So the girl told her father and mother that Captain Ramón had called
while they were absent, and that he had forced his way into the big
living-room to speak to her, despite the entreaties of the servant.
Perhaps he had been drinking too much wine, else was not himself
because of his wound, the girl explained, but he grew too bold, and
pressed his suit with ardor that was repugnant, and finally insisted
that he should have a kiss.
Whereupon, said the _señorita_, this Señor Zorro had stepped from the
corner of the room--and how he came to be there, she did not know--and
had forced Captain Ramón to apologize, and then had thrown him out of
the house. After which--and here she neglected to tell the entire
truth--Señor Zorro made a courteous bow and hurried away.
Don Carlos was for getting a blade and going at once to the _presidio_
and challenging Captain Ramón to mortal combat; but Doña Catalina was
more calm, and showed him that to do that would be to let the world
know that their daughter had been affronted, and also it would not aid
their fortunes any if Don Carlos quarreled with an officer of the army;
and yet again the don was of an age, and the captain probably would
run him through in two passes and leave Doña Catalina a weeping widow,
which she did not wish to be.
So the don paced the floor of the great living-room and fumed and
fussed, and wished he were ten years the younger, or that he had
political power again, and he promised that when his daughter should
have wedded Don Diego, and he was once more in good standing, he would
see that Captain Ramón was disgraced and his uniform torn from his
shoulders!
Sitting in the chamber that had been assigned to her, Señorita Lolita
listened to her father's ravings, and found herself confronted with a
situation. Of course, she could not wed Don Vega now. She had given her
lips and her love to another, a man whose face she never had seen, a
rogue pursued by soldiery--and she had spoken truly when she had said
that a Pulido loved but once.
She tried to explain it all to herself, saying that it was a generous
impulse that had forced her to give her lips to the man; and she told
herself that it was not the truth, that her heart had been stirred when
first he spoke to her at her father's _hacienda_ during the _siesta_
hour.
She was not prepared yet to tell her parents of the love that had come
into her life, for it was sweet to keep it a secret; and, moreover, she
dreaded the shock to them, and half feared that her father might cause
her to be sent away to some place where she never would see Señor Zorro
again.
She crossed to a window and gazed out at the plaza--and she saw Don
Diego approaching in the distance. He rode slowly, as if greatly
fatigued, and his two native servants rode a short distance behind him.
Men called to him as he neared the house, and he waved his hand at them
languidly in response to their greeting. He dismounted slowly, one of
the natives holding the stirrup and assisting him, brushed the dust
from his clothes, and started toward the door.
Don Carlos and his wife were upon their feet to greet him, their faces
beaming, for they had been accepted anew into society the evening
before, and knew it was because they were Don Diego's house guests.
"I regret that I was not here when you arrived," Don Diego said, "but I
trust that you have been made comfortable in my poor house."
"More than comfortable in this gorgeous palace!" Don Carlos exclaimed.
"Then you have been fortunate, for the saints know I have been
uncomfortable enough."
"How is that, Don Diego?" Doña Catalina asked.
"My work at the _hacienda_ done, I rode as far as the place of Fray
Felipe, there to spend the night in quiet. But as we were about to
retire, there came a thundering noise at the door, and this Sergeant
Gonzales and a troop of soldiers entered. It appears that they had been
chasing the highwayman called Señor Zorro, and had lost him in the
darkness!"
In the other room, a dainty _señorita_ gave thanks for that.
"These are turbulent times," Don Diego continued, sighing and mopping
the perspiration from his forehead. "The noisy fellows were with us
an hour or more, and then continued the chase. And because of what
they had said of violence, I endured a horrible nightmare, so got very
little rest. And this morning I was forced to continue to Reina de Los
Angeles!"
"You have a difficult time," Don Carlos said. "Señor Zorro was here,
_caballero_, in your house, before the soldiers chased him."
"What is this intelligence?" Don Diego cried, sitting up straight in
his chair and betraying sudden interest.
"Undoubtedly he came to steal, else to abduct you and hold you for
ransom," Doña Catalina observed. "But I scarcely think that he stole.
Don Carlos and myself were visiting friends, and Señorita Lolita
remained here alone. There--there is a distressing affair to report to
you--"
"I beg of you to proceed," Don Diego said.
"While we were gone, Captain Ramón, of the _presidio_, called. He was
informed we were absent, but he forced his way into the house and made
himself obnoxious to the _señorita_. This Señor Zorro came in and
forced the captain to apologize, and then drove him away."
"Well, that is what I call a pretty bandit!" Don Diego exclaimed. "The
_señorita_ suffers from the experience?"
"Indeed, no!" said Doña Catalina. "She was of the opinion that Captain
Ramón had taken too much wine. I shall call her."
Doña Catalina went to the door of the chamber and called her daughter,
and Lolita came into the room and greeted Don Diego as became a proper
maiden.
"It makes me desolate to know that you received an insult in my house,"
Don Diego said. "I shall consider the affair."
Doña Catalina made a motion to her husband, and they went to a far
corner to sit, that the young folk might be somewhat alone, which
seemed to please Don Diego, but not the _señorita_.