New Book - La Batalla de los Arapiles - Episodios Nacionales 10 - by Benito Pérez Galdós (Pages 1 - 33)

 First Published: January 1, 1875

The book starts with some letters from Aramanta to Gabriel.

 In the last book Santorcaz tricked Ines into coming to see him, and then Ines went missing. Aramanta is now in Madrid, unhappy and sick. She writes to Gabriel about life in the capital and how things are a struggle for everybody. She is trying to find Santorcaz and Ines, and then in her last letter she writes that she has gone to see King Jose and she has good news for Gabriel.

Then the narration from Gabriel starts. He is now left the guerrillas and is back in the army. This has led him to the province of Salamanca, and then his unit start bullying a friar. Gabriel tells them to stop and he recognises the friar. It is Juan de Dios, who was an employee in the home of the married couple who had locked ines. Juan de Dios was in love with Ines, and Gabriel used him to save Ines, but he never told him that he and Ines were in love. Now Juan de Dios tells him that he knows that Ines is dead because he has visions of her. He is not a full-fledged friar yet, because he still feels tempted by Ines's visions. Juan de Dios is a very strict friar, who only eats wild herbs and roots and leads a life without any comforts. As we know that Ines is not dead, we can't trust what he says.