The Last Song

pleased that – ”
    “Enrique, look!” Mama interrupted. Three horsemen were approaching. “Who are they?”
    The horsemen’s mounts were kicking up so much dust that it was impossible to identify the men. We waited for them. As the dust settled, Luis and his father appeared before us. Habib, their slave, had accompanied them.
    “What is the meaning of this? Why are they here?” Mama whispered. Papa helped her down from her horse.
    “I can guess,” Papa said, lifting me to the ground. “Let me do the talking, Isabel,” he said under his breath.
    Don Alfonso, Luis, and the slave dismounted. Luis’s father swept his hat off and bowed deeply. Luis merely nodded.
    “Don Alfonso, Luis, welcome,” Papa said.
    “It’s nice to see you, Don Enrique.” The cavalier bowed to Mama and smiled at me.
    Luis handed his reins to his slave. His hat stayed on top of his head.
    “You are just in time to share a meal with us,” Mama said.
    Don Alfonso shifted from one foot to the other. “We don’t want to put you to any trouble, Doña Catarina. However, I would like to have a word with your husband.”
    Luis fixed his gaze on the ground and remained silent.
    Papa led us into the dining hall.
    “At least you must have some ale,” Mama said.
    “I won’t say no, mistress. Traveling during the summer is thirsty business.”
    We settled around the table. Don Alfonso seemed nervous, fingering his mustache. Luis stared into the air, as if he didn’t see any of us.
    A servant brought tankards of ale and set them down on the table. Don Alfonso drank greedily, but Luis pushed his cup away as if the mere sight of it made him sick.
    Finally, Don Alfonso put his tankard down. “Don Enrique, Doña Catarina, Doña Isabel, you must be wondering why we are here.”
    “You are always most welcome in our home,” Papa said pleasantly.
    Don Alfonso began to fidget with the handle of his sword. When he finally raised his head, I was struck by the sadness in his eyes. “What I have to tell you is most distasteful to me as a cavalier. We live in perilous times. The Inquisition – ”
    “Father! Have you lost your mind?” Luis cried. He jumped up and thumped the table. “What my father is trying to tell you is that I refuse to marry the whelp of a heretic!”
    My father rose in his seat, his hand on the daggertucked into the sash at his waist. “How dare you talk to us like this!” He glared at Luis.
    “I dare more than you know, Don Enrique,” Luis said. “Haven’t you learned your lesson yet? Don’t you understand that the Inquisition has long arms? I would be more careful if I were in your shoes.”
    Papa took a step forward and drew his dagger.
    Mama plucked at his sleeve. “Enrique! You are forgetting yourself!” she cried. “Don Alfonso and his son are guests in our home.”
    “Have you lost your wits, boy, to use such a tone?” Don Alfonso took Luis by the shoulders and shook him hard. “Be silent if you know what’s good for you!”
    Luis sat down and turned his head away, but not before I saw the twist of his lips. Papa took a deep breath and sat down. Don Alfonso began to speak again.
    “Don Enrique, Doña Catarina, it breaks my heart to tell you that a match between your daughter and my son cannot take place now.” He turned toward me. “I am sorry, Isabel, but such a union is no longer practical, or even safe, in the wicked times in which we find ourselves.” He gulped down more of his ale. “I hope that I have your agreement to the dissolution of the betrothal contract between our children,” he said to my parents. “And of course the dowry … I have spent some of the portion I already received.”
    I felt Luis’s eyes on me, full of contempt. I didn’t care. I wanted to cry from happiness. I was no longer betrothed! I was free in the eyes of the law. I wondered what Yonah would say. I lowered my head so that my face wouldn’t betray me.
    My parents exchanged quick glances.
    “You have my agreement, Don Alfonso, to the breaking of the betrothal contract,” Papa said. “Return to me as much of the dowry as you can. The rest can be given back later.”
    “I have long thought that our children would not be happy together,” Mama added.
    Don Alfonso bent his head. “You are both kinder than I deserve. If we lived in another time … if the Inquisition wouldn’t have …” His voice broke.
    Luis took a long drink from his tankard. “At last I have something to celebrate.”
    “I