The Forbidden Promise (39 page)

Cristobal cleared his throat.
" Don José, since the time of the attack I haven’t returned home and as
you can understand there is the man’s corpse in my living room ... "
" I'll send my men to remove the body at once."
" Thank you, Don José."
As they left Don José’s office, Cristobal felt faint, but Lucas managed to
support him. Despite the timely treatment he had lost a lot of blood and the
wound still gave him a lot of pain.
"It’d be best for me to accompany you home, you are still very weak. I’ll
tell Aurora to go to see you after the clinic."
Cristobal hesitated for a moment then squeezed Lucas’ arm.
"I was wrong about you, I didn’t deserve your risking your life to save
mine ..."
"You’d have done the same," replied Lucas.
" No, and you know it! I acted miserably towards you, due to envy. I
couldn’t admit that, despite being raised in a disadvantaged situation, you
have become a great man, better than I can ever hope to be... Brave, respected
and loved by Aurora and your people. Please accept my apologies and my
friendship if it  isn’t too late," he said, holding out his hand.
Lucas looked into his eyes, suspicious, but saw only honesty and sincerity. He
shook Cristobal's hand and gave him a brotherly hug.
Along the way they both remained silent until they arrive at Cristobal’s house,
where Cristobal turned to Lucas, looking at him intently.
" Lucas, about the problem you wanted to discuss with me last night
..."
Lucas looked at him quizzically.
" The mortgage you mean?"
Cristobal nodded.
"I know how you can keep the
hacienda
."
Lucas was astonished, "What do you mean?"
"I'll show you myself. Please, meet me tomorrow morning at eight o'clock
in Father Julian’s church."
"At Father Julian’s?"
" Yes, please don’t ask me any questions, tomorrow you’ll know everything
that I should have told you some time ago."
Lucas frowned. "All right," he said shaking his hand.

In a small, generally quiet town like Tampico, the news of the
attack on Cristobal and the death of the bandit soon circulated the city and
was not long in arriving to Penelope’s ears.
She learned what had happened and immediately ran to
Doña
Raquel’s house
to tell her everything, ignoring the existence of the arrest warrant issued
against her.
The maid invited her into the study, where
Doña
Raquel was busy
embroidering.
"I hope that you’ve come to bring good news!" Raquel said, without
taking her eyes from her embroidery.
"
Doña
Raquel, something unforeseeable has happened ... "
Raquel looked up and stared at her with annoyance.
"Speak. Come on! Don’t make me lose my patience!"
Penelope hesitated, frightened by the reaction
Doña
Raquel would have.
"Unfortunately, Cristobal survived the ambush thanks to Lucas,” she said
in one breath.
Raquel stiffened, fixed her icy gaze on Penelope and said angrily," That
damn meddler!"
"Unfortunately, that’s not all, ma’am, the bandit is dead," Penelope
went on.
"Do you think I care about that scum? Rather you, incompetent, you haven’t
managed to accomplish what I'd ordered you to do and for which I paid you
handsomely!"
" But
Doña
Raquel ..." Penelope tried to protest.
"Quiet, useless person!" Raquel suddenly stood up, dropping the
embroidery she was working on and approached Penelope threateningly.
"You're no good, I no longer need you, vanish and don’t be seen in this
house again!"
"Ma’am, I’ve always served you faithfully, so you can’t kick me out like a
dog!"
"I’ll treat you as you deserve to be treated! Get out, not only from this
house but also from this town! I’ll make sure that your little shop of useless
rubbish closes and from now on all doors will be barred to you!" Anger
burned in Raquel’s deep black eyes.
Penelope was silent for a moment, but gave no sign of wanting to leave, she
even retorted angrily.
" If I were you I would think twice before alienating people like me who
know your worst secrets ... if that policeman, Don José, becomes aware of even
a fraction of the atrocities you have committed, or that you have commissioned
..."
Doña
Raquel’s impassive face, assumed a terrible expression.
" Miserable beggar, do you really think the police will take the word of
an old mad witch living by her wits preparing concoctions and reading the cards
over the word of a Navarra y Reyes?"
"The police will decide this..." Penelope retorted with an unexpected
surge of pride.
Doña
Raquel, unable to control herself, picked up a poker from the
fireplace and lunged at Penelope who covered her head with her hands trying to
ward off Raquel’s blows.
At that moment Federico entered, attracted by the screams, and Penelope managed
to flee while
Doña
Raquel fell exhausted on her knees due to anger and
physical exertion.
"Mother! What's going on?" Asked Federico helping her to her feet.
"You have to kill her, Federico! She knows too many of our secrets and has
threatened to go to the police!"
" But she’ll never dare to do so ..." said Federico.
" You don’t understand, we can’t risk losing everything, even if the
police don’t believe her, the news could reach Lucas’ ears and he could begin
to investigate ... No, you must eliminate her before she destroys everything
we've built up over so many years!" Raquel burst into tears, covering her
face with her hands.
"As you wish mother!" He said, hugging her.
Seeing Raquel, always so self-confident and arrogant, so helpless, filled his
heart with tenderness that he did not believed he was capable of feeling.

    
Aurora went to
La Virgen de la Caridad
convents infirmary, as usual.
Mother Agostina greeted her, smiling.
"We’re fortune to have you here, my child," she said. "You don’t
know how much we missed you when you were in Zacatecas, even Dr. Peron
commented on this."
Aurora was flattered by the compliments.
"You know I can’t stay long ... sooner or later I’ll go back to Zacatecas
with my husband," she said.
Yes, as long as there’s still a home for us
there
...
" Of course, your first duty is to follow your husband," Mother
Agostina hastened to say, accompanying Aurora to see the day’s patients.
After some simple cases, Aurora recognized a familiar face, lying isolated on a
bed was Alma. The disease had now made her almost unrecognizable, pale,
emaciated and her face scarred by syphilitic acne.
Carefully, Aurora put her hand on Alma’s forehead and noted that it was
burning. She put fresh dressings on her head to try to lower her temperature
and administered quinine.
Not even mercury would be much more effective, but
in this state of general weakness I certainly can’t increase the dose,
she
thought worried,
the toxicity would be lethal to her
.
She noted with concern Alma’s difficulty in breathing. Aurora had never
encountered such a case of syphilis that had developed so rapidly, not even
during her studies. Even Dr. Peron was shocked and had attributed the
particular virulence of the disease to the general state of severe weakness.
It’s
as if her body is voluntary doing everything possible to accelerate the
disease,
Aurora thought with a shudder,
to put an end to her
suffering...
Alma, on feeling Aurora’s gentle touch stirred and opened her eyes. It took her
a moment to recognize the face in front of her.
"
Doña
Aurora!" She said with a hint of a smile on her dried
lips.
" Hello Alma, how are you feeling?" Asked Aurora.
Alma looked at her with an air of suffering.
"Not good... I think my time has come."
" Don’t say that, you still have a long time to go," exclaimed
Aurora, laying her hand on the sheets that covered Alma’s tormented body.
" Don’t lie! I know I’ve come to my end ... But there's one thing I want
to ask you so that I may die peaceful."
" Tell me," Aurora urged gently, while her eyes filled with tears.
" My son ... I don’t want him to spend his life in the brothel
experiencing hardship, I would like him to have what I've always been denied
... The love and warmth of a family." She said in a faint voice, closing
her eyes due to the immense effort that talking involved.
"Do you want me to bring him here?" Asked Aurora.
"No," said Alma half opening her eyes. "I don’t want him to see
me like this, even though he is so small, I want him to remember me as I was
... Say goodbye to him from me when I'm gone, please tell him that I’ll always
watch over him from heaven."
Aurora looked at her gently, no longer able to hold back the tears at Alma’s
sad fate.
" Do me one last favor, I beseech you!" Alma continued.
" Whatever you want," said Aurora, drying her cheeks with the back of
her hand.
"Go to Federico and tell him that I would like to see him one last
time."
Exhausted Alma closed her eyes while her labored breathing was also slowing
down.
"I'll return soon with your Federico, try to hold on." Aurora
promised her.
"You mustn’t cry for me ... I'm so tired of living and I’m not worthy of
your compassion. To pursue my dreams I’ve ruined my life and I even hurt my
poor aunt following the advice of that wicked Penelope...God will never forgive
me!"
"God has already forgiven you," replied Aurora.
Alma, exhausted by the effort, fell into a restless sleep, while her breathing
became more and more shallow and irregular.
As she walked away from Alma’s bedside Aurora remained doubtful about what to
do. She did not know if she could ever convince Federico to follow her here and
feared that in any case he would not arrive in time. She decided, however, that
she could not betray the promise made to Alma on her deathbed, therefore,
without further ado, she decided to go to the Navarra y Reyes’ hacienda.
She took off her apron and said goodbye to Mother Agostina, announcing that she
had suddenly remembered an engagement. She arrived in the Cathedral Square and
paid a carriage to take her directly to the
hacienda
.
The first time she had been there was at Federico and Marisol’s marriage and it
had seemed like a fairytale place, a rich estate whose luxury had entered into
the folklore of Tampico’s common people. Now she looked at the house with other
eyes, the elegant building with its harmonious form appeared to her like an
evil and dark cavern, full of pain and sadness. Here Lucas had suffered
terribly as a child, only to be driven out without any regard.
The maid, not knowing her, made her wait while she went to announce her visit
to
Doña
Raquel. She finally returned saying that
Doña
Raquel
would receive her immediately. Aurora was shown into a large and opulent living
room.
Doña
Raquel was sitting in a luxurious armchair, dressed in one of
her usual exquisite black dresses, her face pale and stern, her hair shiny and
smooth resembling ebony, was tied back in a complicated hairstyle.
"Thank you for seeing me without warning ma’am," said Aurora, giving
her little nod of respect.
Doña
Raquel replied with a simple nod. Aurora’s visit had made her very
curious and she really hoped that it could be of help in her plan to destroy
Lucas.
" To what do I owe your visit?" She asked coldly.
"I absolutely must talk to Federico, it is a matter of life or
death."
Raquel remained impassive, staring at her with her piercing black eyes.
"Federico is still asleep and I don’t see the need to wake him. You can
come back later if you really want to talk to him."
"Ma’am, forgive my insistence but I absolutely have to see him!"
" I’ve already told you that he is asleep and so do me the favor of
leaving my house!" Raquel exclaimed impatiently. She had not expected that
Aurora would asked for Federico, she had hoped that she was there to plead for
help for Lucas, and had already imagined a very different speech to deeply
humiliate her.
"In my life I’ve known many cruel and ruthless people, but never anyone
like you and Federico..." Aurora said heatedly. Raquel’s indifference, her
hard and contemptuous look, had filled her with rage. "But you can’t go
unpunished forever, a day will come when life will hold you to account!"

“Please, spare me your nonsense and go!" Laughed Raquel
acidly.
At that moment, Federico, who had been awakened by the agitated voices,
appeared. With a sleepy face and tousled hair, he slowly descended the stairs
still wearing his purple dressing gown.
How did I ever think that I was in love with him? Aurora thought, seeing him
come down stairs looking so slovenly and still with obvious signs of
drunkenness.
"What’s wrong?" He asked, yawning without bothering to cover his
mouth.
He passed very close to Aurora, eyeing her from head to toe with a malicious
look and  kissed her hand. She withdrew it immediately and Federico sunk into a
nearby chair placing his feet on the adjacent coffee table.
" Nothing’s wrong, son," said Raquel. "Aurora was just
leaving."
"I need to talk to you," Aurora said, without even looking at Raquel
but feeling her evil gaze.
" Well? I'm all yours!" encouraged Federico, untying his dressing
gown and giving a hint of a smile.
"Please, you have to come with me to the convent’s clinic, Alma is dying
and has asked to see you one last time," exclaimed Aurora, pretending not
to notice Federico’s deliberately suggestive moves.
" Alma? Alma .... Alma?" Federico raised his head, letting his eyes
wander along the decorated ceiling with a confused air. "Oh yes, one of
the prostitutes in Tampico’s brothel! And why should I care about the death of
a whore?"
"You should be interested since she’s the mother of your son," said
Aurora coldly.
A silence fell in the living room.
Federico burst into laughter.
" My dear, you obviously aren’t a woman of the world! Someone who does the
profession of that ... what's her name? Alma, has made hundreds of men happy,
why do you insinuated that her bastard is my son?"
"You know very well that he is your son, that she didn’t have anyone else
before you, and that she loves  you more than anyone else in the world! You
stole her youth, illusions and dignity. You’re despicable," cried Aurora
red in the face.
Federico, cornered, replied coldly, "Go ahead and tell that slut that I'm
sorry for what's happening to her but  she should have been more careful with
the men she went with! And as for the little bastard ... I wouldn’t know what
to do with it!"
" Admit that the child is Federico’s son? A Navarra y Reyes can’t mix with
people of that sort ... And now leave!” Intervened Raquel, though inwardly
troubled by the news of the existence of Federico’s son.
Aurora could not believe her ears. The cruelty and wickedness of the two had
left her breathless. There was no hint of compassion or pity in those eyes that
stared at her mockingly. There was only a deep and broad hatred.
"You’re monsters, you should be ashamed of yourselves," Aurora cried,
heading to the exit.
Raquel who did not want Aurora to leave with the last word, stood up angrily
from her armchair.
" It’s you who should be ashamed," she said in a voice full of
malice. "And that fake little saint of your mother! You try hard to be
puritans but in reality you are wantons!"
Aurora stopped suddenly, those words intrigued her more than hurt her. Whatever
was Raquel referring to?
Raquel seeing that she was getting the desired effect, continued satisfied.
"Ask your saintly mother, who goes to confession every Sunday, to tell you
the love story that she had with my brother-in-law Hector behind your father’s
back!"
Noting the surprise and pain that her words caused Aurora gave
Doña
Raquel insane pleasure.
Aurora did not retort but could not manage to hold back her tears . So she
fled, slamming the door behind her. She climbed quickly into the carriage that
was waiting in front of the heavy front door. The coachman urged the horses on
and they departed at high speed.
With her heart pounding in her chest, Aurora leaned exhausted against the back
of the seat. The cruelty shown by Federico and
Doña
Raquel gave her a
vague sense of nausea. But what had upset her more were
Doña
Raquel’s
last words. What was the story about her mother? Surely all lies of that
serpent! Now, in any case, she could not think about it as she had to run to
poor Alma who was slowly dying.
She arrived at the convent, paid the coachman in a hurry and went into the
infirmary. She did not even greet Mother Consuelo who was looking carefully at
every detail of her appearance to try to ascertain interesting possibilities
about her movements. Aurora found Alma with her eyes closed, her face pale but
strangely relaxed, and she looked almost like a sleeping angel. Father Julian,
who had been urgently summoned by Mother Agostina, had just administered the
last rites and was taking off his sacred stole, he shook his head as he turned
to Aurora, as if to indicate that Alma’s end had come.
" Alma, Alma ..." Aurora said, approaching the bedside.
Alma's eyes half opened and with a small voice she tried to speak.
"You’ve arrived!" She whispered.
" Yes, and I bring you good news." Aurora said, putting a hand on
Alma’s arm that was now without strength.
Alma smiled.

"Federico?" She asked, "What did he say?"
At this question Aurora could not stop her emotions and copious tears rolled
down her pale cheeks.
"He's coming," she lied, trying to keep her voice calm. "He said
he realized that he was a fool for having separated from you, that he hopes it
isn’t too late to start a life together with you and your child."
Alma tried to shake Aurora’s hands but she did not have the strength.
"You’re not lying, are you? He's coming to me?"
"Yes, to you and your child ... He’s coming soon, he told me that he’ll
bring you some flowers" sobbed Aurora.
"Some flowers ... it will be the first gift that he has given me since
I’ve known him ... and he said that he would stay with me and his son?"
She whispered looking at Aurora.
"Yes," she answered, gently stroking Alma’s hair.
Alma closed her eyes and sighed, her face finally serene after so much
suffering. She died with the dream that had accompanied her throughout her sad
life.
Aurora burst into tears with her head resting on Alma’s motionless body.
Father Julian who had witnessed the scene from close by made the sign of the
cross and went to help Aurora stand up, she could not stop crying over Alma’s
bitter fate.
As they left the room they turned one last time to look at Alma who seemed to
be asleep with her little face that had at one time been so pretty crowned by
beautiful blonde hair.
"She has finally found peace that she didn’t have in life ..." said
Father Julian sad, "May the Lord welcome her in all his glory."
" How can there be such injustices, Father?” Aurora asked, sobbing,
"How can people be so evil as to ignore the despair and suffering of
others?"
Father Julian sighed.
"Fear not, daughter, the Lord takes care of his flock and will certainly
see that justice is done."
Yes one day God will see that justice is done, but in the meantime, what
will become of Alma’s poor son?
Aurora could not help wondering.
Mother Agostina and Dr. Peron, seeing her so troubled, encouraged her to go
home and Aurora agreed. She was experiencing too many emotions and she needed
to think.
She ordered the maid that was accompanying her, to carry on towards
Doña
Viviana’s house, while she would go for a walk on the beach to think a bit and
then she would continue on to the house afterwards.
She got to the seashore short of breath due to the fast pace that she had
walked.
The sound of the waves and gliding seagulls helped her to relax, she lay on the
fine sand and closed her eyes.
Images of the last moments of Alma’s life passed in front of her in a vortex of
frames that mingled with
Doña
Raquel and Federico’s faces and cruel
words.
Those scoundrels
, she thought,
how can people exist that are
so despicable they don’t give any value to human life?
She thought back to the words
Doña
Raquel had said to her before leaving
the house. Her mother and Don Hector together, but how was it possible? It was
definitely a lie invented by
Doña
Raquel, it could not be true! But the
thought of those words was driving her crazy.
She got up, shook her skirt to remove the sand and went to her mother's house,
she had to be absolutely clear on the matter.
If this story is true, then there is something more behind my father’s death
... Why were he and Don Hector together the night they died? Why hasn’t my
mother ever told me anything?
She arrived at the Vargas de Coronado’s home and saw the maid that was waiting
for her outside the entrance. They rang the bell and Carmen came to the door.
"
Doña
Viviana is in her room," Carmen informed her, inviting
her into the living room.
Aurora replied that she would go up to call on her mother herself and sent
Carmen and her maid to the kitchen.
She found
Doña
Viviana in front of the mirror intent on arranging her
long hair.
"Come in, my dear," she said, smiling amiably. "What a pleasure
to see you! "
"Good morning mother," said Aurora, going to embrace her.
She then sat down on the edge of the bed and watched her mother arranging the
last strands of hair for a few minutes in silence.
" Why are you so silent? What do you want to tell me my dear?"
Aurora did not know what to reply. She was in the grip of terrible anxiety, her
heart pounded in her chest and she felt her temples throb.
"Unfortunately one of the girls that we were treating at the clinic has
just died."
"I'm sorry," Viviana said, turning to Aurora.
"It seems that she worked in the brothel and had been one of Federico
Navarra’s lovers by whom she also had a son," she explained.
" A son you say?" Viviana repeated incredulously.
" Yes, a son that he’s shamelessly never wanted to get to know. On her
deathbed, the poor wretch asked me if she could see Federico to say goodbye to
him one last time. But when I went to the Navarra’s hacienda, he flatly refused
and
Doña
Raquel kicked me out in a nasty way ..."
" That was to be expected," was Viviana’s comment, her hazel eyes
wide open, "I don’t understand what came into your mind to go to her!
Lucas told you to stay away from her. You mustn’t go near her for any
reason!"
Aurora looked at her suspiciously.
" Too late, mother. I’ve seen her now and we talked."
Aurora’s implicitly accusatory tone alarmed Viviana.
" Furthermore," continued Aurora, "as I was leaving she
insinuated a romance between you and Don Hector behind my father’s back
..."
Viviana paralyzed by anxiety, felt her heartbeat speed up dramatically, a blast
of heat squeezed her throat until she could no longer breathe. She got up and
went to look out of the window for a breath of fresh air. She breathed in
deeply while Aurora silently followed her with her eyes.
"What's true in this story, mother?" Pressed Aurora. "I want to
know the whole truth! Why my father met Don Hector that sad night in such an
unusual place?"
Viviana, her hands resting on the windowsill and staring at the turquoise sky,
was fighting a battle internally, to decide whether or not the right time had
come to tell Aurora the whole truth. On the one hand, she wanted to get rid of
the weight that she had borne for too many years, on the other hand she feared
Aurora’s judgment.
Finally she whirled around, her voice dropped to a whisper.
"I was very in love with Don Hector and I wanted to marry him, but I never
deceived your father."
Aurora looked at her mother wide eyed.
Doña
Viviana continued, watching Aurora. "Hector abandoned me
because maybe he was forced by Raquel and because he hadn’t the courage to
fight for our love. He fled to Europe. I loved him desperately and your father
knew, but he gradually convinced me that if I married him I would learn to love
him and to forget Hector and so it was. Over time, not only did I forget Hector
but my old love turned into a deep hatred for that family ..."
Aurora stood up abruptly.
" And, so this is the reason that you always opposed my marriage to Lucas?
For an old grudge against his uncle and his family, you opposed my happiness!
How could you? "
Viviana took two steps towards her daughter, holding out her hands.
" Forgive me, I was afraid of being misjudged by you, and mainly I didn’t
want you to experience suffering like my own. I thought, given Lucas’ fame as a
Don Juan, that he was like his uncle."
" And that sad night when my father died?" Aurora asked bewildered.
Viviana looked down, intimidated.
" Hector had just returned to Mexico from Europe and he arranged to meet
me at
La Virgen del Mar
chapel. Your father found the message and must
have preceded me to resolve things with him. What happened after that I don’t
know exactly. I don’t know why they were killed, nor who committed such a crime!"
I've been deceived all this time, they’ve all treated me as a poor, idiot
!
Aurora thought angrily.
She stepped back a few steps to avoid being touched by Viviana. Her eyes burned
with anger.
" And my father was only a stand-in for Hector?"
Viviana could no longer contain herself and gave her a resounding slap.
"Don’t you dare say that! I loved Costantino deeply, and he knew it!"
She immediately regretted that she had reacted violently and went to Aurora who
looked at her angrily, putting a hand on her reddened cheek.
"Forgive me, Aurora!" She whispered, holding out her hand, "I
know that you feel hurt now ..."
"I’ll never forgive you for telling me so many lies and trying to hinder
my happiness over an old grudge!" Said Aurora. Leaving no time to say
anything else, she ran out.
Viviana collapsed on the bed crying. What have I done? I should have told her
the truth before. Now she hates me!
She remained sobbing for a few minutes then gathered her strength and rushed
downstairs to look for her Aurora.
"Aurora," she shouted as she went down the stairs.
Carmen and Aurora’s maid came running from the kitchen.
"What wrong, ma’am?"
"Where is Aurora? "
"She’s not here!" Said the maid.
"She must have gone out ... but if you are here it means that she's gone
out alone," exclaimed Viviana in anguish, covering her mouth with one
hand.