Chapter 3

        Later that evening, Diego sat at the tavern, frantically reading the book Dr. Hernandez had loaned him.  But he was having trouble concentrating on the words.  Instead, he kept remembering his father’s comments about how caring for Victoria would necessitate things to become a lot more intimate between them in short order.

        His father’s protests about the Alcalde’s vendetta against Zorro had merit, as well.  Diego knew that Alcalde de Soto would stop at nothing to capture Zorro, then unmask him and undoubtedly hang him.  Diego had no desire to hang, certainly not now.  Victoria was counting on him.

        However, his conversation with his father had highlighted several aspects of caring for Victoria Diego hadn’t considered.  This was going to cause his and Victoria’s relationship to grow to a much more intimate level than it had so far.  He planned to speak to Victoria about it as soon as she closed the tavern for the night.  The truth was, he didn’t know much about women, and could easily predict the coming conversation would be embarrassing to both of them.  He didn’t even know much about women’s clothing, beyond knowing they wore skirts, dresses, shirtwaists, and shoes.  He had never even seen a picture of a corset, to say nothing of knowing how one was worn.

        So before he did any reading in the doctor’s loaned book, he had taken the time to familiarize himself with females, their clothing, their underthings, their time of bleeding, pregnancy…  The healthy female body was enthralling, and would have wreaked havoc on Diego’s bachelor mind… if he had let it.   But his afternoon study session wasn’t to soothe his own rabid curiosity.  It was so he would better know what Victoria needed before she needed it, and how best to deliver what she needed.  Diego simply didn’t have time now to grow uncomfortably squeamish.

        At least, that’s what he told himself.  If he felt his groin getting hard at the thought of Victoria’s corset, that was another matter entirely!

        And now, here he was at the public tavern, reading so fast in Dr. Hernandez’s book that he kept having to re-read for fear of missing something.  In the back of his mind, he composed letters to Victoria’s brothers to inform them of this latest development, and also decided to do as Dr. Hernandez had done and ask the doctors living in other pueblos for their knowledge and opinions on this disease.  He had nothing to lose.

        Diego rustled the page again and read a passage he’d already read twice: ‘In addition to shortness of breath, the symptoms of this disease include diarrhea…’  Well, that’s an unpleasant thought!  ‘... loss of appetite…’  I wonder how her appetite is doing?  ‘... pallor…’  The ‘pallor’ point is certainly a guarantee.   ‘... fatigue…’  Just how tired is she?

        That was when a tremendous crash filled the tavern, followed closely by the thud of a body.  Several pieces of a broken plate slipped like mercury through the curtain separating the kitchen and main room, followed by Victoria.  Food littered the walls, the side of the bar, and splattered the floor to make a slippery mess in seconds.

        It only took a heartbeat for Diego to realize Victoria wasn’t moving.

        His heart leapt into his throat.  It’s too soon for her to die!  A stunned second later, he hurried forward to crouch over the tavern owner.  “Get Dr. Hernandez!”  But he seemed to be watching, utterly detached as he reached for her wrist to make certain she still had a pulse.

        Yes, Madre de Dios, there it was, strong and steady under his probing fingers.  With a start, Diego recalled the articles on female anatomy and choice of clothing he had read that afternoon.  Without thinking about how many people were watching, Diego instinctively turned her on her side to pull her shirtwaist out of her skirt and find her corset.  With a flick of his wrist, he untied her corset and shoved his hand under the crisscrossed string holding the pieces threaded together.  With another quick flick, he shoved the two sides apart.

        As soon as the material left her ribs free, Victoria reflexively gasped a breath, then pushed him away with more strength than he expected.   Her eyelids fluttered up, and her confused gaze landed on him.  “Diego, what--?”

        “You fainted,” Diego informed her.  “Dr. Hernandez should be here in--”

        “Out of the way!” came the caustic tones of Dr. Hernandez as he pushed his way forward, the site of his familiar medical bag making the crowd fall back.  “Señorita Escalante!” he exclaimed when he caught sight of Victoria lying on the floor.  “Couldn’t get enough attention this afternoon, eh?”  He took her pulse with one hand while feeling for contusions on her head with the other.  “Someone fill me in.”

        Sergeant Mendoza was the first to reply.  “It was incredible!”  The awe in his voice was unmistakable.  “One minute we were all sitting here, talking about--”

        “I need specifics, Sergeant,” the doctor huffed in irritation.

        Used to being yelled at every day by the Alcalde, Mendoza didn’t seem offended at all.  “Yes.  Of course.  She fainted and fell through the curtains.  I couldn’t even see what was going on before Don Diego was beside her and yelling for someone to fetch you.  He… he…”  For once, Mendoza seemed at a loss for words.  Or else he simply couldn’t bring himself to say the word ‘corset’ in a public setting.

        Diego had no such compunction.  “I simply loosened her corset,” he explained, brushing the move aside in an attempt to give the proper details to the doctor and at the same time preserve as much of Victoria’s modesty as he could.  Acting like any of this was even close to embarrassing would only ensure that people would talk about this situation forever.  “She could breathe just fine without it bothering her.”  To a reddening Victoria, he solicitously asked, “How are you feeling now?”

        “Well, I…”  She halted her tongue to stare at him in confusion.  “I fainted?”  Diego nodded.  “I never faint!” she ridiculously protested.

        “Yes, well,” said Dr. Hernandez.  “A full examination is in order, I think.”  He turned smoothly to Diego.  “Don Diego, if you can be so kind as to carry her to her room.”

        “I can walk,” Victoria immediately protested.  “If someone will just help me up.”

        “Nonsense, Señorita,” Hernandez quickly expostulated, smiling.  “Would you deny de la Vega the chance to be the pueblo hero?”

        Diego was instantly grateful at the way the doctor was taking the focus of the scene off Victoria and making it firmly about him.  “You better take this chance while you get it,” he told Victoria.  “If you don’t let me carry you now and make everyone jealous, I’ll… I’ll… make you eat my cooking for a change!”

        Completely bamboozled, Victoria flatly stated, “But you don’t cook, Diego.”

        “Let’s keep it that way.”  And Diego pulled her into his arms.  He’d fantasized many times about getting Victoria into his arms, but this wasn’t exactly what he’d had in mind.

        Diego picked his way through the food on the floor prior to climbing the stairs to the tavern’s second floor rooms.  Dr. Hernandez followed them, cheerfully informing the gathered crowd that the tavern would be closed for the rest of the day while Victoria’s other employees took the time to clean up the mess she’d made when she fell.  “Unless you wish to help?”

        Grumblings met his invitation, but to the last man, they all cleared out of the tavern in record time.

        Diego gently deposited Victoria on her bed as Hernandez closed her bedroom door behind them, his lighthearted demeanor immediately disappearing.  “Señorita, what’s changed since this afternoon?”

        “I have no idea,” Victoria insisted, mystified.  “I remember getting dizzy… I tried to draw a breath… only I couldn’t breathe…”

        “Yes,” Hernandez said as he glanced at Diego.  “It’s my understanding that Diego took care of that.”

        As if on cue, Victoria’s ashen skin burned a raging red.

        Diego downplayed his part in the recent scene.  “It was nothing - an idea I read about this afternoon.  Frankly, I’m surprised any male author even thought to write about it in the first place.”

        “It wasn’t nothing,” Victoria quickly mumbled now that her initial embarrassment at the scene was over.  “It proves I got the right man... for the job.”  Her raspy breathing rattled through the room.  “I can’t believe you… thought of that already.”  Breathe.  “I only spoke to you a few… hours ago.”

        Hernandez had been testing her reflexes while she spoke.  Now he commanded, “Take a deep breath.”

Diego was slightly appalled at how shallow her deep breath was.

        “And another.”  Hernandez watched her closely as she finally succeeded.  “Has anything new happened that you’d like to tell me about?”

        Victoria eventually conceded, “I did start my…”  She shot an uncomfortable look Diego’s way.

        Diego didn’t know what to make of that look, but he did understand embarrassment when he saw it.  “I can see you have things to discuss with Dr. Hernandez.  I’ll… um… just wait outside.”  He quickly slipped from the room.

        His father’s words about intimacy ringing through his mind, Diego firmly closed the door behind him.  Obviously he would have to speak to Victoria about letting him in on sensitive  female topics as soon as possible.  For now, he simply offered his services to the three helpers cleaning up Victoria’s mess.

        Minutes later, Dr. Hernandez appeared on the balcony, not even attempting to hide his displeasure as he descended the stairs.  “A purely stubborn Escalante,” he grumbled, making Diego grin.  “I’ve suggested she wear something less restrictive than a corset in the future, but she obviously needs more persuasion than I can give.”  His voice grew softer as he pulled Diego away from the mess on the tavern’s floor.  “She also confided in me that her monthly bleeding started.  That might have something to do with all this, it might not.  I really don’t know.”  He frowned, clearly unfazed to be speaking on such a delicate topic.  “She’s going to have to get over this reluctance to inform you of any changes if she expects you to assist her now.  Perhaps you can speak to her, Diego.”

        Diego met his suggestion with a look of understanding.  “Father brought up the same subject just this afternoon.”

        Hernandez nodded.  “Don Alejandro knows what’s at stake here.”  Then he gave a pat on Diego’s arm.  “I still haven’t seen or heard anything new.  I’ll let you know if I do.”

        “Thank you, Doctor,” Diego automatically said, then watched the man head out the door.

        Which left Diego to his own devices.  He quickly returned to Victoria’s room.  “Victoria,” he said as he shut the door behind him.

        “I’m sorry to cause so much… fuss, Diego,” she said.  “I feel better now, and --”

        “We need to talk.”  Diego pulled the chair from the room’s desk up to her bed and sat.  “I spoke to my father this afternoon.”

        Victoria’s eyebrows rose in inquiry.  “And?”

        Diego winced, knowing that he sounded rather harsh, and softened his tone.  “He has some… reservations… to our plan.”

        “Reservations?”

        Diego couldn’t look at her face.  “He brought up the fact that helping you with…”  He waved his arm at her on the bed, indicating the whole sickness scenario with his gesture.  “We both have to be prepared for this to get fairly intimate.”

        Victoria’s brow wrinkled in confusion.

        Diego felt pained at her look.  “I mean…  You hesitated just now at telling me about your… bleeding.”

        Victoria immediately blushed.  “It’s just so hard to mention… something like that… to a friend.  Especially a male... friend.”

        “That’s just it.  This won’t work unless you stop thinking of me as just a friend.”

        She looked quizzically at him.  “What do you mean?”

        This was the supremely uncomfortable part.  “I mean…  Father mentioned that the pueblo’s gossips will be thrilled to discuss whatever reasons they think up as to why we’re spending so much time together.”

        Victoria shrugged.  “We can’t help that.  Let them… talk.”

        The way she kept running out of breath was a painful reminder as to why he was even there.  “Father said it, and I agree.  To allay suspicions and to keep you safe from being unfairly maligned by malicious gossip, and so I can unquestioningly assist you with the more intimate tasks in daily life… I think we should get married.”

        Victoria’s eyes widened.  “What?”

        Diego winced again; his proposal sounded so unromantic!

        Victoria started to protest, then instantly muttered to herself, “I guess that hardly matters now.”  Her words would have been enigmatic to Diego if he didn’t already know about her engagement to Zorro.  “Your father has a point.  Maybe we should… get married,” she said at last.

Oh no…now it sounded as if the only reason he’d suggested this at all was because his father had suggested it first and that Diego didn’t play any part in making this a genuine proposal of marriage, which wasn’t true.  To rectify the situation, he took her hand in his, astonished anew at how icy it was.  “Victoria, I want you to understand this was only an idea I discussed with Father.  As ideas go, I think it’s a marvelous proposition.  You’d be allowed by law to live at the hacienda, where we have servants to cater to your every need if you don’t want me to take care of you.”  He glanced shyly at her.  “Though I’d like to… take care of everything… very much.”  Aware how he sounded like an unromantic oaf, he hurried to add, “It would please me a great deal to marry you.”

        Victoria eyed him thoughtfully for a moment.  “So… is this a proposal?”

        Diego couldn’t stem an affectionate smile.  “It is.”  Though he thought his reasoning flimsy at best, he forged on anyway.  “Will you marry me?”

Victoria stared at him in assessment.  Diego could tell she was thinking they could get down to the business of finding a cure for her all the faster if they were married and thus expected to stay in constant contact with each other.  But she didn’t say that.  She only tried to draw another deep breath, but coughed instead.  After another more successful attempt, she said, “Yes, I’ll marry you.”

        Diego smiled in spite of the dire situation facing them.  “Excellent!”

        However, he was under no delusions about this marriage.  He and Victoria would not suddenly be living happily ever after.  The main reason for this union was to find a cure, not to become the Newlyweds of the Pueblo.  Still, Diego couldn’t be more delighted.

        Another proverbial nail rang home in Zorro’s coffin.