“First, though, I went to school. I started going to Waco Female College in Waco, Texas, in 1871, and graduated in four years. I specialized in English literature and writing, which was my particular passion. I made very good grades and stood out as one of the most accomplished students in my class. When I graduated I found work immediately – as a teacher back in San Antonio. I taught for only one year, however.”
“What happened?” Will asked breathlessly.
“My life changed, and I moved on,” Elizabeth answered, a merry twinkle in her eye. “I had been teaching for several months when my family decided to attend a large barn raising and party in the area. Of course my friends and I decided that we would go alone – it was a chance to dress up, dance, and meet eligible men in our area. We donned our finest party gowns – which were nothing to see, I can assure you, as we teachers were very poor – and turned out for the barn raising. The men worked on the framing and walls while we girls talked, drank punch, and chose possible mates. I would never have guessed that I was looking at my future husband that night.
“Roberto was there on a business trip from Mexico. He was from an old and established Mexican family, who owned a cattle and horse ranch just south of the border. He was the oldest son, and would get a share of the family business when his father retired. He’d been sent north to meet some of the family’s business associates and learn about buying horses. As luck would have it, one of the men he was there to meet was my uncle.
“We spent a couple of hours watching each other before we were introduced. He was a very handsome man, darker than anyone I had ever met, and about five years older than me. He was dressed cleanly, but not in the traditional rancher’s garb like everybody else in the room. His dress was more formal. Mexican men adore dressing up, you see, and Robert loved it more than most. He would take any excuse to wear his finest clothing, and I suppose a barn raising – where he would see eligible young ladies – was all the reason he needed that night. I will never forget the color of his suit. It was a deep burgundy velvet, the color of blood, and it stood out in the crowd. His boots were shiny black, his thick, dark hair was neatly combed back and he had a glitter in his smile. Some of the girls thought that he was dressed too formally, and didn’t like the look of the traditional Mexican dress. I found it both beautiful and intriguing, myself, and couldn’t take my eyes from him. His willingness to stand out just made him more attractive to me – I had never fit in with others of my own age or sex, and his individuality made me think that he would understand my need to be different. When he asked me to dance, I agreed.”
Elizabeth smiled, remembering that bright week in the Spring of 1877. Roberto had been in town for only two more days, but the two had become inseparable during that time. They’d danced the night away at the barn raising, then made plans to meet for breakfast the next morning. They had spent the day exploring the area, meeting with different horse brokers for Roberto, and touring her aunt and uncle’s farm. Roberto was interested in her mind, and fascinated with her knowledge of horses. She had taken him into the foothills to show him the view around the town, and shared her dreams about horse ranches and children.
“By the time he left, we knew that we wanted to spend the rest of our lives together,” Elizabeth remembered softly. “I wrote him three or four letters a week for the next two months, and he wrote just as often. We grew closer with this new communication – there are things you can communicate in a letter that you would never say in person, so we learned much more about each other.
“In the Fall of that year he surprised me with another trip to San Antonio. I heard a knock on my door, and went to answer it. There was Roberto, dressed up in one of his rich suits and holding a guitar. He sang to me - a very traditional Mexican love song about a boy and a girl. After the song, he went down on his knee, held out a thin band of gold, and asked me to marry him. We were married the following year in Mexico.”
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