Scratch My Back

In the opulent, velvet-shrouded confines of a metropolitan opera house, a moment of tactile serendipity precipitates a complex social entanglement. Valldemar, a young man of unassuming yet impeccable manners, finds himself seated behind a woman whose evening is marred by a persistent, unreachable irritation of the dermis. With a gesture of chivalric spontaneity that defies the rigid social stratigraphy of the era, he alleviates her discomfort. This seemingly trivial interaction serves as the catalyst for a narrative pivot; the woman, perceiving in Valldemar a rare blend of discretion and gallantry, identifies him as the ideal confederate to navigate a clandestine domestic crisis. Her marriage, a fragile architecture of public appearances and private fissures, is threatened by a looming scandal that requires an outsider's intervention—one that demands the same gentle touch and lack of judgment displayed in the opera house. Thus, the 'scratch' becomes a metaphorical bridge into a labyrinth of marital intrigue, where Valldemar must navigate the treacherous waters of fidelity, reputation, and the peculiar obligations of the accidental knight-errant.