The Countess Of Assis - Romance, revenge and ambition during the Second Reign

by PAULO FOSCHI, JOÃO; Sobrinho, Vanusa;

  “Again with your advances!”

  “I know you want me! Just like or even more than the first time!” Rafael could smell the heliotrope scent that was coming from Lorena’s neck.

  “Let me go! If you don't release me, I will scream!”

  “You can scream! Who will hear you all the way in here?”

  Lorena didn't have time to emit any other sound, because her friend’s husband stole another kiss from her.

  “Rafael Abrantes! You’re wretched!”

  He laughed.

  “Why do you deny what you feel for me? I can still remember you ripping your dress’ sleeve, to let me know how much you desired me...”

  Lorena blushed.

  “I did that on impulse, nothing else...”

  “You can deny as much as you want! That only makes this more entertaining” Rafael was pleased with that conquering game.

  “Oh, this is what I am for you, isn't it? A fun game!” She said, irritated.

  Rafael hugged her from behind, feeling now the delicious scent of her hair.

  “You know it is not true...”

  Lorena got away from his embrace.

  “I demand that you stop sending me those notes!”

  “But what notes are you talking about?” he smiled, without understanding.

  “Don't pretend you don’t know! You know very well what I’m talking about!”

  Lorena took one of the many notes she carried in her purse.

  “But what is this?” Rafael questioned, smiling. “I can see that you have other admirers besides myself...”

  She was furious.

  “Stop being silly! I have no time for jokes!”

  “But I am being serious. This handwriting is not mine!” Rafael affirmed, exhaling.

  “What are you telling me? So... these notes... They are not from you?” Atílio’s wife felt the ground open under her.

  “Nope. Although they are signed with my name, I was not the one who wrote them.”

  She felt the world might be coming to an end. If it had not been Rafael, then someone else besides Fanny knew about this alleged involvement. The Countess of Assis, not withstanding the pressure, put her hand on her chest and mumbled:

  “My God, this is the end of me!”

  (Six in the evening. Angelus hour.)

  Lorena sat back down on the bench, desperate.

  “If this is not from you, then who else knows about this?”

  Rafael also showed that he was worried. He sat down next to her to help her organize her ideas.

  “I thought nobody knew what had happened between us. Did you tell it to your husband?”

  “Never! Do you really think that if Atílio knew about this he would have the same courtesy towards you?” she answered, visibly shaken.

  “So, who else could know about this?” Rafael asked, worried.

  Lorena knew that only Fanny knew what had happened between them, so that, besides her, there was no possibility of any other person knowing about their involvement... Unless...”

  “The note! Where is the note that Fanny gave to you?”

  “Well, she didn’t give me any note, if that’s what you want to know! She only told me that you would be here, waiting for me today at this time...”

  The mistress realized she had been deceived by the governess.

  “That cursed traitor! I have to go home!” she declared, nervous.

  Rafael held her by the arm.

  “You cannot go like that... Besides, don't you see it is going to rain?”

  It was already possible to notice a light rain falling from the sky. Suddenly, there were thunders and even lightening. The rain became a storm, with heavy drops falling on the grass and on the bench next to them.

  “I need to go home! I cannot stay any longer!”

  “Don't be foolish! With all this rain that has started to fall, it will be impossible to get to your house safely. The roads are full of potholes!”

  They run to the entrance of the empty mansion. Rafael covered her with his coat, even though Lorena protested. The rain became stronger yet, leaving the landscape dark and lifeless. There was no source of light, besides the one coming from the lightening that would occasionally cut through the dark sky.

  (Eight in the evening.)

  Lorena could no longer wait. She wanted to get back to her mother-in-law’s house, seek Fanny and figure out who was the author of the false notes.

  The rain diminished a little.

  “I cannot stay here another minute! I have to go back to the Santiago residence...”

  “No! You will stay with me until the rain stops completely. I would not allow you to leave here in such a storm by yourself”, Rafael declared.

  “You are the last person suitable to accompany me! As if it was not enough to know that someone else knows about this whole story... Anyhow, I want you to disappear from my life, forget I exist!”

  When she finished saying this, Lorena run in the direction of her carriage. Rafael’s protests didn't matter... there was something more important she needed to do at that moment: seek Fanny! The mistress ordered the horseman to go as fast as he could towards Mrs. Veridiana’s house.

  Upon arrival, she didn't even care about how she looked, with her clothes all damp from the rain; on the contrary, she looked for her governess everywhere in the house.

  “Fanny! Fanny!”

  Slave Luana came to her rescue.

  “What happened, milady? Look at the state of your clothes!”

  “Have you seen Fanny? I need to talk to her immediately!” Lorena asked, already feeling her heart beating uncontrollably.

  “Mrs. Fanny has not returned yet...”

  “What do you mean? She said she would be back at the end of the afternoon, and it is almost suppertime! Where are Mrs. Veridiana and Mr. Donato?”

  “Milady is in the little chapel, and Mr. Donato has not left his room...”

  “All right, then... come and help me to take this dress off!”

  They went up to Lorena’s chamber and she threw herself on her bed, feeling herself fighting for air. She was nervous, distressed.

  “Fast, you useless person! Just open all the damn buttons!”

  “Milady, how this is tight!” Luana complained, loosing the gown for her. “In the state you are, you shouldn't use a corset any longer!”

  “Just do what I tell you, or else I will put you in the stocks!”

  When Lorena got rid of her dress, she finally felt her breathing come back to normal. She sent the slave away and dressed herself in a white nightgown; and even with her hair all wet, she decided to stay laying down on her bed.

  “And why doesn't Fanny come back?”

  Nothing worked. Not even from Rafael she had gotten any information that would help get him in trouble.

  Suddenly, the door was opened. It was Mrs. Veridiana.

  “But what a petulant woman you are! How do you dare to enter my room without my permission?” Lorena questioned, furious.

  “I already told you that this house is mine. I do whatever I please!”

  Mrs. Veridiana was also dressed as if she was ready to go to bed — with her nightgown and a nightcap on her head covering her white hair. However, Lorena noticed a different shine in her eyes.

  “What do you want?”

  “Give you some news!” she answered, mysterious.

  “What about? Nothing you do or not do is of my interest!”

  “This piece of news I have you will want to know about, I guarantee you!”

  Lorena got up from the bed. She needed to be standing up to face her mother-in-law.

  “What do you have to tell me, then?”

  “I want to announce that Efigênia will no longer work here.”

  The Countess of Assis didn’t hide her shock.

  “Fanny doesn't work here anymore? But who gave you any authority on this matter? She is my governess!”

  “She isn’t anymore! In fact, she was never your emplo
yee...”

  Lorena could not believe what she was hearing. So, Fanny was simply...

  “Efigênia worked for me! She was my eyes and my ears in Atílio’s house.”

  Lorena’s suspicions were confirmed. Now, she had the confirmation that she had been deceived by the one who had sworn loyalty to her.

  “Wretched! Shameless!” the owner of the house, pronounced, with hatred. “I told you that nobody messed around with my family name! Here is the proof!”

  Mrs. Veridiana retrieved from her bosom the note that her daughter-in-law had written — the ultimate proof that would incriminate her before her husband, in which she had set up a date with her lover.

  It was Lorena’s turn to defend herself.

  “This note does not belong to me! This is a set up you and that wretched woman did, the one you put in my own house to spy on me. You are the shameless one here!”

  “You can do whatever you want! Cry! Pull your hair out! And to think that you got involved with judge Henrique’s son, another shameless individual! He was the father of the dead infant, wasn’t he? Come on! Confess it!”

  “I don’t owe you any explanation! This is all a big lie! These are slanders you are making up to destroy me!”

  The mother-in-law and the daughter-in-law started a heated argument, so much so that, from that bedroom, anyone who was in the same floor of the house would hear the disrespectful exchange between the two women. Donato was in his room dozing off. However, with all that noise, he woke up startled. He heard voices he recognized as belonging to Mrs. Veridiana and Lorena. What could be happening? He got up from his bed and swiftly walked to the hallway; making sure nobody noticed him there, he put his ear on Lorena’s bedroom door where the women were fighting, trying to know what was going on.

  “You betrayed my son, you shameless bitch!”

  “You are crazy! You’ve lost your mind completely!”

  “Oh, this is exactly what you want, so that I may leave you alone, isn't it? So you may continue with this shameful affair! What a humiliation, my God!”

  Lorena was tired of listening to so many accusations. She couldn't deny anymore what she was feeling. However, the only thing she was sure about was that her husband trusted and loved her enough!

  “You can do whatever you want! Atílio loves me! No matter what I may have done, he will forgive me!”

  “How naïve you are, silly girl! Do you really think that Atílio will forgive your betrayal?”

  “He doesn’t need to know anything because he will never know about it!” Lorena seemed to have gone crazy. “And you will give me back this note now!”

  “Give it back to you? I will make sure myself that this note gets sent to Atílio. He will know everything and you will be doomed!”

  “Oh, really? And will he know about the arrangement you did sticking that opportunistic witch inside our home, to surround our house?”

  Mrs. Veridiana rushed to the door with the intent of keeping Lorena locked up in her room, but she was faster than her mother-in-law and the two women scrambled towards the door.

  “Give me back the note, you witch!” Lorena said, infuriated.

  “You easy woman! What will society and the Imperial Family think of our family? That the Countesses of Assis are nothing more than a bunch of whores?”

  The bedroom door opened with all the banging the women were giving on it. Donato, who had been listening to everything, retreated himself to the corner, hiding. He wouldn't miss the opportunity to know what was going on in the Santiago residence. This is more fun than the Alcazar!, Alma’s husband thought.

  “You will never be welcome in any other house of the society. You will never step inside the Imperial Palace again!” Mrs. Veridiana threatened her.

  “Shut up! You are nothing more than a crazy old lady, a dissimulated nun who does nothing else but pray to a dead god!”

  “Heretic! You will burn in hell with all the other whores like you!”

  Lorena thought of Fanny. That wretched woman would also pay for having betrayed her. She had pretended to be her friend and even had kissed her hand, like Judas had done to Jesus, and everything because of money.

  “How much did that corrupt bitch receive to betray me?”

  “Two thousand! It was very cheap! I would have paid way more just to see your destruction!”

  Two thousand? the accused thought. But what an insolent bitch! Hadn’t Fanny thought for even a second that she could gain much more money if she had remained faithful to her? Lorena remembered how stupid she had been for giving such an important secret in the hands of somebody she didn't know. Ah, but Fanny would regret immensely for that betrayal!

  “That’s it! I’m done with your provocations! Tomorrow morning, when Alma arrives, I will tell her everything. You better pack up your belongings, because I will send you to your parents’ house. That’s your place! In the pigsty where you should never had left!”

  To Lorena, that was the last straw, so much so that she advanced towards her mother-in-law again. They started to physically hit each other again, with their hands raised up high, one trying to get the note from the other.

  “Let me go, you idiot!” Mrs. Veridiana screamed.

  “Give me back that note! You will regret for what you just said! I swear!”

  Lorena noticed that they were very close to the stairs. Any sudden movement could be fatal...

  Donato was watching everything, hiding himself in the shadowy hallway. Should he intervene in the fight or should he stay put and wait for the result of such a heated fight?

  “You are just an unhappy person! You never loved or were loved and, for that reason, release all your unhappiness on your children! You don't even know them!”

  “And who are you to teach me such moral lessons? You who are such an adulterous bitch! You are a whore!”

  “Ah, you have no idea how it feels to be head over heels for someone! It is true, you are right! I don't deny what happened between Rafael and me, but I never lied to my husband! He knew I loved another man and accepted me, nonetheless. Pregnant!”

  “Atílio is a weak man! A cuckold!”

  “Mrs. Veridiana, I am not kidding! Give me back this note or I will...”

  “What are you going to do? Kill me?” the old lady challenged. Lorena had an advantage point from her position facing the stairway and the hallway. She had no more time to think. If she didn’t do something, everything would be lost. She attacked Mrs. Veridiana again, who had placed herself right in front of her. They went at each other again.

  “You are despicable! I will see you suffering the worst of punishments!”

  “You are wrong, Mrs. Veridiana! What you will never see is my triumph, my glory!”

  “You make me laugh! How could I be wrong?” her mother-in-law asked, unaware of her own danger.

  It was now or never! Lorena had made her decision.

  “Because the dead don't speak!”

  And when she finished saying that, Lorena pushed her away. The old lady had no idea how close she had been standing to the mansion’s staircase and, losing her balance, she was thrown down the stairs. A younger woman would not have supported the impact of such a fall, specially rolling down such a long stairway. Certainly, some bones would be broken, including the neck. When Mrs. Veridiana’s heavy body finally hit the bottom of the stairs, Lorena leaned against the wall, covered in sweat and struggling to breath, without knowing if she had fulfilled her goal. She came down slowly, leaning on the handrail and feeling her whole body hurt, because of the suffered aggressions. Her wet and disheveled hair made her look even more like a ghostly and maddened figure, while it was possible to still hear the last groans emitted by the owner of the house, who was shaking in agony.

  The daughter-in-law approached and was still able to hear the moribund mumbling her last words, her voice already failing her.

  “I hate you, Lorena... I hate you!”

  And saying that, Mrs. Veridiana stopped breathing.


  Luana, the slave, run to the bottom of the stairs from where a loud noise had been heard; and all she was able to do was to scream and stop frozen in her steps when she saw her mistress’s body lying there on the ground, with her googly and lifeless eyes still open.

  TO BE CONTINUED...

  AND IN THE NEXT PAGES OF

  The Countess of Assis

  Romance, Revenge and Ambition during the Second Reign

  BOOK II

  From the Culmination to the Downfall

  Chapter I

  Mrs. Veridiana’s funeral was not overlooked by those who knew the renowned Santiago family. Many went to accompany the distinguished coffin, which would be buried in the cemetery located in the surroundings of the Andaraí. From her close friends to those who had never seen her... many were came to say goodbye to the one who had enriched the Carioca society with her life, since the 1850s. Her passing was even announced in the Jornal do Commercio! Princess Isabel, who unfortunately could not come to the funeral, sent in a flower arrangement accompanied with a sorrowful sympathy message.

  The Baron of Cotegipe was also present, among many other politicians and ladies of the society who came to Mrs. Emília’s state, Countess of Assis’ youngest sister’s house, where the deceased was being mourned. Evidently, a group of weeping women were also present, recommending the good lady’s soul to God, Mrs. Veridiana da Veiga Santiago — an exemplary mother, devout wife and an excellent mother!

  Cotegipe had just finished greeting one of his allies when he crossed path with the deceased’s daughter-in-law. She seemed sad, with a heavy face and was wearing a dark color gown, which was not enough to make her appearance less dazzling and radiant. Nothing, not even the shadow of death that could be seen in that place, could overshadow the unique beauty of that young lady.

  “Mrs. Lorena, my most sincere sympathies!”

  “Thank you, Mr. Baron! You have no idea how hard it has been to us to go through this irreparable loss!” and Lorena forced a tear to come down, which was quickly dabbed on with the handkerchief she was holding in her hand. “Mrs. Veridiana wasn’t simply my mother-in-law, but she was like my second mother!”