Chương Chương 6 · 第6章

When the post-chaise drove up, the baron and baroness and all the

servants were standing outside the white railings to give the travelers

a hearty welcome home. The baroness cried, Jeanne quietly wiped away two

tears, and her father walked backwards and forwards nervously. Then,

while the luggage was being brought in, the whole journey was gone over

again before the drawing-room fire. The eager words flowed from

Jeanne's lips, and in half-an-hour she had related everything, except a

few little details she forgot in her haste. Then she went to unpack,

with Rosalie, who was in a state of great excitement, to help her; when

she had finished and everything had been put away in its proper place

Rosalie left her mistress, and Jeanne sat down, feeling a little tired.

She wondered what she could do next, and she tried to think of some

occupation for her mind, some task for her fingers. She did not want to

go down to the drawing-room again to sit by her mother who was dozing,

and she thought of going for a walk, but it was so miserable out of

doors that only to glance out of the window made her feel melancholy.

Then the thought flashed across her mind that now there never would be

anything for her to do. At the convent the future had always given her

something to think about, and her dreams had filled the hours, so that

their flight had passed unnoticed; but she had hardly left the convent

when her love-dreams had been realized. In a few weeks she had met,

loved, and married a man who had borne her away in his arms without

giving her time to think of anything. But now the sweet reality of the

first few weeks of married life was going to become a daily monotony,

barring the way to all the hopes and delicious fears of an unknown

future. There was nothing more to which she could look forward, nothing

more for her to do, to-day, to-morrow, or ever. She felt all that with a

vague sensation of disillusion and melancholy. She rose and went to lean

her forehead against the cold window-pane, and, after looking for some

time at the dull sky and heavy clouds, she made up her mind to go out.

Could it really be the same country, the same grass, the same trees as

she had seen with such joy in May? What had become of the sun-bathed

leaves, and the flaming dandelions, the blood-red poppies, the pure

marguerites that had reared their heads amidst the green grass above

which had fluttered innumerable yellow butterflies? They were all gone,

and the very air seemed changed, for now it was no longer full of life,

and fertilizing germs and intoxicating perfumes. The avenues were soaked

by the autumn rains and covered with a thick carpet of dead leaves, and

the thin branches of the poplars trembled in the wind which was shaking

off the few leaves that still hung on them. All day long these last,

golden leaves hovered and whirled in the air for a few seconds and then

fell, in an incessant, melancholy rain.

Jeanne walked on down to the wood. It gave her the sad impression of

being in the room of a dying man. The leafy walls which had separated

the pretty winding paths no longer existed, the branches of the shrubs

blew mournfully one against the other, the rustling of the fallen

leaves, that the wind was blowing about and piling into heaps, sounded

like a dying sigh, and the birds hopped from tree to tree with shivering

little chirps, vainly seeking a shelter from the cold. Shielded by the

elms which formed a sort of vanguard against the sea-wind, the linden

and the plane-tree were still covered with leaves, and the one was

clothed in a mantle of scarlet velvet, the other in a cloak of orange

silk. Jeanne walked slowly along the baroness's avenue, by the side of

Couillard's farm, beginning to realize what a dull, monotonous life lay

before her; then she sat down on the slope where Julien had first told

his love, too sad even to think and only feeling that she would like to

go to bed and sleep, so that she might escape from this melancholy day.

Looking up she saw a seagull blown along by a gust of wind, and she

suddenly thought of the eagle she had seen in Corsica in the somber

valley of Ota. As she sat there she could see again the island with its

sun-ripened oranges, its strong perfumes, its pink-topped mountains, its

azure bays, its ravines, with their rushing torrents, and it gave her a

sharp pain to think of that happy time that was past and gone; and the

damp, rugged country by which she was now surrounded, the mournful fall

of the leaves, the gray clouds hurrying before the wind, made her feel

so miserable that she went indoors, feeling that she should cry if she

stayed out any longer. She found her mother, who was accustomed to these

dull days, dozing over the fire. The baron and Julien had gone for a

walk, and the night was drawing on filling the vast drawing-room with

dark shadows which were sometimes dispersed by the fitful gleams of the

fire; out of doors the gray sky and muddy fields could just be seen in

the fading light.

The baron and Julien came in soon after Jeanne. As soon as he came into

the gloomy room the baron rang the bell, exclaiming:

"How miserable you look in here! Let us have some lights."

He sat down before the fire, putting his feet near the flame, which made

the mud drop off his steaming boots.

"I think it is going to freeze," he said, rubbing his hands together

cheerfully. "The sky is clearing towards the north, and it's a full moon

this evening. We shall have a hard frost to-night."

Then, turning towards his daughter:

"Well, my dear," he asked, "are you glad to get back to your own house

and see the old people at home again?"

This simple question quite upset Jeanne. Her eyes filled with tears, and

she threw herself into her father's arms, covering his face with kisses

as though she would ask him to forgive her discontent. She had thought

she should be so pleased to see her parents again, and now, instead of

joy, she felt a coldness around her heart, and it seemed as if she could

not regain all her former love for them until they had all dropped back

into their ordinary ways again.

Dinner seemed very long that evening; no one spoke, and Julien did not

pay the least attention to his wife. In the drawing-room after dinner,

Jeanne dozed over the fire opposite the baroness who was quite asleep,

and, when she was aroused for a moment by the voices of the two men,

raised in argument over something, she wondered if she would ever become

quite content with a pleasureless, listless life like her mother. The

crackling fire burnt clear and bright, and threw sudden gleams on the

faded tapestry chairs, on the fox and the stork, on the

melancholy-looking heron, on the ant and the grasshopper. The baron came

over to the fireplace, and held his hands to the blaze.

"The fire burns well to-night," he said; "there is a frost, I am sure."

He put his hands on Jeanne's shoulder, and, pointing to the fire:

"My child," he said, "the hearth with all one's family around it is the

happiest spot on earth; there is no place like it. But don't you think

we had better go to bed? You must both be quite worn out with fatigue."

Up in her bedroom Jeanne wondered how this second return to the place

she loved so well could be so different from the first. "Why did she

feel so miserable?" she asked herself; "why did the chateau, the fields,

everything she had so loved, seem to-day so desolate?" Her eyes fell on

the clock. The little bee was swinging from left to right and from right

to left over the gilded flowers, with the same quick even movement as of

old. She suddenly felt a glow of affection for this little piece of

mechanism, which told her the hour in its silvery tones, and beat like a

human heart, and the tears came into her eyes as she looked at it; she

had not felt so moved when she had kissed her father and mother on her

return, but the heart has no rules or logic, to guide it.

Julien had made his fatigue the pretext for not sharing his wife's

chamber that night, so, for the first time since her marriage, she slept

alone. It had been agreed that henceforth they should have separate

rooms, but she was not yet accustomed to sleep alone, and, for a long

time she lay awake while the moaning wind swept round the house. In the

morning she was aroused by the blood-red light falling on her bed.

Through the frozen window-panes it looked as if the whole sky were on

fire. Throwing a big dressing-gown round her, Jeanne ran to the window

and opened it, and in rushed an icy wind, stinging her skin and bringing

the water to her eyes. In the midst of a crimson sky, the great red sun

was rising behind the trees, and the white frost had made the ground so

hard that it rang under the farm-servant's feet. In this one night all

the branches of the poplars had been entirely stripped of their few

remaining leaves, and, through the bare trees, beyond the plain,

appeared the long, green line of the sea, covered with white-crested

waves. The plane-tree and the linden were being rapidly stripped of

their bright coverings by the cold wind, and showers of leaves fell to

the ground as each gust swept by.

Jeanne dressed herself, and for want of something better to do, went to

see the farmers. The Martins were very surprised to see her. Madame

Martin kissed her on both cheeks, and she had to drink a little glass of

noyau; then she went over to the other farm. The Couillards were also

very surprised when she came in; the farmer's wife gave two pecks at her

ears and insisted on her drinking a little glass of cassis; then she

went in to breakfast. And that day passed like the previous one, only it

was cold instead of damp, and the other days of the week were like the

first two, and all the weeks of the month were like the first one.

Little by little, Jeanne's regrets for those happy, distant lands

vanished; she began to get resigned to her life, to feel an interest in

the many unimportant details of the days, and to perform her simple,

regular occupations with care. A disenchantment of life, a sort of

settled melancholy gradually took possession of her. What did she want?

She did not know herself. She had no desire for society, no thirst for

the excitement of the world, the pleasures she might have had possessed

no attraction for her, but all her dreams and illusions had faded away,

leaving her life as colorless as the old tapestry chairs in the chateau

drawing-room.

Her relations with Julien had completely changed, for he became quite a

different man when they settled down after their wedding tour, like an

actor who becomes himself again as soon as he has finished playing his

part. He hardly ever took any notice of his wife, or even spoke to her;

all his love seemed to have suddenly disappeared, and it was very seldom

that he accompanied her to her room of a night. He had taken the

management of the estate and the household into his own hands, and he

looked into all the accounts, saw that the peasants paid their arrears

of rent, and cut down every expense. No longer the polished, elegant man

who had won Jeanne's heart, he looked and dressed like a well-to-do

farmer, neglecting his personal appearance with the carelessness of a

man who no longer strives to fascinate. He always wore an old velvet

shooting-jacket, covered all over with stains, which he had found one

day as he was looking over his old clothes; then he left off shaving,

and his long, untrimmed beard made him look quite plain, while his hands

never received any attention.

After each meal, he drank four or five small glasses of brandy, and when

Jeanne affectionately reproached him, he answered so roughly: "Leave me

alone, can't you?" that she never tried to reason with him again.

She accepted all this in a calm way that astonished herself, but she

looked upon him now as a stranger who was nothing whatever to her. She

often thought of it all, and wondered how it was that after having loved

and married each other in a delicious passion of affection they should

suddenly awake from their dream of love as utter strangers, as if they

had never lain in each other's arms. How was it his indifference did not

hurt her more? Had they been mistaken in each other? Would she have been

more pained if Julien had still been handsome, elegant and attractive?

* * * * *

It was understood that at the new year the baron and baroness were to

spend a few months in their Rouen house, leaving Les Peuples to the

young people who would become settled that winter, and so get accustomed

to the place where they were to pass their lives. Julien wanted to

present his wife to the Brisevilles, the Couteliers and the Fourvilles,

but they could not pay these visits yet because they had not been able

to get the painter to change the coat-of-arms on the carriage; for

nothing in the world would have persuaded Julien to go to the

neighboring chateau in the old family carriage, which the baron had

given up to him, until the arms of the De Lamares had been quartered on

it with those of the Leperthius des Vauds. Now there was only one man in

the whole province who made a speciality of coats-of-arms, a painter

from Bolbec, named Bataille, who was naturally in great request among

all the Normandy aristocracy; so Julien had to wait for some time before

he could secure his services.

At last, one December morning just as they were finishing lunch at Les

Peuples, they saw a man, with a box on his back, open the gate and come

up the path; it was Bataille. He was shown into the dining-room, and

lunch was served to him just as if he had been a gentleman, for his

constant intercourse with the provincial aristocracy, his knowledge of

the coats-of-arms, their mottoes and signification, made him a sort of

herald with whom no gentleman need be ashamed to shake hands.

Pencils and paper were brought, and while Bataille ate his lunch, the

baron and Julien made sketches of their escutcheons with all the

quarters. The baroness, always delighted when anything of this sort was

discussed, gave her advice, and even Jeanne took part in the

conversation, as if it aroused some interest in her. Bataille, without

interrupting his lunch, occasionally gave an opinion, took the pencil to

make a sketch of his idea, quoted examples, described all the

aristocratic carriages in Normandy, and seemed to scatter an atmosphere

of nobility all around him. He was a little man with thin gray hair and

paint-daubed hands which smelt of oil. It was said that he had once

committed a grave offense against public morality, but the esteem in

which he was held by all the titled families had long ago effaced this

stain on his character.

As soon as the painter had finished his coffee, he was taken to the

coach-house and the carriage was uncovered. Bataille looked at it, gave

an idea of the size he thought the shield ought to be, and then, after

the others had again given their opinions, he began his work. In spite

of the cold the baroness ordered a chair and a foot-warmer to be brought

out for her that she might sit and watch the painter. Soon she began to

talk to him, asking him about the marriages and births and deaths of

which she had not yet heard, and adding these fresh details to the

genealogical trees which she already knew by heart. Beside her, astride

a chair, sat Julien, smoking a pipe and occasionally spitting on the

ground as he watched the growth of the colored certificate of his

nobility. Soon old Simon on his way to the kitchen garden stopped, with

his spade on his shoulder, to look at the painting, and the news of

Bataille's arrival having reached the two farms the farmers' wives came

hurrying up also. Standing on either side of the baroness, they went

into ecstasies over the drawing and kept repeating: "He must be clever

to paint like that."

The shields on both carriage-doors were finished the next morning about

eleven o'clock. Everyone came to look at the work now it was done, and

the carriage was drawn out of the coach-house that they might the better

judge of the effect. The design was pronounced perfect, and Bataille

received a great many compliments before he strapped his box on his back

and went off again; the baron, his wife, Jeanne and Julien all agreed

that the painter was a man of great talent, and would, no doubt, have

become an artist, if circumstances had permitted.

For the sake of economy, Julien had accomplished some reforms which

brought with them the need of fresh arrangements. The old coachman now

performed the duties of gardener, the vicomte himself undertaking to

drive, and as he was obliged to have someone to hold the horses when the

family went to make a visit, he had made a groom of a young cowherd

named Marius. The horses had been sold to do away with the expense of

their keep, so he had introduced a clause in Couillard's and Martin's

leases by which the two farmers bound themselves to each provide a horse

once a month, on whatever day the vicomte chose.

When the day came the Couillards produced a big, raw-boned, yellowish

horse, and the Martins a little, white, long-haired nag; the two horses

were harnessed, and Marius, buried in an old livery of Simon's, brought

the carriage round to the door. Julien, who was in his best clothes,

would have looked a little like his old, elegant self, if his long beard

had not made him look common. He inspected the horses, the carriage, and

the little groom, and thought they looked very well, the only thing of

any importance in his eyes being the new coat-of-arms. The baroness came

downstairs on her husband's arm, got in, and had some cushions put

behind her back; then came Jeanne. She laughed first at the strange pair

of horses, and her laughter increased when she saw Marius with his face

buried under his cockaded hat (which his nose alone prevented from

slipping down to his chin), and his hands lost in his ample sleeves, and

the skirts of his coat coming right down to his feet, which were encased

in enormous boots; but when she saw him obliged to throw his head right

back before he could see anything, and raise his knee at each step as

though he were going to take a river in his stride, and move like a

blind man when he had an order given him, she gave a shout of laughter.

The baron turned round, looked for a moment at the little fellow who

stood looking so confused in his big clothes, and then he too was

overcome with laughter, and, hardly able to speak, called out to his

wife:

"Lo-lo-look at Ma-Marius! Does-doesn't he look fun-funny?"

The baroness leaned out of the carriage-window, and, catching sight of

Marius, she was shaken by such a fit of laughter that the carriage moved

up and down on its springs as if it were jolting over some deep ruts.

"What on earth is there to laugh at like that?" said Julien, his face

pale with anger. "You must be perfect idiots, all of you."

Jeanne sat down on the steps, holding her sides and quite unable to

contain herself; the baron followed her example, and, inside the

carriage, convulsive sneezes and a sort of continual clucking intimated

that the baroness was suffocating with laughter. At last Marius' coat

began to shake; no doubt, he understood the cause of all this mirth, and

he giggled himself, beneath his big hat. Julien rushed towards him in a

rage; he gave him a box on the ear which knocked the boy's hat off and

sent it rolling onto the grass; then, turning to the baron, he said, in

a voice that trembled with anger:

"I think you ought to be the last one to laugh. Whose fault is it that

you are ruined? We should not be like this if you had not squandered

your fortune and thrown away your money right and left."

All the laughter stopped abruptly, but no one spoke. Jeanne, ready to

cry now, quietly took her place beside her mother. The baron, without a

word, sat down opposite, and Julien got up on the box, after lifting up

the crying boy whose cheek was beginning to swell. The long drive was

performed in silence, for they all felt awkward and unable to converse

on ordinary topics. They could only think of the incident that had just

happened, and, rather than broach such a painful subject, they preferred

to sit in dull silence.

They went past a great many farm-houses startling the black fowls and

sending them to the hedges for refuge, and sometimes a yelping dog

followed for a little while and then ran back to his kennel with

bristling hair, turning round every now and then to send another bark

after the carriage. A lad in muddy sabots, was slouching along with his

hands in his pockets, his blouse blown out by the wind and his long lazy

legs dragging one after the other, and as he stood on one side for the

carriage to pass, he awkwardly pulled off his cap. Between each farm lay

meadows with other farms dotted here and there in the distance, and it

seemed a long while before they turned up an avenue of firs which

bordered the road. Here the carriage leant on one side as it passed over

the deep ruts, and the baroness felt frightened and began to give little

screams. At the end of the avenue there was a white gate which Marius

jumped down to open, and then they drove round an immense lawn and drew

up before a high, gloomy-looking house which had all its shutters

closed.

The hall-door opened, and an old, semi-paralyzed servant (in a red and

black striped waistcoat, over which was tied an apron) limped sideways

down the steps; after asking the visitors' names he showed them into a

large drawing-room, and drew up the closed Venetian blinds. The

furniture was all covered up, and the clock and candelabra were

enveloped in white cloths; the room smelt moldy, and its damp, cold

atmosphere seemed to chill one to the very heart. The visitors sat down

and waited. Footsteps could be heard on the floor above, hurrying along

in an unusual bustle, for the lady of the house had been taken unawares

and was changing her dress as quickly as possible; a bell rang several

times and then they could hear more footsteps on the stairs. The

baroness, feeling thoroughly cold, began to sneeze frequently; Julien

walked up and down the room, Jeanne sat by her mother, and the baron

stood with his back against the marble mantelpiece.

At last a door opened, and the Vicomte and Vicomtesse de Briseville

appeared. They were a little, thin couple of an uncertain age, both very

formal and rather embarrassed. The vicomtesse wore a flowered silk gown

and a cap trimmed with ribbons, and when she spoke it was in a sharp,

quick voice. Her husband was in a tight frock-coat; his hair looked as

if it had been waxed, and his nose, his eyes, his long teeth and his

coat, which was evidently his best one, all shone as if they had been

polished with the greatest care. He returned his visitors' bow with a

bend of the knees.

When the ordinary complimentary phrases had been exchanged no one knew

what to say next, so they all politely expressed their pleasure at

making this new acquaintance and hoped it would be a lasting one; for,

living as they did in the country all the year round, an occasional

visit made an agreable change. The icy air of the drawing-room froze the

very marrow of their bones, and the baroness was seized by a fit of

coughing, interrupted at intervals by a sneeze. The baron rose to go.

"You are not going to leave us already? Pray, stay a little longer,"

said the Brisevilles.

But Jeanne followed her father's example in spite of all the signs made

her by Julien, who thought they were leaving too soon. The vicomtesse

would have rung to order the baron's carriage, but the bell was out of

order, so the vicomte went to find a servant. He soon returned, to say

that the horses had been taken out, and the carriage would not be ready

for some minutes. Everyone tried to find some subject of conversation;

the rainy winter was discussed, and Jeanne, who could not prevent

herself shivering, try as she would, asked if their hosts did not find

it very dull living alone all the year round. Such a question astounded

the Brisevilles. Their time was always fully occupied, what with writing

long letters to their numerous aristocratic relations and pompously

discussing the most trivial matters, for in all their useless, petty

occupations, they were as formally polite to each other as they would

have been to utter strangers. At last the carriage, with its two

ill-matched steeds, drew up before the door, but Marius was nowhere to

be seen; he had gone for a walk in the fields, thinking he would not be

wanted again until the evening. Julien, in a great rage, left word for

him to be sent after them on foot, and, after a great many bows and

compliments, they started for Les Peuples again.

As soon as they were fairly off, Jeanne and the baron, in spite of the

uncomfortable feeling that Julien's ill-temper had caused, began to

laugh and joke about the Brisevilles' ways and tones. The baron imitated

the husband and Jeanne the wife, and the baroness, feeling a little hurt

in her reverence for the aristocracy, said to them:

"You should not joke in that way. I'm sure the Brisevilles are very

well-bred people, and they belong to excellent families."

They stopped laughing for a time, out of respect for the baroness's

feelings, but every now and then Jeanne would catch her father's eye,

and then they began again. The baron would make a very stiff bow, and

say in a solemn voice:

"Your chateau at Les Peuples must be very cold, madame, with the

sea-breeze blowing on it all day long."

Then Jeanne put on a very prim look, and said with a smirk, moving her

head all the time like a duck on the water:

"Oh, monsieur, I have plenty to fill up my time. You see we have so many

relations to whom letters must be written, and M. de Briseville leaves

all correspondence to me, as his time is taken up with the religious

history of Normandy that he is writing in collaboration with the Abbe

Pelle."

The baroness could not help smiling, but she repeated, in a half-vexed,

half-amused tone:

"It isn't right to laugh at people of our own rank like that."

All at once the carriage came to a standstill, and Julien called out to

someone on the road behind; Jeanne and the baron leant out of the

windows, and saw some singular creature rolling, rather than running,

towards them. Hindered by the floating skirts of his coat, unable to see

for his hat, which kept slipping over his eyes, his sleeves waving like

the sails of a windmill, splashing through the puddles, stumbling over

every large stone in his way, hastening, jumping, covered with mud,

Marius was running after the carriage as fast as his legs could carry

him. As soon as he came up Julien leant down, caught hold of him by the

coat collar, and lifted him up on the box seat; then, dropping the

reins, he began to pommel the boy's hat, which at once slipped down to

his shoulders. Inside the hat, which sounded as if it had been a drum,

Marius yelled at the top of his voice, but it was in vain that he

struggled and tried to jump down, for his master held him firmly with

one hand while he beat him with the other.

"Papa! oh, papa!" gasped Jeanne; and the baroness, filled with

indignation, seized her husband's arm, and exclaimed: "Stop him,

Jacques, stop him!" The baron suddenly let down the front window, and,

catching hold of the vicomte's sleeve:

"Are you going to stop beating that child?" he said in a voice that

trembled with anger.

Julien turned round in astonishment.

"But don't you see what a state the little wretch has got his livery

into?"

"What does that matter to me?" exclaimed the baron, with his head

between the two. "You sha'n't be so rough with him."

Julien got angry.

"Kindly leave me alone," he said; "it's nothing to do with you;" and he

raised his hand to strike the lad again. The baron caught hold of his

son-in-law's wrist, and flung his uplifted hand heavily down against the

woodwork of the seat, crying:

"If you don't stop that, I'll get out and soon make you."

He spoke in so determined a tone that the vicomte's rage suddenly

vanished, and, shrugging his shoulders, he whipped up the horses, and

the carriage moved on again. All this time Jeanne and her mother had sat

still, pale with fright, and the beating of the baroness's heart could

be distinctly heard. At dinner that evening Julien was more agreeable

than usual, and behaved as if nothing had happened. Jeanne, her father,

and Madame Adelaide easily forgave, and, touched by his good temper,

they joined in his gayety with a feeling of relief. When Jeanne

mentioned the Brisevilles, her husband even made a joke about them,

though he quickly added:

"But one can see directly that they are gentlepeople."

No more visits were paid, as everyone dreaded any reference to Marius,

but they were going to send cards to their neighbors on New Year's day,

and then wait to call on them until spring came, and the weather was

warmer.

On Christmas day and New Year's day, the cure, the mayor, and his wife

dined at Les Peuples, and their two visits formed the only break in the

monotonous days. The baron and baroness were to leave the chateau on the

ninth of January; Jeanne wanted them to stay longer, but Julien did not

second her invitation, so the baron ordered the post-chaise to be sent

from Rouen. The evening before they went away was clear and frosty, so

Jeanne and her father walked down to Yport, for they had not been there

since Jeanne's return from Corsica.

They went across the wood where she had walked on her wedding-day with

him whose companion she was henceforth to be, where she had received his

first kiss, and had caught her first glimpse of that sensual love which

was not fully revealed to her till that day in the valley of Ota when

she had drunk her husband's kisses with the water.

There were no leaves, no climbing plants, in the copse now, only the

rustling of the branches, and that dry, crackling noise that seems to

fill every wood in winter.

They reached the little village and went along the empty, silent

streets, which smelt of fish and of seaweed. The big brown nets were

hanging before the doors, or stretched out on the beach as of old;

towards Fecamp the green rocks at the foot of the cliff could be seen,

for the tide was going out, and all along the beach the big boats lay on

their sides looking like huge fish.

As night drew on, the fishermen, walking heavily in their big sea-boots,

began to come down on the shingle in groups, their necks well wrapped up

with woolen scarfs, and carrying a liter of brandy in one hand, and the

boat-lantern in the other. They busied themselves round the boats,

putting on board, with true Normandy slowness, their nets, their buoys,

a big loaf, a jar of butter, and the bottle of brandy and a glass. Then

they pushed off the boats, which went down the beach with a harsh noise,

then rushed through the surf, balanced themselves on the crest of a wave

for a few seconds, and spread their brown wings and disappeared into the

night, with their little lights shining at the bottom of the masts. The

sailors' wives, their big, bony frames shown off by their thin dresses,

stayed until the last fisherman had gone off, and then went back to the

hushed village, where their noisy voices roused the sleeping echoes of

the gloomy streets.

The baron and Jeanne stood watching these men go off into the darkness,

as they went off every night, risking their lives to keep themselves

from starving, and yet gaining so little that they could never afford to

eat meat.

"What a terrible, beautiful thing is the ocean!" said the baron. "How

many lives are at this very moment in danger on it, and yet how

exquisite it looks now, with the shadows falling over it! Doesn't it,

Jeannette?"

"This is not so pretty as the Mediterranean," she answered with a watery

smile.

"The Mediterranean!" exclaimed the baron scornfully. "Why, the

Mediterranean's nothing but oil or sugared water, while this sea is

terrific with its crests of foam and its wild waves. And think of those

men who have just gone off on it, and who are already out of sight."

Jeanne gave in.

"Yes, perhaps you are right," she said with a sigh, for the word

"Mediterranean" had sent a pang through her heart, and turned her

thoughts to those far-away countries where all her dreams lay buried.

They did not go back through the wood, but walked along the road; they

walked in silence, for both were saddened by the thought of the morrow's

parting. As they passed the farmhouses, they could smell the crushed

apples--that scent of new cider which pervades all Normandy at this time

of the year--or the strong odor of cows and the healthy, warm smell of a

dunghill. The dwelling houses could be distinguished by their little

lighted windows, and these tiny lights, scattered over the country, made

Jeanne think of the loneliness of human creatures, and how everything

tends to separate and tear them away from those they love, and her heart

seemed to grow bigger and more capable of understanding the mysteries of

existence.

"Life is not always gay," she said in tones of resignation.

The baron sighed.

"That is true, my child," he replied; "but we cannot help it."

The next day the baron and baroness went away, leaving Jeanne and Julien

alone.

* * * * *