Summary

Chapter 6

Chapter 6 is set in Madrid during the winter of 1504. The household of the Defensor del Santo Sepulchro family mourns for the countess as fifteen-year-old Isabella, the only daughter of the family, kneels at her mother's bier. Though Isabella was born lame, she is a vessel of the limpieza de sangre, a pure Catholic bloodline, so her father and the priest argue about her future. The priest wants her to join a convent, but her father hesitates because his wife encouraged Isabella's marriage as a safeguard for the family name. Feeling faint, Isabella can feel Alejandro watching, but they will be gone tomorrow. It is odd for her to link her fate to the household tutor which is why they were able to secretly fall in love.

Seminary student Fr. Alejandro Abenzucar joined the family as a tutor when Isabella was fourteen...