Esperanza stopped reading.
Her eyes lifted toward the front seat.
“Mother.”
Caridad turned.
Esperanza handed her the letter.
Mother Caridad read it once, then again.
Her face changed—not with anger, but recognition.
“What is it?” Paloma asked.
Mother Caridad looked toward the road ahead.
“There is something I remember now.”
Esperanza leaned forward.
“What?”
“The night before your first pregnancy was discovered, Mother Inés came to my room.”
Doctor Paloma glanced at her.
“You never told me this.”
“I did not understand it then.”
Mother Caridad’s hands tightened around the letter.
“She was already ill. She gave me an envelope and asked me to keep it safe until she could explain.”
“Where is it?” Esperanza asked.
“I placed it in the chapel archive.”
“Did you open it?”
“No. The next morning, Mother Inés was taken to the hospital. She died three days later.”
The car grew silent.
