The Letter from Penélope Aldaya to Júlian Carax (p. 139): — Shadow of the Wind, C. R. Zafón:
"This morning I learned from Jorge that you really left Barcelona and went in search of your dreams. I always feared that these dreams would never let you be mine, or anyone else's. I would have liked to see you one last time, to look into your eyes and tell you things I can not tell in a letter to. Nothing went as we planned. I know you too well and know that you will not write to me, that you will not even send me your direction, that you will want to be someone else. I know you will hate me for not showing up as I promised. That you think I have failed you. That I did not have the courage. So many times I imagined you, alone in that train, convinced that I had betrayed you. Many times I tried to find you through Miquel, but he told me that you no longer wanted to know me at all. What lies did they tell you, Julián? What did they tell you about me? Why did you believe them? Now I know that I lost you, that I lost everything. And yet I can not let you leave forever and forget me without knowing that I do not hold a grudge against you, that I knew from the beginning, that I knew that I would lose you and that you would never see in me what I saw in you. I want you to know that I have loved you since day one and that I still love you, now more than ever, even if it costs you. I write you in secret, without anyone knowing it. Jorge swore that if he sees you again, he wll kill you. They will not let me leave the house anymore, nor look out the window. I do not think they ever forgive me. Someone of confidence has promised me that he will send you this letter. I do not know if my words will reach you. But in case this happens and you decide to return to my search, here you will find the way to do it. As I write, I imagine you in that train, full of dreams and your soul torn with treason, fleeing from all of us and from yourself. There are so many things I can not tell you, Julián! Things we never knew and it's better that you never know. I desire nothing more in the world than your happiness, Julián, that all that you aspire to become a reality and, even if you forget me in time, one day you will understand how much I have loved you. Forever, Penélope."