Part 50 (1/2)
”Yes.” Longorio scrutinized her closely, as if to measure the effect of his disclosure. ”Senora, you are free!”
Alaire uttered a breathless exclamation; then, feeling his gaze burning into her, turned away, but not before he had noted her sudden pallor, the blanching of her lips.
This unexpected announcement dazed her; it scattered her thoughts and robbed her of words, but just what her dominant emotion was at the moment she could not tell. Once her first giddiness had pa.s.sed, however, once the truth had borne in upon her, she found that she felt no keen anguish, and certainly no impulse to weep. Rather she experienced a vague horror, such as the death of an acquaintance or of a familiar relative might evoke. Ed had been anything but a true husband, and her feeling now was more for the memory of the man he had been, for the boy she had known and loved, than for the man whose name she bore. So he was gone and, as Longorio said, she was free. It meant much. She realized dimly that in this one moment her whole life had changed. She had never thought of this way out of her embarra.s.sments; she had been prepared, in fact, for anything except this. Dead! It was deplorable, for Ed was young. Once the first shock had pa.s.sed away, she became conscious of a deep pity for the man, and a complete forgiveness for the misery he had caused her. After a time she faced the newsbearer, and in a strained voice inquired:
”How did it happen? Was it--because of me?”
”No, no! Rest your mind on that score. See! I understand your concern and I share your intimate thoughts. No, it was an accident, ordained by G.o.d. His end was the result of his own folly, a gunshot wound while he was drunk, I believe. Now you will understand why I said that I bore tidings both good and evil and why I, of all people, should be the one to impart them.”
Alaire turned questioning eyes upon him, as if to fathom his meaning, and he answered her with his brilliant smile. Failing to evoke a response, he went on:
”Ever since I heard of it I have repeated over and over again, 'It is a miracle; it is the will of G.o.d.' Come, then, we know each other so well that we may speak frankly. Let us be honest and pretend to no counterfeit emotions. Let us recognize in this only your deliverance and the certainty of that blessed happiness which Divine Providence offers us both.”
”Both?” she repeated, dully.
”Need I be plainer? You know my heart. You have read me. You understand how I have throttled my longings and remained mute while all my being called to you.”
Alaire withdrew a step, and her cheeks colored with anger. ”General!”
she exclaimed, with some difficulty, ”I am amazed. This is no time--”
Her indignation rose with the sound of her own voice, causing her to stammer.
Taking advantage of her loss of words, he hurried on: ”You must pardon my impetuosity, but I am a man of tremendous force, and my life moves swiftly. I am not shackled by conventions--they are less than nothing to me. If it seems to you that my eagerness carries me away, remember that war is upon us and that affairs of moment press me so that I am compelled to move like the lightning. With me, senora, a day is a year.
The past is gone, the present is here, the future rushes forward to meet us.”
”Indeed, you forget yourself,” she said, warmly. Then, changing her tone: ”I too must act quickly. I must go back at once.”
”Oh, but I have told you only a part of what I came to say.”
”Surely the rest can wait.” Her voice was vibrant with contempt. ”I'm in no condition to listen to anything else.”
But Longorio insisted. ”Wait! It is impossible for you to leave here.”
Alaire stared at him incredulously.
”It is true. Mexico is a seething caldron of hate; the country is convulsed. It would be unsafe for you.”
”Do you mean to say that war has been declared?”
”Practically.”
”What--? You are telling me the truth?” A moment, then Alaire continued, more calmly, ”If that is so, there is all the more reason why I should lose no time.”
”Listen!” The general was deeply in earnest. ”You have no conception of the chaos out there.” He waved a comprehensive gesture. ”If the explosion has not come, it will come within a few hours. That is why I flew to your side. Battles.h.i.+ps are hurrying toward our coast, troops are ma.s.sing against our border, and Mexico has risen like one man. The people are in a frenzy; they are out of bounds; there is sack and pillage in the cities. Americans are objects of violence everywhere and the peons are frantic.” He paused impressively. ”We face the greatest upheaval of history.”
”Then why are you here?” Alaire demanded. ”This is no place for you at such a moment.”
Longorio came closer to her, and his voice trembled as he said: ”Angel of my soul, my place is at your side.” Again she recoiled, but with a fervor he had never dared display he rushed on heedlessly. ”I have told you I harken only to my heart; that for one smile from you I would behead myself; that for your favor I would betray my fatherland; that for your kiss I would face d.a.m.nation. Well, I am here at your side. The deluge comes, but you shall be unharmed.” He would not permit her to check him, crying: ”Wait! You must hear me through, senora, so that you may comprehend fully why I am forced to speak at this time. Out of this coming struggle I shall emerge a heroic figure. Now that Mexico unites, she will triumph, and of all her victorious sons the name of Luis Longorio will be sung the loudest, for upon him more than upon any other depends the Republic's salvation. I do not boast. I merely state facts, for I have made all my plans, and tomorrow I put them into effect. That is why I cannot wait to speak. The struggle will be long, but you shall be my guiding star in the hour of darkness.”
Under other circ.u.mstances the man's magnificent egotism might have provoked a smile. And yet, for all its grandiloquence, there was something in his speech that rang hard and true. Unquestionably Longorio was dangerous--a real personality, and no mere swaggering pretender. Alaire felt a certain reluctant respect for him, and at the same time a touch of chilling fear such as she had hardly experienced before. She faced him silently for a moment; then she said: