Maria Clara trembled.
"Ah!" exclaimed the Governor General. "Permit me, senorita, to express the desire to see you again before I leave town. I still have some very important things to say to you. Senor Alcalde, Your Lordship will accompany me for a walk after the conference which I will hold alone with Senor Ibarra."
"Your Excellency will permit us," said Father Salvi meekly, "to inform you that Senor Ibarra is excommunicated ..."
His Excellency interrupted him saying: "I am glad that I have nothing more to deplore than the condition of Father Damaso, for whom I sincerely wish a complete recovery, because at his age a voyage to Spain for his health would not be pleasant. But this depends on him ... and in the meantime, may G.o.d preserve the health of Your Reverences."
They retired one after the other.
"We will see who will make the journey first," said a Franciscan.
"I am going off now right away!" said Father Sibyla, with indignation.
"And we are going back to our provinces, too," said the Augustins.
They could not endure that through the fault of a Franciscan His Excellency had received them coldly.
In the entrance hall they met Ibarra, their host only a few hours ago. They exchanged no salutations, but their looks were eloquent.
The Alcalde, on the contrary, when the friars had disappeared, greeted the young man and extended his hand to him in a familiar way. But the arrival of the adjutant, who was looking for Ibarra, did not give them an opportunity to converse.
Ibarra was dressed in deep mourning. He presented himself in a calm manner, and bowed profoundly, despite the fact that the sight of the friars had not seemed a good omen for him.
The Governor General advanced a few steps. "It gives me great satisfaction to shake your hand. Grant me your entire confidence."
"Senor ... such kindness...!"
"Your surprise offends me. It indicates that you did not expect a good reception from me. That is doubting my justice!"
"A friendly reception, senor, for an insignificant subject like myself, is not justice, it is a favor."
"Well, well!" said His Excellency, sitting down and pointing out a seat for Ibarra. "Let us speak frankly. I am very much pleased with your action and I have already proposed to His Majesty"s Government that they grant you an insignia for your philanthropic intention of erecting a school.... If you had asked me, I would have attended the ceremony with a great deal of pleasure and perhaps the unpleasantness would have been avoided."
"My idea of erecting a school seems to me so insignificant," replied the young man, "that I did not think it an occasion worthy of taking the attention of Your Excellency from your many duties and cares. Then, too, it was my duty to first address the highest authority of the province."
His Excellency made a bow of satisfaction and adopting a still more intimate manner, continued:
"In regard to the unpleasantness which you have had with Father Damaso, have no fear nor regret. I will not touch a hair of your head while I govern these Islands. And in regard to the excommunication, I will speak to the Archbishop, for it is necessary for us to adapt ourselves to circ.u.mstances. Here, we cannot laugh about these things in public as we do in Spain or in cultured Europe. Nevertheless, be more prudent in the future. You have put yourself in opposition to the religious corporations, which, on account of your position and wealth, need to be respected. But I will protect you, because I like good sons, I like to see a person respect the honor of his father. I, too, love my father, and as sure as there is a G.o.d, I know what I would have done had I been in your place...."
And quickly turning the conversation, he asked: "You have told me that you come from Europe; were you in Madrid?"
"Yes, senor; for some months."
"You have perhaps heard of my family?"
"Your Excellency had just left when I had the honor to be presented to it."
"And why, then, did you come here without bringing some letter of introduction?"
"Senor," replied Ibarra bowing, "because I do not come directly from Spain, and because, having heard of Your Excellency"s character, I thought that a letter of introduction would not only be useless, but even offensive. All Filipinos are recommended to you."
A smile appeared on the lips of the old officer and he replied slowly, as if weighing and measuring his words:
"It flatters me to learn that you think so ... and ... so it ought to be. However, young man, you ought to know what loads we bear upon our shoulders here in the Philippines. Here, we, old army officers, have to do and be everything: King, Secretary of State, of War, of Agriculture, of Internal Affairs and of Justice. The worst part of it is the fact that in regard to everything we have to consult our distant Mother Country, which approves or rejects our propositions, according to circ.u.mstances, sometimes blindly. And you know how we Spaniards say: "Grasp much, get little." Then, too, we come here ignorant of the country and we leave it as soon as we begin to know it. With you I can be frank, for it would be useless to appear otherwise. In Spain, where each branch of the Government has its own Minister, born and brought up in the country, where they have the press and public opinion, the opposition is open and before the eyes of the Government, and shows up its faults; yet, even there, all is imperfect and defective. And when you consider the conditions here, it is a wonder that all is not upset, with all those advantages lacking, and with the opposition working in the dark. Good intentions and wishes are not wanting in us governing officials, but we find ourselves obliged to make use of eyes and arms which frequently we do not know, and which, perhaps, instead of serving the country, serve only their own interests. That is not our fault; it is the fault of circ.u.mstances. You arouse my interest and I do not want our present system of government to prejudice you in any way. I cannot watch everything, nor can I attend to all. Can I be useful to you in any way? Have you anything to request?"
Ibarra meditated.
"Senor," he replied, "my greatest desire is the happiness of my country, a happiness due to the efforts of our Mother Country and to the efforts of my fellow countrymen, united with the eternal bonds of a common interest and common object. What I ask the Government can only give after many years of continuous work and proper reforms."
His Excellency looked at him for several seconds with a look which Ibarra met naturally, without timidity and without boldness.
"You are the first man with whom I have spoken in this country,"
he exclaimed grasping his hand.
"Your Excellency has only seen those who lead a grovelling existence in the city. You have not seen the calumniated hovels of our towns. If you had, you would have seen true men, if generous hearts and simple manners make true men."
The Governor General arose and paced the sala from one side to the other.
"Senor Ibarra," he exclaimed, stopping a moment. The young man arose. "I will probably leave here within a month. Your education and your mode of thinking are not for this country. Sell what you possess, get your trunk ready and come with me to Europe. That climate will be better for you."
"I shall cherish all my life the memory of Your Excellency"s kindness,"
replied Ibarra, moved by what the Governor General had said. "But I ought to live in the country where my fathers have lived...."
"Where they have died, you should say, to speak more exactly. Believe me! I possibly know your country better than you do yourself.... Ah! Now I remember," he exclaimed changing the tone of his voice. "You are going to marry a lovely girl and I am keeping you here! Go, go to her side, and that you may have greater liberty send her father to me," he added, smiling. "Do not forget, however, that I want you to accompany me for a walk."
Ibarra bowed and departed.
His Excellency called his adjutant.
"I am happy," said he, giving him a light slap on the shoulder. "To-day I have seen for the first time how one can be a good Spaniard without ceasing to be a good Filipino and to love his country. To-day, at last, I have shown the Reverences that we are not all their playthings. This young man has afforded me the opportunity, and, in a short time, I will have settled all of my accounts with the friar. It"s a pity that this young man, some day or other ... but call the Alcalde to me."
The latter presented himself at once.
"Senor Alcalde," he said to him, as he entered the room, "in order to avoid a repet.i.tion of scenes such as Your Honor witnessed this afternoon, scenes which I deplore because they take away the prestige of the Government and all Spaniards, I want to commend to you warmly Senor Ibarra, that you may not only aid him in carrying out his patriotic ends, but also prevent in the future any person of whatever cla.s.s or under whatever pretext, from molesting him."
The Alcalde understood the reprimand and bowed to conceal his confusion.
"Have the alferez, who is in command here, informed to the same effect. And you will find out if it is true that this officer has methods of procedure that are not in accordance with the regulations. I have heard more than one complaint on this score."
Captain Tiago, all starched and ironed, presented himself.
"Don Santiago," said His Excellency, in a cordial tone of voice, "a little while ago I was congratulating you on having a daughter like the Senorita de los Santos. Now I want to congratulate you on your future son-in-law. The most virtuous of daughters is certainly worthy of the best citizen of the Philippines. Is the date of the wedding known?"
"Senor!" stammered the Captain, wiping away the perspiration which was running down his face.
"O, come! I see that there is nothing definite. If you need G.o.dfathers, I will be one of them with the greatest pleasure. I would do it to take away the bad taste which so many of the weddings which I have attended here have left in my mouth," he added, turning to the Alcalde.
"Yes, senor!" replied Captain Tiago, with a smile which inspired compa.s.sion.