It was near Christmas, and the air was crisp, the earth slowly baking under a warming sun during the day. People milled in the streets, and the mood of the city was festive now that the rebellion was ended and Díaz was in power.
“Like mindless cattle,” Luna murmured as their carriage rolled through the street. “They do not care who leads them to the trough, only that there is a trough.”
“Yet these mindless cattle are people with dreams, love and hope, Rafael. If they are forced to concessions to live, then they concede. That does not mean they are mindless.”
“You are a strange kind of woman, chica, an aristocrat with the philosophy of a peasant.”
“Perhaps because I am as they are,” she replied, “at the mercy of ruthless men who care only for their own desires and not for what is just and fair.”
“How noble. Did you learn that sentiment from your Juarista husband?”
“Don’t sneer. Juarez was a good president.”
“Juarez is dead. Díaz is now president. Will you say the same of him?”
“I suppose that depends on what he does as president.” Ginny turned to face him, and said boldly, “You promised to tell me about Steve. I have done as you wished. When will you tell me where he is?”
“You will know soon enough. While you may prefer not to believe it, I am a man of my word.” A strange smile played on his lips, and she narrowed her eyes at him.
“Damn you, if you intend to play some sort of trick on me. Do you even know where he is?”
“At the moment, I’m not at all certain. I do know where I left him, however. Ah, do not look so angry, chica, or I shall have to show you what happens to naughty girls. But if you behave, you will know very soon where your husband has been. Perhaps then you can ask him how the mother of his other son is doing, eh?” He laughed when she drew in a sharp breath of outrage, and reached out to stroke her. “How lovely you are when you are angry, my butterfly. I shall miss you when I have left Mexico.”
“That will be very soon, I trust.”
“My business here is almost done. It may be more swiftly than even you hope. Now come. Put on a pretty face, so that no one will know that you are not happy to be with me. Remember what happens when you are defiant.”
She turned to gaze out the window. The streets were overflowing with people. With the lanterns lit it was beautiful, the plaza alight with laughter and music and celebration.
Would she have the opportunity to be alone with Díaz, to tell him Luna was holding her prisoner? If necessary, she would say it publicly, but she hoped that it would not come to that. It could be embarrassing for the president, as Luna was Adjutant General from Spain. There was always the chance her complaint would be treated lightly if she chose to make a public issue of it.
The palace rooms were crowded with guests, but few of them were familiar to Ginny. Her days here with Maximilian’s court were so far in the past. All traces of the French occupation were nearly gone, but a faint poignant sadness still seemed to her to shroud the rooms.
There were whispers, some of recognition, others of shock when Ginny appeared on Luna’s arm. She ignored them as she had once done. Her chin was held high, her gaze directed straight ahead. But inside, a curl of shame burned so hot and bright, that she was nearly nauseous with it. All that sustained her was the thought that perhaps she would escape from Luna before the night ended.
I will not go back to that house with him! He will have to drag me screaming down the street, and I don’t think he is truly prepared to risk that. Surely, there is someone here who can help me?
But hope dwindled, for in the crush that thronged the rooms, she recognized no friendly faces, no one familiar enough that she would trust to ask for aid in escape. With her fingers lying lightly on Rafael’s arm, she floated at his side like a bronze shadow with haunted eyes.
A huge topaz strung on a thin gold chain circled her neck. It nestled into the valley between her breasts, drawing the eyes of many men to the alluring shadow and high globes of flesh. But then, she would draw attention even without the necklace, and not just because of her daring attire.
Indeed, in such a huge crowd she might have gone almost unnoticed if she were not so striking. Lamplight glinted on her fiery hair with a rich golden sheen, and her pale skin gleamed with flawless, translucent beauty. Only when one drew close enough to see into her slanted green eyes, was it apparent that she was unhappy and desperate.
From across the room, she had an air of regal, aloof beauty. A tarnished rose, perhaps, with her shocking gown and low décolletage, but a rose of incomparable beauty, even in this sea of beautiful women.
Luna kept her close, his hands occasionally brushing casually against her breasts, a proprietary touch that did not escape notice. It branded her as loose, and the women present drew aside when she passed, as if afraid of contamination should she get too close.
Men noticed, eyes staring as he toyed with the edging of her low bodice, hopeful gazes waiting for it to fall away and expose her to their lecherous gazes. Ginny began to feel quite nauseous, and focused instead on the others in the huge room, so many there that it was difficult to see the walls opposite where they stood.
It was not as surprising as it might once have been to find a liberal sprinkling of Americans celebrating Díaz’s ascent to the presidency, for Mexico’s future was closely intertwined with that of the United States. New policies
