“What are you going to do when we reach the border?” she leaned forward and asked Consuela.
"I go with Juan.”
“He has agreed?” After his recent revelations, Honor wondered whether Juan would accept her plans.
“We are discussing it.” Consuela tossed the words over her shoulder with an air of false bravado.
Was that what they’d been arguing about earlier?
“And if he refuses?”
“Then I will come to England with you and find myself a new husband. The English, they have no passion. That’s acceptable to me, I do not want that. It is false.” She waved a hand at the scenery below. “Like that,” she said, pointing to the sinking sun. Tranquil. “It looks so calm, and it is not. Deception comes in many guises.”
“For a Spanish woman it is not the same as it is in your country.”
”In what way?”
“Our parents arrange our marriage when we are children. Sometimes as soon as we are born.”
While she’d married for love, Honor knew many English girls were forced to marry men years older than themselves. “Maybe not arranged from the cradle,” she conceded, “but it has been known. Marriages are arranged for financial benefits.”
10 comments:
I love this verbal exchange. I wonder what's going to happen to Consuela. And I wonder if she's going to be a friend to Honor, or a foe.
I was wondering the same thing as Patricia. Is she a friend or foe.
I agree with Patricia and Elaine -- you've created doubt about Consuela's true intentions. I like their dialogue. It seems arranged marriages aren't so uncommon in either of their cultures.
Thanks, Patty, there was a time when Honor didn't know either. :-)
:-) Elaine, thanks for coming by.
I appreciate your company Sandy. For a while Honor didn't know either.
I love their dialogue and what it reveals about their characters.
Nicely done, the way the dialogue gives a feel for the historical context as well as the character's frames of mind.
Thanks Carrie-Anne, I'm glad you enjoyed this.
Thanks Jessica, I appreciate your comment :-)
Post a Comment