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Chapter 4

“The fact is that she spoke about her misfortune without any shame in order to cover up the other misfortune, the real one that was burning in her insides” (54). These words refer to Angela Vicario’s feelings towards how she felt after being rejected by Bayardo San Roman. Angela was willing to open up about the events that led to her rejection, including how her friends had instructed her to trick Bayardo Roman to get drunk so that she could trick him about her virginity. However, she felt that it would be unfair for him to be treated in such a manner, and she opted to let him discover that she was not a virgin. She said that she wanted to die as she was being forced to engage in a loveless marriage. Marrying Santiago would have placed her in a life of misery, and the only way she could get out of it was to be truthful about her virginity status. However, Angela’s love for Bayardo San Roman overpowered her anguish over her disgraceful conduct. The discovery that she had fallen in love with him was more humiliating than the embarrassment that she had to face from the society. Not only was she in love with the man who had shunned her, she would not want any person to know about it. She wrote him many letters, expressing her love towards him. However, the letters were not returned, but she never gave up on her quest to write to him. In a surprising turn of events, Angela was now pursuing the man she did not want to marry in the first place. This was a punishment that was worse than her initial humiliation. Furthermore, the object of her love and desire did not seem to reciprocate her feelings. She did all this in secrecy as she did not want her mother to find out. It must have been tormenting for Angela to send letters without receiving any replies, but she consistently did so. Finally, Bayardo San Roman appeared at her door with her unopened letters, meaning that her toil of seventeen years had finally paid off.