The Broken Ring: This Marriage Will Fail Anyway — Chapter 12

SO, THAT PLAYBOY FINALLY WANTS TO SETTLE DOWN?

HE EVEN SENT A PROPOSAL LETTER YESTERDAY.

SO WHAT'S THE PROBLEM?

HIM WANTING TO SETTLE DOWN...

...IS PRECISELY THE PROBLEM.

I'M NOT SURE I UNDERSTAND YOUR LINE OF THINKING, BUT THE LIEUTENANT IS PERFECT.

HIS ONLY FAULT IS THAT HE IS A WOMANIZER, BUT HE'S PROMISED TO WORK ON HIS BEHAVIOR.

I'VE HEARD THIS A MILLION TIMES... IT'D BE NICE NOT TO HAVE TO HEAR IT FROM YOU TOO.

AND THAT'S ENOUGH OIL.

YOU USED TO BE SO FOND OF THE LIEUTENANT WHEN YOU WERE YOUNG.

NOW, YOU DON'T EVEN WANT TO HEAR ME TALK, MUCH LESS APPLY A BIT OF OIL ON YOUR FEET.

YOU KNOW HOW MUCH I HATE HAVING OIL PUT ON MY FEET...

THIS IS MY FIRST TIME DOING THIS FOR YOU, SO HOW WOULD I KNOW?

ISN'T THAT A GOOD THING?

...AT ANY RATE, I LIKE THE WAY ESCALANTE IS RIGHT NOW.

...COULD IT BE THAT...

...YOU ENJOY WATCHING HIM FLIRT WITH OTHER WOMEN?

PERHAPS I... HOLD ON, DON'T LOOK AT ME LIKE THAT.

BUT YOUR FIANCÉ IS SAYING HE DOESN'T WANT THAT.

IT IS POSSIBLE HE SIMPLY SAID A FEW THINGS TO PLEASE YOU BEFORE THE WEDDING...

BUT HE IS A SOLDIER, AFTER ALL, SO I DOUBT HE WOULD MAKE SUCH STATEMENTS LIGHTLY.

OH, NAIVE JUANA... EVERYONE LIES.

SOLDIERS LIE TO THEIR SUPERIORS ALL THE TIME.

EVEN THE PRIESTS YOU PUT YOUR FAITH IN PROBABLY LIE ON OCCASION TO LOOK BETTER IN THE EYES OF GOD.

FATHER JORGE WOULD NEVER!

BUT THERE IS ONE THING YOU'RE RIGHT ABOUT.

ULTIMATELY, ESCALANTE ONLY SAID THOSE THINGS TO PLEASE ME. HE WAS JUST SAYING WHATEVER HE COULD.

...I DIDN'T QUITE SAY IT LIKE THAT...

YOU'RE RIGHT. HE'LL NEVER BE ABLE TO CHANGE.

YES, IT'S EXACTLY AS YOU SAID. HOW CAN A DOG JUST SUDDENLY BECOME A MAN...?

I MEAN, IF A DOG SAYS HE'LL BECOME HUMAN TOMORROW, DOES THAT MAKE IT SO?

YOU'RE TALKING TO YOURSELF, LADY INÉS.

I'M NOT WRONG, JUANA.

SO MY EFFORTS...

...WON'T BE FOR NOTHING.

I OBTAINED THE INFORMATION.

YOU... WHY DO YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO BEHAVE SO SUSPICIOUSLY?

GET-AWAY FROM ME!

BUT, LIEUTENANT, THIS IS A CONFIDENTIAL MATTER...

ANYHOW...

THERE IS NO ONE.

SHE TRULY HAS NO ONE ELSE.

THE LADY IS WELL KNOWN FOR HER DECORUM AND CHASTITY,

SO THE CAT TELLS ME THAT THERE IS NO POSSIBILITY OF HER HAVING A MAN.

SHE APPARENTLY SPENDS MOST OF HER TIME ALONE IN THE LIBRARY, SO THE OWL BELIEVES SHE WOULDN'T HAVE HAD TIME TO PURSUE A LOVER.

AND ACCORDING TO THE MOUSE... WELL, THEY'RE IN A POSITION WHERE THEY CAN SURVEIL EVERYONE WHO FREQUENTS THE VALEZTENA RESIDENCE, AND THEY SAY...

THE OWL...? AND WHAT ABOUT A CAT...?

oh, well, intelligence is all about secret codes, you see!

I WONDER WHO HER MAN IS.

I JUST WANTED TO KNOW WHO HE WAS...

...AND PERHAPS SEE HIM FOR MYSELF IF POSSIBLE.

YOU WEAR A MASK OF INDIFFERENCE LIKE YOU WOULDN'T EVEN SHED A DROP OF BLOOD IF YOU WERE WOUNDED,

BUT I WONDER IF YOU EVER SMILED BRIGHTLY FOR ANOTHER MAN.

LADY INÉS' REPUTATION IS SPOTLESS.

FROM HER CONDUCT TO HER VERY WAY OF BEING, SHE'S SIMPLY PERFECT...

...BUT THESE ARE ALL THINGS YOU HEARD FROM PEOPLE WHO BELONG TO THE VALEZTENA FAMILY.

IF YOU WANT TO INVESTIGATE SOMEONE, YOU MUST CONSULT A VARIETY OF SOURCES. YOU HAVE DONE THIS SORT OF WORK BEFORE, HAVEN'T YOU?

...THIS IS MY FIRST TIME.

IT'S YOUR FIRST TIME TOO, ISN'T IT, LIEUTENANT?

I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M DOING THIS.

I'VE NEVER FELT THIS CURIOUS ABOUT A WOMAN'S PAST.

I ALREADY FEEL LIKE I'VE COMMITTED A HUGE CRIME ORDERING MY NAIVE SUBORDINATE TO SPY ON HER.

OF COURSE, BY THE END OF THIS WHOLE MISERABLE AFFAIR,

MY SUBORDINATE JOSÉ HAD OBTAINED THE INFORMATION MUCH QUICKER THAN I HAD ANTICIPATED.

BUT AS EXPECTED, THERE WASN'T MUCH TO SEE.

THE ANSWER HE BROUGHT ME WAS SO OBVIOUS, AND YET...

SO, INÉS DOESN'T HAVE ANYONE...

WHY DO I SOMEHOW FEEL RELIEVED?

IS IT POSSIBLE MY FIANCÉE IS JUST INCREDIBLY METICULOUS?

I HEAR THE MAIDS ALL LAUGHED AT THE IDEA. THEY SAY SHE SEES MEN AS INSECTS.

DO YOU NOT THINK THE SERVANTS WOULD HAVE SPILLED EVERYTHING FOR A FEW SILVER COINS IF THERE WAS SOMETHING TO TELL?

I ASKED AROUND, BUT NOT A SINGLE PERSON SAID ANYTHING THAT WOULD RAISE ANY CONCERN.

IT SEEMS THAT SOME OF THE WOMEN YOU MET WITH CASUALLY IN THE PAST...

...HAVE CONDUCTED THEIR OWN BACKGROUND INVESTIGATIONS ON THE LADY HOPING TO FIND A WEAKNESS...

FOR WHATEVER REASON, THE MAIDS SEEMED QUITE ACCUSTOMED TO ANSWERING SUCH QUESTIONS.

I WONDER HOW MANY TIMES THIS MUST HAVE HAPPENED WITH THOSE LADIES FOR MY PROBING TO NOT SEEM SUSPICIOUS AT ALL.

INDEED, THERE WAS A TIME WHEN SHE WAS QUITE FOND OF ME...

...LIEUTENANT?

BUT INÉS VALEZTENA...

...FELL OUT OF LOVE WITH MY VERY BEING.

I HAD NO IDEA SOMEONE LIKE THIS COULD HAVE BEEN HAPPENING BEHIND MY BACK.

THESE WOMEN WERE SEARCHING FOR WEAKNESSES IN MY FIANCÉE WHO I DIDN'T EVEN LOVE.

THEY WERE PLANNING TO USE WHATEVER THEY FOUND AGAINST HER...

WHO CAN I BLAME BUT MYSELF?

THIS IS ALL BECAUSE OF MY FACE.

BUT ALAS, SUCH THINGS SHALL NOT HAPPEN EVER AGAIN.

LIEUTENANT, YOU'VE ALREADY SENT DUKE VALEZTENA THE PROPOSAL LETTER...

WHAT WOULD YOU EVEN DO IF YOU WERE TO FIND ANY WEAKNESSES ON HER NOW?

...FIND WEAKNESSES? WHY WOULD I DO SOMETHING LIKE THAT?

I THOUGHT YOU WERE HOPING TO BREAK YOUR ENGAGEMENT BY FINDING SOMETHING TO USE AGAINST HER.

...A PROMISE IS A PROMISE. AND WE'RE TALKING ABOUT MARRIAGE HERE. THIS IS A PROMISE BETWEEN FAMILIES.

HOW RIDICULOUS.

WHY WOULD HER HAVING A MAN EVEN BE CONSIDERED A NEGATIVE?

I'VE BEEN WITH COUNTLESS WOMEN MYSELF.

HOW UNREASONABLE WOULD IT BE FOR ME TO SAY I CAN'T MARRY HER BECAUSE I THINK SHE HAD A LOVER BEFORE?

BESIDES, REGARDLESS OF WHETHER I WANTED THIS MARRIAGE OR NOT,

FROM THE TIME I WAS SIX UNTIL NOW, I'VE NEVER CONSIDERED A LIFE WHERE I WASN'T INÉS' HUSBAND.

I JUST WANTED TO KNOW.

...UM, BY THE WAY, WHEN WILL YOU BE RETURNING TO CALZTELA?

AFTER MY WEDDING.

PARDON? THEN WHEN WILL YOU BE GETTING MARRIED...?

WITHIN THE NEXT TWO WEEKS.

THAT WAS THE LONGEST VACATION I COULD GET DURING THE SUMMER,

INCLUDING THE LEAVE OF ABSENCE FOR MY WEDDING.

YOU'LL HAVE TO RETURN ALONGSIDE ME,

SO YOU'D BETTER USE ALL YOUR VACATION TIME AS WELL, INCLUDING YOUR WINTER ONE.

THE VALEZTENA RESIDENCE, 10 DAYS BEFORE THE WEDDING

SO, I HEAR...

...THAT YOU'VE BEEN KEEPING A QUIET LIFESTYLE.

CONSIDERING THAT ALL OF MENDOZA KNOWS OF YOUR ESCAPADES...

I MEAN, IT'D BE PRACTICALLY IMPOSSIBLE NOT TO HEAR ABOUT YOU UNLESS ONE IS COMPLETELY DEAF. ISN'T THAT RIGHT, LUCIANO?

PERHAPS.

IT'S ALRIGHT, SON. WE'RE FOUR MEN HERE, AFTER ALL. I'M SURE YOUR YOUNGER BROTHER WOULD SAY THE SAME.

WHAT MAN WOULDN'T UNDERSTAND? A MAN MUST ENJOY WHAT HE CAN, RIGHT?

...NOT AT ALL, YOUR GRACE.

IF YOU DIDN'T ENJOY IT, THEN WHY DID YOU DO IT?

I WASN'T THINKING CLEARLY.

SO, IT ISN'T THAT YOU WEREN'T THINKING AT ALL?

...I WASN'T THINKING, YOUR GRACE.

ALL THIS TIME, I THOUGHT YOU WERE JUST UNFAITHFUL, BUT I GUESS YOUR BRAINS ARE LACKING AS WELL.

IF LACK OF VIRTUE COULD BE CONSIDERED A TALENT, YOU WOULD CERTAINLY BE THE GREATEST GENIUS TO EVER GRACE OUR EMPIRE.

ALRIGHT THEN. SO, WHAT YOU'RE SAYING TO ME...

...IS THAT AN IDIOT LIKE YOU THINKS YOU'RE WORTHY...

...OF MY DAUGHTER'S HAND?