The Spanish Tutor: A Novel taking place during the Mexican Revolution

By Beverly A. Mile

Anne Marie Stanhope, a young American woman – motherless since the age of three – is summoned to Mexico City by her estranged father, Chesterton Stanhope, where she has been promised in marriage to Frederick Von Alt, the son of her father’s business partner. As it is 1910 and women were not equipped to independently earn a living, Anne Marie dutifully arrives in the capital, although she is frustrated by her father’s hesitancy to formally introduce her to her future husband. Disconcerted by her inability to speak the Spanish language, her father engages a tutor, Miguel Ruiz, -- an affluent sophisticate whose politics are in direct opposition of his social stature. Enamored by Miguel Ruiz, although betrothed to Frederick, Anne Marie eventually learns that she has actually been brought to Mexico for another purpose, and she does not want part of it. Eluding her father, she accidently finds herself sheltered in a house of prostitution under the protection of a kind madame who is acquainted with her father and Miquel Ruiz. The Revolution commences and circumstances lead the tutor to the madame’s house where he enlists her assistance in helping Anne Marie escape the fate planned by her father. An insurgent attacks have escalated, the tutor agrees to accompany Anne Marie to a home in Cuernavaca owned by a trusted friend of the madame. While there, Anne Marie ultimately learns the truth about her mother’s untimely death from a former contact of her father and comes to realize that she has only one person on whom she can truly rely: Miquel Ruiz.

A proponent of the poor and landless peasants, Miguel is commissioned by an old friend to plan strategies for insurgents operating in the northern part of Mexico. After he and Anne Marie trek north, Miquel learns that he will be involved in planning strategies and raids not only for his compatriot, but also for one of Mexico’s most infamous desperados, Francisco Pancho Villa. Now lovers and committed to each other, Anne Marie blindly accepts Miquel’s calling. Eventually, she is presented with a young Indian maid recued in one of Villa’s raids. Unaware of the pillaging, raping and shooting that Villa and his men have been conducting in the name of freedom and justice, she is inadvertently exposed to Villa’s devastation while seeking medical attention at another village. Pleading with Miquel to stop this carnage, he passionately convinces her that he is only planning strategies. Perceiving the intensity of his fervor, Anne Marie realizes that she cannot dissuade Miquel. After overhearing his plans for a raid by Villa’s men on a nearby hacienda, now under the charge of an American Army major assisting the Mexican government in its attempt to diffuse and quell insurgent uprisings, Anne Marie is torn between her loyalty to Miquel and to a United States citizen in imminent danger of attack and death by Villa’s insurgents. She decides to help the Army major and sends word to the village via her maid. Her decision led to an unexpected consequence and changed her life forever.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Page Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Nov 30, 2020
• ISBN: 9781647015091

Book preview

Chapter One: Mexico City, September 1910

Mexico City, September 1910

Mexico City in the year 1910 was not the bustling, crowded metropolis of twenty-three million people as it is today. Smog was unheard of, and there was not the multitude of automobiles to clog up its large avenues and thoroughfares, although the very wealthy were quite proud of the polished Model Ts that noisily carried them to and fro throughout the capital.

It was a city of charm, quiet elegance, and lovely architecture despite its volatile past since the Aztec Empire began its relocation from the north to the outlying areas surrounding the Valley of Mexico sometime during the thirteenth or fourteenth century.

The Cathedral was a spectacular sight, and the Shrine to the Virgin of Guadalupe, while modest, was still a place of reverence and beauty. Chapultepec Palace, home to many great leaders, including the Austrian Maximilian and his wife, Charlotte, known as Carlotta to her Mexican subjects, loomed over the city on its craggy perch enshrining the grandeur and secrets of the past.

Some of the city’s homes were gracefully elegant, homes owned by the wealthy, of course, while the poorer neighborhoods on the outskirts of the zocalo, or center of the city, were squalid. The difference between those with plenty of money and those without was very obvious, as noticeable distinctions among the classes existed.

There was widespread discrimination against the Indians and mestizos. General unrest began to surface among the poor who toiled away in the fields, mines, and haciendas for very little money. The rich were a select few who owned all the good properties in the city and much of the land in the surrounding areas, fortunately reclaimed from the Catholic Church during its reign as sovereign and landlord in the New World. The simple working classes lived in relatively unsanitary areas, compared to the elite, and toiled away in the agricultural fields and various other enterprises for meager wages. Those confined to the rural areas, mostly peasants employed by wealthy landowners, the majority of whom were foreigners, had miserable lives.

Now, the distinction between the two classes was felt widely and created a considerable amount of tension among the citizens. The almost-eighty-year-old president, Porfirio Diaz, was not so popular among the peasants and the needy as he was among those who lived the gilded life. Although he had served as president since 1876, he expressed a desire for opposition to his candidacy in the June 1910 election. Taking him up on his word, Francisco Madero successfully campaigned and was nominated on a reform ticket, until being jailed by President Diaz, who failed to have any hope for his political opponents, as well as any hope for the Mexican rural masses. Madero, however, wouldn’t concede to failure. As a member of the privileged class, he presented no real threat to Porfirio Diaz. However, after being released from jail after the Centennial Celebrations in the capital, which ended on the last day of September 1910, Madero fled to Texas, where he formulated a plan for a national uprising in Mexico. As a mild reformer, Madero actually abhorred violence. His personal outrage prompted him to oppose Porfirio Diaz because of so much injustice and violation of individual liberties.

The country was at odds, and there was an unfair distribution of wealth. Landless peasants worked on haciendas for the wealthy, and the impoverished majority wore soiled white pants, shawls, and sandals. The rich, however, were dressed elegantly: bowler hats and suits were favored by men, long dresses with bustles and cleavage were worn with feathered hats by the women.

A great disaffection of middle class and wealthy Mexicans existed. The government and army were inundated with old, stodgy figures who were patriarchal, cliquish, and dull. This was also the typical case in commerce, banking, industry, and agriculture. These patriarchs grew enormously wealthy and inherited everything, including Porfirio Diaz’s goodwill, protection, and support. Foreigners accounted for approximately two-thirds of capital investments in the country, and people without any political or social connections were unable to attain lucrative employment. The bureaucracy remained stagnant and was no longer increasing. Because of the problems overtaking the country, a subtle discontent began to grow and permeate the land.

At this point in time, and several months, and most likely years, prior, there was already whispered talk by the citizens of a general unrest. Groups were beginning to slowly form, and two of Mexico’s greatest heroes, now legends, began to imprint their mark on the country’s rich history: Emiliano Zapata from the south and Pancho Villa from the north. While civil unrest was still limited, the struggle for a better life would continue to escalate for many years to come. But during the latter part of 1910, the city, on the brink of a revolution that would last for seven years, provided the excitement and the promise of a better life for those who were willing to pursue their dreams.

After an arduous week-and-a-half-long journey by train, coach, train, a ship from Galveston to Veracruz, and finally a train into the capital, Anne Marie Stanhope arrived at the city’s main railroad station. While this certainly was not an unusual feat or anything out of the ordinary, it was indeed rare for unattached females to venture this far in 1910, especially a female from a rather strict Philadelphian family.

Despite having passed through some of the country’s most scenic areas, Anne Marie was now quite uninterested in the place that had once captured her heart. In her father’s letters, Mexico had seemed glamorous and exotic. Now, after passing through the poor residential section on the outskirts of the city, Anne Marie was unimpressed. There were ramshackle structures, apparently living quarters, which advanced before her eyes. Dirty, urchin-like children, barefoot and raggedly clothed, watched with wide-eyed bewilderment as the train began its slow trudge toward the central station. The squalor of the real world was a shock for Anne Marie, never before having seen this type of environment.

Six weeks ago, she reflected, her life had been seemingly normal. Of course, when the letter arrived, her entire world was thrown into a tumult.

As the train slowed, she contemplated the past and that fateful day.

Anne Marie Stanhope was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, some nineteen and a half years prior to Chesterton K. Stanhope and his wife, Amelia. Unfortunately, Anne Marie’s mother had died mysteriously when the girl was just a toddler, leaving Chesterton with the awesome task of raising a baby. This was not what Chesterton had expected of life. A devil-may-care soldier of fortune, Chesterton was unprepared for assuming the responsibility of raising a small child and was more than anxious to leave Philadelphia.

To dispel the myth of a grieving father whose wife had met an untimely demise, Chesterton immediately commissioned Leticia Pelham as a full-time nanny-cum-mother-cum-governess for the child and, to make a long story short, had utilized her services for many years while his quest for fame and fortune was pursued.

Having left the country within weeks of his wife’s death, Chesterton traveled to many ports of call. Finally, during one return visit to the States, he had hit pay dirt in Texas, where he encountered another visiting American gentlemen who had business dealings in Mexico. During President Porfirio Diaz’s tenure, Mexico, for the wealthy and affluent American investors, was the place to be. Because of his already-semi-affluent stature, Chesterton was able to easily secure a very lucrative deal and partnership with this gentlemen who had sought a partner. Talks ensued, and after contracting with this gentlemen, Chesterton Stanhope found himself in Mexico City involved in a very profitable business and living rather well. While he kept in touch with his daughter, Anne Marie was being looked after by her governess and attending one of the most prestigious girls’ schools in Philadelphia.

Just six months shy of her twentieth birthday, Anne Marie was summoned to Mexico by her father, a man she hadn’t seen in over four years. This came as a surprise since Anne Marie had led a rather sheltered existence and had never ventured outside the city of Philadelphia, except for two trips to New York and one special birthday visit to Atlantic City, compliments of Chesterton.

During the Atlantic City visit with her father, despite Chesterton’s edginess and anticipation for the reunion with his fifteen-year-old daughter to terminate, Anne Marie was filled with a wanderlust and longing she did not understand. Upon viewing the sea for the first time in her life, she was captivated by travel. For the next two years, corresponding with her father religiously, she was awed by the wonders of Mexico and its capital city. Questioning him about every event, every aspect of daily life, she dared not ask him for permission to visit the capital. Anne Marie was rather estranged from Chesterton, and the closeness they might have once had for a very short period of time was now forever gone.

When the post arrived by Special Delivery on a chilly August Tuesday, Anne Marie was, to say the least, very surprised. Leticia had gone shopping, and Anne Marie had been reading in the study. Tearing open the envelope, the contents of the letter completely took her by shock and sent her neat world into a upheaval since Anne Marie had been scheduled to commence her second year of additional schooling in January (a formal finishing school) to enhance her already-received high school diploma from a private girls’ school a year ago. It appeared that her father had arranged a marriage between Anne Marie and his business partner’s son, Frederick Von Alt. As it was, Anne Marie knew of her father’s partner, Randolph Von Alt, but was totally unprepared for the shock of learning that he had a twenty-one-year-old son to whom she was now betrothed.

Upon returning home, Leticia found Anne Marie weeping uncontrollably in her upstairs bedroom, the neatly penned letter streaked with tears and scattered haphazardly on the Chinese-patterned rug.

What’s the matter, my child? Leticia queried as she picked up the crumpled pages.

Sitting on the bed, she stroked the girl’s hair as she began to read the letter. Anne Marie, sobbing, sat up and related her feelings to Leticia.

I don’t want to marry anyone, Letty! Especially someone I don’t know! Why is he doing this?

I don’t know, my darling, Leticia responded. Your father always did have crazy ideas, but you know that you must obey him and go. Otherwise, he’ll be here within no time to cart you off by himself!

No! I could run away, Anne Marie sobbed as she implored the governess’s sympathy.

And do what, my child? You’ve only got a high school education, although it’s very good. You’re not prepared to do anything. I suggested nursing to your father a long time ago, but he wouldn’t hear of the idea. He insisted on the finishing school. It may be very useful. Being the lady of the manor, you’ll act the part and finally see the country you’ve so long dreamed about. Think about it, dear. It won’t be so bad.

Shocked, Anne Marie raised her voice. How could you side with him, Letty! I thought that you’d be on my side. Would you marry someone you didn’t know? Would you? I don’t want to! I want to see the world, but on my own terms. Oh, I wish that my mother were here! Why did she have to die so young!

Leticia, caught off guard by any mention of the deceased Mrs. Stanhope, attempted to swerve the conversation.

My, you’re a real rebel, Anne Marie. Hard to control and determined! You must go to Mexico. You know how he is. He’ll be here in no time! If you run away, he’ll find you, you know that he will. And… Leticia began soothingly. As far as your mother is concerned, young lady, she’d be very proud of you and very happy to know that you are betrothed to someone who will take care of you.

Sobbing, Anne Marie rolled over and placed her face into a ruffled pink bed pillow, resigning herself to the fate that loomed ahead.

Now, upon her disembarkment at the train station, hearing and viewing the multitude of peoples—Indians, Mexicans, Europeans and other unidentifiable types—Anne Marie felt an uneasiness she didn’t quite understand, although the Spanish language that had permeated the air in the railroad cars after her arrival in Texas should have served as a preamble and warm introduction to this land of many faces. Anne Marie found it nerve-racking and annoying. While she studied a Spanish language book prior to the beginning of her journey, Anne Marie could only master common greetings, a thank you, you’re welcome, and how are you. How would she ever get along here? Surely Frederick must be able to speak Spanish. He was practically raised in this country. From her father’s last letter, she discovered that Frederick had been born in Texas. He was transported to Mexico with his father and mother at the age of ten. It was at this juncture that Chesterton K. Stanhope teamed with Frederick’s father for the business venture. Anne Marie really had no idea what her father or her future father-in-law and future husband were doing, although she was aware that it had involved silver. She was only frightened of the prospect of living in a strange country, however exotic it had seemed to her in the beginning, along with a husband she didn’t even know! How unfair her life had been! Given the opportunity, she would have run away on that August day in Philadelphia after conversing with Letty. But after careful thinking, Anne Marie knew that she was trapped. A girl in this day and age couldn’t get by anywhere nor could she earn a living for herself, unless she were to do certain things. In Philadelphia, a place existed where women lived the life of luxury. She was told about this house by a girlfriend at the academy and immediately was shocked. What these women did for money! And with men they didn’t even know! Anne Marie didn’t even know the word prostitution until her schoolmate explained the situation very carefully. Having this newly acquired knowledge, she prompted Letty for more information about these women. Leticia, shocked by this disclosure, forbade Anne Marie to ever broach the subject again. Despite Letty’s ban, Anne Marie nevertheless became more curious about these women who worked in the closed-shuttered house by night and who wore pretty dresses by day.

Señorita Stanhope?

Anne Marie whirled around and caught the huge smile of a dark-skinned, mustachioed man. A gold-plated tooth gleamed in the sunlight, and his burnished black hair, as thick as a thatched roof, shone from under his wide felt hat. He was four or five inches taller than Anne Marie, and his age, she guessed, was somewhere near her father’s or perhaps a few years younger.

I am Pedro Sanchez, your father’s assistant. He was unable to be here to meet you. We’ll leave in the coach as soon as your luggage is here.

Anne Marie, surprised by this gentlemen and disappointed by the fact that her father was not there to meet her personally, remained quiet.

Are you all right, señorita?

Shaking her head, she nodded and turned to watch the porter carry two huge valises from the undercarriage of the train. He placed the two bags before her. Señor Sanchez tipped the porter then picked up a bag in each hand.

If you’ll follow me, please, señorita.

Having no idea of where or what she was doing, Anne Marie followed Señor Sanchez. Within five minutes, they were out of the station and walking toward a flattened dirt lot. A large black carriage with two chestnut-brown horses stood under the shade of a small tree. The Mexican deposited the cases in the open back and helped Anne Marie into the carriage’s passenger seat. He settled himself in the front of the carriage, gripped the reins, and proceeded to leave the station area.

Anne Marie, although appalled at the sights that greeted her on the outskirts of the city, was taken in by the wonders that seemed to appear in this central district. She glanced at the tree-lined avenues filled not only with vehicles similar to that within which she was riding but also shiny new Model Ts as the carriage driven by Pedro Sanchez made its way toward the elite residential area.

Passing peach- and yellow-colored stucco structures with iron grillwork, sculpted patios, and blue-white-and-yellow-tile-encrusted fountains, Anne Marie began to relax. This surely was a beautiful country! The seemingly desert lands and the green valleys she traversed after arriving in this foreign land could not compare to the wonders and beauty in this part of Mexico. Even though the prospect of living here with a man she didn’t know could not dispel the feeling of depression in her soul, she did, in fact, begin to relax and enjoy the sights of the city.

Within fifteen minutes, the carriage pulled up in front of an elegant residential dwelling. A huge black iron fence with ornate grillwork surrounded the home and various flowering shrubs and potted palms were artfully placed throughout the grounds.

The home was a two-story typical Mexican Colonial dwelling, remodeled somewhat since the Colonial days, and was light beige in color with a brown wooden trim. There were open shutters on every window, and white lace curtains danced in the early afternoon breeze. It was a particularly attractive house with its huge wooden front door situated directly at the end of a terracotta-tiled walkway. This tile matched the barrel-shaped pieces of clay that were placed so perfectly on the roof. Anne Marie continued to stare.

Señor Sanchez stopped the carriage in front of the huge iron gate, disembarked, and opened the latch. After a few minutes, Anne Marie found herself in front of the huge ornately carved wooden door. Señor Sanchez helped her down from the seat then retrieved the two huge valises from the open back.

Anne Marie stood in front of the door admiring the sweet-smelling shrubs as Señor Sanchez placed the valises on the red-tiled walkway. As he approached the door, it swung open, and a small Mexican woman greeted the man.

Hola, señor! Señor Stanhope esta no aqui. El volvio a la oficina a las dos.

Sí, Maria, gracias. Por favor, lleve las equipajes al quarto de la señorita.

Maria bent over and retrieved the two huge suitcases as Señor Sanchez secured the reins of the carriage and then disappeared, heading to the front door.

Señor, Anne Marie said, shocked that the woman was made to carry heavy valises, why do you allow the old woman to carry the luggage? She’s old and frail. They’re too heavy. I could have managed myself. I carried them in Baltimore.

The señor joined Anne Marie in front of the door.

Señorita, it is of no concern to you, he began politely. "Maria is a servant and is used to hard work. She is one of your father’s maids. Rosa is the head servant but at the market at this time of day as he doesn’t trust Maria going to the mercado. Shall we go in?"

He flung his left arm in a gesture that conveyed an after you, and Anne Marie proceeded before him wondering why he himself hadn’t carried the valises.

She found herself in the foyer of the grand house and was surprised that the temperature was so cool. Apparently these stucco walls kept the heat out, although the windows were open and the curtains were happily flapping in the mid-afternoon breeze.

Surveying her whereabouts, Anne Marie noticed the same red tile on the floor of the foyer that lined the main walkway. A huge oriental rug was placed over the tile, giving the impression of warmth and elegance. Her father surely was doing well! No wonder he could afford the private girls’ school and the fancy dresses she regularly purchased from a famous Philadelphia couturier.

Puzzled by her father’s absence and frustrated by the conversation held between Maria and Señor Sanchez, Anne Marie turned to the Mexican.

Where is my father, and what did Maria say?

"Oh, forgive me, señorita, I should have translated for you. Your father returned to his office approximately at 2:00 p.m. I was told of this earlier today, but I was not sure at what time he would return.