“It is harmless,” she announced.
Señorita Lolita looked up, and took the message from her mother’s hand. Don Diego Vega, it appeared, wasted no words. His message was read swiftly:
This man has orders to make a record carrying this greeting of love to you and fetching yours in return.
Thine,
Diego.
“Ha!” Don Carlos shouted. “Economy is a great thing, but not in words when there is love to be spoken. You should have seen the messages I sent to Catalina in the old days!”
“Carlos!” Doña Catalina warned.
“And paid a native wench royally to slip them to her,” Don Carlos continued, shamelessly. “Behind the back of her duenna! Page after page, and every word a labor! I could fight better than I could write!”
“Perhaps so can Don Diego,” the little señorita said.
“Staunch and loyal to him, are you?” Don Carlos roared. “That is proper. Pen your reply, my daughter, and let this man establish his record for the return trip to Reina de Los Angeles. Do not keep Don Diego waiting.”