The Forbidden Promise (21 page)

After the waltz, Cristobal
held Aurora in his arms a moment too long.
"Wait. I’d like to walk with you." Said Cristobal.
Aurora did not have time to respond and felt herself being drawn away from the
dance floor on the opposite side from where Lucas was.
" Don Cristobal, wait." Aurora gasped, but Cristobal did not listen,
he was heading towards a side path.
" Don’t be afraid,
Doña
Aurora, I’d just like to take a walk in
your company."
Aurora turned to look back, but chose not to protest vigorously so as not to
provoke a scandal.
"You're a good dancer," Cristobal continued. "You dance
wonderfully."
"I learned in Mexico City, while I was at college." Said Aurora,
feeling uncomfortable.
" You attended college? What did you study?" Inquired Cristobal.
" Medicine. I’m a doctor." Replied Aurora.
" Amazing, I’ve never personally met a woman doctor before. Even in Europe
they are quite rare."
He slowed his pace and began to look at her.
" You are an amazing woman." He said softly.
Aurora felt herself blush. Cristobal was afraid he had overstepped and tried to
remedy the situation.
"I mean, it’s not everybody who studies and becomes a doctor defying all
social conventions. You are to be admired."
"I thank you, you're very gracious, but I’ve not done anything
extraordinary, it’s just a passion. My father was generous in allowing me to
pursue my dream.” Explained  Aurora.
Cristobal took her hand and said, "Your husband is a very lucky man."
Aurora, embarrassed, could not answer. Lucas' face flashed before her eyes and
her heart softened immediately.
Why am I doing this to him? He'll be looking
for me.
Then, all of a sudden, she remembered Yolanda’s biting and cruel
words.
A single woman is not enough for him, you have to get used to it, it
will happen more and more often.
No, she would never get used to it, not
after having given him all of herself, not having exceeded the limits of the
pact that she had created, the same secret pact that he had not hesitated to
disclose to the four winds.
Cristobal moved closer, letting go of her hand and taking hold of her
shoulders.
" I don’t know what's happening to me,
Doña
Aurora, but I can’t
stay away from you."
Aurora tried to pull away.
"I beg you, let's go back to the others."
"Just a minute." Cristobal whispered, looking at her entranced.
Then a voice in an icy tone interrupted Cristobal.
"Leave my wife alone." Shouted Lucas.
Lucas quickly reached them and grabbed Cristobal by the arm pulling him away.
Aurora moved immediately away from Lucas, terrified by his furious expression.
" Lucas I beg you, don’t make a scene." Aurora pleaded, but Lucas
just glared at her, without bothering to answer.
" Let me go immediately." Cristobal ordered, while looking at his
rival with disgust. "I'm not doing anything improper."
" Oh no?" Lucas started to laugh, a laugh that was not amused, but
rather threatening. "And what do you think courting someone else’s wife
is? You
’
re despicable!"
"I’ll not allow you!" Said Cristobal, freeing himself from Lucas’
grasp.
"You don’t have the power to forbid me anything," Lucas hissed.
Aurora, frightened, tried to intervene.
" Lucas, please, let's go, it's all a misunderstanding." but Lucas
did not hear her.
" You’re rude and vulgar." Said Cristobal, staring at Lucas
scornfully, "A beggar that by chance alone has managed to gain a respected
name."
The last barriers that were holding back the tide of anger inside Lucas gave
way with this insult. Lucas pulled back his arm and punched Cristobal in the
face.
Aurora cried out in terror, while Cristobal lost his balance and fell to the ground.
Almost immediately Cristobal stood up and launched himself at Lucas who was
waiting for him on guard.
The disturbance, and Aurora’s cries, drew other guests. From among them
Federico pushed through.
" What are you doing? Are you crazy?" Federico said as he got between
the two men who were continuing to fight. With some effort Federico managed to
pull Cristobal away that continued to tug Lucas by his arm.
" I’ll not be insulted by a barbarian," cried Cristobal.
" You shouldn’t stoop to the same level." The comment in a
mellifluous tone came from
Doña
Raquel. The woman stepped forward from
the crowd and her stern gaze rested on Lucas.
" Don Cristobal, I beg you to forget about the incident,"
Doña
Raquel
continued.
"If you ask me to,
Doña
Raquel." Cristobal gasped, as he wiped
a drop of blood coming from his split lip.
Aurora, upset, had been petrified, unable to speak. She suddenly felt a touch
on her shoulder.
"Daughter, what happened?" Asked Don Costantino who had attracted her
attention and placed a hand on her arm.
Aurora turned and saw her parents. With difficulty, she briefly told them that
due to a misunderstanding, Lucas had hit Cristobal.
Aurora was afraid of her mother’s stern expression, but
Doña
Viviana
seemed disoriented and gave almost no sign that she had been listening
carefully to what Aurora had been saying.
"Go back to the party, please." Said
Doña
Raquel, "There
is absolutely nothing to see here."
Her authoritative tone left no room for replies and all the guests returned
towards the orchestra.
Lucas overtook
Doña
Raquel without even looking at her and went over to
Aurora.
"Let's go home." He said to her quietly "For us, the party is
over."
Aurora nodded wordlessly and started to follow him. Soon after they bumped into
Marisol, her face serious and upset. Marisol approached Aurora.
"Dear Cousin, congratulations for having created this scandal at my
wedding." She hissed haughtily. Then she raised her eyes to look at Lucas,
but said nothing. She turned and walked back to the dance floor to resume
dancing.
Cristobal and Federico had also decided to go back near the orchestra, and
pretend that nothing had happened.
Viviana was able to observe Federico closely, and was shocked.
My God, how
much he looks like Hector at the same age
... The memory burst into her
mind, even more vivid due to the meeting she had just had with Hector. She had
never believed that she would see him again, yet here he was in Tampico.
She saw, almost in passing,
Doña
Raquel, the only person still remaining
at the site of the fight. She looked like a statue, so still and dressed in
black, looking down observing the lawn. Then suddenly she saw her bend down and
pick something up from the ground.
"Let’s go, Viviana?" Don Costantino said to her, distracting her
immediately from her thoughts.
Viviana nodded.
"Let's get out of this place, immediately." She said, shuddering. She
pulled her elegant shawl around her and with Don Costantino walked towards the
exit.

Alma's
labor was long and painful. The contractions started getting more frequent only
towards evening, meanwhile Penelope tried to help her by cooling her forehead
with a damp cloth.
When at last the spasms became closer together, Penelope stood up from her
chair and went to check between Alma’s legs.
"Here we are child. Now you have to push with all the strength you have in
your body."
Alma, crying, tried to obey and bit her lips, while a sharp pain gripped her
lower abdomen.
After a few pushes the baby’s head began to appear. Penelope assisted its
passage and soon the baby came into the world. Immediately the newborn’s loud
cries filled the room.
Penelope took the baby by the feet and cut the umbilical cord.
"It’s a boy." she informed Alma.
Alma wept with joy.
"Let me see him, please." She pleaded.
Penelope quickly cleaned the baby up, then wrapped him in a blanket and handed
him to Alma. "Have you decided what to call him?" Penelope asked.
" Matteo, after my father," Alma replied, smiling at the little one,
who continued to wail. "You're my little darling. You're my
consolation."
"Try to attach him to your breast soon." Advised Penelope, "See
if your milk comes."
Penelope cleaned her hands and without saying goodbye went downstairs.
" How did it go?" Asked Don Gonzalo. Some customers were already
arriving at the inn and the girls had begun to get busy flattering them.
" The birth went well," said Penelope.
" Perfect." Said Don Gonzalo as he spat into a spitting bowl.
"And when can she return to work?"
"In ten days she can begin to perform some light tasks." Replied
Penelope.
"Good. And what shall we do with the brat?" Inquired Don Gonzalo
" For now, keep it here. It could be very useful."
Don Gonzalo began to laugh maliciously.

At the
hacienda
,
the wedding party carried on for a few more hours. It ended as dawn was about
to appear as in the best tradition.
Doña
Raquel, however, retired before the end and locked herself in her
bedroom. She had her fist tightly clenched, she had not dared to open it before
being alone in her room.
She slowly opened her hand. In the palm of her hand shone one of Lucas’ gold
cufflinks. The initials LNR were engraved in the metal to form a single frieze.
Lucas must have lost it during the scuffle with Cristobal.
Raquel smiled.
He’s remained the savage that he’s always been
.
Standing on the lawn among the chaos of guests, she had noticed something
shining in the grass. As soon as she had been left alone, she had bent to pick
up the shiny object and knew immediately what it was.
For a moment she had thought of throwing it away into the dark. Nothing that
belonged to that bastard could interest her, except perhaps his life. But then
she had changed her mind and had decided to keep the little trinket for
herself.
I'm definitely getting old
, she thought, looking at herself in the
mirror
, once I’d never have thought of destroying something so useful. It
could be valuable to me for some purpose.
She smiled as she looked at herself in the mirror. Lucas had dared to
challenge her right here, in her own home. He had entered into her life once
again, arrogant and proud, ready to reclaim a role in high society.
You’ll always be a failure, a wretch, a loser
. She looked out of the
window, observing the park lit by dozens of candles. She paused to admire them,
fascinated by the myriads of small flickering lights.
Yes, I’ll certainly find a way for this small gift of fate to be useful to
me...

Lucas flung open the
front door of his house in a fury. He had not said a word all the way back,
meanwhile his anger continued to grow.
Aurora, pale and agitated, came in and closed the door behind herself.
Yolanda was waiting for them in the living room.
"Ah, you’re back, I was just finishing cleaning." She said.
"Go straight to the kitchen," Lucas growled in an altered voice,
"Leave us alone!"
Yolanda terrified by Lucas’ furious expression, hastened to obey.
Aurora, nervous as ever, waited for Lucas’ wrath to fall upon her like a wild
hurricane.
"You’ll be satisfied, I suppose, to have had me ridiculed in front of
everyone?" He accused her, his eyes bright with anger.
"I’m not at fault, you did it all on your own." she said, trying to
keep a cool and detached demeanor.
Lucas grabbed her by the arms, bringing his face close to Aurora’s pale one.
" You didn’t do anything?" He asked amazed. "You behaved like a
slut!"
" Don’t you dare!" cried Aurora, as she too felt a burst of anger.
How did he dare to insult her, after all the evil he had done?
"You call me a slut." She continued furious, "When you enjoy
yourself with your girlfriends, including dear Yolanda? Don’t you have any
shame?"
Lucas loosened his grip on Aurora’s arms, with a shocked expression on his
face.
" What the hell are you talking about? Perhaps you’re mad?"
" No, I'm not crazy! Do you believe that I don’t know that the other night
you were having a good time with one of the whores in Zacatecas? Do you dare to
deny that Yolanda is your lover?" Accused Aurora.
"Of course I deny it! I deny it because they are all lies! Who told you
such a thing?" Asked Lucas.
" Who do you think told me? Your beloved Yolanda, you also confided in her
the secret of our marriage!" Aurora threw the latest accusation at him
decisively. "How could you have betrayed my confidence in such a way? I
believed in you! To the point that I gave you all of myself, and instead you
were deceiving me."
Lucas stepped back, as if he had been slapped in the face.
" What did Yolanda say about the pact?" he asked in a hollow voice.
Aurora looked down, trying to hold back the tears that were ready to flow down
her face.
"She admitted that you confided in her that our marriage was just a
facade. One of the many secrets that you told her after your amorous
encounters." Replied Aurora.
Lucas took Aurora’s arm again, though more gently, and led her briskly towards
the kitchen.
Yolanda must have heard part of the conversation, because she was standing
against the wall, and glanced terrified from Lucas to Aurora.
Lucas went up to Yolanda, looking at her with hatred.
"I order you to repeat in front of me what you said to Aurora!"
Threatened Lucas imposingly.
Yolanda's eyes widened and she shook her head. Lucas moving closer to her.
"I warn you, don’t deny it. Speak! "
Yolanda began to sob.
"I lied, it's true! But I only did it because I love you, I love you to
death and you run behind her ... " Cried Yolanda.
Aurora looked at her shocked and shaking her head said, "Are you saying
that everything you told me were lies? That you made everything up?"
Yolanda, without speaking, looked at Lucas and seeing his angry face, she
finally decided to nod.
"So Lucas, that night ..." Aurora started to say.
"He was at the mine celebrating with his men." Finished Yolanda
between sobs.
"And what is this about a fake marriage?” Interrupted Lucas.
"I ... I overheard your conversation ... and ... I was given to understand
that ..." Stuttered Yolanda.
“You got it wrong!" Lucas said, "Get it straight in your head, Aurora
and I are husband and wife and we shall be forever, is that clear? Don’t invent
unnecessary illusions!"
" But Lucas, I ..."Stammered Yolanda
" Ask Aurora for forgiveness." Lucas ordered in a cold voice.
Yolanda looked at him in amazement.
" What?" She asked weakly.
" Ask Aurora for forgiveness. Immediately." Lucas repeated.
" But Lucas, I’ve already admitted ... "
"If you ask forgiveness from Aurora, you still have a hope of returning to
Zacatecas with us and continuing to work at our
hacienda
. Otherwise
you’re staying in Tampico with the nuns."
" No," moaned Yolanda, "Lucas please forgive me, I won’t do it
again ... "
Lucas looked at her harshly.
"Not me. Ask forgiveness from Aurora. She is the
Doña
of my house
and she makes the decisions on the servants. If you manage to win her over,
perhaps she’ll decide to have you back in her service. But you should know that
I won’t intervene in her decisions. Your future is entirely in her hands."
Explained Lucas.
Yolanda wiped the tears from her face and looked at Aurora, who had witnessed
the scene with astonishment, her heart pounding.
They were all lies ...
Lucas was faithful to me ... maybe this proves something to me ...
Yolanda had meanwhile approached her.
"Come on," Lucas ordered.
Aurora diverted her mind from her thoughts.
"No, Lucas please, it’s not necessary ...“ Aurora intervened weakly.
" Come on! Ask her for forgiveness!" Lucas continued undaunted.
Yolanda lowered her rebellious look to the ground.
" Forgive me. I lied to you. I beg your pardon."
How much she must love him to have done what she did... And what would I be
capable of doing for him?
Aurora decided to adopt a calm tone. By now, all the anger, the humiliation,
the pain had gone and her mood had brightened again and she did not want to
dwell on the unpleasant events.
"It’s all right." She said, "I've already forgotten about
it."
Lucas walked over to Aurora, apparently satisfied. He looked back at Yolanda.
"When Santos arrives, go with him and don’t come tomorrow, my wife and I
want to be alone."
Then, without saying a word, he took Aurora’s hand and led her upstairs to his
room. Aurora followed him in silence. Nothing in the world would stop her from
sleeping with Lucas tonight.
Lucas, now calm, eyed her curiously as he sat down on the bed.
"Why didn’t you want Yolanda to ask forgiveness?" he asked.
Aurora smiled embarrassed.
"Because she felt humiliated and was suffering. I don’t like to see people
suffer."
"Despite what she did?"
Aurora nodded, looking down. Lucas got up and walked over to her, gently taking
her chin he lifted her face. He looked into her deep hazel eyes.
"If you're so good and unselfish with others, why didn’t you believe in
me? Why didn’t you doubt even for a moment that what Yolanda said to you was
just a pile of nonsense?"
"I ..." Aurora felt her cheeks burning and her heart beat violently
in her chest. "I thought you ... "
"How could you believe without doubting for even a moment that I could be
interested in other women? Ever since we got engaged I’ve not been with anyone
else, even though we were only bound by a pact of convenience and not a real
engagement, and after ... "
Aurora felt herself melting, carried away by his magnetic emerald eyes, like a
drowning person being dragged down by the tide.
"Now I know why, my beloved Aurora" he went on, "because ever
since then I’ve been in love with you. I’ve loved you from the first moment and
continue to love you more every instant. It wasn’t love at first sight, it was
something deeper, a hidden feeling that enveloped me with its sweet tentacles
without my noticing. Up to the point where now I can’t live or breathe without
you."
Aurora felt herself tremble, while any doubt left her permanently, fading away
like snow in the sun. Now the sun was warming her with its gentle healing rays,
and her sun was Lucas who lovingly looked at her impatiently.
But she did not answer with words. She leaned towards him and kissed him,
opening her lips and savoring his hot and manly taste. Then she pulled away
slightly.
" I love you too," she whispered. "I love you like I never
thought I could love. Without you I am nothing."
Their lips met again, red-hot with passion.
"Forgive me," she whispered. "Forgive me for the cruel words
that I unfairly said to you. Forgive me for the way I behaved tonight. Forgive
me for not having confidence in you."
In response, he gave her another kiss.
"I’ve nothing to forgive, what I want now is to love you." Lucas’
hands delicately caressed Aurora while helping to free her of her dress.
She smiled embarrassed by the burning gaze that he ran over her naked body.
With frantic movements, Lucas took off his clothes, and then lifting Aurora as
if she were a feather, laid her on the bed. He lay down beside her and his
impatient hands moved over her with desire. The fire of passion ignited the
love they felt for each other, and made their caresses even more daring. Aurora
opened up completely to the love she felt and that she now knew was reciprocated.
They urgently came together in the beautiful dance of love. Aurora abandoned
herself completely to her husband, until led by Lucas she reach the highest
peaks of pleasure. They did not even notice the night passing by.

The next day Cristobal got up rather late. He had returned to
Tampico when it was almost dawn and his head felt terribly heavy. He touched
his sore lip where Lucas had hit him.
Damn bastard
he thought angrily,
I can’t tolerate that such a lout is
that beautiful woman’s husband
.  Aurora Navarra y Reyes's face had
reappeared constantly in his mind, disturbing his sleep.
Ah, if she were a
free woman
...
But unfortunately she was married and Cristobal had to face this fact. First,
however, he decided to remedy the scandal that he had caused during the party.
He had breakfast, then went out and headed towards the Navarra
hacienda
.
He was announced by a maid and after a few minutes he was admitted into the
study, where
Doña
Raquel was present.
Doña
Raquel seemed impassive and immaculate as ever. The black dress
gave her, her usual austere and severe air.
"Good morning, Don Cristobal. I didn’t think we would meet again so
soon." She said as she motioned for him to sit down.
Cristobal obeyed, as he tried to adopt the right tone to convince
Doña
Raquel of his remorse.
"I wanted to apologize to you,
Doña
Raquel, for the unfortunate
spectacle of which I was protagonist last night."
" You mustn’t distress yourself, I’ve already forgotten about your
involvement in that sad incident," said
Doña
Raquel her lips
tightened with severity. "Of course I know that it was my stepson’s
fault."
"I would never have expected a reaction like that from a gentleman."
Replied Cristobal.
Doña
Raquel assumed a contrite expression.
"As much as it causes me pain to admit it, my stepson is not a gentleman.
His character is out of control, his habits crude and questionable, they make
him more like a
peon
than a member of a respectable family. Luckily, my
poor husband is not alive to see the worry that he causes me! The pain would
have destroyed him, I am convinced of it."
Doña
Raquel’s skillful recitation did not convince Cristobal even for a
moment.
Doña
Raquel hated her stepson and she felt no discomfort in
criticizing him as much as possible.
"I noticed, however, that you chatted amiably with my daughter in law
Aurora." Raquel added, almost casually.
" Indeed, she is a wonderful woman. In addition to her looks, she is very
intelligent, she is a doctor…"
That little intrigue is just the same as her mother, she manages to impress
men with that air of an innocent prude ...
Raquel thought
, but who
knows, this interesting development may serve to finally destroy Lucas ...
"Yes, poor girl ,
she
’ll
suffer a lot with my stepson.
He
’s
definitely not a man who is able to treat such a well-bred woman as she
deserves."
"Furthermore," she continued nonchalantly. "She will be
condemned to a miserable life of poverty and hardship. Lucas incurred many
debts in order to buy the dilapidated
hacienda
in Zacatecas, and
I
’m
sure that
he
’ll never succeed in repaying all of them.
He
’s
always had these unrealistic ideas and has never managed to finish anything
good in his life."
Cristobal listened with interest to all this information. He was now convinced
he would fight for the woman who in a few seconds had the power to bring him
back to life after the loss of his wife. He took his leave shortly thereafter
and left the
hacienda
.
Doña Raquel watched him as he rode away on horseback and smiled to herself.
Don Cristobal de la Vega could well prove to be a valuable ally in my plans
...
But now she had to think about other things. She called the maid.
" Go and wake up my son and daughter in law. Today I want to have lunch
with them before they leave on their honeymoon."
" Yes ma'am, I'll go straight away to the west wing."
"If they’re still in bed wake them up,
I
’ve
no intention of eating late because of them."
The maid bowed slightly and walked towards Federico’s new apartments.
"By the way,"
Doña
Raquel added, "tell my son’s maid to
come here as soon as she’s finished tidying the rooms."
She absolutely had to interrogate the maid to find out how her son’s wedding
night had gone.
That good for nothing was drunk, I hope he was able to
fulfill his duties and to hold the Navarra y Reyes name up high.
As soon as he returned home, Cristobal went directly to his study, where he was
served lunch. Then he opened the trunk that contained all the documents that
had belonged to his father, inside there were folders and pages yellowed with
time, letters, and legal documents of all kinds. They dated back to the period
when Don Giacomo de la Vega practiced as a lawyer in Mexico and his first few
months in Spain. Shortly after the voyage to Spain, he had become quite
seriously ill and had had to gradually abandon his work.
As he ate, he leafed through the folders, saw copies of records of sales,
donations, notes for defense proceedings, draft wills, courtesy letters ... but
nothing that might interest him.
Doña Raquel was very interested in the possible correspondence between Don
Eduardo and my father. If there really is something to help me to clarify the
secret that the woman holds so jealously, maybe I could get to Aurora ...
He worked hard all day, unfortunately without success. But he would not
give up even if it meant sifting through every single piece of paper that had
belonged to his father.
Yolanda sad and disconsolate went to see her Aunt Penelope. She had to wait in
the hall because Penelope was busy in a consultation with a client.
She felt alone and abandoned. The night before, when Santos had come to pick
her up, she had been unable to hide what had happened. Her eyes full of tears
and her dejected expression had betrayed her immediately. Santos had become
livid with rage and had remonstrated hard.
" You really deserve to be locked up in a convent for the rest of your
life! Remember that
Doña
Aurora is your mistress and if she kicks you
out of her house, you deserve it!"
It’s all her fault, that damn woman!
Yolanda thought with resentment,
but
what can I do against her ... Lucas loves her, I have to resign myself to this!
Shortly Penelope was able to receive her.
"My dear, what’s happened to you? Come, tell your dear aunt
everything!"
Yolanda unloaded her heart and through tears told Penelope everything that had
happened, the lies she had told and Lucas’ anger over how she had treated
Aurora.
Penelope listened with interest to everything that Yolanda was saying. She
would have some information to report to
Doña
Raquel.
"Aunt, I love him," cried Yolanda desperate. "I can’t forget
him! And that woman makes me so angry."
"My dear child, if you would just let me try my methods. There is no need
for Santos to know about it!" Advised Penelope in a persuasive voice.
Yolanda stood looking at her for a moment, tempted by the offer. Ah, if it were
possible to tie Lucas to her forever! Then, with regret, she shook her head.
"Santos has threatened to lock me in a convent for the rest of my life if
I make more trouble for Lucas and Aurora."
Penelope sighed annoyed.
"Never mind, my child." She finally said in a quiet voice, "but
remember always come and tell me everything. At least you’re allowed to do this
and it will definitely make you feel better."
Yolanda nodded through her tears.
"Aunt Penelope, you're the only one who truly understands me, the only
person to whom I can turn to, especially now that I have to be polite to that
damn woman!"
Penelope gave her a comforting smile, stroking her curly hair.
I’ll always be here to listen to you, little one. You don’t realize but
you're a rich mine of information for me.