José, realizing I was still there, turned to me. “Let me introduce you to my wife, Anita. Anita, this is an old friend of mine, Miguel Contreras.”

“I gathered that,” I said, looking him over, trying not to grimace. “Will you be staying for dinner?”

“I could never turn down a free meal, thank you,” he said with a small bow.

The visitor looked around our house as he followed us to the kitchen. “I still can’t believe that Giuseppe Garibaldi is a married man.”

“And a father,” José added.

“Well, I hope that your child has all your worst qualities, unless it’s a girl. Then I hope for everyone’s sake she looks like her mother.” Contreras winked at me.

“We have a boy. His name is Menotti,” José said, beaming with pride.

“I’m sure it won’t be long before he’s plundering the Mediterranean and instigating mutinies, just like his father.”

“He’s going to need to learn to walk first,” I said, setting the plates on the table.

José threw his head back and let out a full laugh. “Miguel and I go way back. He was my shipmate when I sailed out of Marseille.”

“And then I allowed your husband to rope me into helping him oust a very annoying French captain.”

“I’m sure his reasons were most noble,” I teased.

“Naturally,” Miguel said, raising a flask that he produced from his coat. “To the man who corrupted me! May I never be considered an angel again.”

“What brings you to my door?” José asked the question that I had been wondering as well.

“I’ve been heading up the resistance to Rosas. Up until recently he has had his eye on Brazil. However, Uruguay seems to be the easier pearl to retrieve. Someone needs to keep that monster in check.” He stifled a burp. “When I heard about recent events, I couldn’t help but get involved. Argentina has its eyes set on Uruguay. If we don’t stop them, they’ll take over the whole continent.”

“I agree, but from what I’ve seen of the Uruguayan military, we should be able to hold off the Argentine army,” José said as he clutched the metal straw in his teeth.

“Until the coffers run dry.” Miguel’s fork scraped the plate, making me wince in irritation.

“Well, thankfully that won’t happen anytime soon,” José remarked.

“I wouldn’t count on that.”

“What do you mean by that?” José asked.

“You didn’t hear?” Miguel looked up, stunned.

“No. What’s happened?”

“The treasury is empty. Oribe took it all.”