Act III: A Forbidden Love – The Tragic Tale of Adela and Martin
ACT III
Page 105
ADELA: (It would be worse… It is still yours, and no one should ever enter it!)
(Martin arrives from the field. Seeing her, he stops, then goes to Telva.)
MARTIN: Do you have any bandages out here?
TELVA: (Why?)
MARTIN: I dislocated my wrist yesterday. We must hold it.
ADELA: (Why didn’t you say yesterday?)
MARTIN: I didn’t realize. It must have happened downloading the car.
TELVA: (Yesterday? I don’t remember… you left the car all day.)
MARTIN: (Roughly) Because it would be to prune the walnut tree, or yoke the oxen. Do I have to remember how it was?
ADELA: (Concerned) (Does it hurt?)
MARTIN: Press hard. More… (Looks at her as she finishes the bandage.) Why are you wearing that dress?
ADELA: It was not my idea. But if you like…
MARTIN: No need to get dressed up on my account, you can handle me as you like. Isn’t this your house? (Starting to climb the ladder in a sweet voice) And thanks.
Page 120
(Martin comes down the stairs.)
ADELA: (Did you call me?)
MARTIN: I did not.
ADELA: (Strange! I thought I heard a voice.)
MARTIN: I went looking for you. I have something to say.
ADELA: (Very important to be… until now, you have always escaped me.)
MARTIN: I’m not a man of many words. And what I have to say will fit in a single night. Goodbye.
ADELA: (Goodbye?… Are you going away?)
MARTIN: Tomorrow, with the carriers, to Castile.
ADELA: (Are you going to be a long time away?)
MARTIN: However long it takes. Not up to me.
ADELA: (I don’t understand. What do you have to do in Castile?)
MARTIN: Who cares, buy cattle or shoots for the vines. All I need is to be away. It’s best for them.
ADELA: (Why “them”? You mean I’m the one who hinders you?)
MARTIN: You didn’t: the entire village. We are living under the same roof, and I don’t want your name and mine on everyone’s lips.
ADELA: (What can they say? Look at me! Is there anything else?)
Page 121
MARTIN: (Evasive) Me!…
ADELA: (If there is more than… I’ll yell in your face that it is a lie!)
MARTIN: (With sudden outburst) And what good is it if I can yell at you that I cried! If you run away when we’re alone, if I dare not speak or look at you directly because I wanted to defend myself against the impossible…
Against what they have known before myself! I’d rather bite my lip and writhe under the covers saying NO! When all my bowels rebel to yell YES!…
ADELA: (Martin!)
MARTIN: (Controlling himself with difficulty.) I didn’t want to tell you, but it has been stronger than me. Sorry…
ADELA: (Forgive… and now I hear that you no longer want to hear any more…!)
MARTIN: (Taking her in his arms) Adela…
ADELA: (Giving in) (No more!)
(MARTIN kisses her in a violent silence. Pause.)
(If someone has to go, I’ll leave.
MARTIN: Not that!
ADELA: (It is necessary… Our love would be betraying the memory of Angelica.)
MARTIN: And do you think if it were only a memory, Angelica would force us to separate? The dead do not walk!
ADELA: (She does. Her will… and I will be the first to obey.)
MARTIN: (Resolved.) Listen, Adela. I can’t! I need someone to share this truth that is rotting inside me. Angelica was not that beautiful image that you dream of. All that charm that surrounds her today with watery reflections, everything is a false memory.
ADELA: (Don’t be silent, how can you talk like that about a woman you loved?)
Page 122
MARTIN: Too much. I wish I had not loved her so much. But you cannot be fooled! You have to know that her life was a lie. As was her death.
ADELA: (What do you mean?)
MARTIN: Haven’t you understood yet? Angelica lives. That’s why we separated.
While we were dating, it was as everyone remembers: true tenderness, a look without a shadow, and a happy laugh. Until she made the trip to order the wedding finery. A few days would have sufficed, but she took several weeks. When she returned, she was not the same, she had haunted eyes. To say the oath in the church, I could hardly breathe, and to put the ring on her shaking hand. Even I noticed the stranger who attended the ceremony from afar, shaking his whip on his dusty boots. (Energetically) For three days, she had a fever, and while I pretended to sleep, I heard her quietly mourn, biting the pillow. On the third night, when I saw her go into the river and ran after her, it was too late; she herself untied the boat and crossed to the other side, where the man was waiting with two horses…
Page 123
ADELA: (With jealous rage.) “And you let them go like that” You… crying in the reeds?)
MARTIN: All night I galloped in vain, with my gun over my shoulder and spurs dripping blood. Until the sun hit me like a stone in my eyes.
ADELA: (Why were you silent when you returned?)
MARTIN: What else could I do? At first, even I believed it. But when they found her handkerchief in the pool and began to spread the word that she had drowned, I realized I should shut up. It was for the best.
ADELA: (Did you think of her mother and siblings?)
MARTIN: No, I did it just for her. A love is not lost… suddenly, and telling the truth was like undressing in front of the entire village. Do you understand now why I’m leaving? Because I love you, and I can’t honestly be with you! You could be mine, all of it. And I can’t stand this house where everyone blesses her, while I have to curse her twice: for the love she made me feel and then for taking me away from you! Goodbye, Adela….
(Martin exits. Adela breaks down to mourn alone, as the children watch…)