Subject: Book 3: Chapter 6 "Aimee's big scene"
Author: Robin N (157.198.3.51)
Date: 10-25-1999 11:24
Chapter 6
Ana tells Aimee that Bautista’s been sniffing around, she’s relieved
that Aimee’s back. Aimee asks the maid where Renato is. She needs to
have one last meeting with him (before she puts her plot into
effect) “Quiero quemar el ultimo cartucho, quiero hacer un ultimo
esfuerzo para que todos seamos felices… Si no, hare lo que tengo
dispuesto, y que el diablo me ayude, or cargue de una vez conmigo!”
Ana sneaks off to find him and does. He’s sitting with cognac in
hand and she goes back to report to her mistress. She tells her that
she heard him order Bautista to get his bath ready, fresh clothing
and a horse. Aimee knows she’s got to detain him. She asks for
perfume, a shawl and a little bit of carmine for her lips and tells
her then to go to the kitchen and get a bottle of champagne and
pineapple juice (the drink he named for her on their wedding day).
She’ll invite him to drink a glass with her “…y peor para el si me
obliga a llegar hasta el fin.”
“Buenas noches, Renato, o buenos dias… En realidad, no se como
decir; a estas horas, es dificil… Todavia no amanece, pero ya falta
poco.”
Renato tells Aimee that at this hour she should be sleeping. She
tells him that she felt so alone in that room so well prepared for
two. It’s still arranged for a honeymoon, which, for shame, they
haven’t enjoyed. “A veces me pregunto si no fue un sueno mi
matrimonio contigo, y si estas horas o estos dias son una pesadilla
de la que al fin habre de despertar…”
Even though he’s drunk a lot, Renato’s not too drunk to think or
feel, on the contrary. He looks her over and notices the perfume,
the reddened lips, and her pale cheeks that disconcertingly remind
him of Monica “…que le hace estremecerse, maldecir alma adentro de
si mismo.”
Aimee asks him if what she heard was true: he wasn’t staying in
Campo Real. He tells her he’s leaving for Saint-Pierre. “Supongo que
para ti es lo mismo, que no me criticaras.” She doesn’t criticize
him, no she envies him. How fortunate to be born a man! They have
all the advantages of the world: they court the woman, the choose,
they ask for marriage or they make fools of them. Renato cuts her
off by saying that if their relationship was an illusion it was not
all his fault. “At least you know you have some part in the blame,”
she tells him. He’ll take it all, if that’s what she wants, but he
won’t discuss it. She scornfully comments on how convenient this is
for him.
“Esta bien, Aimee. Ya veo que quieres oirme. No es culpa mi si digo
cosas que te hieran y te lastimen. Me has buscado en una hora en la
que no soy capaz de mentir.”
She’s happy to hear him say this, because she too wants to say
bitter things and the first is that she’s not ready to be publicly
mortified by abandoning her and pursuing a woman who shares her
blood. That’s it exactly, it’s the shared blood that separates him
from Aimee. Why, he wants to know, did he pretend to be the
infatuated child, so timid, before they married? “Porque
enmascarabas, bajo sonrisas angelicales, tus violencias, tus
ambiciones, tus apetitos? No se engana a quien se ama.. Tu nunca me
has querido!” She wants to know how he could think this. He tells
her that the scales have fallen from his eyes. “She (Monica) loved
him. You (Aimee) played a game to take me from her and she was too
noble to fight against you, which is why you won. I saw her cold,
serene, removed from me, thinking primarily in her studies, later in
religion; and you, in contrast, sweet and tender like a child. You
confused me, I was slow and blind, but it wasn’t my fault. You made
a trap for me and she fell into it.”
“Entre las dos jugaron conmigo… O mejor dicho, jugaste tu con los
dos… A ella, por su generosidad y nobleza; a mi, por mi
inexperiencia de la vida, nos manejaste como quisiste.. Y ahora, yo
te digo: Por que? Para que?”
Aimee tells him that his words are cruel. She tells him she doesn’t
know why… He siezes on this and says he can answer himself. It was
for his name, his position and his fortune. She didn’t want love.
Well it’s all hers now… the name, position and money. She’s the
mistress of Campo Real and she’ll be the mother of his child, but
his heart and thoughts will never belong to her. “Son de ella, con
un amor tardio, con un amor que es como una planta venenosa, pero al
que le he dado toda mi vida!” She asks if he means to set her aside.
He tells her that they’re going to follow separate paths. He wants
to be free of the misfortune that she’s made him feel for her fraud…
no more false words, forced smiles, or useless courtesies. She tells
him he’s going to make her loose her mind, but he doesn’t believe
her. “Pero, en ultimo caso, no hay cuidado; ninguna de tus locuras
sera contra ti misma… eres demasiado egoista.” She’s insulted. He
doesn’t care and tells her good night. No, she won’t let him go like
that! He tells her he will and she’ll do what she will and say what
she will—it doesn’t matter to him. “Entendiste? Siendo de ti, todo
me da lo mismo. No te moletes mas por mi. Y ahora, con tu permiso,
voy a decirle adios a mi madre.” He leaves, calling for Bautista.
Bautista responds. Renato wants a horse waiting for him at the foot
of the main stairs when he’s ready to leave. He leaves and Bautista
is halted by Aimee who also orders her horse. Bautista stutters and
she repeats that she wants her horse saddled immediately. That’s the
horse that he was riding without her permission. She wants it by the
stairs before Renato leaves. Bautista leaves muttering. Aimee puts
her plan into action and sends Ana to tell Sofia that she’s going
riding, that she’s going to accompany her husband and she has every
right to follow him. Ana’s a little dismayed that she has to say
this in front of Renato. That’s exactly what Aimee wants. “Dile que
dije que iria con el de todas maneras, que no me importa morirme… ni
tampoco que se pierda mi hijo… Queiro que todos lo oigan, que todos
lo comenten… Golpea fuerte la puerta, y diselo a gritos, entendiste?
A gritos! Corre ya!” She pushes her to get her going. She rapidly
changes into her riding clothes and makes a vow; “Aun puedo hacer
algo que te moleste, Renato D’Autremont, aun puedo tener el desquite
de hacerte sufrir!”
In Sofia’s room, Renato is disgusted to see Yanina there. She
explains that Sofia went to hear the mass at dawn for the soul of
Don Francisco. She knows that he’s displeased to see her there and
explains that he asked Sofia to fire her, but she didn’t wish to do
so and hasn’t. She tells him he’s cruel to her, as if she were
responsible for what’s happened, when she would give the blood in
her veins for him. She draws back and holds the flask containing the
witch’s brew to her closely. Renato tells her that he’s sick of her
plots. He can’t go anywhere in the house without tripping over her.
There’s nothing worse than a servant in the way. He wants her to
leave him in peace. She tells him he’s ungrateful and everything
that’s happened has been what’s merited. Too bad if he doesn’t
understand this. She tells him she’ll go where he’ll never see her.
No, she’s going to finish telling him what she meant by this.
“Vomita de una vez el veneno que tienes dentro, escupe la hiel que
destilas…” He shakes her and the flask falls. He asks her what it is
that she’s hiding. Yanina tells him that it’s nothing, it’s
medicine. He doesn’t believe this, he sees it to be “un brebaje
inmundo, seguramente un bebedizo de hechericeria.” It’s the only
thing missing to make this ridiculous story complete! He’s been
right about her all along. He knows she’s fooled his mother, but
she’s never fooled him and she’s going to leave the house forever!
Yanina tells him that the only one fooling people is “ella”.
Ana interrupts this confrontation. She asks for Sofia and delivers
her message, with a twist. “Donde esta la senora Sofia? La senora
Aimee va a matarse… la senora Aimee va a matar al nino!” Renato had
grabbed Yanina’s wrists hard until she shouted. He turned and slowly
absorbs what Ana’s said. Ana tells him to not let her leave, that
she’s going with you on horseback, that it doesn’t matter if it
kills her or harms the child. She’s like a crazy one and she’s put
on her riding clothes and she’s asked Bautista to saddle the horse
that Sofia doesn’t want her to ride anymore. “Porque dice que usted
la ha ofendido… Y ya va usted a ver como se pone la senora Sofia si
se pierde el nino.”
Renato doesn’t wait to hear anymore. He runs out calling for Aimee,
who hears him but doesn’t answer. She flees across the patio and
down the stairs and the only horse there is Renato’s stallion. She
takes the reins from Bautista against his objections. Renato calls
to him to detain the horse but it’s too late. Aimee gallops off
wildly. Bautista tells him not to follow. If another horse
approaches the stallion when he’s being ridden like that, he’ll
throw her.
In the small chapel where Sofia’s hearing mass, she’s frightened to
hear the horse running past. She and the priest think that it looked
like a woman riding. The priest suggests that it’s Aimee, but she
thinks that’s crazy… Aimee’s pregnant and wouldn’t be riding a horse
like that. Another horse goes by and on it is Renato. They stop him
briefly and he tells him that Aimee’s taken off and she isn’t
holding the reins, she only has the horse’s mane to hold on with.
Sofia urges him to cut off her path. He catches up to the trembling
stallion on the edge of a cliff... She’s gone over… Sofia approaches
and he tells her not to look. “Ramas rotas, arbustos semiarrancados,
pierdras arrastradas en la caida de los cuerpos que rodaron por
alli, y en el fondo espantoso, contra el reborde inaccesible, una
sangrienta masa inmovil…” Sofia calls for Bautista to do something…
possibly she’s still living. Renato tells her that it’s not possible
that she’s still alive, no one could possibly be alive. Sofia tells
him that at the least they have to retrieve the body, she’s a
D’Autremont.
The rescue operation commences. Yanina skulks around the scene and
spots Kuma. She reminds her that she predicted this death. Kuma
tells her that there is blood on those cliffs; it’s just like when
don Francisco died. He didn’t fall there, but close by. She saw him.
She heard him curse and later beg like a child. He died slowly, she
died in one blow, but it’s the same. What she saw in the smoke has
begun to happen but it’s not all yet. There’s a lot more to come and
Campo Real will be in ruins. She goes into a little trance really
freaking Yanina. When she comes to, she asks Yanina why she’s still
there. The one who obscured her sun is dead now. That’s of no use to
Yanina, because Renato doesn’t want to see her again. She asks for
further help. Kuma tells her to forget about it, forget about him.
Yanina can’t do it, especially now that Aimee’s dead.
“Si, encontro la muerte… por jugar, como tu, contra su destino…
Encontro la muerte, porque alguien empujo su caballo… (Someone
pushed her from her horse? Who? The ghost of Francisco? Kuma?
Renato?) Por ultima vez te lo digo: apartate de Renato de
D’Autremont, su nombre esta maldito…”
Renato’s buried himself in the library since they brought Aimee’s
body back. Bautista comes in and he asks him what he wants—if it’s a
note from his mother, he doesn’t want to be troubled now. He only
wants to know if Renato would like to bathe and change his clothes;
people are beginning to call. Renato tells him that his mother is in
charge of all this, so don’t reproach him. Bautista tells him that
he only says what he sees, so does his faithful niece Yanina who
told him that she’s been asked to leave forever. This triggers some
memory in Renato and he demands that Yanina be brought immediately.
When she arrives, he asks her to tell him everything, he’s now ready
to hear her. “…pero dilo sin ninguna vacilacion, sin una sombra, sin
una duda, sin una mentira. No calumnies a la que ya ha pagado con su
vida sus posibles crimenes, porque es la tuya la que ahora esta en
juego. Habla, Yanina, habla! Dijiste que a ella se lo perdonaba
todo… todo… todo…! Que es lo que tengo que perdonarle?” Yanina
trembles even though she’s wanted to be close to him like this, have
him looking at her like this… She demurs, because now Aimee is dead.
He orders her to speak, but she tells him she can’t, not now with
her lying cold and rigid on her bridal bed. Renato tells her that he
knows that to look at her is frightful, but he needs to know. “No
comprendes que pienso que bien puedo ser y quien la hice morir? No
lao has visto? No lo has oido? Las medias palabras, las miradas
recelosas... No has visto que el padre Vivier me esquiva, que mi
propia madre evita mirarme, que hasta mis criados se alejan de mi?
Fue por culpa mia! Ahora todos lo dicen en voz baja; pronto, tal vez
lo griten y tendre que oirlo. Pero quiero que, al menos en mi
conciencia, no resuene ese grito… Quiero saber que fue mala, que fue
traidora, que fue desleal!”
Yanina assures him that she was. Renato continues to question her
and in walks Sofia who wants to know why he’s badgering Yanina. Even
though Renato wants to continue questioning her, Sofia sends Yanina
from the room. Sofia agrees that he should know the truth, but not
from Yanina’s lips. She wants him to be ready to face calmly the
slander that’s coming, that this was something he did. He denies
that he did anything but try and detain her. Sofia agrees that he
didn’t push her, but he forced Aimee into that mad flight. He
wonders what she’s accusing him of and she tells him that she’s just
saying what others will say. She also tells him that he won’t
deserve it. He asks her then if she knew about Aimee. Sofia tells
him that she knew Aimee was ambitious, self-interested and a
schemer. She plotted to marry him and she intrigued. She was also
wanton. Wanton? If she knew Aimee was wanton, why didn’t she say
something while she was still alive? “Because I believed she was
going to have your child and for that she could be forgiven all.”
Sofia tells him. Renato hears the words “believed” and jumps on it.
Sofia tells him that the baby never existed, and that she supposed
that she lied to maintain her position. Renato wants to know how
this came to light. She tells him that the doctor who came to
certify the death told her. She demanded that he examine her to
prove it because she had to know the truth. Renato looks at her
calmly and says:
“Solo quiero saber toda la verdad, madre… Hay algo mas, estoy
seguro. Antes dijiste que era liviana… Por que lo dijiste? No la
mate queriendo; pero quiero, exijo saber si hubiera tenido el
derecho de matarla. Si tu no lo sabes, preguntare a los que sepan,
obligare a que hablen las que callan: Yanina, Ana…”
Sofia tells him to stop, that he can’t hope to accomplish anything
now. Besides, they have lots to do. “Ven conmigo…”