"I am weary, and the hacienda is an excellent place to rest," he said. "I knew it to be the siesta hour, also, and thought everyone would be asleep. It were a shame to awaken you, senorita, but I felt that I must speak. Your beauty would hinge a man's tongue in its middle so that both ends might be free to sing your praises."
Senorita Lolita had the grace to blush. "I would that my beauty affected other men so," she said.
"And does it not? Is it possible that the Senorita Lolita lacks suitors? But that cannot be possible?"
"It is, nevertheless, senor. There are few bold enough to seek to ally themselves with the family of Pulido, since it is out of favor with the powers. There is one - suitor," she went on. "But he does not seem to put much life into his wooing."
"Ha! A laggard at love - and in your presence? What ails the man? Is he ill?"
"He is so wealthy that I suppose h thinks he has but to request it and a maiden will agree to wed him."
"What an imbecile! 'Tis the wooing gives the spice to romance!"
(from The Mark of Zorro, by Johnston McCalley)
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