The Forbidden Promise

by Helena Rose

  "In his will, my late husband wrote that since he had discovered that his brother Hector was Lucas’ real father, he would disinherit him. Lucas was obviously aware of the will, and perhaps feared that this secret would be made public."

  "There's something that doesn’t seem clear," objected Don José, "He lost his inheritance a long time ago, why kill Hector now?"

  " I don’t know," Doña Raquel said in a faint voice. "Perhaps to avoid the scandal . No one in town knows the reason why he was disinherited, there are only rumors. I've always wanted to spare him the shame."

  Don José stroked his chin perplexed.

  "Furthermore," Doña Raquel continued, "don’t forget that Lucas grew up, by his own choice, in an environment of criminals and is accustomed to violence. Although I tried in every way to make him stay with us, with Eduardo’s death and the opening of the will, he unfortunately wouldn’t listen to reason and left our home to live who knows how..." and she burst into tears again.

  " Well Ma'am, I’ve taken advantage your kindness and hospitality too long, thank you very much for your cooperation even though I know that it couldn’t have been easy for you."

  Doña Raquel shook her head, stifling a sob, she held out her hand and walked him to the door while Federico enjoyed his mother’s performance.

  "Goodbye Federico and thank you also," Don José said before leaving.

  When the door closed, a smile reappeared on Doña Raquel’s hard face.

  "This time son we'll get him out of the way once and for all! He’ll end his days rotting in jail."

  Federico downed the rest of his Cognac and said, "You are unrivalled, mother!"

  Raquel smiled with satisfaction.

  "Now I’m just awaiting Penelope’s report ... If she’s also been successful that bastard will have been destroyed permanently."

  In the meantime, Don José returned to the barracks. As soon as he got to his office, he decided to issue an arrest warrant for Lucas.

  He ordered a detachment of police to position themselves at the road entrance to the town.

  If Doña Viviana was right, Lucas would be back the next day and they would be able to arrest him without going to Zacatecas.

  The Vargas de Coronado’s maids helped Doña Viviana and Aurora to carry their luggage out of the house.

  "Let's go Aurora, the carriage is ready and Cristobal is already waiting," said Doña Viviana.

  "Here I am." In her black mourning dress, Aurora slowly descended the stairs. Her face pale and her eyes still puffy from crying all night.

  She seemed like an angel to Cristobal, he helped her into the carriage, and then took a seat beside her, "Let's go!" He ordered the coachman.

  The sun was just peeking over the horizon and the first rays had already lit up the cathedral’s facade that loomed majestically in the central square.

  Aurora watched the town rush by in front of her eyes while deep in her soul she still hoped that Lucas would arrive, stop the carriage, explain everything to her, tell her that he loved her and take her away with him ... But this would not happened today and maybe never.

  They reached the station and boarded the train. Lucas you broke my heart, I’ll never forgive you.

  In Zacatecas, when Lucas returned with the money, the revolt at the mine was luckily suppressed and the workers went back to work.

  They had to proceed with the extraction of silver. Now the load was more important than ever, as it would make the difference between failure and wealth.

  Now I have to think about my wife, I’ve already delayed too long ... Aurora don’t leave me I beg you! I have to explain everything to you!

  Lucas rode fast towards Tampico, his heart in his throat, the wind blew through his black hair, the impetus and the anxiety to reach Aurora made him almost fly, taking the horse to its limits.

  After the long ride, he saw in the distance a detachment of police and pulled the reins vigorously towards himself, he did not suspect these men were waiting for him.

  When they recognized him, they leveled their rifles and Lucas did not even have time to pull his gun from his belt.

  "Lucas Navarra y Reyes, you're under arrest! Get off the horse!" They ordered him.

  He looked around, the vast surrounding plain had little shelter and did not allow for a safe escape.

  There were too many police to attempt a melee and in any case his reaction would probably have unleashed a hail of bullets.

  He let go of the reins and dismounted. In a few moments three policemen were on him searching him while another held him at gunpoint.

  "What do you accuse me of?"

  " Of murder ..." the highest ranking policeman said.

  " Murder? Of whom?" He asked in amazement.

  " Of Don Costantino Vargas de Coronado and Don Hector Navarra y Reyes!"

  My uncle in Mexico? When did he come back? And what was he doing in that chapel with my father in law? My God, murder ... they were murdered!

  Lucas did not react while they handcuffed his hands behind his back.

  "I assure you that you are making a terrible mistake!" He exclaimed. Someone has set a trap for me, it's all too strange!

  He could not imagine, however, that this arrest was costing him not just his freedom but also his love for Aurora. My love, do not leave me...

  Chapter 19

  Mexico City’s cheerful air helped Aurora to lessen some of the pain that constantly throbbed in her chest.

  Although she could not attend parties with her cousin as she was still in mourning, she took long walks in Cristobal’s company who was very considerate towards her.

  Cristobal was undoubtedly a fascinating, intelligent and kind man who would make any woman happy.

  She felt at ease with him, and had even had the courage to tell him what had happened the night she had decided to leave Lucas. She had not felt any shame opening her heart to him, she felt calm and safe when she was in his company. Cristobal had consoled her with touching words, both for the painful loss of her father, and for the terrible wound of love that Lucas had inflicted. Just when I trusted him, when I thought he was the man of my life and I was most vulnerable, he broke my heart...

  Cristobal, meanwhile, was trying to fill the void that Aurora felt within herself, timidly, never imposing and with extreme delicacy, he assumed the role of confidant and friend at the time when she needed it more than anything else.

  In a short time they had started to use first names and this had made Cristobal hope that one day he could win Aurora’s love.

  Aurora looked at him as they strolled through the Alameda Central park the sun was shining on his blond hair and perfect profile, a gust of cold wind made her tighten her hold on his arm and he smiled at her.

  "Aurora," Cristobal said, "I think you understand the deep and intense feeling that I have for you ..."

  She parted her lips to say something but he put a finger gently on her mouth.

  "Let me continue please..."

  He stopped in front of her and took her hands in his.

  "I know that maybe it's quite forward of me, but I know I could make you happy ... Give me the chance to prove it. I love you Aurora and if at the moment you don’t feel the same maybe one day..."

  His piercing brown eyes stared at her determined.

  " So much has happened Cristobal ... I don’t feel ready..." She murmured.

  "Not now ... when the mourning period has passed ... I'll wait even if it means waiting a hundred years."

  "But I'm married ..." said Aurora finding it extremely hard to control her tears.

  "We’ll annul the wedding ..." he said squeezing her hands. "You forget that I’m a legal expert, I could find some quirk of canon law to declare your marriage invalid... You shouldn’t feel tied to a man who betrayed you and crushed your feelings so shamefully."

  Aurora felt her heart thump. I could annul the wedding ... I wrote that damn pact just to guarantee me a way out , she thought sadly , but am I really ready to use it?
Am I really determined to be permanently separated from Lucas? She would never forgive him for the terrible betrayal, consummated in their marital bed, but at heart, she knew she still loved him...

  "Give me time to think, please Cristobal..." She said, looking down.

  "All the time you need." Said Cristobal, bringing her hands to his lips he brushed them with a gentle kiss.

  Aurora blushed and walked on in silence. Cristobal, a real gentleman, said nothing and did not pressure her any more.

  When she arrived home, however, Aurora decided it was time to make a decision, after all, why delay any longer? Doubt was worse than the most terrible truth. Why had Lucas not come looking for her? Every time she went out, she expected to find him waiting for her when she came home, proud and handsome, ready to declare to the whole world his love for her ...

  So was it true that he was already tired of her? How could his caresses and passionate kisses have been false? How could he have lied like that without her suspecting anything?

  Perhaps her mother and her cousin were right, it was time to turn over a new page.

  But it was not easy to give up the man who haunted her dreams and whose only thought still made her heart beat faster.

  She decided to make one last attempt, if it’s all been a farce I want him to tell me personally, she thought.

  She would not however be able to bear the humiliation of going to look for him to feel rejected once more.

  She decided to write one last letter, if within a month she had not received a response she would understand that everything was really finished and would rely on the pact to ask for an annulment of their marriage before the Holy Rota.

  With the help of Dolores she was able to send the letter to Zacatecas without Cristobal and her mother knowing, given that they controlled her every move...out of love of course ... but this sometimes made her feel like a prisoner in a gilded cage. Her mother, in particular, acted very strangely, she even hid the newspapers with the excuse that she just wanted to keep her quiet and rested.

  Aurora knew that her mother sometimes wrote to Don Josè Pereira to know the status of the investigation, but Viviana had never let her read the replies. She simply said that there was nothing definite yet, that the investigations were still on going, but there was no news of any kind.

  Aurora sighed restless. If only I could forget everything... if only my father were here with me...

  She had a great desire to return to work, to start over and not think about anything.

  At the Zacatecas hacienda, life was strangely quiet despite the tragedies that had befallen in the last days. Santos tried in every way to stand in for Lucas in the supervision of the mine, but it was increasingly difficult to continue to work without him. Pablo, on the other hand, had been sent to Tampico to assist Lucas in his terrible situation and to act as a liaison with Santos. The two exchanged telegrams almost daily and Pablo took them to Lucas to keep him updated with the silver extraction. Yolanda remained in Zacatecas with the task of managing the house, despite wishing with all of her heart to be beside her beloved Lucas. But her mind was infinitely sad. And that stupid wife of his left him right when he needed her most... that phony! I’ll never abandon him... And so she spent her days, writing letters to her beloved, daydreaming about her future with him. Sighing, imagining the day when Lucas was released from prison, declared innocent, and he came to her to show his gratitude, swearing eternal love...

  She was distracted from her thoughts by the arrival of one of the young peones.

  The maid in charge of buying supplies in the city, having returned from the post office, walked into the kitchen and handed three envelopes to Yolanda. Yolanda went to put them on Lucas’ desk in his office, pausing to caress the back of the leather chair on which Lucas used to sit.

  She arranged the envelopes neatly on his desk, looking at each one quickly, when her attention fell on one particular envelope. The sender's name was Aurora.

  She weighed the letter on the open palm of her hand. Why had the mistress written here? Maybe she didn’t know that Lucas was in prison? Maybe it was a farewell letter? Or maybe she was trying to get back with him? Yolanda thought.

  She did not know exactly what had happened the night that Aurora had fled but she was sure that her Aunt Penelope had separated them with some deception. The letter was perhaps a desperate attempt to get back with Lucas.

  She could not allow it, the distance between the two, even if provoked by injustice, was her only and perhaps last chance to win Lucas, by standing near him while he was in captivity and keeping him from remembering Aurora.

  With a decisive gesture, she tore up the letter and hid the pieces in her apron pocket. I’ll never let that woman come back to torment him ... Lucas will be only mine! Mine and nobody else’s! Aurora has brought only pain and humiliation into his life, I’ll not let her continue making him suffer...

  In Tampico’s prison, the hours passed very slowly. The loneliness, the perpetual darkness illuminated only by dim torches and, the discomfort all made life unbearable for Lucas. But the greatest torment was the separation from Aurora and the belief that she now hated him. My love, I didn’t betray you... Please come back to me! Who knows what you're doing now, where are you? Why had she not come to see me? Did she really not care about me anymore? But the blow she had suffered had been hard, Lucas had to admit it. To the point that perhaps it did not matter to her that he was rotting away in a squalid prison. And all because of that damned witch, who since he had been little had abused and obstructed him... How stupid I was to believe that she was repentant and to accept her as a maid! But Penelope’s performance had been fantastic, there was no doubt and he had fallen for it like a poor fool.

  If only I could get out of here! I’d just like to talk to you, to convince you of my innocence...

  Suddenly he heard the sound of footsteps on the stairs and along the narrow corridor. Lucas got up from the pallet and looked out through the bars. He saw a female figure accompanied by a guard, walking along the dark passage and getting closer to his cell. When she was close to the bars, he recognized her.

  He could not forget that pale and somewhat fascinating face, those deep black eyes like two dark wells and the smooth, shiny ebony hair now streaked with white.

  "What have you come to do Doña Raquel?" Lucas asked, irate. "To make sure that the chains are tight so I can’t escape? Or are you afraid that I’m not suffering enough? "

  Raquel smiled coldly, staring straight into his eyes. She could not and did not want to conceal the joy she felt at seeing her hated stepson in these conditions, locked in a filthy cell like any wretched offender. But beyond enjoying Lucas’ humiliation, in truth, she had gone out of her way to personally come to the prison to deliver to him the coup de grace, to enjoy the devastating effect that the news she was going to give him would cause.

  " Yes, I'm here for that too, I can’t deny it." Doña Raquel as she moved closer to the bars. "For the rest I always knew you were no good and that you deserved nothing else but prison."

  Lucas did not look down, challenging those terrible black eyes.

  "But I came mainly to inform you of something that I'm sure will be very interesting to you." She continued coldly.

  "There's nothing you can tell me that might interest me. You don’t exist for me.” Retorted Lucas.

  "Wait to hear before speaking!” Raquel coughed to clear her throat, "I came to tell you that your dear wife, Aurora, has left the city with Don Cristobal."

  She watched him intently trying to catch a glimpse of a flash of pain in his face.

  Lucas gripped the bars of the cell even tighter, trying not to show his distress.

  "Where did they go?" Lucas hissed with anger.

  "I don’t know." Doña Raquel smiled, "And you can’t do anything about it, because you’ll have to spend years in this filthy cell!"

  "And why did you come to tell me this?"

  Doña Raquel's face became serious, her eyes
staring at him cruel and complacent.

  "Because I want to see you suffer so much, that you curse the day you were born."

  "No ma’am!" He said glaring at her with his deep green eyes. "I’ll get out of here and it will be you who will be cursing that day!"

  At that moment another visitor arrived accompanied by a guard. Doña Raquel watched him come closer as she pulled her black cloak around her and walked towards the exit but not before she launched a last contemptuous look at Lucas.

  The new visitor was none other than Pablo.

  "Good morning Mr. Lucas," cried Pablo happy to see him, "You had a visitor?"

  Pablo turned to look at the woman walking away.

  "Yes, to make sure the noose is tight around my neck!" said Lucas grinning. "It was my dear step-mother, Doña Raquel Navarra y Reyes.”

  Lucas tried to recover quickly from the blow he had received and to calm down. He did not want to be seen so stricken by anyone.

  "Are you all right?" Pablo asked curiously.

  "Yes everything is alright," Lucas said, swallowing hard. "What news do you bring me?”

  "I bring you news from Zacatecas, Santos says he has almost completed the sale of the second load of silver, which means a large amount of cash will be deposited in the bank, more than you thought, seeing the current market price."

  "Finally some good news, Pablo!" Lucas said, resting his forehead on the bars.

  "It's not over! Don José is questioning a lot of people in town on your behalf and everyone is saying that you are loved and respected, not only by your men, but also by the locals. They say you’ve always helped the unfortunate and that you’re certainly not a murderer. Your lawyer, I mean the one appointed by the court, says that he’ll come to see you tomorrow to try to verify your movements on the day of the fire. Unfortunately he can’t find the banker that you met in the uninhabited house anywhere and so your alibi doesn’t hold up ... Are you listening?" Pablo suddenly asked, seeing Lucas apparently deep in thought.