Table of Contents
Main Characters
Alfredo Salazar
He is a lawyer and a man who is afflicted with the love of two women, his wife Esperanza and another woman Julia Salas. His father Don Julian is a wealthy man and takes him with himself on his visits to Judge Del Valle.
It is here that Alfredo meets Julia. He decides to go ahead with the marriage to Esperanza under the duress of social and public humiliation. However, he holds on to the notion of unfulfilled destiny with Julia which hampers her marital bond with his wife.
They live placidly but never reach the potential of blissful marriage. On the flipside, he later learns about his lack of understanding of love and infatuation and regrets his apathy towards the woman he loved first and still had in his life.
Esperanza
She a woman of exquisite beauty, charm and wit. She takes care of her house and family. However, she suffers from the lust for material wealth and reputation. She is married to Alfredo after he woos her aggressively.
She marries him even after learning about his dalliance with Julia. She is a person who knows how to take care of herself and exudes an air of self-service. Even though they live amicably, their marriage never resounds of the love that Alfredo showed during the early part of their courtship.
She is a person of unimpeachable integrity and moral stance and disposes of her marital obligations and duties meticulously. However, she does not believe in true love or romantic valorization of such emotion.
Julia Salas
She is the other woman in the life of Alfredo Salazar. She is a thoughtful, beautiful and winsome woman who is good at conversing on different and profound issues. She is energetic, enigmatic and vital, a complete opposite of Alfredo. This may be one of the reasons he gravitates toward her.
She meets Alfredo when he visits her brother-in-law (a Judge), as she stays in his place. She never truly loves Alfredo and that is apparent by her dispassion toward him when he visits her toward the end of the story. Yet, she never marries and remains a spinster.
Secondary Characters
Alfredo’s family
It consists of his old father, Don Julian. He is a man of wisdom and advises Alfredo about the dangers of prolonging courtship and engagement without a proper marriage. Alfredo has a sister, Carmen, a caring and compassionate woman and her husband, Vicente.
Julia’s family
Julia stays with her brother-in-law, Judge Del Valle and happens to be the Salazar’s neighbour. She has a sister, Donna Adella who is a beautiful woman with chubby features. Her husband is Dionisio.
Other Characters
Calixta
She is a friend of Esperanza. She lives with her lover even without marriage and becomes the reason for the exposition of Alfredo’s deceit and hypocrisy.
Brigida Samuy
The woman Alfredo is sent to learn about as part of his professional work. She lives near the hometown of Julia and becomes the means for a reunion with what he thought was his lost opportunity at love and happiness.