Nacre's Promise

Chapter XXIII : Revelation

For the past week, Rodrigo had been so taciturn that Elvira didn't dare strike up a conversation.

The day before, he had visited Alessandro and he had even taken the opportunity to come back with him and stay at the estate. The two brothers had not had many opportunities to see each other since the last harvest and yet the atmosphere was not to the joy of reunion. Elvira blamed it on fatigue and kept quiet as she bided her time.

How difficult are men to pinpoint! she thought. We always have to choose the right time, the one when they are completely receptive, in order to be able to try to get what we want. I wouldn't get anything tonight!

During the dinner, lost in her thoughts, she took no interest in the conversation of the two brothers who, although they seemed happy to meet again, displayed very tense postures. At the end of the meal, she wished them a good evening and decided that a long night's sleep, started now, would do her the best.

After his departure, Rodrigo relaxed the atmosphere.

— Let's go to my office Alessandro, I received cigars from Cuba that you will tell me about! We will wait for the young people while sipping a drink with a good Havana.

Diego had not appeared at dinner. Refugees in the barn with Isabel, they had nibbled on plates of tapas that Dolorès had put aside and they were getting ready to join Rodrigo in his office. Arrived near the house, they had to access the terrace by a staircase overgrown with wisteria, to reach the office without crossing the hall. Approaching the French window, Diego saw his father and his uncle in great conversation and knocked on the window.

— Come in, my children, Rodrigo invited them. Take a seat, we were waiting for you.

Isabel relaxed a bit. She was very intrigued and very apprehensive that the moment would be very solemn, but the simplicity with which Rodrigo had greeted them reassured her immediately. She was sure she would finally know the secret of his birth and it terrified her.

— Isabel, this is Alessandro, my younger brother whom you must have already met.

— Good evening father, Isabel introduced herself.

— Just call me Alessandro, he clarified with simplicity.

Rodrigo invited them to sit comfortably.

— It may be quite long because, for me, it will be difficult. Alessandro will take over if necessary.

After a silent pause, Rodrigo readjusted his position in his chair and assumed a serious expression before beginning his story.

— We need to tell you about an old event that concerns our family. To situate you, we are four children of Almondara. We have a younger brother called Julio, but he got angry with the whole family and we haven't heard from him for years. We also have an older sister, Esperanza. She died quite young. This is what we are going to tell you about and events that we have so far kept to ourselves.

Diego knew of the existence of his uncle and aunt as well as his untimely death, but he never knew exactly what had happened.

— Our family lived in Barcelona. Esperanza was sixteen when she first met an eighteen-year-old young man named Oliver Mc Doherty. He was a Scotsman vacationing with his uncle, himself a friend of our father. During this stay, they simply got to know each other. Mc Doherty then returned to Scotland but returned the following year, for the holidays, and the following year as well, to join a school in Barcelona. The two young people had many opportunities to meet in town and they quickly fell in love. Mc Doherty regularly postponed his departure and their affair lasted almost a year without our parents suspecting it.