Volume II Part 21 (1/2)

When the bleeding had stopped, he proposed a walk, as he was afraid of his neighbor's heavy hand, if they reer; but she took his arm of her own accord, in the avenue, as if they had been out for an evening walk, and said: ”It is not nice of you to despise me like that, Jacques” He protested, however No, he did not despise her He was in love with her, that was all ”So you really want to marry me?” she asked

He hesitated, and then looked at her aside, while she looked straight ahead of her She had fat, red cheeks, a full, protuberant bust under her muslin dress, thick, red lips, and her neck, which was almost bare, was covered with small beads of perspiration He felt a fresh access of desire, and putting his lips to her ear, he murmured: ”Yes, of course I do”

Then she threw her ar time that they both of them lost their breath Froan between theued one another in corners; they ave each other bruises on the legs with their heavy nailed boots By degrees, however, Jacques seerow tired of her; he avoided her; scarcely spoke to her, and did not try any longer to meet her alone, which nant

At first, she was in a state of consternation, but then she got angry, and her rage increased every day, because she could not ht when everyone in the farmhouse was asleep, she went out noiselessly in her petticoat, with bare feet, crossed the yard and opened the door of the stable, where Jacques was lying in a large box of straw, over his horses He pretended to snore when he heard her co, but she knelt down by his side and shook him until he sat up

”What do you want?” he then asked her And she, with clenched teeth, and treer, replied: ”I wantI want you to hed, and replied: ”Oh! If a irls hoh to do”

Then she seized him by the throat, threw hie hi him, she shouted into his face: ”I am in the faasped for breath, as he was nearly choked, and so they re, in the dark silence, which was only broken by the noise that a horse er, and then slowly chewed it

When Jacques found that she was the stronger, he stammered out: ”Very well, I will marry you, as that is the case” But she did not believe his promises ”It must be at once,” she said ”You must have the banns put up” ”At once,” he replied ”Swear solemnly that you will” He hesitated for a few moments, and then said: ”I swear it, by heaven”

Then she released her grasp, and went aithout another word

She had no chance of speaking to him for several days, and as the stable was noays locked at night, she was afraid to , however, she saw another man come in at dinner-time, and so she said: ”Has Jacques left?” ”Yes,” the ot his place”

This made her tremble so violently that she could not take the saucepan off the fire; and later when they were all at work, she went up into her rooht not be heard During the day, however, she tried to obtain so any suspicions, but she was so overwhelhts of her misfortune, that she fancied that all the people whohed maliciously All she learned, however, was, that he had left the neighborhood altogether

PART II

Then a cloud of constant an for her She worked , with one fixed idea in her head: ”Suppose people were to know”

This continual feeling , that she did not even try to think of any race that she knewnearer every day, and which was as sure as death itself She got up everybefore the others, and persistently tried to look at her figure in a piece of broken looking-glass at which she did her hair, as she was very anxious to knohether anybody would notice a change in her, and during the day she stopped working every few minutes to look at herself from top to toe, to see whether the size of her stomach did not make her apron look too short

The months went on, and she scarcely spoke now, and when she was asked a question, she did not appear to understand, but she had a frightened look, with haggard eyes and tre hands, which irl, how stupid you have grown lately”

In church, she hid behind a pillar, and no longer ventured to go to confession, as she feared to face the priest, to whom she attributed superhuman powers, which enabled him to read people's consciences; and at meal times, the looks of her fellow servants alony, and she was always fancying that she had been found out by the cowherd, a precocious and cunning little lad, whose bright eyes see the postht her a letter, and as she had never received one in her life before, she was so upset by it that she was obliged to sit down Perhaps it was from hi, with that piece of paper covered with ink in her hand; after a time, however, she put it into her pocket, as she did not venture to confide her secret to anyone She often stopped in her work to look at those lines written at regular intervals, and which teruely that she would suddenly discover their , until at last, as she felt half mad with impatience and anxiety, she went to the schoolmaster, who told her to sit down, and read to her, as follows:

MY DEAR DAUGHTER: I write to tell you that I as you to come, if you can For your affectionate mother,

CESAIRE DENTU, DEPUTY MAYOR

She did not say a word, and went away, but as soon as she was alone, her legs gave way, and she fell down by the roadside, and reot back, she told the far as she wanted, and promised to have her work done by a char-woman, and to take her back when she returned

Her ave birth to a seven h tocontinually, to judge from the painful manner in which it moved its poor little hands about, which were as thin as a crab's legs, but it lived, for all that

She said that she was married, but that she could not saddle herself with the child, so she left it with soreat care of it, and she went back to the farm