CHAPTER XIV.
DON ESTEVAN DIAZ.
For some little time the two men stood thus face to face, looking ateach other with the dogged resolution of two duellists who are watchingan opportunity to close.
The eyes of Don Estevan, whose face was in other respects impassive,betrayed a sorrow which he could not dissemble.
Don Fernando, with folded arms, his head erect, his forehead frowning,and his lips livid with the fury that boiled within him, waited for thewords that were to fall from Don Estevan's mouth, in order to decidewhether he should attack him at once, or pretend to be satisfied withthe excuses the latter would probably utter.
By degrees the darkness had become less palpable: the sky decked itselfin iris colours, the horizon grew red, the sun, although not yetvisible, gave tokens that it would not be long ere he rose, to replacewith floods of dazzling light the pale rays of the few stars stillvisible in the profound blue of heaven.
A thousand pungent odours rose from the earth; and the morning breeze,passing over the foliage of the trees, made it tremble and murmur,while it twisted the mists hanging over the river into the mostfantastic folds.
At length Don Estevan, to whom the pause was becoming as embarrassingas it was to the other, determined to break the silence.
"I will be frank with you, _caballero_," said he. "I heard everythingthat passed in your conversation with the Tigercat; not a word escapedme. This will show you that I know all, and am aware that Don FernandoCarril and Stoneheart are one and the same person."
"Yes," said the Mexican, bitterly, "I see you are an excellent spy. Youhave chosen a sorry trade, _caballero._"
"Who can tell? Perhaps, before we have finished our conversation, youmay be of a different opinion, senor."
"I doubt it. But allow me to remark, that you have a singular mode ofshowing hospitality towards the guests God sends you."
"Let me explain first; then, after you have heard what I have to tellyou, I shall be ready, _caballero_, to give you the satisfaction youdemand--if you still insist on it."
"Speak, then; and let us finish this somehow or other," repliedDon Fernando impatiently. "The sun has already risen; I hear themmoving and talking in the _rancho;_ the people will soon make theirappearance, and hinder, by their presence, any explanation between us."
"You are right; we must settle this; and as I have as littleinclination to be interrupted as you, follow me. What I have to say istoo long to be spoken here."
Don Fernando complied. They entered the corral, and saddled theirhorses.
"Now mount and be off," said Don Estevan, as he vaulted into thesaddle; "there is plenty of room for talk in the desert."
The plan proposed was very acceptable to the Mexican, as it gave himfreedom of action, and the means of hurling consummate vengeance atthe head of the _major-domo_, if the latter wished, as he fancied, tobetray him.
It was a splendid morning: a dazzling sun showered down his hot rays inprofusion over the country, making the stones glitter like diamonds;the birds warbled gaily among the leaves; _vaqueros_ and _peones_ beganto disperse themselves in all directions, urging on to the pasturagethe horses and cattle of the _hacienda;_ the landscape increased inbeauty every moment, and bore a smiling aspect, very different to theone it wore under the terrors of darkness.
The two men rode on for an hour, when they came to a half-ruined anduninhabited _rancho_, which, covered with climbing plants, and almosthidden under their leaves and flowers, offered an excellent refugefrom the heat; for, though the day was still young, the sultriness ofthe air was overpowering.
"Let us stop here," said Don Estevan, breaking silence for the firsttime since they left his home; "we shall scarcely find a fitter place."
"Stop, if it suits you," said Don Fernando, carelessly; "to me allplaces are alike, provided you give me the explanation I demand; only,let it be short and frank."
"Frank it shall be, I give you my honour; short I cannot say, for Ihave a long and sad tale to relate."
"To me? And for what purpose, pray? Must I hear it? Tell me only--"
"Most surely," said Don Estevan, as he dismounted, "what I have to saywill touch you very nearly. You will shortly see the proof."
Don Fernando shrugged his shoulders, and alighted in his turn.
"You are mad, _Dios me libre_," (God forgive me), said he. "Sinceyou overheard our conversation so clearly, you must know that I ama foreigner, and anything that occurs in this country can be but ofslight importance to me."
"_?Quien sabe?_" (Who can tell?) replied Don Estevan, sententiously,throwing himself on the floor of the _rancho_ with great content.
Don Fernando followed his example, his curiosity beginning to get thebetter of him.
When the two men were comfortably stretched opposite each other, DonEstevan turned his face to the Mexican:
"I am going to talk of Dona Hermosa," said he of a sudden.
Surprised by these words, the Mexican blushed deeply. He tried in vainto conceal his emotion.
"Ah!" said he in a stifled voice, "Dona Hermosa! You mean the daughterof Don Luna?"
"The same. In a word, the very girl you saved a few days ago."
"Why recur to that event? Everyone else in my place would have done thesame."
"It may be so. I do not wish to appear sceptical, but I think you aremistaken there. However, that is not our question. I say, you savedDona Hermosa from a frightful death. At the first impulse, yielding toyour feelings of pride, you left her abruptly, determined to returnto the desert, never again to see the face of her who would haveoverwhelmed you with gratitude."
Don Fernando, astonished and galled at finding his feelings so wellunderstood, briskly interrupted the speaker.
"To our business, if it so please you, _caballero_," he said sharply;"it is better to begin your explanation at once than launch out intosuppositions which may be very ingenious, but have the one fault ofbeing erroneous."
"Look, Don Fernando," replied the other, "you will try in vain tolead me on a false trail; so all denial is useless. You are young andhandsome. Passing your life among savages, you are utterly ignorantof the great key to human passions. You could not see Dona Hermosawith impunity. As soon as you saw her, your heart trembled; new ideasdeveloped themselves; and, forgetting all else, despising every otherconsideration, you have retained only one object, one desire,--that ofseeing this girl, who appeared to you as a dream, and brought troubleinto a heart so calm before. You have longed to see her, if only for aminute--for a second."
"You are right," cried Don Fernando, carried away by the force oftruth; "I feel all you describe. I would joyfully give my life to seebut a corner of her _rebozo_ (veil). But why is it so? I seek in vainto understand it."
"It is what you would never understand if I did not come toyour aid. A man brought up like you, beyond the pale of socialconsiderations,--whose life as yet has only been one long strifewith the imperious necessity of each day; who has never employed hisphysical powers except in the cares of the chase or the struggles ofwar,--your moral faculties lay dormant within you; you were ignorantof their power. Love brought about the transformation, the effects ofwhich are now confounding you. You love Dona Hermosa."
"Do you think so?" said he simply. "Is this what is called love? Inthat case," he added, speaking more to himself than to Don Estevan,"its pains are cruel."
The latter looked at him with a mingling of pity and sorrow, andcontinued:
"I followed you last night because your actions seemed suspicious, anda vague fear led me to distrust you. Concealed in a bush only a yard ortwo from the spot where you were talking to the Tigercat, I overheardall you said. I changed my opinion of you; I recognised--forgive me ifI speak frankly--that you were better than report would make you, andthat it would be wrong to take you for such a man as the one you spoketo. The peremptory manner with which you repulsed his insinuationsproved that you have a heart. Upon that I determined to support you inthe strife for which you are preparing agains
t this man, who has everbeen your evil genius, and whose pernicious influence has so malignlybrooded over your youth. These are the reasons why I have spoken thus;these the reasons why I brought you here for an explanation. Now, hereis my hand; will you take it? It is that of a friend and brother."
Don Fernando rose, and eagerly seizing the hand so frankly held out tohim, pressed it again and again.
"Thanks," said he; "thanks, and forgive me. Truly I am, as you say, asavage, taking offence at every trifle. I did not recognise your noblecharacter."
"Do not say a word on that subject. Listen to me: I do not know whencemy idea springs, but I suspect that the Tigercat is the implacableenemy of Don Pedro de Luna; his purpose is to make you the instrumentof some devilish attempt upon the family at the _hacienda._"
"It is just what I thought myself," said Don Fernando. "The Tigercat'sstrange conduct during the time they were his guests, and the deceptionpractised upon them, which would have been successful but for myintervention, roused my suspicions. You yourself heard last night theobloquy he heaped on me. Let him beware."
"Let us not be too precipitate," said Don Estevan; "we cannot be tooprudent. On the contrary, let us leave the Tigercat to develop hisschemes, that we may check them the more readily."
"That, perhaps, would be the better plan. He is going to San Lucarshortly: it will be easy to watch all his steps and counteract hisprojects. Although this man is subtle, and his cunning and knaveryastute, I swear to God I will be no less wily than he."
"More so, as I shall be in the background to support you, and be atyour side in the hour of need."
"It is Dona Hermosa who must be specially guarded."
"Alas, Don Estevan, how happy you will be in having it in your power towatch over her hourly."
"Nonsense, my friend; I hope to take you to her in the course of anhour or two."
"Can such a thing be possible?" cried Don Fernando, rapturously.
"Of course it can; particularly as you ought to be placed on a certainfooting of intimacy with those at the _hacienda_, that we may thebetter mislead the Tigercat. Have you forgotten his sarcasms andinsinuations apropos of the love he fancies you feel for the charminggirl,--the love he boasts of having instigated himself, by throwing herinto your way without your suspecting it?"
"True; the man has certainly some hideous project concerning her."
"Be not alarmed; with God's help, we will checkmate him. Now, two wordsmore. Do you really believe this wretch to be your father? The questionis one of more importance than you imagine."
Don Fernando became restless; his forehead clouded over with thought;he remained some time in profound meditation. At last he raised his hatand replied:
"I have often asked myself the question you have propounded withoutever coming to a satisfactory conclusion. Nevertheless, I am almostcertain he is not my father; I cannot be his son. His conduct towardsme, the cruel care with which he inspired me with thoughts of evil,and developed in me all the bad instincts of nature,--prove to me that,if any relationship exists between us, it can only be a distant one.It is not to be imagined that a father could take absolute pleasure inthus perverting his own son. Nature revolts so utterly against such aproposition, that the mind cannot accept it. On the other hand, I havealways felt for this man a secret repulsion and invincible dislikeapproaching to hatred. This repulsion increased instead of diminishingwith time, a rapture became daily more imminent, and only a pretext waswanting to bring it about. This pretext has been unconsciously foundby the Tigercat; and now I am hugging myself with joy at finding myfreedom restored, and myself eased of the heavy burden of subjectionwhich weighed me down so long."
"I am quite of your opinion; the man cannot be your father. We shallshortly find that we are right in our conviction; and this moralcertainty will allow us to take any measures we please to counteractand foil his machinations."
"In what way do you intend to introduce me to Dona Hermosa, my friend?"
"I will tell you directly. But first I must relate a long and mournfultale, requisite for you to know in all its details, lest, in yourintercourse with Don Pedro, you should unwittingly touch upon a woundstill secretly bleeding in his heart. This dark and mysterious affairhappened long ago. I was hardly born at the time of its occurrence;yet my mother has so often told me the details, that they presentthemselves to my memory as if I had been an actor in the terribledrama. Listen attentively, my good friend. Who knows whether God,who has inspired me with the wish to tell you the tale, may not havereserved for you the elucidation of its mysteries."
"Does this tale relate to Dona Hermosa?"
"Indirectly it does. Dona Hermosa was not born at the time, and herfather did not inhabit the _hacienda_, which he purchased subsequently.At that time the family lived in retirement at a town in the BandaOriental; for you must know that Don Pedro de Luna is not a Mexican,and the name by which you know him is not his; at least he has onlyadopted it, the name belonging to the original branch of his family inMexico. He did not assume it till after the occurrence of the eventsI am about to relate, when he came to settle here, having bought LasNorias de San Antonio from his relations, who, established for manyyears in Mexico, only occasionally, and at long intervals, paid a visitof a few days to this distant _hacienda._ The people at San Lucar, andthe other inhabitants of the province, knowing Don Pedro de Luna underno other name, imagined it was really that person who had chosen toretire to his estate. My master, when he came here, cared the less todisabuse them, as, when he bought the _hacienda_, he had stipulatedwith his relations for the right to bear their name. The latternaturally found nothing extraordinary in this; and now that, aftera lapse of twenty years, Don Pedro, by the death of his relations,has become the head of the family, this borrowed name has becomeeffectually his own, and none can dispute his right to bear it."
"You excite my curiosity to the utmost; and I wait with impatience forthe beginning of your tale."
The two men seated themselves as comfortably as they could in the_rancho;_ and Don Estevan Diaz, without farther digression, commencedhis long-deferred story. He spoke the whole day long, and when nightfell was still speaking.
Don Fernando, his eyes eagerly fixed on the narrator, his heartpalpitating, and his eyebrows compressed, listened with liveliestinterest to the tale, the strange events of which, as they wereunrolled before him, made him shudder with emotions of mingled rage andhorror.
Taking Don Estevan's place, we will ourselves recount to the readerthis mournful history.