footfall of the walker, convinced that he was about to stop at the front gate and ask for shelter.
When he had passed by, she felt the sadness of a disappointment. But she realized how she had been carried away by her hopes, and she smiled at her folly.
Then, feeling a little calmer, she allowed her mind to wander along more sensible paths, trying to peer into the future, arranging her life in advance.
She would live here with him, in this peaceful chateau overlooking the sea. She would doubtless have two children, a son for him, a daughter for her. And she could see them running across the grass between the plane-tree and the lime, while father and mother looked on with delight, exchanging loving glances over their heads.
And she remained there for a long, long time, dreaming in this fashion, while the moon completed its passage across the sky and vanished beneath the sea. The air was turning cooler. In the east the horizon was brightening. A cock crowed in the farm on the right; others answered from the farm on the left. Through the walls of the hen-houses their raucous voices seemed to come from very far away; while up in the immense vault of the sky, now imperceptibly turning whiter and whiter, the stars vanished from view.
Somewhere a bird awoke and gave a tiny cry. Twittering began, timid at first, coming from amidst the foliage; then it grew bolder, turning vibrant and joyful, and was taken up from branch to branch and from tree to tree.
Suddenly Jeanne could feel brightness upon her; and raising her head which she had buried in her hands she closed her eyes, dazzled by the radiance of the dawn.
A mountainous bank of crimson clouds, partly hidden behind the great avenue of poplars, cast glimmers of blood-red light upon the wakened earth.
And slowly, piercing the brilliance of the mists, darting fire upon the trees, and the plain, and the ocean, and across the whole horizon, the huge, blazing globe shone forth.
And Jeanne began to feel a wild happiness. A sense of delirious joy, an infinite tenderness at the splendour of things, filled her heart to bursting. This was her sun! her dawn! the beginning of her life! the daybreak of her aspirations! She stretched out her arms towards the radiant space, desirous of embracing the sun itself; she wanted to speak out, to proclaim a message as holy as the birth of this day; but she remained dumbstruck in her impotent enthusiasm. Then, placing her forehead in her hands, she felt her eyes fill with tears; and she wept, deliciously.
When she looked up again, the magnificent display of the new dawn had already vanished. She, too, felt spent and a little weary, as through her fires had cooled. Leaving the window open she went and lay on the bed, turning things over in her mind for a few minutes longer before falling into such a deep sleep that at eight o'clock she failed to hear her father calling her and woke only when he came into her room.
He wanted to show her all the things that had been done to the house, to her house.
The front of the house faced inland and was separated from the road by a vast courtyard planted with apple-trees. This roada so-called parish wayran between the peasants' small-holdings and joined the main highway from Le Havre to Fécamp some half a league hence.
A straight avenue led from the wooden entrance-gate to the front steps. The outhouseslow buildings rendered with shingle and topped with thatchextended on either side of the courtyard, along the length of the ditches separating it from the two farms.
The roofing on the old manor-house had been replaced; all the woodwork had been restored, the walls repaired, the rooms repapered, and the whole of the interior repainted. And against its weathered exterior the new shutters, painted a silvery white, looked like stains, as did the patches of fresh plaster against the broad, grey surface of the front façade.
The other side of the house, in which one of Jeanne's bedroom windows was situated,
When he had passed by, she felt the sadness of a disappointment. But she realized how she had been carried away by her hopes, and she smiled at her folly.
Then, feeling a little calmer, she allowed her mind to wander along more sensible paths, trying to peer into the future, arranging her life in advance.
She would live here with him, in this peaceful chateau overlooking the sea. She would doubtless have two children, a son for him, a daughter for her. And she could see them running across the grass between the plane-tree and the lime, while father and mother looked on with delight, exchanging loving glances over their heads.
And she remained there for a long, long time, dreaming in this fashion, while the moon completed its passage across the sky and vanished beneath the sea. The air was turning cooler. In the east the horizon was brightening. A cock crowed in the farm on the right; others answered from the farm on the left. Through the walls of the hen-houses their raucous voices seemed to come from very far away; while up in the immense vault of the sky, now imperceptibly turning whiter and whiter, the stars vanished from view.
Somewhere a bird awoke and gave a tiny cry. Twittering began, timid at first, coming from amidst the foliage; then it grew bolder, turning vibrant and joyful, and was taken up from branch to branch and from tree to tree.
Suddenly Jeanne could feel brightness upon her; and raising her head which she had buried in her hands she closed her eyes, dazzled by the radiance of the dawn.
A mountainous bank of crimson clouds, partly hidden behind the great avenue of poplars, cast glimmers of blood-red light upon the wakened earth.
And slowly, piercing the brilliance of the mists, darting fire upon the trees, and the plain, and the ocean, and across the whole horizon, the huge, blazing globe shone forth.
And Jeanne began to feel a wild happiness. A sense of delirious joy, an infinite tenderness at the splendour of things, filled her heart to bursting. This was her sun! her dawn! the beginning of her life! the daybreak of her aspirations! She stretched out her arms towards the radiant space, desirous of embracing the sun itself; she wanted to speak out, to proclaim a message as holy as the birth of this day; but she remained dumbstruck in her impotent enthusiasm. Then, placing her forehead in her hands, she felt her eyes fill with tears; and she wept, deliciously.
When she looked up again, the magnificent display of the new dawn had already vanished. She, too, felt spent and a little weary, as through her fires had cooled. Leaving the window open she went and lay on the bed, turning things over in her mind for a few minutes longer before falling into such a deep sleep that at eight o'clock she failed to hear her father calling her and woke only when he came into her room.
He wanted to show her all the things that had been done to the house, to her house.
The front of the house faced inland and was separated from the road by a vast courtyard planted with apple-trees. This roada so-called parish wayran between the peasants' small-holdings and joined the main highway from Le Havre to Fécamp some half a league hence.
A straight avenue led from the wooden entrance-gate to the front steps. The outhouseslow buildings rendered with shingle and topped with thatchextended on either side of the courtyard, along the length of the ditches separating it from the two farms.
The roofing on the old manor-house had been replaced; all the woodwork had been restored, the walls repaired, the rooms repapered, and the whole of the interior repainted. And against its weathered exterior the new shutters, painted a silvery white, looked like stains, as did the patches of fresh plaster against the broad, grey surface of the front façade.
The other side of the house, in which one of Jeanne's bedroom windows was situated,
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