The Shadow of the Wind
by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
Contents
Nuria Monfort: Remembrance of the Lost — Chapter 4
Overview
Don Ricardo Aldaya reenters Sophie Carax’s life and claims Julián Carax, grooming him as the ruthless successor he cannot see in Jorge. When Ricardo discovers Julián and Penélope together, he imprisons Penélope and engineers Julián’s “accidental” death through the army, triggering a spiral of vengeance and collapse.
Penélope and her stillborn child die in secret confinement, and the family hides the crime by burying them in the mansion. Miquel Moliner protects Julián by sending the deceptive breakup letter, while the ruined Aldayas flee to Argentina; dying, Ricardo forces Jorge to swear he will hunt down and kill Julián.
Summary
Sophie Carax recalls that, years after abusing her and paying her to erase their child, Don Ricardo Aldaya returned and demanded to know the “hatter’s son,” Julián Carax. Aging and dissatisfied with his legitimate heir Jorge, Ricardo decided Julián had the ambition and force he wanted in a successor. Believing Sophie too broken to resist and counting on buying the hatter’s cooperation, Ricardo brought Julián into the Aldaya household, intending to remake him through privilege and schooling.
Ricardo never suspected that Julián’s devotion to the family was a pretext to be near Penélope Aldaya. When Ricardo’s wife caught Julián and Penélope naked together and a doctor confirmed Penélope had been deflowered and might be pregnant, Ricardo’s pride turned into hatred. He locked Penélope in a third-floor bedroom and began plotting Julián’s destruction, while his business empire quietly began to crumble as partners maneuvered to seize control.
Working with the hatter, Ricardo had Julián removed from Barcelona and forced into the army with orders that he should die in an “accident.” Ricardo then barred anyone except himself and his wife from seeing Penélope during her confinement. Julián escaped, which Ricardo begrudgingly admired, but he redirected his vengeance elsewhere.
On September 26, 1919, Penélope gave birth alone to a stillborn baby boy and then died from hemorrhaging, clawing at the locked door while Ricardo wept outside and Penélope’s mother watched in fear. Penélope and the infant were buried in the mansion’s basement crypt without witnesses, and all traces of the birth were destroyed and sealed away.
Later, a guilt-ridden Jorge Aldaya told Miquel Moliner the truth, and Miquel chose to send Julián the forged “farewell” letter signed by Penélope so Julián would believe she had betrayed him and might rebuild his life. After Mrs. Aldaya died and the family’s fortune collapsed, the Aldayas fled Barcelona under false names in 1926. During the crossing to Argentina, the dying Ricardo made Jorge swear to find and kill Julián Carax, then vanished at sea; when Jorge arrived in Buenos Aires and was asked if he traveled alone, he answered yes.
Who Appears
- Don Ricardo AldayaPowerful patriarch; claims Julián, imprisons Penélope, orders Julián killed, then dies at sea.
- Julián CaraxHatter’s son and Ricardo’s chosen successor; loves Penélope, is targeted for death, escapes.
- Penélope AldayaRicardo’s daughter; secretly with Julián, imprisoned, dies birthing a stillborn son.
- Sophie CaraxNarrator of this account; recalls Ricardo’s return and his taking of Julián.
- Jorge AldayaRicardo’s legitimate son; confesses truth to Miquel, flees to Argentina, swears to kill Julián.
- Miquel MolinerJulián’s friend; chooses to send Julián Penélope’s deceptive farewell letter.
- Mrs. AldayaPenélope’s mother; complicitly witnesses confinement; later dies haunted by the events.
- The hatterJulián’s guardian; collaborates with Ricardo to remove Julián from Barcelona.