The Ornaments of Love

Chapter Twenty-Two

Dídac arrived at the courtyard of the Castell de Amontoní with all the mortal joy there was to feel in the world. Crossing the property line onto the estate, he had felt something akin to delirium, and as the coach pulled around to the main doors, he thought he understood what the purpose and meaning of life was. The expression of it could be summed up in his fiancée's very name.

When the coachman opened the carriage door and Dídac stepped out into the warm late summer air, he decided that his life, his real life, would begin at his ascension up the path to the castle doors. His every step reaffirmed this notion, and when he had finally arrived at the doors, he could not help but believe he was the most fortunate man alive.

Every footfall through the cavernous castle, with its legendary burgundy and sapphire marbles cut with gold, reverberated endlessly down the corridors like the most powerful step a human could manage. That delicious clacking sound from his boots upon the stone seemed to carry on forever.

The footman who led him to the designated drawing room did not seem to care much that this was the beginning of Dídac's life. The pallid-skinned man seemed as if he would just as easily have taken a nap as walk upright. In fact, Dídac was certain that if the stiffly uniformed man were not actually moving his legs to and fro, he might easily have been mistaken for dead.

The living corpse shrouded in his white, starched collar and perfectly cut uniform finally came to the point, pulling back the door from the music room where Veronica was waiting, and where Marcelina rose to receive Dídac. They both looked as lovely as any two women could, he thought.

"Ah, welcome once again, señor," Marcelina doted. "I believe you grow more handsome with every day that passes."

Dídac felt the sting of embarrassment as he tried to make his way successfully to the waiting sofa.

"It could only be true because every day the world grows more beautiful with you in it, my lady." He managed the genteel prose from his subconscious alone, drawing the woman's hand to his lips.

"Ever the gentleman, not to be outdone with compliments," the Marquesa beamed. "And you remember my niece, señor? I believe you proposed marriage to her once?"

"Yes, but must I do the same again? Perhaps I forget that I should beg her again and again each passing day."

"Señor!" the embarrassed girl pleaded, indecisively permitting him to kiss her sweetly on the lips, his utter need to do so at once startling them both.

"Well, what opportunities won't the young man take under my roof?" Marcelina teased, inflicting a boyish self-consciousness in Dídac that he gladly received with the woman's toying recriminations.

Veronica was just as embarrassed as he. It took only seconds for Marcelina to realize as much. Indeed, she thought, they most certainly needed their time together.

"I can see my presence is already worn out," she smiled. "Maybe it would be better if I left you in his company, dear. It seems he has already chosen which one of us he wishes to charm and which one he wishes to adore."

"Marquesa!" said the boy, flustered.

"No, no, I don't need cannon fire to notice your strides. I trust you will do me the courtesy of entertaining my niece for the afternoon, señor. I have other things which must be tended to."

"Of course, Marquesa, it would be my honor."

"Hmmm, good," she whispered, raising up on her toes in to kiss him on his blushing cheek and promptly exiting the immense room. The heavy door shut by the footman echoed loudly, making a permissive impression upon Dídac.