James Bartleman's Seasons of Hope 3-Book Bundle. James Bartleman

of State for External Affairs,

      Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

      Ambassador Leroux had to read the message three times to understand what the undersecretary was saying. It must be a practical joke from one of those idiots in the Department, he thought, and asked for the telegram to be sent again. Unfortunately for the ambassador, the instructions remained unchanged. To Oscar’s delight, the ambassador called at his apartment with a bouquet of flowers and some good news.

      “I may have been a little hasty and said a few things in the heat of the moment I didn’t really mean when you announced your plans to marry Rosa. Now, after careful reflection and consultations with the Department, I have come to give you my personal blessing and — this is very important, Oscar — to provide my formal approval, in my capacity as Her Majesty’s Ambassador Plenipotentiary and Extraordinary to the Republic of Colombia, for your marriage.”

      Although Oscar in his moments of sobriety was not actually in that much of a rush to get married, and Rosa, not speaking any language known in Bogota, had no idea what was going on, the marriage was held within the month at the seminary of the Saints of the Holy Apostles, a Canadian order of priests in Bogota. The Colombian authorities were at first amused when the Canadian embassy applied by diplomatic note for a marriage licence. They thought the Canadians were not being serious and were making a joke at their expense; an unusual joke perhaps, but a joke nevertheless; these gringos sometimes had a strange sense of humour. But when they sent a note denying the request, the ambassador called on the foreign minister to make representations, and the undersecretary called in the Colombian ambassador in Ottawa and did the same thing.

      “Just think of the symbolic value,” they told the Colombians. “Such a marriage would symbolize the union between the Indians of Canada and Colombia and provide a new foundation for relations between our two countries.”

      And so, although Rosa had no birth certificate and no one, including herself, knew her age, the Colombian government directed the Ministry of the Interior to overlook the rules and issue a marriage licence to the betrothed and an exit permit to Rosa. Indians, after all, were just Indians and the Colombians really didn’t care what happened to her.

      The entire Canadian embassy staff, including a smirking Pilar, attended the wedding. Although invited, most diplomatic representatives stayed away because the dean of the diplomatic corps, a former dictator who had enjoyed imprisoning and torturing his opponents when he was leader of his country, had let his colleagues know he thought such a marriage would undermine the high ethical standards diplomats occupied in the social structure of Latin American society. A dozen or more members of the foreign ministry accepted their invitations, but did not come. The Canadian priest who performed the service was puzzled when Rosa didn’t seem to understand when he asked her at the appropriate part of the ceremony if she took Oscar to be her lawful wedded husband. In the end, it all worked out and Oscar and Rosa flew to Ottawa with their wedding presents in time to celebrate Thanksgiving together as the leaves turned colour in the Gatineau Hills, and they began their new lives as man and wife.

      4

      The two years Oscar would spend in Ottawa before being posted abroad again would not be happy ones. While the senior officers were prepared to overlook his conduct in Colombia, the other ranks were not as forgiving. Their view was that Oscar had used his Indian identity for personal advantage, and not knowing that his odd behaviour had been triggered by the collapse of his relationship with Claire, they thought his passion for human rights had affected his judgement. When Oscar reported for duty, his staffing officer congratulated him coldly on his marriage and exiled him to Information Division in the basement of the East Block to draft letters for the signature of the minister to schoolchildren who wanted information on life overseas for their school projects but who were too lazy to do their own research.

      His marriage, Oscar soon discovered, while not an absolute failure, did not live up to his hopes. For one thing, it turned out that Rosa was not pregnant.

      “It’s just amoebas and parasites she’s picked up from drinking the water back where she comes from,” the doctor said after conducting a few tests. “That’s why her stomach is so swollen. In a few weeks or months, after taking a few pills, she should be back to normal.”