Subject: Book 2, Part 3, Chapters 8 & 9
Author: Robin N (157.198.3.51)
Date: 08-11-1999 18:40
Chapter VIII
Mónica is now feeling much better and she dresses herself in the
pretty native style dress and red silk shawl that Segundo chose for
her. She’s uncomfortable in such bright colors and asks Colibri for
her black dress, but he tells her he doesn’t know where it is
(besides, he thinks she looks very pretty dressed as she is). She
can see from the cabin window that they’re very near the beach, at
the island of Saba.
Segundo asks her if she’d like to go ashore. Before she can respond,
Juan tells him that she’s not going ashore with him, “Acaba de
largarte a cumplir mis encargos y regresa con ellos en el término de
la distancia si no quieres pasarlo mal. ¡Todos aqui de vuelta dentro
de una hora! ¡Acaben de largarse!” His snappy order and angry tone
turn to surprise and he softens when he sees how pretty Mónica looks
in her new outfit, and is a little chagrined too because she seems
like another woman than she once was, a little sorrowful and weak.
She’s clearly affected by proximity to Juan too. He changes his tone
and tells her that he didn’t want those guys bugging her. She tells
him that Segundo wasn’t, he was being friendly. Juan’s response?
“¿Opinas entonces que debo presentarle mis excusas? It’s the teasing
Juan we love so well. “No quiero que en la larga fila de tus quejas
de Juan del Diablo incluyas la de haberte obligado a familiarizar
con los marineros de mi barco.” He reminds her that she is, in
reality, his wife, even if some, like Dr. Faber doubt it. He offers
to take her ashore himself. They leave Colibri to mind the boat and
set off.
She remarks on how beautiful the island is and Juan tells her that
even paradise has its hellish corners. When they reach land, he
lifts her out of the boat as if she was a feather and sets her
ashore. He tells her that they’re close the “the Botton” or the
“Fondo” where there are nice houses. Monica is struck by how
different Juan appears.
“¡Qué hombre tan distinto le parece ahora Juan sin el duro ceño
autoritario, sin la amarga mueca de sarcasmo que endurezca su
rostro, ahora sereno, juvenil y franco! Sus negros ojos miren de
frente, ardientes y leales... Su boca, golosa y sensual, podria ser
blanda sin el cuadrado mentón voluntarioso, sin la firmeza de las
anchas mandibulas que encuadran en el cuello recio, robusto... El no
se ha vestido de fiesta, como los otros marineros. Lleva los fuertes
pies descalzos indiferentes a las piedras y a las espinas. Es
hermoso, viril y recio, con la hermosura bárbara de aquella isla de
Saba que es un volcan en medio de los mares. Sobre esas tierras
semivirgenes, asi como sobre la cubierta del Luzbel, no es el mismo
hombre amargo, cruel, salvaje, atromentado, con que chocara Monica
en el valle de los D’Autremont... No tiene la mirada insolente ni la
sonrisa procas con que se acercara a las ventana de la vieja casa de
Saint-Pierre.. Y Monica le mira preguntándose por qué ha cambiado
tanto, hasta que él habla como respondiendo a su pensamiento:
“Qué extraño corre a veces el tiempo, ¿verdad? parece que hiciera
cien años que dejamos la Martinica, y son apenas cuatro semanas...”
He offers to take her into the city and if she should get tired, he
offers to carry her. What a shocking thing. She tells him no, that
would be no way to treat a human being, like a beast. She can walk.
He reminds her again that men are cruel; that if the world was good,
there would be no world, Santa Monica, it would be paradise on
earth. She murmurs, “Santa Monica, it’s been a long time since
you’ve called me that.” He comes back with, “Yes, according to their
new calendar of 100 years. And she, in turn, hasn’t called him Juan
de Dios...”
She doesn’t feel that she can call him that now, since he didn’t
leave her in Maria Galante, as he originally was going to. Juan
doesn’t like her worried expression and a black thought fills his
head. He alarms her by taking her in his arms. “What are you doing?”
“I’m taking you to the city.”
Monica is again overwhelmed by her feelings: “Otra vez siente que no
es dueña de nada, ni de su propia vida, y entorna los párpados,
entregándose. ¿Cómo podria luchar contra esa fuerza ciega? Seria tan
inutil, tan insensato, como oponerse a la fuerza de un torrente,
como querer sujetar con las manos el resoplido de un ciclón...” She
also feels a strange sweetness filling her soul, drop by drop, and
tries to savor it.
They arrive in town and he sets her down. He suggests that they get
something to eat and he offers to buy her more clothes--the ones she
has on suit her very well. She turns him down and suggests that he
takes her to the authorities so that they can send her on to her
convent. He’s surprised by this... What could she do there that
would please her so much? She tells him that there’s peace and
solitude there. “Hah! You can find that in a tomb too!” he tells
her. He drags her over to a little fountain’s pool and makes her
look at her reflection, without hiding behind her black clothes or a
shawl. He tells her that with that simple dress, she looks like a
living woman, a woman that loves, that knows how to look at the sun
and feel it’s kiss on her flesh. He says, “Look at her, isn’t she
beautiful? Isn’t she lovely? Aren’t you pretty like your sister?
Understand that it’s not a sin to acknowledge your beauty!” She cuts
him off, but he won’t stop there. “No voy a dejarte; pero no tengas
miedo, porque de ti no quiero nada, sino que te halles a ti misma.”
He wants to know why she wants to die: is it because she doesn’t
want to live without Renato? He doesn’t think she loves him that
much: after all, she’s always lived without him, he was never hers.
Monica tells him that she had her hopes. Juan tells her that hope is
a little thing. She never had passion for Renato--it never existed.
It’s false! He tells her that he thought he hated her once, that she
was a silk saint, only good to adorn an altar, but now, he sees that
she has in her heart the capacity to suffer and to love. Monica
wants to know why he torments her so. He tells her he does it to
cure her. Before it was her body that was sick, now it’s her mind.
He wants to know why she can’t forget, and he thinks back himself to
how it was to love Aimee. He breaks off the conversation and tells
her they’re going to tour the town. Oh look, there are the boys.
He calls them over, surprising Monica. Well, since she thinks
Segundo’s so nice, maybe she’ll be better pleased by him. She
wonders why he’s become mocking Juan again. He tells Segundo to show
Monica the town and then meet them later in a nearby tavern. They
sell the best gin there. He let Monica try it with orange juice.
Monica worries that Juan’s going to go off and get drunk, but
Segundo tells her that it’s not his way. “He’s all man, patrona. You
should know that better than anyone.” She blushes at this. He also
tells her, “La señora sabe tambien perfectamente que el patron es
mas bueno que el pan...” She takes this opportunity to learn more
about Juan. He tells her that Juan was really worried about her when
she was ill: he was beside himself. Now that she’s well they’re all
happy. They go off in search of the tavern.
On the way back to the boat, Monica’s feeling the effects of the
wine and Juan. She enthuses about the beauty of the island and Juan
reminds her that there are negatives as well. She stops and asks
him, “Did you suffer much as a child, Juan?” He doesn’t want to talk
about it. “Why? Does it still trouble you? Was it too cruel? do you
not want to remember it?” He tells her that he remembers too much.
“Lo he recordado cada dia, menos hoy. No sé por qué, pero es mejor
asi...” She wonders if his childhood was like Colibri’s and she
brings up the issue of Juan being Francisco’s son. He tells her, “Of
(the son of) nobody. I’m only Juan without a name. Don’t keep asking
questions if you don’t want to ruin this nice day. I’m just Juan de
Juan, not of God, nor of the devil.” “No son plantas de jardin, no
son rosas de invernadero, crecen salvaje y libremente, y no por eso
son menos fuertes, menos bellos... No por eso deja de bendecirlos el
que llega bajo su sombra... ¿Verdad?”
“Verdad, Juan. Es muy hermoso eso que ha dicho usted. (Still using
‘usted’ notice.) Nunca lo habia pensado, pero es muy bello...”
They head back to the boat and Monica takes a good long look at Gina
Bertolozi’s son, seeing him as if for the first time.
Chapter IX
Sofia and Catalina visit the Governor. How fortunate, because he
hasa letter from Dr. Faber regarding Monica. The letter tells of
Monica’s illness, and speaks well of Juan. Sofia makes a bitter
comment and the governor wonders at this, because, excuse me, wasn’t
the wedding at Campo Real and wasn’t your son his padrino?
She tells him that he had to do that for his wife, but they’re
really not happy about this. She wants to have the governor use his
powers to have the boat detained. He wants to know if it was a crime
to have married Monica.
Catalina comes in and learns, from the letter, of Monica’s illness.
The governor reads the part about the doctor wanting to take her to
a hospital but how Juan wouldn’t hear of it. The doctor said that he
showed solicitude, affection and was attentive and spared no expense
to make her comfortable, and wouldn’t leave her side. (Much surprise
here and the governor continues.) Once she was better, he left her
free to speak with the doctor as she wished. The only thing Monica
wanted was for the doctor to write and reassure her mother. In spite
of this, the doctor was still suspicious and was going to have the
governor of Guadalupe have them stay a few days (detain them), but
they left before this could happen.
Catalina asks the governor to “save her daughter” and he says that
he’ll check around carefully.
Back on the Luzbel... Juan goes to see if Monica wants to see the
last of Saba from on deck and surprises her in the cabin trying on
some new clothes. she blushes and smiles a strange smile, close to
tears. He wants to know if she likes the clothing. She tells him
that it’s absurd that he forces her to accept his gifts this way.
Well, she’s his wife, he wants her to accept them. Besides, she
doesn’t have any luggage. He begs her to accept them, even if they
aren’t worthy of a Molnar. Anyhow, they suit her very well, better
than her eternal black dresses.
On deck he asks her if she’d like to try steering the boat. She
wonders if it would be difficult and he assures her that she can do
it. He gives her a private lesson as you might well imagine! Monica
wants to know why they’re leaving Saba and he tells her that he
doesn’t want them exposed. She wonders, “...exposed to what?”
While at the helm, Monica notices a scar on Juan’s hand and he tells
her he received it as a child of 10 at the hands of his mother’s
husband. She is enraged by this for his sake. He tried to kill Juan
because he hated him. He tells her a very little more about
Bertolozi. Monica recalls the name and asks if it wasn’t B. that
poisoned his heart. Juan tells her yes, and he taught him other
things too, how to drink, to lie, to steal... This affects her
deeply. He tells her too that he found that Renato’s father was his
too. He hopes her curiosity is satisfied. They arrive at San
Eustaquio and she ends the conversation by saying...
“Juan, queria decirle una sola cosa: Que empiezo a comprenderlo...
Creo que deberia decir mejor: que le comprendolo complenamente...”
Later that evening, Monica lets her shawl fall in the warm night
air. Juan comments, “How fair you are under the moon! Pale and
shining, as if you were a star... And you are, in a way. You seem
close, but I only see your reflection. In reality you are very far
away, millions of miles...” This hurts Monica a little. She thought
they had reached some understanding, but Juan sees it as her feeling
compassion only for him and that’s different from understanding. She
grabs his hand and kisses his scar, stunning him. She wants to kiss
away his childhood suffering, because no one ever before thought
enough of him to do so. He takes her by the waist and they walk
towards the cabin. She’s trembling and weak, she wouldn’t be able to
resist him at this moment if he came into the cabin, but instead he
simply says, “Good night, Monica, rest well. Tomorrow’s a busy day.
There’s a lot to see and do in San Cristobal... you’ll like it.”
Monica’s left wondering why he left her alone and tears fill her
eyes. She thinks of the other women he’s held, like the women in the
taverns, like Aimee, and feels jealousy.
Back at Campo Real... Aimee asks Ana if Renato’s still drinking. She
asks for her shawl and finds Renato. She tries to sweet talk him.
He’s not buying what she’s selling. He is still bitter and tells
Aimee that he holds her responsible for everything. She should leave
while she can. She tells him that she has no reason to flee--she’s
going to brazen this out--and tells him that Juan courted her.
“When! Where! You were my novia since I came back from France! How
is that possible?” She tells him that it happened before then, when
she was really just a girl. She remembers how he was always with
Monica and she loved him then, but Monica was crazy in love with
him. “Monica, Monica loved me???” Renato is stunned to hear that
Monica loved him and Aimee tells him that she was totally enamored
with him and she, Aimee, was jealous of her. Monica forced her to
remain silent about this. She complains how Monica was always
judging her character, etc. and she flirted to get even. That’s how
it got started with Juan. One day he met Monica and Aimee told him
that she was available...why not go after her. She never thought
he’d take her seriously. She continues to lie and says that she
wrote to Juan to come to Campo Real for Monica. Juan was mad because
Monica rejected him.
Renato’s head is spinning. “Do you mean to tell me that Monica was
never his lover?” Aimee tells him that’s the case. “I told Monica
that you were going to kill me and she accepted the sacrifice. I was
a cruel and bad sister. Forgive me!” Renato’s stunned that Aimee has
condemned her innocent sister to marriage to Juan and wonders why
she didn’t tell the ‘truth,’ why didn’t Monica? Aimee tells
continues with her lies:
“Por salvarme. Juraste que me matarias.. Y tambien por salvarte a
ti. No olvides que te amaba... Tu la oblgaste amenazandola con matar
a Juan... ¡y lo habrias hecho!”
She didn’t want him to become a murderer nor a victim. Renato’s the
only many she’s loved, for him she’s capable of anything! She would
sacrifice her sister for him! Renato feels great shame at this.
Aimee tells him that she deserves to be rejected and falls to her
knees in suplication. Renato doesn’t respond to her dramatics. He
asks for a horse to be saddled and leaves to go see the governor to
‘save Monica.’