The Master Of Monterey: A Novel

Chapter Three

Chapter Three After the Commodore had left to make his Progress through the land, the Captain locked himself in his quarters in the Presidio blockhouse, the crumbling tower on the fort's northwest corner. He left strict orders not to be disturbed unless Micheltorena's troops, which were now rumored to number fifteen hundred, were seen approaching, and he left special orders that he should under no circumstances be disturbed by women, especially those young and beautiful. This proved to be a necessary precaution, as more than one hija delpais, and some who already had hijas at home, were drawn to the tower to seek an audience with the Captain. They sensed his Adamic gift, and wished to express personally their gratitude at his part in making California part of a brave new world that had such people in it. The aide-de-camp who stood outside the door was driven by simple pity to offer himself as a surrogate for the Captain, for which kind gesture he was rewarded with five slaps across the face, two boxed ears, and a nose twisted without a shred of mercy or remorse. Rafael Rafael wondered whether he had ever been more content than when he had simply been able to look into his sister 's face and forget the Dark Man. He remembered sharply, +~ 209 .0+ like a knife in his side, receiving her pledge of undying love and the news of her death on the same day, and he hadn't looked in a mirror for the twenty-plus years since that day out of the certainty that he would see the Dark Man's face laughing at him over his left shoulder. Now he felt Arcadia calling him, from a place where, Pearl Prynne had warned him, he could never arrive. He remained secluded in the failing tower, in dreamy doubt and anticipation, knowing unconsciously that these hours ofsadness would prove to be some of the finest and happiest of his life. Arcadia was once again confined in the room hung with the black webbings of her mournful trousseau under the watchful eye of Duenna Recta. From time to time, Arcadia looked through the heavy curtains out the barred window and saw old Don Ignacio sitting his stallion, sadly waiting for her to come to her senses. Outside the door, she knew that her uncle 's trusted servant, Juan Canito, was sitting. She was trapped, and she sat back down to her loom to work furiously on what she called a funeral shroud. When she had first been brought back from the fiesta by her uncle and aunt, she was told that she had behaved scandalously and endangered the honor of the family, which could have remained perfectly safe if she had only agreed to marry the eminently suitable septuagenarian to whom she was promised. There would be no more trips to church to hear mass, certainly not alone with Magda, who bore some blame for her behavior . If she needed the succor of the church, Fray Echevarria could come and give it to her in the family chapel, while also recounting to her all the blessedness women have brought +~ 210 - 223 -+ wanted to believe that she had found at last the man she had sought. And Don Ignacio lay stunned with exhaustion on the shawl that was a shroud, understanding that he had not found Arcadia, but rather the third Maria, la Magdalena, and equally understanding, by the rosy ache in his heart that seemed to be leaking out his side, that he would go no further, that he would nevermore attempt an Arcadia in the rest of his yellow-leafed time on earth. In the darkness, Captain Rafael Rafael was assembling himself into a version of the old Don, putting on piece by piece the clothing of a Californio, finally placing on his head the Don's yellow hat of the finest vicuna wool. It fit surprisingly well. He slouched to the rancho, walking like an old man, and found the main door open. He had no need of a guide to find his way to the door of Arcadia, as one room of the rancho glowed with a primeval heat, like the molten core of a globe suddenly showing through the thin crust, the likes of which he had not seen from all the women who had shared his Adamic gifts in his long seafaring life, never seen since that other night when he had stolen in...