Caray, Caray!

I notice that the opening credits have changed to include more scenes of the story.

Everyone at the christening crowds around Soledad and Hugo. The murderous waiter makes an unobtrusive exit. Hugo sends Boris for Dr. Max. Inspector Duarte sniffs the wine glasses and declares that one of them contains more than wine and that Soledad was poisoned. Paquito volunteers a description of the waiter that gave Soledad the glass. The Inspector and the judge organize a search party. Eloisa tells Arturo that she hopes he didn't have anything to do with this and he says that he wouldn't be that stupid. Ester asks who would want to poison Soledad and Hugo mentions that he has lots of enemies and gives a look at Arturo.

At the House of Sadism, Alcides demands to know who he is or he will use the whip on Beatriz. She refuses and says that she would rather die than tell him. Alcides gets up unsteadily and gives her a blow with the whip. Beatriz screams. After three lashes, Beatriz is unconscious and Alcides is in tears. "She's pretty, delicate and completely crazy," he says.

Hercu-less carries Enrico into his house. Guillermo follows even though he can't see. Hercu-less is stomping Enrico when Rebeca comes in and makes him stop. She is asking Enrico questions when Guillermo attacks them with his cane. I guess Rebeca and Hercu-less are overconfident of their advantage over a midget and a blind guy but Guillermo extinguishes the light and they both escape.

Soledad is now in her bed but no one has taken her dress and corset off. (If I was going to die, I'd at least like to be comfortable.) Hugo says that Soledad is pale and cold. Hugo leaves Ursula with her and goes downstairs.

At the laboratory, Dr. Max tells Elena not to meddle in his affairs. He needs the blood to try and cure the baby's illness. Elena responds that she doesn't believe him. She knows that he wants to bring his dead wife back to life. She tells him, "the truth is that once people die, they don't come back to life." Dr. Max says that he would never do something like that. Elena responds that she overheard him telling the Cabinet of his Dead Wife that he would bring her back to life. Once again, Dr. Max says that he wouldn't do that. Elena asks if his dead wife is in that cabinet. At this point, Boris comes to fetch Dr. Max with the news that Soledad is dying.

Hugo comes downstairs to where the guests are waiting for news. He says that Soledad is unconscious. Ester and the rest of her family go up to her. Arturo tells Hugo that he hopes he believes that he, Arturo, didn't have anything to do with what happened to Soledad. He has sent his men to try and find the waiter. Hugo says that if he finds out that Arturo is behind this, he can say goodbye to the world. Gladis defends her son and they decide to leave. Eloisa goes with them reluctantly and outside she convinces Arturo that she should stay at the Hacienda because she was friendly with Soledad and she can convince Alcides of Arturo's innocence. Gladis buys this this little scheme and Arturo goes along reluctantly. Arturo and Gladis assume that Hercu-less is off searching for the waiter.

The murderous waiter, still with his white gloves on, is being pursued by Inspector Duarte and a posse of guests. The waiter regrets that he ever listened to that damned reporter. Paquito is trailing along with the posse and of course, he spots the waiter and swiftly kills him.

Ester asks Soledad's forgiveness. This is all her fault. Ursula says that Ester didn't have anything to do with poisoning Soledad and Ester says, "Of course not but I forced her to marry Alcides so that I wouldn't lose my house. A house that never should have been mine." (What does Ester mean by this? She has said before that the house belonged to her and had always belonged to her family. Are we getting some clues about her relationship to Jeremias?). Ester goes on asking for Soledad's forgiveness and saying that she should never have let Soledad come back to this house until Hugo comes in with Dr. Max.

Hugo comes downstairs while Dr. Max examines Soledad. Eloisa assures him that Arturo had nothing to do with what happened. Hugo says that of course Eloisa would defend her fiance. Eloisa responds that Alcides knows very well what happened between them and even if they can't be together, she still loves him and everything she has done, including agreeing to marry Arturo, is for him. Hugo appears stunned but before he had can say anything, Dr. Max appears.

Hugo asks Dr. Max about Soledad's condition. Dr. Max says that she does not have the usual symptoms of poisoning: abdominal and muscle pain. Rather, she is in a very deep sleep. She will just slip away. "Don't say that," says Hugo, "surely there is something that you could do." Dr. Max says if he knew what the poison was, he might be able to do something. At this point Marina pipes up and says that she has preserved the glass that Soledad drank from. (I guess the San Marino CSI team isn't gathering evidence in this case.) Dr. Max will run tests on the liquid in the glass and try to create an antidote to the poison.

The police find the body of the dead waiter. Inspector Duarte demonstrates his keen intelligence by saying that this murder is related to the Alcides de Medina situation and surely this man was killed to keep him quiet. Paquito wastes no time in suggesting that Arturo is the obvious suspect. Inspector Duarte tells him to keep his opinions to himself. It's too early in the investigation to draw such a conclusion.

Dr. Max identifies the poison that was used on Soledad and can create an antidote. Elena is about to leave to tell Alcides this when Eloisa comes in and asks to speak to the doctor in private. Elena leaves. Eloisa tells Dr. Max that he will tell Alcides that he has not found the antidote. "Why should I do that?" asks Dr. Max. Eloisa says that she is proposing a deal that could benefit both of them. "I'm not a murderer," says Dr. Max (we know that is a lie). "You're not an ethical doctor, either," responds Eloisa, "there are lots of rumors." Dr. Max says that he doesn't pay attention to rumors. Eloisa gets to the point. She saw him take blood from Aurora and he could go to jail for that. Dr. Max says that he doesn't let people threaten him and Eloisa responds that she doesn't let opportunities pass her by. Dr. Max then gives Eloisa the 'I'm trying to cure the baby of a serious illness' story. "Great," says Eloisa, "this business can benefit us both. If Soledad dies, I will marry Alcides and will be Aurora's stepmother. You can study her as much as you want." Dr. Max gives his evil smile - an unholy pact is made.

While on the road escaping from Rebeca's house with Guillermo, Enrico sees Jeremias and stops. The ghost tells him that Soledad is surrounded by many enemies and Enrico has to save her or she will die tonight. "What can I do to save her?" asks Enrico. We don't hear what Jeremias tells Enrico but he jumps back into the cart where Guillermo is saying to himself that the beating Enrico took must have been worse than he thought if he's talking to ghosts. Enrico tells Guillermo that he has to save Soledad and he needs Guillermo's help. "What a team," says Guillermo, "a blind guy and a crazy guy."

At the house of Sadism, Beatriz comes to. Alcides asks her again to tell him about who he is. Beatriz refuses. Alcides concludes that beatings won't make Beatriz talk. He has thought of something that might be more effective. "Don't you dare come near me," says Beatriz. Alcides says that he knows why he raped her, she is so beautiful. He couldn't control himself in the presence of such beauty. "Maybe," says Alcides, "if I gave you a little affection, you would give me the information I need." Beatriz says that he would have to kill her. She says, "I swear to you that I will defend myself like a wild beast before I let you rape me. You won't be able to do it." Alcides and Beatriz seem to have taken a break from beatings and rape and dozed off when there is a knock on the door. It's Dr. Pablo. Alcides covers Beatriz's mouth to keep her from making a noise. It appears that Dr. Pablo won't go away, so Alcides says that she has two options: make the visitor go away or Alcides will kill him. She agrees to the former and Alcides unchains her. She goes outside to speak to Dr. Pablo. He is worried about her and thinks that the guy she is living with is mistreating her. She tells him that everything is fine. Dr. Pablo wants to meet the guy. Beatriz says now isn't a good time. Dr. Pablo insists that Beatriz call the guy over and say that a friend wants to meet him.

The police tell Hugo that the man who poisoned Soledad is dead. He had a long criminal history and was pretending to be a waiter. (He wasn't pretending to be a waiter. He was hired as a waiter. Didn't Boris do a criminal background check on all the help for the party?) Hugo says that now we will never know who hired the hit. Paquito once again jumps up to incriminate Arturo (methinks he doth protest too much!) and Eloisa is annoyed. Hugo says that he doesn't think that Arturo would try and kill him in his own house. It's too obvious. "That's what I think," says Inspector Duarte. He tells Hugo/Alcides that they can't do anymore tonight but will continue the investigation tomorrow. The judge assures Hugo that justice will be done. They leave. Hugo tells Eloisa and Paquito to leave and he goes upstairs.

A sobbing Lucas tells Soledad that she is the only one who can help him. He can't live without her. (During this scene, we can see Antonia's hands telling her rosary beads behind him - nice touch). Antonia says that Soledad has been a good daughter. God won't let anything bad happen to her. (What has happened to Antonia? The old Antonia would be saying that God was punishing Soledad for all the sins she committed. On the other hand, Soledad has plenty of enemies. She doesn't need another one.)

Eloisa drags Paquito outside. She says that he can't fool her. He was behind all this. He wanted to kill Alcides. Paquito denies it initially but then tells Eloisa that he has helped her. If Soledad dies, she can have Alcides. "It's not that simple," says Eloisa, "if Soledad dies, Alcides will declare war against Arturo." "Then you'll change sides." responds Paquito, "You'll be Alcides' wife. Isn't that what you wanted?" Eloisa warns him that if Arturo kills Alcides, she will ruin Paquito and his career. (Why isn't Boris or Marina in the bushes hearing all this?)

Back in the sickroom (Soledad is still fully dressed with her jewelry on and what is Eloisa still doing there? She's not family.), Antonia says that Soledad looks dead. Hugo says that there is no need to mention death. Dr. Max will find an antidote. In comes Dr. Max with the bad news that he can't identify the poison so he can't find the antidote. Poor Hugo! He says Dr. Max must be able to do something. Dr. Max is not encouraging but he tells Hugo that he will take a blood sample and work on it at his lab.

Boris says to Marina that who could have imagined that this night could have ended with such a tragedy. Soledad is everything to Hugo. With a really evil smile, Marina responds that Hugo should be happy. He wanted to hurt Soledad and now he has achieved it. When Boris tells her that is nonsense, Marina says that Hugo acted out of his desire for revenge and didn't care about the consequences. She tells him that this is an example for them. If they stay with Hugo, things will end badly. They should leave. (You can pick your moments, Marina.) Of course, Boris says that he will never leave Hugo. Marina tells him that's fine but he has been warned.

At Dr. Max's, Elena can't understand what happened. Dr. Max tells her that the antidote didn't work. That's it. Soledad is going to die and he is going to bed. Elena says that she knows that Dr. Max has sold out to Eloisa. Dr. Max leaves and Guillermo and Enrico appear. Elena confirms that Dr. Max discovered the antidote for the poison but he won't reveal it. The diminutive trio decide that to help Soledad, they need Dr. Max's notebook that he keeps in his bedroom. A lot of silliness ensues but ultimately Guillermo grabs the notebook, Dr. Max threatens to kill him and Elena says that if Dr. Max harms Guillermo, she will destroy the vial of the baby's blood. (How big a threat is this? If his Eloisa achieves her plan, Dr. Max can drain the baby dry of blood.)

Hugo tells Boris that he never wanted to hurt Soledad, even in his worst moments. He just wanted to make her pay for her betrayal of him. He wanted her to fall in love with Alcides but he never wanted to harm her. How could he know that this would happen? Boris says that no one could have guessed things would turn out this way. Boris urges Hugo to put his faith in God and Dr. Max. Hugo says that if Dr. Max doesn't come up with something in the next few hours... Boris tells Hugo to calm himself that these mood changes are dangerous for his health and Hugo tells him to go away. (I can see how having someone like Boris be continually reminding you about having a catalepsy attack would be very irritating.) When Boris is gone, Hugo says that even if he hated her deeply, he would give his life to save Soledad.

Alone with Soledad, Hugo holds her hand and cries while tells her that he shouldn't have brought her to his house and exposed to her to so many risks. "Forgive me," he says, "I was blind. My heart was full of revenge. I love you. Even after the pain you have caused me, I love you. I admit it. You are my one, true love and you can't die because I love you." Soledad wakes up a little bit and says, "My love, why are you crying that way?" She doesn't understand what happened. Why does she feel this way? She asks about Aurora and Hugo says that the baby is fine and Ursula is with her. "Tell me the truth about what is the matter with me." she says to Hugo, "Am I going to die?" The credits roll.

Monday - Is Hugo going to tell Soledad the truth about who he is?

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