The Secret of Zorro
Clementia's Wedding
Chapter Nine and Chapter Ten
by Ella Christian @1999-2001
Contact author at EllaChristian@aol.com

Chapter Nine - Wedding Day

In the wee small hours of the morning, Sergeant Demetrio Lopez Garcia was awakened in the darkness of the morning by a thudding sound in his wall.  He stirred slowly, muttering, "is that you, Corporal?" several times before he finally sat up and looked around into the darkness.  Everything was quiet.  Then he heard the sound again.  "Corporal?" he said again.  

He tried to get his bearings.  Then he realized it was still dark, but it was the morning of his wedding.  He gulped, and then tried to calm himself by thinking good thoughts about the seņorita he was about to pledge himself to.  Despite his many terrors about holy matrimony, focusing on Clementia was always a help to him.  "I...like her, Don Diego," he had told his friend the previous afternoon.  "She is such a....good person.  I like being around her better than I like not being around her, and when I go for a long time without being around her I am not a very good person myself."

Diego laughed and said, "Then you are doing the right thing to marry her, Sergeant.  You will be around her a great deal that way."

Garcia got out of bed and stopped, hearing the thump again.  It sounded similar to the sound that had come from the ceiling of the sala that morning.  He frowned, wondering if Don Diego and Doņa Elizabeth could be up at this hour entertaining one another.  Then he realized that his room was across the hall from theirs.  Surely even their sounds would not carry across the hallway and through the heavy wooden doors.  He stepped towards the door and heard a whooshing sound.  Then another thump, which sounded like it came from the door to the privvy.  Another whoosh.  

"Aiiii," he said, going for the door.  He went out into the dark hallway and looked both ways.  All was quiet.  He went to Diego and Elizabeth's door and stood there.  Nothing but silence greeted him.  Then there was a scuffling sound from his room.  He went back in, and saw, to his horror, a veil slithering across the room on the floor.  It disappeared out the window before he could grab it.  

"Aunt Hortensia!" he muttered.  Then he realized that he had not done the thing that Benicio warned him to do, which was walk around the hacienda three times before going to bed.  How had he forgotten?  Where was Corporal Reyes?  he wondered.  What should he do?  Was it too late to appease the ghost?  "Aiii," he said to himself, looking around again for further signs of the veil.  He saw nothing, but heard another whooshing sound from near the window where the veil had disappeared.

He went back into the hallway and stood there looking back and forth.  He was still partially dressed, and remembered that Benicio and Diego had accompanied him back to his room upon retiring.  He went back to Diego's door and stood there.  Nothing but silence emanated from beyond.  They must be asleep, he thought to himself.  He lifted his hand to knock, but then stopped.  What if they were not asleep?  But then, Don Diego was his best man.  If he could not turn to Diego, to whom could he turn?  He knew he could not approach Clementia, as he was forbidden to see her until she walked down the aisle.  He took a deep breath, and knocked.

Diego started, opening his eyes suddenly.  Elizabeth, who was spooned in front of him all warm and cozy, shifted slightly but did not wake up.  He took a deep breath, adjusting his arms around his sleeping sweetheart.  He smiled.  He never quite knew how she managed to back into his arms as they slept, but no matter what position they went to sleep in, even if they were not touching, he would often wake up in the early hours with her back snuggled up against his chest and her bottom resting against his lap the way a cat will find the perfect warm spot and claim it without fail.  

Then he heard what he realized was the sound that had awakened him, a rather timid knock on the door.  He lifted his head, to see that Esperanza was still asleep at their feet.  The knock came for a third time, a little louder.  Elizabeth stirred.  "What is that?" she asked, still half-asleep.

"Someone is at the door," he whispered, sitting up.  

"It isn't light yet," she sighed.

"I know.  Let me see who it is.  Perhaps Bernardo needs me."  

Diego got up and pulled his robe on, shaking his head to wake himself up a little.  He went to the door and opened it.  There stood Sergeant Garcia in his nightdress.    

"Don Diego..." the Sergeant started.

Diego waited.  The Sergeant's mouth was open but he wasn't managing to form words.  "Well, what is it?" Diego asked, neglecting to suppress his annoyance.

"I am sorry to awaken you, but...but...."

"You have also awakened my wife, Sergeant, and for what?" Diego demanded.

Garcia gulped.  "Did you hear a strange noise a little while ago?" he asked.

"No, because I was asleep!" Diego answered indignantly.  "Now, tell me what you want or..." he waved across the hallway at Garcia's door, "go back to your room and leave us to our...dreams!"

"Don Diego," Garcia said pleadingly, "I have heard strange noises and I...I believe they may have to do with a thing I did not do before I fell asleep."

Diego rolled his eyes.  "I told you not to eat so much before you went to bed!" he exclaimed.  "You do not listen to me, Sergeant, and now you are waking me up in the middle of the night for help I cannot give!"

"No, no," Garcia tried to interrupt, "what I mean is that I did not walk around the hacienda three times."

Diego frowned.  "Walk around the..." he shut his eyes, shaking his head, remembering Benicio's tall tale. He opened his eyes and put his hand on the Sergeant's shoulder.  "I think Benicio was making that up, Sergeant," he said.

"Oh, I don't think so," Garcia shook his head.  "You see I think she..."

"Diego, is everything all right?" Elizabeth's voice interrupted them from the darkness.

"Si, darling," Diego said over his shoulder.  "I'll be right back."

Esperanza began to fuss softly.  Elizabeth started to sit up and reach for her, but then realized the Sergeant was standing in her doorway and although it was dark, she did not have anything on.  She cleared her throat.  Esperanza continued to fuss.

"Just a moment, Sergeant, let me..." Diego said, nudging the Sergeant out into the hall.  Reluctantly, Garcia complied, backing up slowly.  He looked around nervously while Diego disappeared behind the near-closed door.  

Reaching for Esperanza, Diego handed her to his wife.

"Thank you," Elizabeth said.  She held the baby to her chest.  Esperanza began sucking, both of her hands coming to her mother's breast.  "Oh, little baby, you were hungry!" Elizabeth cooed at her softly.

Diego smiled, running a forefinger down Elizabeth's cheek.  "I fear I may have to take a moonlit walk with the Sergeant," he told her.  "Apparently Aunt Hortensia is haunting him tonight."

"More likely Benicio in a sheet," Elizabeth sighed, leaning back into the pillows.  "Come back soon, darling," she told him.

"You may count on it," Diego told her. He leaned down to kiss Esperanza's head, then returned to the door and closed it in order to attend to the groom.

*****

The air was chilly and damp as the two men made their way slowly around the hacienda walls. 

"This is a very strange tradition, Don Diego," the Sergeant remarked, his eyes scanning the terrain suspiciously. 

"Sergeant, can you walk a little faster?" Diego asked, trying to pick up the pace some.  He pulled his robe more tightly around him.

"Oh, are you cold, Don Diego?" Garcia asked, continuing to walk slowly.

"Si, I am!" Diego replied.  "It is three in the morning and we are in our night shirts!"

"At least you have a robe," Garcia pointed out.  He looked around again.  "I hope we do not run into...anyone."

"I am more worried about running into bandits than ghosts!" Diego replied.

At that moment something seemed to flutter briefly ahead of them on the path.  Garcia stopped cold.  So did Diego.

"Did you see that?" the Sergeant asked.

"See what?" Diego asked.

"That...flash of white ahead of us?"

"I think I did see something," Diego answered.  He looked around, and up the hacienda walls.  Everything was still.  They waited.  "I think we should continue," Diego finally said.  

They resumed their walk, passing a shed and walking through the gateway to the stables.  There they paused in the stableyard, where everything was quiet.  Apache whinnied on seeing Diego.  Diego went to his horse and stroked his nose.  "Not the usual hour, eh, boy?" he asked.  

Garcia continued through the stable yard and through the next gate, leading him behind the house.  Diego patted his horse again and followed.  

"Whoa!" he heard Garcia gasp.  He came around the corner in time to find the Sergeant leaning against a wall, his eyes wide.  

"What happened?" Diego asked.  

"I think I saw Aunt Hortensia," the Sergeant answered tightly.  

"Aunt Hort..." Diego started.  He rolled his eyes.  "Sergeant, do you not understand that Benicio is pulling some sort of joke on you, and I am indulging in both of you when I could be in a warm bed with my wife?!"

Garcia shook his head, pointing.

Diego looked around and his eyes widened, for there in the mist, fifteen feet beyond them and several feet above the ground in the branches of an apple tree, hovered some sort of apparition.  Instinctively Diego reached for his sword, but nothing was there.  He looked around on the ground and spied a stick. He reached down and picked it up.

"Do not do anything," Garcia said, grabbing his arm, his eyes never leaving the apparition.  

"Oh, Sergeant, it is a trick!" Diego explained in exasperation.

The apparition wavered and suddenly whipped up into the leaves and out of sight.  The Sergeant caught his breath.  "I do not think it was a trick, I think it was a ghost!" he said.  "And I have not even finished the first circle around the hacienda next!"  He looked at Diego.  "Do you think it will appear again?"

Diego rolled his eyes, pulling his robe more tightly around his waist.  "I imagine it will," he answered. He stepped up their pace, glancing around and wishing he had kept Zorro's costume here rather than sending it home with Bernardo.

They continued around the hacienda walls in the darkness in silence, the only sounds coming from their own feet and Sergeant Garcia's labored breathing.  Finally they reached the front gate, their first circuit complete.

"Perhaps nothing more will happen," the Sergeant suggested.  

Then they heard the snap of a branch.  Garcia's eyes widened.  

"Come, Sergeant," Diego said, putting his hand on the Sergeant's shoulder.  "We must continue and see this through.  If we walk briskly, we will be finished in no time, it is not that large a hacienda."

"Quiet!" came a man's voice from the window above them.

They looked up.  

"I think we are under Don Francisco's window," Diego whispered.

Garcia nodded, putting his finger to his lips.  He did not want to set off his father-in-law to be.

They proceeded a second time around the house, this time without interference from ghostly apparitions.  Waving Garcia on, they proceeded for their third round.  

"Don Diego?" Garcia whispered loudly as they crossed the stableyard for the third time.

"Si, Sergeant?"

"Do you have anything else...to tell me?  About married life?" the Sergeant asked timidly.

Diego paused, and looked at the ground for a moment, thinking.  Then he looked at his friend in the darkness.  "If you treasure every part of her with every part of yourself, and accept her love in return, you will be very happy together," he said.

Garcia considered that as they walked.  "Every part of her with every part of myself..." he murmured.

As they rounded a corner, Diego saw another flutter of white in the trees.  He glanced over to see that Garcia was so lost in his contemplation that he missed it.  He looked back into the trees to see the white disappear into a window.  He squinted, trying to ascertain whose window it was.   

******

In the several hours before the noon wedding, the women were ensconced in the rear wing of the house with Clementia, while the men, accompanying Sergeant Garcia, made their way into the pueblo where they took up conversation and preparations in the very Tavern where Elizabeth and Diego had spent their miserable first week of married life.  Diego, uninterested in re-visiting those memories but very interested in making sure everything was in order at the church, excused himself from the men in order to go on to the mission church.  As a caution, however, he instructed Bernardo to stay in the Tavern and let him know if anything went awry.  "And keep an eye on the Sergeant," he advised.  "I think he is all right but...cold feet would not be appropriate at this point."

Bernardo placed himself quietly on the corner of the bar, giving himself a side view of the Sergeant and the other men.  The tavern was fairly quiet for a while.  Three men came downstairs from the sleeping rooms, apparent guests of the establishment.  They were well-dressed and clean, but Bernardo could tell from their manner of speaking that they were not dons from another community.  They sounded, he decided, like Mexicans.  He watched Benicio carefully, wondering if these were acquaintances of his.  At first there was no interaction, the three simply stood at the bar and had drinks while the men in the wedding party continued talking at their table.  

Then Benicio arose and made his way to the bar, placing himself between Bernardo and the three strangers. 

A friendly conversation developed.  Benicio was soon referring to the strangers as his "tres amigos" and was buying drinks for them. Within fifteen minutes, a card game was underway.  Benicio effortlessly managed to lure Capitan Vilaro, Don Miguel Cahuenga, Don Alejandro and his own father into the game with the three amigos. Sergeant Garcia swore it off, to Bernardo's relief, citing that he did not want to lose the one thing he owned, his uniform, in a game on the morning of his wedding. Don Carlos, who was never much for cards, sat it out with the Sergeant and began telling stories about his diplomatic career.  This made the Sergeant sigh and begin looking hopefully for a barmaid and a tall bottle. 

Bernardo watched all of this develop without giving any hint of interest.  However, once the game was underway he knew he had better alert Diego.  The wedding was only three hours away and he knew it would not do for the game to become so enthralling or so high stakes that anyone was tempted to continue it rather than be present for the nuptials.  Then there was the matter of Don Carlos and the Sergeant, and the bottles of wine sure to appear if Carlos kept up his usual pattern of long-winded tales.  

******

Diego was sitting in Padre Dominic's office reviewing the wedding documents when Bernardo arrived.  

"Ah, is everything all right in the tavern?" he asked his servant.

Bernardo glanced at the Padre and then shook his head slightly.  Diego frowned and got up, putting the papers down.  "Padre, will you excuse us for a moment?" he asked.

"Certainly, Diego, but do not forget to sort through those last three pages, you know the Sergeant will not have the patience for it."

"Si," Diego agreed.  He followed Bernardo into the hallway beside the stairs.  "What is it?" he asked.

Bernardo pointed in the direction from which he had come.

"The tavern," Diego nodded.  "They're all still there?"

Bernardo nodded, and held up three fingers.  

"Plus three others?"

Bernardo nodded, and made mustaches and beards on his face, and indicated guns in belts. 

"Guns? Banditos?" Diego asked.

Bernardo shook his head and then gestured holding a deck of cards and passing cards around.

"Card players?" Diego asked.

Bernardo nodded.  Then he indicated tall and made a languid, sleepy face, and held up the three fingers again, pointing at the face.

"Benicio?" Diego said.  "You think they know Benicio?  Are they Mexicans?"

Bernardo nodded with a guessing gesture.  He pointed again, and then made the shape of a table in front of him and walked around, seat after seat, passing imaginary cards.

"He has a card game going with them?!" Diego exclaimed.

Bernardo nodded.  He made a stiff face and gestured an officer's sash, and then made the facial gesture that he used for Don Alejandro.

"Vilaro? And my father!?" Diego exclaimed.  

Bernardo nodded.  

"Wait here," Diego said to him.  He returned to the padre's doorway.  "Padre, I am sorry, but I must excuse myself for a few minutes.  I will be back, we will get all the paperwork taken care of."

"Fine, Diego," came the voice from inside the room.  

Diego nudged Bernardo and they hurried down the stairs and across the plaza to the Tavern.  Just before rushing in, Diego stopped suddenly and looked at his servant.  "I suppose you left all of Zorro's clothes in Los Angeles when you returned his horse," he said.

Bernardo smiled rather slyly and shook his head.

"You have them here?!" Diego exclaimed.

Bernardo nodded.

Diego laughed.  "Once again you may have saved the day, my friend.  Or at least saved yourself a very hurried trip to Los Angeles during the wedding!"

In the tavern, they found the men lost in the card game. To Diego's dismay, he saw that Governor Peņa had joined them. He went to his father, trying to be casual.

"Ah, I see you have found a way to spend the morning," he observed.

His father grunted, clearly lost in studying his hand.

"May I....speak to you for a moment?" Diego said to his father.

"Not in the middle of a hand!" Alejandro snorted.

Don Miguel looked at Diego fiercely.  Benicio glanced at him and smiled his slow, easy smile.  Governor Peņa grunted at Diego and paused to light a cigar. 

"You should have come sooner, Diego, you would be in the game," Benicio said.

Diego waved his hand.  "Oh, I am no good at cards!" he said. 

"You are always missing at the most interrrrrresting moments, de la Vega," Vilaro observed, glancing up briefly from his hand.  

"Well, you see?" Diego answered.  "That is just proof of my bad luck and tells you why I do not play the game!"

"You should try something new once in a while, Diego, it would do you some good," the Governor observed.  

"I got married!" Diego protested.  "That was something new!"

"Si," the Governor agreed, "and you managed to get a wife who doesn't talk all the time!"   He looked at Alejandro and then across the room at Carlos, who was talking to Sergeant Garcia.  "I hear you two are starting a bank in Los Angeles," he said.

Alejandro shrugged.  "It is not just Carlos and me, Pedro, it is most of the dons in our community."

Vilaro shifted in his seat uncomfortably.   

Diego stepped back, looking over the three strangers Bernardo had referred to.  One of them looked familiar but he could not place the context.  They were, he concluded, Mexicans indeed.  Then he realized he was hearing a familiar voice across the room.  His father-in-law.  He looked over to see Sergeant Garcia trying desperately to be interested in Don Carlos's description of the French court just before the revolution.  What the Sergeant was in fact interested in was the near-empty wine bottle on the table.  Diego turned to them.  

"Sergeant, surely you are not going to compromise your wedding day by sitting here in the Tavern all morning!" he said.  "You should come over to the church with me to review your documents and change into your best uniform."

"But...this IS my best uniform," Garcia replied, looking down at his jacket.

"Sergeant, I have a surprise for you," Diego smiled.  "I believe if you come with me you will find that Corporal Reyes and the lancers have arranged for a very special uniform for you, for your wedding."

Garcia's eyes widened.  "A new uniform?" he muttered.

Diego tossed his head in the direction of the door.  "Come," he said.  "Oh, but first, I really must speak to my father.  Will you excuse us?" he asked Carlos.

Elizabeth's father nodded his head, giving up on having an audience for a moment.

Diego returned to his own father, tapping him on the shoulder. 

"I am almost finished!" Alejandro snapped.  Don Miguel folded his hand, which made Alejandro frown and throw his cards on the table face-down.  "I know I had you beaten!" he said to his friend.  He looked at the three amigos and then got up, following Diego to a private corner.  

"What are you doing?" Diego whispered to him.  "How can you get into a card game right now!?"

"I had to do something to pass the time!" Alejandro answered indignantly.  "Benicio found these three visitors and we had nothing else to do besides listen to Carlos talk....I thought a card game would be infinitely preferable to that!"

"And has anyone won a hand besides them?" Diego asked.  "Or Benicio?"

Alejandro frowned.  "Vilaro won one...and Pedro won one...but...." he looked at Diego, realizing what was happening.  

Diego raised his eyebrows, confirming the thought.  

"Ai, it never ends with him!" Alejandro exclaimed, looking over at Benicio.

"I think he and Vilaro are trying to thwart the bank plan among the dons," Diego said quietly.  "It would appear that Governor Peņa is in on it as well."

"They will not succeed at that!" Alejandro growled.  "It is not as if we have the money here with us!"

"No, but a serious card game can do a lot of damage," Diego pointed out.  "How much have you and Don Miguel and Don Francisco lost, collectively?"

Alejandro squinted, thinking.  Then his eyes widened.  "Too much!" he said.

"You see they are very good, very practiced at this," Diego said softly.  "I suggest that you find a way out of the game and get the others out of it as well.  We may not have seen the last of these characters today, but at least you can save the rancho for the morning."

Alejandro glared at his son and then returned to the table.  He sized up where the game was and then signed loudly.  "You know, I believe I need some air.  It is too early in the morning for this.  Miguel, Francisco, come with me outside."

Miguel Cahuenga and Francisco Bocca looked at him, wondering why he would do something as socially inappropriate as disrupt their card game.  Having their attention, Alejandro glanced at the table where the pile of money was sitting in front of Benicio and his friends.  He looked back at the two dons.

Bocca started, and then put his hand face-down.  "Benicio, you are incurable!" he said to his son.  He stood up.  Miguel joined him, also putting his hand down.  

Benicio sighed, putting down his cards.  Vilaro slapped down his hand in disgust.  Governor Peņa sat back in his chair.  The three amigos looked at each other.

"This is a good game just started!" said the governor.

"Si, a good game for you!" Francisco Bocca harumphed.  

"And your friends!" Miguel Cahuenga added, having ascertained what was going on.

The governor looked at Diego, who was standing innocently by the door.  "Diego, this game was going just fine until you showed up!" he observed.

Diego shrugged.  "I was simply stopping in to see how everyone was doing," he said.  "I must go back to the church now and take the Sergeant with me.  The bride will arrive in less than an hour, you know.  Come, now, gentleman, it is a wedding day, not a day for a long card game!"

The dons filed out, followed by Diego and Bernardo. Garcia and Don Carlos went as well, the Sergeant mumbling something about his uniform.  Once they were all gone, Vilaro looked around the table.  "It would appearrrrrr that we will have to disrrrrrrrrupt the wedding reception!" he said.  He looked at the three amigos.  "Unless you feel you can collect all the money from the house without being seen!"

Peņa groaned.  "All the women will be at the reception!  This was the perfect place to put them all into a state about their money!"  He looked at Vilaro.  "You have bungled this royally, Capitan!"

Vilaro looked at Bencio.  "I trrrrrrrusted you!" he hissed.  "All I have gotten since you arrrrrrived in town is a hard knock on the head!  You could not even disable El Zorro when you had the chance!  Twice!"

Benicio looked back.  "He disappeared for almost two months after I poisoned him," he pointed out.  "You haven't caused him a scratch."

Vilaro frowned.  "Therrrre is something..." he said, searching his memory.  "I...." he shook his head.  "My head has not been right..."

"Not for a long time!" the governor snorted.  "You came with such high recommendations and I have not been able to get a thing from you since I assigned you to Los Angeles.  El Zorro is still on the loose and now we have a private bank in the making!"

"What is it you want us to do?" asked one of the three amigos, aiming his question at Benicio.

Benicio held his hand up, indicating for them simply to wait.  "They can go to Rancho Verbena while everyone is at the wedding," he suggested.  "Nearly no one will be there then."

"Oh, for heaven's sake, do you really believe the dons will leave their money at the hacienda while they are here!  Most of it isn't here to begin with; it is in Los Angeles in their homes!  We might as well admit we have failed and just...go to the wedding!" He glared at Vilaro.  "At least my wife is having a good time this weekend!"

Benicio's eyes stayed on the door that the dons had just left through, his mind working.  He frowned, but kept what occurred to him to himself.  "Stay here during the wedding," he told his amigos.  "But, after everyone has left, I will meet you and show you how to get to Rancho Verbena on the back roads."

"What arrrre you planning?" Vilaro asked.

Benicio shrugged.  

******  (chapter divide here)

In the hacienda at Rancho Verbena, the women were all fussing over Clementia and her dress. Elizabeth, Martina and Consuelo, who were the bride's attendants, were already beautifully dressed and gliding around the room looking, in Doņa Corinna's words, "positively royal." The bride, in her elegant white gown, was having an awful time getting the veil properly situated on her head despite Seņora Ramirez's best efforts and the many suggestions of her mother, her cousin, and all of her friends.

"It will be a disaster without the veil!" she wailed, as the dressmaker continued to try to secure the veil in her hair.  

"No, no, do not start crying!" her mother scolded.  "It will ruin all the things we have done with your face and we will have to begin over!  There is not time for that!"

"You are very beautiful, even without the veil, Clementia," Marta tried to reassure her.  "I did not wear a veil at my wedding!"

Everyone looked at her askance.

"Well I have to!" Clementia exclaimed.  "It would not be right if I didn't!"

"Come now," Elizabeth said, taking her friend's lacy arm, "we will get this to work!  It is only a veil!"

"Yours worked!" Clementia pouted.

"Si, but don't you remember, it took us longer to get it on right than this!" Elizabeth said.

Clementia thought back.  "That is true.  And you did not even want to get married!"

Now everyone looked at Clementia askance. 

"But I am so glad now that I did," Elizabeth said soothingly.  "Diego is the best husband in the world."  She paused and then added, "at least until today, when he will gain some competition!"

Everyone looked at Elizabeth, scandalized.

"I mean, given that Demetrio will become your wonderful husband!" Elizabeth added.

Everyone relaxed and started talking at once.

"Weddings are the bane of my existence," Seņora Ramirez muttered.  "Hold still!" she said to Clementia.  

"Do you think he is at the church yet?" Clementia was asking.

"I should have had a gown like this when I got married!" Marta was observing.

"I want to get married," Consuelo said pathetically.

Elizabeth sighed, wishing that she had enjoyed her own wedding day.

Lupe Cahuenga came into the room in the middle of it all. She walked to Clementia and reached up to place several flowers in her hair, secured by tiny pins.  Everyone stepped back, even Seņora Ramirez.  "There," said Lupe softly.  Lowering the veil over Clementia's eyes, she stepped back. Clementia looked into the mirror.  Everyone was silent.  "Oh, it is perfect!" Clementia sighed.  "Thank you, Lupe!"
Lupe smiled.

Clementia was right;it was perfect.  Although she had spent most of her life being considered a plain and somewhat overweight girl with no prospects, she was indeed radiant on her wedding morning.  The gown was perfectly altered to compliment her figure. The fabric sparkled with luminous beads in the morning light.  Her dark hair was arranged softly on her head, and the women had helped her apply rouge to her cheeks and lips.  She had never looked more stunning in her life.  

"I think you are ready for your groom," Elizabeth said softly.

"Oh, si," Marta agreed.

"Clementia, you are absolutely beautiful," Doņa Leonora said.

"Oh, Mamma," Clementia said, overcome with her mother's uncharacteristic compliment.  

"Don't start crying again!" Martina admonished cheerfully, offering Clementia her handkerchief. 

"You will make your veil melt," Lupe added.  That made Clementia laugh. 

"I shall go to see if the carriages are ready," Doņa Leonora said, excusing herself.  

Clementia looked at Elizabeth.  "It is really going to happen, isn't it?" she asked.

"Si," Elizabeth said, her eyes sparkling.  She squeezed Clementia's hand.  "It really is."

******

By the time the noon hour arrived, everyone was assembled at the church in their respective places. With the help of Corporal Reyes, Diego had managed to get Sergeant Garcia into his new white uniform. Clean-shaven and, for once, carefully combed, and having lost some (though not all) of his considerable and characteristic girth, the good Sergeant actually cut a memorable and near-handsome appearance.  Though remaining nervous, he stood aside with Diego just before walking across the courtyard and into the side door of the church and said, "Don Diego, I believe this is probably the best day of my life."

Diego smiled winningly at him, patted his shoulder, and said, "Si, Sergeant, it probably is.  At least thus far."

Garcia looked down at his boots for a moment and then added, "And I think perhaps Aunt Hortensia is appeased."

"Si," Diego agreed, "I think that she is."

******

Diego, Benicio Bocca, and Corporal Reyes stood with the Sergeant beside Padre Dominic as the ceremony began. The mission church of San Juan Capistrano was full with all of the visiting Angelinos, plus the Governor and his party, and the many Verbena and Bocca cousins collected for this unexpected family event.  Martina Morales came down the aisle first, in a soft apricot dress, followed by Consuelo, dressed in a similar dress.  As she walked down the aisle she could not keep her eyes off of Diego in his gold-trimmed blue suit, except to stray to his handsome silver-haired father where he stood, holding his dark-haired little granddaughter, in his place in the congregation.   

After Consuelo, Elizabeth appeared in a deep persimmon gown.  Diego saw her and his heart leaped to his throat.  She had a gardenia in her elegantly-arranged auburn hair, and she was carrying a bouquet of white roses.  She looked relaxed and genuinely happy.  Her eyes met Diego's and never wavered except for the moment when she passed Alejandro and was greeted with a grin and a squeak from her daughter.  She looked sweetly at Esperanza, winked at her father-in-law.  Then she returned her gaze to her husband.  It was not until she had to turn to her left and take her place at the front of the church that she finally had to look elsewhere.  By that time her eyes, looking green in the light, were watery with tears.  In their hearts, they both knew it was the heart-stopping walk down the aisle to him that she had not taken on their own wedding day.

It was only as Elizabeth turned away, Diego's heart so full he believed it would burst, that Diego realized something was happening next to him.  He looked at Sergeant Garcia to see that his friend's face, focused at the back of the church, was so wide with a smile that it nearly lifted him off of his large, black-booted feet. Diego looked down the aisle to see that Clementia had appeared on her father's arm.  They were slowly making their way towards the altar and the wedding party.  And although he knew he would rather be gazing at his own beloved, Diego smiled upon seeing Clementia's radiance.  He glanced at Corporal Reyes and gave him a short wink.  Even Corporal Reyes, who was never reliable for personal levity, was smiling.  

And so it was that the wedding proceeded with great joy as Clementia Maria Bocca and Demetrio Lopez Garcia of the King's Army were married in the eyes of their many friends and relatives at the church of San Juan Capistrano in California in the Year of Our Lord, 1821.

******

The post-wedding party commenced in the early evening after what Elizabeth dubbed "the-siesta-that-was-not-a-siesta" came to an end.  After the wedding it took some time for everyone to make their way back to Rancho Verbena.  The bride and groom took a long ride in an open carriage through the pueblo, followed by a parade of buggies carrying the immediate wedding party and, after them, the majority of people who had attended the ceremony.  To Elizabeth's annoyance, she and Diego were invited to ride back in the carriage of the governor and his wife, and Diego insisted that they accept.  "He is the Governor, after all, darling," he had whispered to her.  It meant a half-hour trip listening to Marta chatter non-stop about the wedding and the delight she felt in having her new group of women friends. "It is so different from being around men!" she babbled, her high-pitched voice rising even more than usual.  Elizabeth took some pleasure from seeing Diego, who sat beside the Governor's wife across from her, wince.

 "Well, we were spared having to make conversation," Diego muttered once they finally were able to separate themselves from everyone else and go upstairs for a brief rest and some time with their cranky daughter. 

"You are the one who always insists on socializing with them!" Elizabeth whispered to him as they climbed the stairs.       

"We see them twice a year!" he whispered back.

Diego changed clothes quickly while Elizabeth nursed the baby, and then advised her that he needed to keep an eye on the men downstairs.  "Benicio is up to something," was all he would tell her.  Distracted, Elizabeth did not ask for more information.  "I will see you at the party," she told him as he closed the door.  

******
	
The first toast belonged to Diego, and he made it early in the evening.  "Sergeant," he said, "and Seņora Garcia," here everyone laughed and cheered, "you have taught us all today that we should never presume to know what the future may hold.  Clementia, you have also taught us the value of persistence!" This brought about more cheering. "And Sergeant, you have shown that your ability to cooperate can give great reward."  Here even more cheers arose.  "Above all, you have together reminded us all that love will always find a way."  He raised his glass. "Your happiness blesses us richly, and we wish you a long and happy life together in our community.  Congratulations!"

Everyone joined in the toast and the eating commenced in earnest, interrupted from time to time by other toasts from the groom, who toasted his bride, the bride's father, who toasted the groom, the bride's brother, who toasted his father for having the good sense to agree to the bride's groom, the bride's brother again, who somewhat mysteriously made a toast to his great Aunt Hortensia, and eventually the matron-of-honor's father, who got up and told the story of how the groom saved the day when the gypsies were attacking Rancho de la Vega while his daughter was giving birth, and so on.  A band of musicians ambled in and started playing lively waltzes and polkas while the meal proceeded.  Eventually the dancing began, when the good Sergeant waltzed Clementia about the open space on the patio.  

Corporal Reyes was standing beside Diego as the first dance proceeded.  "They look very elegant," he commented.

"Si," Diego agreed.  He scanned the area for Elizabeth, thinking it would be nice to dance with her.  She had changed into a low-cut, dark blue dress that reminded him of the dress she had been wearing the night he nearly rode her down on Tornado in the moonlight.

"I wish Seņorita Maria were here," Reyes sighed.  Others began joining in the dance. 

Diego smiled at him.  "There will be times to dance once we get back to Los Angeles," he assured the corporal.

He was about to approach his wife when Marta interceded.  "Diego you must dance with me!" she exclaimed.  He sighed, and took her lightly and as distantly as he could into his arms as they joined others in a waltz.  "I have been having such a good time here that I have told Pedro I believe we should move the capital so we can live in Los Angeles," she told him. "What do you think of that?  Making Los Angeles the capital?  We could be neighbors, Diego!"

"Oh, Marta, I do not think Los Angeles is ready for that," he said.  "We are such a small pueblo, with such a small garrison, the capital needs to be in a place where there is a good presidio."

"But Monterey does not have a presidio!" she pointed out.

"Si, but you are close to San Francisco, which does."

"No closer than Los Angeles is to Santa Barbara," she reminded him.

"That is true," he agreed.  

"Pedro wants me to be happy and I believe I would be happier in Los Angeles," she went on.  "I do not have friends in Monterey."

Diego didn't know what to say so he swept her closer and whirled her more vigorously around the circle of dancers.  

"Oh, Diego!" she exclaimed, barely keeping up to his lead.  "Your dancing has improved!"

"I have a partner who expects me to keep her dancing now," he said.

That deflated Marta temporarily and she stopped, nearly causing both of them to fall.  Diego managed to keep both of them on their feet but released his hold on her the instant he knew they were going to remain upright.  He kissed her hand lightly.  "Remain in light, my friend," he told her.

She watched him as he walked away in Elizabeth's direction.

"I saw that," Elizabeth told him as he approached.  She was standing to the side holding Esperanza, who in turn was greatly enjoying all of the activities.

"I could not stay away from you for another..." he started, but then he stopped, and looked around carefully.

"What?" Elizabeth asked.

"Have you seen Benicio?" he asked.

She frowned. "Not in a while..." she looked around.  Everyone seemed to be accounted for, even the Capitan and the Governor, but not the Bocca son.

Diego squeezed her elbow.  "Darling, why don't you give me the baby and let me put her to bed."

"But she is wide awake and having such a good time!" Elizabeth protested.

"I need a reason to step away, darling," he said to her, reaching for Esperanza.  The baby did not protest, instead accepting her father's touch with a smile.  Diego looked around until he spotted Bernardo, to whom he nodded and then looked towards the house.  Bernardo headed in that direction.  "Ranza, let's go into the house," he said, going in Bernardo's direction.

Elizabeth watched, puzzled.  It was then that the Governor came up beside her, grabbed her, and led her into the waltzing.  As they whirled around she realized that Alejandro had just passed her, Consuelo Perez in his arms.  

"Oh, my," Elizabeth murmured.

"What?" asked Governor Peņa.  "Am I making you dance too quickly?"

"No," Elizabeth said.  She looked at him.  "I was just surprised." She smiled. "It is good that you and Marta came all the way to San Juan Capistrano for this wedding, Governor.  I know it means a great deal to the Boccas.  Especially to Clementia."

"I've known her since she was a little girl!" he boomed.  "It was the least I could do!  I would have given her away myself if Francisco weren't alive."

Elizabeth noticed out of the corner of her eye that Benicio was returning to the festivities.  He approached his mother for a dance.  

"Speaking of little girls, what happened to yours?" the Governor asked.  "She is such a pretty baby!"

"Thank you," Elizabeth said demurely.  "Diego took her upstairs, it is time for her to go to sleep."

The Governor shook his head.  "You will forgive me, Elizabeth, but Diego's interest in that child is a little  excessive, if he is putting her to bed for you.  You have servants for that sort of thing!"

"He is a wonderful father," Elizabeth said smoothly.

"Well, no more children for me!" the Governor exclaimed.  "They're too noisy to have around the house!  Marta is enough to have to listen to!"

As she had so many times, and despite her deep resentment of Marta Verdugo Peņa, Elizabeth felt sadness surge through her at hearing this.  She knew it would grieve Diego as well.  He had told her once that he felt the best thing that could happen to Marta would be to have a few children to give her a focus, keep her occupied, and help her calm down.  It would appear that her choice in marriage precluded that.

"Do not be hard on Marta," she found herself saying to him as the dance ended.  "She has a good heart."  

Clementia came up to them.  "I see you are dancing with the most powerful man in California!" she teased Elizabeth.  A new song began firing up.  "Perhaps my turn will come next?  I want to make sure he will see that the military is kind to my Sergeant!"

A loud gunshot disrupted the party.  Everyone looked towards the gate where the sound had emitted, to see three men with dark kerchiefs over their noses, mouths and the lower halves of their faces burst in, their pistols drawn.  One of them had a long rifle, which made everyone gasp.  

"Everyone!  Your hands in the air!" one of them shouted.  

"Oh, no," Elizabeth said.  Lupe had appeared next to her and grabbed her arm.

"It is just like the night before your wedding!" Clementia whispered excitedly, her hands in the air.

"Oh, I hope not," Elizabeth sighed, patting Lupe's hand.

"But surely they will not hurt anyone!"

"And do you want to be carried off by a smelly bandit?" Elizabeth hissed back. "Or have everyone's jewelry and money stolen?"  

"Oh, no, do you think they will want my rings?" Clementia asked, suddenly horrified.

"Yours, and mine, and everyone else's," Elizabeth whispered.  She looked over at the sala door, wondering where Diego was and saying a prayer of thanks that he had taken Esperanza away when he did.  
The three banditos stood in front of the open gate eyeing their potential loot. Another one stepped forward with a small blanket and spread it on the patio in front of his compadre. "Everyone!" shouted the first one,  "Come one at a time and drop your jewelry and your money on the blanket!"  He looked at the Governor.  "You first!" he said.

Governor Peņa sighed and started to step forward, but then stopped suddenly on seeing a swift motion behind the banditos.  Everyone heard a series of whip-snaps and suddenly the three banditos were without weapons and falling face-forward on the ground as El Zorro, his sword drawn and his whip lashing, ambushed them from behind.  Don Francisco and Bernardo, who seemed to appear out of nowhere, held two of the men to the ground while Zorro kept the third at bay by placing his black-booted foot in the middle of the man's back.  "Sergeant Garcia!" he shouted.  

Garcia hurried forward, still in his white uniform.  "Zorro!" he grinned.  "I am so happy you could come to my wedding!"

"I am sorry I am only here for the party, but..." he waved at the three banditos on the ground.  "Those two seem to be getting disposed of, but can you see to this one?"

"Oh, si!" Garcia said, putting his foot on the bandit's back and thus allowing Zorro to step away.  

Zorro saluted and whirled around to leave, only to be confronted by Capitan Vilaro with a drawn sword.  He took a breath and stepped back, raising his own unsheathed sword.  Everyone stepped back further, widening the circle.  The two men faced each other.  Zorro smiled and advanced with a shout and a leap, thrusting.  Vilaro parried and tried to go on the offensive.  Their swords began crossing.  The duel was on.

From the moment Sergeant Garcia stepped forward, Clementia's eyes were only for her brave groom as he tied up the bandito and supervised as Corporal Reyes scooted them towards the stable.  Then she realized that her brother was making his way behind people towards the place where the duel was underway.  She frowned, seeing that he had his knife in his hand.  She marched around behind everyone, following him.  She passed several tables and spied a near-empty fruit tray.  Yanking it off the table she continued to trail her brother and came up behind him where he positioned himself behind El Zorro.   The duel continued fiercely, though everyone could see that Zorro was simply toying with the Capitan, whom they all knew by now was no match for their masked local hero.  

Elizabeth saw what was coming when she noticed a flash of silver and looked over to see Clementia walloping her brother on the head even as he was making a move towards El Zorro.  It only stunned him, but the sound gave Zorro the alert he needed, causing him to whirl around and grab Benicio by the elbow, nearly twisting his arm off until the knife fell to the ground.  

"Thank you, Seņora!" Zorro said to the bride.  He shoved Benicio in the direction of Alejandro de la Vega and Carlos Matteo, who received him and held him as Zorro returned to the duel.  Now annoyed, he subdued Vilaro with a series of thrusts that closed with Vilaro on the ground on his back, Zorro's sword point at his throat. 

"Does anyone have some rope?" Zorro asked.  

"I do, Seņor Zorro!" Corporal Reyes announced, having just tied up the three banditos in the stable.  He disappeared for a moment and returned with it.  Then he looked at the Capitan and realized that he was being asked to tie up his superior officer.  

"You idiot!" Vilaro shouted.  "I will have you courrrrrrrt-marrrrrtialed if you do this!" 

Sergeant Garcia stepped forward bravely, holding his hand up to stop Corporal Reyes from doing anything.  He sized up Vilaro and then looked around at all of his friends, his eyes resting at last on his bride, who was still holding her silver tray.  Elizabeth was clinging to Lupe trying desperately not to burst out laughing, given Clementia's weapon of choice.  Clementia dropped the tray and went to her Sergeant.  She whispered something in his ear.  He thought for a moment, smiled, and nodded.  Then he looked at Zorro.

"Seņor Zorro, I am on official leave from the King's Army for the next two weeks in order to celebrate my wedding."  He went to Corporal Reyes, took the rope, and pulled Capitan Vilaro to his feet.  Holding him by the arm, he then went to Alejandro and Carlos, grabbing Benicio with his other hand.  Swiftly and tightly he tied the two men's arms together and then took the end of the rope and tied it to a chair. All the while Vilaro was shouting threats and curses in his face.  He ignored them, and once they were tightly bound he carefully pulled his handkerchief out of his jacket and stuffed it into Vilaro's mouth.  Benicio, despite his incapacitation, was quiet and looked genuinely amused.  Dusting his hands off, Garcia walked away and rejoined Clementia.  "Now, Seņor Zorro, if you would like to join us for the next dance, you may dance with any of the fine ladies here...except of course her."  He put his arm around his bride's waist.  "Her next dance will be with me."

"Why Sergeant, what a kind offer," Zorro said, bowing.  "I cannot stay for more than one dance, but...." he smiled slowly, turning to look around at everyone assembled.  The patio was quite crowded with not only the wedding guests but with servants and other peons who had learned that El Zorro had appeared.  Slowly he scanned the gathering.  Consuelo took a hopeful step forward, as did Marta Peņa, who gave him a tiny wave.  His eyes continued around, until they rested on Seņora de la Vega.  Garcia gave a signal for the musicians to begin to play, as Zorro went in the Seņora's direction.  Then to everyone's astonishment he passed her and held out his hand to Lupe Cahuenga.

"Seņorita," he said, "may I have the next dance?"

Lupe blushed, but took his hand and let him lead her out to the open space on the patio, where he waltzed her several times around the courtyard, his black cape swaying and swirling, as everyone watched.  The night was just turning cool and stars were bursting out in the sky.  Lupe, to her credit, had taken her dancing lessons well and looked both enchanting and enchanted in El Zorro's arms.  Everyone, excepting Capitan Vilaro and the several envious women who had hoped to be chosen, were smiling. Even Elizabeth de la Vega could not hold back her delight, Lupe was so radiant.  The dance ended and Zorro bowed to her, smiling widely as she curtsied perfectly in reply.  Then he looked around, and with a final flourish raced for the gate and disappeared out of the courtyard, to leap onto one of the bandito's horses and ride like the wind out of sight.

Everyone began talking at once.  The music played on.  A debate ensued among the dons on whether or not to untie Benicio and Capitan Vilaro. The women gathered around Lupe for a full report on what it had been like to dance with El Zorro. She was nearly faint with excitement.  Her mother had to act disapproving for he was, after all, a bandit, but everyone could see that Doņa Corinna was in fact wildly proud of her daughter.  Elizabeth hurriedly excused herself to see where Diego had gone and whether or not Esperanza was all right.  She returned within a few minutes, having discovered Esperanza sitting happily in a big basket in the kitchen, under the watchful eye of Conchita.  Bernardo was nowhere to be seen.  Some minutes later, Diego appeared.  In the fray, no one had really noticed his absence, which allowed him to claim he had returned from finding a keeper for Esperanza in the middle of the duel and had hung back in the shadows in order to help should El Zorro have been defeated.  Since Diego was famous for disappearing at the hint of any physical conflict, no one questioned this.

The festivities continued into the night. Everyone danced with everyone else, and it began to be noted that Alejandro de la Vega was often seen with Consuelo Perez in his arms.  Elizabeth danced with nearly every man present.  Bernardo retrieved Benicio's knife while he was still tied up, and upon testing it discovered no poison, which he reported to Diego, who in turn reported it to Elizabeth.  Soon thereafter Benicio was released from his bonds and rejoined the festivities.  Elizabeth agreed to dance with him. 

"I would not have hurt him," Benicio whispered to her as they waltzed the courtyard.

Elizabeth looked up at him, startled.  "No one would want you to hurt him," she said. 

Benicio simply smiled, and nodded.  They cut a memorable figure together in the courtyard. 

At around 11:00 p.m., shortly before the bride and groom departed in their carriage for their undisclosed honeymoon destination, Governor Peņa, by now in a state of intoxication, announced that Capitan Vilaro could be untied with the understanding that no punishment would be visited upon the groom for his decision to protect El Zorro.  "Given that Zorro, with his accomplice the bride, delivered us all from certain robbery, it would not do for him to be arrested today!" Peņa boomed.  "I therefore give you, Sergeant, clemency for letting a known outlaw escape.  And you, sir, are going back to Spain!" he said to Vilaro.

Thus Roberto Vilaro's career as the commandante of the pueblo de Los Angeles ended, much to the relief of the Angelinos present.  As Sergeant Garcia later said, "He brought us a good deal of discipline, but he was a lot of trouble."

Chapter Ten - Happy Ending

When the wedding party finally ended with the departure of the beaming new bride and her eager groom, the occupants of Rancho Verbena retired to their rooms at last. All of the excitement had worn out everyone quite thoroughly.  The young de la Vegas climbed the stairs to their wing with the brother of the bride.

"Goodnight, Benicio," Elizabeth smiled at Clementia's brother as he opened his door.  "Thank you for the dance. And I hope your arm is all right, after the twisting it got."    

"Goodnight, Seņora," he said softly, smiling back. "My arm," he felt it, "has survived worse than a twist from El Zorro.  I suppose my sister's wedding will give the pueblo of Los Angeles much to talk about for many years to come."

"Si," Elizabeth agreed. 

Diego cleared his throat.  "Goodnight, Benicio," he said, nodding.  He nudged Elizabeth through their own doorway. Than he pulled the door behind him, and locked it.  He grabbed her hand and waltzed her once around the room, his eyes never leaving hers. Finally he stopped, though he kept her in his arms, swaying gently.  "I know it is quite rude of me not to save all the compliments for the bride, but as far as I am concerned you, seņora, were the enchanting one this evening."  He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it.  "What a lucky man I am, to have you in my arms at this late hour."

"I always choose the best dancer."

"Ah!" he said, waltzing her around one more time.  He glanced at the bed as they passed it.  

"No baby?" he asked, stopping, but keeping her held against him.

"She is with Conchita," Elizabeth said, "who has refused to oversee the clean-up in the kitchen."

"Ah, so we have given our good cook an excuse to leave the cleaning to others?"

Elizabeth grinned up at him. "Si.  Serving her own patron comes first."

"That is how it should be...." he gazed down at her.  In the darkness and candlelight, her eyes were sparkling deep blue, almost matching her shimmering blue dress. He reached his hand back and unpinned her hair, letting it fall around her shoulders.  He continued to sway for a moment, causing her to put her head on his shoulder.  Then, in a swift move, he lifted her off her feet and into his arms, and scooped her knees into the crook of his bent elbow. "No baby!" he muttered again with wonder as he carried her to the bed.

"Why, seņor!" she laughed. "You are so forward!" He put her down, sitting her on the edge of the bed.  

He reached down and carefully removed her shoes, one foot at a time. He slowly and carefully lowered her stockings and slipped them off her feet. Then he took her right foot in his hand and began to massage it gently.  "I cannot imagine, given the dancing you did tonight, that your feet are not a little sore," he said.

"I was on my feet a great deal," she admitted, enjoying his strong hands on her aching feet.

"A soak might be in order," he said, changing to her left foot.

"Oh, my," she sighed.  "That would feel good."

He finished her foot and then stepped away. Taking a large white porcelain pitcher from the top of the dresser by the bed, he left the room.  Elizabeth laid back on the bed, letting the events of the day wash over her. She sat up long enough to pull her dress off and set it at the foot of the bed, then she laid back again in her slip.  She giggled to herself, staring at the ceiling.  When Diego returned, the pitcher in his hands was full.  He took a heavy white basin from the shelf, put it on the floor before the chair by the fireplace, and poured some of the water from the pitcher into it.  Then he went back to the bed, picked her up and carried her to the chair.

"I can walk!" she protested as he put her down.

"You have beautiful feet, seņora. I do not want them damaged by overuse."   He lifted up the skirts of her dress and her slip, to guide her feet one by one into the water.  

"Ohhhhh," she sighed.  "It is warm!"

"I stole it from a kettle in the kitchen that they were using to heat water for dishwashing," he said.  "They were a little surprised to see me, but they did not argue."

Elizabeth laid her head back on the chair, shutting her eyes, and relaxing. "What the servants must say about us!" she said.  She opened her eyes again to see him standing there, still surveying her, his arms folded on his chest.  "What?" she asked, amused.

He tilted his head slightly, his lips rising into a half-smile. "Why, seņora, I was thinking with longing of you."  He glanced around again.  "For once we are alone in a bedroom."

"I believe you have me captive, senor!" she laughed flirtatiously.

"Si, with your feet in a basin of water and your slip up around your knees."

She inched the slip slightly higher, revealing more leg. Then she glanced up at him sideways.  His eyebrow raised.

"'But I am so tiiirrrrrred tonight,'" she sighed, imitating Marta's exit line at the end of the long post-wedding dinner.  

He squinted at her.

"And I cannot believe you chose Lupe!" she added. "Everyone expected you to chose me!"

"That is why I choose Lupe," he said.  "And seņora," he added, starting to take his jacket off slowly, "I am choosing you now." 

"Don't do that," she told him.

He frowned, looking at her.  "Don't...?"

She stared at him for a long moment.  "I want to do that."

He frowned, puzzled.

"Take your jacket off of you."

"Oh!" he said, putting the jacket back on.  "May I at least untie this tie?"

She squinted.  "Si," she said. They kept looking into one another's eyes.  Elizabeth giggled again. "I have to assume that Zorro's clothing and sword did not return to Los Angeles after all," she said.  "Thank heaven for Bernardo," she said.

He chuckled in response. "I have said that many times," he replied. He quickly loosened the tie around his neck, pulling it off and unbuttoning the top button of his shirt. He sat down in the chair opposite her, waiting.

Elizabeth said, "This story will become a legend along with the tales of Monastario and the fox, and the fate of the golden pesos, and...."   

"I nearly fell off of that horse as I was leaving!" Diego interrupted.  "He did not take to my jumping on his back from behind the way Tornado does.  That would have been a happy ending, El Zorro on the ground with no getaway!  I would have had to walk!"

"It was a dazzling getaway, darling," Elizabeth continued to laugh softly. "And you have certainly given Lupe Cahuenga a memory to last her a lifetime."

"She actually danced quite well," he said.  

"Si," Elizabeth agreed, "we could all see that she was a good partner for you."  She sighed.  "Diego." 

"What?" he asked, also still laughing.

"Find me a towel....."

He got up and retrieved a towel, then got on his knees at her feet.  He lifted one foot out and gently rubbed it dry, then he did the same with the other.  He looked up at her, resting his bare hand on her bare knee.  "Better?" he asked.

"Si, much better," she answered. She touched his face. 

******

Later that night, Diego carried his beloved to bed and said, "Let's get under these covers, and say a prayer for our Sergeant and his bride, and go to sleep."  He grinned.  "There will be no courting Aunt Hortensia tonight." He pulled the covers back and they crawled in together.  "I hope Aunt Hortensia is resting peacefully in her grave," Elizabeth said. "I think perhaps her mission is finally accomplished.  The groom showed up. And stayed. And made a hero of himself!"

"Si," Diego chuckled, stretching out and relaxing.  "I'm sure it is because our Sergeant walked around the hacienda three times before dawn!"  

"I think it is because he had a best man who would not let him down!"

"I think it was because, like his best man, he found a woman he knew he would love for the rest of his life," Diego said. 

"Oh, Diego, that is so sweet," Elizabeth said.

His chuckle turned into a laugh.

"What?" she asked.

"Oh, I was just thinking about the look on his face today, when he saw Clementia at the end of the aisle.  I truly believe he levitated."

"Let us hope he is feeling the same way tonight in the privacy of his wedding chamber!" Elizabeth giggled.

"This story has a happy ending. For all of us," he said. "We all ended up where we belong."  He grabbed her and started tickling her.  She giggled as he tickled and cuddled her and kissed her gently.  Finally they were quiet as Elizabeth pulled his head to her chest and held him, stroking his hair.  

"I love you, Diego," she whispered to him softly.  

He sighed.  "I love you, sweetheart," he answered, kissing the center of her chest.  In the stillness, his head resting on her breast, they fell into their slumber.
   
******			

The next morning, Elizabeth was awakened by a light knock on the door.  This time Diego slept through it.  She got up and looked around in the pale light, to see clothing strewn all over the floor.  She went to the door, pulling on her robe, and opened it.  Conchita stood before her, Esperanza in her arms.  The baby burst into a smile and reached for her mother.  Elizabeth took her, looking into her face.  "Are you hungry, sweetheart?" she asked.  "Did you miss being with Mommie and Daddy last...." she stopped, arrested by the amazed look on Conchita's face.  The cook was staring beyond Elizabeth and the baby.  Elizabeth frowned and turned around, to see that the curtains beside the window were askew and half falling off the wall.  Conchita's eyes travelled from the curtains to the floor, where she saw the clothing everywhere.  

"I thought I had seen everything at Rancho de la Vega," Conchita muttered.  She eyed Elizabeth. 

"We...." Elizabeth started.  "It was a wedding night, Conchita!" she decided to scold.  "Surely you will not judge us harshly for such inspiration!"

"You and Don Diego rarely seem to lack inspiration!" Conchita said.  She glanced at the curtains again. "You will want to find Bernardo to fix that, I do not like ladders!"  With that she turned and walked away.

Elizabeth sighed, shutting the door.  She looked again at the curtains, and then at her husband, still sound asleep under the covers.  "Daddy and I had a big celebration last night," she told the baby. She kissed her daughter and carried her to the bed.  She sat down carefully beside Diego and got herself arranged in a sitting position.  Esperanza's hands grabbed beyond Elizabeth's robe to her breast.  "Here, sweetheart," Elizabeth said, sitting back and relaxing as the nursing began.  She felt Diego's big, warm hand slide up onto her thigh and rest there.  

"Is everything all right?" he asked, not moving.

"Si...your daughter needed her breakfast.  And we will have a project for Bernardo after she is finished."

Diego raised his head off the pillow.  "A project for Bernardo?"  He smiled, seeing Esperanza in her mother's arms.

"Si," Elizabeth said, nodding at the curtains.  

Diego turned over and looked at them.  "Did we do that?" he asked.

Elizabeth looked down at him.

"I guess we did," he said, his head falling back on the pillow.

"I think Rancho Verbena has barely survived us," Elizabeth said.  "You cracked a candlestick knocking out the Capitan, we nearly broke the bed, you put a hole in the hacienda wall, and now we have destroyed a good set of curtains."

"They aren't destroyed, they just need to be re-hung!" he replied, somewhat indignant.  He sat up and looked at her.  "Are you complaining about how they got that way?"

Elizabeth smiled at him.  "Hardly," she said.

He stole a kiss. "I am glad to hear that," he said.  He looked down at the baby.  "Esperanza, I think it is time to take you home to Rancho de la Vega, Mommie and I have done enough damage here in San Juan Capistrano.  I think we are taking our revenge for how unkind this place was to us in the week after our own wedding."

"We have had quite an adventure, haven't we?" Elizabeth asked the baby.  "Oh, Diego, she does not pay attention to us when she is nursing."

"I think she can only do one thing at a time," Diego laughed, lying back on the bed and stretching.  "It is time to go home, darling.  I feel as if I have not been home for months."

"That is because you have been in the mountains or in Monterey or here!"

"Si.  So we shall go home and stay there." He glanced up at her.  "But Liz.  When we get home, we are going to embark on projects that have been delayed too long."

"What is that?"

"Fencing.  Shooting. Breaking Blanca."

Elizabeth sighed.  "But seņor, I am only a young mother trying to care for her little baby," she said, trying to sound a little pathetic.

Diego pinched her thigh, making her laugh and causing Esperanza to separate from her source, which in turn made the baby snort and start crying.  

"Oh, Ranzita," Elizabeth laughed, trying to get the baby calm and re-attached.  "It's all right, sweetheart...there....that's my girl...." she looked again at Diego. "Perhaps I will be able to ride Blanca to my father's in time for Thanksgiving."

"Thanksgiving?"

"Si, it is the American custom of gathering family and friends, and eating turkey on a Thursday in November.  We did not do it last year because we were in Monterey and we were very distracted!"

Diego shrugged.  "I do not think I like bringing these American customs into my household but I suppose I shall have to live with it!"  

"Si, and you will have to find me a wild turkey, too."

"A wild turkey," he sighed.  

"Si, a wild turkey!  They are huge and delicious!"

"Darling I do not think we have turkeys in California."

She wrinkled her nose.  "Then I suppose a big chicken will have to do.  But some day Diego I will bring turkeys here to California, I will order them and we will raise them so we can have our turkey at Thanksgiving."

"Si, darling."  He stretched again and sat up.  "I shall find Bernardo and see if he will fix that curtain."

"What will you tell him caused it?" she asked, watching him as he got up and pulled on his clothes. 

Diego grinned at her.  "The beauty of being the patron, seņora, is that no explanations are required."

With that he gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, gave his daughter a peck on the forehead, and headed out the door.  Elizabeth sighed, watching him go.  As if Bernardo will not know, she chuckled to herself.  She looked down at the baby.  "Ranza," she said, "I have already warned you about the family you landed in.  I can promise you this, my sweet. With El Zorro as your Daddy, the adventures have only just begun."