The De Gracias mansion was legendary, both in its style and history.
Designed in Italianate architecture,
the mansion has a belvedere and Renaissance-style balustrades.
Most of the materials that was used, came all the way from Europe, including the huge crystal chandelier that welcomed visitors in the main foyer.
A grand piano (a status symbol) invitingly sat open; and led into the huge formal dinning area, with its long mahogany dining table that was laden with heavy silver Candelabras, always set and always ready for the arrival of the dinner guests.
There was a lily pond on the terrace just outside the master's bedroom.
It was a truly capacious place, like a castle, and with its own chapel.
Amongst the mansion's astonishing feature was an orchestra pit on the terrace overlooking the front lawn.
There were eight spacious rooms in the two-story house, all decorated with exquisite artefacts and high end quality furnitures. Highly notable was the bathroom adjacent to the master's bedroom on the ground floor, which featured an almost floor-to-ceiling glass case displaying the family's seashell collection.
The " Stone Mansion" became its nickname, and had its eerie sides.
There was a huge mausoleum, and several dungeons, that were talked about in whispered hushed voices.
When his two year-old daughter, Angelita De Gracias died of typhoid fever, Don Mariano was so stricken with grief that he had her young body mummified and interned in one of the underground dungeons. He then commissioned a french artisan to cast a bronze bust of the angelic young girl and had it placed on the steps leading to the upper floor, where he stayed and brooded for months.
The strain was much too much for grief-stricken Dona Fausta to bear, so her mother-Dona Rosa sent her away to Barcelona, Spain to recuperate and rejuvenate.
On a chilly December afternoon, worried of Don Mariano's condition; Metring carried a tray of chicken soup with a bowl of Arroz De Valenciana, a typical Latin American dish which is also considered as a part of Filipino cuisine made up of rice and mixed meats, up to his upperfloor room.
" I'm not hungry...you can take that away!"he barked at her.
" Don Mariano, this is your favourite Arroz and soup, I cooked it..."
" I said no!" He stormed at her and pushed the tray all over Metring.
" O Dios mio! " she started to cry.
Out of pity, or perhaps, guilt; Don Mariano approached the shivering woman, and embraced her.
But when she turned her face to him,
her gentleness shown through her eyes, and his heart melted.
" Am sorry... Metring!" he said slowly. Without notice, an uncontrollable urge overtook the bereaved Don Mariano. He forced himself on her.
And for the second time, Metring's beauty became too much for a man to resist; but this time around, the cold damp walls of the upperfloor room in the mansion served as the only witness.
YOU ARE READING
FOREVERMORE ( Simula Ng Walang Hanggan)
Ficção Histórica" According to stories, which may or may not be true, this was half of a whole. This used to be a tiara, a mini crown when Nana Sepa got it. She was awaken one midnight by a voice calling her name...Sepa! Sepa! So she followed the calling, well thr...
