Conversation in the Cathedral

by Mario Vargas Llosa

  “France-Presse, Associated Press, United Press, they’re all carrying the story, Don Cayo, look at the cables,” Dr. Alcibíades said. “They’re talking about dozens of arrests. Where’d they get it, Don Cayo?”

  “The dateline is Bolivia, it’s Velarde, that little lawyer,” he said. “It could have been Landa too. When did the agencies start getting those dispatches?”

  “Only about half an hour ago,” Dr. Alcibíades said. “The correspondents have already started calling us. They’ll be coming by here any minute now. No, the cables still haven’t been sent to the radio stations.”

  “It’ll be impossible to keep this all secret now, there has to be an official communiqué,” he said. “Call the agencies and tell them not to distribute those cables, to wait for the communiqué. Get me Lozano and Paredes on the phone, please.”

  “Yes, Don Cayo,” Lozano said. “Senator Landa just went into his house.”

  “Don’t let him leave there,” he said. “Are you sure he didn’t speak to any foreign reporters on the phone? Yes, I’ll be at the Palace, call me there.”

  “Major Paredes on the other phone, Don Cayo,” Dr. Alcibíades said.

  “You were a little too fast, the binge tonight will have to wait,” he said. “Did you see the dispatches? Yes, I know where from. Velarde, an Arequipan who got away. They don’t give any names, only Espina’s.”

  “We just read them with General Llerena and we’re going to the Palace,” Major Paredes said. “This is serious. The President wanted to avoid this matter’s getting out at all cost.”

  “A communiqué denying everything has to be issued,” he said. “It’s still not too late if a deal can be made with Espina and Landa. What’s new with the Uplander?”

  “He’s stubborn. General Pinto has spoken to him twice,” Paredes said. “If the President agrees, General Llerena will talk to him too. Well, I’ll see you at the Palace, then.”

  “Are you leaving now, Don Cayo?” Dr. Alcibíades asked. “I forgot something. Dr. Ferro’s wife. She was here all afternoon. She said she’d be back and she’d sit here all night if she had to.”

  “If she comes back, have the guards throw her out,” he said. “And don’t budge from here, doctor.”

  “Haven’t you got your car?” Dr. Alcibíades asked. “Do you want to take mine?”

  “I don’t know how to drive. I’ll take a taxi,” he said. “Yes, fellow, to the Palace.”

  “Come in, Don Cayo,” Major Tijero said. “General Llerena, Dr. Arbeláez and Major Paredes are waiting for you.”

  “I just spoke to General Pinto, his conversation with Espina has been rather positive,” Major Paredes said. “The President’s with the Foreign Minister.”

  “The foreign radio stations are talking about an unsuccessful plot,” General Llerena said. “You see, Bermúdez, all the complications with those devils in order to keep the thing secret and it wasn’t any good at all.”

  “If General Pinto can make a deal with Espina, the news will automatically be denied,” Major Paredes said. “The whole problem now is Landa.”

  “You’re a friend of the senator’s, Dr. Arbeláez,” he said. “Landa trusts you.”

  “I just talked to him on the phone,” Dr. Arbeláez said. “He’s a proud man and he refused to listen to me. Nothing can be done with him, Don Cayo.”

  “He’s being given a way out and he won’t accept it?” General Llerena said. “Then we’ve got to arrest him before he causes a scandal.”

  “I promised that it wouldn’t happen and I’m going to keep that promise,” he said. “You worry about Espina, General, and leave Landa to me.”

  “You’re wanted on the phone, Don Cayo,” Major Tijero said. “Yes, this way.”

  “The subject spoke with Dr. Arbeláez a moment ago,” Lozano said. “Something that’s going to surprise you, Don Cayo. Yes, let me play back the tape for you.”

  “I can’t do anything at the moment, but hold on,” Dr. Arbeláez said. “If you make one of the conditions for reconciliation with the President the firing of that jackal Bermúdez, I’m sure he’ll agree.”

  “Don’t let anyone into Landa’s house except Zavala, Lozano,” he said. “Were you sleeping, Don Fermín? I’m sorry to wake you, but it’s urgent. Landa doesn’t want to come to an understanding with us and he’s making things difficult. We’ve got to convince the senator to keep his mouth shut. Can you figure out what I’m asking you to do, Don Fermín?”

  “Of course I can,” Don Fermín said.

  “Rumors have started to spread abroad and we don’t want them to get any bigger,” he said. “We’ve reached an agreement with Espina, all we have to do is make the senator see the light. You can help us, Don Fermín.”

  “Landa can afford the luxury of being bold,” Don Fermín said. “His money doesn’t depend on the government.”

  “But yours does,” he said. “So you see, the matter is urgent and I have to talk to you this way. Is it enough for me to promise that all your contracts with the state will be respected?”

  “What guarantee do I have that the promise will be kept?” Don Fermín asked.

  “At this moment only my word,” he said. “I can’t give you any other guarantee right now.”

  “All right, I accept your word,” Don Fermín said. “I’ll go talk to Landa. If your cops will let me leave my house.”

  “General Pinto’s just arrived, Don Cayo,” Major Tijero said.

  “Espina seems to be quite reasonable, Cayo,” Paredes said. “But the price is high. I doubt that the President will accept.”

  “Ambassador to Spain,” General Pinto said. “He says that because of his status as a general and a former minister the post of military attaché in London would be a step down.”

  “Is that all he wants?” General Llerena said. “Ambassador to Spain, no less.”

  “The post is vacant and who better than Espina to fill it?” he said. “He’ll do an excellent job. I’m sure Dr. Lora will agree.”

  “A beautiful reward for having tried to plunge the nation into blood and fire,” General Llerena said.

  “What better denial of the news that’s going around than to announce tomorrow Espina’s appointment as Ambassador to Spain?” he said.

  “If you’ll permit me, I’m of the same mind, General,” General Pinto said. “Espina has put that condition on it and he won’t accept any other. The alternative would be to put him on trial and send him into exile. And any disciplinary measures against him would have a negative effect on a great many officers.”

  “Even though we don’t always agree, Don Cayo, this time I’m with you,” Dr. Arbeláez said. “This is how I see the problem: if it’s been decided not to take any sanctions and to look for reconciliation, the best thing is to give General Espina a mission in line with his rank.”

  “The Espina matter is settled, in any case,” Paredes said. “What about Landa? If his mouth isn’t shut, the whole thing will have been to no avail.”

  “Is he going to be rewarded with an ambassadorship too?” General Llerena asked.

  “I don’t think he’s interested,” Dr. Arbeláez said. “He’s already been ambassador any number of times.”

  “I don’t see how we can publish a denial of the dispatches, if Landa’s going to deny the denial tomorrow,” Paredes said.

  “Yes, Major, I’d like to use the telephone, in private,” he said. “Hello, Lozano? Take the bug off the senator’s phone. I’m going to talk to him and this conversation mustn’t be taped.”

  “Senator Landa’s not home, this is his daughter,” the girl’s nervous voice said, and he quickly tied her, with reckless, tight knots that made her wrists, her feet swell. “Who’s calling?”

  “Put him on immediately, young lady, I’m calling from the Palace, it’s very urgent.” Hortensia had the strap ready, so did Queta, so did he. “I want to let you know that Espina has been named Ambassador to Spain, senator. I hope this will clear away your doubts and change
your attitude. We still consider you a friend.”

  “You don’t keep a friend under arrest,” Landa said. “Why is my house surrounded? Why don’t they let me leave? What about Lora’s promises to the Ambassador? Doesn’t the Foreign Minister keep his word?”

  “Rumors about what happened are floating around and we want to deny them,” he said. “I imagine that Zavala is there with you and that he’s already explained how everything depends on you. Tell me your conditions, senator.”

  “Unconditional freedom for all of my friends,” Landa said. “A formal promise that they won’t be bothered or discharged from the positions they hold.”

  “Under the conditions that those who aren’t members join the Restoration Party,” he said. “You see, we don’t want an apparent reconciliation, we want a real one. You’re one of the leaders of the government party, let your friends join up and be part of it. Do you agree?”

  “Who will agree that as soon as I take a step toward reestablishing my relations with the government all this won’t be used to hurt me politically?” Landa asked. “That they won’t try to blackmail me again?”

  “On the National Holiday the leadership of both chambers will be changed,” he said. “I’m offering you the presidency of the senate. What more proof do you want that there won’t be any reprisals?”

  “I’m not interested in the presidency of the senate,” Landa said, and he took a breath. All rancor had left the senator’s voice. “I have to think about it, in any case.”

  “I can promise the President’s backing for your candidacy,” he said. “I give you my word that the majority will elect you.”

  “All right, get rid of the cops guarding my house,” Landa said. “What do you want me to do?”

  “Come to the Palace immediately, the parliamentary leaders are meeting with the President and you’re the only one missing,” he said. “Naturally, you’ll be received with the same friendship as always, senator.”

  “Yes, the members of parliament are arriving, Don Cayo,” Major Tijero said.

  “Take this paper to the President, Major,” he said. “Senator Landa will attend the meeting. Yes, himself. It’s all fixed up, thank God, yes.”

  “Is it true?” Paredes asked, blinking. “Is he coming here?”

  “As the government supporter that he is, as the leader of the majority that he is,” he murmured. “Yes, he ought to be arriving any moment now. In order to save time, the communiqué should be drawn up. There wasn’t any such plot, quote the telegrams of support from the army chiefs. You’re the person most indicated to issue the communiqué, doctor.”

  “It will be my great pleasure to do so,” Dr. Arbeláez said. “But since you’re practically my successor, you should start getting some practice in writing communiqués, Don Cayo.”

  “We’ve been running back and forth from one place to another, Don Cayo,” Ludovico said. “From San Miguel to the Plaza Italia, from the Plaza Italia to here.”

  “You must be dead, Don Cayo,” Hipólito said. “We at least got a few hours’ sleep this afternoon.”

  “It’s my turn now,” he said. “Actually, I’ve earned a little sleep. Let’s stop by the Ministry and then to Chaclacayo.”

  “Good evening, Don Cayo,” Dr. Alcibíades said. “Mrs. Ferro here doesn’t want to …”

  “Did you give the communiqué to the radio stations and the press?” he asked.

  “I’ve been waiting since eight o’clock in the morning and it’s nine o’clock at night,” the woman said. “You have to see me even if it’s only for ten minutes, Mr. Bermúdez.”

  “I explained to Mrs. Ferro that you were very busy,” Dr. Alcibíades said. “But she didn’t …”

  “All right, ten minutes, madam,” he said. “Would you come into my office for a moment, doctor?”

  “She’s been sitting in the hall for almost four hours,” Dr. Alcibíades said. “Neither threats nor promises did any good, Don Cayo, there was no way out.”

  “I told you to have the cops get her out,” he said.

  “I was going to, but since the communiqué announcing the nomination of General Espina arrived, I thought the situation had changed,” Dr. Alcibíades said. “That Dr. Ferro would most likely be set free.”

  “Yes, it has changed, and Ferro will have to be turned loose too,” he said. “Did you send out the communiqué?”

  “To all newspapers, news agencies and radio stations,” Dr. Alcibíades said. “National Radio has already broadcast it. Shall I tell the lady that her husband is going to be released and send her on her way?”

  “I’ll give her the good news myself,” he said. “Well, now at last the whole affair is finished. You must be done in, doctor.”

  “To tell the truth, I am, Don Cayo,” Dr. Alcibíades said. “It’s been almost three days since I’ve had any sleep.”

  “Those of us who look after security are the only ones who do any real work in this government,” he said.

  “Did Senator Landa really attend the meeting of legislators at the Palace?” Dr, Alcibíades asked.

  “He was at the Palace for five hours and tomorrow a picture will come out showing him greeting the President,” he said. “It was a lot of work, but we pulled it off in the end. Have that lady come in and go get some sleep, doctor.”

  “I want to know what’s happening to my husband,” the woman said resolutely, and he thought she’s not here to beg or weep, she’s here to fight. “Why did you have him arrested, Mr. Bermúdez?”

  “If looks could kill, I’d be a corpse right now.” He smiled. “Calm yourself, madam. Sit down. I didn’t know that my friend Ferro was married. Even less that he had married so well.”

  “Answer me, why did you have him arrested?” the woman repeated vehemently and he thought what’s going on? “Why haven’t they let me see him?”

  “I’m going to surprise you but, with the greatest respect, I’m going to ask you something.” A revolver in her purse? does she know something I don’t know? “How is it that a woman like you can be married to Ferro, ma’am?”

  “Have a care, Mr. Bermúdez, don’t get the wrong impression of me.” The woman raised her voice: she probably wasn’t used to it, it must have been the first time. “I won’t allow you to be disrespectful to me, or to say bad things about my husband.”

  “I’m not saying bad things about him, I’m saying good things about you,” he said and thought she must have been forced to come here, she’s disgusted because she came, they sent her. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you.”

  “Why is he in jail, when are you going to let him go?” the woman repeated. “Tell me what’s going to happen to my husband.”

  “Only policemen and clerks come into this office,” he said. “Women only rarely, and never one like you. That’s why I’m so overcome by your visit, ma’am.”

  “Are you still teasing me?” the woman murmured, trembling. “Don’t be so overbearing, don’t abuse me, Mr. Bermúdez.”

  “All right, madam, your husband can tell you himself why he was arrested.” What did she want, after all, what didn’t she dare say? “Don’t worry about him. He’s being treated with all due consideration, he doesn’t need anything. Well, he does need you, and that we can’t provide, unfortunately.”

  “That’s enough of vulgarities, you’re talking to a lady,” the woman said, and he she’s made up her mind, now she’s going to say it, do it. “Try to behave like a gentleman.”

  “I’m not a gentleman and you didn’t have to come here to give me a lesson in manners, you came for something else,” he murmured. “You know only too well why your husband was arrested. Tell me once and for all what you’ve come here for.”

  “I’ve come to propose a deal to you,” the woman babbled. “My husband has got to get out of the country tomorrow. I want to know what the conditions are.”

  “That’s more like it.” He nodded. “My conditions to let Ferrito go? How much money, that is.”

  “I
’ve brought the tickets so you could see them,” she said, leaning forward. “The plane to New York, tomorrow at ten. You have to let him out tonight. I know you don’t take checks. This is all I could put together.”

  “Not bad, ma’am.” You’re killing me with a slow fire, sticking pins in my eyes, skinning me with your nails: he undressed her, tied her, hunched over and asked for the whip. “And besides, in dollars. How much is there here? A thousand, two thousand?”

  “I haven’t got any more in cash, we haven’t got any more,” the woman said. “We can sign a paper, whatever you say.”

  “Tell me frankly what’s going on and that way we can come to an understanding,” he said. “I’ve known Ferrito for years, madam. You’re not doing this because of the Espina affair. Speak to me frankly. What’s the problem?”

  “He has to leave Peru, he has to be on that plane tomorrow and you know why,” the woman said quickly. “He’s between the sword and the wall and you know it. It’s not a favor, Mr. Bermúdez, it’s a business deal. What are the conditions, what else do we have to do?”

  “You didn’t buy those tickets in case the revolution failed, and it’s not a tourist trip,” he said. “I can see that he’s mixed up in something much worse. It’s not smuggling either, that was fixed up, I helped him put the lid on it. I’m beginning to understand, madam.”

  “They took advantage of his good faith, he lent his name and now everything is falling down on his head,” the woman said. “It’s hard for me to do this, Mr. Bermúdez. He has to leave the country, you know that only too well.”

  “The housing project in Sur Chico,” he said. “Of course, ma’am, now I see it. Now I see why Ferro started plotting with Espina. Did Espina offer to get him off the hook if he helped him?”

  “The accusations have already been filed, the miserable people who got him into this have got out,” the woman said with a broken voice. “It’s millions of soles, Mr. Bermúdez.”

  “I knew about it, ma’am, but I didn’t know that the collapse was so close.” He nodded. “The Argentinians who were his partners took off? And Ferrito was going to go too, leaving the hundreds of guys who bought those houses that don’t exist hanging in the air. Millions of soles, naturally. Now I know why he got involved in the plot, now I know why you’re here.”