The Forbidden Promise

by Helena Rose

" 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 suspi
ciously.

  " 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.

  That same eventful morning, Lucas and Cristobal met at the appointed hour at Father Julian’s church.

  Father Julian was not there. The maid explained that he had gone to the convent’s clinic for the poor to give the last rites. They therefore waited for him in the sacristy.

  Father Julian was not long in returning, looking somewhat downcast.

  "Is everything all right Father?" Cristobal asked.

  "Sometimes even for a priest it’s hard to accept our Lord’s decisions," replied Father Julian, making the sign of the cross.

  Lucas interjected, "Is there anything we can do for you?"

  " Nothing son, everything happens because it’s included in our Lord’s plan... But tell me what can I do for you?"

  " Father, do you remember the reliquary that came from Spain that I entrusted to you?" Asked Cristobal.

  Father Julian nodded.

  "Yes, I keep it in the side arch near the statue of St. Joseph," he responded, wondering why Cristobal and Lucas were so interested in the religious relic that Cristobal had offered to the church.

  " Good, I need to have it back for a few minutes," replied Cristobal.

  Father Julian stood up and followed by the two men, went into church. He headed for the central arch and came to the altar dedicated to St. Joseph. From a small alcove in the brick wall he pulled out a small Baroque box in gilded wood and handed it to Cristobal.

  "Son, remember that we mustn’t disturb the sleep of the dead." He warned.

  " No, Father, it doesn’t contain any remains of the blessed dead, but something that will save Lucas’ hacienda."

  Lucas' eyes widened.

  " What do you mean?"

  "Let me explain everything from the beginning, and try to forgive me if I didn’t talk to you about it before!"

  Father Julian, speechless, looked at the two men with astonishment.

  "When I became a lawyer and after the death of my beloved wife, I came here to Mexico to settle some of my father’s affairs and start a new life," continued Cristobal. "I came to Tampico and met your wife. I fell madly in love with her, I can’t deny it, and in the grip of a kind of madness, I decided that I would try everything to win her. After such a long time, since my beloved wife’s death, I finally felt alive again."

  Lucas did not interrupt Cristobal’s confession, even though he felt a flicker of jealousy.

  " Among my father’s documents that I brought from Spain, I found a letter written in Don Eduardo Navarra y Reyes’ own handwriting. It contained a message from your father explaining the recent events that had occurred and a copy of his will. He feared that Doña Raquel would dispose of his last wishes at the time of his death and replace them with others in her favor."

  " The mysterious letter," exclaimed Lucas turned to Father Julian, "Do you remember Father Julian what poor Amparo always used to tell me! The letter that my father had her send in secret just before he died! The letter that would redeem my situation ..."

  "Yes, son, I remember everything," said Father Julian, reminiscing about those days long gone.

  "I never heard anything more about this letter... I've longed for it since I was a child while I lived in hardships! All my childhood dreams were based on that hope, waiting for that moment because I was certain that my father had loved me and had never wanted to hurt me by disinheriting me."

  Cristobal looked at him in the throes of an immense sense of guilt.

  "Unfortunately, my father, Giacomo de la Vega, died shortly after yours and therefore it was I who found Don Eduardo’s last wishes after all those years, right here in Tampico, and due to cowardice and an agreement with Doña Raquel, I didn’t say anything to you about the letter."

  "Doña Raquel?" Lucas asked astonished.

  "Yes. You see, in the real will, your father recognize you as his heir. But I, with the absurd aim of stealing your wife, proposed to Doña Raquel to keep the secret as long as she helped me to separate you at any cost," sa
id Cristobal embarrassed and mortified.

  A flash of anger crossed Lucas’ emerald eyes.

  "So the staging of that woman in my bed in Zacatecas was the result of a plan executed by Penelope Robles on the orders of Doña Raquel!"

  Cristobal nodded sadly, with deep regret.

  " Yes, and all in accordance with the agreement that I myself proposed. I acted like a coward and for that, I beg your pardon, Lucas. I was envious of you, of Aurora’s love and I couldn’t accept that your life was spent happily at her side. I don’t deserve anything, but hopefully one day you’ll be able to forgive me. I’m deeply ashamed and I wish I had realized before that you are a sincere and honest man, to the point of risking your life to save an enemy."

  Lucas had listened silently, swallowed and pointed to the shrine.

  "But where is the will? "

  Cristobal opened the reliquary and pulled out two sheets of yellowed paper folded in thirds and handed them to Lucas who read them avidly.

  "I can’t believe it!" He exclaimed when he had finished. "My father had discovered that Federico was not his son and it was Federico that he disowned not me. Do you know that this sheet of paper would have meant that I would have had a totally different life? I wouldn’t have had to fight tooth and nail to emerge from poverty and I wouldn’t have had to grow up in hardship and deprivation!"

  Father Julian intervened.

  " Son, you’ve become a respectable man and you’ve managed to make your way even without your father’s legacy."

  "Yes, but I was deprived of my position and everything that my father had meant for me and this I can’t forget," Lucas said angrily.

  "Remember that forgiveness is the most important Christian virtue," replied Father Julian, raising his eyes to the sky.

  "If you want to sue me for concealment of the will, you know that you have the right. I won’t oppose, "said Cristobal.

  Lucas ran a hand through his black hair and then rested it on Cristobal’s shoulder.

  "No, in another situation, I would have at least punched you without a doubt ... But there is no reason now, you’ve given me news that makes me very happy and thanks to you I’ve finally discovered the truth.”