Chapter 14
The next morning, Giles’ office
Giles opened the door to his office only to find a tall brunette man, elegantly dressed, waiting outside. “May I help you?” he asked, after he cleared his throat.
“Mr. Giles, I know it has been twelve years since we last saw each other, but I had hoped that you would still remember me,” the man said teasingly as he entered the office.
“Angel? Is that you, boy?” Giles smiled as he began to see traces of the boy he’d known so many years ago in the young man standing in front of him.
“You bet I am,” Angel said, moving forward to embrace the man that had been his late’s father best friend and lawyer, while Giles patted his back awkwardly as he returned the embrace.
“I’m so glad to see you, but I thought you were coming in the afternoon?”
“I know, but I have to run some errands and to be honest, I really couldn’t wait to talk to you.”
“Of course, Angel. What can I help you with?”
“I am not that happy with the way Snyder has been running Campo Real, so I wanted to know if you could recommend someone to be my new Administrator.”
“Hmmm, and your mother agrees with this?” Giles asked, taking off his eyeglasses and polishing them.
“My mother is not in charge of Campo Real anymore, Mr. Giles, I am, so it really doesn’t matter if she agrees or not.”
“Well, I might know of someone,” Giles said, thinking that this could be the lucky break William and him were hoping for to begin their revenge against Snyder. “He’s a merchant ship captain, but at the moment he’s thinking of changing the sea for terra firma. He’s trustworthy and used to hard work and handling a crew, I know managing a ship is hardly the same as managing an estate the size of Campo Real, but I think he’d be a valuable asset for you. And you already know him.”
“I do? Who is it?”
“William. You remember him, don’t you?”
“William? The boy you brought to Campo Real just before my father died?”
“Yes, one and the same.”
“I remember him all right and if he’s half as good as you say he is, he’d make a great Administrator. Do you think he’d be interested in working at Campo Real?”
“I think he might be interested, but why don’t you come back in the afternoon and ask him yourself?”
“All right, I’ll come back around five since I’ll be staying at our house here in the city until tomorrow, does that work for you?”
“It does. I’ll send a message to William to meet us here at five. So, tell me, what has been of your life in these twelve years?”
“Not much, Mr. Giles, studying mainly. I might be getting married soon, though.”
“Married? To whom?” Giles asked, recalling his last conversation with William.
“I can not tell you yet. But I promise you will be the first to know as soon as all details are finalized. I have some errands to run, so I’ll see you at five, Mr. Giles. Hope you have a good day,” Angel said, after checking his pocket watch, before pulling the older man into another embrace and leaving the office.
Giles smiled fondly after Angel left, there were rumors all over Galveston that he and Elizabeth Summers were betrothed and that they were to marry when he came back to Campo Real, so he imagined that she was his bride to be. He’d had the chance to meet the girl on several occasions and knew that she was as beautiful inside as she was in the outside. Even if he hated to admit that doña Darla was right in anything, he had to accept that they wouldn’t find anyone better for Angel than her. He just hoped William’s choice was as good as his brother’s.
* ~ * ~ *
A little while later, Summers’ household
Buffy didn’t know what to think. Her mother had sent a letter to Sister Margaret telling her that she had been prescribed bedrest from the doctor and that she needed her daughter to take care of her. Since Elizabeth was only a novice, it hadn’t been that difficult for Sister Margaret to agree to her sick mother’s petition, but not before giving her a long sermon about sacrifice, devotion and vocation, and telling her that this would be the one and only time that she’d be allowed to leave the convent before she took her vows or else she would not be accepted to be a nun and she had to promise that she would use her novice habit at all times during the day.
Buffy didn’t want to jeopardize her future in the convent, so she had decided to make it clear to her mother that she couldn’t be there for her anymore. And really, wasn’t Aimée home now? Her sister should be the one taking care of their mother, not her. She had made the choice to devote her life to God and even if sometimes in these few days she’d asked herself if that was the life she wanted, she would stand by that choice. Anything was better that having to face the fact that all her dreams were just that, dreams.
And now she was sitting in the living room on her house waiting for her mother, the same mother that was supposed to be on bedrest and to her surprise had gone to the market. She didn’t want to think that her mother had faked an illness to make her come back from the convent, but everything pointed to that. Why couldn’t her mother just let her do this? It wasn’t as if she was doing anything reproachable; granted, not many girls from her social status entered the convent, but serving God was her only option now that Angel had rejected her.
She was well aware that pride was a capital sin, but she simply refused to be pitied by anyone. And she’d be pitied for sure if she hadn’t joined the convent. She knew that even now there were going to be some persons that would not believe that she broke off the engagement with Angel, but she hoped that they would like her well enough as to not gossip about her.
She was so lost in her thoughts that she automatically went to open the front door when she heard someone knocking on it.
* ~ * ~ *
Angel stood outside the Summers’ house waiting for someone to open the door, pasting a smile on his face as he noticed it was opening, a smile that only widened as he saw the angelic creature that stood on the other side, until he noticed the pain that flashed in her eyes when she recognized him before she covered it with a shaky smile.
‘This must be Elizabeth,’ he thought as he remembered that his mother had told him that she was planning on joining a convent, but he’d never expected that she’d go through with it. He felt a pang of regret at the idea that he had pushed her to this, but the heart wanted what the heart wanted, and his heart wanted Aimée, not Elizabeth; even if she was as beautiful, if not more so, than her sister. There was something about her, something that seemed to come from within. Maybe if he’d met her first, but no, he met his Aimée first and he loved her, there was no use with thinking what could have been.
Buffy, for her part, was shocked, there before her stood the man that until recently she’d thought was going to be her husband. Her heart broke once more as she recalled that he didn’t want her, and that she had to join the convent because she didn’t want to be pitied. She didn’t think she could handle the pity that was starting to show on his brown eyes, she had to convince him that joining the convent had been what she’d wanted all along.
He extended his hand, taking hers and raising it to his lips, saying, “Good morning, Elizabeth?”
“Yes, I am Elizabeth, good morning, Angel. It’s been a long time.” She took away her hand from his as soon as she could, without being openly offensive.
“It has been a long time, indeed.” He smiled. “Is your mother home?”
“No, she went to the market with Aimée. You remember Aimée, don’t you?”
“Yes, I met her again in Boston, after I returned from Europe.”
“That’s strange, she never mentioned you.”
“Strange indeed. So, you are a nun?”
“Not yet.” She smiled, that was the perfect opening that she needed to convince him. “But soon, very soon I will be. This has been my dream all my life, to serve God I mean,” she added with a smile at his dubitative look. “Serving God and helping other people less fortunate than I am has been my dream and now it is so close to be true that I almost can’t believe it.” She smiled even wider when she noticed his doubts were turning into certainty.
“Well, I am very happy to hear that, Elizabeth. I have to go now, it is not proper for me to be here if your mother is not home, please tell her that I expect all of you to join me for supper at my house here in Galveston tonight?”
“I will tell her, but I’m afraid I won’t be able to join you. I have to go back to the convent very early tomorrow, you understand, don’t you?”
“Of course, not to worry. Have a good day, Elizabeth, it was a pleasure to see you again.”
“Thank you, good bye,” she said, before closing the door and reclining against it, finally letting the tears she’d been trying to contain flow. “Why couldn’t you love me as I love you, Angel? Why? I would have devoted my life to making you happy and you rejected me without a single thought to how much I would suffer by it. Oh, God, why does this have to hurt so much?” she said, before running to the privacy of her room, she didn’t want anyone to witness how much this encounter had affected her.
tbc