ON THE WAY back to my room I noticed none of the unusual architectural features of the palace or the stunning decorations on the walls. Thoughts tumbled freely in my head. Zarita and I were soul mates. I needed her as she did me. Without each other our lives would be incomplete. We must be wed without delay. She was only here for a short visit. I needed to gain enough status to be a worthy suitor for her. I’d no position in society but I had money. I could help finance the expedition across the Ocean Sea. Christopher Columbus was keen for me to join him, and if he became an admiral, then he might appoint me to a rank of one kind or another. That would give me some standing. I would have to speak to Zarita’s chaperon and then her family. There would be an interview with her father. I sweated over that. What if he looked on me with disdain? If he refused me, would she abide by his wishes?
Columbus wanted to set out this year, and it was possible that could happen, for more and more of the clergy and royal advisers approved of his project. So if Zarita and I were to be married, it had to be now.
But would she accept my proposal? There was only one way to find out and that was to ask her. I decided to do this as soon as I was able. Señora Eloisa and Zarita were expecting a guest. I would wait until after the evening meal, and then I would go secretly to their apartment the way I’d done this morning, and I would tap on Zarita’s window and ask her to marry me.