Nacre's Promise

Chapter VI : A summer of heatwave

Cuevas-Blancas, 1891.

During the sweltering summer, Imelda's condition worsened to the point that she had to stay in bed for good. She was not ill but a mysterious affection plunged her into an apathy from which she did not recover. The family lived this bereavement with the greatest sadness and Ernesto had great difficulty in overcoming this new ordeal.

During the months which followed, everyone had the impression that he had caught the evil of his wife, so much he went, haggard and silent. He even seemed, at times, to lose interest in children.

He drank more than usual and every night he delayed getting to bed more and more, staying outside and gazing at the stars in silence for hours.

Isabel spoke to him one day when she could see him before he left for the fields.

— Padre, please come to your senses. I can't imagine what the death of Madre got you into, but I understand that you are distraught. The girls and I are here, and I urge you not to give up. Grieve but pull yourself together and stop those drinks that do nothing more than torture you further.

At these words, Ernesto's face returned to its usual expression, the one she had always known. He seemed to have woken up from a nightmare and even his voice had regained its usual tone.

— Oh, my little girl, I'm sorry. What a bad father I am to leave you and your sisters like this and to take refuge only in my sadness! You're right, I promise I'll try to pull myself together.

And, indeed, imperceptibly, the harshness of his life helping, he detached himself from his torments and found the energy to live and a certain serenity. The following year, he even married in second marriage with Carlina who had always been very close to all the family and a wind of renewal blew in the field. Isabel felt that her time was near, she realized that leaving before we spoke to her about marriage would be more careful. She opened up to her new stepmother.

— Now that my sisters have matured and you are part of our family, do you think I could find a job in the city? Don't you believe

— Yes, that's right, Carlina admitted. You've always wanted something other than cultivating the land and picking oranges, so take your chance.

The parents of Doña d'Almondara having found a maid very quickly, it was therefore necessary to look elsewhere.

— Could you ask Doña Elvira to check with her friends if anyone needs a maid?

— I'll ask her when the time is right, I promise you, Carlina assured.

This answer filled Isabel with immense happiness. Discovering city life was an accomplishment for her. In this remote countryside where the estate was located, existence was punctuated by the seasons and the work in the fields. No school, no doctor or business except several leagues away.

Although she could not understand why, in this rural immensity, she felt cramped.

She was made up of people who are not content with their daily lives, those who wish to rise through culture and spirit and she promised herself to do everything possible to improve her condition.

Only her mother and now Carlina had surrounded her. His father did not understand this desire for another life, except perhaps his desire to learn to read and write because he himself had suffered from being illiterate.

Two seasons passed in relative well-being but without hope, nor disappointment for that matter. Carlina and her father seemed happier every day. She had slipped into the function occupied by the deceased but without trying to replace her, which had allowed her to find her place in the family.