The Forbidden Promise

by Helena Rose

  Aurora chose not to comment and broke the embarrassment that had arisen by Yolanda’s presence.

  "I’d like to see my parents," she said. "I want to spend a little time with them before returning to Zacatecas. Will you come with me?"

  Lucas smiled sweetly.

  "I'm afraid your mother prefers to see you alone," he commented.

  "My mother has to get used to you, you're my husband, the man I love and you're part of the family now." Aurora replied.

  "It's not so simple, I don't think she cares for any of the Navarra y Reyes." Said Lucas as his look became inquisitive. "Are you aware of anything that happened between your mother and my family?"

  Aurora shook her head.

  "I’ve never heard of anything, actually, my father was sometimes called upon to see your stepmother at the hacienda."

  "I don’t think it has anything to do with your father, just your mother. However, whatever happened we can’t let it disturb our marriage." assured Lucas.

  Aurora smiled.

  "Then I'll go alone ..." replied Aurora

  "It would be better for you to be accompanied ..." Said Lucas.

  The local custom required women of the household to be accompanied by a maid wherever they went. Accustomed as she was to Zacatecas where Aurora could go freely anywhere in their large estate, she had almost forgotten the practice had to be kept in the city. They then touched on the subject of Yolanda, the only maid they had with them to escort Aurora.

  "Have you decided what to do with her?" Lucas asked pointing to the kitchen.

  Aurora sighed.

  "You’re fond of her, aren’t you? You grew up with her and her brother, after all."

  Lucas nodded and said, "But I won’t intervene. I wasn’t joking the other night, the decision is yours, to me anything goes."

  " The fault was also mine, I should have understood at once that she was lying. So I’d like to give her another chance." Replied Aurora.

  Lucas looked happy.

  "You’re too good," he said, squeezing her hand.

  After breakfast, Lucas stood up.

  "I'm going to see my former associates then I'll go to the shipyard." He said, kissing her.

  " See you later," she responded, already missing him.

  Aurora went into the kitchen.

  Yolanda had just finished washing the dishes. She pretended not to hear Aurora’s arrival so Aurora was forced to call her.

  " Yolanda, when you've finished I'd like you to accompany me to my parents," she said quietly.

  Yolanda did not even look up and continued to do her work at the sink.

  " As you wish," she muttered grumpily.

  Aurora approached her cautiously.

  "Listen, I’ve decided to forget about everything that happened. You won’t end up in a convent and you can return with us to Zacatecas. I’m willing to turn over a new page and try again to have a cordial relationship with you, but I wish to inform you that on your part I’d like you to have a different attitude and be more cooperative. Let me be clear, in the future I’ll no longer accept your grumpy attitude and your lies." Aurora finished her speech and waited for an answer that did not come. Yolanda was in fact silent.

  "See you in a while then," Said Aurora leaving the small kitchen.

  A small tear ran down Yolanda’s cheek. I’ll never give up. The love I feel for Lucas I’ll never surrender. I can’t live without him!

  Aurora and Yolanda left the house shortly afterwards. Aurora walked in front, concerned. If she could, I believe that she would stab me between the shoulders... she thought both amused and worried.

  In the morning Tampico was teeming with people, street vendors shouting to attract attention to their merchandise that women with wicker baskets appraised carefully, while groups of noisy children ran through the streets. Aurora and Yolanda walked through the city center and skirted the beautiful cathedral. I really must go and see Father Julian and the good nuns at La Virgen de la Caridad convent before returning to Zacatecas, thought Aurora.

  When they were near the Vargas de Coronado’s house, Aurora noticed a man a little further on. He was pacing nervously on the opposite side of the road, near to the entrance gate. He had a big hat pulled down on his head, his hair and beard long and unkempt.

  Aurora approached the man, curious. He must surely be one of her father’s patients.

  "Good morning. Are you by any chance waiting for Dr. Coronado? If you want I can let you in, I’m his daughter," she said gently.

  The man seemed surprised, almost frightened at Aurora’s unselfish attitude. After a moment of indecision, he approached her cautiously.

  " Yes, I am a patient, but I'm afraid that I’ve come here for nothing, I'm fine now. I was feeling unwell but it’s already passed.” The man spoke with feigned naturalness, wringing his hands. Then suddenly he looked up to smile at Aurora. Aurora was startled. He looks incredibly like Federico, the same ice-colored eyes, she thought with the feeling of having made a leap into the future. In front of her stood a Federico much more mature, twenty years at least.

  She did not imagine that the man's thoughts were very similar to hers. The same hazel eyes, the same full lips, the flowing hair in shades of bronze, it all made him fall into a whirlwind of the past.

  "Anyway, I'm fine, don’t worry," the man continued. “Actually, I'm going home now, with no need to disturb the doctor. If you’ll excuse me." He smiled kindly then he gave her a bow and walked abruptly away, after having given Yolanda a quick glance.

  Yolanda looked at Aurora curiously.

  "What a strange man, do you know him?" She asked for a moment forgetting the rivalry that separated them.

  "No." replied Aurora shaking her head. "I've never seen him before, but he looks incredibly like someone I know." She preferred not to say anything else and rang the bell to enter the house.

  Yolanda was sent into the kitchen with Carmen and the rest of the servants, while Aurora was welcomed by her mother’s warm embrace.

  "Aurora! I’ve missed you so much! I thought I’d see you yesterday."

  Aurora blushed slightly and decided to change the subject.

  "I met a strange man outside. One of father’s patients I think, but he didn’t want to come in."

  Doña Viviana stiffened, while a veil of concern came down over her eyes.

  " Who was it?" Vivian asked in alarm.

  " I don’t know mother, he didn’t tell me his name. Why are you so agitated?

  "No, I'm not agitated at all."

  They were interrupted by the arrival of Costantino who had left his study.

  "My beloved daughter," he exclaimed, hugging her, "And your husband? He didn’t come with you?"

  Aurora shook her head.

  "No, he had some business to attend to." Replied Aurora.

  Viviana uttered a faint sigh of relief that was however noted by Aurora.

  " Mother, remember that Lucas is my husband and you should start getting used to his presence," she commented with disappointment.

  "I know that well my dear," Viviana replied. "I must note, however, that he has a stormy personality. At Marisol’s wedding he made a laughing stock of you!"

  Aurora assumed an annoyed expression.

  "I'd rather not talk about what happened that night. However, it was all my fault, I shouldn’t have let myself be drawn away by that lawyer."

  "Don Cristobal is a gentleman, he would never have behaved unacceptably towards you," commented Viviana.

  "Enough talk, our married daughter has come to see us and we must celebrate," said Costantino, interrupting the discussion.

  Viviana decided to indulge Costantino’s request and changed the subject, while remaining convinced of her opinion. Lucas was without doubt the wrong husband for her daughter.

  Aurora sat down on the sofa and began to describe enthusiastically the hacienda in Zacatecas, the main house, the land, the mine, she skimmed over her activities at the clinic, that she had set up, and wen
t on to describe the beauty of the colonial city and the architecture and natural wonders.

  "You should come and visit us sometime." She ended with enthusiasm, "It will take your breath away."

  "I'm really glad you like living there so much," commented Costantino smiling "Sooner or later we’ll come be sure of that."

  They were interrupted by the doorbell ringing. Carmen went to open door and soon after she announced the arrival of Don Cristobal de la Vega.

  Aurora winced, looking at her mother anxiously.

  Doña Viviana, however, ordered Carmen to let him in.

  Cristobal came in smiling, but stopped embarrassed at seeing Aurora in the living room sitting on the couch with her parents.

  "Good morning everyone," he greeted them politely, recovering quickly from the moment of surprise.

  "Good morning, Please, have a seat," invited Costantino.

  Cristobal sat down and cleared his throat.

  " To tell the truth I came to apologize for what happened at your niece’s wedding. I'm really happy to find Doña Aurora here by chance, so I can apologize directly to her too."

  Doña Viviana smiled.

  "It was a very kind thought of yours." Intervened Viviana, "It was just an unfortunate misunderstanding wasn’t it?" She queried turning to Aurora.

  "Yes," Aurora answered quickly, disoriented. "Don’t worry, the fault was mine alone. I'm sorry that my husband hit you."

  "I hope that what happened has not caused further problems at home ... your husband seemed somewhat angry." said Cristobal in an insinuating voice.

  Aurora blushed violently, and assumed a defensive attitude.

  "Of course not! We immediately clarified everything and he’s indeed very sorry for what happened!"

  To tell the truth they had not talked about the brawl at the Navarra hacienda again, and Aurora doubted that Lucas had repented the punch he had given Cristobal.

  Cristobal had to hide his regret, he had hoped to find Aurora disappointed and embittered by her husband, instead her defense was too heartfelt and sincere to be a simple lie of convenience. The task is more difficult than I expected, he thought sadly, but I refuse to give up, I want this woman.

  The conversation continued in a quieter way, Cristobal drew on all his oratorical skills and Aurora could not help admitting to herself that he was nice, pleasant and extremely cultured. His stories were always funny and interesting, never banal, his comments smart and witty and his manners gentle and polite.

  Lunchtime arrived and Aurora decided to go home. Doña Viviana invited her to stay with Don Cristobal for lunch, but after launching a glare at her mother Aurora declined the invitation.

  "I'm going to have lunch with my husband, he’s waiting for me," she said standing up.

  She called Yolanda and together they left the Vargas de Coronado’s house.

  On the way back they stopped at the market to buy vegetables and fish to cook and quickly returned home.

  The encounter with Viviana’s daughter had disturbed Don Hector Navarra y Reyes because of the similarity that she had to her mother. For a moment it was as if he had gone back in time, when he used to stealthily go to Viviana’s parents’ house and throw a stone at Viviana’s window to make her look out so he could admire her in all her beauty.

  Fate is playing a bad joke on us, Federico looks a lot like me, Lucas is the spitting image of my brother ... and now Viviana’s daughter. It seemed that fate itself had plotted to revive the same characters in the scene of a tragedy never forgotten.

  It had been a big mistake to think of going to the Vargas de Coronado’s home, knocking on the door and posing as a patient. He had believed that Costantino would not have known it and in the meantime he could have talked to Viviana. A few seconds would have been enough to convince her to meet with him alone. He needed, after all these years, to reveal to her the whole truth and explain what had really happened between him and Raquel. But indecision had betrayed him, nervousness had stopped him, and Viviana’s daughter had surprised him while he was hanging around looking suspicious right outside her parents’ gate.

  I was an idiot! But now he must find a way to get near Viviana and arrange a meeting time. He waited hidden a few streets away and saw Viviana’s daughter accompanied by her maid, the girl with the curly hair and the impertinent look.

  Mingling among the people in the market, he followed the two women for a short distance.

  Viviana doesn’t leave the house very often and to get near her maid is equally difficult, she could reveal everything to Costantino. But perhaps, if I contacted her daughter’s maid giving her a handsome reward, I could convince her to deliver a message to Viviana.

  I need to explain everything, sweet Viviana, for too many years now I have borne the weight of remorse and all the unspoken words ... He had tried to forget, first in Spain, then in Italy, but he had never felt at ease anywhere. No woman had ever really interested him, no place had ever made him feel at home and in the meantime he had aged. In recent years, the desire to return to Mexico had become stronger and stronger, until it pushed him to go to Spain to embark on the steamer that had brought him back here to his native land. I returned to fix everything that I left unfinished in my life. And this time I’ll manage to tell the whole truth!

  Back home, Cristobal locked himself in his studio again and returned to work looking through his father's papers. He proceeded very slowly, because he did not want to overlook anything. He separated each document and after reading each one he carefully cataloged them according to the year from which they originated.

  Cristobal found many papers related to the period when his father lived in Mexico, notes, deeds, statements of defense and much more.

  Time passed and it became dark quickly, he lit the candles to continue his work. He was not to be discouraged, something from his father’s past could help him in the present, he was convinced of this.

  Cristobal took an old folder and opened it. He found several envelopes. His father had been a very methodical man (Cristobal had inherited this quality from his father), so it had probably been his mother who had collected together these documents so disorderly. In fact, he then found some notes written in his mother’s handwriting.

  Cristobal became more careful. These could be the documents and letters dating back to the time when my father was very ill and my mother took care of handling mail.

  He opened several envelopes, but they contained only bills, invoices and fees. His mother had been very careful with money! Then, he saw a yellowed envelope with two postmarks, one Mexican and one Spanish.

  Intrigued he picked it up and turned it over several times. The intended recipient was his father, Don Giacomo de la Vega. There was no sender.

  He carefully opened the envelope and pulled out two sheets of paper. Suddenly his heart began to beat faster. It was a letter from Don Eduardo Navarra y Reyes. Cristobal read it carefully. Dear friend, I am writing to ask for your help again. My life is falling apart, everything I have built up over the years is falling to pieces, destroyed by a pack of lies that have engulfed and blinded me...

  Cristobal, astonished, continued to read the letter. He could hardly believe the contents. He had expected to find a small amount of information that he could use in order to achieve his goal, to have an influence on the Navarra y Reyes and get closer to Aurora. But the document that he had found left him breathless, the information would cause a storm if disclosed.

  In the letter that Cristobal had in his hands were Don Eduardo’s intimate thoughts, his suspicions and confirmations that he had found. Don Eduardo accused Doña Raquel of a terrible deception, he believed that she had been unfaithful to him with his brother and that Federico was in truth his nephew and not his son.

  Cristobal placed the letter on the desk to collect his thoughts. With this news, I have Doña Raquel in the palm of my hand, for my silence I can demand anything ...

  He picked up the second sheet and his hand trembled with emotion. Th
ings were getting better and better, he had in his hands the fate and fortune of the Navarra y Reyes. He had in his possession the ultimate weapon, Don Eduardo’s handwritten last will and testimony that disinherited and disowned Federico and renounced Doña Raquel, to bestow all of his assets to Lucas, his only son.

  Cristobal stood up and began to pace the study. Now he had to find a way of using this vital important information in the best way possible. His mind began its usual analytical procedure that it adopted when he was studying a particularly complex legal problem. First he had to assess the impact that the disclosure of the information would have. Obviously Doña Raquel and Federico would fall into disgrace, while Lucas would be entitled to all Navarra y Reyes’ inheritance and would become very rich.

  Cristobal knew of Lucas’ economic problems over the purchase of the Zacatecas hacienda. The information he had would do nothing but benefit his rival and cement even further Lucas' bond with Aurora. Without the threat of poverty, it would be almost impossible for Cristobal to find a way to get between them.

  Disclosing the documents was absolutely ruled out, it was not part of his goal. Hide it and enforce it in private with Doña Raquel? Yes, definitely this would be the best solution. That woman would do anything not to have the truth revealed.

  But instinct told him that he had to be very careful and cautious, Raquel Navarra y Reyes could be as dangerous as a poisonous snake.

  He had to protect himself in every way and hide these documents in a safe place. From the moment he spoke with Doña Raquel, the documents would be his salvation and his guarantee of success. If they were to fall into the Navarra y Reyes’ hands, it would be over for me.

  His mind worked feverishly and suddenly he found a solution.

  He went up to his room and took the reliquary that had belonged to his mother. He opened the glass lid and took out the backing, he folded the documents and put them in the display case and closed the lid again, satisfied.

  Tampico’s good priest, Father Julian, will appreciate this gift for the church.