Those who really love, love in silence, with deeds and not with words
The Shadow of the Wind“Those who really love, love in silence, with deeds and not with words” is the principle that gives shape to Jacinta’s bond with Penelope. Jacinta does not declare her love; she makes it tangible through years of care, becoming the girl’s mother in all but name and her best friend.
Meaning in Context
The expression appears as an explanation of Jacinta’s silence toward Penelope. While Señora Aldaya comes each night to say that she loves her daughter more than anything in the world, Jacinta never says the same. Her love is not absent but enacted: the contrast between spoken assurances and sustained care defines the expression’s meaning in this relationship.
Jacinta’s Devotion
From Penelope’s childhood, Jacinta watched over her through the night, prepared every meal, sewed her clothes, and stayed beside her through illnesses, first words, and the passage into womanhood. She read to Penelope, accompanied her everywhere, bathed and dressed her, combed her hair, took her for walks, and put her to bed and woke her. These recurring acts make love a daily practice rather than a declaration.
Motherhood and Friendship
Others saw Jacinta as an eccentric nurse and spinster whose life consisted only of her work in the mansion. They did not know that she regarded herself as Penelope’s true mother. Once Penelope began to speak and express her thoughts—earlier than Jacinta remembered of any other child—the two shared their secrets and their lives. The expression thus joins practical care to emotional intimacy: Jacinta’s silence accompanies a relationship that is both maternal and companionate.
Narrative Significance
The maxim also clarifies the painful imbalance in Jacinta’s position. She believes herself the true mother, while Señora Aldaya gave birth to Penelope; Jacinta’s devotion cannot change that fact, but it shapes the girl’s upbringing and their private bond. Against the ceremonial nightly declaration of love, the nurse’s unspoken attachment is measured in meals, clothes, companionship, and years of attention. The expression names that contrast without treating silence as indifference: in Jacinta’s case, love is most legible in what she repeatedly does.
