Jorge Aldaya and Julian Duel in Paris

Jorge Aldaya and Julian Duel in Paris is a confrontation manipulated by Fumero, who uses Jorge’s anger and a concealed truth about Penelope to draw Julian back to Barcelona. The duel kills Jorge but not Julian; its larger consequence is to set Julian on a dangerous return while his friends try to keep him from learning why Penelope had been unable to join him.

Causes and Fumero’s Trap

Fumero arranges the confrontation after telling Jorge that Julian is to be married in three days. He presents himself as unable to intervene because he is a police officer, while suggesting that Jorge, as a civilian, can travel to Paris and prevent the wedding. He gives Jorge a weapon and directs him to challenge Julian on the wedding day. The plan depends on Jorge believing that he can kill the man he blames for ruining the Aldaya family.

The weapon is faulty. Fumero knows it is likely to explode in Jorge’s hands, and a later Paris police report confirms that it could not have done more than that. Fumero’s scheme therefore turns Jorge’s apparent pursuit of Julian into a fatal trap: despite the danger of the duel, Jorge, not Julian, is the one destined to die.

The Secret Used to Force the Duel

Fumero knows Julian would not willingly face his former friend while Jorge is gravely ill and greatly weakened. He therefore coaches Jorge to reveal the truth behind Penelope’s letter. The letter, which had told Julian that Penelope was marrying and asked him to forget her, was a lie Jorge had forced his sister to write. Fumero expects this revelation to make Julian abandon his wedding plans and return to Barcelona in search of Penelope.

The deception works by turning concealed history into a weapon. Jorge is sent to disclose that Penelope had continued waiting for Julian, while Fumero anticipates that the revelation will provoke Julian into accepting the challenge. He is not merely arranging a duel: he is using the buried truth to redirect Julian’s life toward the trap waiting for him at home.

The Duel and Its Aftermath

A letter from Irene Marceau reports that Julian killed Jorge in a duel at Pere Lachaise cemetery. An anonymous caller alerted the police before Jorge had died, and Julian immediately had to flee Paris, pursued on suspicion of murder. Miquel and Nuria are certain that Fumero made the call, linking the Paris confrontation to the larger pursuit of Julian.

Three days after the news arrives, Julian has still not appeared in Barcelona. Miquel and Nuria fear that he has returned for Penelope rather than for them, and they worry that his discovery of the truth will expose him to a danger worse than Fumero’s trap. Miquel promises that they will keep him from finding out. The duel thus ends with Jorge dead and Julian driven toward Barcelona, while the secret that precipitated the confrontation remains concealed from him.