The Forbidden Promise

by Helena Rose

  Lucas ventured, "I would like to talk to you, Aurora. "

  "Let’s talk," said Aurora haughtily.

  She’s certainly not making things easy for me Lucas thought demoralized.

  "I would like to apologize for Yolanda’s behavior last night, she was very rude to you."

  " I don’t understand what you're talking about," said Aurora biting into a biscuit.

  " Yes, well ... she nearly knocked you over when she entered and then she spoke of a massage ..."

  " Ah, yes, and did it do you good? Are you feeling better this morning?"

  " Yes, that is no."

  " Yes or no?"

  "Yes, I'm better."

  Aurora gave him a withering look and Lucas raised his hands in front of himself as if to defend himself "Even without the massage I mean, the hot bath brought me back to life!" He gave a shy smile.

  "I'm glad. Now I must go, I’ve a lot to do, if you'll excuse me." Said Aurora as she stood up.

  "Wait, listen to me for a moment." begged Lucas

  Aurora turned to stare at him angrily, "What else do you need to say to me?"

  " I'm sorry, Yolanda was unforgivable, but I scolded her harshly and she’ll not behave that way anymore." He said in one breath.

  "Well, learning some good manners will not do her any harm." Said Aurora taking a few steps toward the door, then she turned and added, "Anyway, I would ask you not to arrange with her for certain services in my presence. The fact that our marriage is a sham doesn’t mean that I don’t want, however, to maintain some semblance of decorum. I've already told you and I’ll repeat it. You can have any woman you want but at least have the decency not to put your pastimes under my nose. Have a nice day."

  Lucas swore frustrated. His attempt to remedy the mess Yolanda had created would have to continue that evening.

  Yolanda, who had heard everything from behind the half-open door, put her hands over her mouth in surprise. She could not believe her ears. What does it mean the marriage is a sham? I said it was odd that they slept in separate rooms! So if that woman doesn’t love my Lucas I can still manage to get rid of her!

  She walked into the kitchen smiling satisfied.

  " Hello, you’re happy this morning Yolanda!" Greeted Pablo who had recently been taken on at the hacienda for the heavier household chores.

  " Yes, I am," said Yolanda cheerfully.

  " May I ask what’s making you so happy?" asked Pablo

  " Nothing that might be of interest to you, said Yolanda annoyed. "It’s better if you think about carrying on with your work!"

  "Don’t act you were the mistress!" He teased her, "you're just a servant like I am!"

  Who knows, maybe one day I’ll truly become the mistress of this house, thought Yolanda, sooner or later I’ll succeed in kicking that imposter out of this house and from my Lucas’s life!

  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.