The Forbidden Promise (17 page)

Aurora worked like crazy
all day, peeling the old paint off the beds and poking around in the attic
looking for anything useful.
The
peones
that Lucas had assigned to her to help, looked frightened.
Lucas, also in a bad mood had treated some workers at the mine rudely and in
the evening before he left work, he had had to make amends for his inconsistent
behavior with them.
That evening at dinner, the atmosphere was still quite tense, but the hard
day's work had helped to calm things down.
Aurora came down late, she had been so tired that she had dozed off after a
refreshing hot bath. Lucas saw her coming into the dining room, the bronze hair
still damp, her slender figure that moved with elegance, and the peach-colored
dress that emphasized her tiny waist.
Immediately he got up from the table to welcome her and to move a chair for
her.
"Thank you," Aurora said in a small voice.
" Are you tired?" Lucas asked worried.
Aurora nodded, her eyes heavy with fatigue were trying to focus on the plate in
front of her.
"I've never worked so hard in my entire life." Aurora replied.
"Pablo told me that when you came back from the clinic you looked like you
had been at war," Lucas said, smiling.
Aurora did not answer, but just shrugged her shoulders.
" There is so much to do ... "
"You shouldn’t overdo it, I sent you the men to do the heavy work."
Lucas advised her, taking her hand.
Aurora looked up to stare into his bright green eyes.
At that moment Yolanda entered to serve the soup.
"Thank you Yolanda, you can leave now," ordered Lucas as soon as
Yolanda had put the soup terrine on the table.
"But don’t you want me to serve you…" said Yolanda trying to answer
back, but Lucas cut her off.
"We can do it ourselves, thank you," explained Lucas.
Yolanda had no choice but to leave, but not before throwing a hateful look at
Aurora who did not even notice. Only one thought flashed into Aurora’s mind,
it
serves her right ... a point in my favor.
"Tomorrow we should rest." Suggested Lucas, looking at Aurora’s
tired face. "How about if we were finally to go to Zacatecas? We’ve now
been here several days and we still haven’t visited the city."
"Fine, I'd love to," said Aurora in a whisper.
Lucas served the soup and sat down again.
Aurora took the spoon and tasted the savory dish. Suddenly she realized that,
according to her mother’s directions, in the absence of servants, she should
have supervised the meal and served dinner to her husband. Mortified by her
behavior, she immediately tried to make amends.
"I'm sorry! I'm so tired that I did not realize ..." she started to
say.
" What?" Lucas asked in amazement.
Aurora pointed to the soup.
"I should be the one to serve the soup into the bowls ... it is the wife
who does it for her husband, not vice versa ... my mother would kill me if she
knew."
Lucas grinned.
" Don’t worry, your husband is not interested in these silly conventions.”
"Then I'm lucky to have such a husband," said Aurora, stifling a yawn.
You don’t realize what you're saying,
Lucas thought,
but I'm happy to
delude myself that you really think so.
They ate very slowly, Aurora seemed to be making a huge effort to lift her
spoon.
"You'll see how beautiful Zacatecas is." Lucas said, "It has characteristic
small streets, the
callejos
, the colonial buildings..."
Lucas talked for a while on the wonders of the city, when suddenly he noticed
that Aurora had her eyes closed.
Poor thing, she’s really tired
, he thought sweetly. Silently he stood up
and walked over to Aurora, and picked her gently up.
Aurora opened her eyes for a moment, looking at him.
" What are you doing Lucas," she asked thickly.
" Come on, let's go to sleep," he answered, smiling.
Aurora did not have the strength to protest and relaxed in Lucas’ hold, lulled
by his strong and vigorous arms.
Once in her room, Lucas laid her on the bed and looked at Aurora as she made
herself comfortable with a sigh.
He took a blanket and laid it gently over her. He stood admiring her for a few
seconds, and made to leave, but then he retraced his steps.
"Good night, my love." He whispered and leaned down to brush her lips
with a kiss.
In the middle of the night, Aurora awoke and saw that she was still dressed.
With difficulty she sat up, moving the blanket.
But what happened to me
?
She asked herself in amazement. Then in a flash, she remembered.
He picked
me up and carried me to my room ...
She got up slowly, took off her dress and put on her nightgown
. I
behaved like a fool ... what will he think of me
? She crept shivering under
the covers.
No, I don’t want to think about it... not now ...
Aurora was in a hurry to get back to sleep and continue the dream that she
had inadvertently interrupted earlier. She was dreaming of kissing Lucas.
The next morning Aurora got up early and got ready to go to Zacatecas. She
entered the dining room and noticed that her husband had not appeared. She then
went into the kitchen to give instructions for breakfast where luckily, she
found only Pablo and the cook.
She returned to wait in the dining room for Lucas who did not make her wait
long.
" Good morning," he said, smiling.
Aurora reciprocated the greeting shyly.
"Thank you for carrying me to my room last night." She said in one
breath. "I feel very embarrassed."
" No, you shouldn’t be. You were just tired. It was my duty to help
you."
Aurora did not answer, just smiled.
After breakfast, Lucas had a carriage prepared and they headed for Zacatecas.
It did not take long to reach the city, the capital of the state.
They entered the city and the atmosphere of antiquity, elegance and beauty left
Aurora overwhelmed.
They crossed many
callejos
and passed by sixteenth-century buildings,
while the inhabitants walked around engaged in their daily business. They
reached the heart of the city,
Plaza de Armas
, with its splendid baroque
cathedral, built entirely in the typical local pink stone. On the side of the
church was a large square, with the Governor's Palace, elegantly painted white
with the inevitable inserts of pink stone.
Aurora and Lucas walked arm in arm, admiring the architecture and small shops.
"This square is wonderful," said Aurora ecstatic. "It’s so
beautiful!"
" And to think that in the seventeenth century, at the time of New Spain,
they were still burning those accused of witchcraft." Said Lucas,
"the scaffold was erected right in this spot, opposite the
cathedral."
Aurora smiled.
"If I’d lived at the time, I’d surely have been a candidate at the stake!
Even now, in our time, they’ve said that I’m not a doctor, but a witch! "
Lucas laughed.
" You mean that brute during your first day in the infirmary at
La
Virgen de la Caridad
convent?"
" Yes him. Luckily you arrived and saved me."
"I'm glad to have done so," replied Lucas, "otherwise I would’t
be married to the most beautiful woman in the world."
" Don’t mock me!" Snapped Aurora.
Lucas stopped and looked into her eyes.
"I'm not kidding," his green eyes staring at her intently. "To
me you’re the most beautiful woman in the world."
Aurora was lost in that wonderful green.
" Lucas, I ..." she whispered.
"You two move! You’re in the middle of the road!" The driver of a
carriage harshly rebuked them. "What kind of people block the road in this
way?"
" Excuse us," said Lucas taking Aurora's hand and pulling her aside.
They looked at each other embarrassed and burst out laughing, the spell was now
broken.
"I'll take you to the Belvedere, from there you can admire the
Cerro
della Bufa
with the chapel of the
Virgen del Patrocinio
on the
summit."
The day passed peacefully. That night Lucas again served dinner to Aurora and
paid her a lot of attention. They wished each other good night, and Lucas felt
relieved, Aurora seemed to have forgiven him for Yolanda’s misdeeds.

Cristobal de la Vega
left Veracruz a few days after his arrival in Mexico. He hired a carriage and
went to the house that his father had bequeathed him in Tampico.
It was a very elegant house, right in the town center, but years of neglect,
humidity and strong tropical storms had left their mark on it. The outer walls were
scuffed, mildew darkened the beautiful, finely decorated rooms. Bands of
thieves had taken the finest pieces of furniture and furnishings. Seeing such a
disaster, Cristobal dropped discouraged into a chair covered with a protective
sheet.
"I'll have to hire a lot of labor to repair everything, I didn’t consider
finding the house in this state. It’s impossible to stay here, I'd better go
and find accommodation for the night."
In the following days, the renovation of the house completely absorbed Cristobal.
He went around to the markets of Tampico and San Luis to buy new furniture and
home furnishings, to make the house elegant and hospitable. He also looked for
a temporary cook and maid,  who might serve him during his stay in Mexico.
The work was long and Cristobal had no time to get to know the most prominent
families in the town. Only on Sundays did he go to the town’s church to attend
the service.
At these times, he knew he was the center of attention of everyone present. He
could almost feel the weight of the people’s prying eyes, eager for new gossip.
The hiring of the cook and maid certainly meant that news about the newcomer
would spread to the whole town.
Through word of mouth and chatter among the servants, the news also came to the
ears of their employers, and so everyone was soon aware that the new  resident
was none other than the son of Don Giacomo de la Vega, the lawyer who years ago
had decided to move to Europe.
When the house was finally finished, Cristobal began to unpack his luggage. From
his bag, he took out his fondest mementoes, his wife’s diary and an ancient
shrine that belonged to his mother.
Now I can consider this place my new home
. Cristobal stopped and admired
the polished study. His father’s papers were organized in spacious cupboards
and the photograph of his beautiful wife was displayed on the mahogany desk.
Cristobal sat down at his desk and wrote a short letter.
I will send a note of presentation to the Navarra y Reyes family in which
I’ll ask permission to visit them. My father was for years their lawyer and I
think it is a good way to introduce myself to the people who count. I hope to
find some work as soon as possible. I didn’t think that the expense of doing up
the house would be so high.
Cristobal poured himself a drink and looked at the photograph of his wife.
My
dear, you’ve left me on my own for a long time, and I still can’t forget you
.
A tear fell on her pretty face.

The next day Cristobal
received a letter from
Doña
Raquel informing him that she was willing to
receive him in the afternoon.
Cristobal presented himself at the Navarra y Reyes
hacienda
on time. He
wore a well-made, light colored walking suit.
Doña
Raquel observed him
with interest, tall and slender, with neatly combed light brown hair, and
dressed impeccably, Cristobal behaved with affected grace typical of European
fashion.
" Welcome to Tampico," said
Doña
Raquel. She had received him
in the living room, sitting on a chair. She was definitely a beautiful woman,
with a pale complexion and deep black eyes. Her dark, straight hair was
gathered behind her neck. Cristobal had the impression of being in front of a
woman of great character, determined and strong-willed. He soon noticed her
confident and severe attitude.
He thanked his hostess and sat down.
" Thank you for seeing me,
Doña
Raquel."
"It's a real pleasure, I certainly can’t forget the deep friendship shared
by your father with my late husband."
" You are right. When I was very young, my father always spoke to me of
Tampico and his friend Eduardo. I think they grew up together. "
Raquel nodded.
" In fact, my poor husband, may he rest in peace, was very fond of him.
But tell me about yourself, why did you decide to leave Europe to come to
Mexico?"
Cristobal thought for a few moments before answering.
" Personal problems. I felt the need to change my life and I decided to
come back to my family’s origins."
Doña
Raquel looked at him concerned, trying to read beyond the cold and
detached attitude of her guest.
" Forgive me if I was indiscreet, it was not my intention." Said
Raquel as she modulated her tone of voice and facial expression to express her
discomfort at being intrusive.
" No, absolutely!" Cristobal hastily replied. “You see ... I’ve been
a widower for a few years and so I wanted to leave behind all of my past
life."
An escape then
! Raquel thought, with satisfaction,
I wonder, however,
what he knows about the Navarra y Reyes and me. What did he learn from his
father? Did Eduardo ever write to him about the suspicions that he felt about
Federico and me? I’ve never found any traces of correspondence between them ...
Determined to dispel any doubt, she tried to skillfully maneuver the
conversation to get to know what most interested her.
" How did your father die?" She asked in an innocent tone.
" He contracted a serious illness that paralyzed him when I was just a
boy. It happened shortly before he knew of your husband’s death. He lived for a
few more years, and then he passed away."
" I'm very sorry, believe me Don Cristobal."
" Thank you. In fact, it wasn’t easy, I studied hard to follow in his
footsteps and become a lawyer and tried to look after my poor mother. Then I
met the woman who would become my wife."
" My beloved Eduardo would have suffered greatly if he had known of the
misfortune that happened to his dear friend ... " Raquel hesitated for a
moment , before adding with apparent nonchalance " Unfortunately, I think
that in their last few years they didn’t write to each other a lot, so I guess
he never knew of your poor father’s illness."
"I think you're right, but I still haven’t gone through all of his
documents. Up till now, I haven’t found anything that came from Don Eduardo
Navarra y Reyes."
Good, it’s better so
Raquel thought with satisfaction.
" But you live alone here at the
hacienda
?" Cristobal asked
intrigued “Your children?"
Raquel stiffened for a moment, but immediately got herself under control again.
" My son Federico lives here with me, he isn’t married yet. He’s a good
manager, I don’t know what I'd do without him! And so lavish with his dear
mother! The other, however, is my stepson. He is the son of my husband’s first
wife.” Raquel put her hand to her head with an affectation.
"Unfortunately, I had huge problems with him. He ran away from the
hacienda
after his father’s death and didn’t want to hear about living with me! He gave
me such headaches! I'm afraid he hates me because I took the place of his poor
mother, although I have done everything possible to treat him as if he was my
own son. I think that he still spreads lies about me, he claims that I threw
him out!"
"Oh, I'm so sorry for you,
Doña
Raquel. And where does he live now,
in Tampico?"
Raquel shook his head.
" No, he got married a few weeks ago and with his wife he went to live in
Zacatecas."
"I hope that your relationship will improve in the future." Responded
Cristobal.
The conversation was interrupted by the arrival of Federico, who had come from
the plantation and had a dazed look.
"Good afternoon, my dear, Can I introduce you to Don Cristobal de la
Vega?"
Federico stared at the guest as if he were struggling to focus on him,
"Good afternoon, it's a real pleasure to meet you, I'm Federico Navarra y
Reyes."
"The pleasure is all mine," replied Cristobal.
Federico poured himself a generous measure of cognac and swallowed it in one
gulp, then looked towards
Doña
Raquel.
" Mother, I need to speak to you urgently as soon as you have time to
spare."
"
Doña
Raquel thank you again for your kind welcome, I would like
to say goodbye,” said Cristobal, not wanting to inconvenience them.
Doña
Raquel's face reddened with a suffuse blush.
" Don Cristobal, your visit has been very pleasant. I hope to meet you
again very soon and I'll ensure that you meet the most important families in
the area. A young man like you must be surrounded by worthy company."
" I thank you again
ma’am
and
please consider me at your service for any legal advice you may need. I’d like
to be as helpful to you as my father was to your dear husband."
"It will be a pleasure to entrust our interests to you. Good-bye."
" Good-bye, if you’ll excuse me."
Doña
Raquel waited until Cristobal had been accompanied to the door by a
maid and then turned angrily to Federico. "You should be ashamed of
yourself! What kind of behavior was that? Didn’t I teach you any manners? You
show up here with a disruptive air, forcing our guest to leave."
" Mother, I know, and I ask your forgiveness, my attitude was
inexcusable." Said Federico trying to appease his mother before telling
her what would make her even more infuriating.
" So what had so much urgency that you needed talk to me? I hope it is a
very serious matter?” Inquired Raquel.
" It is, mother, it really is. I need your help."
" Well?" asked Raquel impatiently.
" Well, you see, last night I went to Don Gonzalo’s tavern and I played
cards. Mother, I was cheated and I lost a lot of money. Now I have to pay off
the debt, help me please, those people are dangerous." Pleaded Federico
" You’re a fool, stupid and irresponsible!" Said
Doña
Raquel
looking furious at Federico, "I can’t understand how you can waste your
time and my money in such an absurd way! You're just like your father, weak and
useless. I'm tired of sorting out your mistakes. It's time for you to grow up
and take on your own responsibilities. You'll have to find the money somewhere
else. I’ll not help you."
Federico put his head in his hands in despair. "If you don’t help me I'm
finished. Mother, they’ll kill me."
"It would be a just punishment for your stupidity." She looked at
Federico, thinking.
How similar you are to your spineless father, cowardly
and without self-respect
. "All right, I'll give you the money you
need. But I swear that this is the last time. And in return I want something
from you. You have to marry Marisol Vargas Rivera de Coronado."
Federico nodded defeated. "As you want mother, I’ll get married."
" And tell me, are you able to convince her to marry you by yourself or do
I also have to arrange this?"
Doña
Raquel asked in a voice full of
contempt.
Federico did not respond to the humiliation
. Damn witch, you'll pay for this
.
Raquel stared at him, almost with disgust.
"I know what you're thinking, but remember that you'll never get the
better of me. Whatever you do, I'll always be one step ahead. Why, I ask
myself, didn’t you inherited my strengths and my unbridled ambition? Why did
you have to inherit Hector’s worst defects?"
Federico did not answer, just shrugged.
" Mother, you know that I do my best to please you in everything"
Raquel interrupted him with a gesture.
"Fine, enough, I understand. The important thing is that you marry Marisol
as soon as possible. I'll take care of the rest, like always."
"It will take time for the preparations, mother. Then we have to think of
a house."
"A house?" Raquel looked at him in amazement, almost softened by
Federico’s stupidity. "You’ll come to live here, in the
hacienda
that
you could inherit thanks to me. We’ll rearrange the west wing to create
separate apartments if you insist, but your and your wife’s place is here at
the Navarra
hacienda
."
In any case, your future wife will soon learn who's boss in this house ...
it will always be me who rules the roost, only me.
Raquel smiled to herself, dismissing Federico.
"Tomorrow morning we’ll go into town together to withdraw the money you
need for Don Guadalupe. By tomorrow night, I want to be able to announce your
engagement to Marisol."