**English version of the WATTYS 2019 WINNER story**
1672, Caribbean Sea.
He lost everything for her. She risked everything for him.
But maybe love is not enough to bridge over so many deep differences between them, and the only way for them is goodb...
Out of excuses for delays, Dolores had no option but accepting Segovia's invitation to dinner. Alone. With her in town, and foreseeing that situation, the general had declined to stay with the other officers of his garrison, like single commanders used to do, and he'd been assigned a nice little house near the harbor, in the Guadalupe neighborhood, where the former commander had lived with his family.
So Dolores showed up to her date wearing the dress with more clasps, ribbons and petticoats she had, even knowing a wall wouldn't stop Segovia if he really meant to bed her that night. But that was a risk she'd accepted when they'd met in Veracruz, and she knew she'd been lucky she'd been able to delay it for two whole weeks.
On the bright side, she liked Segovia. Her husband had gotten bored of her long ago, so Dolores comforted herself on the idea that at least she'd get the tenderness and attention no man had offered her in years. Soon they'd leave Campeche, and she'd see if Marina's handsome friend was serious, or had just said that in order to steal a kiss from her. She didn't owe loyalty to any man. Her life was her own.
Segovia's place didn't have large airy rooms like Castillano's house, nor the unexpected luxury of Marina's home in Tortuga. It was austere yet comfortable.
The general's assistant welcomed them at the hall and guided them to a parlor, where a slave brought them cool orange juice with a pinch of liquor. Dolores fanned herself as she admired a framed painting when the assistant came back to announce Segovia's secretary.
"Do you mind if I talk to him here?" Segovia asked Dolores.
"Not at all."
The secretary, a young lieutenant, apologized for disturbing Segovia's private time and gave him a sealed letter.
"It arrived on the afternoon ship, after you left, and I was told it was urgent," he explained.
"Thank you, Lieutenant," was all the general said, not even glancing at the letter.
The man left and Dolores went back to her armchair to pour more orange juice for them.
"Work?" she asked in the most casual of ways.
"No. It's a letter for Captain Castillano," he replied, breaking the seal.
"And you open it? What if it's something private?"
"Until the jury says otherwise, he's a prisoner charged with treason. He's lost his right to privacy. All his mail is opened before delivery."
"Oh."
Segovia read the message, but his face wouldn't give Dolores any hint what it was about. He put it in the inner pocket of his coat. Why was he keeping like that an urgent message for Castillano, instead of sending it to him right away? What if it was something related to the trial? She needed to know what it was about. Dolores swallowed a sigh. In order to read the message, she would need to make him take the coat off. And be left alone with the coat. Which was going to be hard if Segovia was awake. Meaning her only chance would be after he fell asleep.
"What are we having for dinner, Ladislao?"
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