Chronicle of a Death Foretold

The narrator switches attention to Bayardo San Román, the man who called off the marriage to Angela Vicario. Bayardo arrived in the town in August. Six months later, his wedding to Angela took place.

Bayardo is near 30 years old, though he has “the waist of a novice bullfighter” (24) and gold eyes that make him seem younger. His purpose for coming to the town was to find a wife, and he seems to possess “endless resources” (26). Bayardo sees Angela when she is walking through the town with her mother. She is dressed in “inclement black” funeral clothes and carrying a basket of artificial flowers. He sees her again when she is “ringing out the raffles” (28) at a local event. Bayardo buys all the tickets, winning a music box. The box is decorated with mother-of-pearl. He sends the box to Angela as a birthday gift and, for the rest of her life, she never discovers how he knew the date of her birthday. Even when her brothers try to return the music box, Bayardo’s “irresistible charm” wins them to his side.

Angela is from “a family of scant resources” (30).