Page 41 of Midnight Rider
Lupe gasped. “How dare you!”
“Do not speak to her, Lupe,” thecondessasaid harshly, trembling with impotent rage. “She is a shame and disgrace to all of us who are Cortes.” She averted her eyes from Bernadette’s wan features. “We shall not speak to her again. If Eduardo wants to ruin his life by marrying her, who are we to stop him?”
“How nice of you to see reason.” Bernadette clenched her small posy of roses and baby’s breath tightly in her hands and stared out the window. She had never felt so alone or so wounded, even by her father’s insults.
* * *
THECARRIAGEARRIVEDATTHEchurch where Bernadette’s father awaited her at the curb. He helped her alight as if she truly was and always had been the most treasured of daughters. But as he peered at her through her veil, his beaming smile suddenly died. He glanced angrily at the two tight-lipped women who were being helped out of the carriage by the groomsmen.
“What’s happened?” he asked his daughter as he led her into the huge cathedral.
“Nothing that I hadn’t expected,” she said quietly. “You can’t imagine that they’re happy to have him marry an American, can you? They wanted him to marry Lupe.” She laughed miserably. “At least we’ve saved him from that fate worse than death!”
Her father’s arm tightened under her hand. “Of all the cheek,” he muttered furiously.
“This isn’t the time,” she said. “Eduardo can’t help who he’s related to.”
“No, more’s the pity. Buck up, lass,” he added gently. “He won’t let them hurt you.”
“Oh, don’t worry about me,” she said gaily. “They’re the ones who are going to need protection,” she added, just loudly enough that thecondessaand Lupe might hear. She saw them bristle visibly and it gave her the greatest satisfaction she’d had in the past several minutes.
* * *
THECEREMONYWASELEGANTANDbeautiful. Despite the unpleasantness of its beginning, Bernadette was caught up in the wonder of being married, in the tradition of her own ancestors and of his. They knelt before the priest and the words were eloquent and timeless as he spoke them.
When Eduardo put the wedding ring on her finger, she felt tears washing down her cheeks. And when he lifted the veil and looked into her eyes, she thought that she’d never seen anything so beautiful as the tenderness in his black eyes as he saw her for the first time as his bride.
He caught his breath at the radiance in her face. He bent and his lips brushed hers reverently. He lifted his head and smiled. She smiled back. It was finished. They were man and wife.
On the return trip to the hotel for the reception Bernadette rode with Eduardo. She said nothing of the bitter conversation she’d had with his grandmother and Lupe, thinking that the less said, the sooner mended. Besides, she wanted to push away even the hint of a distressing thought and give free rein to her feelings of love for her new husband.
Bernadette changed from her wedding gown into a pretty green-and-white patterned party dress for the reception. She wove a matching green ribbon into her hair, braided it and curled it around her head. She looked different, she thought as she surveyed herself in the mirror. She wasn’t beautiful, but she looked radiant, as a bride should.
She tucked an embroidered silk handkerchief into her purse and went out into the hall, toward the staircase that would take her down to the room where the reception was being held.
But as she passed Eduardo’s room, she paused. The door was ajar and she thought to join him so that they could go down together.
The sound of raised voices and a sobbing woman stopped her hand as she started to push the door open.
“Cannot believe such a thing of her!” Eduardo was saying in Spanish.
“She laughed at Lupe,” thecondessainsisted, in that same tongue, obviously thinking that none of the guests understood the language so there was no danger of eavesdroppers. “She told Lupe that you had to marry her because of what you did together in the desert that night. She said that Lupe was a fool to hope that you could care for her, that she had bewitched you, and that you would toss Lupe and me aside if she asked you to. She said that we...that we would never see you again, that she would make sure of it!”
Why, the venomous old snake,Bernadette thought angrily. She started to go in, to confront the old woman with her blatant lie, when Eduardo spoke. His words froze her very heart.
“Bernadette has no voice in what I do at my own house with my own family,” he said. “She will not distress you like this. My own grandmother.”
Bernadette heard sniffling, but she couldn’t determine if the crying came from the old woman or Lupe. She should have known they would try to punish her for the outburst in the carriage.
“I would have loaned you the money, Eduardo,” thecondessasaid miserably. “I would havegivenyou the money. Why did you not ask me? Why, instead, did you marry her?”
“Because you have done too much already,” he replied tersely. “You raised me. You sent me to university. Everything I am, I owe to you. I will ask no more of you.” He sighed heavily. “I could not marry Bernadette without being honest with her. I told her that I am not in love with her, but that I believe we will have a pleasant life together. And we shall. But you and Lupe will always be welcome here, whether or not she approves.”
“Would her father not have loaned you the money without requiring you to marry her?” thecondessaasked.
“He might have. But...well, there were other factors. And there was the gossip.” He moved; Bernadette could hear his footsteps, followed by a long sigh.
“If only you had not kept her out all night and dishonored her, my grandson,” thecondessasaid.