m 
 
 iiaiiiii
 
 «?
 
 '^^.. 
 
 fc
 
 '^.ftyn^^MO.'S ^, Hy*:i/lfi^7'SfJ^4n„f
 
 %^yry/lt/i>m'<y'. 't^^H^ArrS^uKT^^.
 
 AFTKR THR ORIGINAL DRAWING BY FERDINAND BAG. 
 
 **He had thought zvt'th deep anxiety of this child, of 
 which he was the father." 
 
 (See page J43.)
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 OR 
 
 A ROMANCE OF AUVERGNE 
 
 ^ NOyEL 
 
 By 
 GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 VOL. VIII. 
 
 SAINT DUNSTAN SOCIETY 
 Akron, Ohio
 
 Copyright, 1903, by 
 M. WALTER DUNNE 
 
 Entered at Stationers' Hall^ London
 
 [ 
 
 TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 Chapter I. 
 
 PACB 
 
 THE SPA 
 
 Chapter II. 
 
 THE DISCOVERY 26 
 
 Chapter III. 
 
 bargaining ... 
 
 43 
 
 Chapter IV. 
 
 A TEST AND AN AVOWAL 5. 
 
 Chapter V. 
 
 DEVELOPMENTS g 
 
 Chapter VI. 
 
 ON THE BRINK g 
 
 Chapter VII. 
 
 ATTAINMENT •...,., 
 
 Chapter VIII. 
 
 ORGANIZATION 
 
 Chapter IX. 
 
 THE SPA AGAIN ... 
 
 J 74 
 
 Chapter X. 
 
 GONTRAN'S CHOICE ^ 
 
 (ix)
 
 3f TABLE OF CONTENTS 
 
 Chapter XI. pace 
 
 A MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING 239 
 
 Chapter XII. 
 
 A BETROTHAL - 269 
 
 Chapter XIII. 
 
 PAUL CHANGES HIS MIND 29 1 
 
 Chapter XIV. 
 
 christiane's via crucis 306
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 "he had thought with deep anxiety of this child, 
 
 OF which he was the father " . . Frontispiece 
 "she SPRANG WILDLY TO HER feet. IT WAS HE I" . 1 5O
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 T 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 The Spa 
 
 •HE first bathers, the early risers, 
 
 who had already been at the 
 
 water, were walking slowly, in 
 
 pairs or alone, under the huge trees 
 
 along the stream which rushes down 
 
 ^cL^ the gorges of Enval. 
 
 Others arrived from the village, and 
 entered the establishment in a hurried 
 fashion. It was a spacious building, 
 the ground floor being reserved for 
 thermal treatment, while the first story 
 served as a casino, cafi, and billiard-room. 
 Since Doctor Bonnefille had discovered in 
 the heart of Enval the great spring, baptized 
 by him the Bonnefille Spring, some proprietors of the 
 country and the surrounding neighborhood, timid 
 speculators, had decided to erect in the midst of this 
 superb glen of Auvergne, savage and gay withal, 
 planted with walnut and giant chestnut trees, a vast 
 house for every kind of use, serving equally for the 
 
 8 G. tie M.— I ( I )
 
 2 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 purpose of cure and of pleasure, in which mineral 
 waters, douches, and baths were sold below, and 
 beer, liqueurs, and music above. 
 
 A portion of the ravine along the stream had been 
 inclosed, to constitute the park indispensable to every 
 spa; and three walks had been made, one nearly 
 straight, and the other two zigzag. At the end of 
 the first gushed out an artificial spring detached from 
 the parent spring, and bubbling into a great basin of 
 cement, sheltered by a straw roof, under the care of 
 an impassive woman, whom everyone called "Marie" 
 in a familiar sort of way. This calm Auvergnat, who 
 wore a little cap always as white as snow, and a big 
 apron, perfectly clean at all times, which concealed 
 her working-dress, rose up slowly as soon as she 
 saw a bather coming along the road in her direction. 
 
 The bather would smile with a melancholy air, 
 drink the water, and return her the glass, saying, 
 "Thanks, Marie." Then he would turn on his heel 
 and walk away. And Marie sat down again on her 
 straw chair to wait for the next comer. 
 
 They were not, however, very numerous. The 
 Enval station had just been six years open for in- 
 valids, and scarcely could count more patients at the 
 end of these six years than it had at the start. About 
 fifty had come there, attracted more than anything 
 else by the beauty of the district, by the charm of 
 this little village lost under enormous trees, whose 
 twisted trunks seemed as big as the houses, and by 
 the reputation of the gorges at the end of this strange 
 glen which opened on the great plain of Auvergne 
 and ended abruptly at the foot of the high mountain 
 bristling with craters of unknown age — a savage and
 
 MONTORIOI. J 
 
 magnificent crevasse, full of rocks fallen or threaten- 
 ing, from which rushed a stream that cascaded over 
 giant stones, forming a little lake in front of each. 
 
 This thermal station had been brought to birth as 
 they all are, with a pamphlet on the spring by Doctor 
 Bonnefille. He opened with a eulogistic description, 
 in a majestic and sentimental style, of the Alpine se- 
 ductions of the neighborhood. He selected only 
 adjectives which convey a vague sense of delightful- 
 ness and enjoyment — those which produce effect 
 without committing the writer to any material state- 
 ment. All the surroundings were picturesque, filled 
 with splendid sites or landscapes whose graceful out- 
 lines aroused soft emotions. All the promenades in 
 the vicinity possessed a remarkable originality, such 
 as would strike the imagination of artists and tour- 
 ists. Then abruptly, without any transition, he 
 plunged into the therapeutic qualities of the Bonnefille 
 Spring, bicarbonate, sodium, mixed, lithineous, ferrugi- 
 nous, et cetera, et cetera, capable of curing every disease. 
 He had, moreover, enumerated them under this head- 
 ing: Chronic affections or acute specially associated with 
 Enval. And the list of affections associated with Enval 
 was long — long and varied, consoling for invalids of 
 every kind. The pamphlet concluded with some in- 
 formation of practical utility, the cost of lodgings, 
 commodities, and hotels — for three hotels had sprung 
 up simultaneously with the casino-medical establish- 
 ment. These were the Hotel Splendid, quite new, 
 built on the slope of the glen looking down on the 
 baths; the Thermal Hotel, an old inn with a new 
 coat of plaster; and the Hotel Vidaillet, formed very 
 simply by the purchase of three adjoining houses,
 
 4 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 which had been altered so as to convert them 
 into one. 
 
 Then, all at once, two new doctors had installed 
 themselves in the locality one morning, without any- 
 one well knowing how they came, for at spas doc- 
 tors seem to dart up out of the springs, like gas-jets. 
 These were Doctor Honorat, a native of Auvergne, 
 and Doctor Latonne, of Paris. A fierce antagonism 
 soon burst out between Doctor Latonne and Doctor 
 Bonnefille, while Doctor Honorat, a big, clean-shaven 
 man, smiling and pliant, stretched forth his right 
 hand to the first, and his left hand to the second, 
 and remained on good terms with both. But Doctor 
 Bonnefille was master of the situation, with his title 
 of Inspector of the Waters and of the thermal estab- 
 lishment of Enval-les-Bains. 
 
 This title was his strength and the establishment 
 his chattel. There he spent his days, and even his 
 nights, it was said. A hundred times, in the morning, 
 he would go from his house which was quite near 
 in the village to his consultation-study fixed at the 
 right-hand side facing the entrance to the thermal 
 baths. Lying in wait there, like a spider in his web, 
 he watched the comings and goings of the invalids, 
 inspecting his own patients with a severe eye and 
 those of the other doctors with a look of fury. He 
 questioned everybody almost in the style of a ship's 
 captain, and he struck terror into newcomers, unless 
 it happened that he made them smile. 
 
 This day, as he arrived with rapid steps, which 
 made the big flaps of his old frock coat fly up like a 
 pair of wings, he was stopped suddenly by a voice 
 exclaiming: "Doctor!"
 
 MONT ORIOL 5 
 
 He turned round. His thin face, full of big ugly 
 wrinkles, and looking quite black at the end with a 
 grizzled beard rarely cut, made an effort to smile; 
 and he took' off the tall silk hat, shabby, stained, and 
 greasy, that covered his thick pepper-and-salt head of 
 hair — "pepper and soiled," as his rival. Doctor La- 
 tonne, put it. Then he advanced a step, made a 
 bow, and murmured: 
 
 "Good morning, Marquis — are you quite well 
 this morning?" 
 
 The Marquis de Ravenel, a little man well pre- 
 served, stretched out his hand to the doctor, as he 
 replied: 
 
 "Very well, doctor, very well, or, at least, not 
 ill. 1 am always suflFering from my kidneys; but in- 
 deed I am better, much better; and 1 am as yet only 
 at my tenth bath. Last year I did not obtain the 
 effect until the sixteenth, you recollect.''" 
 
 "Yes, perfectly." 
 
 "But it is not about this 1 want to talk to you. 
 My daughter has arrived this morning, and 1 wish 
 to have a chat with you about her case first of 
 all, because my son-in-law, William Andermatt, the 
 banker — " 
 
 "Yes, 1 know." 
 
 "My son-in-law has a letter of recommendation 
 addressed to Doctor Latonne. As for me, 1 have no 
 confidence except in you, and I beg of you to have 
 the kindness to come up to the hotel before — you 
 understand ? 1 prefer to say things to you candidly. 
 Are you free at the present moment ? " 
 
 Doctor BonnefiUe had put on his hat again, and 
 looked excited and troubled. He answered at once:
 
 6 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 "Yes, I shall be free immediately. Do you wish 
 me to accompany you?" 
 
 "Why, certainly." 
 
 And, turning their backs on the establishment, 
 they directed their steps up a circular walk leading to 
 the door of the Hotel Splendid, built on the slope of 
 the mountain so as to otTer a view of it to travelers. 
 
 They made their way to the drawing-room in the 
 first story adjoining the apartments occupied by the 
 Ravenel and Andermatt families, and the Marquis 
 left the doctor by himself while he went to look for 
 his daughter. 
 
 He came back with her presently. She was a fair 
 young woman, small, pale, very pretty, whose fea- 
 tures seemed like those of a child, while her blue 
 eyes, boldly fixed, cast on people a resolute look 
 that gave an alluring impression of firmness and a 
 peculiar charm to this refined and fascinating crea- 
 ture. There was not much the matter with her — 
 vague languors, sadnesses, bursts of tears without 
 apparent cause, angry fits for which there seemed 
 no season, and lastly anaemia. She craved above all 
 for a child, which had been vainly looked forward to 
 since her marriage, more than two years before. 
 
 Doctor Bonnefille declared that the waters of Enval 
 would be effectual, and proceeded forthwith to write 
 a prescription. The doctor's prescriptions had al- 
 ways the formidable aspect of an indictment. On a 
 big white sheet of paper such as schoolboys use, his 
 directions exhibited themselves in numerous para- 
 graphs of two or three lines each, in an irregular 
 handwriting, bristling with letters resembling spikes. 
 And the potions, the pills, the powders, which were
 
 MONT ORIOL -7 
 
 to be taken fasting in the morning, at midday, and in 
 the evening, followed in ferocious-looking characters. 
 One of these prescriptions might read: 
 
 "Inasmuch as M. X. is affected with a chronic malady, incurable 
 and mortal, he will take, first, sulphate of quinine, which will render 
 him deaf, and will make him lose his memory; secondly, bromide of 
 potassium, which will destroy his stomach, weaken all his faculties, 
 cover him with pimples, and make his breath foul; thirdly, salicylate of 
 soda, whose curative effects have not yet been proved, but which 
 seems to lead to a terrible and speedy death the patient treated by this 
 remedy. And concurrently, chloral, which causes insanity, and bella- 
 donna, which attacks the eyes; all vegetable solutions and all mineral 
 compositions which corrupt the blood, corrode the organs, consume 
 the bones, and destroy by medicine those whom disease has spared." 
 
 For a long time he went on writing on the front 
 page and on the back, then signed it just as a judge 
 might have signed a death-sentence. 
 
 The young woman, seated opposite to him, stared 
 at him with an inclination to laugh that made the 
 corners of her lips rise up. 
 
 When, with a low bow, he had taken himself off, 
 she snatched up the paper blackened with ink, rolled 
 it up into a ball, and flung it into the fire. Then, 
 breaking into a hearty laugh, said: 
 
 "Oh! father, where did you discover this fossil? 
 Why, he looks for all the world like an old-clothes- 
 man. Oh! how clever of you to dig up a physician 
 that might have lived before the Revolution! Oh! 
 how funny he is, aye, and dirty — ah, yes! dirty — I 
 believe really he has stained my penholder." 
 
 The door opened, and M. Andermatt's voice was 
 heard saying, "Come in, doctor." 
 
 And Doctor Latonne appeared. Erect, slender, cir- 
 cumspect, comparatively young, attired in a fashion-
 
 8 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 able morning-coat, and holding in his hand the high 
 silk hat which distinguishes the practicing doctor in 
 the greater part of the thermal stations of Auvergne, 
 the physician from Paris, without beard or mustache, 
 resembled an actor who had retired into the country. 
 
 The Marquis, confounded, did not know what to 
 say or do, while his daughter put her handkerchief 
 to her mouth to keep herself from bursting out 
 laughing in the newcomer's face. He bowed with 
 an air of self-confidence, and at a sign from the 
 young woman took a seat. 
 
 M. Andermatt, who followed him, minutely de- 
 tailed for him his wife's condition, her illnesses, 
 together with their accompanying symptoms, the 
 opinions of the physicians consulted in Paris, and 
 then his own opinion based on special grounds 
 which he explained in technical language. 
 
 He was a man still quite youthful, a Jew, who 
 devoted himself to financial transactions. He en- 
 tered into all sorts of speculations, and displayed in all 
 matters of business a subtlety of intellect, a rapidity 
 of penetration, and a soundness of judgment that 
 were perfectly marvelous. A little too stout already 
 for his figure, which was not tall, chubby, bald, with 
 an infantile expression, fat hands, and short thighs, 
 he looked much too greasy to be quite healthy, and 
 spoke with amazing facility. 
 
 By means of tact he had been able to form an 
 alliance with the daughter of the Marquis de Ravenel 
 with a view to extending his speculations into a sphere 
 to which he did not belong. The Marquis, besides, 
 possessed an income of about thirty thousand francs, 
 and had only two children; but, when M. Andermatt
 
 MONT ORIOL ^ 
 
 married, though scarcely thirty years of age, he owned 
 already five or six millions, and had sown enough to 
 bring him in a harvest of ten or twelve. M. de Ra- 
 venel, a man of weak, irresolute, shifting, and unde- 
 cided character, at first angrily repulsed the overtures 
 made to him with respect to this union, and was in- 
 dignant at the thought of seeing his daughter allied 
 to an Israelite. Then, after six months' resistance, he 
 gave way, under the pressure of accumulated wealth, 
 on the condition that the children should be brought 
 up in the Catholic religion. 
 
 But they waited for a long time and no offspring 
 was yet announced. It was then that the Marquis, 
 enchanted for the past two years with the waters of 
 Enval, recalled to mind the fact that Doctor Bonne- 
 fille's pamphlet also promised the cure for sterility. 
 
 Accordingly, he sent for his daughter, whom his 
 son-in-law accompanied, in order to install her and to 
 intrust her, acting on the advice of his Paris physi- 
 cian, to the care of Doctor Latonne. Therefore, An- 
 dermatt, since his arrival, had gone to look for this 
 practitioner, and went on enumerating the symptoms 
 which presented themselves in his wife's case. He 
 finished by mentioning how much he had been pained 
 at finding his hopes of paternity unrealized. 
 
 Doctor Latonne allowed him to go on to the end; 
 then, turning toward the young woman: "Have you 
 anything to add, Madame?" 
 
 She replied gravely: "No, Monsieur, nothing at all." 
 
 He went on: "In that case, 1 will trouble you to 
 take off your traveling-dress and your corset, and to 
 put on a simple white dressing-gown, all while." 
 
 She was astonished; he rapidly explained his sys-
 
 lO WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 tem: "Good heavens, Madame, it is very simple. 
 Formerly, the belief was that all diseases came from 
 a poison in the blood or from an organic cause; to-day, 
 we simply assume that, in many cases, and, above all, 
 in your particular case, the uncertain ailments from 
 which you suffer, and even certain serious troubles, 
 very serious, mortal, may proceed only from the fact 
 that some organ or other, having taken, under in- 
 fluences easy to determine, an abnormal development, 
 to the detriment of the neighboring organs, destroys 
 all the harmony, all the equilibrium of the human 
 body, modifies or arrests its functions, and obstructs the 
 play of all the other organs. A swelling of the stomach 
 may be sufficient to make us believe in a disease of 
 the heart, which, impeded in its movements, becomes 
 violent, irregular, sometimes even intermittent. The 
 dilatation of the liver or of certain glands may cause 
 ravages which unobservant physicians attribute to a 
 thousand different causes. Therefore, the first thing 
 that we should do is to ascertain whether all the 
 organs of a patient have their true compass and their 
 normal position, for a very little thing is enough to 
 upset a person's health. I am going, then, Madame, 
 if you will allow me, to examine you with great care, 
 and to mark out on your dressing-gown the limits, 
 the dimensions, and the positions of your organs." 
 
 He had put down his hat on a chair, and he 
 spoke in a facile manner. His large mouth, in open- 
 ing and closing, made two deep hollows in his shaven 
 cheeks, which gave him a certain ecclesiastical air. 
 
 Andermatt, delighted, exclaimed: "Capital, capital! 
 That is very clever, very ingenious, very new, very 
 modern."
 
 MONTORIOL II 
 
 "Very modern" in his mouth was the height of 
 admiration. 
 
 The young woman, highly amused, rose and passed 
 into her own apartment. She came back, after the 
 lapse of a few minutes, in a white dressing-gown. 
 
 The physician made her lie down on a sofa, then, 
 drawing from his pocket a pencil with three points, 
 a black, a red, and a blue, he commenced to auscul- 
 tate and to tap his new patient, riddling the dressing- 
 gown all over with little dots of color by way of 
 noting each observation. 
 
 She resembled, after a quarter of an hour of this 
 work, a map indicating continents, seas, capes, rivers, 
 kingdoms, and cities, and bearing the names of all 
 these terrestrial divisions, for the doctor wrote on 
 every line of demarcation two or three Latin words 
 intelligible to himself alone. 
 
 Now, when he had listened to all the internal 
 sounds in Madame Andermatt's body, and tapped on 
 all the parts of her person that were irritated or 
 hollow-sounding, he drew forth from his pocket a 
 notebook of red leather with gold threads to fasten 
 it, divided in alphabetical order, consulted the index, 
 opened it, and wrote: "Observation 6347. — Madame 
 A , 21 years." 
 
 Then, collecting from her head to her feet the col- 
 ored notes on her dressing-gown, and reading them 
 as an Egyptologist deciphers hieroglyphics, he entered 
 them in the notebook. 
 
 He observed, when he had finished: "Nothing 
 disquieting, nothing abnormal, save a slight, a very 
 slight deviation, which some thirty acidulated baths 
 will cure. You will take furthermore three half-
 
 12 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 glasses of water each morning before noon. Nothing 
 else I will come back to see you in four or five 
 days." Then he rose, bowed, and went out with 
 such promptitude that everyone remained stupefied at 
 it. This abrupt style of departure was a part of his 
 mannerism, his tact, his special stamp. He considered 
 it very good form, and thought it made a great im- 
 pression on the patient. 
 
 Madame Andermatt ran to look at herself in the 
 glass, and, shaking all over with a joyous burst of 
 childlike laughter, said: 
 
 "Oh! how amusing they are, how droll they are! 
 Tell me, is there not one more left of them ? 1 want 
 to see him immediately! Will, go and find him for 
 me! We must have the third one here — I want to 
 see him." 
 
 Her husband, surprised, asked: 
 
 "How, a third, a third what?" 
 
 The Marquis deemed it advisable to explain, v/hile 
 offering excuses, for he was a little afraid of his son- 
 in-law. He related, therefore, how Doctor Bonnefille 
 had come to see himself, and how he had introduced 
 him to Christiane, in order to ascertain his opinion, 
 as he had great confidence in the experience of the 
 old physician, who was a native of the district, and 
 who had discovered the spring. 
 
 Andermatt shrugged his shoulders, and declared 
 that Doctor Latonne alone would take care of his 
 wife, so that the Marquis, very uneasy, began to 
 reflect on the best course to take in order to arrange 
 matters without offending his irascible physician. 
 
 Christiane asked: "Is Gontran here?" This was 
 her brother.
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 13 
 
 Her fathei replied: "Yes, for the past four days, 
 with a friend of his of whom he has often spoken, 
 M. Paul Bretigny, They are making a tour together 
 in Auvergne. They have come from Mont Dor6 and 
 from Bourboule, and will be setting out for Cantal at 
 the end of next week." 
 
 Then he asked the young woman whether she 
 desired to rest till luncheon after the night in the 
 train; but she had slept perfectly in the sleeping car, 
 and only required an hour for her toilette, after which 
 she wished to visit the village and the establishment. 
 
 Her father and her husband went back to their 
 rooms to wait till she was ready. She soon came 
 out to call them, and they descended together. She 
 grew enthusiastic at first sight over the aspect of the 
 village, built in the middle of a wood in a deep 
 valley, which seemed hemmed in on every side by chest- 
 nut-trees lofty as mountains. These could be seen 
 everywhere, springing up just as they chanced to have 
 shot forth here and there in a century, in front of door- 
 ways, in the courtyards, in the streets. Then, again, 
 there were fountains everywhere made of a great black 
 stone standing upright pierced with a small aperture, 
 through which dashed a streamlet of clear water that 
 whirled about in a circle before it fell into the trough. 
 A fresh odor of grass and of stables floated over those 
 masses of verdure; and they saw the peasant women 
 of Auvergne standing in front of their dwellings, 
 spinning at their distaffs with lively movements of 
 their fingers the black wool attached to their girdles. 
 Their short petticoats showed their thin ankles cov- 
 ered with blue stockings, and the bodies of their 
 dresses fastened over their shoulders with straps left
 
 14 
 
 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 exposed the linen sleeves of their chemises, out of 
 which stretched their hard, dry arms and bony hands. 
 
 But, suddenly, .a queer lilting kind of music burst 
 on the promenaders' ears. It was like a barrel-organ 
 with piping sounds, a barrel-organ used up, broken- 
 winded, invalided. 
 
 Christiane exclaimed: "What is that?" 
 
 Her father began to laugh: "It is the orchestra of 
 the Casino. It takes four of them to make that noise." 
 
 And he led her up to a red bill affixed to a corner 
 of a farmhouse, on which appeared in black letters: 
 
 CASINO OF ENVAL 
 
 UNDER THE DIRECTION OF M. PETRUS MARTEL, 
 OF THE ODEON. 
 
 Saturday, 6th of July. 
 
 Grand Concert 
 
 organized by the Maestro, Saint Landri, second grand prize winner at 
 
 the Conservatoire. 
 The piano will be presided over by M. Javel, grand laureate of the 
 
 Conservatoire. 
 
 Flute, M. Noirot, laureate of the Conservatoire. 
 
 Double-bass, M. Nicordi, laureate of the Royal Academy of Brussels. 
 
 After the Concert, grand representation of 
 
 Lost in the Forest^ 
 
 a Comedy in one act, by M. Pointellet. 
 
 Characters: 
 
 Pierre de Lapointe M. Petrus Martel, of the Odeon. 
 
 Oscar Leveille M. Petitnivelle, of tlie Vaudeville. 
 
 Jean M. Lapalme, of the Grand Tlicater of Bordeaux. 
 
 Philippine Mademoiselle Odelin, of the Odeon. 
 
 During the representation, the Orchestra will be likewise conducted 
 by the Maestro, Saint Landri.
 
 MONT ORIOL 15 
 
 Christiane read this aloud, laughed, and was as- 
 tonished. 
 
 Her fiUher went on: "Oh! they will amuse you. 
 Come and look at them." 
 
 They turned to the right, and entered the park. 
 The bathers promenaded gravely, slowly, along the 
 three walks. They drank their glasses of water, and 
 then went away. Some of them, seated on benches, 
 traced lines in the sand with the ends of their walking- 
 sticks or their umbrellas. They did not talk, seemed 
 not to think, scarcely to live, enervated, paralyzed by 
 the ennui of the thermal station. Only the odd music 
 of the orchestra broke the sweet silence as it leaped 
 into the air, coming one knew not whence, produced 
 one knew not how, passing under the foliage and 
 appearing to stir up these melancholy walkers. 
 
 A voice cried: "Christiane!" 
 
 She turned round. It was her brother. He rushed 
 toward her, embraced her, and, having pressed An- 
 dermatt's hand, took his sister by the arm, and drew 
 her along with him, leaving his father and his brother- 
 in-law in the rear. 
 
 They chatted. He was a tall, well-made young 
 fellow, prone to laughter like her, light-hearted as 
 the Marquis, inditTerent to events, but always on the 
 lookout for a thousand francs. 
 
 "1 thought you were asleep," said he. "But for 
 that I would have come to embrace you. And then 
 Paul carried me off this morning to the chateau of 
 Tournoel." 
 
 "Who is Paul? Oh, yes, your friend!" 
 
 "Paul Bretigny. It is true you don't know him. 
 He is taking a bath at the present moment."
 
 l6 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 "He is a patient, then?" 
 
 "No, but he is curing himself, all the same. He 
 is trying to get over a love episode," 
 
 "And so he's tailing acidulated baths — they're 
 called acidulated, are they not? — in order to restore 
 himself." 
 
 "Yes. He's doing all I told him to do. Oh! he 
 has been hit hard. He's a violent youth, terrible, and 
 has been at death's door. He wanted to kill himself, 
 too. It was an actress — a well-known actress. He 
 was madly in love with her. And then she was not 
 faithful to him, do you see ? The result was a fright- 
 ful drama. So I brought him away. He's going on 
 better now, but he's still thinking about it." 
 
 She smiled for a moment, then, becoming grave, 
 she returned: 
 
 "It will amuse me to see him." 
 
 For her, however, this thing, "Love," did not 
 mean very much. She sometimes bestowed a thought 
 on it, just as you think, when you are poor, now and 
 then of a pearl necklace, of a diadem of brilliants, 
 with a desire awakened in you for this thing — possi- 
 ble though far away. This fancy would come to her 
 after reading some novel to kill time, without attach- 
 ing to it, beyond that, any special importance. She 
 had never dreamed about it much, having been born 
 with a happy soul, tranquil and contented, and, al- 
 though now two years and a half married, she had 
 not yet awakened out of that sleep in which inno- 
 cent young girls live, that sleep of the heart, of the 
 mind, and of the senses, which, with some women, 
 lasts until death. For her life was simple and good, 
 without complications. She had never looked for the
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 J? 
 
 causes or the hidden meaning of things. She had 
 hved on from day to day, slept soundly, dressed 
 with taste, laughed, and felt satisfied. What more 
 could she have asked for? 
 
 When Andermatt had been introduced to her as 
 her future husband, she refused to wed him at first 
 with a childish indignation at the idea of becoming 
 the wife of a Jew. Her father and her brother, 
 sharing her repugnance, replied with her and like her 
 by formally declining the offer. Andermatt disap- 
 peared, acted as if he were dead, but, at the end of 
 three months, had lent Gontran more than twenty 
 thousand francs; and the Marquis, for other reasons, 
 was beginning to change his opinion. 
 
 In the first place, he always on principle yielded 
 when one persisted, through sheer egotistical desire 
 not to be disturbed. His daughter used to say of 
 him: "All papa's ideas are jumbled up together"; 
 and this was true. Without opinions, without beliefs, 
 he had only enthusiasms, which varied every mo- 
 ment. At one time, he would attach himself, with a 
 transitory and poetic exaltation, to the old traditions 
 of his race, and would long for a king, but an intel- 
 lectual king, liberal, enlightened, marching along with 
 the age. At another time, alter he had read a book 
 by Michelet or some democratic thinker, he would 
 become a passionate advocate of human equality, of 
 modern ideas, of the claims of the poor, the op- 
 pressed, and the suffering. He believed in everything, 
 just as each thing harmonized with his passing moods; 
 and, when his old friend, Madame Icardon, who, 
 connected as she was with many Israelites, desired 
 the marriage of Christiane and Andermatt, and began 
 
 8 O. de M.— a
 
 l8 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 to preach in favor of it, she knew full well the kind 
 of arguments with which she should attack him. 
 
 She pointed out to him that the Jewish race had 
 arrived at the hour of vengeance. It had been a race 
 crushed down as the French people had been before 
 the Revolution, and was now going to oppress others 
 by the power of gold. The Marquis, devoid of reli- 
 gious faith, but convinced that the idea of God was 
 rather a legislative idea, which had more effect in 
 keeping the foolish, the ignorant, and the timid in 
 the right path than the simple notion of Justice, re- 
 garded dogmas with a respectful indifference, and held 
 in equal and sincere esteem Confucius, Mohammed, 
 and Jesus Christ. Accordingly, the fact that the lat- 
 ter was crucified did not at all present itself as an 
 original wrongdoing but as a gross, political blunder. 
 In consequence it only required a few weeks to make 
 him admire the toil, hidden, incessant, and all-powerful, 
 of the persecuted Jews everywhere. And, viewing 
 with different eyes their brilliant triumph, he looked 
 upon it as a just reparation for the indignities that 
 so long had been heaped upon them. He saw them 
 masters of kings, who are the masters of the people — 
 sustaining thrones or allowing them to collapse, able 
 to make a nation bankrupt as one might a wine- 
 merchant, proud in the presence of princes who had 
 grown humble, and casting their impure gold into the 
 half-open purses of the most Catholic sovereigns, who 
 thanked them by conferring on them titles of nobility 
 and lines of railway. So he consented to the mar- 
 riage of William Andermatt with Christiane de Ravenel. 
 
 As for Christiane, under the unconscious pressure 
 of Madame Icardon, her mother's old companion, who
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 19 
 
 had become her intimate adviser since the Marquise's 
 death, a pressure to which was added that of her 
 father and the interested indifference of her brother, 
 she consented to marry this big, overrich youth, who 
 was not ugly but scarcely pleased her, just as she 
 would have consented to spend a summer in a dis- 
 agreeable country. 
 
 She found him a good fellow, kind, not stupid, 
 nice in intimate relations; but she frequently laughed 
 at him along with Gontran, whose gratitude was of 
 the perfidious order. 
 
 He would say to her: "Your husband is rosier 
 and balder th:An ever. He looks like a sickly flower, 
 or a sucking pig with its hair shaved off. Where 
 does he get these colors?" 
 
 She would reply: "I assure you I have nothing 
 to do with it. There are days when I feel inclined 
 to paste him on a box of sugar-plums." 
 
 But they had arrived in front of the baths. Two 
 men were seated on straw chairs with their backs to 
 the wall, smoking their pipes, one at each side of 
 the door. 
 
 Said Gontran: "Look, here are two good types. 
 Watch the fellow at the right, the hunchback with 
 the Greek cap! That's Pere Printemps, an ex-jailer 
 from Riom, who has become the guardian, almost 
 the manager, of the Enval establishment. For him 
 nothing is changed, and he governs the invalids just 
 as he did his prisoners in former days. The bathers 
 are always prisoners, their bathing-boxes are cells, 
 the douche-room a black-hole, and the place where 
 Doctor Bonnefille practices his stomach-washings with 
 the aid of the Baraduc sounding-line a chamber of
 
 20 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 mysterious torture. He does not salute any of the 
 men on the strength of the principle that all convicts 
 are contemptible beings. He treats women with much 
 more consideration, upon my honor — a consideration 
 mingled with astonishment, for he had none of them 
 under his control in the prison of Riom. That re- 
 treat being destined for males only, he has not yet 
 got accustomed to talking to members of the fair 
 sex. The other fellow is the cashier. I defy you to 
 make him write your name. You are just going 
 to see." 
 
 And Gontran, addressing the man at the left, 
 slowly said: 
 
 "Monsieur Seminois, this is my sister, Madame 
 Andermatt, who wants to subscribe for a dozen 
 baths." 
 
 The cashier, very tall, very thin, with a poor ap- 
 pearance, rose up, went into his office, which exactly 
 faced the study of the medical inspector, opened his 
 book, and asked: 
 
 "What name?" 
 
 "Andermatt." 
 
 "What did you say?" 
 
 "Andermatt." 
 
 "How do you spell it?" 
 
 "A-n-d-e-r-m-a-t-t." 
 
 "All right." 
 
 And he slowly wrote it down. When he had 
 finished, Gontran asked: 
 
 "Would you kindly read over my sister's name?" 
 
 "Yes, Monsieur! Madame Anterpat." 
 
 Christiane laughed till the tears came into her 
 eyes, paid for her tickets, and then asked:
 
 MONT ORIOL 21 
 
 "What is it that one hears up there?" 
 
 Gontran took her arm in his. Two aiigry voices 
 reached their ears on the stairs. They went up, 
 opened a door, and saw a large cofTee-room with a 
 biUiard table in the center. Two men in their shirt- 
 sleeves at opposite sides of the billiard-table, each 
 with a cue in his hand, were furiously abusing one 
 another. 
 
 "Eighteen!" 
 
 "Seventeen!" 
 
 "1 tell you I'm eighteen." 
 
 "That's not true — you're only seventeen!" 
 
 It was the director of the Casino, M. Petrus Martel 
 of the Odeon, who was playing his ordinary game 
 with the comedian of his company, M. Lapalme of 
 the Grand Theater of Bordeaux. 
 
 Petrus Martel, whose stomach, stout and inactive, 
 swayed underneath his shirt above a pair of panta- 
 loons fastened anyhow, after having been a strolling 
 player in various places, had undertaken the director- 
 ship of the Casino of Enval, and spent his days in 
 drinking the allowances intended for the bathers. He 
 wore an immense mustache like a dragoon, which 
 was steeped from morning till night in the froth of 
 bocks and the sticky syrup of liqueurs, and he had 
 aroused in the old comedian whom he had enlisted 
 in his service an immoderate passion for billiards. 
 
 As soon as they got up in the morning, they pro- 
 ceeded to play a game, insulted and threatened one 
 another, expunged the record, began over again, 
 scarcely gave themselves time for breakfast, and could 
 not tolerate two clients coming to drive them away 
 from their green cloth.
 
 22 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 They soon put everyone to flight, and did not 
 find this sort of existence unpleasant, though Petrus 
 Martel always found himself at the end of the season 
 in a bankrupt condition. 
 
 The female attendant, overwhelmed, would have 
 to look on all day at this endless game, listen to the 
 interminable discussion, and carry from morning till 
 night glasses of beer or half-glasses of brandy to the 
 two indefatigable players. 
 
 But Gontran carried off his sister: "Come into 
 the park. 'Tis fresher." 
 
 At the end of the establishment they suddenly 
 perceived the orchestra under a Chinese kiosque. A 
 fair-haired young man, frantically playing the violin, 
 was conducting with movements of his head. His 
 hair was shaking from one side to the other in the 
 effort to keep time, and his entire torso bent forward 
 and rose up again, swaying from left to right, like 
 the stick of the leader of an orchestra. Facing him 
 sat three strange-looking musicians. This was the 
 maestro, Saint Landri. 
 
 He and his assistants — a pianist, whose instru- 
 ment, mounted on rollers, was wheeled each morn- 
 ing from the vestibule of the baths to the kiosque \ 
 an enormous flautist, who presented the appearance 
 of sucking a match while tickling it with his big 
 swollen fingers, and a double-bass of consumptive 
 aspect — produced with much fatigue this perfect im- 
 itation of a bad barrel-organ, which had astonished 
 Christiane in the village street. 
 
 As she stopped to look at them, a gentleman sa- 
 luted her brother. 
 
 "Good day, my dear Count."
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 23 
 
 " Good day, doctor." 
 
 And Gontran introduced them: "My sister — Doc- 
 tor Honorat." 
 
 She could scarcely restrain her merriment at the 
 sight of this third physician. The latter bowed and 
 made some complimentary remark. 
 
 "I hope that Madame is not an invalid?" 
 
 "Yes — slightly." 
 
 He did not go farther with the matter, and changed 
 the subject. 
 
 "You are aware, my dear Count, that you will 
 shortly have one of the most interesting spectacles 
 that could await you on your arrival in this district." 
 
 "What is it, pray, doctor?" 
 
 " Pere Oriol is going to blast his hill. This is of 
 no consequence to you, but for us it is a big event." 
 
 And he proceeded to explain. "Pere Oriol — the 
 richest peasant in this part of the country — he is 
 known to be worth over fifty thousand francs a year 
 — owns all the vineyards along the plain up to the 
 outlet of Enval. Now, just as you go out from the 
 village at the division of the valley, rises a little moun- 
 tain, or rather a high knoll, and on this knoll are 
 the best vineyards of Pere Oriol. In the midst of two 
 of them, facing the road, at two paces from the stream, 
 stands a gigantic stone, an elevation which has im- 
 peded the cultivation and put into the shade one en- 
 tire side of the field, on which it looks down. For 
 six years, Pere Oriol has every week been announc- 
 ing that he was going to blast his hill; but he has 
 never made up his mind about it. 
 
 "Every time a country boy went to be a soldier, 
 the old man would say to him: 'When you're com-
 
 24 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 ing home on furlough, bring me some powder for 
 this rock of mine.' And all the young soldiers would 
 bring back in their knapsacks some powder that they 
 stole for Pere Oriol's rock. He has a chest full of 
 this powder, and yet the hill has not been blasted. 
 At last, for a week past, he has been noticed scooping 
 out the stone, with his son, big Jacques, surnamed 
 Colosse, which in Auvergne is pronounced 'Coloche.' 
 This very morning they filled with powder the empty 
 belly of the enormous rock; then they stopped up the 
 mouth of it, only letting in the fuse bought at the 
 tobacconist's. In two hours' time they will set fire to 
 it. Then, five or ten minutes afterward, it will go off, 
 for the end of the fuse is pretty long." 
 
 Christiane was interested in this narrative, amused 
 already at the idea of this explosion, finding here 
 again a childish sport that pleased her simple heart. 
 They had now reached the end of the park. 
 
 "Where do you go now?" she said. 
 
 Doctor Honorat replied: "To the End of the 
 World, Madame; that is to say, into a gorge that has 
 no outlet and which is celebrated in Auvergne. it is 
 one of the loveliest natural curiosities in the district." 
 
 But a bell rang behind them. Gontran cried: 
 
 "Look here! breakfast-time already!" 
 
 They turned back. A tall, young man came up to 
 meet them. 
 
 Gontran said: "My dear Christiane, let me intro- 
 duce to you M. Paul Bretigny." Then, to his friend: 
 "This is my sister, my dear boy." 
 
 She thought him ugly. He had black hair, close- 
 cropped and straight, big, round eyes, with an ex- 
 pression that was almost hard, a head also quite
 
 MONT ORIOL 25 
 
 round, very strong, one of those heads that nnake 
 you think of cannon-balls, herculean shoulders, a 
 rather savage expression, heavy and brutish. But 
 from his jacket, from his linen, from his skin per- 
 haps, came a very subtle perfume, with which the 
 young woman was not familiar, and she asked her- 
 self: 
 
 "I wonder what odor that is?" 
 
 He said to her: "You arrived this morning, 
 Madame?" His voice was a little hollow. 
 
 She replied: "Yes, Monsieur." 
 
 But Gontran saw the Marquis and Andermatt 
 making signals to them to come in quickly to 
 breakfast. 
 
 Doctor Honorat took leave of them, asking as he 
 left whether they really meant to go and see the hill 
 blasted. Christiane declared that she would go; and, 
 leaning on her brother's arm, she murmured as she 
 dragged him along toward the hotel: 
 
 "I am as hungry as a wolf I shall be very much 
 ashamed to eat as much as 1 feel inclined before your 
 friend."
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 The Discovery 
 
 T 
 
 HE breakfast was long, as the meals 
 
 usually are at a table d'hote. 
 
 _ Christiane, who was not familiar 
 
 ^^, with all the f^ices of those present, 
 
 chatted with her father and her brother. 
 
 Then she went up to her room to 
 
 take a rest till the time for blasting the 
 
 rock. 
 
 She was ready long before the hour 
 Tp-\^ Hxed, and made the others start along with 
 ^^^ her so that they might not miss the explo- 
 ^^ ' sion. Just outside the village, at the opening 
 -f5' of the glen, stood, as they had heard, a high 
 ^ knoll, almost a mountain, which they proceeded 
 to climb under a burning sun, following a little path 
 through the vine-trees. When they reached the sum- 
 mit the young woman uttered a cry of astonishment 
 at the sight of the immense horizon displayed be- 
 fore her eyes. In front of her stretched a limitless 
 plain, which immediately gave her soul the sensation 
 of an ocean. This plain, overhung by a veil of light 
 blue vapor, extended as far as the most distant 
 (26)
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 37 
 
 mountain-ridges, which were scarcely perceptible, 
 some fifty or sixty kilometers away. And under the 
 transparent haze of delicate fineness, which floated 
 above this vast stretch, could be distinguished towns, 
 villages, woods, vast yellow squares of ripe crops, 
 vast green squares of herbage, factories with long, 
 red chimneys and blackened steeples and sharp- 
 pointed structures, with the solidified lava of dead 
 volcanoes. 
 
 "Turn around," said her brother. 
 
 She turned around. And behind she saw the 
 mountain, the huge mountain indented with craters. 
 This was the entrance to the foundation on which 
 Enval stood, a great expanse of greenness in which 
 one could scarcely trace the hidden gash of the 
 gorge. The trees in a waving mass scaled the high 
 slope as far as the first crater and shut out the view 
 of those beyond. But, as they were exactly on the 
 line that separated the plains from the mountain, the 
 latter stretched to the left toward Clermont-Ferrand, 
 and, wandering away, unrolled over the blue sky 
 their strange mutilated tops, like monstrous blotches 
 — extinct volcanoes, dead volcanoes. And yonder — 
 over yonder, between two peaks — could be seen an- 
 other, higher still, more distant still, round and 
 majestic, and bearing on its highest pinnacle some- 
 thing of fantastic shape resembling a ruin. This was 
 the Puy de Dome, the king of the mountains of 
 Auvergne, strong and unwieldy, wearing on its head, 
 like a crown placed thereon by the mightiest of peo- 
 ples, the remains of a Roman temple. 
 
 Christiane exclaimed: "Oh! how happy I shall 
 be here!"
 
 ^ WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 And she felt herself happy already, penetrated by 
 that sense of well-being which takes possession of 
 the flesh and the heart, makes you breathe with ease, 
 and renders you sprightly and active when you find 
 yourself in a spot which enchants your eyes, charms 
 and cheers you, seems to have been awaiting you, a 
 spot for which you feel that you were born. 
 
 Some one called out to her: "Madame, Madame!" 
 And, at some distance away, she saw Doctor Honorat, 
 recognizable by his big hat. He rushed across to 
 them, and conducted the family toward the opposite 
 side of the hill, over a grassy slope beside a grove of 
 young trees, where already some thirty persons were 
 waiting, strangers and peasants mingled together. 
 
 Beneath their feet, the steep hillside descended to- 
 ward the Riom road, overshadowed by willov/s that 
 sheltered the shallow river; and in the midst of a 
 vineyard at the edge of this stream rose a sharp- 
 pointed rock before which two men on bended knees 
 seemed to be praying. This was the scene ©faction. 
 
 The Oriols, father and son, were attaching the 
 fuse. On the road, a crowd of curious spectators had 
 stationed themselves, with a line of people lower 
 down in front, among whom village brats were 
 scampering about. 
 
 Doctor Honorat chose a convenient place for 
 Christiane to sit down, and there she waited with a 
 beating heart, as if she were going to see the entire 
 population blown up along with the rock. 
 
 The Marquis, Andermatt, and Paul Bretigny lay 
 down on the grass at the young woman's side, while 
 Gontran remained standing. He said, in a bantering 
 tone:
 
 MONT ORIOL 20 
 
 "My dear doctor, you must be much less busy 
 than your brother-practitioners, who apparently have 
 not an hour to spare to attend this little fete}'' 
 
 Honorat replied in a good-humored tone: 
 
 "I am not less busy; only my patients occupy less 
 of my time. And again 1 prefer to amuse my patients 
 rather than to physic them." 
 
 He had a quiet manner which greatly pleased 
 Gontran. Other persons now arrived, fellow-guests 
 at the table d'hote — the ladies Paille, two widows, 
 mother and daughter; the Monecus, father and daugh- 
 ter; and a very small, fat, man, who was puffing like 
 a boiler that had burst, M. Aubry-Pasteur, an ex- 
 engineer of mines, who had made a fortune in Russia. 
 
 M. Pasteur and the Marquis were on intimate terms. 
 He seated himself with much difficulty after some pre- 
 paratory movements, circumspect and cautious, which 
 considerably amused Christiane. Gontran sauntered 
 away from them, in order to have a look at the other 
 persons whom curiosity had attracted toward the 
 knoll. 
 
 Paul Bretigny pointed out to Christiane Andermatt 
 the views, of which they could catch glimpses in the 
 distance. First of ail, Riom made a red patch with 
 its row of tiles along the plain; then Ennezat, Marin- 
 gues, Lezoux, a heap of villages scarcely distinguish- 
 able, which only broke the wide expanse of verdure 
 with a somber indentation here and there, and, further 
 down, away down below, at the base of the moun- 
 tains, he pretended that he could trace out Thiers. 
 
 He said, in an animated fashion: "Look, look! 
 Just in front of my finger, exactly in front of my 
 finger. For my part, I can see it quite distinctly."
 
 30 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 She could see nothing, but she was not surprised 
 at his power of vision, for he looked like a bird of 
 prey, with his round, piercing eyes, which appeared 
 to be as powerful as telescopes. He went on: 
 
 "The Allier flows in front of us, in the middle of 
 that plain, but it is impossible to perceive it. It is 
 very far off, thirty kilometers from here." 
 
 She scarcely took the trouble to glance toward 
 the place which he indicated, for she had riveted 
 her eyes on the rock and given it her entire atten- 
 tion. She was saying to herself that presently this 
 enormous stone would no longer exist, that it would 
 disappear in powder, and she felt herself seized with 
 a vague pity for the stone, the pity which a little 
 girl would feel for a broken plaything. It had been 
 there so long, this stone; and then it was imposing 
 — it had a picturesque look. The two men, who had 
 by this time risen, were heaping up pebbles at the 
 foot of it, and digging with the rapid movements 
 of peasants working hurriedly. 
 
 The crowd gathered along the road, increasing 
 every moment, had pushed forward to get a better 
 view. The brats brushed against the two diggers, 
 and kept rushing and capering round them like 
 young animals in a state of delight; and from the 
 elevated point at which Christiane was sitting, these 
 people looked quite small, a crowd of insects, an ant- 
 hill in confusion. 
 
 The buzz of voices ascended, now slight, scarcely 
 noticeable, then more lively, a confused mixture of 
 cries and humaii movements, but scattered through 
 the air, evaporated already — a dust of sounds, as it 
 were. On the knoll likewise the crowd was swell-
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 31 
 
 ing in numbers, incessantly arriving from the village, 
 and covering up the slope which looked down on 
 the condemned rock. 
 
 They were distinguished from each other, as they 
 gathered together, according to their hotels, their 
 classes, their castes. The most clamorous portion of 
 the assemblage was that of the actors and musi- 
 cians, presided over and generaled by the conduc- 
 tor, Petrus Martel of the Odeon, who, under the 
 circumstances, had given up his incessant game of 
 billiards. 
 
 With a Panama flapping over his forehead, a black 
 alpaca jacket covering his shoulders and allowing his 
 big stomach to protrude in a semicircle, for he con- 
 sidered a waistcoat useless in the open country, the 
 actor, with his thick mustache, assumed the airs of a 
 commander-in-chief, and pointed out, explained, and 
 criticised all the movements of the two Oriols. 
 His subordinates, the comedian Lapalme, the young 
 premier Petitnivelle, and the musicians, the maestro 
 Saint Landri, the pianist Javel, the huge flautist Noi- 
 rot, the double-bass Nicordi, gathered round him to 
 listen. In front of them were seated three women, 
 sheltered by three parasols, a white, a red, and a 
 blue, which, under the sun of two o'clock, formed a 
 strange and dazzling French flag. These were Made- 
 moiselle Odelin, the young actress; her mother, — a 
 mother that she had hired out, as Gontran put it, — 
 and the female attendant of the coffee-room, three 
 ladies who were habitual companions. The arrange- 
 ment of these three parasols' so as to suit the national 
 colors was an invention of Petrus Martel, who, having 
 noficed at the commencement of the season the blue
 
 32 
 
 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 and the white in the hands of the ladies Odelin, had 
 made a present of the red to the coffee-room at- 
 tendant. 
 
 Quite close to them, another group excited in- 
 terest and observation, that of the chefs and scullions 
 of the hotels, to the number of eight, for there was 
 a war of rivalry between the kitchen-folk, who had 
 attired themselves in linen jackets to make an impres- 
 sion on the bystanders, extending even to the 
 scullery-maids. Standing all in a group they let the 
 crude light of day fall on their flat white caps, pre- 
 senting, at the same time, the appearance of fantastic 
 staff-oflTicers of lancers and a deputation of cooks. 
 
 The Marquis asked Doctor Honorat: "Where do 
 all these people come from ? 1 never would have 
 imagined Enval was so thickly populated!" 
 
 "Oh! they come from all parts, from Chatel- 
 Guyon, from Tournoel, from La Roche-Pradi^re, from 
 Saint-Hippolyte. For this affair has been talked of a 
 long time in the country, and then Pere Oriol is a 
 celebrity, an important personage on account of his 
 influence and his wealth, besides a true Auvergnat, 
 remaining still a peasant, working himself, hoarding, 
 piling up gold on gold, intelligent, full of ideas and 
 plans for his children's future." 
 
 Gontran came back, excited, his eyes sparkling. 
 
 He said, in a low tone: "Paul, Paul, pray come 
 along with me; I'm going to show you two pretty 
 girls; yes, indeed, nice girls, you know!" 
 
 The other raised his head, and replied: "My dear 
 fellow, I'm in very good quarters here; I'll not budge." 
 
 "You're wrong. They are charming!" Then, in 
 a louder tone: "But the doctor is going to tell mc
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 33 
 
 who they are. Two little girls of eighteen or nine- 
 teen, rustic ladies, oddly dressed, with black silk 
 dresses that have close-fitting sleeves, some kind of 
 uniform dresses, convent-gowns — two brunettes — " 
 
 Doctor Honorat interrupted him: "That's enough. 
 They are Pere Oriol's daughters, two pretty young 
 girls indeed, educated at the Benedictine Convent at 
 Clermont, and sure to make very good matches. 
 They are two types, but simply types of our race, of 
 the fine race of women of Auvergne, Marquis. I will 
 show you these two little lasses — " 
 
 Gontran here slyly interposed: "You are the med- 
 ical adviser of the Oriol family, doctor?" 
 
 The other appreciated this sly question, and simply 
 responded with a " By Jove, I am!" uttered in atone 
 of the utmost good-humor. 
 
 The young man went on: "How did you come 
 to win the confidence of this rich patient?" 
 
 "By ordering him to drink a great deal of good 
 wine." And he told a number of anecdotes about 
 the Oriols. Moreover, he was distantly related to 
 them, and had known them for a considerable time. 
 The old fellow, the father, quite an original, was very 
 proud of his wine; and above all he had one vine- 
 garden, the produce of which was reserved for the 
 use of the family, solely for the family and their 
 guests. In certain years they happened to empty the 
 casks filled with the growth of this aristocratic vine- 
 yard, but in other years they scarcely succeeded in 
 doing so. About the month of May or June, when 
 the father saw that it would be hard to drink all that 
 was still left, he would proceed to encourage his big 
 son, Colosse, and would repeat: "Come on, son, we 
 
 8 G. de M.— J
 
 ^4 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 must finish it." Then they would go on pouring 
 down their throats pints of red wine from morning 
 till night. Twenty times during every meal, the old 
 chap would say in a grave tone, while he held the 
 jug over his son's glass: "We must finish it." And, 
 as all this liquor with its mixture of alcohol heated 
 his blood and prevented him from sleeping, he would 
 rise up in the middle of the night, draw on his 
 breeches, light a lantern, wake up Colosse, and off 
 they would go to the cellar, after snatching a crust 
 of bread each out of the cupboard, in order to steep 
 it in their glasses, filled up again and again out of 
 the same cask. Then, when they had swallowed so 
 much wine that they could feel it rolling about in 
 their stomachs, the father would tap the resounding 
 wood of the cask to find out whether the level of 
 the liquor had gone down. 
 
 The Marquis asked: "Are these the same people 
 that are working at the hillock?" 
 
 "Yes, yes, exactly." 
 
 Just at that moment the two men hurried off with 
 giant strides from the rock charged with powder, 
 and all the crowd that surrounded them down be- 
 low began to run away like a retreating army. They 
 fied in the direction of Riom and Enval, leaving 
 behind them by itself the huge rock on the top of 
 the hillock covered with thin grass and pebbles, for 
 it divided the vineyard into two sections, and its 
 immediate surroundings had not been grubbed up 
 yet. 
 
 The crowd assembled on the slope above, now as 
 dense as that below, waited in trembling expectancy; 
 and the loud voice of Petrus Martel exclaimed:
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 35 
 
 "Attention! the fuse is lit!" 
 
 Christiane shivered at the thought of what was 
 about to happen, but the doctor murmured behind 
 her back: 
 
 "Ho! if they left there all the fuse I saw them 
 buying, we'll have ten minutes of it!" 
 
 All eyes were fixed on the stone, and suddenly a 
 dog, a little black dog, a kind of pug, was seen ap- 
 proaching it. He ran round it, began smelling, and 
 no doubt, discovered a suspicious odor, for he com- 
 menced yelping as loudly as ever he could, his paws 
 stiff, the hair on his back standing on end, his tail 
 sticking out, and his ears erect. 
 
 A burst of laughter came from the spectators, a 
 cruel burst of laughter; people expressed a hope that 
 he would not keep riveted to the spot up to the 
 time of the blast. Then voices called out to him to 
 make him come back; some men whistled to him; 
 they tried to hit him with stones to prevent him 
 from going on the whole way. But the pug did not 
 budge an inch, and kept barking furiously at the 
 rock. 
 
 Christiane began to tremble. A horrible fear of 
 seeing the animal disemboweled took possession of 
 her; all her enjoyment was at an end. She cried re- 
 peatedly, with nerves unstrung, stammering, vibrating 
 all over with anguish: 
 
 "Oh! good heavens! Oh! good heavens! it will 
 be killed. 1 don't want to look at it! 1 don't want 
 to look at it! I will not wait to see it! Come 
 away!" 
 
 Paul Bretigny, who had been sitting by her side, 
 arose, and, without saying one word, began to de-
 
 ^ WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 scend toward the hillock with all the speed of which 
 his long legs were capable. 
 
 Cries of terror escaped from many lips; a panic 
 agitated the crowd; and the pug, seeing this big man 
 coming toward him, took refuge behind the rock. 
 Paul pursued him; the dog ran off to the other side; 
 and, for a minute or two, they kept rushing round 
 the stone, now to right, now to left, as if they were 
 playing a game of hide and seek. Seeing at last that 
 he could not overtake the animal, the young man 
 proceeded to reascend the slope, and the dog, seized 
 once more with fury, renewed his barking. 
 
 Vociferations of anger greeted the return of the 
 imprudent youth, who was quite out of breath, for 
 people do not forgive those who excite terror in their 
 breasts. Christiane v/as suffocating with emotion, 
 her two hands pressed against her palpitating heart. 
 She had lost her head so completely that she sobbed: 
 "At least you are not hurt.?" while Gontran cried 
 angrily: 
 
 "He is mad, that idiot; he never does anything 
 but tomfooleries of this kind. 1 never met a greater 
 donkey!" 
 
 But the soil was now shaking; it rose in air. A 
 formidable detonation made the entire country all 
 around vibrate, and for a full minute thundered over 
 the mountain, while all the echoes repeated it, like so 
 many cannon-shots. 
 
 Christiane saw nothing but a shower of stones 
 falling, and a high column of light clay sinking 
 in a heap. And immediately afterward the crowd 
 from above rushed down like a wave, uttering wild 
 shouts. The battalion of kitchen-drudges came racing
 
 MONTORIOL yj 
 
 down in the direction of the knoll, leaving behind 
 them the regiment of theatrical performers, who de- 
 scended more slowly, with Petrus Martei at their 
 head. The three parasols forming a tricolor were 
 nearly carried away in this descent. 
 
 And all ran, men, women, peasants, and villagers. 
 They could be seen falling, getting up again, starting 
 on afresh, while in long procession the two streams 
 of people, which had till now been kept back by 
 fear, rolled along so as to knock against one another 
 and get mixed up on the very spot where the ex- 
 plosion had taken place. 
 
 "Let us wait a while," said the Marquis, "till all 
 this curiosity is satisfied, so that we may go and 
 look in our turn." 
 
 The engineer, M. Aubry-Pasteur, who had just 
 arisen with very great difficulty, replied: 
 
 "For my part, I am going back to the village by 
 the footpaths. There is nothing further to keep me 
 here." 
 
 He shook hands, bowed, and went away. 
 
 Doctor Honorat had disappeared. The party talked 
 about him, and the Marquis said to his son; 
 
 "You have only known him three days, and all 
 the time you have been laughing at him. You will 
 end by offending him." 
 
 But Gontran shrugged his shoulders: "Oh! he's 
 a wise man, a good sceptic, that doctor. I tell you 
 in reply that he will not bother himself. When we 
 are both alone together, he laughs at all the world 
 and everything, commencing with his patients and 
 his waters. 1 will give you a free thermal course if 
 you ever see him annoyed by my nonsense."
 
 38 
 
 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 Meanwhile, there was considerable agitation further 
 down around the site of the vanished hillock. The 
 enormous crowd, swelling, rising up, and sinking 
 down like billows, broke out into exclamations, mani- 
 festly swayed by some emotion, some astonishing oc- 
 currence which nobody had foreseen. Andermatt, 
 ever eager and inquisitive, was repeating: 
 
 " What is the matter with them now ? What can 
 be the matter with them?" 
 
 Gontran announced that he was going to fmd out, 
 and walked off. Christiane, who had now sunk into 
 a state of indifference, was reflecting that if the ig- 
 niting substance had been only a little shorter, it 
 would have been sufficient to have caused the death 
 of their foolish companion or led to his being muti- 
 lated by the blasting of the rock, and all because 
 she was afraid of a dog losing its life. She could 
 not help thinking that he must, indeed, be very vio- 
 lent and passionate — this man — to expose himself 
 to such a risk in this way without any good reason 
 for it — simply owing to the fact that a woman who 
 was a stranger to him had given expression to a 
 desire. 
 
 People could be observed running along the road 
 toward the village. The Marquis now asked, in his 
 turn: "What is the matter with them ?" And Ander- 
 matt, unable to stand it any longer, began to run 
 down the side of the hill. Gontran, from below, 
 made a sign to him to come on. 
 
 Paul Bretigny asked: "Will you take my arm, 
 Madame?" She took his arm, which seemed to her 
 as immovable as iron, and, as her feet glided along 
 the warm grass, she leaned on it as she would have
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 y^ 
 
 leaned on a baluster with a sense of absolute security. 
 Gontran, who had just come back after making in- 
 quiries, exclaimed: "It is a spring. The explosion 
 has made a spring gush out!" 
 
 And they fell in with the crowd. Then, the two 
 young men, Paul and Gontran, moving on in front, 
 scattered the spectators by jostling against them, and 
 without paying any heed to their gruntings, opened 
 a way for Christiane and her father. They walked 
 through a chaos of sharp stones, broken, and black- 
 ened with powder, and arrived in front of a hole full 
 of muddy water which bubbled up and then flowed 
 away toward the river over the feet of the bystanders. 
 Andermatt was there already, having effected a pas- 
 sage through the multitude by insinuating ways pe- 
 culiar to himself, as Gontran used to say, and was 
 watching with rapt attention the water escaping 
 through the broken soil. 
 
 Doctor Honorat, facing him at the opposite side of 
 the hole, was observing him with an air of mingled 
 surprise and boredom. 
 
 Andermatt said to him: "It might be desirable to 
 taste it; it is perhaps a mineral spring." 
 
 The physician returned: "No doubt it is mineral. 
 There are any number of mineral waters here. There 
 will soon be more springs than invalids." 
 
 The other in reply said: "But it is necessary to 
 taste it." 
 
 The physician displayed little or no interest in the 
 matter: "It is necessary at least to wait till we see 
 whether it is clean." 
 
 And everyone wanted to see. Those in the second 
 row pushed those in front almost into the muddy
 
 40 
 
 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 water. A child fell in, and caused a laugh. The 
 Oriols, father and son, were there, contemplating 
 gravely this unexpected phenomenon, not knowing 
 yet what they ought to think about it. The father 
 was a spare man, with a long, thin frame, and a 
 bony head — the hard head of a beardless peasant; 
 and the son, taller still, a giant, thin also, and wear- 
 ing a mustache, had the look at the same time of a 
 trooper and a vinedresser. 
 
 The bubblings of the water appeared to increase, 
 its volume to grow larger, and it was beginning to 
 get clearer. A movement took place among the- peo- 
 ple, and Doctor Latonne appeared with a glass in his 
 hand. He perspired, panted, and stood quite stupe- 
 fied at the sight of his brother-physician, Doctor Hon- 
 orat, with one foot planted at the side of the 
 newly discovered spring, like a general who has been 
 the first to enter a fortress. 
 
 He asked, breathlessly: "Have you tasted it?" 
 
 "No, I am waiting to see whether 'tis clear." 
 Then Doctor Latonne thrust his glass into it, and 
 drank with that solemnity of visage which experts 
 assume when tasting wines. After that, he exclaimed, 
 "Excellent!" which in no way compromised him, 
 and extending the glass toward his rival said: "Do 
 you wish to taste it?" 
 
 But Doctor Honorat, decidedly, had no love for 
 mineral waters, for he smilingly replied: 
 
 "Many thanks 1 'Tis quite sufficient that you have 
 appreciated it. 1 know the taste of them." 
 
 He did know the taste of them all, and he ap- 
 preciated it, too, though in quite a different fash- 
 ion. Then, turning toward Pi^re Oriol said:
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 41 
 
 "'Tisn't as good as your excellent vine-growth." 
 
 The old man was flattered. Christiane had seen 
 enough, and wanted to go away. Her brother and 
 Paul once more forced a path for her through the 
 populace. She followed them, leaning on her father's 
 arm. Suddenly she slipped and was near falling, 
 and glancing down at her feet she saw that she had 
 stepped on a piece of bleeding flesh, covered with 
 black hairs and sticky with mud. It was a portion 
 of the pug-dog, who had been mangled by the ex- 
 plosion and trampled underfoot by the crowd. She 
 felt a choking sensation, and was so much moved 
 that she could not restrain her tears. And she mur- 
 mured, as she dried her eyes with her handkerchief: 
 *'Poor little animal! poor little animal!" 
 
 She wanted to know nothing more about it. She 
 wished to go back, to shut herself up in her room. 
 That day, which had begun so pleasantly, had ended 
 sadly for her. Was it an omen ? Her heart, shrivel- 
 ing up, beat with violent palpitations. They were 
 now alone on the road, and in front of them they 
 saw a tall hat and the two skirts of a frock-coat flap- 
 ping like wings. It was Doctor Bonnefille, who had 
 been the last to hear the news, and who was now 
 rushing to the spot, glass in hand, like Doctor La- 
 tonne. 
 
 When he recognized the Marquis, he drew up. 
 
 "What is this I hear. Marquis? They tell me it 
 is a spring — a mineral spring?" 
 
 " Yes, my dear doctor." 
 
 "Abundant?" 
 
 "Why, yes." 
 
 "Is it true that — that they are there?"
 
 42 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 Gontran replied with an air of gravity: "Why, 
 yes, certainly; Doctor Latonne has even made the 
 analysis already." 
 
 Then Doctor Bonnefille began to run, while Chris- 
 tiane, a little tickled and enlivened by his face, said: 
 
 "Well, no, I am not going back yet to the hotel. 
 Let us go and sit down in the park." 
 
 Andermatt had remained at the site of the knoll, 
 watching the flowing of the water.
 
 CHAPTER III, 
 
 Bargaining 
 
 HE table d'hote was noisy that even- 
 ing at the Hotel Splendid. The 
 blasting of the hillock and the dis- 
 covery of the new spring gave a 
 brisk impetus to conversation. The 
 diners were not numerous, however, 
 — a score all told, — people usually taci- 
 turn and quiet, patients who, after having 
 vainly tried all the well-known waters, 
 K 2L H ^^"^ "°^ turned to the new stations. At 
 ^^•T-** the end of the table occupied by the Rave- 
 nels and the Andermatts were, first, the Mone- 
 cus, a little man with white hair and face and 
 his daughter, a very pale, big girl, who sometimes 
 rose up and went out in the middle of a meal, leav- 
 ing her plate half full; fat M. Aubry-Pasteur, the ex- 
 engineer; the Chaufours, a fiimily in black, who 
 every day in the walks of the park 
 vehicle which carried their deformed 
 ladies Paille, mother and daughter, 
 both of them widows, big and strong, strong every- 
 where, before and behind. "You may easily see," 
 
 (43) 
 
 might 
 
 be 
 
 met 
 
 behind a little 
 child, and the
 
 44 
 
 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 said Gontran, "that they ate up their husbands; 
 that's how their stomachs got affected." It was, in- 
 deed, for a stomach affection that they had come to 
 the station. 
 
 Further on, a man of extremely red complexion, 
 brick-colored, M. Riquier, whose digestion was also 
 very indifferent, and then other persons with bad 
 complexions, travelers of that mute class who usually 
 enter the dining-rooms of hotels with slow steps, the 
 wife in front, the husband behind, bow as soon as 
 they have passed the door, and then take their seats 
 with a timid and modest air. 
 
 All the other end of the table was empty, al- 
 though the plates and the covers v.'ere laid there for 
 the guests of the future. 
 
 Andermatt talked in an animated fashion. He had 
 spent the afternoon chatting with Doctor Latonne, 
 giving vent in a flood of words to vast schemes with 
 reference to Enval. The doctor had enumerated to 
 him, with burning conviction, the wonderful quali- 
 ties of his water, far superior to those of Chatel- 
 Guyon, whose reputation nevertheless had been defi- 
 nitely established for the last ten years. Then, at 
 the right, they had that hole of a place, Royat, at 
 the height of success, and at the left, that other hole, 
 Chatel-Guyon, which had lately been set afloat. 
 What could they not do with Enval, if they knew 
 how to set about it properly ? 
 
 He said, addressing the engineer: "Yes, Mon- 
 sieur, there's where it all is, to know the way to set 
 about it. It is all a matter of skill, of tact, of op- 
 portunism, and of audacity. In order to establish a 
 spa, it is necessary to know how to launch it, noth-
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 45 
 
 ing more, and in order to launch it, it is necessary 
 to interest the great medical body of Paris in the 
 matter. I, Monsieur, always succeed in what I un- 
 dertake, because I always seek the practical method, 
 the only one that should determine success in every 
 particular case with which I occupy myself; and, as 
 long as 1 have not discovered it, 1 do nothing — I 
 wait, it is not enough to have the water, it is nec- 
 essary to get people to drink it; and to get people 
 to drink it, it is not enough to get it cried up as 
 unrivaled in the newspapers and elsewhere; it is 
 necessary to know how to get this discreetly said by 
 the only men who have influence on the public that 
 will drink it, on the invalids whom we require, on the 
 peculiarly credulous public that pays for drugs — in 
 short, by the physicians. You can only address a Court 
 of Justice through the mouths of advocates; it will 
 only hear them, and understands only them. So you 
 can only address the patient through the doctors — 
 he listens only to them." 
 
 The Marquis, who greatly admired the practical 
 common sense of his son-in-law, exclaimed: 
 
 "Ah! how true this is! Apart from this, my dear 
 boy, you are unique for giving the right touch." 
 
 Andermatt, who was excited, went on: "There 
 is a fortune to be made here. The country is admi- 
 rable, the climate excellent. One thing alone disturbs 
 my mind — would we have water enough for a large 
 establishment? — for things that are only half done 
 always miscarry. We would require a very large es- 
 tablishment, and consequently a great deal of water, 
 enough of water to supply two hundred baths at the 
 same time, with a rapid and continuous current; and
 
 46 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 the new spring added to the old one, would not sup- 
 ply fifty, whatever Doctor Latonne may say about 
 it — " 
 
 M. Aubry-Pasteur interrupted him. "Oh! as for 
 water, I will give you as much as you want of it." 
 
 Andermatt was stupefied. "You?" 
 
 "Yes, I. That astonishes you.? Let me explain 
 myself. Last year, I was here about the same time 
 as this year, for 1 really find myself improved by the 
 Enval baths. Now one morning, I lay asleep in my 
 own room, when a stout gentleman arrived. He was 
 the president of the governing body of the establish- 
 ment. He was in a state of great agitation, and the 
 cause of it was this: the Bonnefille Spring had low- 
 ered so much that there were some apprehensions lest 
 it might entirely disappear. Knowing that I was a 
 mining engineer, he had come to ask me if I could 
 not find a means of saving the establishment. 
 
 "I accordingly set about studying the geological 
 system of the country. You know that in each stra- 
 tum of the soil original disturbances have led to 
 different changes and conditions in the surface of the 
 ground. The question, therefore, was to discover 
 how the mineral water came — by what fissures — 
 and what were the direction, the origin, and the 
 nature of these fissures. 1 first inspected the estab- 
 lishment with great care, and, noticing in a corner 
 an old disused pipe of a bath, I observed that it was 
 already almost stopped up with limestone. Now the 
 water, by depositing the salts which it contained on 
 the coatings of the ducts, had rapidly led to an ob- 
 struction of the passage. It would inevitably happen 
 likewise in the natural passages in the soil, this soil
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 47 
 
 being granitic. So it was that the Bonnefille Spring 
 had stopped up. Nothing more. It was necessary to 
 get at it again farther on. 
 
 " Most people would have searched above its original 
 point of egress. As for me, after a month of study, 
 observation, and reasoning, I sought for and found it 
 fifty meters lower down. And this was the explana- 
 tion of the matter: I told you before that it was first 
 necessary to determine the origin, nature, and direc- 
 tion of the fissures in the granite which enabled the 
 water to spring forth. It was easy for me to satisfy 
 myself that these fissures ran from the plain toward 
 the mountain and not from the mountain toward the 
 plain, inclined like a roof undoubtedly, in consequence 
 of a depression of this plain which in breaking up 
 had carried along with it the primitive buttresses of 
 the mountains. Accordingly, the water, in place of 
 descending, rose up again between the different in- 
 terstices of the granitic layers. And I then discov- 
 ered the cause of this unexpected phenomenon. 
 
 "Formerly the Limagne, that vast expanse of sandy 
 and argillaceous soil, of which you can scarcely see 
 the limits, was on a level with the first table-land of 
 the mountains; but owing to the geological character 
 of its lower portions, it subsided, so as to tear away 
 the edge of the mountain, as I explained to you 
 a moment ago. Now this immense sinking produced, 
 at the point of separating the earth and the granite, an 
 immense barrier of chy of great depth and impene- 
 trable by liquids. And this is what happens: The 
 mineral water comes from the beds of old volcanoes. 
 That which comes from the greatest distance gets 
 cooled on its way, and rises up perfectly cold like
 
 ^8 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 ordinary springs; that which comes from the volcanic 
 beds that are nearer gushes up still warm, at vary- 
 ing degrees of heat, according to the distance of the 
 subterranean fire. 
 
 "Here is the course it pursues. It is expelled from 
 some unknown depths, up to the moment when it 
 meets the clay barrier of the Limagne. Not being 
 able to pass through it, and pushed on by enormous 
 pressure, it seeks a vent. Finding then the inclined 
 gaps of granite, it gets in there, and reascends to 
 the point at which they reach the level of the soil. 
 Then, resuming its original direction, it again pro- 
 ceeds to flow toward the plain along the ordinary 
 bed of the streams. 1 may add that we do not see 
 the hundredth part of the mineral waters of these 
 glens. We can only discover those whose point of 
 egress is open. As for the others, arriving as they 
 do at the side of the fissures in the granite under a 
 thick layer of vegetable and cultivated soil, they are 
 lost in the earth, which absorbs them. 
 
 "From this I draw the conclusion: first, that to 
 have the water, it is sufficient to search by following 
 the inclination and the direction of the superimposed 
 strips of granite; secondly, that in order to preserve 
 it, it is enough to prevent the fissures from being 
 stopped up by calcareous deposits, that is to say, to 
 maintain carefully the little artificial wells by digging; 
 thirdly, that in order to obtain the adjoining spring, 
 it is necessary to get at it by means of a practical 
 sounding as far as the same fissure of granite below, 
 and not above, it being well understood that you 
 must place yourself at the side of the barrier of clay 
 which forces the waters to reascend. From this point
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 49 
 
 of view, the spring discovered to-day is admirably 
 situated only some meters away from this barrier. If 
 you want to set up a new establishment, it is here 
 you should erect it." 
 
 When he ceased speaking, there was an interval 
 of silence. 
 
 Andermatt, ravished, said merely: "That's it! 
 When you see the curtain drawn, the entire mystery 
 vanishes. You are a most valuable man, M. Aubry- 
 Pasteur." 
 
 Besides him, the Marquis and Paul Bretigny alone 
 had understood what he was talking about. Gontran 
 had not heard a single word. The others, with their 
 ears and mouths open, while the engineer was talk- 
 ing, were simply stupefied with amazement. The 
 ladies Paille especially, being very religious women, 
 asked themselves if this explanation of a phenomenon 
 ordained by God and accomplished by mysterious 
 means had not in it something profane. The mother 
 thought she ought to say: "Providence is very won- 
 derful." The ladies seated at the center of the table 
 conveyed their approval by nods of the head, dis- 
 turbed also by listening to these unintelligible re- 
 marks. 
 
 M. Riquier, the brick-colored man, observed: 
 "They may well come from volcanoes or from the 
 moon, these Enval waters — here have I been taking 
 them ten days, and as yet 1 experience no effect 
 from them!" 
 
 M. and Madame Chaufour protested in the name 
 of their child, who was beginning to move the right 
 leg, a thing that had not happened during the six 
 years they had been nursing him. 
 
 8 G. deM.-4
 
 50 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 Riquier replied: "That proves, by Jove, that we 
 have not the same ailment; it doesn't prove that the 
 Enval water cures affections of the stomach." He 
 seemed in a rage, exasperated by this fresh, useless 
 experiment. 
 
 But M. Monecu also spoke in the name of his 
 daughter, declaring that for the last eight days she 
 was beginning to be able to retain food without be- 
 ing obliged to go out at every meal. And his big 
 daughter blushed, with her nose in her plate. The 
 ladies Paille likewise thought they had improved. 
 
 Then Riquier was vexed, and abruptly turning to- 
 ward the two women said: 
 
 "Your stomachs are affected, Mesdames." 
 
 They replied together: "Why, yes, Monsieur. 
 We can digest nothing." 
 
 He nearly leaped out of his chair, stammering: 
 "You — you! Why, 'tis enough to look at you. 
 Your stomachs are affected, Mesdames. That is to 
 say, you eat too much." 
 
 Madame Paille, the mother, became very angry, 
 and she retorted: "As for you, Monsieur, there is 
 no doubt about it, you exhibit certainly the appear- 
 ance of persons whose stomachs are destroyed. It 
 has been well said that good stomachs make nice 
 men." 
 
 A very thin, old lady, whose name was not known, 
 said authoritatively: "I am sure everyone would find 
 the waters of Enval better if the hotel chef would 
 only bear in mind a little that he is cooking for in- 
 valids. Truly, he sends us up things that it is im- 
 possible to digest." 
 
 And suddenly the entire table agreed on the point.
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 51 
 
 and indignation was expressed against the hotel- 
 keeper, who served them with crayfish, porksteaks, 
 salt eels, cabbage, yes, cabbage and sausages, all the 
 most indigestible kinds of food in the world for per- 
 sons for whom Doctors Bonnefille, Latonne, and 
 Honorat had prescribed only white meats, lean and 
 tender, fresh vegetables, and milk diet. 
 
 Riquier was shaking with fury: "Why should not 
 the physicians inspect the table at thermal stations . 
 without leaving such an important thing as the selec- 
 tion of nutriment to the judgment of a brute? Thus, 
 every day, they give us hard eggs, anchovies, and 
 ham as side-dishes — " 
 
 M. Monecu interrupted him: "Oh! excuse me! 
 My daughter can digest nothing well except ham, 
 which, moreover has been prescribed for her by Mas- 
 Roussel and Remusot." 
 
 Riquier exclaimed: " Ham ! hami ! why, that's poison, 
 Monsieur." 
 
 And an interminable argument arose, which each 
 day was taken up afresh, as to the classification of 
 foods. Milk itself was discussed with passionate 
 warmth. Riquier could not drink a glass of claret 
 and milk without immediately suffering from indiges- 
 tion. 
 
 Aubry-Pasteur, in answer to his remarks, irritated 
 in his turn, observed that people questioned the 
 properties of things which he adored: 
 
 "Why, gracious goodness, Monsieur, if you were 
 attacked with dyspepsia and I with gastralgia, we 
 would require food as different as the glass of the 
 spectacles that suits short-sighted and long-sighted 
 people, both of whom, however, have diseased eyes."
 
 52 
 
 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 He added: "For my part I begin to choke when 
 I swallow a glass of red wine, and I believe there is 
 nothing worse for man than wine. All water-drinkers 
 live a hundred years, while we — " 
 
 Gontran replied with a laugh: "Faith, without 
 wine and without marriage, 1 would find life monot- 
 onous enough." 
 
 The ladies Faille lowered their eyes. They drank 
 a considerable quantity of Bordeaux of the best qual- 
 ity without any water in it, and their double widow- 
 hood seemed to indicate that they had applied the 
 same treatment to their husbands, the daughter being 
 twenty-two and the mother scarcely forty. 
 
 But Andermatt, usually so chatty, remained taciturn 
 and thoughtful. He suddenly asked Gontran: "Do 
 you know where the Oriols live?" 
 
 "Yes, their house was pointed out to me a little 
 while ago." 
 
 "Could you bring me there after dinner?" 
 
 "Certainly. It will even give me pleasure to ac- 
 company you. 1 shall not be sorry to have another 
 look at the two lassies." 
 
 And, as soon as dinner was over, they went off, 
 while Christiane, who was tired, went up with the 
 Marquis and Paul Bretigny to spend the rest of the 
 day in the drawing-room. 
 
 It was still broad daylight, for they dine early at 
 thermal stations. 
 
 Andermatt took his brother-in-law's arm. 
 
 "My dear Gontran, if this old man is reasonable, 
 and if the analysis realizes Doctor Latonne's expecta- 
 tions, I am probably going to try a big stroke ol 
 business here — a spa. 1 am going to start a spa!"
 
 MONT OR lOL 
 
 53 
 
 He stopped in the middle of the street, and seized 
 his companion by both sides of his jacket. 
 
 "Ha! you don't understand, fellows like you, how 
 amusing business is, not the business of merchants 
 or traders, but big undertakings such as we go in 
 for! Yes, my boy, when they are properly under- 
 stood, we find in them everything that men care for 
 — they cover, at the same time, politics, war, di- 
 plomacy, everything, everything! It is necessary to 
 be always searching, finding, inventing, to understand 
 everything, to foresee everything, to combine every- 
 thing, to dare everything. The great battle to-day is 
 being fought by means of money. For my part, 1 
 see in the hundred-sou pieces raw recruits in red 
 breeches, in the twenty-franc pieces very glittering 
 lieutenants, captains in the notes for a hundred francs, 
 and in those for a thousand I see generals. And 1 
 fight, by heavens! 1 fight from morning till night 
 against all the world, with all the world. And this 
 is how to live, how to live on a big scale, just 
 as the mighty lived in days of yore. We are the 
 mighty of to-day — there you are — the only true 
 mighty ones! 
 
 "Stop, look at that village, that poor village! I 
 will make a town of it, yes, 1 will, a lovely town 
 full of big hotels which will be filled with visitors, 
 with elevators, with servants, with carriages, a crowd 
 of rich folk served by a crowd of poor; and all this 
 because it pleased me one evening to fight with 
 Royat, which is at the right, with Chatel-Guyon, 
 which is at the left, with Mont Dore, La Bourboule, 
 Chateauneuf, Saint Nectaire, which are behind us, 
 with Vichy, which is facing us. And ' s.hall succeed
 
 54 
 
 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 because I have the means, the only means. I have 
 seen it in one glance, just as a great general sees the 
 weak side of an enemy. It is necessary too to know 
 how to lead men, in our line of business, both 
 to carry them along with us and to subjugate 
 them. 
 
 "Good God! life becomes amusing when you can 
 do such things. I have now three years of pleasure 
 to look forward to with this town of mine. And 
 then see what a chance it is to find this engineer, 
 who told us such interesting things at dinner, most 
 interesting things, my dear fellow. It is as clear as 
 day, my system. Thanks to it, I can smash the old 
 company, without even having any necessity of buy- 
 ing it up." 
 
 He then resumed his walk, and they quietly went 
 up the road to the left in the direction of Chatel- 
 Guyon." 
 
 Gontran presently observed: "When I am walk- 
 ing by my brother-in-law's side, 1 feel that the same 
 noise disturbs his brain as that heard in the gambling 
 rooms at Monte Carlo — that noise of gold moved 
 about, shuffled, drawn away, raked off, lost or 
 gained." 
 
 Andermatt did, indeed, suggest the idea of a 
 strange human machine, constructed only for the 
 purpose of calculating and debating about money, 
 and mentally manipulating it. Moreover, he exhibited 
 much vanity about his special knowledge of the 
 world, and plumed himself on his power of estima- 
 ting at one glance of his eye the actual value of any- 
 thing whatever. Accordingly, he might be seen, 
 wherever he happened to be, every moment taking
 
 MONTORIOL 55 
 
 Up an article, examining it, turning it round, and 
 declaring: "This is worth so much." 
 
 His wife and his brother-in-law, diverted by this 
 mania, used to amuse themselves by deceiving him, 
 exhibiting to him queer pieces of furniture and asking 
 him to estimate them; and when he remained per- 
 plexed, at the sight of their unexpected finds, they 
 would both burst out laughing like fools. Some- 
 times also, in the street at Paris, Gontran would stop 
 in front of a warehouse and force him to make a 
 calculation of an entire shop-window, or perhaps of 
 a horse with a jolting vehicle, or else again of a 
 luggage-van laden with household goods. 
 
 One evening, while seated at his sister's dinner- 
 table before fashionable guests, he called on WiIIi;im 
 to tell him what would be the approximate value of 
 the Obelisk; then, when the other happened to name 
 some figure, he would put the same question as to 
 the Solferino Bridge, and the Arc de Triomphe de 
 I'Etoile. And he gravely concluded: "You might 
 write a very interesting work on the valuation of the 
 principal monuments of the globe." Andermatt never 
 got angry, and fell in with all his pleasantries, like a 
 superior man sure of himself. 
 
 Gontran having asked one day: "And I — how 
 much am 1 worth?" William declined to answer; 
 then, as his brother-in-law persisted, saying: "Look 
 here! If 1 should be captured by brigands, how 
 much would you give to release me?" he replied 
 at last: "Well, well, my dear fellow, 1 would give 
 a bill." And his smile said so much that the 
 other, a little disconcerted, did not press the matter 
 further.
 
 56 WORK^ OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 Andermatt, besides, was fond of artistic objects, 
 and having fine taste and appreciating such things 
 thoroughly, he skillfully collected them with that 
 bloodhound's scent which he carried into all com- 
 mercial transactions. 
 
 They had arrived in front of a house of a middle- 
 class type. Gontran stopped him and said: "Here it 
 is." An iron knocker hung over a heavy oaken door; 
 they knocked, and a lean servant-maid came to 
 open it. 
 
 The banker asked: "Monsieur Oriol?" 
 
 The woman said: "Come in." 
 
 They entered a kitchen, a big farm-kitchen, in 
 which a little fire was still burning under a pot; then 
 they were ushered into another part of the house, 
 where the Oriol family was assembled. 
 
 The father was asleep, seated on one chair with 
 his feet on another. The son, with both elbows 
 on the table, was reading the "Petit Journal" with 
 the spasmodic efforts of a feeble intellect always 
 wandering; and the two girls, in the recess of the 
 same window, were working at the same piece of 
 tapestry, having begun it one at each end. 
 
 They were the first to rise, both at the same 
 moment, astonished at this unexpected visit; then, 
 big Jacques raised his head, a head congested by the 
 pressure of his brain; then, at last, Pere Oriol waked 
 up, and took down his long legs from the second 
 chair one after the other. 
 
 The room was bare, with whitewashed walls, a 
 stone flooring, and furniture consisting of straw seats, 
 a mahogany chest of drawers, four engravings by 
 Epinal with glass over them, and big white curtains.
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 bl 
 
 They were all staring at each other, and the servant- 
 maid, with her petticoat raised up to her knees, was 
 waiting at the door, riveted to the spot by curiosity. 
 
 Andermatt introduced himself, mentioning his name 
 as well as that of his brother-in-law. Count de Ra- 
 venel, made a low bow to the two young girls, 
 bending his head with extreme politeness, and then 
 calmly seated himself, adding: 
 
 "Monsieur Oriol, I came to talk to you about a 
 matter of business. Moreover, 1 will not take four 
 roads to explain myself. See here. You have just 
 discovered a spring on your property. The analysis 
 of this water is to be made in a few days. If it is of 
 no value, you will understand that I will have noth- 
 ing to do with it; if, on the contrary, it fulfills my 
 anticipations, I propose to buy from you this piece 
 of ground, and all the lands around it. Think on this. 
 No other person but myself could make you such an 
 offer. The old company is nearly bankrupt; it will 
 not, therefore, have the least notion of building a new 
 establishment, and the ill success of this enterprise 
 will not encourage fresh attempts. Don't give me an 
 answer to-day. Consult your family. When the analy- 
 sis is known you will fix your price. If it suits 
 me, 1 will say 'yes'; if it does not suit me, I will 
 say 'no.' I never haggle for my part." 
 
 The peasant, a man of business in his own way, 
 and sharp as anyone could be, courteously replied 
 that he would see about it, that he felt honored, that 
 he would think it over — and then he offered them a 
 glass of wine. 
 
 Andermatt made no objection, and, as the day was 
 declining, Oriol said to his daughters, who had re-
 
 ^8 . WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 sumed their work, with their eyes lowered over the 
 piece of tapestry: "Let us have some light, girls." 
 
 They both got up together, passed into an adjoin- 
 ing room, then came back, one carrying two lighted 
 wax-candles, the other four wineglasses without 
 stems, glasses such as the poor use. The wax-candles 
 were fresh looking and were garnished with red 
 paper — placed, no doubt, by way of ornament on the 
 young girl's mantelpiece. 
 
 Then, Colosse rose up; for only the male mem- 
 bers of the family visited the cellar. Andermatt had 
 an idea. "It would give me great pleasure to see 
 your cellar. You are the principal vinedresser of the 
 district, and it must be a very fine one." 
 
 Oriol, touched to the heart, hastened to conduct 
 them, and, taking up one of the wax-candles, led the 
 way. They had to pass through the kitchen again, 
 then they got into a court where the remnant of day- 
 light that was left enabled them to discern empty 
 casks standing on end, big stones of giant granite in 
 a corner pierced with a hole in the middle, like the 
 wheels of some antique car of colossal size, a dis- 
 mounted winepress with wooden screws, its browr 
 divisions rendered smooth by wear and tear, and gliv* 
 tering suddenly in the light thrown by the cand.i 
 on the shadows that surrounded it. Close to it, the 
 working implements of polished steel on the ground 
 had the glitter of arms used in warfare. All these 
 things gradually grew more distinct, as the old man 
 drew nearer to them with the candle in his hand, 
 making a shade of the other. 
 
 Already they got the smell of the wine, the pounded 
 grapes drained dry. They arrived in front of a
 
 MONTORIOL 59 
 
 door fastened with two locks. Oriol opened it, and 
 quickly raising the candle above his head vaguely 
 pointed toward a long succession of barrels standing 
 in a row, and having on their swelling flanks a sec- 
 ond line of smaller casks. He showed them first of 
 all that this cellar, all on one floor, sank right into 
 the mountain, then he explained the contents of its 
 different casks, the ages, the nature of the various 
 vine-crops, and their merits; then, having reached the 
 supply reserved for the family, he caressed the cask 
 with his hand just as one might rub the crupper of a 
 favorite horse, and in a proud tone said: 
 
 "You are going to taste this. There's not a wine 
 bottled equal to it — not one, either at Bordeaux or 
 elsewhere." 
 
 For he possessed the intense passion of country- 
 men for wine kept in a cask. 
 
 Colosse followed him, carrying a jug, stooped 
 down, turned the cock of the funnel, while his father 
 cautiously held the light for him, as though he were 
 accomplishing some difficult task requiring minute 
 attention. The candle's flame fell directly on their 
 faces, the father's head like that of an old attorney, 
 and the son's like that of a peasant soldier. 
 
 Andermatt murmured in Gontran's ear: "Hey, 
 what a fine Teniers!" 
 
 The young man replied in a whisper: "I prefer 
 the girls." 
 
 Then they went back into the house. It was nec- 
 essary, it seemed, to drink this wine, to drink a 
 great deal of it, in order to please the two Oriols. 
 
 The lassies had come across to the table where 
 they continued their work as if there had been no
 
 6o WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 visitors. Gontran kept incessantly staring at them, 
 asking himself whether they were twins, so closely 
 did they resemble one another. One of them, how- 
 ever, was plumper and smaller, while the other was 
 more ladylike. Their hair, dark-brown rather than 
 black, drawn over their temples in smooth bands, 
 gleamed with every slight movement of their heads. 
 They had the rather heavy jaw and forehead peculiar 
 to the people of Auvergne, cheek-bones somewhat 
 strongly marked, but charming mouths, ravishing 
 eyes, with brows of rare neatness, and delightfully 
 fresh complexions. One felt, on looking at them, 
 that they had not been brought up in this house, but in 
 a select boarding-school, in the convent to which the 
 daughters of the aristocracy of Auvergne are sent, 
 and that they had acquired there the well-bred man- 
 ners of cultivated young ladies. 
 
 Meanwhile, Gontran, seized with disgust before 
 this red glass in front of him, pressed Andermatt's 
 foot to induce him to leave. At length he rose, and 
 they both energetically grasped the hands of the two 
 peasants; then they bowed once more ceremoniously, 
 the young girls each responding with a slight nod, 
 without again rising from their seats. 
 
 As soon as they had reached the village, Ander- 
 matt began talking again. 
 
 "Hey, my dear boy, what an odd family! How 
 manifest here is the transition from people in good 
 society. A son's services are required to cultivate the 
 vine so as to save the wages of a laborer, — stupid 
 economy, — however, he discharges this function, and 
 is one of the people. As for the girls, they are like 
 girls of the better class — almost quite so already.
 
 MONT ORIOL 01 
 
 Let them only make good matches, and they would 
 pass as well as any of the women of our own class, 
 and even much better than most of them. I am as 
 much gratified at seeing these people as a geologist 
 would be at finding an animal of the tertiary 
 period." 
 
 Gontran asked: "Which do you prefer?" 
 
 "Which? How, which? Which what?" 
 
 "Of the lassies?" 
 
 "Oh! upon my honor, I haven't an idea on the 
 subject. I have not looked at them from the stand- 
 point of comparison. But what difference can this 
 make to you? You have no intention to carry off 
 one of them ?" 
 
 Gontran began to laugh: "Oh! no, but I am de- 
 lighted to meet for once fresh women, really fresh, 
 fresh as women never are with us. I like looking 
 at them, just as you like looking at a Teniers. There 
 is nothing pleases me so m^ch as looking at a pretty 
 girl, no matter where, no matter of what class. 
 These are my objects of vertu. I don't collect them, 
 but I admire them — I admire them passionately, ar- 
 tistically, my friend, in the spirit of a convinced and 
 disinterested artist. What would you have ? I love 
 this! By the bye, could you lend me five thousand 
 francs ? " 
 
 The other stopped, and murmured an "Again!" 
 energetically. 
 
 Gontran replied, with an air of simplicity: "Al- 
 ways!" Then the}' resumed their walk. 
 
 Andermatt then said: "What the devil do you 
 do with the money?" 
 
 "I spend, it."
 
 (,2 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 "Yes, but you spend it to excess." 
 
 "My dear friend, I like spending money as much 
 as you like making it. Do you understand?" 
 
 "Very fine, but you don't make it." 
 
 "That's true, I know it. One can't have every- 
 thing. You know how to make it, and, upon my 
 word, you don't at all know how to spend it. Money 
 appears to you no use except to get interest on it. 
 I, on the other hand, don't know how to make it, 
 but I know thoroughly how to spend it. It procures 
 me a thousand things of which you don't know the 
 name. We were cut out for brothers-in-law. We 
 complete one another admirably." 
 
 Andermatt murmured: "What stuff! No, you 
 sha'n't have five thousand francs, but I'll lend you 
 fifteen hundred francs, because — because in a few 
 days I shall, perhaps, have need of you." 
 
 Gontran rejoined: "Then I accept them on ac- 
 count." The other gave him a slap on the shoulder 
 without saying anything by way of answer. 
 
 They reached the park, which was illuminated 
 with lamps hung to the branches of the trees. The 
 orchestra of the Casino was playing in slow time a 
 classical piece that seemed to stagger along, full of 
 breaks and silences, executed by the same four per- 
 formers, exhausted with constant playing, morning 
 and evening, in this solitude for the benefit of the 
 leaves and the brook, with trying to produce the 
 effect of twenty instruments, and tired also of never 
 being fully paid at the end of the month. Petrus 
 Martel always completed their remuneration, when it 
 fell short, with hampers of wine or pints of liqueurs 
 which the bathers might have left unconsumed.
 
 MONTORIOL 63 
 
 Amid the noise of the concert could also be dis- 
 tinguished that of the billiard-table, the clicking of 
 the balls and the voices calling out: "Twenty, 
 twenty-one, twenty-two." 
 
 Andermatt and Gontran went in. M. Aubry- 
 Pasteur and Doctor Honorat, by themselves, were 
 drinking their coffee, at the side facing the musicians. 
 Petrus Martel and Lapalme were playing their game 
 with desperation; and the female attendant woke up 
 to ask: 
 
 "What do these gentlemen wish to take?"
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 A Test and an Avowal 
 
 ERE Oriol and his son had remained 
 for a long time chatting after the girls 
 had gone to bed. Stirred up and ex- 
 cited by Andermatt's proposal, they 
 were considering how they could in- 
 flame his desire more effectually without 
 compromising their own interests. Like 
 the cautious, practically-minded peasants 
 that they were, they weighed all the 
 chances carefully, understanding very clearly 
 hat in a country in which mineral springs 
 / gushed out along all the streams, it was not 
 advisable to repel by an exaggerated demand this 
 unexpected enthusiast, the like of whom they 
 might never find again. And at the same time it 
 would not do either to leave entirely in his hands 
 this spring, which might, some day, yield a flood of 
 liquid money, Royat and Chatel-Guyon serving as a 
 precedent for them. 
 
 Therefore, they asked themselves by what course 
 of action they could kindle into frenzy the banker's 
 ardor; they conjured up combinations of imaginary 
 (64)
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 65 
 
 companies covering his offers, a succession of clumsy 
 schemes, the defects of which they felt, without suc- 
 ceeding in inventing more ingenious ones. They 
 slept badly; then, in the morning, the father, hav- 
 ing awakened first, thought in his own mind that 
 the spring might have disappeared during the 
 night. It was possible, after all, that it might have 
 gone as it had come, and re-entered the earth, so 
 that it could not be brought back. He got up in a 
 state of unrest, seized with avaricious fear, shook his 
 son, and told him about his alarm; and big Colosse, 
 dragging his legs out of his coarse sheets, dressed 
 himself in order to go out with his father, to make 
 sure about the matter. 
 
 In any case, they would put the field and the 
 spring in proper trim themselves, would carry otT the 
 stones, and make it nice and clean, like an animal 
 that they wanted to sell. So they took their picks 
 and their spades, and started for the spot side by 
 side with great, swinging strides. 
 
 They looked at nothing as they walked on, their 
 minds being preoccupied with the business, replying 
 with only a single word to the "Good morning" of 
 the neighbors and friends whom they chanced to meet. 
 When they reached the Riom road they began to get 
 agitated, peering into the distance to see whether they 
 could observe the water bubbling up and glittering in 
 the morning sun. The road was empty, white, and 
 dusty, the river running beside it sheltered by willow- 
 trees. Beneath one of the trees Oriol suddenly noticed 
 two feet, then, having advanced three steps further, he 
 recognized Pere Clovis seated at the edge of the road, 
 with his crutches lying beside him on the grass. 
 
 SG.de M 5
 
 $6 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 This was an old paralytic, well known in the 
 district, where for the last ten years he had prowled 
 about on his supports of stout oak, as he said him- 
 self, like a poor man made of stone. 
 
 Formerly a poacher in the woods and streams, 
 often arrested and imprisoned, he had got rheumatic 
 pains by his long watchings stretched on the moist 
 grass and by his nocturnal fishings in the rivers, 
 through which he used to wade up to his middle in 
 water. Now he whined, and crawled about, like a 
 crab that had lost its claws. He stumped along, 
 dragging his right leg after him like a piece of ragged 
 cloth. But the boys of the neighborhood, who used 
 in foggy weather to run after the girls or the hares, 
 declared that they used to meet Pere Clovis, swift- 
 footed as a stag, and supple as an adder, under the 
 bushes and in the glades, and that, in short, his 
 rheumatism was only "a dodge on the gendarmes." 
 Colosse, especially, insisted on maintaining that he 
 had seen him, not once, but fifty times, straining his 
 neck with his crutches under his arms. 
 
 And P6re Oriol stopped in front of the old vaga- 
 bond, his mind possessed by an idea which as yet 
 was undefined, for the brain works slowly in the 
 thick skulls of Auvergne. He said "Good morning" 
 to him. The other responded "Good morning." 
 Then they spoke about the weather, the ripening of 
 the vine, and two or three other things; but, as 
 Colosse had gone ahead, his father with long steps 
 hastened to overtake him. 
 
 The spring was still flowing, clear by this time, 
 and all the bottom of the hole was red, a fine, dark 
 red, which had arisen from an abundant deposit of
 
 MONTORIOL 67 
 
 iron. The two men gazed at it with smiling faces, 
 then they proceeded to clear the soil that surrounded 
 it, and to carry off the stones of which they made a 
 heap. And, having found the last remains of the 
 dead dog, they buried them with jocose remarks. 
 But all of a sudden Pere Oriol let his spade fall. A 
 roguish leer of delight and triumph wrinkled the cor- 
 ners of his leathery lips and the edges of his cunning 
 eyes, and he said to his son: "Come on, till we see." 
 
 The other obeyed. They got on the road once 
 more, and retraced their steps. Pere Clovis was still 
 toasting his limbs and his crutches in the sun. 
 
 Oriol, drawing up before him, asked: "Do you 
 want to earn a hundred-franc piece?" 
 
 The other cautiously refrained from answering. 
 
 The peasant said: "Hey! a hundred francs.?" 
 
 Thereupon the vagabond made up his mind, and 
 murmured: "Of course, but what am 1 asked to do.?" 
 
 "Well, father, here's what I want you to do." 
 
 And he explained to the other at great length 
 with tricky circumlocutions, easily understood hints, 
 and innumerable repetitions, that, if he would con- 
 sent to take a bath for an hour every day from ten to 
 eleven in a hole which they, Colosse and he, intended 
 to dig at the side of the spring, and to be cured at 
 the end of a month, they would give him a hundred 
 francs in cash. 
 
 The paralytic listened with a stupid air, and then 
 said: "Since all the drugs haven't been able to help 
 me, 'tisn't your water that'll cure me." 
 
 But Colosse suddenly got into a passion. "Come, 
 my old play-actor, you're talking rubbish. I know 
 what your disease is — don't tell me about it' Whiit
 
 68 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 were you doing on Monday last in the Comberombe 
 wood at eleven o'clock at night?" 
 
 The old fellow promptly answered: "That's not 
 true." 
 
 But Colosse, firing up: "Isn't it true, you old 
 blackguard, that you jumped over the ditch to Jean 
 Cannezat and that you made your way along the 
 Paulin chasm ?" 
 
 The other energetically repeated : "It is not true!" 
 
 "Isn't it true that I called out to you: 'Oho, 
 Clovis, the gendarmes!' and that you turned up the 
 Moulinet road ?" 
 
 "No, it is not." 
 
 Big Jacques, raging, almost menacing, exclaimed: 
 "Ah! it's not true! Well, old three paws, listen! 
 The next time I see you there in the wood at night 
 or else in the water, I'll take a grip of you, as my 
 legs are rather longer than your own, and I'll tie you 
 up to some tree till morning, when we'll go and take 
 you away, the whole village together — " 
 
 Pere Oriol stopped his son; then, in a very whee- 
 dling tone: "Listen, Clovis! you can easily do the 
 thing. We prepare a bath for you, Coloche and my- 
 self You come there every day for a month. For 
 that I give you, not one hundred, but two hundred 
 francs. And then, listen! if you're cured at the end 
 of the month, it will mean five hundred francs more. 
 Understand clearly, five hundred in ready money, and 
 two hundred more — that makes seven hundred. 
 Therefore you get two hundred for taking a bath for 
 a month and five hundred more for the curing. And 
 listen again! Suppose the pains come back. If this 
 happens you in the autumn, there will be nothing
 
 MONTORIOL 69 
 
 more for us to do, for the water will have none the 
 less produced its effect!" 
 
 The old fellow coolly replied: "In that case I'm 
 quite willing. If it won't succeed, we'll always see 
 it." And the three men pressed one another's hands 
 to seal the bargain they had concluded. Then, the 
 two Oriols returned to their spring, in order to dig 
 the bath for Pere Clovis. 
 
 They had been working at it for a quarter of an 
 hour, when they heard voices on the road. It was 
 Andermatt and Doctor Latonne. The two peasants 
 winked at one another, and ceased digging the soil. 
 
 The banker came across to them, and grasped 
 their hands; then the entire four proceeded to fix 
 their eyes on the water without uttering a word. It 
 stirred about like water set in movement above a big 
 fire, threw out bubbles and steam, then it flowed 
 away in the direction of the brook through a tiny 
 gutter which it had already traced out. Oriol, with 
 a smile of pride on his lips, said suddenly: "Hey, 
 that's iron, isn't it?" 
 
 In fact the bottom was now all red, and even the 
 little pebbles which it washed as it flowed along 
 seemed covered with a sort of purple mold. 
 
 Doctor Latonne replied: "Yes, but that is nothing 
 to the purpose. We would require to know its other 
 qualities." 
 
 The peasant observed: "Coloche and myself first 
 drank a glass of it yesterday evening, and it has al- 
 ready made our bodies feel fresh. Isn't that true, 
 son?" 
 
 The big youth replied in a tone of conviction: 
 "Sure enough, it was very refreshing."
 
 70 
 
 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 Andermatt remained motionless, his feet on the 
 edge of the hole. He turned toward the physician: 
 "We would want nearly six times this volume of 
 water for what I would wish to do, would we not?" 
 
 "Yes, nearly." 
 
 "Do you think that we'll be able to get it?" 
 
 "Oh! as for me, I know nothing about it." 
 
 "See here! The purchase of the grounds can 
 only be definitely effected after the soundings. It 
 would be necessary, first of all, to have a promise of 
 sale drawn up by a notary, once the analysis is 
 known, but not to take effect unless the consecutive 
 soundings give the results hoped for." 
 
 Pere Oriol became restless. He did not under- 
 stand. Andermatt thereupon explained to him the in- 
 sufficiency of only one spring, and demonstrated to 
 him that he could not purchase unless he found others. 
 But he could not search for these other springs till 
 after the signature of ^ promise of sale. 
 
 The two peasants appeared forthwith to be con- 
 vinced that their fields contained as many springs as 
 vine-stalks. It would be sufficient to dig for them — 
 they would see, they would see. 
 
 Andermatt said simply: "Yes, we shall see." 
 
 But Pere Oriol dipped his fingers in the water, 
 and remarked: "Why, 'tis hot enough to boil an 
 egg, much hotter than the Bonnefille one!" 
 
 Latonne in his turn steeped his fingers in it, and 
 realized that this was possible. 
 
 The peasant went on: "And then it has more 
 taste and a better taste; it hasn't a false taste, like 
 the other. Oh! this one, I'll answer for it, is good! 
 1 know the waters of the country for the fifty years
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 71 
 
 that I've seen them flowing. 1 never seen a finer one 
 than this, never, never!" 
 
 He remained silent for a few seconds, and then 
 continued: "It is not in order to puff the water that 
 I say this! — certainly not. I would like to make a trial 
 of it before you, a fair trial, not what your chemists 
 make, but a trial of it on a person who has a dis- 
 ease. I'll bet that it will cure a paralytic, this one, 
 so hot is it and so good to taste — I'll make a bet 
 on it!" 
 
 He appeared to be searching his brain, then cast 
 a look at the tops of the neighboring mountains to 
 see whether he could discover the paralytic that he 
 required. Not having made the discovery, he low- 
 ered his eyes to the road. 
 
 Two hundred meters away from it, at the side of 
 the road could be distinguished the two inert legs of 
 the vagabond, whose body was hidden by the trunk 
 of a willow tree. 
 
 Oriol placed his hand on his forehead as a shade, 
 and said questioningly to his son: "That isn't Pere 
 Clovis over there still?" 
 
 Colosse laughingly replied: "Yes, yes. 'Tis he — 
 he doesn't go as quick as a hare." 
 
 Then Oriol stepped over to Andermatt's side, 
 and with an air of serious and deep conviction: 
 "Look here, Monchieu ! Listen to me. There's a 
 paralytic over yonder, who is well known to the 
 doctor, a genuine one, who hasn't been seen to make 
 a single step for the last ten years. Isn't that so, 
 doctor?" 
 
 Latonne returned: "Oh! if you cure that fellow, I 
 would pay a franc a glass for your water!"
 
 72 
 
 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 Then, turning toward Andermatt: "Tis an old 
 fellow suffering from rheumatic gout with a sort of 
 spasmodic contraction of the left leg and a complete 
 paralysis of the right; in fact, 1 believe, an incurable." 
 
 Oriol had allowed him to talk; he resumed in a 
 deliberate fashion: "Well, doctor, would you like to 
 make a trial of it on him for a month ? I don't say 
 that it will succeed, — I say nothing on the matter, — 
 I only ask to have a trial made. Hold on! Coloche 
 and myself are going to dig a hole for the stones — 
 well, we'll make a hole for Cloviche; he'll remain an 
 hour there every morning, and then we'll see — there! 
 — we'll see." 
 
 The physician murmured: "You may try. I 
 answer confidently that you will not succeed." 
 
 But Andermatt, beguiled by the prospect of an 
 almost miraculous cure, gladly fell in with the peas- 
 ant's suggestion; and the entire four directed their 
 steps toward the vagabond, who, all this time, had 
 been lying motionless in the sun. The old poacher, 
 understanding the dodge, pretended to refuse, resisted 
 for a long time, then allowed himself to be persuaded, 
 on the condition that Andermatt would give him two 
 francs a day for the hour which he would spend in 
 the water. 
 
 So the matter was settled. It was even decided 
 that, as soon as the hole was dug, Pere Clovis should 
 take his bath that very day. Andermatt would sup- 
 ply him with clothes to dress himself afterward, and 
 the two Oriols would bring him a disused shepherd's 
 hut, which was lying in their yard, so that the 
 invalid might shut himself in there, and change his 
 apparel.
 
 MONTORIOL 73 
 
 Then the banker and the physician returned to the 
 village. When they reached it, they parted, the doc- 
 tor going to his own house for his consultations, and 
 Andermatt hurrying to attend on his wife, who had 
 to come to the establishment at half past nine 
 o'clock. 
 
 She appeared almost immediately, dressed from 
 head to foot in pink — with a pink hat, a pink para- 
 sol, and a pink complexion, she looked like an 
 aurora, and she descended the steps of the hotel to 
 avoid the turn of the road with the hopping move- 
 ments of a bird, as it goes from stone to stone, 
 without opening its wing. As soon as she saw her 
 husband, she exclaimed: 
 
 "Ohl what a pretty country it is! I am quite de- 
 lighted with it." 
 
 A few bathers wandering sadly through the little 
 park in silence turned round as she passed by, and 
 Petrus Martel, who was smoking his pipe in his 
 shirt-sleeves at the window of the billiard-room, called 
 to his chum, Lapalme, sitting in a corner before a 
 glass of white wine, and said, smacking the roof of 
 his mouth with his tongue: 
 
 "Deuce take it, there's something sweet!" 
 
 Christiane made her way into the establishment, 
 bowed smilingly toward the cashier, who sat at the 
 left of the entrance-door, and saluted the ex-jailer 
 seated at the right with a "Good morning"; then, 
 holding out a ticket to a bath-attendant dressed like 
 the girl in the refreshment-room, followed her into 
 a corridor facing the doors of the bath-rooms. The 
 lady was shown into one of them, rather large, with 
 bare walls, furnished with a chair, a .glass, and a
 
 74 
 
 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 shoe-horn, while a large oval orifice, coated, like the 
 floor, with yellow cement, served the purposes of a 
 bath. 
 
 The woman turned a cock like those used for 
 making the street-gutters flow, and the water gushed 
 through a little round grated aperture at the bottom 
 of the bath so that it was soon full to the brim, and 
 its overflow was diverted through a furrow sunk into 
 the wall. 
 
 Christiane, having left her chambermaid at the 
 hotel, declined the attendant's services in undressing, 
 and remained there alone, saying that if she required 
 anything, she would ring, and would do the same 
 when she wanted her linen. 
 
 She slowly disrobed, watching as she did so the 
 almost invisible movement of the wave gently stir- 
 ring on the clear surface of the basin. When she- 
 had divested herself of all her clothing she dipped 
 her foot in, and the pleasant warm sensation mounted 
 to her throat; then she plunged into the tepid water 
 first one leg, and after it the other, and sat down 
 in the midst of this caressing heat, in this transpar- 
 ent bath, in this spring, which flov/ed over her, 
 around her, covering her body with tiny globules all 
 along her legs, all along her arms, and also all over 
 her breasts. She noticed with surprise those parti- 
 cles of air innumerable and minute v/hich clothed her 
 from head to foot with an entire mail-suit of little 
 pearls. And these pearls, so minute, flew off inces- 
 santly from her white flesh, and evaporated on the 
 surface of the bath, driven on by others that sprung 
 to life over her form. They sprung up over her 
 skin, like light fruits incapable of being grasped yet
 
 MONT ORIOL -75 
 
 charming, the fruits of this exquisite body rosy and 
 fresh, which had generated those pearls in the water. 
 
 And Christiane felt herself so happy in it, so 
 sweetly, so softly, so deliciously caressed and clasped 
 by the restless wave, the living wave, the animated 
 wave from the spring which gushed up from the 
 depths of the basin under her legs and fled through 
 the little opening toward the edge of the bath, that she 
 would have liked to have remained there forever, with- 
 out moving, almost without thinking. The sensation 
 of a calm delight composed of rest and comfort, of 
 tranquil dreamfulness, of health, of discreet joy, and 
 silent gaiety, entered into her with the soothing 
 warmth of this. And her spirit mused, vaguely 
 lulled into repose by the gurgling of the overflow 
 which was escaping — dreamed of what she would 
 be doing by and by, of what she would be doing 
 to-morrow, of promenades, of her father, of her hus- 
 band, of her brother, and of that big boy who had 
 made her feel slightly ill at ease since the adventure 
 of the dog. She did not care for persons of violent 
 tendencies. 
 
 No desire agitated her soul, calm as her heart in 
 this grateful moist warmth, no desires save the 
 shadowy hopes of a child, no desire of any other 
 life, of emotion, or passion. She felt that it was well 
 with her, and she was satisfied with the happiness 
 of her lot. 
 
 She was suddenly startled — the door flew open: 
 it was the Auvergnat carrying the linen. Twenty 
 minutes had passed; it was already time for her to 
 be dressed. It was almost a pang, almost a calam- 
 ity, this awakening ; she felt a longing to beg of the
 
 •76 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 woman to give her a few minutes more; then she 
 reflected that every day she would find again the 
 same delight, and she regretfully left the bath to be 
 wrapped in a white dressing-gown whose scorching 
 heat felt somewhat unpleasant. 
 
 Just as she was going out, Doctor Bonnefille 
 opened the door of his consultation-room and invited 
 her to enter, bowing ceremoniously. He inquired 
 about her health, felt her pulse, looked at her tongue, 
 took note of her appetite and her digestion, asked 
 her how she slept, and then accompanied her to the 
 door, repeating: 
 
 "Come, come, that's right, that's right. My re- 
 spects, if you please, to your f^ither, one of the most 
 distinguished men that 1 have met in my career." 
 
 At last, she got away, bored by these undesirable 
 attentions, and at the door she saw the Marquis 
 chatting with Andermatt, Gontran, and Paul Bretigny. 
 Her husband, in whose head every new idea was 
 continually buzzing, like a fly in a bottle, was re- 
 lating the story of the paralytic, and wanted to go 
 back to see whether the vagabond was taking his 
 bath. They were about to go with him to the spot 
 in order to please him. But Christiane very gently 
 detained her brother, and. when they were a short 
 distance away from the others: 
 
 "Tell me now! 1 wanted to talk to you about 
 your friend; I must say 1 don't much care for him. 
 Explain to me exactly what he is like." 
 
 And Gontran, who had known Paul for many 
 years, told her about this passionate nature, uncouth, 
 sincere, and kindly by starts. He was, according to 
 Gontran, a clever young fellow, whose wild spirit
 
 MONTORIOL 77 
 
 impetuously flung itself into every new idea. Yield- 
 ing to every impulse, unable to control or to direct 
 his passions, or to fight against his feelings with the 
 aid of reason, or to govern his life by a system 
 based on settled convictions, he obeyed the prompt- 
 ings of his heart, whether they were virtuous or 
 vicious, the moment that any desire, any thought, 
 any emotion whatever, agitated his excitable nature. 
 
 He had already fought seven duels, as ready to 
 insult people as to become their friend. He had been 
 madly in love with women of every class, adored 
 them with the same transports from the working-girl 
 whom he picked up in the corner of some store to 
 the actress whom he carried off, yes, carried off, on 
 the night of a first performance, just as she was step- 
 ping into a vehicle on her way home, bearing her away 
 in his arms in the midst of the astonished spectators, 
 and pushing her into a carriage, which disappeared at 
 a gallop before anyone could follow it or overtake it. 
 
 And Gontran concluded: "There you are! He is 
 a good fellow, but a fool; very rich, moreover, and 
 capable of anything, of anything at all, when he loses 
 his head." 
 
 Christiane said: "What a strange perfume he 
 carries about him! It is rather nice. What is it?" 
 
 Gontran answered: "1 don't really know; he 
 doesn't want to tell about it. I believe it comes from 
 Russia. 'Tis the actress, his actress, she whom I 
 cured him of this time, that gave it to him. Yes, 
 indeed, it has a very pleasant odor." 
 
 They saw, on their way, a group of bathers and 
 of peasants, for it was the custom every morning 
 before breakfast to take a turn along the road.
 
 78 
 
 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 Christiane and Gontran joined the Marquis, Ander- 
 matt, and Paul, and soon they beheld, in the place 
 where the knoll had stood the da}^ before, a queer- 
 looking human head covered with a ragged felt hat, 
 and wearing a big white beard, looking as if it had 
 sprung up out of the ground, the head of a decapi- 
 tated man, as it were, growing there like a plant. 
 Around it, some vinedressers were looking on, 
 amazed, impassive, the peasantry of Auvergne not 
 being scoffers, while three tall gentlemen, visitors at 
 second-class hotels, were laughing and joking, 
 
 Oriol and his son stood there contemplating the 
 vagabond, who was steeped in his hole, sitting on a 
 stone, with the water up to his chin. He might 
 have been taken for a desperate criminal of olden 
 times condemned to death for some unusual kind of 
 sorcery; and he had not let go his crutches, which 
 were by his sides in the water. 
 
 Andermatt kept repeating enthusiastically: " Bravo! 
 bravo! there's an example which all the people in the 
 country suffering from rheumatic pains should imi- 
 tate." 
 
 And, bending toward the old man, he shouted at 
 him as if he were deaf: "Do you feel well?" 
 
 The other, who seemed completely stupefied by 
 this boiling water, replied: "It seems to me that I'm 
 melting! " 
 
 But Pere Oriol exclaimed: "The hotter it is, the 
 more good it will do you." 
 
 A voice behind the Marquis said: "What is 
 that?" 
 
 And M. Aubry-Pasteur, always pufiTing. stoj'ped 
 on his way back from his daily walk. Then Ander-
 
 MONT ORIOL 79 
 
 matt explained his experiment in curing. But the old 
 man kept repeating: "Devil taice it! how hot it is!" 
 And he wanted to get out, asking some one to help 
 him up. The banker succeeded eventually in calm- 
 ing him by promising him twenty sous more for 
 each bath. The spectators formed a circle round the 
 hole, in which the dirty, grayish rags were soaking 
 wherewith this old body was covered. 
 
 A voice said: "Nice meat for broth 1 I wouldn't 
 care to make soup of it!" 
 
 Another rejoined: "The meat would scarcely 
 agree with me! " 
 
 But the Marquis observed that the bubbles of car- 
 bonic acid seemed more numerous, larger, and brighter 
 in this new spring than in that of the baths. 
 
 The vagabond's rags were covered with them; 
 and these bubbles rose to the surface in such abun- 
 dance that the water appeared to be crossed by in- 
 numerable little chains, by an infinity of beads of 
 exceedingly small, round diamonds, the strong midday 
 sun making them as clear as brilliants. 
 
 Then Aubry-Pasteur burst out laughing: "Egad," 
 said he, "I must tell you what they do at the estab- 
 lishment. You know they catch a spring like a bird 
 in a kind of snare, or rather in a bell. That's what 
 they call coaxing it. Now last year here is what 
 happened to the spring that supplies the baths. The 
 carbonic acid, lighter than water, was stored up to 
 the top of the bell; then, when it was collected there 
 in a very large quantity, it was driven back into the 
 ducts, reascended in abundance into the baths, filled 
 up the compartments, and all but suffocated the 
 invalids. We have had three accidents in the course
 
 So WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 of three months. Then they consulted me again, and 
 I invented a very simple apparatus consisting of two 
 pipes which led off separately the liquid and the gas 
 in the bell in order to combine them afresh immedi- 
 ately under the bath, and thus to reconstitute the 
 water in its normal state while avoiding the danger- 
 ous excess of carbonic acid. But my apparatus would 
 have cost a thousand francs. Do you know what the 
 custodian does then ? I give you a thousand guesses 
 to find out. He bores a hole in the bell to get rid 
 of the gas, which flies out, you understand, so that 
 they sell you acidulated baths without any acid, or so 
 little acid that it is not worth much. Whereas here, 
 why just look! " 
 
 Everybody became indignant. They no longer 
 laughed, and they cast envious looks toward the par- 
 alytic. Every bather would gladly have seized a 
 pickax to make another hole beside that of the vaga- 
 bond. But Andermatt took the engineer's arm, and 
 they went off chatting together. From time to time 
 Aubry-Pasteur stopped, made a show of drawing lines 
 with his walking-stick, indicating certain points, and 
 the banker wrote down notes in a memorandum- 
 book. 
 
 Christiane and Paul Bretigny entered into conver- 
 sation. He told her about his journey to Auvergne, 
 and all that he had seen and experienced. He loved 
 the country, with those warm instincts of his, with 
 which always mingled an element of animality. He 
 had a sensual love of nature because it excited his 
 blood, and made his nerves and organs quiver. He 
 said: "For my part, Madame, it seems to me as if 
 I were open, so that everything enters into me.
 
 MONT ORIOL 8l 
 
 everything passes through me, makes me weep or 
 gnash my teeth. Look here! when I cast a glance at 
 that hillside facing us, that vast expanse of green, 
 that race of trees clambering up the mountain, I feel 
 the entire wood in my eyes; it penetrates me, takes 
 possession of me, runs through my whole frame; and 
 it seems to me also that I am devouring it, that it 
 fills my being — I become a wood myself!" 
 
 He laughed, while he told her this, strained his 
 big, round eyes, now on the wood, now on Christiane; 
 and she, surprised, astonished, but easily impressed, 
 felt herself devoured also, like the wood, by his great 
 avid glance. 
 
 Paul went on: "And if you only knew what de- 
 lights 1 owe to my sense of smell. 1 drink in this 
 air through my nostrils. I become intoxicated with 
 it; I live in it, and I feel that there is within it every- 
 thing — absolutely everything. What can be sweeter.? 
 It intoxicates one more than wine; wine intoxicates 
 the mind, but perfume intoxicates the imagination. 
 With perfume you taste the very essence, the pure 
 essence of things and of the universe — you taste the 
 flowers, the trees, the grass of the fields; you can 
 even distinguish the soul of the dwellings of olden 
 days which sleep in the old furniture, the old carpets, 
 the old curtains. Listen! I am going to tell you 
 something. 
 
 "Did you notice, when first you came here, a de- 
 licious odor, to which no other odor can be compared 
 — so fine, so light, that it seems almost — how shall 
 1 express it? — an immaterial odor? You find it every- 
 where — you can seize it nowhere — you cannot dis- 
 cern where it comes from. Never, never has anything 
 
 t G. de M.-6
 
 83 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 more divine than it arisen in my heart. Well, 
 this is the odor of the vine in bloom. Ah! it has 
 taken me four days to discover it. And is it not 
 charming to think, Madame, that the vine-tree, which 
 gives us wine, wine which only superior spirits can 
 understand and relish, gives us, too, the most delicate 
 and most exciting of perfumes, which only persons 
 of the most refined sensibility can discover ? And 
 then do you recognize also the powerful smell of the 
 chestnut-trees, the luscious savor of the acacias, the 
 aroma of the mountains, and the grass, whose scent 
 is so sweet, so sweet — sweeter than anyone im- 
 agines?" 
 
 She listened to these words of his in amazement, 
 not that they were surprising so much as that they 
 appeared so different in their nature from everything 
 encompassing her every day. Her mind remained 
 possessed, moved, and disturbed by them. 
 
 He kept talking uninterruptedly in a voice some- 
 what hollow but full of passion. 
 
 "And again, just think, do you not feel in the air, 
 along the roads, when the day is hot, a slight savor 
 of vanilla. Yes, am I not right? Well, that is — 
 that is — but I dare not tell it to you!" 
 
 And now he broke into a great laugh, and wav- 
 ing his hand in front of him all of a sudden said: 
 "Look there!" 
 
 A row of wagons laden with hay was coming 
 up drawn by cows yoked in pairs. The slow-footed 
 beasts, with their heads hung down, bent by the 
 yoke, their horns fastened with pieces of wood, toiled 
 painfully along; and under their skin, as it rose up 
 and down, the bones of their legs could be seen mov-
 
 MONTORIOL 8j} 
 
 Ing. Before each team, a man in shirt-sleeves, waist- 
 coat, and black hat, was walking with a switch in 
 his hand, directing the pace of the animals. From 
 time to time the driver would turn round, and, with- 
 out ever hitting, would barely touch the shoulder or 
 the forehead of a cow who would blink her big, 
 wandering eyes, and obey the motion of his arm. 
 
 Christiane and Paul drew up to let them pass. 
 
 He said to her: "Do you feel it?" 
 
 She was amazed: "What then? That is the smell 
 of the stable." 
 
 "Yes, it is the smell of the stable; and all these 
 cows going along the roads — for they use no horses 
 in this part of the country — scatter on their wsy 
 that odor of the stable, which, mingled with the fine 
 dust, gives to the wind a savor of vanilla." 
 
 Christiane, somewhat disgusted, murmured: "Oh!" 
 
 He went on: "Excuse me, at that moment, I was 
 analyzing it like a chemist. In any case, we are, 
 Madame, in the most seductive country, the most de- 
 lightful, the most restful, that I have ever seen — a 
 country of the golden age. And the Limagne — oh! 
 the Limagne! But I must not talk to you about it; I 
 want to show it to you. You shall see for your- 
 self." 
 
 The Marquis and Gontran came up to them. The 
 Marquis passed his arm under that of his daughter, 
 and, making her turn round and retrace her steps, in 
 order to get back to the hotel for breakfast, he said: 
 
 " Listen, young people! this concerns you all three. 
 William, who goes mad when an idea comes into 
 his head, dreams of nothing any longer but of build- 
 ing this new town of his, and he wants to win over
 
 84 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 to him the Oriol family. He is, therefore, anxious 
 that Christiane should make the acquaintance of the 
 two young girls, in order to see if they are ' possi- 
 ble.' But it is not necessary that the father should 
 suspect our ruse. So I have got an idea; it is to or- 
 ganize a charitable fete. You, my dear, must go and 
 see the cure; you will together hunt up two of his 
 parishioners to make collections along with you. You 
 understand what people you will get him to nomi- 
 nate, and he will invite them on his own responsi- 
 bility. As for you, young men, you are going to 
 get up a tombola at the Casino with the assistance 
 of Petrus Martel with his company and orchestra. 
 And if the little Oriols are nice girls, as it is said 
 they have been well brought up at the convent, 
 Christiane will make a conquest of them."
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Developments 
 
 ■^OR eight days, Christiane wholly 
 occupied herself with preparations 
 for this fete. The cure, indeed, 
 was able to find no one among 
 his female parishioners except the 
 Oriol girls who could be deemed 
 worthy of collecting along with the 
 Marquis de Ravenel's daughter; and, 
 lappy at having the opportunity of 
 laking himself prominent, he took all 
 necessary steps, organized everything, 
 regulated everything, and himself invited 
 the young girls, as if the idea had origi- 
 nated with him. 
 The inhabitants were in a state of excitement, and 
 the gloomy bathers, finding a new topic of conver- 
 sation, entertained one another at the table d'hote 
 with various estimates as to the possible receipts 
 from the two portions of the fete, the sacred and the 
 profane. 
 
 The day opened finely. It was admirable summer 
 weather, warm and clear, with bright sunshine in the 
 
 (85)
 
 86 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 open plain and a grateful shade under the village 
 trees. The mass was fixed for nine o'clock — a quick 
 mass with Church music. Christiane, who had ar- 
 rived before the office, in order to inspect the orna- 
 mentation of the church with garlands of flowers 
 that had been sent from Royat and Clermont- 
 Ferrand, consented to walk behind it. The cure, 
 Abbe Litre, followed her accompanied by the Oriol 
 girls, and he introduced them to her. Christiane im- 
 mediately invited the young girls to luncheon. They 
 accepted her invitation with blushes and respectful 
 bows. 
 
 The faithful were now making their appearance. 
 Christiane and her girls sat down on three chairs of 
 honor reserved for them at the side of the choir, fac- 
 ing three other chairs, which were occupied by young 
 lads dressed in their Sunday clothes, sons of the 
 mayor, of the deputy, and of a municipal councilor, 
 selected to accompany the lady-collectors and to flat- 
 ter the local authorities. Everything passed oflT well. 
 
 The office was short. The collection realized one 
 hundred and ten francs, which, added to Andermatt's 
 five hundred francs, the Marquis's fifty francs, and a 
 hundred francs contributed by Paul Bretigny, made a 
 total of seven hundred and sixty, an amount never 
 before reached in the parish of Enval. Then, after 
 the conclusion of the ceremony, the Oriol girls were 
 brought to the hotel. They appeared to be a little 
 abashed, without any display of awkwardness, how- 
 ever, and scarcely uttered one word, through mod- 
 esty rather than through timidity. They sat down to 
 luncheon at the table d'hote, and pleased the mer • 
 all the men.
 
 MONTORIOL 87 
 
 The elder the more serious of the pair, the 
 younger the more sprightly, the elder better bred, in 
 the common-place acceptation of the word, the 
 younger more pleasant, they yet resembled one an- 
 other as closely as two sisters possibly could. 
 
 As soon as the meal was finished, they repaired 
 to the Casino for the lottery-drawing at the tombola, 
 which was fixed for two o'clock. 
 
 The park, already invaded by the mixed crowd of 
 bathers and peasants, presented the aspect of an out' 
 landish fete. 
 
 Under their Chinese kiosque the musicians were 
 executing a rural symphony, a work composed by 
 Saint Landri himself. Paul, who accompanied Chris- 
 tiane, suddenly drew up: 
 
 "Look here!" said he, "that's pretty! He has 
 some talent, that chap! With an orchestra, he could 
 produce a fine effect." 
 
 Then he asked: "Are you lond of music, 
 Madame ?" 
 
 " Exceedingly." 
 
 "As for me, it overwhelms me. When 1 am lis- 
 tening to a work that I like, it seems to me first 
 that the opening notes detach my skin from my 
 flesh, melt it, dissolve it, cause it to disappear, and 
 leave me like one flayed alive, under the combined 
 attacks of the instruments. And in fact it is on my 
 nerves that the orchestra is playing, on my nerves 
 stripped bare, vibrating, trembling at every note. ! 
 hear it, the music, not merely with my ears, but 
 with all the sensibility of my body quivering from 
 head to foot. Nothing gives me such exquisite pleas- 
 ure, or rather such exquisite happiness."
 
 88 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 She smiled, and then said: "Your sensibilities are 
 keen." 
 
 "By Jove, they are! What is the good of living 
 if one has not keen sensibilities ? 1 do not envy those 
 people who wear over their hearts a tortoise's shell 
 or a hippopotamus's hide. Those alone are happy 
 who feel their sensations acutely, who receive them 
 like shocks, and savor them like dainty morsels. 
 For it is necessary to reason out all our emotions, 
 joyous and sad, to be satiated with them, to be in- 
 toxicated with them to the most intense degree of 
 bliss or the most extreme pitch of suffering." 
 
 She raised her eyes to look up at his face, with 
 that sense of astonishment which she had experienced 
 during the past eight days at all the things that he 
 said. Indeed, during these eight days, this new 
 friend — for, despite her repugnance toward him, on 
 first acquaintance, he had in this short interval become 
 her friend — was every moment shaking the tranquil- 
 lity of her soul, and disturbing it as a pool of water 
 is disturbed by flinging stones into it. And he flung 
 stones, big stones, into this soul which had calmly 
 slumbered until now. 
 
 Christiane's father, like all fathers, had always 
 treated her as a little girl, to whom one ought not to 
 say anything of a serious nature; her brother made 
 her laugh rather than reflect; her husband did not 
 consider it right for a man to speak of anything 
 whatever to his wife outside the interests of their 
 common life; and so she had hitherto lived perfectly 
 contented, her mind steeped in a sweet torpor. 
 
 This newcomer opened her intellect with ideas 
 which fell upon it like strokes of a hatchet. More-
 
 MONT ORIOL 3(j 
 
 over, he was one of those men who please women, 
 all women, by his very nature, by the vibrating 
 acuteness of his emotions. He knew how to talk to 
 them, to tell them everything, and he made them 
 understand everything. Incapable of continuous effort 
 but extremely intelligent, always loving or hating 
 passionately, speaking of everything with the ingeni- 
 ous ardor of a man fanatically convinced, variable as 
 he was enthusiastic, he possessed to an excessive 
 degree the true feminine temperament, the credulity, 
 the charm, the mobility, the nervous sensibility of a 
 woman, with the superior intellect, active, compre- 
 hensive, and penetrating, of a man. 
 
 Gontran came up to them in a hurry. "Come 
 back," said he, "and give a look at the Honorat 
 family." 
 
 They returned, and saw Doctor Honorat, accom- 
 panied by a fat, old woman in a blue dress, whose 
 head looked like a nursery-garden, for every variety 
 of plants and flowers were gathered together on her 
 head. 
 
 Christiane asked in astonishment: "This is his wife, 
 then? But she is fifteen years older than her hus- 
 band." 
 
 "Yes, she is sixty-five — an old midwife whom 
 he fell in love with between two confinements. 
 This, however, is one of those households in which 
 they are nagging at one another from morning till 
 night." 
 
 They made their way toward the Casino, at- 
 tracted by the exclamations of the crowd. On a 
 large table, in front of the establishment, were dis- 
 played the lots of the tombola, which were drawn
 
 ^ WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 by Petrus Martel, assisted by Mademoiselle Odelin 
 of the Odeon, a very small brunette, who also an- 
 nounced the numbers, with mountebank's tricks, 
 which greatly diverted the spectators. The Marquis, 
 accompanied by the Oriol girls and Andermatt, reap- 
 peared, and asked: "Are we to remain here? It is 
 very noisy." 
 
 They accordingly resolved to take a walk halfway 
 up the hill on the road from Enval to La Roche- 
 Pradi^re. In order to reach it, they first ascended, 
 one behind the other, a narrow path through vine- 
 trees. Christiane walked on in front with a light 
 and rapid step. Since her arrival in this neighbor- 
 hood, she felt as if she existed in a new sort of way, 
 with an active sense of enjoyment and of vitality 
 which she had never known before. Perhaps, the 
 baths, by improving her health, and so ridding her 
 of that slight disturbance of the vital organs which 
 annoyed and saddened her without any apparent 
 cause, disposed her to perceive and to relish every- 
 thing more thoroughly. Perhaps she simply felt her- 
 self animated, lashed by the presence and by the ardor 
 of spirit of that unknown youth who had taught her 
 how to understand. She drew a long, deep breath, 
 as she thought of all he had said to her about the 
 perfumes that were scattered through the atmosphere. 
 "It is true," she mused, "that he has shown me 
 how to feel the air." And she found again all the 
 odors, especially that of the vine, so light, so deli- 
 cate, so fleeting. 
 
 She gained the level road, and they formed them- 
 selves into groups. Andermatt and Louise Oriol, the 
 elder girl, started first side by side, chatting about
 
 MONTORIOL qi 
 
 the produce of lands in Auvergne. She knew, this 
 Auvergnat, true daughter of her sire, endowed with 
 the hereditary instinct, all the correct and practical 
 details of agriculture, and she spoke about them in 
 her grave tone, in the ladylike fashion, and with the 
 careful pronunciation which they had taught her at 
 the convent. While listening to her, he cast a side 
 glance at her, every now and then, and thought this 
 little girl quite charming with her gravity of manner 
 and her mind so full already of practical knowledge. 
 He occasionally repeated with some surprise: "What! 
 is the land in the Limagne worth so much as thirty 
 thousand francs for each hectare ? " * 
 
 "Yes, Monsieur, when it. is planted with beauti- 
 ful apple-trees, which supply dessert apples. It is 
 our country which furnishes nearly all the fruit used 
 in Paris." 
 
 Then, they turned back in order to make a more 
 careful estimate of the Limagne, for from the road 
 they were pursuing they could see, as far as their 
 eyes could reach, the vast plain always covered with 
 a light haze of blue vapor. 
 
 Christiane and Paul also halted in front of this im- 
 mense veiled tract of country, so agreeable to the 
 eye that they would have liked to remain there in- 
 cessantly gazing at it. The road was bordered by 
 enormous walnut-trees, the dense shade of which 
 made the skin feel a refreshing sensation of coolness. 
 It no longer ascended, but took a winding course 
 halfway up on the slope of the hillside adorned lower 
 dov/n with a tapestry of vines, and then with short 
 
 *A hectare is about two acres and a half.
 
 92 
 
 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 green herbage as far as the crest, which at this point 
 looked rather steep. 
 
 Paul murmured: "Is it not lovely? Tell me, is it 
 not lovely? And why does this landscape move me? 
 Yes, why? It diffuses a charm so profound, sc 
 wide, that it penetrates to my very heart. It seems, 
 as you gaze at this plain, that thought opens its 
 wings, does it not ? And it flies away, it soars, it 
 passes on, it goes off there below, farther and farther, 
 toward all the countries seen in dreams which we 
 shall never see. Yes, see here, this is worthy of ad- 
 miration because it is much more like a thing we 
 dream of than a thing that we have seen." 
 
 She listened to him without saying anything, 
 waiting, expectant, gathering up each of his words; 
 and she felt herself affected without too well knowing 
 how to explain her emotions. She caught glimpses, 
 indeed, of other countries, blue countries, rose-hued 
 countries, countries unlikely and marvelous, countries 
 undiscoverable though ever sought for, which make 
 us look upon all others as commonplace. 
 
 He went on: "Yes, it is lovely, because it is 
 lovely. Other horizons are more striking but less 
 harmonious. Ah! Madame, beauty, harmonious beauty! 
 There is nothing but that in the world. Nothing ex- 
 ists but beauty. But how few understand it! The 
 line of a body, of a statue, or of a mountain, the 
 color of a painting or of that plain, the inexpressible 
 something of the 'Joconde,' a phrase that bites you 
 to the soul, that — nothing more — which makes an 
 artist a creator just like God, which, therefore, dis- 
 tinguishes him among men. Wait! I am going to 
 recite for you two stanzas of Baudelaire."
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 93 
 
 And he declaimed: 
 
 "Whether you come from heaven or hell I do 
 not care, 
 O Beauty, monster of splendor and terror, 
 yet sweet at the core, 
 As long as your eye, your smile, your feet 
 lay the infinite bare, 
 Unveiling a world of love that I never have 
 known before! 
 
 " From Satan or God, what matter, whether 
 angel or siren you be. 
 What matter if you can give, enchanting, 
 velvet-eyed fay. 
 Rhythm, perfume, and light, and be 
 queen of the earth for me, 
 And make all things less hideous, and 
 the sad moments fly away." 
 
 Christiana now was gazing at him, struck with 
 wonder by his lyricism, questioning him with her 
 eyes, not comprehending well what extraordinary 
 meaning might be embodied in this poetry. He 
 divined her thoughts, and was irritated at not having 
 communicated his own enthusiasm to her, for he had 
 recited those verses very effectively, and he resumed, 
 with a shade of disdain: 
 
 "I am a fool to wish to force you to relish a poet 
 of such subtle inspiration. A day will come, I hope, 
 when you will feel those things just as I do. Women, 
 endowed rather with intuition than comprehension, 
 do not seize the secret and veiled purposes of art in 
 the same way as if a sympathetic appeal had first 
 been made to their minds." 
 
 And, with a bow, he added: "I will strive, Ma- 
 dame, to make this sympathetic appeal."
 
 94 
 
 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 She did not think him impertinent, but fantastic; 
 and moreover she did not seek any longer to under- 
 stand, suddenly struck by a circumstance which she 
 had not previously noticed: he was very elegant, 
 though he was a little too tall and too strongly-built, 
 with a gait so virile that one could not immediately 
 perceive the studied refinement of his attire. And 
 then his head had a certain brutishness about it, an 
 incompleteness, which gave to his entire person a 
 somewhat heavy aspect at first glance. But when 
 one had got accustomed to his features, one found in 
 them some charm, a charm powerful and fierce, 
 which at moments became very pleasant according to 
 the inflections of his voice, which always seemed 
 veiled. 
 
 Christiane said to herself, as she observed for the 
 first time what attention he had paid to his external 
 appearance from head to foot: "'Decidedly this is 
 a man whose qualities must be discovered one by 
 one." 
 
 But here Gontran came rushing toward them. He 
 exclaimed: "Sister, I say, Christiane, waitl" And 
 when he had overtaken them, he said to them, still 
 laughing: "Oh! just come and listen to the younger 
 Oriol girl! She is as droll as anything — she has 
 wonderful wit. Papa has succeeded in putting her at 
 her ease, and she has been telling us the most com- 
 ical things in the world. Wait for them." 
 
 And they awaited the Marquis, who presently ap- 
 peared with the younger of the two girls, Charlotte 
 Oriol. She was relating with a childlike, knowing 
 liveliness some village tales, accounts of rustic sim- 
 plicity and roguery. And she imitated them with
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 95 
 
 their slow movements, their grave remarks, their 
 "fouchtras," their innumerable "bougrres," mimick- 
 ing, in a fashion that made her pretty, sprightly face 
 look charming, all the changes of their physiogno- 
 mies. Her bright eyes sparkled; her rather large 
 mouth was opened wide, displaying her white teeth; 
 her nose, a little tip-tilted, gave her a humorous 
 look; and she was fresh, with a flower's freshness 
 that m.ight make lips quiver with desire. 
 
 The Marquis, having spent nearly his entire life on 
 his estate, in the family chateau where Christiane and 
 Gontran had been brought up in the midst of rough, 
 big Norman farmers who were occasionally invited to 
 dine there, in accordance with custom, and whose 
 children, companions of theirs from the period of 
 their first communion, had been on terms of familiar- 
 ity with them, knew how to talk to this little girl, 
 already three-fourths a woman of the world, with a 
 friendly candor which awakened at once in her a 
 gay and self-confident assurance. 
 
 Andermatt and Louise returned after having walked 
 as far as the village, which they did not care to 
 enter. And they all sat down at the foot of a tree, 
 on the grassy edge of a ditch. There they remained 
 for a long time pleasantly chatting about everything 
 and nothing in a torpor of languid ease. Now and 
 then, a wagon would roll past, always drawn by the 
 two cows whose heads were bent and twisted by 
 the yoke, and always driven by a peasant with a 
 shrunken frame and a big black hat on his head, 
 guiding the animals with the end of his thin switch 
 in the swaying style of the conductor of an orchestra. 
 
 The man would take off his hat, bowing to the
 
 ^ WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 Oriol girls, and they would reply with a familiar, 
 "Good day," flung out by their fresh young voices. 
 
 Then, as the hour was growing late, they went 
 back. As they drew near the park, Charlotte Oriol 
 exclaimed: "Oh! the boree! the boree!" In fact, the 
 boree was being danced to an old air well known in 
 Auvergne. 
 
 There they were, male and female peasants step- 
 ping out, hopping, making courtesies, — turning and 
 bowing to each other, — the women taking hold of their 
 petticoats and lifting them up with two fingers of 
 each hand, the men swinging their arms or holding 
 them akimbo. The pleasant monotonous air was also 
 dancing in the fresh evening wind; it was always the 
 same refrain played in a very high note by the violin, 
 and taken up in concert by the other instruments, 
 giving a more rattling pace to the dance. And it 
 was not unpleasant, this simple rustic music, lively 
 and artless, keeping time as it did with this sham- 
 bling country minuet. 
 
 The bathers, too, made an attempt to dance. Pe- 
 trus Martel went skipping in front of little Odelin, 
 who affected the style of a danseuse walking through 
 a ballet, and the comic Lapalme mimicked a fantastic 
 step round the attendant at the Casino, who seemed 
 agitated by recollections of Bullier. 
 
 But suddenly Gontran saw Doctor Honorat dan- 
 cing away with all his heart and all his limbs, and 
 executing the classical boree like a true-blue native of 
 Auvergne. 
 
 The orchestra became silent. All stopped. The 
 doctor came over and bowed to the Marquis. He 
 was wiping his forehead and puffing.
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 97 
 
 '"Tis good," said he, "to be young sometimes." 
 
 Gontran laid his hand on the doctor's shoulder, 
 and smiling with a mischievous air: "You never told 
 me you were married." 
 
 The physician stopped wiping his face, and gravely 
 responded: "Yes, I am, and marred." 
 
 "What do you say?" 
 
 "I say, married and marred. Never commit that 
 folly, young man." 
 
 "Why?" 
 
 "Why! See here! 1 have been married now for 
 twenty years, and haven't got used to it yet. Every 
 evening, when I reach home, 1 say to myself, ' Hold 
 hard! this old woman is still in my house! So then 
 she'll never go away?'" Everyone began to laugh, so 
 serious and convinced was his tone. 
 
 But the bells of the hotel were ringing for dinner. 
 The fHe was over. Louise and Charlotte were ac- 
 companied back to their father's house; and when 
 their new friends had left them, they commenced 
 talking about them. Everyone thought them charm- 
 ing, Andermatt alone preferred the elder girl. 
 
 The Marquis said: "How pliant the feminine na- 
 ture is! The mere vicinity of the paternal gold, of 
 which they do not even know the use, has made 
 ladies of these country girls." 
 
 Christiane, having asked Paul Bretigny: "And you, 
 which of them do you prefer?" he murmured: 
 
 "Oh! I? I have not even looked at them. It is 
 not they whom I prefer," 
 
 He had spoken in a very low voice; and she made 
 no reply. 
 
 8 G. de M.-^
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 On the Brink 
 
 HE days that followed were charm- 
 ing for Christiane Andermatt. She 
 hved, light-hearted, her soul full 
 of joy. The morning bath was her 
 first pleasure, a delicious pleasure that 
 made the skin tingle, an exquisite half 
 hour in the warm, flowing water, which 
 disposed her to feel happy all day long. 
 She was, indeed, happy in all her thoughts 
 and in all her desires. The affection with 
 which she felt herself surrounded and pene- 
 trated, the intoxication of youthful life throb- 
 bing in her veins, and then again this new 
 environment, this superb country, made for day- 
 dreams and repose, wide and odorous, enveloping her 
 like a great caress of nature, awakened in her fresh 
 emotions. Everything that approached, everything 
 that touched her, continued this sensation of the 
 morning, this sensation of a tepid bath, of a great 
 bath of happiness wherein she plunged herself body 
 and soul. 
 
 Andermatt, who had to leave Enval for a fortnight 
 or perhaps a month, had gone back to Paris, having 
 (98)
 
 MONT OR lOL 
 
 99 
 
 previously reminded his wife to take good care that 
 the paralytic should not discontinue his course of 
 treatment. So each day, before breakfast, Christiane, 
 her father, her brother, and Paul, went to look at 
 what Gontran called "the poor man's soup." Other 
 bathers came there also, and they formed a circular 
 group around the hole, while chatting with the vaga- 
 bond. 
 
 He was not better able to walk, he declared, but 
 he had a feeling as if his legs were covered with 
 ants; and he told how these ants ran up and down, 
 climbing as far as his thighs, and then going back 
 again to the tips of his toes. And even at night he 
 felt these insects tickling and biting him, so that he 
 was deprived of sleep. 
 
 All the visitors and the peasants, divided into two 
 camps, that of the believers and that of the sceptics, 
 were interested in this cure. 
 
 After breakfast, Christiane often went to look for 
 the Oriol girls, so that they might take a walk with 
 her. They were the only members of her own sex 
 at the station to whom she could talk or with whom 
 she could have friendly relations, sharing a little of 
 her confidence and asking in return for some feminine 
 sympathy. She had at once taken a liking for the 
 grave common sense allied with amiability which 
 the elder girl exhibited and still more for the spirit 
 of sly humor possessed by the younger; and it was 
 less to please her husband than for her own amuse- 
 ment that she now sought the friendship of the two 
 sisters. 
 
 They used to set forth on excursions sometimes 
 in a landau, an old traveling landau with six seats,
 
 lOO WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 got from a livery-man at Riom, and at other times 
 on foot. They were especially fond of a little wild 
 valley near Chatel-Guyon, leading toward the hermit- 
 age of Sans-Souci. Along the narrow road, which 
 they slowly traversed, under the pine-trees, on the 
 bank of the little river, they would saunter in pairs, 
 each pair chatting together. At every stage along 
 their track, where it was necessary to cross the 
 stream, Paul and Gontran, standing on stepping- 
 stones in the water, seized the women each with one 
 arm, and carried them over with a jump, so as to 
 deposit them at the opposite side. And each of these 
 fordings changed the order of the pedestrians. Chris- 
 tiane went from one to another, but found the oppor- 
 tunity of remaining a little while alone with Paul 
 Bretigny either in front or in the rear. 
 
 He had no longer the same ways while in her 
 company as in the first days of their acquaintance- 
 ship; he was less disposed to laugh, less abrupt in 
 manner, less like a comrade, but more respectful and 
 attentive. Their conversations, however, assumed a 
 tone of intimacy, and the things that concerned the 
 heart held in them the foremost place. He talked to 
 her about sentiment and love, like a man well versed 
 in such subjects, who had sounded the depths of 
 women's tenderness, and who owed to them as much 
 happiness as suffering. 
 
 She, ravished and rather touched, urged him on to 
 confidences with an ardent and artful curiosity. All 
 that she knew of him awakened in her a keen desire 
 to learn more, to penetrate in thought into one of 
 those male existences of which she had got glimpses 
 out of books, one of those existences full of tempests
 
 MONT ORIOL ,01 
 
 and mysteries of love. Yielding to her importunities, 
 he told her each day a little more about his life, his 
 adventures, and his griefs, with a warmth of language 
 which his burning memories sometimes rendered im- 
 passioned, and which the desire to please made also 
 seductive. He opened to her gaze a world till now 
 unknown to her, found eloquent words to express the 
 subtleties of desire and expectation, the ravages of 
 growing hopes, the religion of flowers and bits of 
 ribbons, all the little objects treasured up as sacred, 
 the enervating effect of sudden doubts, the anguish 
 of alarming conjectures, the tortures of jealousy, and 
 the inexpressible frenzy of the first kiss. 
 
 And he knew how to describe all these things in 
 a very seemly fashion, veiled, poetic, and captivating. 
 Like all men who are perpetually haunted by desire 
 and thoughts about woman he spoke discreetly of 
 those whom he had loved with a fever that throbbed 
 within him still. He recalled a thousand romantic 
 incidents calculated to move the heart, a thousand 
 delicate circumstances calculated to make tears gather 
 in the eyes, and all those sweet futilities of gallantry 
 which render amorous relationships between persons 
 of refined souls and cultivated minds the most beau- 
 tiful and most entrancing experiences that can be 
 conceived. 
 
 All these disturbing and familiar chats, renewed 
 each day and each day more prolonged, fell on Chris- 
 tiane's soul like grains cast into the earth. And the 
 charm of this country spread wide around her, the 
 odorous air, that blue Limagne, so vast that it seemed 
 to make the spirit expand, those extinguished volca- 
 noes on the mountain, furnaces of the antique world
 
 I02 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 serving nov/ only to warm springs for invalids, the 
 cool shades, the ripphng music of the streams as they 
 rushed over the stones — all this, too, penetrated the 
 heart and the flesh of the young woman, penetrated 
 them and softened them like a soft shower of warm 
 rain on soil that is yet virgin, a rain that will cause 
 to bourgeon and blossom in it the flowers of which it 
 had received the seed. 
 
 She was quite conscious that this youth was pay^ 
 ing court to her a little, that he thought her pretty, 
 even more than pretty; and the desire to please him 
 spontaneously suggested to her a thousand inventions, 
 at the same time designing and simple, to fascinate 
 him and to make a conquest of him. 
 
 When he looked moved, she would abruptly leave 
 him; when she anticipated some tender allusion on 
 his lips, she would cast toward him, ere the words 
 were finished, one of those swift, unfathomable glances 
 which pierce men's hearts like fire. She would greet 
 him with soft utterances, gentle movements of her 
 head, dreamy gestures with her hands, or sad looks 
 quickly changed into smiles, as if to show him, even 
 when no words had been exchanged between them, 
 that his efforts had not been in vain. 
 
 What did she desire? Nothing. What did she 
 expect from all this? Nothing. 
 
 She amused herself with this solely because she 
 was a woman, because she did not perceive the 
 danger of it, because, without foreseeing anything, she 
 wished to find out what he would do. 
 
 And then she had suddenly developed that native 
 coquetry which lies hidden in the veins of all femi- 
 nine beings. The slumbering, innocent child of
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 103 
 
 yesterday had unexpectedly waked up, subtle and 
 keen-witted, when facing this man who talked to her 
 unceasingly about love. She divined the agitation 
 that swept across his mind when he was by her 
 side, she saw the increasing emotion that his face 
 expressed, and she understood all the different intona- 
 tions of his voice with that special intuition possessed 
 by women who feel themselves solicited to love. 
 
 Other men had ere now paid attentions to her in 
 the fashionable world without getting anything from 
 her in return save the mockery of a playful young 
 woman. Their commonplace flatteries diverted her; 
 their looks of melancholy love filled her with merri- 
 ment; and to all their manifestations of passion she 
 responded only with derisive laughter. In the case 
 of this man, however, she felt herself suddenly con- 
 fronted with a seductive and dangerous adversary; 
 and she had been changed into one of those clever 
 creatures, instinctively clear-sighted, armed v/ith au- 
 dacity and coolness, who, so long as their hearts re- 
 main untrammeled, watch for, surprise, and draw 
 men into the invisible net of sentiment. 
 
 As for him, he had, at first, thought her rather 
 silly. Accustomed to women versed in intrigues, ex- 
 ercised in love just as an old soldier is in military 
 maneuvers, skilled in all the wiles of gallantry and 
 tenderness, he considered this simple heart common- 
 place, and treated it with a light disdain. 
 
 But, little by little, her ingenuousness had amused 
 him, and then fascinated him; and yielding to his 
 impressionable nature, he had begun to make her the 
 object of his affectionate attentions. He knew full 
 well that the best way to excite a pure soul was to
 
 I04 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 talk incessantly about love, while exhibiting the ap- 
 pearance of thinking about others; and accordingly, 
 humoring in a crafty fashion the dainty curiosity 
 which he had aroused in her, he proceeded, under 
 the pretense of confiding his secrets to her, to teach 
 her what passion really meant, under the shadow of 
 the wood. 
 
 He, too, found this play amusing, showed her, by 
 all the little gallantries that men know how to dis- 
 play, the growing pleasure that he found in her 
 society, and assumed the attitude of a lover with- 
 out suspecting that he would become one in reality. 
 And all this came about as naturally in the course 
 ' of their protracted walks as it does to take a bath 
 on a warm day, when you find yourself at the side 
 of a river. 
 
 But, from the first moment when Christiane be- 
 gan to indulge in coquetry, from the time when she 
 resorted to all the native skill of woman in beguil- 
 ing men, when she conceived the thought of bring- 
 ing this slave of passion to his knees, in the same 
 way that she would have undertaken to win a game 
 at croquet, he allowed himself to yield, this candid 
 libertine, to the attack of this simpleton, and began 
 to love her. 
 
 And now he became awkward, restless, nervous, 
 and she treated him as a cat does a mouse. With 
 another woman he would not have been embarrassed; 
 he would have spoken out; he would have conquered 
 by his irresistible ardor; with her he did not dare, 
 so different did she seem from all those whom he 
 had known. The others, in short, were women al- 
 ready singed by life, to whom everything might be
 
 MONTORIOL 105 
 
 said, with whom one could venture on the boldest 
 appeals, murmuring close to their lips the trembling 
 words which set the blood aflame. He knew his 
 power, he felt that he was bound to triumph when 
 he was able to communicate freely to the soul, the 
 heart, the senses of her whom he loved, the impetu- 
 ous desire by which he was ravaged. 
 
 With Christiane, he imagined himself by the side 
 of a young girl, so great a novice did he consider 
 her; and all his resources seemed paralyzed. And 
 then he cared for her in a new sort of way, partly 
 as a man cares for a child, and partly as he does for 
 his betrothed. He desired her; and yet he was 
 afraid of touching her, of soiling her, of withering 
 her bloom. He had no longing to clasp her tightly 
 in his arms, such as he had felt toward others, but 
 rather to fall on his knees, to kiss her robe, and to 
 touch gently with his lips, with an infinitely chaste 
 and tender slowness, the little hairs about her tem- 
 ples, the corners of her mouth, and her eyes, her 
 closed eyes, whose blue he could feel glancing out 
 toward him, the charming glance awakened under 
 the drooping lids. He would have liked to protect 
 her against everyone and against everything, not to 
 let her be elbowed by common people, gaze at ugly 
 people, or go near unclean people. He would have 
 liked to carry away the dirt of the street over which 
 she walked, the pebbles on the roads, the brambles 
 and the branches in the wood, to make all things easy 
 and delicious around her, and to carry her always, 
 so that she should never walk. And he felt annoyed 
 because she had to talk to the other guests at the 
 hotel, to eat the same food at the table d'hote, and sub-
 
 Io6 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 mit to all the disagreeable and inevitable little things 
 that belong to everyday existence. 
 
 He knew not what to say to her so much were 
 his thoughts absorbed by her; and his powerlessness 
 to express the state of his heart, to accomplish any of 
 the things that he wished to do, to testify to her the 
 imperious need of devoting himself to her which 
 burned in his veins, gave him some of the aspects of 
 a chained wild beast, and, at the same time, made 
 him feel a strange desire to break into sobs. 
 
 All this she perceived without completely under- 
 standing it, and felt amused by it with the malicious 
 enjoyment of a coquette. When they had lingered 
 behind the others, and she felt from his look that he 
 was about to say something disquieting, she would 
 abruptly begin to run, in order to overtake her father, 
 and, when she got up to him, would exclaim: "Sup- 
 pose we make a four-cornered game." 
 
 Four-cornered games served generally for the ter- 
 mination of the excursions. They looked out for a 
 glade at the end of a wider road than usual, and they 
 began to play like boys out for a walk. 
 
 The Oriol girls and Gontran himself took great de- 
 light in this amusement, which satisfied that inces- 
 sant longing to run that is to be found in all young 
 creatures. Paul Bretigny alone grumbled, beset by 
 other thoughts; then, growing animated by degrees 
 he would join in the game with more desperation 
 than any of the others, in order to catch Christiane, 
 to touch her, to place his hand abruptly on her 
 shoulder or on her corsage. 
 
 The Marquis, v/hose indifferent and listless nature 
 yielded in everything, as long as his rest was not
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 107 
 
 disturbed, sat down at the foot of a tree, and watched 
 his boarding-school at play, as he said. He thought 
 this quiet hfe very agreeable, and the entire world 
 perfect. 
 
 However, Paul's behavior soon alarmed Christiane. 
 One day she even got afraid of him. One morning, 
 they went with Gontran 10 the most remote part of 
 the oddly-shaped gap which is called the End of the 
 World. The gorge, becoming more and more narrow 
 and winding, sank into the mountain. They climbed 
 over enormous rocks; they crossed the little river by 
 means of stepping-stones, and, having wheeled round 
 a lofty crag more than fifty meters in height which 
 entirely blocked up the cleft of the ravine, they found 
 themselves in a kind of trench encompassed between 
 two gigantic walls, bare as far as their summits, which 
 vvere covered with trees and with verdure. 
 
 The stream formed a wide lake of bowl-like shape, 
 and truly it was a wild-looking chasm, strange and 
 unexpected, such as one meets more frequently in 
 narratives than in nature. Now, on this day, Paul, 
 gazing at the projections of the rocky eminence which 
 barred them out from the road at the right where all 
 pedestrians were compelled to halt, remarked that it 
 bore traces of having been scaled. He said: "Why, 
 we can go on farther." 
 
 Then, having clambered up the first ledge, not 
 without difficulty, he exclaimed: "Oh! this is charm- 
 ing! a little grove in the water — come on, then!" 
 
 And, leaning backward, he drew Christiane up by 
 the two hands, while Gontran, feeling his way, 
 planted his feet on all the slight projections of 
 the rock. The soil which had drifted down from the
 
 I08 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 summit had formed on this ledge a savage and 
 bushy garden, in which the stream ran across the 
 roots. Another step, a little farther on, formed a new- 
 barrier of this granite corridor. They climbed it, too, 
 — then a third; and they found themselves at the 
 foot of an impassable wall from which fell, straight 
 and clear, a cascade twenty meters high into a deep 
 basin hollowed out by it, and buried under bind- 
 weeds and branches. 
 
 The cleft of the mountain had become so narrow 
 that the two men, clinging on by their hands, could 
 touch its sides. Nothing further could be seen, save 
 a line of sky; nothing could be heard save the mur- 
 mur of the water. It might have been taken for one 
 of those undiscoverable retreats in which the Latin 
 poets were wont to conceal the antique nymphs. It 
 seemed to Christiane as if she had just intruded on 
 the chamber of a fay. 
 
 Paul Bretigny said nothing. Gontran exclaimed: 
 "Oh! how nice it would be if a woman white and 
 rosy-red were bathing in that water!" 
 
 They returned. The first two shelves were as 
 easy to descend, but the third frightened Christiane, 
 so high and straight was it, without any visible 
 steps. Bretigny let himself slip down the rock; then, 
 stretching out his two arms toward her, "Jump," 
 said he. 
 
 She would not venture. Not that she was afraid 
 of falling, but she felt afraid of him, afraid above all 
 of his eyes. He gazed at her with the avidity of a 
 famished beast, with a passion which had grown 
 ferocious; and his two hands extended toward her 
 had such an imperious attraction for her that she was
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 109 
 
 suddenly terrified and seized with a mad longing to 
 shriek, to run away, to climb up the mountain per- 
 pendicularly to escape this irresistible appeal. 
 
 Her brother standing up behind her, cried: "Go 
 on then!" and pushed her forward. Feeling herself 
 falling she shut her eyes, and, caught in a gentle but 
 powerful clasp, she felt, without seeing it, all the 
 huge body of the young man, whose panting warm 
 breath passed over her face. Then, she found her- 
 self on her feet once more, smiling, now that her 
 terror had vanished, while Gontran descended in his 
 turn. 
 
 This emotion having rendered her prudent, she 
 took care, for some days, not to be alone with Bre- 
 tigny, who now seemed to be prowling round her 
 like the wolf in the fable round a lamb. 
 
 But a grand excursion had been planned. They 
 were to carry provisions in the landau with six seats, 
 and go to dine with the Oriol girls on the border of 
 the little lake of Tazenat, which in the language of 
 the country was called the "gour" of Tazenat, and 
 then return at night by moonlight. Accordingly, they 
 started one afternoon of a day of burning heat, under 
 a devouring sun, which made the granite of the 
 mountain as hot as the floor of an oven. 
 
 The carriage ascended the mountain-side drawn by 
 three horses, blowing, and covered with sweat. The 
 coachman was nodding on his seat, his head hanging 
 down; and at the side of the road ran legions of 
 green lizards. The heated atmosphere seemed filled 
 with an invisible and oppressive dust of fire. Some- 
 times it seemed hard, unyielding, dense, as they 
 passed through it, sometimes it stirred about and
 
 IIO WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 sent across their faces ardent breaths of flame in 
 which floated an odor of resin in the midst of the 
 long pine-wood. 
 
 Nobody in the carriage uttered a word. The three 
 ladies, at the lower end, closed their dazzled eyes, 
 which they shaded with their red parasols. The 
 Marquis and Gontran, their foreheads wrapped round 
 with handkerchiefs, had fallen asleep. Paul was look- 
 ing toward Christiane, who was also watching him from 
 under her lowered eyelids. And the landau, sending 
 up a column of smoking white dust, kept always 
 toiling up this inte^^minable ascent. 
 
 When it had reached the plateau, the coachman 
 straightened himself up, the horses broke into a trot; 
 and they drove through a beautiful, undulating country, 
 thickly-wooded, cultivated, studded with villages and 
 solitary houses here and there. In the distance, at 
 the left, could be seen the great truncated summits of 
 the volcanoes. The lake of Tazenat, which they were 
 going to see, had been formed by the last crater in 
 the mountain chain of Auvergne. After they had 
 been driving for three hours, Paul said suddenly: 
 "Look here, the lava-currents!" 
 
 Brown rocks, fantastically twisted, made cracks in 
 the soil at the border of the road. At the right could 
 be seen a mountain, snub-nosed in appearance, whose 
 wide summit had a flat and hollow look. They took 
 a path, which seemed to pass into it through a tri- 
 angular cutting; and Christiane, who was standing 
 erect, discovered all at once, in the midst of a vast 
 deep crater, a lovely lake, bright and round, like a 
 silver coin. The steep slopes of the mountain, wooded 
 at the right and bare at the left, sank toward the
 
 MONT ORIOL III 
 
 water, which they surrounded with a high inclosure, 
 regular in shape. And this phicid water, level and 
 glittering, like the surface of a medal, reflected the trees 
 on one side, and on the other the barren slope, with 
 a clearness so complete that the edges escaped one's 
 attention, and the only thing one saw in this funnel, 
 in whose center the blue sky was mirrored, was a 
 transparent, bottomless opening, which seemed to 
 pass right through the earth, pierced from end to 
 end up to the other firmament. 
 
 The carriage could go no farther. They got down, 
 and took a path through the wooded side winding 
 round the lake, under the trees, halfway up the 
 declivity of the mountain. This track, along which 
 only the woodcutters passed, was as green as a 
 prairie; and, through the branches, they could see 
 the opposite side, and the water glittering at the bot- 
 tom of this mountain-lake. 
 
 Then they reached, through an opening in the 
 wood, the very edge of the water, where they sat 
 down upon a sloping carpet of grass, overshadowed 
 by oak-trees. 
 
 They all stretched themselves on the green turf 
 with sensuous and exquisite delight. The men rolled 
 themselves about in it, plunged their hands into it; 
 while the women, softly lying down on their sides, 
 placed their cheeks close to it, as if to seek there a 
 refreshing caress. 
 
 After the heat of the road, it was one of those 
 sweet sensations so deep and so grateful that they 
 almost amount to pure happiness. 
 
 Then once more the Marquis went to sleep; Gon- 
 tran speedily followed his example. Paul began chat-
 
 112 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 ting with Christiane and the two young girls. About 
 what ? About nothing in particular. From time to 
 time, one of them gave utterance to some phrase; 
 another repHed after a minute's pause, and the linger- 
 ing words seemed torpid in their mouths like the 
 thoughts within their minds. 
 
 But, the coachman having brought across to them 
 the hamper which contained the provisions, the Oriol 
 girls, accustomed to domestic duties in their own 
 house, and still clinging to their active habits, quickly 
 proceeded to unpack it, and to prepare the dinner, 
 of which the party would by and by partake on the 
 grass. 
 
 Paul lay on his back beside Christiane, who was 
 in a reverie. And he murmured, in so low a tone 
 that she scarcely heard him, so low that his words 
 just grazed her ear, like those confused sounds that 
 are borne on by the wind: "These are the best days 
 of my life." 
 
 Why did these vague words move her even to the 
 bottom of her heart ? Why did she feel herself sud- 
 denly touched by an emotion such as she had never 
 experienced before? 
 
 She was gazing through the trees at a tiny 
 house, a hut for persons engaged in hunting and fish- 
 ing, so narrow that it could barely contain one small 
 apartment. Paul followed the direction of her glance, 
 and said: 
 
 "Have you ever thought, Madame, what days 
 passed together in a hut like that might be for two 
 persons who loved one another to distraction? They 
 would be alone in the world, truly alone, face to 
 face I And, if such a thing were possible, ought not
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 "3 
 
 one be ready to give up everything in order to real- 
 ize it, so rare, unseizable, and short-lived is happi- 
 ness? Do we find it in our everyday life? What 
 more depressing than to rise up without any ardent 
 hope, to go through the same duties dispassionately, 
 to drink in moderation, to eat with discretion, and 
 to sleep tranquilly like a mere animal ? " 
 
 She kept, all the time, staring at the little house; 
 and her heart swelled up, as if she were going to 
 burst into tears; for, in one flash of thought^ she 
 divined intoxicating joys, of whose existence she had 
 no conception till that moment. 
 
 Indeed, she was thinking how sweet it would be 
 for two to be together in this tiny abode hidden 
 under the trees, facing that plaything of a lake, that 
 jewel of a lake, true mirror of love! One might feel 
 happy with nobody near, without a neighbor, with- 
 out one sound of life, alone with a lover, who would 
 pass his hours kneeling at the feet of the adored one, 
 looking up at her, while her gaze wandered toward 
 the blue wave, and whispering tender words in her 
 ear, while he kissed the tips of her fingers. They 
 would live there, amid the silence, beneath the trees, 
 at the bottom of that crater, which would hold all 
 their passion, like the limpid, unfathomable water, in 
 the embrace of its firm and regular inclosure, with 
 no other horizon for their eyes save the round line of 
 the mountain's sides, with no other horizon for their 
 thoughts save the bliss of loving one another, with 
 no other horizon for their desires save kisses linger- 
 ing and endless. 
 
 Were there, then, people on the earth who could 
 enjoy days like this? Yes, undoubtedly! And why 
 
 8 C. de M,-«
 
 114 
 
 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 not ? Why had she not sooner known that such joys 
 exist ? 
 
 The girls announced that dinner was ready. It 
 was six o'clock already. They roused up the Marquis 
 and Gontran in order that they might squat in Turk- 
 ish fashion a short distance off, with the plates glis- 
 tening beside them in the grass. The two sisters 
 kept waiting on them, and the heedless men did not 
 gainsay them. They ate at their leisure, flinging the 
 cast-off pieces and the bones of the chickens into the 
 water. They had brought champagne with them; 
 the sudden noise of the first cork jumping up pro- 
 duced a surprising effect on everyone, so unusual did 
 it appear in this solitary spot. 
 
 The day was declining; the air became impreg- 
 nated with a delicious coolness. As the evening stole 
 on, a strange melancholy fell on the water that lay 
 sleeping at the bottom of the crater. Just as the sun 
 was about to disappear, the western sky burst out 
 into flame, and the lake suddenly assumed the as- 
 pect of a basin of fire. Then, when the sun had gone 
 to rest, the horizon becoming red like a brasier on 
 the point of being extinguished, the lake looked like 
 a basin of blood. And suddenly above the crest of 
 mountain, the moon nearly at its full rose up all pale 
 in the still, cloudless firmament. Then, as the shad- 
 ows gradually spread over the earth, it ascended 
 glittering and round above the crater which was 
 round also. It looked as if it were going to let itself 
 drop down into the chasm; and when it had risen 
 far up into the sky, the lake had the aspect of a 
 basin of silver. Then, on its surface, motionless all 
 day long, trembling movements could now be seen
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 "5 
 
 sometimes slow and sometimes rapid. It seemed as 
 if some spirits skimming just above the water were 
 drawing across it invisible veils. 
 
 it was the big fish at the bottom, the venerable 
 carp and the voracious pike, who had come up to 
 enjoy themselves in the moonlight. 
 
 The Oriol girls had put back all the plates, dishes, 
 and bottles into the hamper, which the coachman 
 came to take away. They rose up to go. 
 
 As they were passing into the path under the 
 trees, where rays of light fell, like a silver shower, 
 through the leaves and glittered on the grass, Chris- 
 tiane, who was following the others with Paul in the 
 rear, suddenly heard a panting voice saying close to 
 her ear: "I love you! — I love you! — 1 love you!" 
 
 Her heart began to beat so wildly that she was 
 near sinking to the ground, and felt as if she could 
 not move her limbs. Still she walked on, like one 
 distraught, ready to turn round, her arms hanging 
 wide and her lips tightly drawn. He had by this 
 time caught the edge of the little shawl which she 
 had drawn over her shoulders, and was kissing it 
 frantically. She continued walking with such totter- 
 ing steps that she no longer could feel the soil be- 
 neath her feet. 
 
 And now she emerged from under the canopy of 
 trees, and finding herself in the full glare of the moon- 
 light, she got the better of her agitation with a des- 
 perate effort; but, before stepping into the landau 
 and losing sight of the lake, she half turned round to 
 throw a long kiss with both hands toward the water, 
 which likewise embraced the man who was following 
 her.
 
 Il6 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 On the return journey, she remained inert both in 
 soul and body, dizzy, cramped up, as if after a fall; 
 and, the moment they reached the hotel, she quickly 
 rushed up to her own apartment, where she locked 
 herself in. Even when the door was bolted and the 
 key turned in the lock, she pressed her hand on it 
 again, so much did she feel herself pursued and de- 
 sired. Then she remained trembling in the middle of 
 the room, which was nearly quite dark and had an 
 empty look. The wax-candle placed on the table cast 
 on the walls the quivering shadows of the furniture 
 and of the curtains. Christiane sank into an armchair. 
 All her thoughts were rushing, leaping, flying away 
 from her so that she found it impossible to seize 
 them, to hold them, to link them together. She felt 
 now ready to weep, without well knowing why, 
 broken-hearted, wretched, abandoned, in this empty 
 room, lost in existence, just as in a forest. Where 
 was she going, what would she do ? 
 
 Breathing with difficulty, she rose up, flung open 
 the window and the shutters in front of it, and 
 leaned on her elbows over the balcony. The air 
 was refreshing. In the depths of the sky, wide and 
 empty, too, the distant moon, solitary and sad, hav- 
 ing ascended now into the blue heights of night, cast 
 forth a hard, cold luster on the trees and on the 
 mountains. 
 
 The entire country lay asleep. Only the light strain 
 of Saint Landri's violin, which he played till a late 
 hour every night, broke the deep silence of the valley 
 with its melancholy music. Christiane scarcely heard 
 it. It ceased, then began again — the shrill and dol- 
 orous cry of the thin fiddlestrings.
 
 MONT ORIOL 117 
 
 And that moon lost in a desert sky, that feeble 
 sound lost in the silent night, filled her heart with 
 such a sense of solitude that she burst into sobs. 
 She trembled and quivered to the very marrov/ of her 
 bones, shaken by anguish and by the shuddering sen- 
 sations of people attacked by some formidable mal- 
 ady; for suddenly it dawned upon her mind that she, 
 too, was all alone in existence. 
 
 She had never realized this until to-day, and now 
 she felt it so vividly in the distress of her soul that 
 she imagined she was going mad. 
 
 She had a father! a brother! a husband! She 
 loved them still, and they loved her. And here she 
 was all at once separated from them, she had become 
 a stranger to them as if she scarcely knew them. 
 The calm affection of her father, the friendly com- 
 panionship of her brother, the cold tenderness of her 
 husband, appeared to her nothing any longer, nothing 
 any longer. Her husband! This, her husband, the 
 rosy-cheeked man who was accustomed to say to her 
 in a careless tone, "Are you going far, dear, this 
 morning?" She belonged to him, to this man, body 
 and soul, by the mere force of a contract. Was this 
 possible? Ah! how lonely and lost she felt herself! 
 She closed her eyes to look into her own mind, 
 into the lowest depths of her thoughts. 
 
 And she could see, as she evoked them out of 
 her inner consciousness the faces of all those who 
 lived around her — her father, careless and tranquil, 
 happy as long as nobody disturbed his repose; her 
 brother, scoffing and sceptical; her husband moving 
 about, his head full of figures, and with the an- 
 nouncement on his lips, "1 have just done a fine
 
 Il8 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 Stroke of business!" when he should have said, "I 
 love you!" 
 
 Another man had murmured that word a little 
 while ago, and it was still vibrating in her ear and in 
 her heart. She could see him also, this other man, 
 devouring her with his fixed look; and, if he had 
 been near her at that moment, she would have flung 
 herself into his arms!
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 C 
 
 Attainment 
 
 HRisTiANE, who had not gone to 
 sleep till a very late hour, awoke 
 as soon as the sun cast a flood 
 of red light into her room through 
 ^ the window which she had left wide 
 open. She glanced at her watch — it 
 was five o'clock — and remained lying 
 on her back deliciously in the warmth 
 of the bed. It seemed to her, so active 
 :;nd full of joy did her soul feel, that a hap- 
 piness, a great happiness, had come to her 
 during the night. What was it? She sought 
 to find out what it was; she sought to find out 
 what was this new source of happiness which had 
 thus penetrated her with delight. All her sadness of 
 the night before had vanished, melted away, during 
 sleep. 
 
 So Paul Bretigny loved her! How different he 
 appeared to her from the first day! In spite of all 
 the efforts of her memory, she could not bring back 
 her first impression of him; she could not even recall 
 to her mind the man introduced to her by her brother. 
 He whom she knew to-day had retained nothing of 
 
 (i«9)
 
 I20 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 the Other, neither the face nor the bearing — nothing 
 — for his first image had passed, little by little, day 
 by day, through all the slow modifications which take 
 place in the soul with regard to a being who from a 
 mere acquaintance has come to be a familiar friend 
 and a beloved object. You take possession of him 
 hour by hour without suspecting it; possession of his 
 movements, of his attitudes, of his physical and moral 
 characteristics. He enters into you, into your eyes 
 and your heart, by his voice, by all his gestures, by 
 what he says and by what he thinks. You absorb 
 him; you comprehend him; you divine him in all the 
 meanings of his smiles and of his words; it seems at 
 last that he belongs entirely to you, so much do you 
 love, unconsciously still, all that is his and all that 
 comes from him. 
 
 Then, too, it is impossible to remember what this be- 
 ing was like — to your indifferent eyes — when first he 
 presented himself to your gaze. So then Paul Bretigny 
 loved her! Christiane experienced from this discov- 
 ery neither fear nor anguish, but a profound tender- 
 ness, an immense joy, new and exquisite, of being 
 loved — of knowing that she was loved. 
 
 She was, however, a little disturbed as to the 
 attitude that he would assume toward her and that 
 she should preserve toward him. But, as it was a 
 matter of delicacy for her conscience even to think of 
 these things, she ceased to think about them, trusting 
 to her own tact and ingenuity to direct the course of 
 events. 
 
 She descended at the usual hour, and found Paul 
 smoking a cigarette before the door of the hotel. He 
 bowed respectfully to her:
 
 MONT ORIOL 121 
 
 "Good day, Madame. You feel well this morning?" 
 
 "Very well, Monsieur. 1 slept very soundly." 
 
 And she put out her hand to him, fearing lest he 
 might hold it in his too long. But he scarcely pressed 
 it; and they began quietly chatting as if they had for- 
 gotten one another. 
 
 And the day passed off without anything being 
 done by him to recall his ardent avowal of the night 
 before. He remained, on the days that followed, 
 quite as discreet and calm; and she placed confidence 
 in him. He realized, she thought, that he would 
 wound her by becoming bolder; and she hoped, she 
 firmly believed, that they might be able to stop at 
 this delightful halting-place of tenderness, where they 
 could love, while looking into the depths of one 
 another's eyes, without remorse, inasmuch as they 
 would be free from defilement. Nevertheless, she was 
 careful never to wander out with him alone. 
 
 Now, one evening, the Saturday of the same week 
 in which they had visited the lake of Tazenat, as 
 they were returning to the hotel about ten o'clock, — 
 the Marquis, Christiane, and Paul, — for they had left 
 Gontran playing icarte with Aubrey and Riquier and 
 Doctor Honorat in the great hall of the Casino, Bretigny 
 exclaimed, as he watched the moon shining through 
 the branches: 
 
 "How nice it would be to go and see the ruins 
 of Tournoel on a night like this!" 
 
 At this thought alone, Christiane was filled with 
 emotion, the moon and ruins having on her the same 
 influence which they have on the souls of all women. 
 
 She pressed the Marquis's hands. "Oh! father 
 dear, would you mind going there,?"
 
 122 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 He hesitated, being exceedingly anxious to go to 
 bed. 
 
 She insisted: "Just think a moment, how beauti- 
 ful Tournoei is even by day! You said yourself that 
 you had never seen a ruin so picturesque, with that 
 great tower above the chateau. What must it be at 
 night!" 
 
 At last he consented: "Well, then, let us go! 
 But we'll only look at it for five minutes, and then 
 come back immediately. For my part, I want to be 
 in bed at eleven o'clock." 
 
 "Yes, we v/ill come back immediately. It takes 
 only twenty minutes to get there." 
 
 They set out all three, Christiane leaning on her 
 father's arm, and Paul walking by her side. 
 
 He spoke of his travels in Switzerland, in Italy, in 
 Sicily. He told what his impressions were in the 
 presence of certain phenomena, his enthusiasm on 
 seeing the summit of Monte Rosa, when the sun, 
 rising on the horizon of this row of icy peaks, this 
 congealed world of eternal snows, cast on each of 
 those lofty mountain-tops a dazzling white radiance, 
 and illumined them, like the pale beacon-lights that 
 must shine down upon the kingdoms of the dead. 
 Then he spoke of his emotion on the edge of the 
 monstrous crater of Etna, when he felt himself, an 
 imperceptible mite, many meters above the cloud line, 
 having nothing any longer around him save the sea 
 and the sky, the blue sea beneath, the blue sky 
 above, and leaning over this dreadful chasm of the 
 earth, whose breath stifled him. He enlarged the ob- 
 jects which he described in order to excite the young 
 woman; and, as she listened, she panted with visions
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 123 
 
 she conjured up, by a flight of imagination, of those 
 wonderful things that he had seen. 
 
 Suddenly, at a turn of the road, they discovered 
 Tournoel. The ancient chateau, standing on a moun- 
 tain peak, overlooked by its high and narrow tower, 
 letting in the light through its chinks, and dismantled 
 by time and by the wars of bygone days, traced, 
 upon a sky of phantoms, its huge silhouette of a fan- 
 tastic manor-house. 
 
 They stopped, all three surprised. The Marquis 
 said, at length: "Indeed, it is impressive — like a 
 dream of Gustave Dore realized. Let us sit down for 
 five minutes." 
 
 And he sat down on the sloping grass. 
 
 But Christiane, wild with enthusiasm, exclaimed: 
 "Oh! father, let us go on farther! It is so beautiful! 
 so beautiful! Let us walk to the foot, I beg of you!" 
 
 This time the Marquis refused: "No, my dar- 
 ling, 1 have walked enough; 1 can't go any farther. 
 If you want to see it more closely, go on there with 
 M. Bretigny. I will wait here for you." 
 
 Paul asked: "Will you come, Madame?" 
 
 She hesitated, seized by two apprehensions, that 
 of finding herself alone with him, and that of wound- 
 ing an honest man by having the appearance of sus- 
 pecting him. 
 
 The Marquis repeated: "Go on! Go on! 1 will 
 wait for you." 
 
 Then she took it for granted that her father would 
 remain within reach of their voices, and she said 
 resolutely: "Let us go on, Monsieur." 
 
 But scarcely had she walked on for some minutes 
 when she felt herself possessed by a poignant emo-
 
 124 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 tion, by a vague, mysterious fear — fear of the ruin, 
 fear of the night, fear of this man. Suddenly she 
 felt her legs trembling under her, just as she felt the 
 other night by the lake of Tazenat; they refused to 
 bear her any further, bent under her, appeared to be 
 sinking into the soil, where her feet remained fixed 
 when she strove to raise them. 
 
 A large chestnut-tree, planted close to the path 
 they had been pursuing, sheltered one side of a 
 meadow. Christiane, out of breath just as if she had 
 been running, let herself sink against the trunk. 
 And she stammered: "1 shall remain here — we can 
 see very well." 
 
 Paul sat down beside her. She heard his heart 
 beating with great emotional throbs. He said, after 
 a brief silence: "Do you believe that we have had 
 a previous life ?" 
 
 She murmured, without having well understood 
 his question: "1 don't know, I have never thought 
 on it." 
 
 He went on: "But 1 believe it — at moments — 
 or rather I feel it. As being is composed of a soul 
 and a body, which seem distinct, but are, without 
 doubt, only one whole of the same nature, it must 
 reappear when the elements which have originally 
 formed it find themselves together for the second 
 time. It is not the same individual assuredly, but it 
 is the same man who comes back when a body like 
 the previous form finds itself inhabited by a soul like 
 that which animated him formerly. Well, I, to-night, 
 feel sure, Madame, that I lived in that chateau, that 
 I possessed it. that I fought there, that I defended it. 
 I recognized it — it was mine, I am certain of it!
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 125 
 
 And I am also certain that I loved there a woman 
 who resembled you, and who, like you, bore the 
 name of Christiane. I am so certain of it that I 
 seem to see you still calling me from the top of that 
 tower. 
 
 "Search your memory! recall it to your mind! 
 There is a wood at the back, which descends into a 
 deep valley. We have often walked there. You had 
 light robes in the summer evenings, and I wore 
 heavy armor, which clanked beneath the trees. You 
 do not recollect.^ Look back, then, Christiane! Why, 
 your name is as familiar to me as those we hear in 
 childhood! Were we to inspect carefully all the 
 stones of this fortress, we should find it there carved 
 by my hand in days of yore! I declare to you that 
 I recognize my dwelling-place, my country, just as I 
 recognized you, you, the first time I saw you!" 
 
 He spoke in an exalted tone of conviction, poetic- 
 ally intoxicated by contact with this woman, and by 
 the night, by the moon, and by the ruin. 
 
 He abruptly flung himself on his knees before 
 Christiane, and, in a trembling voice said: "Let me 
 adore you still since I have found you again! Here 
 have I been searching for you a long time!" 
 
 She wanted to rise and to go away, to join her 
 father, but she had not the strength; she had not the 
 courage, held back, paralyzed by a burning desire to 
 listen to him still, to hear those ravishing words enter- 
 ing her heart. She felt herself carried away in a 
 dream, in the dream always hoped for, so sweet, so 
 poetic, full of rays of moonlight and lays of love. 
 
 He had seized her hands, and was kissing the 
 ends of her finger-nails, murmuring:
 
 126 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 "Christiane — Christiane — take me — kill mel I 
 love you, Christiane!" 
 
 She felt him quivering, shuddering at her feet. 
 And now he kissed her knees, while his chest heaved 
 v/ith sobs. She was afraid that he was going mad, 
 and started up to make her escape. But he had risen 
 more quickly, and seizing her in his arms he pressed 
 his mouth against hers. 
 
 Then, without a cry, without revolt, without re- 
 sistance, she let herself sink back on the grass, as if 
 this caress, by breaking her will, had crushed her 
 physical power to struggle. And he possessed her 
 with as much ease as if he were culling a ripe fruit. 
 
 But scarcely had he loosened his clasp when she 
 rose up distracted, and rushed away shuddering and 
 icy-cold all of a sudden, like one who had just fallen 
 into the water. He overtook her with a few strides, 
 and caught her by the arm, whispering: "Chris- 
 tiane, Christiane! Be on your guard with your 
 father!" 
 
 She walked on without answering, without turn- 
 ing round, going straight before her with stiff, jerky 
 steps. He followed her now without venturing to 
 speak to her. 
 
 As soon as the Marquis saw them, he rose up: 
 "Hurry," said he; "1 was beginning to get cold. 
 These things are very fine to look at, but bad for 
 one undergoing thermal treatment!" 
 
 Christiane pressed herself close to her father's side, 
 as if to appeal to him for protection and take refuge 
 in his tenderness. 
 
 As soon as she had re-entered her apartment, she 
 undressed herself in a few seconds and buried herself
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 127 
 
 in her bad, hiding her head under the clothes ; then 
 she wept. She wept with her face pressed against 
 the pillow for a long, long time, inert, annihilated. 
 She did not think, she did not suffer, she did not 
 regret. She wept without thinking, without reflect- 
 ing, without knowing why. She wept instinctively 
 as one sings when one feels gay. Then, when her 
 tears were exhausted, overwhelmed, paralyzed with 
 sobbing, she fell asleep from fatigue and lassitude. 
 
 She was awakened by light taps at the door of 
 her room, which looked out on the drawing-room. 
 It was broad daylight, as it was nine o'clock. 
 
 "Come in," she cried. 
 
 And her husband presented himself, joyous, ani- 
 mated, wearing a traveling-cap and carrying by his 
 side his little money-bag, which he was never with- 
 out while on a journey. 
 
 He exclaimed: "What? You were sleeping still, 
 my dear! And I had to awaken you. There you 
 are! 1 arrived without announcing myself. I hope 
 you are going on well. It is superb weather in 
 Paris." 
 
 And having taken off his cap, he advanced to 
 embrace her. She drew herself away toward the 
 wall, seized by a wild fear, by a nervous dread of 
 this little man, with his smug, rosy countenance, who 
 had stretched out his lips toward her. 
 
 Then, abruptly, she offered him her forehead, 
 while she closed her eyes. He planted there a chaste 
 kiss, and asked: "Will you allow me to wash in 
 your dressing-room ? As no one attended on me 
 to-day, my room was not prepared." 
 
 She stammered: "Why, certainly."
 
 128 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 And he disappeared through a door at the end of 
 the bed. 
 
 She heard him moving about, splashing, snorting; 
 then he cried: "What news here? For my part, I 
 have splendid news. The analysis of the water has 
 given unexpected results. We can cure at least three 
 times more patients than they can at Royat. It is 
 superb! " 
 
 She was sitting in the bed, suffocating, her brain 
 overwrought by this unforeseen return, which hurt her 
 like a physical pain and gripped her like a pang of 
 remorse. He reappeared, self-satisfied, spreading 
 around him a strong odor of verbena. Then he sat 
 down familiarly at the foot of the bed, and asked: 
 
 "And the paralytic?" How is he going on? Is he 
 beginning to walk? It is not possible that he is not 
 cured with what we found in the water!" 
 
 She had forgotten all about it for several days, and 
 she faltered: "Why, I — I believe he is beginning to 
 walk better. Besides, I have not seen him this week. 
 I — I am a little unwell." 
 
 He looked at her with interest, and returned: "It 
 is true, you are a little pale. All the same, it be- 
 comes you very well. You look charming thus — 
 quite charming." 
 
 And he drew nearer, and bending toward her was 
 about to pass one arm into the bed under her waist. 
 
 But she made such a backward movement of 
 terror that he remained stupefied, with his hands ex- 
 tended and his mouth held toward her. Then he 
 asked: " What's the matter with you nowadays? One 
 cannot touch you any longer. 1 assure you I do not 
 intend to hurt you."
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 129 
 
 And he pressed close to her eagerly, with a glow 
 of sudden desire in his eyes. Then she stammered: 
 
 "No — let me be — let me be! The fact is, I be- 
 lieve — I believe I am pregnant!" 
 
 She had said this, maddened by the mental agony 
 she was enduring, without thinking about her words, 
 to avoid his touch, just as she would have said: "I 
 have leprosy, or the plague." 
 
 He grew pale in his turn, moved by a profound 
 joy; and he merely murmured: "Already!" He 
 yearned now to embrace her a long time, softly, ten- 
 derly, as a happy and grateful father. Then, he was 
 seized with uneasiness. 
 
 "Is it possible.? — What? — Are you sure? — So 
 soon ?" 
 
 She replied: "Yes — it is possible!" 
 
 Then he jumped about the room, and rubbing his 
 hands, exclaimed: "Christi! Christi! What a happy 
 day!" 
 
 ' There was another tap at the door. Andermatt 
 opened it, and a chambermaid said to him: "Doctor 
 Latonne would like to speak to Monsieur immedi- 
 ately." 
 
 "All right. Bring him into our drawing-room. 
 1 am going there." 
 
 He hurried away to the adjoining apartment. The 
 doctor presently appeared. His face had a solemn 
 look, and his manner was starched and cold. He 
 bowed, touched the hand which the banker, a little 
 surprised, held toward him, took a seat, and ex- 
 plained in the tone of a second in an affair of honor: 
 
 "A very disagreeable matter has arisen with ref- 
 erence to me, my dear Monsieur, and, in order to 
 
 8 G. de M.— 9
 
 I30 
 
 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 explain my conduct, I must give you an account of 
 it. When you did me the honor to call me in to see 
 Madame Andermatt, I hastened to come at the ap- 
 pointed hour; now it has transpired that, a few 
 minutes before me, my brother-physician, the medical 
 inspector, who, no doubt, inspires more confidence 
 in the lady, had been sent for, owing to the atten- 
 tions of the Marquis de Ravenel. 
 
 "The result of this is that, having been the second 
 to see her I create the impression of having taken by 
 a trick from Doctor Bonnefille a patient who already 
 belonged to him — I create the impression of having 
 committed an indelicate act, one unbecoming and 
 unjustifiable from one member of the profession to- 
 ward another. Now it is necessary for us to carry, 
 Monsieur, into the exercise of our art certain precau- 
 tions and unusual tact in order to avoid every collision 
 which might lead to grave consequences. Doctor 
 Bonnefille, having been apprised of my visit here, be- 
 lieving me capable of this want of delicacy, appear- 
 ances being in fact against me, has spoken about me 
 in such terms that, were it not for his age, 1 would 
 have found myself compelled to demand an explana- 
 tion from him. There remains for me only one 
 thing to do, in order to exculpate myself in his eyes, 
 and in the eyes of the entire medical body of the 
 country, and that is to cease, to my great regret, to 
 give my professional attentions to your wife, and to 
 make the entire truth about this matter known, beg- 
 ging of you in the meantime to accept my excuses." 
 Andermatt replied with embarrassment: 
 "I understand perfectly well, doctor, the difficult 
 situation in which you find yourself. The fault is not
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 131 
 
 mine or my wife's, but that of my father-in-law, who 
 called in M. Bonnefille without giving us notice. 
 Could I not go to look for your brother-doctor, and 
 tell him? — " 
 
 Doctor Latonne interrupted him: "It is useless, 
 my dear Monsieur. There is here a question of dig- 
 nity and professional honor, which 1 am bound to 
 respect before everything, and, in spite of my lively 
 regrets — " 
 
 Andermatt, in his turn, interrupted him. The rich 
 man, the man who pays, who buys a prescription 
 for five, ten, twenty, or forty francs, as he does a 
 box of matches for three sous, to whom everything 
 should belong by the power of his purse, and who 
 only appreciates beings and objects in virtue of an 
 assimilation of their value with that of money, of a 
 relation, rapid and direct, established between coined 
 metal and everything else in the world, was irritated 
 at the presumption of this vendor of remedies on 
 paper. He said in a stiff tone: 
 
 "Be it so, doctor. Let us stop where we are. 
 But 1 trust for your own sake that this step may not 
 have a damaging influence on your career. We shall 
 see, indeed, which of us two shall have the most to 
 suffer from your decision." 
 
 The physician, offended, rose up and bowing with 
 the utmost politeness, said: "1 have no doubt. Mon- 
 sieur, it is I who will suffer. That which 1 have done 
 to-day is very painful to me from every point of view. 
 But I never hesitate between my interests and my 
 conscience." 
 
 And he went out. As he emerged through the 
 open door, he knocked against the Marquis, who was
 
 132 
 
 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 entering, with a letter in his hand. And M. de 
 Ravenel exclaimed, as soon as he was alone with his 
 son-in-law: "Look here, my dear fellow! this is a 
 very troublesome thing, which has happened me 
 through your fault. Doctor Bonnefille, hurt by the 
 circumstance that you sent for his brother-physician 
 to see Christiane, has written me a note couched in 
 very dry language informing me that 1 cannot count 
 any longer on his professional services," 
 
 Thereupon, Andermatt got quite annoyed. He 
 walked up and down, excited himself by talking, 
 gesticulated, full of harmless and noisy anger, that 
 kind of anger which is never taken seriously. He 
 went on arguing in a loud voice. Whose fault was 
 it, after all ? That of the Marquis alone, who had 
 called in that pack-ass Bonnefille without giving any 
 notice of the fact to him, though he had, thanks to 
 his Paris physician, been informed as to the relative 
 value of the three charlatans at Enval! And then 
 what business had the Marquis to consult a doctor, 
 behind the back of the husband, the husband who 
 was the only judge, the only person responsible for 
 his wife's health ? In short, it was the same thing 
 day after day with everything! People did nothing 
 but stupid things around him, nothing but stupid 
 things! He repeated it incessantly; but he was only 
 crying in the desert, nobody understood, nobody put 
 faith in his experience, until it was too late. 
 
 And he said, "My physician," "My experience," 
 with the authoritative tone of a man who has pos- 
 session of unique things. In his mouth the possessive 
 pronouns had the sonorous ring of metals. And 
 when he pronounced the words "My wife," one felt
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 133 
 
 very clearly that the Marquis had no longer any rights 
 with regard to his daughter since Andermatt had 
 married her, to marry and to buy having the same 
 meaning in the latter's mind. 
 
 Gontran came in, at the most lively stage of the 
 discussion, and seated himself in an armchair with 
 a smile of gaiety on his lips. He said nothing, but 
 listened, exceedingly amused. When the banker 
 stopped talking, having fairly exhausted his breath, 
 his brother-in-law raised his hand, exclaiming: 
 
 "I request permission to speak. Here are both of 
 you without physicians, isn't that so ? Well, 1 pro- 
 pose my candidate. Doctor Honorat, the only one 
 who has formed an exact and unshaken opinion on 
 the water of Enval. He makes people drink it, but 
 he would not drink it himself for all the world. Do 
 you wish me to go and look for him ? I will take 
 the negotiations on myself." 
 
 It was the only thing to do, and they begged of 
 Gontran to send for him immediately. The Marquis, 
 filled with anxiety at the idea of a change of regimen 
 and of nursing wanted to know immediately the 
 opinion of this new physician; and Andermatt desired 
 no less eagerly to consult him on Christiane's behalf. 
 
 She heard their voices through the door without 
 listening to their words or understanding what they 
 were talking about. As soon as her husband had left 
 her, she had risen from the bed, as if from a dan- 
 gerous spot, and hurriedly dressed herself, without 
 the assistance of the chambermaid, shaken by all 
 these occurrences. 
 
 The woild appeared to her to have changed 
 around her, her former life seemed to have vanished
 
 U4 
 
 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 since last night, and people themselves looked quite 
 different. 
 
 The voice of Andermatt was raised once more: 
 "Hallo, my dear Bretigny, how are you getting on?" 
 
 He no longer used the word "Monsieur." Another 
 voice could be heard saying in reply: "Why, quite 
 well, my dear Andermatt. You only arrived, 1 sup- 
 pose, this morning?" 
 
 Christiane, who was in the act of raising her hair 
 over her temples, stopped with a choking sensation, 
 her arms in the air. Through the partition, she fan- 
 cied she could see them grasping one another's hands. 
 She sat down, no longer able to hold herself erect; 
 and her hair, rolling down, fell over her shoulders. 
 
 It was Paul who was speaking now, and she 
 shivered from head to foot at every word that came 
 from his mouth. Each word, whose meaning she did 
 not seize, fell and sounded on her heart like a ham- 
 mer striking a bell. 
 
 Suddenly, she articulated in almost a loud tone: 
 "But I love him! — I love him!" as though she were 
 affirming something new and surprising, which saved 
 her, which consoled her, which proclaimed her inno- 
 cence before the tribunal of her conscience. A sud- 
 den energy made her rise up; in one second, her 
 resolution was taken. And she proceeded to rear- 
 range her hair, murmuring: "I have a lover, that is 
 all. I have a lover." Then, in order to fortify her- 
 self still more, in order to get rid of all mental dis- 
 tress, she determined there and then, with a burning 
 faith, to love him to distraction, to give up to him 
 her life, her happiness, to sacrifice everything for him, 
 in accordance with the moral exaltation of hearts
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 U5 
 
 conquered T)ut still scrupulous, that believe themselves 
 to be purified by devotedness and sincerity. 
 
 And, from behind the wall which separated them, 
 she threw out kisses to him. It was over; she aban- 
 doned herself to him, without reserve, as she might 
 have offered herself to a god. The child already co- 
 quettish and artful, but still timid, still trembling, had 
 suddenly died within her; and the woman was born, 
 ready for passion, the woman resolute, tenacious, an- 
 nounced only up to this time by the energy hidden 
 in her blue eye, which gave an air of courage and 
 almost of bravado to her dainty white face. 
 
 She heard the door opening, and did not turn 
 round, divining that it was her husband, without see- 
 ing him, as though a new sense, almost an instinct, 
 had just been generated in her also. 
 
 He asked: "Will you be soon ready? We are all 
 going presently to the paralytic's bath, to see if he is 
 really getting better." 
 
 She replied calmly: "Yes, my dear Will, in five 
 minutes." 
 
 But Gontran, returning to the drawing-room, was 
 calling back Andermatt. 
 
 "Just imagine," said he; "I met that idiot Hon- 
 orat in the park, and he, too, refuses to attend you 
 for fear of the others. He talks of professional eti- 
 quette, deference, usages. One would imagine that 
 he creates the impression of — in short, he is a fool, 
 like his two brother-physicians. Certainly, I thought 
 he was less of an ape than that." 
 
 The Marquis remained overwhelmed. The idea of 
 taking the waters without a physician, of bathing for 
 five minutes longer than necessary, of drinking one
 
 l^S WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 glass less than he ought, tortured him with appre- 
 hension, for he believed all the doses, the hours, and 
 the phases of the treatment, to be regulated by a law 
 of nature, which had made provision for invalids in 
 causing the flow of those mineral springs, all whose 
 mysterious secrets the doctors knew, like priests in- 
 spired and learned. 
 
 He exclaimed: "So then we must die here — we 
 may perish like dogs, without any of these gentle- 
 men putting himself about!" 
 
 And rage took possession of him, the rage ego- 
 tistical and unreasoning of a man whose health is en- 
 dangered. 
 
 "Have they any right to do this, since they pay 
 for a license like grocers, these blackguards ? We 
 ought to have the power of forcing them to attend 
 people, as trains can be forced to take all passengers. 
 I am going to write to the newspapers to draw at- 
 tention to the matter." 
 
 He walked about, in a state of excitement; and he 
 went on, turning toward his son: 
 
 "Listen! It will be necessary to send for one to 
 Royat or Clermont. We can't remain in this state,'' 
 
 Gontran replied, laughing: "But those of Clermont 
 and of Royat are not well acquainted with the liquid 
 of Enval, which has not the same special action as 
 their water on the digestive system and on the cir- 
 culatory apparatus. And then, be sure, they won't 
 come any more than the others in order to avoid the 
 appearance of taking the bread out of their brother- 
 doctors' mouths." 
 
 The Marquis, quite scared, faltered: "But what, 
 then, is to become of us?"
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 137 
 
 Andermatt snatched up his hat, saying: "Let me 
 settle it, and I'll answer for it that we'll have the en- 
 tire three of them this evening — you understand 
 clearly, the — entire — three — at our knees. Let us go 
 now and see the paralytic." 
 
 He cried: "Are you ready, Christiane?" 
 
 She appeared at the door, very pale, with a look 
 of determination. Having embraced her father and 
 her brother, she turned toward Paul, and extended 
 her hand toward him. He took it, with downcast 
 eyes, quivering with emotion. As the Marquis, An- 
 dermatt, and Gontran had gone on before, chatting, 
 and without minding them, she said, in a firm voice, 
 fixing on the young man a tender and decided glance: 
 
 "I belong to you, body and soul. Do with me 
 henceforth what you please." Then she walked on, 
 without giving him an opportunity of replying. 
 
 As they drew near the Oriols' spring, they per- 
 ceived, like an enormous mushroom, the hat of Pere 
 Clovis, who was sleeping beneath the rays of the 
 sun, in the warm water at the bottom of the hole. 
 He now spent the entire morning there, having got 
 accustomed to this boiling water which made him, 
 he said, more lively than a yearling. 
 
 Andermatt woke him up: "Well, my fine fellow, 
 you are going on better.?" 
 
 When he had recognized his patron, the old fellow 
 made a grimace of satisfaction: "Yes, yes, I am go- 
 ing on — I am going on as well as you please." 
 
 "Are you beginning to walk?" 
 
 "Like a rabbit, Mochieu — like a rabbit. 1 will 
 dance a boree with my sweetheart on the first Sunday 
 of the month."
 
 138 
 
 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 Andermatt felt his heart beating; he repeated: "It 
 is true, then, that you are walking?" 
 
 Pere Clovis ceased jesting. "Oh! not very much, 
 not very much. No matter — I'm getting on — I'm 
 getting on!" 
 
 Then the banker wanted to see at once how the 
 vagabond walked. He kept rushing about the hole, 
 got agitated, gave orders, as if he were going to float 
 again a ship that had foundered. 
 
 "Look here, Gontran! you take the right arm. 
 You, Bretigny, the left arm. 1 am going to keep up 
 his back. Come on! together! — one — two — three! 
 My dear father-in-law, draw the leg toward you — 
 no, the other, the one that's in the water. Quick, 
 pray! I can't hold out longer. There we are — one, 
 two — there ! — ouf ! " 
 
 They had put the old trickster sitting on the 
 ground; and he allowed them to do it with a jeering 
 look, without in any way assisting their efforts. 
 
 Then they raised him up again, and set him on 
 his legs, giving him his crutches, which he used like 
 walking-sticks; and he began to step out, bent double, 
 dragging his feet after him, whining and blowing. He 
 advanced in the fashion of a slug, and left behind him 
 a long trail of water on the white dust of the road. 
 
 Andermatt, in a state of enthusiasm, clapped his 
 hands, crying out as people do at theaters when 
 applauding the actors: "Bravo, bravo, admirable, 
 bravo! ! !" 
 
 Then, as the old fellow seemed exhausted, he 
 rushed forward to hold him up, seized him in his 
 arms, although his clothes were streaming, and he 
 kept repeating:
 
 MONT ORIOL 139 
 
 "Enough, don't fatigue yourself! We are going 
 to put you back into your bath." 
 
 And Pere Clovis was plunged once more into his 
 hole by the four men who caught him by his four 
 limbs and carried him carefully like a fragile and pre- 
 cious object. 
 
 Then, the paralytic observed in a tone of convic- 
 tion: "It is good water, all the same, good water 
 that hasn't an equal. It is worth a treasure, water 
 like that!" 
 
 Andermatt turned round suddenly toward his 
 father-in-law: "Don't keep breakfast waiting for me. 
 I am going to the Oriols', and I don't know when I'll 
 be free. It is necessary not to let these things drag!" 
 
 And he set forth in a hurry, almost running, and 
 twirling his stick about like a man bewitched. 
 
 The others sat down under the willows, at the 
 side of the road, opposite Pere Clovis's hole. 
 
 Christiane, at Paul's side, saw in front of her the 
 high knoll from which she had seen the rock blown up. 
 
 She had been up there that day, scarcely a month 
 ago. She had been sitting on that russet grass. 
 One month! Only one month! She recalled the 
 most trifling details, the tricolored parasols, the scul- 
 lions, the slightest things said by each of them! 
 And the dog, the poor dog crushed by the explo- 
 sion! And that big youth, then a stranger to her, 
 who had rushed forward at one word uttered by her 
 lips in order to save the animal. To-day, he was 
 her lover! her lover! So then she had a lover! She 
 was his mistress — his mistress! She repeated this 
 word in the recesses of her consciousness — his mis- 
 tress! What a strange word! This man, sitting by
 
 14© 
 
 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 her side, whose hand she saw tearing up one by 
 one blades of grass, close to her dress, which he 
 was seeking to touch, this man was now bound to 
 her flesh and to his heart, by that mysterious chain, 
 buried in secrecy and mystery, which nature has 
 stretched between woman and man. 
 
 With that voice of thought, that mute voice which 
 seems to speak so loudly in the silence of troubled 
 souls, she incessantly repeated to herself: " I am his 
 mistress! his mistress!" How strange, how unfore- 
 seen, a thing this was! 
 
 "Do I love him?" She cast a rapid glance at 
 him. Their eyes met, and she felt herself so much 
 caressed by the passionate look with which he cov- 
 ered her, that she trembled from head to foot. She 
 felt a longing now, a wild, irresistible longing, to 
 take that hand which was toying with the grass, and 
 to press it very tightly in order to convey to him all 
 that may be said by a clasp. She let her own hand 
 slip along her dress down to the grass, then laid it 
 there motionless, with the fingers spread wide. Then 
 she saw the other come softly toward it like an am- 
 orous animal seeking his companion. It came nearer 
 and nearer; and their little fingers touched. They 
 grazed one another at the ends gently, barely, lost 
 one another and found one another again, like lips 
 meeting. But this imperceptible caress, this slight 
 contact entered into her being so violently that she 
 felt herself growing faint as if he were once more 
 straining her between his arms. 
 
 And she suddenly understood how a woman can 
 belong to some man, how she no longer is anything 
 under the love that possesses her, how that other
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 141 
 
 being takes her body and soul, flesh, thought, will, 
 blood, nerves, — all, all, all that is in her, — just as a 
 huge bird of prey with large wings swoops down on 
 a wren. 
 
 The Marquis and Gontran talked about the future 
 station, themselves won over by Will's enthusiasm. 
 And they spoke of the banker's merits, the clearness 
 of his mind, the sureness of his judgment, the cer- 
 tainty of his system of speculation, the boldness of 
 his operations, and the regularity of his character. 
 Father-in-law and brother-in-law, in the face of this 
 probable success, of which they felt certain, were in 
 agreement, and congratulated one another on this al- 
 liance. 
 
 Christiane and Paul did not seem to hear, so 
 much occupied were they with each other. 
 
 The Marquis said to his daughter: "Hey! dar- 
 ling, you may perhaps one day be one of the richest 
 women in France, and people will talk of you as 
 they do about the Rothschilds. Will has truly a re- 
 markable, very remarkable — a great intelligence." 
 
 But a morose and whimsical jealousy entered all 
 at once into Paul's heart. 
 
 "Let me alone now," said he, "1 know it, the 
 intelligence of all those engaged in stirring up busi- 
 ness. They have only one thing in their heads — 
 money! All the thoughts that we bestov/ on beauti- 
 ful things, all the actions that we waste on our 
 caprices, all the hours which we fling away for our 
 distractions, all the strength that we squander on 
 our pleasures, all the ardor and the power which 
 love, divine love, takes from us, they employ in seek- 
 ing for gold, in thinking of gold, in amassing gold!
 
 142 
 
 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 The man of intelligence lives for all the great disin- 
 terested tendernesses, the arts, love, science, travels, 
 books; and, if he seeks money, it is because this 
 facilitates the true pleasures of intellect and even the 
 happiness of the heart! But they — they have noth- 
 ing in their minds or their hearts but this ignoble 
 taste for traffic! They resemble men of worth, these 
 skimmers of life, just as much as the picture-dealer 
 resembles the painter, as the publisher resembles the 
 writer, as the theatrical manager resembles the dra- 
 matic poet." 
 
 He suddenly became silent, realizing that he had 
 allowed himself to be carried away, and in a calmer 
 voice he went on: "1 don't say that of Andermatt, 
 whom 1 consider a charming man. I like him a 
 great deal, because he is a hundred times superior 
 to all the others." 
 
 Christiane had withdrawn her hand. Paul once 
 more stopped talking. Gontran began to laugh; and, 
 in his malicious voice, with which he ventured to 
 say everything, in his hours of mocking and rail- 
 lery: 
 
 "In any case, my dear fellow, these men have 
 one rare merit: that is, to marry our sisters and to 
 have rich daughters, who become our wives." 
 
 The Marquis, annoyed, rose up: "Oh! Gontran, 
 you are perfectly revolting." 
 
 Paul thereupon turned toward Christiane, and 
 murmured: "Would they know how to die for one 
 woman, or even to give her all their fortune — all — 
 without keeping anything?" 
 
 This meant so clearly: "All 1 have is yours, in- 
 cluding my life," that she was touched, and she
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 143 
 
 adopted this device in order to take his hands in 
 hers: 
 
 "Rise, and lift me up. I am benumbed from not 
 moving." 
 
 He stood erect, seized her by the wrists, and 
 drawing her up placed her standing on the edge of 
 the road close to his side. She saw his mouth articu- 
 lating the words, "1 love you," and she quickly 
 turned aside, to avoid saying to him in reply three 
 words which rose to her lips in spite of her, in a 
 burst of passion which was drawing her toward 
 him. 
 
 They returned to the hotel. The hour for the bath 
 was passed. They awaited the breakfast-bell. It rang, ■ 
 but Andermatt did not make his appearance. After 
 taking another turn in the park, they resolved to sit 
 down to table. The meal, although a long one, was 
 finished before the return of the banker. They went 
 back to sit down under the trees. And the hours 
 stole by, one after another; the sun glided over the 
 leaves, bending toward the mountains; the day was 
 ebbing toward its close; and yet Will did not present 
 himself. 
 
 All at once, they saw him. He was walking 
 quickly, his hat in his hand, wiping his forehead, his 
 necktie on one side, his v/aistcoat half open, as if 
 after a journey, after a struggle, after a terrible and 
 prolonged effort. 
 
 As soon as he beheld his father-in-law, he ex- 
 claimed: "Victory! 'tis done! But what a day, my 
 friends! Ah! the old fox, what trouble he gave me!" 
 
 And immediately he explained the steps he had 
 taken and the obstacles he had met with.
 
 /44 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 Pere Oriol had, at first, shown himself so un- 
 reasonable that Andermatt was breaking off the nego- 
 tiations and going away. Then the peasant called 
 him back. The old man pretended that he would 
 not sell his lands but would assign them to the Com- 
 pany with the right to resume possession of them in 
 case of ill success. In case of success, he demanded 
 half the profits. 
 
 The banker had to demonstrate to him, with fig- 
 ures on paper and tracings to indicate the different 
 bits of land, that the fields all together would not be 
 worth more than forty-five thousand francs at the 
 present hour, while the expenses of the Company 
 would mount up at one swoop to a million. 
 
 But the Auvergnat replied that he expected to 
 benefit by the enormously increased value that would 
 be given to his property by the erection of the estab- 
 lishment and hotels, and to draw his interest in the 
 undertaking in accordance with the acquired value 
 and not the previous value. 
 
 Andermatt had then to represent to him that 
 the risks should be proportionate with the possible 
 gains, and to terrify him with the apprehension of 
 the loss. 
 
 They accordingly arrived at this agreement: Pere 
 Oriol was to assign to the Company all the grounds 
 stretching as far as the banks of the stream, that is 
 to say, all those in which it appeared possible to find 
 mineral water, and in addition the top of the knoll, 
 in order to erect there a casino and a hotel, and 
 some vine-plots on the slope which should be divided 
 into lots and offered to the leading physicians of 
 Paris.
 
 MONT ORIOL ,45 
 
 The peasant, in return for this apportionment 
 valued at two hundred and fifty thousand francs, that 
 is, at about four times its value, would participate to 
 the extent of a quarter in the profits of the Company. 
 As there was very much more land, which he did not 
 part with, round the future establishment, he was 
 sure, in case of success, to realize a fortune by sell- 
 ing on reasonable terms these grounds, which would 
 constitute, he said, the dowry of his daughters. 
 
 As soon as these conditions had been arrived at. 
 Will had to carry the father and the son with him to 
 the notary's office in order to have a promise of sale 
 drawn up defeasible in the event of their not finding 
 the necessary water. And the drawing up of the 
 agreement, the discussion of every point, the indefi- 
 nite repetition of the same arguments, the eternal 
 commencement over again of the same contentions, 
 had lasted all the afternoon. 
 
 At last the matter was concluded. The banker 
 had got his station. But he repeated, devoured by a 
 regret: "It will be necessary for me to confine my- 
 self to the water without thinking of the questions 
 about the land. He has been cunning, the old ape." 
 
 Then he added: "Bah! I'll buy up the old Com- 
 pany, and it is on that I may speculate! No matter 
 — it is necessary that I should start this evening again 
 for Paris." 
 
 The Marquis, astounded, cried out: "What? This 
 evening?" 
 
 "Why, yes, my dear father-in-law, in order to get 
 the definitive instrument prepared, while M, Aubry- 
 Pasteur will be making excavations. It is necessary 
 also that I should make arrangements to commence 
 
 8 C. dc M.— 10
 
 146 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 the works in a fortnight. I haven't an hour to lose. 
 With regard to this, I must inform you that you are 
 to constitute a portion of my board of directors in 
 which I will need a strong majority. 1 give you ten 
 shares. To you, Gontran, also I give ten shares." 
 
 Gontran began to laugh: "Many thanks, my dear 
 fellow. I sell them back to you. That makes five 
 thousand francs you owe me." 
 
 But Andermatt no longer felt in a mood for joking, 
 when dealing with business of so much importance. 
 He resumed dryly: "If you are not serious, I will ad- 
 dress myself to another person." 
 
 Gontran ceased laughing: "No, no, my good 
 friend, you know that I have cleared off everything 
 with you." 
 
 The banker turned toward Paul: "My dear Mon- 
 sieur, will you render me a friendly service, that is, 
 to accept also ten shares with the rank of director?" 
 
 Paul, with a bow, replied: "You will permit me, 
 Monsieur, not to accept this graceful offer, but to put 
 a hundred thousand francs into the undertaking, which 
 I consider a superb one. So then it is I who have 
 to ask for a favor from you." 
 
 William, ravished, seized his hands. This confi- 
 dence had conquered him. Besides he always ex- 
 perienced an irresistible desire to embrace persons 
 who brought him money for his enterprises. 
 
 But Christiane crimsoned to her temples, pained, 
 bruised. It seemed to her that she had just been 
 bought and sold. If he had not loved her, would Paul 
 have offered these hundred thousand francs to her 
 husband? No, undoubtedly! He should not, at least, 
 have entered into this transaction in her presence.
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 •47 
 
 The dinner-bell rang. They re-entered the hotel. 
 As soon as they were seated at table, Madame 
 PaiUe, the mother, asked Andermatt: 
 
 "So you are going to set up another establish- 
 ment?" 
 
 The news had already gone through the entire 
 district, was known to everyone, it put the bathers 
 into a state of commotion. 
 
 William replied: "Good heavens, yes! The exist- 
 ing one is too defective!" 
 
 And turning round to M. Aubry- Pasteur: "You 
 will excuse me, dear Monsieur, for speaking to you 
 at dinner of a step which I wished to take with re- 
 gard to you; but I am starting again for Paris, and 
 time presses on me terribly. Will you consent to direct 
 the work of excavation, in order to find a volume of 
 superior water?" 
 
 The engineer, feeling flattered, accepted the office. 
 In five minutes everything had been discussed and 
 settled with the clearness and precision which Ander- 
 matt imported into all matters of business. Then 
 they talked about the paralytic. He had been seen 
 crossing the park in the afternoon with only one 
 walking-stick, although that morning he had used 
 two. The banker kept repeating: "This is a miracle, 
 a real miracle. His cure proceeds with giant strides! " 
 
 Paul, to please the husband, rejoined: "It is Pere 
 Clovis himself who walks with giant strides." 
 
 A laugh of approval ran round the table. Every 
 eye was fixed on Will; every mouth complimented 
 him. 
 
 The waiters of the restaurant made it their busi- 
 ness to serve him the first, with a respectful defer-
 
 148 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 ence, which disappeared from their faces as soon as 
 they passed the dishes to the next guest. 
 
 One of them presented to him a card on a plate. 
 He took it up, and read it, half aloud: 
 
 "Doctor Latonne of Paris would be happy if M. Andermatt would 
 be kind enough to give him an interview of a few seconds before hii 
 departure. " 
 
 "Tell him in reply that I have no time, but that 
 I will be back in eight or ten days." 
 
 At the same moment, a box of flowers sent by 
 Doctor Honorat was presented to Christiane. 
 
 Gontran laughed: "Pere Bonnefille is a bad third," 
 said he. 
 
 The dinner was nearly over. Andermatt was in- 
 formed that his landau was waiting for him. He went 
 up to look for his little bag; and when he came down 
 again he saw half the village gathered in front of the 
 door. 
 
 Petrus Martel came to grasp his hand, with the 
 familiarity of a strolling actor, and murmured in his 
 ear: "1 shall have a proposal to make to you — 
 something stunning — with reference to your under- 
 taking." 
 
 Suddenly, Doctor Bonnefille appeared, hurrying in 
 his usual fashion. He passed quite close to Will, and 
 bowing very low to him as he would do to the Mar- 
 quis, he said to him: 
 
 "A pleasant journey, Baron." 
 
 "That settles it!" murmured Gontran. 
 
 Andermatt, triumphant, swelling with joy and pride, 
 pressed the hands extended toward him, thanked 
 them, and kept repeating: " Au revoir ! "
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 149 
 
 He was nearly forgetting to embrace his wife, 
 so much was he thinking about other things. This 
 indifference was a relief to her, and, when she saw 
 the hmdau moving away on the darkening road, as 
 the horses broke into a quick trot, it seemed to her 
 that she had nothing more to fear from anyone for 
 the rest of her life. 
 
 She spent the whole evening seated in front of 
 the hotel, between her father and Paul Bretigny, Gon- 
 tran having gone to the Casino, where he went every 
 
 evenmg. 
 
 She did not want either to walk or to talk, and 
 remained motionless, her hands clasped over her 
 knees, her eyes lost in the darkness, languid and weak, 
 a little restless and yet happy, scarcely thinking, not 
 even dreaming, now and then struggling against a 
 vague remorse, which she thrust away from her, al- 
 ways repeating to herself, "I love him! I love him!" 
 
 She went up to her apartment at an early hour, 
 in order to be alone and to think. Seated in the 
 depths of an armchair and covered with a dressing- 
 gown which floated around her, she gazed at the 
 stars through the window, which was left open; and 
 in the frame of that window she evoked every min- 
 ute the image of him who had conquered her. She 
 saw him, kind, gentle, and powerful — so strong and 
 so yielding in her presence. This man had taken 
 herself to himself, — she felt it, — taken her forever. 
 She was alone no longer; they were two, whose two 
 hearts would henceforth form but one heart, whose 
 two souls would henceforth form but one soul. Where 
 was he? She knew not; but she knew full well that 
 he was dreaming of her, just as she was thinking of
 
 ICO WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 him. At each throb of her heart she believed she 
 heard another throb answering somewhere. She felt 
 a desire wandering round her and fanning her cheek 
 Hke a bird's wing. She felt it entering through that 
 open window, this desire coming from him, this burn- 
 ing desire, which entreated her in the silence of the 
 night. 
 
 How good it was, how sweet and refreshing to 
 be loved! What joy to think of some one, with a 
 longing in your eyes to weep, to weep with tender- 
 ness, and a longing also to open your arms, even 
 without seeing him, in order to invite him to come, 
 to stretch one's arms toward the image that presents 
 itself, toward that kiss which your lover casts unceas- 
 ingly from far or near, in the fever of his waiting. 
 
 And she stretched toward the stars her two white 
 arms in the sleeves of her dressing-gown. Suddenly 
 she uttered a cry. A great black shadow, striding 
 over her balcony, had sprung up into her window. 
 
 She sprang wildly to her feet! It was he! And, 
 without even reflecting that somebody might see 
 them, she threw herself upon his breast.
 
 AFTER THE ORIGINAL DRAWING BY FFRniXANO BAG. 
 
 " Sk^ ^'■hr\iiify TL-v'/.y/r fn hrr feel. If ■•:\i< Up f "
 
 ^i^^,>,yr^/.W/J/:y. If •ii:,
 
 CHAPTER VIII, 
 
 Organization 
 
 • HE absence of Andermatt was 
 prolonged. M, Aubry-Pasteur 
 got the soil dug up. He found, 
 in addition, four springs, which 
 supplied the new Company with 
 more than twice as much water 
 as they required. The entire dis- 
 trict, driven crazy by these searches, 
 by these discoveries, by the great 
 news which circulated everywhere, by 
 the prospects of a brilliant future, be- 
 came agitated and enthusiastic, talked of 
 nothing else, and thought of nothing else. 
 The Marquis and Gontran themselves spent 
 their days hanging round the workmen, who were 
 boring through the veins of granite; and they listened 
 with increasing interest to the explanations and the 
 lectures of the engineer on the geological character of 
 Auvergne. And Paul and Christiane loved one another 
 freely, tranquilly, in absolute security, without anyone 
 suspecting anything, without anyone thinking even of 
 spying on them, for the attention, the curiosity, and 
 
 (•50
 
 I6>2 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 the zeal of all around them were absorbed in the 
 future station. 
 
 Christiane acted like a young girl under the intox- 
 ication of a first love. The first draught, the first 
 kiss, had burned, had stunned her. She had swallowed 
 the second very quickly, and had found it better, and 
 now again and again she raised the intoxicating cup 
 to her lips. 
 
 Since the night when Paul had broken into her 
 apartment, she no longer took any heed of what was 
 happening in the world. For her, time, events, be- 
 ings, no longer had any existence; there was nothing 
 else in life save one man, he whom she loved. 
 Henceforth, her eyes saw only him, her mind thought 
 only of him, her hopes were fixed on him alone. 
 She lived, went from place to place, ate, dressed her- 
 self, seemed to listen and to reply, without conscious- 
 ness or thought about what she was doing. No 
 disquietude haunted her, for no misfortune could have 
 fallen on her. She had become insensible to every- 
 thing. No physical pain could have taken hold of 
 her flesh, as love alone could, so as to make her 
 shudder. No moral suffering could have taken hold 
 of her soul, paralyzed by happiness. Moreover, he, 
 loving her with the self-abandonment which he dis- 
 played in all his attachments, excited the young 
 woman's tenderness to distraction. 
 
 Often, toward evening, when he knew that the Mar- 
 quis and Gontran had gone to the springs, he would 
 say, "Come and look at our heaven." He called a 
 cluster of pine-trees growing on the hillside above 
 even the gorges their heaven. They ascended to this 
 spot through a little wood, along a steep path, to climb
 
 MONT ORIOL 153 
 
 which took away Christiane's breath. As their time 
 was limited, they proceeded rapidly, and, in order that 
 she might not be too much fatigued, he put his arm 
 round her waist and hfted her up. Phicing one hand 
 on his shoulder, she let herself be borne along; and, 
 from time to time, she would throw herself on his 
 neck and place her mouth against his lips. As they 
 mounted higher, the air became keener; and, when 
 they reached the cluster of pine-trees, the odor of the 
 balsam refreshed them like a breath of the sea. 
 
 They sat down under the shadowy trees, she on 
 a grassy knoll, and he lower down, at her feet. The 
 wind in the stems sang that sweet chant of the pine- 
 trees which is like a wail of sorrow; and the im- 
 mense Limagne, with its unseen backgrounds steeped 
 in fog, gave them a sensation exactly like that of the 
 ocean. Yes, the sea was there in front of them, 
 down below. They could have no doubt of it, for 
 they felt its breath fanning their faces. 
 
 He talked to her in the coaxing tone that one 
 uses toward a child. 
 
 "Give me your fingers and let me eat them — 
 they are my bonbons, mine!" 
 
 He put them one after the other into his mouth, and 
 seemed to be tasting them with gluttonous delight. 
 
 "Oh! how nice they are! — especially the little 
 one. 1 have never eaten anything better than the 
 little one." 
 
 Then he threw himself on his knees, placed his 
 elbows on Christiane's lap, and murmured: 
 
 "'Liane.'are you looking at me?" He called her 
 Liane because she entwined herself around him in 
 order to embrace him the more closely, as a plant
 
 154 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 dings around a tree. "Look at me. I am going to 
 enter your soul," 
 
 And they exchanged that immovable, persistent 
 glance, which seems truly to make two beings mingle 
 with one another! 
 
 "We can only love thoroughly by thus possessing 
 one another," he said. "All the other things of love 
 are but foul pleasures." 
 
 And, face to face, their breaths blending into one, 
 they sought to see one another's images in the depths 
 of their eyes. 
 
 He murmured: "I love you, Liane. I see your 
 adored heart." 
 
 She replied: "I, too, Paul, see your heart!" 
 
 And, indeed, they did see one another even to the 
 depths of their hearts and souls, for there was no 
 longer in their hearts and souls anything but a mad 
 transport of love for one another. 
 
 He said: "Liane, your eye is like the sky. It is 
 blue, with so many reflections, with so much clearness. 
 It seems to me that I see swallows passing through 
 them — these, no doubt, must be your thoughts." 
 
 And when they had thus contemplated one another 
 for a long, long time, they drew nearer still to one 
 another, and embraced softly with little jerks, gazing 
 once more into each other's eyes between each kiss. 
 Sometimes he would take her in his arms, and carry 
 her, while he ran along the stream, which glided to- 
 ward the gorges of Enval, before dashing itself into 
 them. It was a narrow glen, where meadows and 
 woods alternated. Paul rushed over the grass, and 
 now and then he would raise her up high with his 
 powerful wrists, and exclaim: "Liane, let us fly
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 155 
 
 away." And with this yearning to fly away, love, 
 their impassioned love, filled them, harassing, inces- 
 sant, sorrowful. And everything around them whetted 
 this desire of their souls, the light atmosphere — a 
 bird's atmosphere, he said — and the vast blue horizon, 
 in which they both would fain have taken wing, 
 holding each other by the hand, so as to disappear 
 above the boundless plain when the night spread its 
 shadows across it. They would have flown thus 
 across the hazy evening sky, never to return. Where 
 would they have gone.^ They knew not; but what 
 a glorious dream! When he had got out of breath 
 from running while carrying her in this way, he 
 placed her sitting on a rock in order to kneel down 
 before her; and, kissing her ankles, he adored her, 
 murmuring infantile and tender words. 
 
 Had they been lovers in a city, their passion, no 
 doubt, would have been different, more prudent, 
 more sensual, less ethereal, and less romantic. But 
 there, in that green country, whose horizon widened 
 the flights of the soul, alone, without anything to 
 distract them, to attenuate their instinct of awakened 
 love, they had suddenly plunged into a passionately 
 poetic attachment made up of ecstasy and frenzy. 
 The surrounding scenery, the balmy air, the woods, 
 the sweet perfume of the fields, played for them all 
 day and all night the music of their love — music 
 which excited them even to madness, as the sound 
 of tambourines and of shrill flutes drives to acts of 
 savage unreason the dervish who whirls round with 
 fixed intent. 
 
 One evening, as they were returning to the hotel 
 for dinner, the Marquis said to them, suddenly:
 
 156 
 
 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 "Andermatt is coming back in four days. Matters 
 are all arranged. We are to leave the day after his 
 return. We have been here a long time. We must 
 not prolong mineral water seasons too much." 
 
 They were as much taken by surprise as if they 
 had heard the end of the world announced, and 
 during the meal neither of them uttered a word, so 
 much were they thinking with astonishment of what 
 was about to happen. So then they would, in a 
 few days, be separated and would no longer be able 
 to see one another freely. That appeared so impos- 
 sible and so extraordinary to them that they could 
 not realize it. 
 
 Andermatt did, in fact, come back at the end of 
 the week. He had telegraphed in order that two 
 landaus might be sent on to him to meet the first 
 train. 
 
 Christiane, who had not slept, tormented as she 
 was by a strange and new emotion, a sort of fear of 
 her husband, a fear mingled with anger, with inex- 
 plicable contempt, and a desire to set him at defiance, 
 had risen at daybreak, and was awaiting him. He 
 appeared in the first carriage, accompanied by three 
 gentlemen well attired but modest in demeanor. The 
 second landau contained four others, who seemed 
 persons of rank somewhat inferior to the first. The 
 Marquis and Gontran were astonished. The latter 
 asked: "Who are these people?" 
 
 Andermatt replied: "My shareholders. We are 
 going to establish the Company this very day, and to 
 nominate the board of directors immediately." 
 
 He embraced his wife without speaking to her, and 
 almost without looking at her, so preoccupied was
 
 MONTORIOL ie.j 
 
 he; and, turning toward the seven gentlemen, who 
 were standing behind him, silent and respectful: 
 
 "Go and have breakfast, and take a walk," said 
 he, "We'll meet again here at twelve o'clock." 
 
 They went off without saying anything, like sol- 
 diers obeying orders, and mounting the steps of the 
 hotel one after another, they went in. Gontran, who 
 had been watching them as they disappeared from 
 view, asked in a very serious tone: 
 
 "Where did you find them, these 'supers' of 
 yours ?" 
 
 The banker smiled: "They are very well-to-do 
 men, moneyed men, capitalists." 
 
 And, after a pause, he added, with a more signif- 
 icant smile: "They busy themselves about my af- 
 fairs." 
 
 Then he repaired to the notary's office to read 
 over again the documents, of which he had sent the 
 originals, all prepared, some days before. There he 
 found Doctor Latonne, with whom, moreover, he had 
 been in correspondence, and they chatted for a long 
 time in low tones, in a corner of the office, while 
 the clerks' pens ran along the paper, with the buzzing 
 noise of insects. 
 
 The meeting to establish the Company was fixed 
 for two o'clock. The notary's study had been fitted 
 up as if for a concert. Two rows of chairs were 
 placed for the shareholders in front of the table, 
 where Maitre Alain was to take his seat beside his 
 principal clerk. Maitre Alain had put on his olfcial 
 garment in consideration of the importance of the 
 business in hand. He was a very small man, a stut- 
 tering ball of white flesh.
 
 158 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 Andermatt entered just as it struck two, accom- 
 panied by tiie Marquis, his brother-in-law, and Bre- 
 tigny, and followed by the seven gentlemen, whom 
 Gontran described as "supers." He had the air of 
 a general. Pere Oriol also made his appearance with 
 Colosse by his side. He seemed uneasy, distrustful, as 
 people always are when about to sign a document. The 
 last to arrive was Doctor Latonne. He had made his 
 peace with Andermatt by a complete submission pre- 
 ceded by excuses skillfully turned, and followed by 
 an offer of his services without any reserve or re- 
 strictions. 
 
 Thereupon, the banker, feeling that he had La- 
 tonne in his power, promised him the post he longed 
 for, of medical inspector of the new establishment. 
 
 When everyone was in the room, a profound 
 silence reigned. The notary addressed the meeting: 
 "Gentlemen, take your seats." He gave utterance to 
 a few words more, which nobody could hear in the 
 confusion caused by the moving about of the chairs. 
 
 Andermatt lifted up a chair, and placed it in front 
 of his army, in order to keep his eye on all his sup- 
 porters; then, when he was seated, he said: 
 
 "Messieurs, 1 need not enter into any explanations 
 with you as to the motive that brings us together. 
 We are going, first of all, to establish the new Com- 
 pany in which you have consented to become share- 
 holders. It is my duty, however, to apprise you of 
 a few details, which have caused us a little embar- 
 rassment. 1 have found it necessary, before even en- 
 tering on the undertaking at all, to assure myself that 
 we could obtain the required authority for the crea- 
 tion of a new establishment of public utility. This
 
 MONTORIOL 159 
 
 assurance I have got. What remains to be done with 
 respect to this, I will make it my business to do. I 
 have the Minister's promise. But another point de- 
 mands my attention. We are going, Messieurs, to 
 enter on a struggle with the old Company of the 
 Enval waters. We shall come forth victorious in this 
 struggle, victorious and enriched, you may be cer- 
 tain; but, just as in the days of old, a war cry was 
 necessary for the combatants, we, combatants in the 
 modern battle, require a name for our station, a name 
 sonorous, attractive, well fashioned for advertising 
 purposes, which strikes the ear like the note of a 
 clarion, and penetrates the ear like a flash of light- 
 ning. Now, Messieurs, we are in Enval, and we can 
 not unbaptize this district. One resource only is left 
 to us. To designate our establishment, our establish- 
 ment alone, by a new appellation. 
 
 "Here is what 1 propose to you: If our bath- 
 house is to be at the foot of the knoll, of which M. 
 Oriol, here present, is the proprietor, our future Casino 
 will be erected on the summit of this same knoll. 
 We may, therefore, say that this knoll, this mountain 
 — for it is a mountain, a little mountain — furnishes 
 the site of our establishment, inasmuch as we have 
 the foot and the top of it. Is it not, therefore, natu- 
 ral to call our baths the Baths of Mont Oriol, and to 
 attach to this station, which will become one of the 
 most important in the entire world, the name of the 
 original proprietor? Render to Caesar what belongs to 
 Caesar. 
 
 "And observe. Messieurs, that this is an excellent 
 vocable. People will talk of 'the Mont Oriol' as they 
 talk of 'the Mont Dore.' It fixes itself on the eye
 
 l6o WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 and in the ear; we can see it well; we can hear it 
 well; it abides in us — Mont Oriol! — Mont Oriol! — 
 The baths of Mont Oriol!" 
 
 And Andermatt made this word ring, flung it out 
 like a ball, listening to the echo of it. He went on, 
 repeating imaginary dialogues: "'You are going to 
 the baths of Mont Oriol ? ' 
 
 "'Yes, Madame. People say they are perfect, 
 these waters of Mont Oriol.' 
 
 "'Excellent, indeed. Besides, Mont Oriol is a de- 
 lightful district.'" 
 
 And he smiled, assumed the air of people chatting 
 to one another, altered his voice to indicate when the 
 lady was speaking, saluted with the hand when rep- 
 resenting the gentleman. 
 
 Then he resumed, in his natural voice: "Has 
 anyone an objection to offer?" 
 
 The shareholders answered in chorus: "No, 
 none." 
 
 All the "supers" applauded. Pere Oriol, moved, 
 flattered, conquered, overcome by the deep-rooted 
 pride of an upstart peasant, began to smile while he 
 twisted his hat about between his hands, and he 
 made a sign of assent with his head in spite of him, 
 a movement which revealed his satisfaction, and which 
 Andermatt observed without pretending to see it. 
 Colosse remained impassive, but was quite as much 
 satisfied as his father. 
 
 Then Andermatt said to the notary: "Kindly 
 read the instrument whereby the Company is incor- 
 porated, Maitre Alain." 
 
 And he resumed his seat. The notary said to his 
 clerk: "Go on, Marinet."
 
 MONT ORIOL l6l 
 
 Marinet, a wretched consumptive creature, coughed, 
 and with the intonations of a preacher, and an at- 
 tempt at declamation, began to enumerate the statutes 
 relating to the incorporation of an anonymous Com- 
 pany, called the Company of the Thermal Establish- 
 ment of Mont Oriol at Enval with a capital of two 
 millions. 
 
 Pere Oriol interrupted him: "A moment, a mo- 
 ment," said he. And he drew forth from his pocket 
 a few sheets of greasy paper, which during the past 
 eight days had passed through the hands of all the 
 notaries and all the men of business of the depart- 
 ment. It was a copy of the statutes which his son 
 and himself by this time were beginning to know by 
 heart. Then, he slowly fixed his spectacles on his 
 nose, raised up his head, looked out for the exact 
 point where he could easily distinguish the letters, 
 and said in a tone of command: 
 
 "Go on from that place, Marinet." 
 
 Colosse, having got close to his chair, also kept 
 his eye on the paper along with his father. 
 
 And Marinet commenced over again. Then old 
 Oriol, bewildered by the double task of listening and 
 reading at the same time, tortured by the apprehen- 
 sion of a word being changed, beset also by the de- 
 sire to see whether Andermatt was making some sign 
 to the notary, did not allow a single line to be got 
 through without stopping ten times the clerk whose 
 elocutionary efforts he interrupted. 
 
 He kept repeating: "What did you say.? What did 
 you say there? I didn't understand — not so quick!" 
 
 Then turning aside a little toward his son: "What 
 place is he at, Coloche?" 
 
 8 G. deM.— II
 
 l62 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 Coloche, more self-controlled, replied: "It's all 
 right, father — let him go on — it's all right." 
 
 The peasant was still distrustful. With the end of 
 his crooked finger he went on tracing on the paper the 
 words as they were read out, muttering them be- 
 tween his lips; but he could not fix his attention at 
 the same time on both matters. When he listened, 
 he did not read, and he did not hear when he was 
 reading. And he puffed as if he had been climbing 
 a mountain; he perspired as if he had been digging 
 his vine-fields under a midday sun, and from time to 
 time, he asked for a few minutes' rest to wipe his 
 forehead and to take breath, like a man fighting a 
 duel. 
 
 Andermatt, losing patience, stamped with his foot 
 on the ground. Gontran, having noticed on a table 
 the "Moniteur du Puy-de-Dome," had taken it up 
 and was running his eye over it, and Paul, astride on 
 his chair, with downcast eyes and an anxious heart, 
 was reflecting that this little man, rosy and corpulent, 
 sitting in front of him, was going to carry off, next 
 day, the woman whom he loved with all his soul, 
 Christiane, his Christiane, his fair Christiane, who 
 was his, his entirely, nothing to anyone save him. 
 And he asked himself whether he was not going to 
 carry her off this very evening. 
 
 The seven gentlemen remained serious and tran- 
 quil. 
 
 At the end of an hour, it was finished. The deed 
 was signed. The notary made out certificates for the 
 payments on the shares. On being appealed to, the 
 cashier, M. Abraham Levy, declared that he had re- 
 ceived the necessary deposits. Then the company.
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 163 
 
 from that moment legally constituted, was announced 
 to be gathered together in general assembly, all the 
 shareholders being in attendance, for the appointment 
 of a board of directors and the election of their 
 chairman. 
 
 All the votes with the exception of two, were re- 
 corded in favor of Andermatt's election to the post of 
 chairman. The two dissentients — the old peasant 
 and his son — had nominated Oriol. Bretigny was 
 appointed commissioner of superintendence. Then, 
 the Board, consisting of MM. Andermatt, the Mar- 
 quis and the Count de Ravenel, Bretigny, the Oriols, 
 father and son. Doctor Latonne, Abraham Levy, and 
 Simon Zidler, begged of the remaining shareholders 
 to withdraw, as well as the notary and his clerk, in 
 order that they, as the governing body, might deter- 
 mine on the first resolutions, and settle the most 
 important points. 
 
 Andermatt rose up again: "Messieurs, we are en- 
 tering on the vital question, that of success, which 
 we must win at any cost. 
 
 "It is with mineral waters as with everything. It 
 is necessary to get them talked about a great deal, 
 and continually, so that invalids may drink them. 
 
 "The great modern question, Messieurs, is that of 
 advertising. It is the god of commerce and of con- 
 temporary industry. Without advertising there is no 
 security. The art of advertising, moreover, is diffi- 
 cult, complicated, and demands a considerable amount 
 of tact. The first persons who resorted to this new 
 expedient employed it rudely, attracting attention by 
 noise, by beating the big drum, and letting off cannon- 
 shots. Mangin, Messieurs, was only a forerunner.
 
 164 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 To-day, clamor is regarded with suspicion, showy 
 placards cause a smile, the crying out of names in 
 the streets awakens distrust rather than curiosity. 
 And yet it is necessary to attract public attention, 
 and after having fixed it, it is necessary to produce 
 conviction. The art, therefore, consists in discovering 
 the means, the only means which can succeed, hav- 
 ing in our possession something that we desire to 
 sell. We, Messieurs, for our part, desire to sell 
 water. It is by the physicians that we are to get 
 the better of the invalids. 
 
 "The most celebrated physicians. Messieurs, are 
 men like ourselves — who have weaknesses like us. I 
 do not mean to convey that we can corrupt them. 
 The reputation of the illustrious masters, whose as- 
 sistance we require, places them above all suspicion 
 of venality. But what man is there that cannot be 
 won over by going properly to work with him? 
 There are also women who cannot be purchased. 
 These it is necessary to fascinate. 
 
 "Here, then. Messieurs, is the proposition which 
 I am going to make to you, after having discussed it 
 at great length with Doctor Latonne: 
 
 "We have, in the first place, classified in three 
 leading groups the maladies submitted for our treat- 
 ment. These are, first, rheumatism in all its forms, 
 skin-disease, arthritis, gout, and so forth; secondly, 
 affections of the stomach, of the intestines and of the 
 liver; thirdly, all the disorders arising from disturbed 
 circulation, for it is indisputable that our acidulated 
 baths have an admirable effect on the circulation. 
 
 "Moreover, Messieurs, the marvelous cure of Pere 
 Clovis promises us miracles. Accordingly, when we
 
 MONTORIOL 165 
 
 have to deal with maladies which these waters are 
 calcuhited to cure, we are about to make to the 
 principal physicians who attend patients for such dis- 
 eases the following proposition: 'Messieurs,' we shall 
 say to them, ' come and see, come and see with your 
 own eyes; follow your patients; we offer you hos- 
 pitality. The country is magnificent; you require a 
 rest after your severe labors during the winter — 
 come! And come not to our houses, worthy profess- 
 ors, but to your own, for we offer you a cottage, 
 which will belong to you, if you choose, on excep- 
 tional conditions.' " 
 
 Andermatt took breath, and went on in a more 
 subdued tone: 
 
 "Here is how I have tried to work out this idea. 
 We have selected six lots of land of a thousand 
 meters each. On each of these six lots, the Bernese 
 'Chalets Mobiles' Company undertakes to fix one of 
 their model buildings. We shall place gratuitously 
 these dwellings, as elegant as they are comfortable, at 
 the disposal of our physicians. If they are pleased 
 with them, they need only buy the houses from 
 the Bernese Company; as for the grounds, we shall 
 assign them to the physicians, who are to pay us 
 back — in invalids. Therefore, Messieurs, we obtain 
 these multiplied advantages of covering our property 
 with charming villas which cost us nothing, of at- 
 tracting thither the leading physicians of the world 
 and their legion of clients, and above all of con- 
 vincing the eminent doctors who will very rapidly 
 become proprietors in the district of the efficacy of 
 our waters. As to all the negotiations necessary to 
 bring about these results I take them upon myself,
 
 l66 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 Messieurs; and I will do so, not as a speculator but 
 as a man of the world." 
 
 Pere Oriol interrupted him. The parsimony which 
 he shared with the peasantry of Auvergne made him 
 object to this gratuitous assignment of land. 
 
 Andermatt was inspired with a burst of eloquence. 
 He compared the agriculturist on a large scale who 
 casts his seed in handfuls into the teeming soil with 
 the rapacious peasant who counts the grains and 
 never gets more than half a harvest. 
 
 Then, as Oriol, annoyed by this language, per- 
 sisted in his objections, the banker made his board 
 divide, and shut the old man's mouth with six votes 
 against two. 
 
 He next opened a large morocco portfolio and 
 took out of it plans of the new establishment — the 
 hotel and the Casino — as well as the estimates, and 
 the most economical methods of procuring materials, 
 which had been all prepared by the contractors, so 
 that they might be approved of and signed before 
 the end of the meeting. The works should be com- 
 menced by the beginning of the week after next. 
 
 The two Oriols alone wanted to investigate and 
 discuss matters. But Andermatt, becoming irritated, 
 said to them: "Did I ask you for money? No! 
 Then give me peace! And, if you are not satisfied, 
 we'll take another division on it." 
 
 Thereupon, they signed along with the remain- 
 ing members of the Board; and the meeting termi- 
 nated. 
 
 All the inhabitants of the place were waiting to 
 see them going out, so intense was the excitement. 
 The people bowed respectfully to them. As the two
 
 MONTORIOL 167 
 
 peasants were about to return home, Andermatt sa d 
 to them: 
 
 "Do not forget that we are all dining together at 
 the hotel. And bring your girls; 1 have brought them 
 presents from Paris." 
 
 They were to meet at seven o'clock in the draw- 
 ing-room of the Hotel Splendid. 
 
 It was a magnificent dinner to which the banker 
 had invited the principal bathers and the authorities of 
 the village. Christiane, who was the hostess, had 
 the cure at her right, and the mayor at her left. 
 
 The conversation was all about the future estab- 
 lishment and the prospects of the district. The two 
 Oriol girls had found under their napkins two caskets 
 containing two bracelets of pearls and emeralds, and 
 wild with delight, they talked as they had never 
 done before,with Gontran sitting between them. The 
 elder girl herself laughed with all her heart at the 
 jokes of the young man, who became animated, 
 while he talked to them, and in his own mind 
 formed about them those masculine judgments, those 
 judgments daring and secret, which are generated 
 in the flesh and in the mind, at the sight of every 
 pretty woman. 
 
 Paul did not eat, and did not open his lips. It 
 seemed to him that his life was going to end to- 
 night. Suddenly he remembered that just a month 
 had glided away, day by day, since the open-air 
 dinner by the lake of Tazenat. He had in his soul 
 that vague sense of pain caused rather by presenti- 
 ments than by grief, known to lovers alone, that 
 sense of pain which makes the heart so heavy, the 
 nerves so vibrating that the slightest noise makes us
 
 l68 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 pant, and the mind so wretchedly sad that everything 
 we hear assumes a somber hue so as to correspond 
 with the fixed idea. 
 
 As soon as they had quitted the table, he went to 
 join Christiane in the drawing-room. 
 
 "1 must see you this evening," he said, "pres- 
 ently, immediately, since I no longer can tell when 
 we may be able to meet. Are you aware that it is 
 just a month to-day ? " 
 
 She replied: "I know it." 
 
 He went on: "Listen! 1 am going to wait for 
 you on the road to La Roche Pradiere, in front of the 
 village, close to the chestnut-trees. Nobody will 
 notice your absence at the time. Come quickly in 
 order to bid me adieu, since to-morrow we part." 
 
 She murmured: "I'll be there in a quarter of an 
 hour." 
 
 And he went out to avoid being in the midst of 
 this crowd which exasperated him. 
 
 He took the path through the vineyards which 
 they had followed one day — the day when they had 
 gazed together at the Limagne for the first time. And 
 soon he was on the highroad. He was alone, and 
 he felt alone, alone in the world. The immense, in- 
 visible plain increased still more this sense of isola- 
 tion. He stopped in the very spot where they had 
 seated themselves on the occasion when he recited 
 Baudelaire's lines on Beauty. How far away it was 
 already! And, hour by hour, he retraced in his mem- 
 ory all that had since taken place. Never had he 
 been so happy, never! Never had he loved so dis- 
 tractedly, and at the same time so chastely, so de- 
 votedly. And he recalled that evening by the "gour"
 
 MONTORIOL 169 
 
 of Tazenat, only a month from to-day — the cool 
 wood mellowed with a pale luster, the little lake of 
 silver, and the big fishes that skimmed along its sur- 
 face; and their return, when he saw her walking in 
 front of him with light and shadow falling on her in 
 turn, the moon's rays playing on her hair, on her 
 shoulders, and on her arms through the leaves of the 
 trees. These were the sweetest hours he had tasted 
 in his life. He turned round to ascertain whether she 
 might not have arrived. He did not see her, but he 
 perceived the moon, which appeared at the horizon. 
 The same moon which had risen for his first declara- 
 tion of love had risen now for his first adieu. 
 
 A shiver ran through his body, an icy shiver. The 
 autumn had come — the autumn that precedes the 
 winter. He had not till now felt this first touch of 
 cold, which pierced his frame suddenly like a menace 
 of misfortune. 
 
 The white road, full of dust, stretched in front of 
 Tiim, like a river between its banks. A form at that 
 moment rose up at the turn of the road. He recog- 
 nized her at once; and he waited for her without 
 flinching, trembling with the mysterious bliss of feel- 
 ing her drawing near, of seeing her coming toward 
 him, for him. 
 
 She walked with lingering steps, without ventur- 
 ing to call out to him, uneasy at not finding him yet, 
 for he remained concealed under a tree, and disturbed 
 by the deep silence, by the clear solitude of the earth 
 and sky. And, before her, her shadow advanced, 
 black and gigantic, some distance away from her, 
 appearing to carry toward him something of her, be- 
 fore herself.
 
 170 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 Christiane stopped, and the shadow remained also 
 motionless, lying down, fallen on the road. 
 
 Paul quickly took a few steps forward as far as 
 the place where the form of the head rounded itself 
 on her path. Then, as if he wanted to lose no por- 
 tion of her, he sank on his knees, and prostrating 
 himself, placed his mouth on the edge of the dark 
 silhouette. Just as a thirsty dog drinks crawling on 
 his belly in a spring he began to kiss the dust pas- 
 sionately, following the outlines of the beloved shadow. 
 In this way, he moved toward her on his hands and 
 knees, covering with caresses the lines of her body, as 
 if to gather up with his lips the obscure image, dear 
 because it was hers, that lay spread along the ground. 
 She, surprised, a little frightened even, waited till 
 he was at her feet before she had the courage to speak 
 to him; then, when he had lifted up his head, still 
 remaining on his knees, but now straining her with 
 both arms, she asked: 
 
 "What is the matter with you, to-night?" 
 He replied: " Liane, 1 am going to lose you." 
 She thrust all her fingers into the thick hair of 
 her lover, and, bending down, held back his fore- 
 head in order to kiss his eyes. 
 
 "Why lose me?" said she, smiling, full of confi- 
 dence. 
 
 "Because we are going to separate to-morrow." 
 "We separate? For a very short time, darling." 
 "One never knows. We shall not again find 
 days like those that we passed here." 
 
 "We shall have others which will be as lovely." 
 
 She raised him up, drew him under the tree, where 
 
 he had been awaiting her, made him sit down close
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 171 
 
 to her, but lower down, so that she might have her 
 hand constantly in his hair; and she talked in a seri- 
 ous strain, like a thoughtful, ardent, and resolute 
 woman, who loves, who has already provided against 
 everything, who instinctively knows what must be 
 done, who has made up her mind for everything. 
 
 "Listen, my darling, 1 am very free at Paris. 
 William never bothers himself about me. His busi- 
 ness concerns are enough for him. Therefore, as 
 you are not married, I will go to see you. 1 will go 
 to see you every day, sometimes in the morning be- 
 fore breakfast, sometimes in the evening, on ac- 
 count of the servants, who might chatter if 1 went 
 out at the same hour. We can meet as often as 
 here, even more than here, for we shall not have to 
 fear inquisitive persons." 
 
 But he repeated with his head on her knees, and 
 her waist tightly clasped: "Liane, Liane, 1 am going 
 to lose you!" 
 
 She became impatient at this unreasonable grief, 
 at this childish grief in this vigorous frame, while she, 
 so fragile compared with him, was yet so sure of 
 herself, so sure that nothing could part them. 
 
 He murmured: "If you wished it, Liane, we 
 might fly off together, we might go far away, into a 
 beautiful country full of flowers where we could love 
 one another. Say, do you wish that we should go 
 off together this evening — are you willing?" 
 
 But she shrugged her shoulders, a little nervous, a 
 little dissatisfied, at his not having listened to her, for 
 this was not the time for dreams and soft puerilities. 
 It was necessary now for them to show themselves 
 energetic and prudent, and to find out a way in
 
 1^2' WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 which they could continue to love one another with- 
 out rousing suspicion. 
 
 She said in reply: "Listen, darling! we must 
 thoroughly understand our position, and commit no 
 mistakes or imprudences. First of all, are you sure 
 about your servants ? The thing to be most feared is 
 lest some one should give information or write an 
 anonymous letter to my husband. Of his own ac- 
 cord, he will guess nothing. I know William well." 
 
 This name, twice repeated, all at once had an ir- 
 ritating effecJLon Paul's nerves. He said: "Oh! 
 don't speak tomne about him this evening." 
 
 She was astonished: "Why? It is quite neces- 
 sary, however. Oh! I assure you that he has scarcely 
 anything to do with me." 
 
 She had divined his thoughts. An obscure jeal- 
 ousy, as yet unconscious, was awakened within him. 
 And suddenly, sinking on his knees and seizing her 
 hands: 
 
 "Listen, Liane! What terms are you on with 
 
 him?" 
 
 "Why — why — very good!" 
 
 "Yes, I know. But listen — understand me clearly. 
 He is — he is your husband, in fact — and — and — you 
 don't know how much 1 have been brooding over 
 this for some time past — how much it torments, tor- 
 tures me. You know what 1 mean. Tell me!" 
 
 She hesitated a few seconds, then in a flash she 
 realized his entire meaning, and with an outburst of 
 indignant candor: 
 
 "Oh! my darling! — can you — can you think such 
 a thing? Oh! I am yours — do you understand? — 
 yours alone — since I love you — oh! Paul!"
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 173 
 
 He let his head sink on the young woman's lap, 
 and in a very soft voices, said: 
 
 "But! — after all, Liane, you know he is your 
 husband. What will you do? Have you thought of 
 that? Tell me! What will you do this evening or 
 to-morrow? For you cannot — always, always say 
 'No' to him!" 
 
 She murmured, speaking also in a very low tone: 
 "I have pretended to be enceinte, and — and that is 
 enough for him. Oh! there is scarcely anything be- 
 tween us — Come! say no more about this, my 
 darling. You don't know how this wounds me. 
 Trust me, since I love you!" 
 
 He did not move, breathing hard and kissing her 
 dress, while she caressed his face with her amorous, 
 dainty fingers. 
 
 But, all of a sudden, she said: "We must go 
 back, for they will notice that we are both absent." 
 
 They embraced each other, clinging for a long 
 time to one another in a clasp that might well have 
 crushed their bones. 
 
 Then she rushed away so as to be back first and 
 to enter the hotel quickly, while he watched her de- 
 parting and vanishing from his sight, oppressed with 
 sadness, as if all his happiness and all his hopes had 
 taken flight along with her.
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 The Spa Again 
 
 ^HE station of Enval could hardly be 
 recognized on the first of July of 
 the following year. On the summit 
 of the knoll, standing between the 
 two outlets of the valley, rose a 
 buiiding in the Moorish style of archi- 
 tecture, bearing on its front the word 
 '"Casino" in letters of gold. 
 
 A little wood had been utilized for 
 
 the purpose of creating a small park on 
 
 the slope facing the Limagne. Lower 
 
 % down, among the vines, six chalets here and 
 
 *^ there showed their facades of polished wood. 
 
 ^ On the slope facing the south, an immense 
 
 / structure was visible at a distance to travelers, 
 
 who perceived it on their way from Riom. 
 
 This was the Grand Hotel of Mont Oriol. And 
 exactly below it, at the very foot of the hill, a square 
 house, simpler and more spacious, surrounded by a 
 garden, through which ran the rivulet which flowed 
 down from the gorges, offered to invalids the miracu- 
 lous cure promised by a pamphlet of Doctor Latonne. 
 ('74)
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 175 
 
 On the facade could be read: "Thermal baths of 
 Mont Oriel." Then, on the right wing, in smaller 
 letters : " Hydropathy. — Stomach-washing. — Piscina 
 with running water," And, on the left wing: 
 "Medical institute of automatic gymnastics." 
 
 All this was white, with a fresh whiteness, shin- 
 ing and crude. Workmen were still occupied in 
 completing it — house-painters, plumbers, and laborers 
 employed in digging, although the establishment had 
 already been a month open. 
 
 Its success, moreover, had since the start, sur- 
 passed the hopes of its founders. Three great physi- 
 cians, three celebrities, Professor Mas-Roussel, Professor 
 Cloche, and Professor Remusot, had taken the new 
 station under their patronage, and consented to so- 
 journ for sometime in the villas of the Bernese "Chalets 
 Mobiles" Company, placed at their disposal by the 
 Board intrusted with the management of the waters. 
 
 Under their influence a crowd of invalids flocked 
 to the place. The Grand Hotel of Mont Oriol was full. 
 
 Although the baths had commenced working since 
 the first days of June, the official opening of the sta- 
 tion had been postponed till the first of July, in order 
 to attract a great number of people. The fete was to 
 commence at three o'clock with the ceremony of 
 blessing the springs; and in the evening, a magnifi- 
 cent performance, followed by fireworks and a ball, 
 would bring together all the bathers of the place, as 
 well as those of the adjoining stations, and the prin- 
 cipal inhabitants of Clermont-Ferrand and Riom. 
 
 The Casino on the summit of the hill was hidden 
 from view by the flags. Nothing could be seen any 
 longer but blue, red, white, yellow, a kind of dense
 
 176 
 
 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 and palpitating cloud; while from the tops of the 
 gigantic masts planted along the walks in the park, 
 huge oriflammes curled themselves in the blue sky 
 with serpentine windings. 
 
 M. Petrus Martel, who had been appointed con- 
 ductor of this new Casino, seemed to think that 
 under this cloud of flags he had become the all- 
 powerful captain of some fantastic ship; and he gave 
 orders to the white-aproned waiters with the re- 
 sounding and terrible voice which admirals need in 
 order to exercise command under fire. His vibrating 
 words, borne on by the wind, were heard even in 
 the village. 
 
 Andermatt, out of breath already, appeared on the 
 terrace. Petrus Martel advanced to meet him and 
 bowed to him in a lordly fashion. 
 
 "Everything is going on well?" inquired the 
 banker. 
 
 "Everything is going on well, my dear President." 
 
 "If anyone wants me, 1 am to be found in the 
 medical inspector's study. We have a meeting this 
 
 mornmg. 
 
 And he went down the hill again. In front of the 
 door of the thermal establishment, the overseer and 
 the cashier, carried off also from the other Company, 
 which had become the rival Company, but doomed 
 without a possible contest, rushed forward to meet 
 their master. The ex-jailer made a military salute. 
 The other bent his head like a poor person receiving 
 alms. Andermatt asked: 
 
 "Is the inspector here?" 
 
 The overseer replied: "Yes, Monsieur le President, 
 all the gentlemen have arrived."'
 
 MONTORIOL 177 
 
 The banker passed through the vestibule, in the 
 midst of bathers and respectful waiters, turned to the 
 right, opened a door, and found in a spacious apart- 
 ment of serious aspect, full of books and busts of 
 men of science, all the members of the Board at 
 present in Enval assembled: his father-in-law the 
 Marquis, and his brother-in-law Gontran, the Oriols, 
 father and son, who had almost been transformed into 
 gentlemen wearing frock-coats of such length that 
 — with their own tallness, they looked like adver- 
 tisements for a mourning- warehouse — Paul Bretigny, 
 and Doctor Latonne. 
 
 After some rapid hand-shaking, they took their 
 seats, and Andcrmatt commenced to address them : 
 
 "It remains for us to regulate an important mat- 
 ter, the naming of the springs. On this subject 1 
 differ entirely in opinion from the inspector. The 
 doctor proposes to give to our three principal springs 
 the names of the three leaders of the medical profes- 
 sion who are here. Assuredly, there would in this 
 be a flattery which might touch them and win them 
 over to us still more. But be sure, Messieurs, that 
 it would alienate from us forever those among their 
 distinguished professional brethren who have not yet 
 responded to our invitation, and whom we should 
 convince, at the cost of our best efforts and of every 
 sacrifice, of the sovereign efficacy of our waters. Yes, 
 Messieurs, human nature is unchangeable; it is neces- 
 sary to know it and to make use of it. Never would 
 Professors Plantureau, De Larenard, and Pascalis, to 
 refer only to these three specialists in affections of 
 the stomach and intestines, send their patients to be 
 cured by the water of the Mas-Roussel Spring, the 
 
 8 G. deM. — II
 
 1-78 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 Cloche Spring, or the Remusot Spring. For these 
 patients and the entire public would in that case be 
 somewhat disposed to believe that it was by Pro- 
 fessors Remusot, Cloche, and Mas-Roussel that our 
 water and all its therapeutic properties had been dis- 
 covered. There is no doubt, Messieurs, that the 
 name of Gubler, with which the original spring at 
 Chatel-Guyon was baptized, for a long time preju- 
 diced against these waters, to-day in a prosperous 
 condition, a section, at least, of the great physicians, 
 who might have patronized it from the start. 
 
 "1 accordingly propose to give quite simply the 
 name of my wife to the spring first discovered and 
 the names of the Mademoiselles Oriol to the other 
 two. We shall thus have the Christiane, the Louise, 
 and the Charlotte Springs. This suits very well; it is 
 very nice. What do you say to it.?" 
 
 His suggestion was adopted even by Doctor La- 
 tonne, who added: "We might then beg of MM. 
 Mas-Roussel, Cloche, and Remusot to be godfathers 
 and to offer their arms to the godmothers." 
 
 "Excellent, excellent," said Andermatt. "1 am 
 hurrying to meet them. And they will consent. I 
 may answer for them — they will consent. Let us, 
 therefore, reassemble at three o'clock in the church 
 where the procession is to be formed." 
 
 And he went off at a running pace. The Marquis 
 and Gontran followed him almost immediately. The 
 Oriols, father and son, with tall hats on their heads, 
 hastened to walk in their turn side by side, grave 
 looking and all in black, on the white road; and 
 Doctor Latonne said to Paul, who had only arrived 
 the previous evening, to be present at the file:
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 179 
 
 "I have detained you, Monsieur, in order to show 
 yt^u a thing from which I expect marvelous results. 
 It is my medical institute of automatic gymnastics." 
 
 He took him by the arm, and led him in. But 
 they had scarcely reached the vestibule when a waiter 
 at the baths stopped the doctor: 
 
 " M. Riquier is waiting for his wash." 
 
 Doctor Latonne had, last year, spoken dispara- 
 gingly of the stomach washings, extolled and practiced 
 by Doctor Bonnefille, in the establishment of which 
 he was inspector. But time had modified his opinion, 
 and the Baraduc probe had become the great instru- 
 ment of torture of the new inspector, who plunged it 
 with an infantile delight into every gullet. 
 
 He inquired of Paul Bretigny: "Have you ever 
 seen this little operation?" 
 
 The other replied: "No, never." 
 
 "Come on then, my dear fellow — it is very 
 curious." 
 
 They entered the shower-bath room, where M. 
 Riquier, the brick-colored man, who was this year 
 trying the newly discovered springs, as he had tried, 
 every summer, every fresh station, was waiting in a 
 wooden armchair. 
 
 Like some executed criminal of olden times, he 
 was squeezed and choked up in a kind of straight 
 waistcoat of oilcloth, which was intended to preserve 
 his clothes from stains and splashes; and he had the 
 wretched, restless, and pained look of patients on 
 whom a surgeon is about to operate. 
 
 As soon as the doctor appeared, the waiter took 
 up a long tube, which had three divisions near the 
 middle, and which had the appearance of a thin ser-
 
 l8o WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 pent with a double tail. Then the man fixed one of 
 the ends to the extremity of a little cock communi- 
 cating with the spring. The second was let fall into 
 a glass receiver, into which would be presently dis- 
 charged the liquids rejected by the patient's stomach; 
 and the medical inspector, seizing with a steady hand 
 the third arm of this conduit-pipe, drew it, with an 
 air of amiability, toward M. Riquier's jaw, passed it 
 into his mouth, and guiding it dexterously, slipped it 
 into his throat, driving it in more and more with the 
 thumb and index-fmger, in a gracious and benevolent 
 fashion, repeating: 
 
 "Very good! very good! very good! That will 
 do, that will do; that will do; that will do exactly!" 
 
 M. Riquier, with staring eyes, purple cheeks, lips 
 covered with foam, panted for breath, gasped as if ha 
 were suffocating, and had agonizing fits of coughing; 
 and, clutching the arms of the chair, he made terrible 
 efforts to get rid of that beastly india-rubber which 
 was penetrating into his body. 
 
 When he had swallowed about a foot and a halt 
 of it, the doctor said: "We are at the bottom. 
 Turn it on! " 
 
 The attendant thereupon turned on the cock, and 
 soon the patient's stomach became visibly swollen, 
 having been filled up gradually with the warm water 
 of the spring. 
 
 "Cough," said the physician, "cough, in order to 
 facilitate the descent." 
 
 In place of coughing, the poor man had a rat- 
 tling in the throat, and shaken with convulsions, he 
 looked as if his eyes were going to jump out of his 
 head.
 
 MONT ORIOL l8l 
 
 Then suddenly a light gurgling could be heard on 
 the ground close to the armchair. The spout of the 
 tube with the two passages had at last begun to 
 work; and the stomach now emptied itself into this 
 glass receiver where the doctor searched eagerly for 
 the indications of catarrh and the recognizable traces 
 of imperfect digestion. 
 
 "You are not to eat any more green peas," said 
 he, "or salad. Oh! no salad! You cannot digest it 
 at all. No more strawberries either! 1 have already 
 repeated to you ten times, no strawberries!" 
 
 M. Riquier seemed raging with anger. He excited 
 himself now without being able to utter a word on 
 account of this tube, which stopped up his throat. 
 But when, the washing having been finished, the 
 doctor had delicately drawn out the probe from his 
 interior, he exclaimed: 
 
 "Is it my fault if I am eating every day filth that 
 ruins my health ? Isn't it you that should watch the 
 meals supplied by your hotel-keeper? I have come 
 to your new cook-shop because they used to poison 
 me at the old one with abominable food, and 1 am 
 worse than ever in your big barrack of a Mont Oriol 
 inn, upon my honor!" 
 
 The doctor had to appease him, and promised 
 over and over again to have the invalids' food at the 
 table d'hote submitted beforehand to his inspection. 
 Then, he took Paul Bretigny's arm again, and said as 
 he led him away: 
 
 "Here are the extremely rational principles on 
 which 1 have established my special treatment by the 
 self-moving gymnastics, which we are going to in- 
 spect. You know my system of organometric medi-
 
 l82 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 cine, don't you ? I maintain that a great portion of 
 our maladies entirely proceed from the excessive de- 
 velopment of some one organ which encroaches on a 
 neighboring organ, impedes its functions, and, in a 
 little while, destroys the general harmony of the 
 body, whence arise the most serious disturbances. 
 
 "Now, the exercise is, along with the shower- 
 bath and the thermal treatment, one of the most pow- 
 erful means of restoring the equilibrium and bringing 
 back the encroaching parts to their normal propor- 
 tions. 
 
 "But how are we to determine the man to make 
 the exercise ? There is not merely the act of walk- 
 ing, of mounting on horseback, of swimming or 
 rowing — a considerable physical effort. There is also 
 and above all a moral effort. It is the mind which 
 determines, draws along, and sustains the body. 
 The men of energy are men of movement. Now 
 energy is in the soul and not in the muscles. The 
 body obeys the vigorous will. 
 
 "It is not necessary to think, my dear friend, of 
 giving courage to the cowardly or resolution to the 
 weak. But we can do something else, we can do 
 more — we can suppress mental energy, suppress 
 moral effort and leave only physical subsisting. This 
 moral effort, I replace with advantage by a foreign 
 and purely mechanical force. Do you understand ? 
 No, not very well. Let us go in." 
 
 He opened a door leading into a large apartment, 
 in which were ranged fantastic looking instruments, 
 big armchairs with wooden legs, horses made of 
 rough deal, articulated boards, and movable bars 
 stretched in front of chairs fixed in the ground. And
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 183 
 
 all these objects were connected with compHcated 
 machinery, which was set in motion by turning 
 handles. 
 
 The doctor went on: "Look here. We have 
 four principal kinds of exercise. These are walking, 
 equitation, swimming, and rowing. Each of these 
 exercises develops different members, acts in a special 
 fashion. Now, we have them here — the entire four 
 — produced by artificial means. All you have to do 
 is to let yourself act, while thinking of nothing, and 
 you can run, mount on horseback, swim, or row for 
 an hour, without the mind taking any part — the 
 slightest part in the world — in this entirely muscular 
 work." 
 
 At that moment, M. Aubry-Pasteur entered, fol- 
 lowed by a man whose tucked-up sleeves displayed 
 the vigorous biceps on each arm. The engineer was 
 as fat as ever. He was walking with his legs spread 
 wide apart and his arms held out from his body, 
 while he panted for breath. 
 
 The doctor said: "You will understand by look- 
 ing on at it yourself," 
 
 And addressing his patient: "Well, my dear Mon- 
 sieur, what are we going to do to-day.? Walking or 
 equitation ?" 
 
 M, Aubry-Pasteur, who pressed Paul's hand, re- 
 plied: "I would like a little walking seated; that 
 fatigues me less." 
 
 M. Latonne continued: "We have, in fact, walk- 
 ing seated and walking erect. Walking erect, while 
 more efficacious, is rather painful. 1 procure it by 
 means of pedals on which you mount and which set 
 your legs in motion while you maintain your equilib-
 
 184 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 rium by clinging to rings fastened to the wall. But 
 here is an example of walking while seated." 
 
 The engineer had fallen back into a rocking arm- 
 chair, and he placed his legs in the wooden legs 
 with movable joints attached to this seat. His thighs, 
 calves, and ankles were strapped down in such a 
 way that he was unable to make any voluntary 
 movement; then, the man with the tucked-up sleeves, 
 seizing the handle, turned it round with all his 
 strength. The armchair, at first, swayed to and fro 
 like a hammock; then, suddenly, the patient's legs 
 went out, stretching forward and bending back, ad- 
 vancing and returning, with extreme speed. 
 
 "He is running," said the doctor, who then gave 
 the order: "Quietly! Go at a walking pace." 
 
 The man, turning the handle more slowly, caused 
 the fat engineer to do the sitting walk in a more 
 moderate fashion, which ludicrously distorted all the 
 movements of his body. 
 
 Two other patients next made their appearance, 
 both of them enormous, and followed also by two 
 attendants with naked arms. 
 
 They were hoisted upon wooden horses, which, 
 set in motion, began immediately to jump along 
 the room, shaking their riders in an abominable man- 
 ner. 
 
 "Gallop!" cried the doctor. And the artificial 
 animals, rushing like waves and capsizing like ships, 
 fatigued the two patients so much that they began 
 to scream out together in a panting and pitiful 
 tone: 
 
 "Enough! enough! I can't stand it any longer! 
 Enough!"
 
 MONT ORIOL 185 
 
 The physician said in a tone of command: "Stop!" 
 He then added: "Take breath for a httle while. You 
 will go on again in five minutes." 
 
 Paul Bretigny, who was choking with suppressed 
 laughter, drew attention to the fact that the riders were 
 not warm, while the handle-turners were perspiring. 
 
 "If you inverted the roles," said he, "would it 
 not be better?" 
 
 The doctor gravely replied: "Oh! not at all, my 
 dear friend. We must not confound exercise and 
 fatigue. The movement of the man who is turning 
 the wheel is injurious, while the movement of the 
 walker or the rider is beneficial." 
 
 But Paul noticed a lady's saddle. 
 
 "Yes," said the physician; "the evening is re- 
 served for the other sex. The men are no longer 
 admitted after twelve o'clock. Come, then, and look 
 at the dry swimming." 
 
 A system of movable little boards screwed to- 
 gether at their ends and at their centers, stretched 
 out in lozenge-shape or closing into squares, like that 
 children's game which carries along soldiers who are 
 spurred on, permitted three swimmers to be garroted 
 and mangled at the same time. 
 
 The doctor said: "I need not extol to you the 
 benefits of dry swimming, which does not moisten 
 the body except by perspiration, and consequently 
 does not expose our imaginary bather to any danger 
 of rheumatism." 
 
 But a waiter, with a card in his hand, came to 
 look for the doctor. 
 
 "The Due de Ramas, my dear friend. 1 must 
 leave you. Excuse me."
 
 l86 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 Paul, left there alone, turned round. The two 
 cavaliers were trotting afresh. M. Aubry-Pasteur 
 was walking still; and the three natives of Auvergne, 
 with their arms all but broken and their backs crack- 
 ing with thus shaking the patients on whom they 
 were operating, were quite out of breath. They 
 looked as if they were grinding coffee. 
 
 When he had reached the open air, Bretigny saw 
 Doctor Honorat watching, along with his wife, the 
 preparations for the fete. They began to chat, gazing 
 at the flags which crowned the hill with a kind of 
 halo. 
 
 "Is it at the church the procession is to be 
 formed?" the physician asked his wife. 
 
 "It is at the church." 
 
 "At three o'clock ?" 
 
 "At three o'clock." 
 
 "The professors will be there?" 
 
 "Yes, they will accompany the lady-sponsors." 
 
 The next persons to stop were the ladies Paille. 
 Then, came the Monecus, father and daughter. But 
 as he was going to breakfast alone with his friend 
 Gontran at the Casino Cafe, he slowly made his way 
 up to it. Paul, who had arrived the night before, 
 had not had an interview with his comrade for the 
 past month; and he was longing to tell him many 
 boulevard stories — stories about gay women and 
 houses of pleasure. 
 
 They remained chattering away till half past two 
 when Petrus Martel came to inform them that people 
 were on their way to the church. 
 
 "Let us go and look for Christiane," said Gon' 
 Iran.
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 187 
 
 " Let us go," returned Paul. 
 
 They found her standing on the steps of the new 
 hotel. She had the hollow cheeks and the swarthy 
 complexion of pregnant women; and her figure indi- 
 cated a near accouchement. 
 
 "I was waiting for you," she said. "William is 
 gone on before us. He has so many things to do 
 to-day." 
 
 She cast toward Paul Bretigny a glance full of 
 tenderness, and took his arm. They went quietly on 
 their way, avoiding the stones. 
 
 She kept repeating: "How heavy I am! How 
 heavy 1 am! I am no longer able to walk. I am so 
 much afraid of falling!" 
 
 He did not reply, and carefully held her up, with- 
 out seeking to meet her eyes which she turned 
 toward him incessantly. 
 
 In front of the church, a dense crowd was await- 
 ing them. 
 
 Andermatt cried: "At last! at last! Come, make 
 haste. See, this is the order: two choir-boys, two 
 chanters in surplices, the cross, the holy water, the 
 priest, then Christiane with Professor Cloche, Mad- 
 emoiselle Louise with Professor Remusot, and Mad- 
 emoiselle Charlotte with Professor Mas-Roussel. Next 
 come the members of the Board, the medical body, 
 then the public. This is understood. Forward!" 
 
 The ecclesiastical staff thereupon left the church, 
 taking their places at the head of the procession. 
 Then a tall gentleman with white hair brushed back 
 over his ears, the typical "scientist," in accordance 
 with the academic form, approached Madame Ander- 
 matt, and saluted her with a low bow.
 
 l88 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 When he had straightened himself up again, with 
 his head uncovered, in order to display his beautiful, 
 scientific head, and his hat resting on his thigh with 
 an imposing air as if he had learned to walk at the 
 Comedie Franfaise, and to show the people his rosette 
 of officer of the Legion of Honor, too big for a 
 modest man. 
 
 He began to talk: "Your husband, Madame, has 
 been speaking to me about you just now, and about 
 your condition which gives rise to some affectionate 
 disquietude. He has told me about your doubts and 
 your hesitations as to the probable moment of your 
 delivery." 
 
 She reddened to the temples, and she murmured: 
 "Yes, I believed that I would be a mother a very 
 long time before the event. Now 1 can't tell either — 
 I can't tell either—" 
 
 She faltered in a state of utter confusion. 
 
 A voice from behind them said: "This station has 
 a very great future before it. 1 have already obtained 
 surprising effects." 
 
 It was Professor Remusot addressing his com- 
 panion, Louise Oriol. This gentleman was small, 
 with yellow, unkempt hair, and a frock-coat badly 
 cut, the dirty look of a slovenly savant. 
 
 Professor Mas-Roussel, who gave his arm to 
 Charlotte Oriol, was a handsome physician, without 
 beard or mustache, smiling, well-groomed, hardly 
 turning gray as yet, a little fleshy, and, with his 
 smooth, clean-shaven face, resembling neither a 
 priest nor an actor, as was the case with Doctor 
 Latonne. 
 
 Next came the members of the Board, with Ander-
 
 MONTORIOL 189 
 
 matt at their head, and the tall hats of old Oriol and 
 his son towering above them. 
 
 Behind them came another row of tall hats, the 
 medical body of Enval, among whom Doctor Bonne- 
 fille was not included, his place, indeed, being taken 
 by two new physicians. Doctor Black, a very short old 
 man almost a dwarf, whose excessive piety had sur- 
 prised the whole district since the day of his arrival; 
 then a very good-looking young fellow, very much 
 given to flirtation, and wearing a small hat, Doctor 
 Mazelli, an Italian attached to the person of the Due de 
 Ramas — others said, to the person of the Duchesse. 
 
 And behind them could be seen the public, a flood 
 of people — bathers, peasants, and inhabitants of the 
 adjoining towns. 
 
 The ceremony of blessing the springs was very 
 short. The Abbe Litre sprinkled them one after the 
 other with holy water, which made Doctor Honorat 
 say that he was going to give them new properties 
 with chloride of sodium. Then all the persons spe- 
 cially invited entered the large reading-room, where a 
 collation had been served. 
 
 Paul said to Gontran: "How pretty the little Orlol 
 girls have become!" 
 
 "They are charming, my dear fellow." 
 
 "You have not seen M. le President?" suddenly 
 inquired the ex-jailer overseer. 
 
 "Yes, he is over there, in the corner." 
 
 " Pere Clovis is gathering a big crowd in front of 
 the door." 
 
 Already, while moving in the direction of the 
 springs for the purpose of having them blessed, the 
 entire procession had filed off in front of the old in-
 
 190 
 
 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 valid, cured the year before, and now again more 
 paralyzed than ever. He would stop the visitors on 
 the road and the last-comers as a matter of choice, 
 in order to tell them his story: 
 
 "These waters here, you see, are no good — they 
 cure, 'tis true, but you relapse again afterward, and 
 after this relapse you're half a corpse. As for me, 
 my legs were better before, and here I am now with 
 my arms gone in consequence of the cure. And my 
 legs, they're iron, but iron that you have to cut be- 
 fore it bends." 
 
 Andermatt, filled with vexation, had tried to pros- 
 ecute him in a court of justice and to get him sent 
 to jail for having depreciated the waters of Mont 
 Oriol and having attempted extortion. But he had 
 not succeeded in obtaining a conviction or in shut- 
 ting the old fellow's mouth. 
 
 The moment he was informed that the old vaga- 
 bond was babbling before the door of the establish- 
 ment, he rushed out to make Clovis keep silent. 
 
 At the side of the highroad, in the center of an 
 excited crowd, he heard angry voices. People pressed 
 forward to listen and to see. Some ladies asked: 
 "What is this?" Some men replied: '"Tis an in- 
 valid, whom the waters here have finished." Others 
 believed that an infant had just been squashed. It 
 was also said that a poor woman had got an attack 
 of epilepsy. 
 
 Andermatt broke through the crowd, as he knew 
 how to do, by violently pushing his little round stom- 
 ach between the stomachs of other people. "It 
 proves," Gontran remarked, "the superiority of balls 
 to points."
 
 MONT ORIOL I^I 
 
 Pere Clovis, sitting on the ditch, whined about 
 his pains, recounted his sufferings in a sniveling tone, 
 while standing in front of him, and separating him 
 from the public, the Oriols, father and son, exasper- 
 ated, were hurling insults and threats at him as 
 loudly as ever they could. 
 
 "That's not true," cried Colosse. "This fellow is 
 a liar, a sham, a poacher, who runs all night through 
 the wood." 
 
 But the old fellow, without getting excited, kept 
 reiterating in a high, piercing voice which was heard 
 above the vociferations of the two Oriols: "They've 
 killed me, my good monchieus, they've killed me 
 with their water. They bathed me in it by force last 
 year. And here 1 am at this moment — here I am!" 
 
 Andermatt imposed silence on all, and stooping 
 toward the impotent man, said to him, looking into 
 the depths of his eyes: " If you are worse, it is your 
 own fault, mind. If you listen to me, 1 undertake to 
 cure you, I do, with fifteen or twenty baths at most. 
 Come and look me up at the establishment in an 
 hour, when the people have all gone away, my good 
 father. In the meantime, hold your tongue." 
 
 The old fellow had understood. He became silent, 
 then, after a pause, he answered: "I'm always will- 
 ing to give it a fair trial. You'll see." 
 
 Andermatt caught the two Oriols by the arms and 
 quickly dragged them away; while Pere Clovis re- 
 mained stretched on the grass between his crutches, 
 at the side of the road, blinking his eyes under the 
 rays of the sun. 
 
 The puzzled crowd kept pressing round him. 
 Some gentlemen questioned him, but he did not
 
 192 
 
 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 reply, as though he had not heard or understood; 
 and as this curiosity, futile just now, ended by fatigu- 
 ing him, he began to sing, bareheaded, in a voice 
 as false as it was shrill, an interminable ditty in an 
 unintelligible dialect. 
 
 The crowd ebbed away gradually. Only a few 
 children remained standing a long time in front of him, 
 with their fingers in their noses, contemplating him, 
 
 Christiane, exceedingly tired, had gone in to take 
 a rest. Paul and Gontran walked about through the 
 new park in the midst of the visitors. Suddenly 
 they saw the company of players, who had also de- 
 serted the old Casino, to attach themselves to the 
 growing fortunes of the new. 
 
 Mademoiselle Odelin, who had become quite 
 fashionable, was leaning as she walked on the arm 
 of her mother, who had assumed an air of impor- 
 tance. M. Petitnivelle, of the Vaudeville, appeared 
 very attentive to these ladies, who followed M. La- 
 palme of the Grand Theater of Bordeaux, arguing 
 with the musicians just ai of old, the maestro Saint 
 Landri, the pianist Javel, the flautist Noirot, and the 
 double-bass Nicordi. 
 
 On perceiving Paul and Gontran, Saint Landri 
 rushed toward them. He had, during the winter, 
 got a very small musical composition performed in a 
 very small out-of-the-way theater; but the newspapers 
 had spoken of him with a certain favor, and he now 
 treated Massenet, Beyer, and Gounod contemptuously. 
 
 He stretched forth both hands with an outburst of 
 friendly regard, and immediately proceeded to repeat 
 what he had been saying to those gentlemen of the 
 orchestra over whom he was the conductor.
 
 MONT ORIOL IC)3 
 
 "Yes, my dear friend, it is finished, finished, 
 finished, the hackneyed style of the old school. The 
 melodists have had their day. This is what people 
 cannot understand. Music is a new art, melody is 
 its first lisping. The ignorant ear loves the burden of 
 a song. It takes a child's pleasure, a savage's pleas- 
 ure in it. I may add that the ears of the people or 
 of the ingenuous public, the simple ears, will always 
 love little songs, airs, in a word. It is an amusement 
 similar to that in which the frequenters of cafe con- 
 certs indulge. I am going to make use of a com- 
 parison in order to make myself understood. The 
 eye of the rustic loves crude colors and glaring pic- 
 tures; the eye of the intelligent representative of the 
 middle class who is not artistic loves shades benevo- 
 lently pretentious and affecting subjects; but the artistic 
 eye, the refined eye, loves, understands, and distin- 
 guishes the imperceptible modulations of a single tone, 
 the mysterious harmonies of light touches invisible to 
 most people. 
 
 "It is the same with literature. Doorkeepers like 
 romances of adventure, the middle class like novels 
 which appeal to the feelings; while the real lovers of 
 literature care only for the artistic books which are 
 incomprehensible to the others. When an ordinary ' 
 citizen talks music to me 1 feel a longing to kill him. 
 And when it is at the opera, 1 ask him: 'Are you 
 capable of telling me whether the third violin has made 
 a false note in the overture of the third act.^ No. 
 Then be silent. You have no ear. The man who does 
 not understand, at the same time, the whole and all 
 the instruments separately in an orchestra has no ear, 
 and is no musician. There you are! Good night!'" 
 
 8 G.<leM.— 13
 
 194 
 
 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 He turned round on his heel, and resumed: "For 
 an artist all music is in a chord. Ah! my friend, 
 certain chords madden me, cause a flood of inex- 
 pressible happiness to penetrate ail my flesh. I have 
 to-day an ear so well exercised, so finished, so ma- 
 tured, that I end by liking even certain false chords, 
 just like a virtuoso whose fully-developed taste 
 amounts to a form of depravity. I am beginning to 
 be a vitiated person who seeks for extreme sensa- 
 tions of hearing. Yes, my friends, certain false notes. 
 What delights! What perverse and profound de- 
 lights! How this moves, how it shakes the nerves! 
 how it scratches the ear — how it scratches! how it 
 scratches! " 
 
 He rubbed his hands together rapturously, and he 
 hummed: "You shall hear my opera — my opera — 
 my opera. You shall hear my opera." 
 
 Gontran said: "You are composing an opera?" 
 
 "Yes, I have finished it." But the commanding 
 voice of Petrus Martel resounded: 
 
 "You understand perfectly! A yellow rocket, and 
 off you go!" 
 
 He was giving orders for the fireworks. They 
 joined him, and he explained his arrangements by 
 showing with his outstretched arm, as if he were 
 threatening a hostile fleet, stakes of white wood on 
 the mountain above the gorge, on the opposite side 
 of the valley. 
 
 "It is over there that they are to be shot out. I 
 told my pyrotechnist to be at his post at half past 
 eight. The very moment the spectacle is over, I will 
 give the signal from here by a yellow rocket, and 
 then he will illuminate the opening piece."
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 195 
 
 The Marquis made his appearance: "I am going 
 to drink a glass of water," he said. 
 
 Paul and Gontran accompanied him, and again 
 descended the hill. On reaching the establishment, 
 they saw Pere Clovis, who had got there, sustained 
 by the two Oriols, followed by Andermatt and by 
 the doctor, and making, every time he trailed his 
 legs on the ground, contortions suggestive of ex- 
 treme pain. 
 
 "Let us go in," said Gontran, "this will be funny." 
 
 The paralytic was placed sitting in an armchair. 
 Then Andermatt said to him: "Here is what I pro- 
 pose, old cheat that you are. You are going to be 
 cured immediately by taking two baths a day. And 
 the moment you walk you'll have two hundred 
 francs." 
 
 The paralytic began to groan: "My legs, they are 
 iron, my good Monchieu!" 
 
 Andermatt made him hold his tongue, and went 
 on: "Now, listen! You shall again have two hun- 
 dred francs every year up to the time of your death 
 
 — you understand — up to the time of your death, 
 if you continue to experience the salutary effect of 
 our waters." 
 
 The old fellow was in a state of perplexity. The 
 continuous cure was opposed to his plan of action. 
 He asked in a hesitating tone: "But when — when 
 it is closed up — -this box of yours — if this should 
 take hold of me again — 1 can do nothing then — I 
 
 — seeing that it will be shut up — your water — " 
 
 Doctor Latonne interrupted him, and, turning to- 
 ward Andermatt, said: "Excellent! excellent! We'll 
 cure him every year. This will be even better, and
 
 196 
 
 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 will show the necessity of annual treatment, the in- 
 dispensability of returning hither. Excellent — this is 
 perfectly clear! " 
 
 But the old man repeated afresh: "It will not 
 suit this time, my good Monchieu. My legs, they're 
 iron, iron in bars." 
 
 A new idea sprang up in the doctor's mind: "If 
 I got him to try a course of seated walking," he said, 
 "I might hasten the effect of the waters considerably. 
 It is an experiment worth trying." 
 
 "Excellent idea," returned Andermatt, adding: 
 "Now, Pere Clovis, take yourself off, and don't for- 
 get our agreement." 
 
 The old fellow went away still groaning; and, 
 when evening came on, all the directors of Mont 
 Oriol came back to dine, for the theatrical representa- 
 tion was announced to take place at half past seven. 
 
 The great hall of the new Casino was the place 
 where they were to dine. It was capable of holding 
 a thousand persons. 
 
 At seven o'clock the visitors who had not num- 
 bered seats presented themselves. At half past seven 
 the hall was filled, and the curtain was raised for the 
 performance of a vaudeville in two acts, which pre- 
 ceded Saint Landri's operetta, interpreted by vocalists 
 from Vichy, who had given their services for the oc- 
 casion. 
 
 Christiane in the front row, between her brother 
 and her husband, suffered a great deal from the heat. 
 Every moment she repeated: "I feel quite exhausted! 
 I feel quite exhausted!" 
 
 After the vaudeville, as the operetta was opening, 
 she was becoming ill, and turning round to her hus-
 
 MONTORIOL 197 
 
 band, said: "My dear Will, I shall have to leave. I 
 am suffocating! " 
 
 The banker was annoyed. He was desirous above 
 everything in the world that this fete should be a 
 success, from start to finish, without a single hitch. 
 He replied: 
 
 "Make every effort to hold out. I beg of you to 
 do so! Your departure would upset everything. You 
 would have to pass through the entire hall!" 
 
 But Gontran, who was sitting along with Paul 
 behind her, had overheard. He leaned toward his 
 sister: "You are too warm?" said he. 
 
 "Yes, I am suffocating." 
 
 "Good. Stay! You are going to have a laugh." 
 
 There was a window near. He slipped toward 
 it, got upon a chair, and jumped out without at- 
 tracting hardly any notice. Then he entered the cafi, 
 which was perfectly empty, stretched his hand out 
 under the bar where he had seen Petrus Martel con- 
 ceal the signal-rocket, and, having filched it, he ran 
 off to hide himself under a group of trees, and then 
 set it on fire. The swift yellow sheaf flew up toward 
 the clouds, describing a curve, and casting across the 
 sky a long shower of flame-drops. Almost instan- 
 taneously a terrible detonation burst forth over the 
 neighboring mountain, and a cluster of stars sent fly- 
 ing sparks through the darkness of the night. 
 
 Somebody exclaimed in the hall where the spec- 
 tators were gathered, and where at the moment 
 Saint Landri's chords were quivering: "They're letting 
 off the fireworks!" 
 
 The spectators who were nearest to the door ab- 
 ruptly rose to their feet to make sure about it, and
 
 198 
 
 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 went out with light steps. All the rest turned their 
 eyes toward the windows, but saw nothing, for they 
 were looking at the Limagne. People kept asking: 
 "Is it true? Is it true?" 
 
 The impatient assembly got excited, hungering 
 above everything for simple amusements. A voice 
 from outside announced: "It is true! The fireworks 
 are let off!" 
 
 Then, in a second everyone in the hall was stand- 
 ing up. They rushed toward the door; they jostled 
 against each other; they yelled at those who ob- 
 structed their egress: "Hurry on! hurry on!" 
 
 The entire audience, in a short time, had emerged 
 into the park. Saint Landri alone, in a state of ex- 
 asperation continued beating time in front of his dis- 
 tracted orchestra. Meanwhile, fiery suns succeeded 
 Roman candles in the midst of detonations 
 
 Suddenly, a formidable voice sent forth thrice this 
 wild exclamation: "Stop, in God's name! Stop, in 
 God's name! Stop, in God's name!" 
 
 And, as an immense Bengal fire next illuminated 
 the mountain and lighted up in red to the right and 
 blue to the left, the enormous rocks and trees, Petrus 
 Martel could be seen standing on one of the vases of 
 imitation marble that decorated the terrace of the 
 Casino, bareheaded, with his arms in the air, ges- 
 ticulating and howling. 
 
 Then, the great illumination being extinguished, 
 nothing could be seen any longer save the real stars. 
 But immediately another rocket shot up, and Petrus 
 Martel, jumping on the ground, exclaimed: "What a 
 disaster! what a disaster! My God, what a disas- 
 ter!"
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 199 
 
 And he passed through the crowd with tragic ges- 
 iLnes, with blows of his fist in the empty air, furious 
 stampings of his feet, always repeating: "What a 
 disaster! My God, what a disaster!" 
 
 Christiane had taken Paul's arm to get a seat in the 
 open air, and kept looking with delight at the rockets 
 which ascended into the sky. 
 
 Her brother came up to her suddenly, and said: 
 "Hey, is it a success? Do you think it is funny?" 
 
 She murmured: "What, it is you?" 
 
 "Why, yes, it is I. Is it good, hey?" 
 
 She began to laugh, finding it really amusing. 
 But Andermatt arrived in a state of great mental dis- 
 tress. He did not understand how such a blow could 
 have come. The rocket had been stolen from the 
 bar to give the signal agreed upon. Such an infamy 
 could only have been perpetrated by some emissary 
 of the old Company, some agent of Doctor Bonnefille! 
 
 And he repeated: "'Tis maddening, positively 
 maddening. Here are fireworks worth two thousand 
 three hundred francs destroyed, entirely destroyed!" 
 
 Gontran replied: "No, my dear fellow, on a proper 
 calculation, the loss does not mount up to more than 
 a quarter; let us put it at a third, if you like; say 
 seven hundred and sixty-six francs. Your guests 
 will, therefore, have enjoyed fifteen hundred and 
 thirty-four francs' worth of rockets. This truly is not 
 bad." 
 
 The banker's anger turned against his brother-in- 
 law. He caught him roughly by the arm: "Gon- 
 tran, I want to talk seriously to you. Since I have a 
 hold of you, let us take a turn in the walks. Be- 
 sides, I have five minutes to spare."
 
 200 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 Then, turning toward Christiane: "I place you in 
 charge of our friend Bretigny, my dear; but don't re- 
 main a long time out — take care of yourself. You 
 might catch cold, you know. Be careful! ^e care- 
 ful!" 
 
 She murmured: "Never fear, dear." 
 
 So Andermatt carried off Gontran. When they 
 were alone, at a little distance from the crowd, the 
 banker stopped: "My dear fellow, 'tis about your 
 financial position that I want to talk." 
 
 "About my financial position?" 
 
 "Yes, you know it well, your financial posi- 
 tion." 
 
 "No. But you ought to know it for me, since 
 you lent money to me." 
 
 "Well, yes, I do know it, and 'tis for that reason 
 I want to talk to you." 
 
 "It seems to me, to say the least of it, that the 
 moment is ill chosen — in the midst of a display of 
 fireworks!" 
 
 "The moment, on the contrary, is very well 
 chosen. 1 am not talking to you in the midst of a dis- 
 play of fireworks, but before a ball." 
 
 "Before a ball? 1 don't understand." 
 
 "Well, you are going to understand. Here is 
 your position: you have nothing except debts; and 
 you'll never have anything but debts." 
 
 Gontran gravely replied: "You tell me that a little 
 bluntly." 
 
 "Yes, because it is necessary. Listen to me! 
 You have eaten up the share which came to you as 
 a fortune from your mother. Let us say no more 
 about that."
 
 MONTORIOL 20\ 
 
 "Let US say no more about it." 
 
 "As for your father, he possesses a yearly income 
 of thirty thousand francs, say, a capital of about 
 eight hundred thousand francs. Your share, later on, 
 will, therefore, be four hundred thousand francs. 
 Now you owe me — me, personally — one hundred and 
 ninety thousand francs. You owe money besides to 
 usurers." 
 
 Gontran muttered in a haughty tone: "Say, to 
 Jews." 
 
 "Be it so, to Jews, although among the number 
 there is a churchwarden from Saint Sulpice who made 
 use of a priest as an intermediary between himself 
 and you — but I will not cavil about such trifles. You 
 owe, then, to various usurers, Israelites or Catholics, 
 nearly as much. Let us put it at a hundred and fifty 
 thousand at the lowest estimate. This makes a total 
 of three hundred and forty thousand francs, on which 
 you are paying interest, always borrowing, except 
 with regard to mine, which you do not pay." 
 
 "That's right," said Gontran. 
 
 "So then, you have nothing more left." 
 
 "Nothing, indeed — except my brother-in-law." 
 
 "Except your brother-in-law, who has had enough 
 of lending money to you." 
 
 "What then?" 
 
 "What then, my dear fellow? The poorest peas- 
 ant living in one of these huts is richer than you." 
 
 "Exactly — and next?" 
 
 "Next — next — ? If your father were to die to- 
 morrow, you would no longer have any resource to 
 get bread — to get bread, mind you — except to take 
 a post as a clerk in my house. And this again would
 
 202 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 only be a means of disguising the pension which I 
 should be allowing you." 
 
 Gontran, in a tone of irritation, said: "My dear 
 William, these things bore me. 1 know them, be- 
 sides, just as well as you do, and, 1 repeat, the 
 moment is ill chosen to remind me about them — 
 with — with so little diplomacy." 
 
 " Allow me, let me finish. You can only extricate 
 yourself from it by a marriage. Now, you are a 
 wretched match, in spite of your name, which sounds 
 well without being illustrious. In short, it is not 
 one of those which an heiress, even a Jewish one, 
 buys with a fortune. Therefore, we must find you a 
 wife acceptable and rich — which is not very easy — " 
 
 Gontran interrupted him: "Give her name at once 
 — that is the best way." 
 
 "Be it so — one of Pere Oriol's daughters, which- 
 ever you prefer. And this is why I wanted to talk 
 to you before the ball." 
 
 "And now explain yourself at greate" length," 
 returned Gontran, coldly. 
 
 "It is very simple. You see the success I have 
 obtained at the start with this station. Now if 
 I had in my hands, or rather if we had in our hands 
 all the land which this cunning peasant has kept for 
 himself, I could turn it into gold. To speak only of 
 the vineyards which lie between the establishment 
 and the hotel and between the hotel and the Casino, 
 I would pay a million francs for them to-morrow — 1, 
 Andcrmatt. Now, these vineyards and others all 
 round the knoll will be the dowries of these girls. 
 The father told me so again a short time since, not 
 without an object, perhaps. Well, if you were will-
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 ^3 
 
 ing, we could do a big stroke of business there, the 
 two of us." 
 
 Gontran muttered, with a thoughtful air: "Tis 
 possible. I'll think over it." 
 
 "Do think over it, my dear boy, and don't forget 
 that I never speak of things that are not very sure, or 
 without having given matters every consideration, 
 and realized all the possible consequences and all the 
 decided advantages." 
 
 But Gontran, lifting up his arm, as if he had sud- 
 denly forgotten all that his brother-in-law had been 
 saying to him: "Look! How beautiful that is!" 
 
 The bunch of rockets flamed up, in imitation of a 
 burning palace on which a blazing flag had inscribed 
 on it "Mont Oriol" in letters of fire perfectly red 
 and, right opposite to it, above the plain, the moon, 
 red also, seemed to have come out to contemplate 
 this spectacle. Then, when the palace, after it had 
 been burning for some minutes, exploded like a ship 
 which is blown up, flinging toward the wide heavens 
 fantastic stars which burst in their turn, the moon 
 remained all alone, calm and round, on the horizon. 
 
 The public applauded wildly, exclaiming: " Hurrah! 
 Bravo! bravo! " 
 
 Andermatt, all of a sudden, said: "Let us go 
 and open the ball, my dear boy. Are you willing to 
 dance the first quadrille face to face with me?" 
 
 "Why, certainly, my dear brother-in-law." 
 
 "Who have you thought of asking to dance with 
 you ? As for me, 1 have bespoken the Duchesse de 
 Ram as." 
 
 Gontran answered in a tone of indifference: "I 
 will ask Charlotte Oriol."
 
 204 
 
 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 They reascended. As they passed in front of the 
 spot where Christiane was resting with Paul Bre- 
 tigny, they did not notice the pair. WilHam mur- 
 mured: "She has followed my advice. She went 
 home to go to bed. She was quite tired out to-day." 
 And he advanced toward the ballroom which the 
 attendants had been getting ready during the fire- 
 works. 
 
 But Christiane had not returned to her room, as 
 her husband supposed. As soon as she realized that 
 she was alone with Paul she said to him in a very 
 low tone, while she pressed his hand: 
 
 "So then you came. I was waiting for you for 
 the past month. Every morning I kept asking my- 
 self, ' Shall I see him to-day ? ' and every night I 
 kept saying to myself, 'It will be to-morrow then.' 
 Why have you delayed so long, my love?" 
 
 He replied with some embarrassment: "I had 
 matters to engage my attention — business." 
 
 She leaned toward him, murmuring: "It was not 
 right to leave me here alone with them, especially in 
 my state." 
 
 He moved his chair a little away from her. 
 
 "Be careful! We might be seen. These rockets 
 light up the whole country around." 
 
 She scarcely bestowed a thought on it; she said: 
 "I love you so much!" Then, with sudden starts of 
 joy: "Ah! how happy I feel, how happy 1 feel at 
 finding that we are once more together, here! Are 
 you thinking about it? What joy, Paul! How we 
 are going to love one another again!" 
 
 She sighed, and her voice was so weak that it 
 seemed a mere breath.
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 205 
 
 "I feel a foolish longing to embrace you, but it is 
 foolish — there! — foolish. It is such a long time 
 since I saw you! " 
 
 Then, suddenly, with the fierce energy of an 
 impassioned woman, to whom everything should 
 give way: "Listen! 1 want — you understand — I 
 want to go with you immediately to the place where 
 we said adieu to one another last year! You remem- 
 ber well, on the road from La Roche Pradiere?" 
 
 He replied, stupefied: "But this is senseless! 
 You cannot walk farther. You have been standing 
 all day. This is senseless; I will not allow it." 
 
 She had risen to her feet, and she said: "I am 
 determined on it! If you do not accompany me, I'll 
 go alone !" 
 
 And pointing out to him the moon which had 
 risen: "See here! It was an evening just like this I 
 Do you remember how you kissed my shadow?" 
 
 He held her back: " Christiane — listen — this is 
 ridiculous — Christiane ! " 
 
 She did not reply, and walked toward the descent 
 leading to the vineyards. He knew that calm will 
 which nothing could divert from its purpose, the 
 graceful obstinacy of these blue eyes, of that little 
 forehead of a fair woman that could not be stopped; 
 and he took her arm to sustain her on her way. 
 
 "Supposing we are seen, Christiane?" 
 
 "You did not say that to me last year. And then, 
 everyone is at the fete. We'll be back before our 
 absence can be noticed." 
 
 It was soon necessary to ascend by the stony 
 path. She panted, leaning with her whole weight on 
 him, and at every step she said:
 
 2o6 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 "It is good, it is good, to suffer thus!" 
 
 He stopped, wishing to bring her back. But she 
 would not listen to him. 
 
 " No, no. 1 am happy. You don't understand 
 this, you. Listen! 1 feel it leaping in me — our child 
 — your child — what happiness. Give me your hand." 
 
 She did not realize that he — this man — was one 
 of the race of lovers who are not of the race of 
 fathers. Since he discovered that she was pregnant, 
 he kept away from her, and was disgusted with her, 
 in spite of himself. He had often in bygone days 
 said that a woman who has performed the function 
 of reproduction is no longer worthy of love. What 
 raised him to a high pitch of tenderness was that 
 soaring of two hearts toward an inaccessible ideal, 
 that entwining of two souls which are immaterial — 
 all those artificial and unreal elements which poets 
 have associated with this passion. In the physical 
 woman he adored the Venus whose sacred side must 
 always preserve the pure form of sterility. The idea of 
 a little creature which owed its birth to him, a human 
 larva stirring in that body defiled by it and already 
 grown ugly, inspired him with an almost unconquer- 
 able repugnance. Maternity had made this woman a 
 brute. She was no longer the exceptional being 
 adored and dreamed about, but the animal that re- 
 produces its species. And even a material disgust 
 was mingled in him with these loathings of his mind. 
 
 How could she have felt or divined this — she 
 whom each movement of the child she yearned for 
 attached the more closely to her lover? This man 
 whom she adored, whom she had every day loved a 
 little more since the moment of their first kiss, had
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 20fJ 
 
 not only penetrated to the bottom of her heart, but had 
 given her the proof that he had also entered into the 
 very depths of her flesh, that he had sown his own 
 life there, that he was going to come forth from her, 
 again becoming quite small. Yes, she carried him 
 there under her crossed hands, himself, her good, her 
 dear, her tenderly beloved one, springing up again in 
 her womb by the mystery of nature. And she loved 
 him doubly, now that she had him in two forms — 
 the big, and the little one as yet unknown, the one 
 whom she saw, touched, embraced, and could hear 
 speaking to her, and the one whom she could up to 
 this only feel stirring under her skin. They had by 
 this time reached the road. 
 
 "You were waiting for me over there that even- 
 ing," said she. And she held her lips out to him. 
 
 He kissed them, without replying, with a cold 
 kiss. 
 
 She murmured for the second time: "Do you re- 
 member how you embraced me on the ground. We 
 were like this — look!" 
 
 And in the hope that he would begin it all over 
 again she commenced running to get some distance 
 away from him. Then she stopped, out of breath, 
 and waited, standing in the middle of the road. But 
 the moon, which lengthened out her profile on the 
 ground, traced there the protuberance of her swollen 
 figure. And Paul, beholding at his feet the shadow 
 of her pregnancy, remained unmoved at sight of it, 
 wounded in his poetic sense with shame, exasperated 
 that she was not able to share his feelings or divine 
 his thoughts, that she had not sufficient coquetry, 
 tact, and feminine delicacy to understand all the shade"
 
 2o8 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 which give such a different complexion to circum- 
 stances; and he said to her with impatience in his 
 voice : 
 
 "Look here, Christiane! This child's play is ridicu- 
 lous." 
 
 She came back to him moved, saddened, with 
 outstretched arms, and, flinging herself on his breast: 
 
 "Ah! you love me less. 1 feel it! I am sure of it!" 
 
 He took pity on her, and, encircling her head with 
 his arms, he imprinted two long sweet kisses on 
 her eyes. 
 
 Then in silence they retraced their steps. He 
 could find nothing to say to her; and, as she leaned 
 on him, exhausted by fatigue, he quickened his pace 
 so that he might no longer feel against his side the 
 touch of this enlarged figure. When they were near 
 the hotel, they separated, and she went up to her 
 own apartment. 
 
 The orchestra at the Casino was playing dance- 
 music; and Paul went to look at the ball. It was a 
 waltz; and they were all waltzing — Doctor Latonne 
 with the younger Madame Paille, Andermatt with 
 Louise Oriol, handsome Doctor Mazelli with the 
 Duchesse de Ramas, and Gontran with Charlotte 
 Oriol. He was whispering in her ear in that tender 
 fashion which denotes a courtship begun; and she 
 was smiling behind her fan, blushing, and apparently 
 delighted. 
 
 Paul heard a voice saying behind him: "Look 
 here! look here at M. de Ravenel whispering gallant- 
 ries to my fair patient." 
 
 He added, after a pause: "And there is a pearl, 
 good, gay, simple, devoted, upright, you know, an
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 209. 
 
 excellent creature. She is worth ten of the elder 
 sister. 1 have known them since their childhood^ 
 these little girls. And yet the father prefers the elder 
 one, because she is more — more like him — more of 
 a peasant — less upright — more thrifty — more cunning 
 — and more — more jealous. Ah! she is a good girl, 
 all the same. 1 would not like to say anything bad 
 of her; but, in spite of myself, I compare them, you 
 understand — and, after having compared them, I 
 judge them — there you are!" 
 
 The waltz was coming to an end; Gontran went 
 to join his friend, and, perceiving the doctor: 
 
 "Ah! tell me now — there appears to me to be a 
 remarkable increase in the medical body at Enval. 
 We have a Doctor Mazelli who waltzes to perfection 
 and an old little Doctor Black who seems on very 
 good terms with Heaven." 
 
 But Doctor Honorat was discreet. He did not like- 
 to sit in judgment on his professional brethren. 
 
 SG.de M.— 14
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Gontran's Choice 
 
 ^HE burning question now was that 
 of tlie physicians at Enval. They 
 had suddenly made themselves the 
 masters of the district, and absorbed 
 all the attention and all the enthu- 
 siasm of the inhabitants. Formerly 
 the springs flowed under the author- 
 ity of Doctor Bonnefille alone, in the 
 midst of the harmless animosities of 
 restless Doctor Latonne and placid Doctor 
 Honorat. 
 Now, it was a very different thing. Since 
 the success planned during the winter by An- 
 dermatt had quite taken definite shape, thanks 
 to the powerful co-operation of Professors Cloche, 
 Mas-Roussel, and Remusot, who had each brought 
 there a contingent of two or three hundred patients 
 at least, Doctor Latonne, inspector of the new estab- 
 lishment, had become a big personage, specially pat- 
 ronized by Professor Mas-Roussel, whose pupil he had 
 been, and whose deportment and gestures he imitated. 
 Docter Bonnefille was scarcely ever talked about 
 
 (2IO)
 
 MONT ORIOL 311 
 
 any longer. Furious, exasperated, railing against 
 Mont Oriol, the old physician remained the whole 
 day in the old establishment with a few old patients 
 who had kept faithful to him. 
 
 In the minds of some invalids, indeed, he was the 
 only person that understood the true properties of the 
 waters; he possessed, so to speak, their secret, since 
 he had officially administered them from the time 
 the station was first established. 
 
 Doctor Honorat barely managed to retain his prac- 
 tice among the natives of Auvergne. With the mod- 
 erate income he derived from this source he contented 
 himself, keeping on good terms with everybody, and 
 consoled himself by much preferring cards and wine 
 to medicine. He did not, however, go quite so far 
 as to love his professional brethren. 
 
 Doctor Latonne would, therefore, have continued 
 to be the great soothsayer of Mont Oriol, if one 
 morning there had not appeared a very small man, 
 nearly a dwarf, whose big head sunk between his 
 shoulders, big round eyes, and big hands combined to 
 produce a very odd-looking individual. This new 
 physician, M. Black, introduced into the district by 
 Professor Remusot immediately excited attention by 
 his excessive devotion. Nearly every morning, be- 
 tween two visits, he went into a church for a few 
 minutes, and he received communion nearly every 
 Sunday. The cure soon got him some patients, old 
 maids, poor people whom he attended for nothing, 
 pious ladies who asked the advice of their spiritual 
 director before calling on a man of science, whose 
 sentiments, reserve, and professional modesty, they 
 wished to know before everything else.
 
 212 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 Then, one day, the arrival of the Princess de 
 Maldebourg, an old German Highness, was announced 
 — a very fervent Catholic, who on the very evening 
 when she first appeared in the district, sent for Doc- 
 tor Black on the recommendation of a Roman cardi- 
 nal. From that moment he was the fashion. It was 
 good taste, good form, the correct thing, to be at- 
 tended by him. He was the only doctor, it was 
 said, who was a perfect gentleman — the only one in 
 whom a woman could repose absolute confidence. 
 
 And from morning till evening this little man 
 with the bulldog's head, who always spoke in a 
 subdued tone in every corner with everybody, might 
 be seen rushing from one hotel to the other. He ap- 
 peared to have important secrets to confide or to 
 receive, for he could constantly be met holding long 
 mysterious conferences in the lobbies with the mas- 
 ters of the hotels, with his patients' chambermaids, 
 with anyone who was brought into contact with the 
 invalids. As soon as he saw any lady of his ac- 
 quaintance in the street, he went straight up to her 
 with his short, quick step, and immediately began to 
 mumble fresh and minute directions, after the fashion 
 of a priest at confession. 
 
 The old women especially adored him. He would 
 listen to their stories to the end without interrupting 
 them, took note of all their observations, all their 
 questions, and all their wishes. 
 
 He increased or diminished each day the propor- 
 tion of water to be consumed by his patients, which 
 made them feel perfect confidence in the care taken 
 of them by him. 
 
 "We stopped yesterday at two glasses and three-
 
 MONT ORIOL 213 
 
 quarters," he would say; "well, to-day we shall 
 only take two glasses and a half, and to-morrow 
 three glasses. Don't forget! To-morrow, three glasses. 
 1 am very, very particular about it!" 
 
 And all the patients were convinced that he was 
 very particular about it, indeed. 
 
 In order not to forget these figures and fractions 
 of figures, he wrote them down in a memorandum- 
 book, in order that he might never make a mistake. 
 For the patient does not pardon a mistake of a sin- 
 gle half-glass. He regulated and modified with equal 
 minuteness the duration of the daily baths in virtue 
 of principles known only to himself. 
 
 Doctor Latonne, jealous and exasperated, disdain- 
 fully shrugged his shoulders, and declared: "This is 
 a swindler!" His hatred against Doctor Black had 
 even led him occasionally to run down the mineral 
 waters. "Since we can scarcely tell how they act, 
 it is quite impossible to prescribe every day modifi- 
 cations of the dose, which any therapeutic law can- 
 not regulate. Proceedings of this kind do the 
 greatest injury to medicine." 
 
 Doctor Honorat contented himself with smiling. 
 He always took care to forget, five minutes after a 
 consultation, the number of glasses which he had 
 ordered. "Two more or less," said he to Gontran 
 in his hours of gaiety, "there is only the spring to 
 take notice of it; and yet this scarcely incommodes 
 it!" The only wicked pleasantry that he permitted 
 himself on his religious brother-physician consisted in 
 describing him as "the doctor of the Holy Sitting- 
 Bath." His jealousy was of the prudent, sly, and 
 tranquil kind.
 
 214 
 
 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 He added sometimes: "Oh, as for him, he knows 
 the patient thoroughly; and this is often better than 
 to know the disease!" 
 
 But lo! there arrived one morning at the hotel of 
 Mont Oriol a noble Spanish family, the Duke and 
 Duchess of Ramas-Aldavarra, who brought with her 
 her own physician, an Italian, Doctor Mazelli from 
 Milan. He was a man of thirty, a tall, thin, very 
 handsome young fellow, wearing only mustaches. 
 From the first evening, he made a conquest of the 
 table d'hote, for the Duke, a melancholy man, attacked 
 with monstrous obesity, had a horror of isolation, and 
 desired to take his meals in the same dining-room as 
 the other patients. Doctor Mazelli already knew by 
 their names almost all the frequenters of the hotel; 
 he had a kindly word for every man, a compliment 
 for every woman, a smile even for every servant. 
 
 Placed at the right-hand side of the Duchess, a 
 beautiful woman of between thirty-five and forty, 
 with a pale complexion, black eyes, blue-black hair, 
 he would say to her as each dish came round: 
 
 "Very little," or else, "No, not this," or else, 
 "Yes, take some of that." And he would himself 
 pour out the liquid which she was to drink with 
 very great care, measuring exactly the proportions of 
 wine and water which he mingled. 
 
 He also regulated the Duke's food, but with visible 
 carelessness. The patient, however, took no heed of 
 his advice, devoured everything with bestial voracity, 
 drank at every meal two decanters of pure wine, then 
 went tumbling about in a chaise for air in front of 
 the hotel, and began whining with pain and groaning 
 over his bad digestion.
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 215 
 
 After the first dinner, Doctor Mazelli, who had 
 judged and weighed all around him with a single 
 glance, went to join Gontran, who was smoking a 
 cigar on the terrace of the Casino, told his name, and 
 began to chat. At the end of an hour, they were on 
 intimate terms. Next day, he got himself introduced 
 to Christianc just as she was leaving the bath, won 
 her good-will after ten minutes' conversation, and 
 brought her that very day into contact with the 
 Duchess, who no longer cared for solitude. 
 
 He kept watch over everything in the abode of 
 the Spaniards, gave excellent advice to the chef 
 about cooking, excellent hints to the chambermaid on 
 the hygiene of the head in order to preserve in her 
 mistress's hair its luster, its superb shade, and its 
 abundance, very useful information to the coachman 
 about veterinary medicine; and he knew how to 
 make the hours swift and light, to invent distractions, 
 and to pick up in the hotels casual acquaintances but 
 always prudently chosen. 
 
 The Duchess said to Christiane, when speaking of 
 him: "He is a wonderful man, dear Madame. He 
 knows everything; he does everything. It is to him 
 that 1 owe my figure." 
 
 "How, your figure?" 
 
 "Yes, I was beginning to grow fat, and he saved 
 me with his regimen and his liqueurs." 
 
 Moreover, Mazelli knew how to make medicine it- 
 self interesting; he spoke about it with such ease, with 
 such gaiety, and with a sort of light scepticism which 
 helped to convince his listeners of his superiority. 
 
 "'Tis very simple," said he; "1 don't believe in 
 remedies — or rather I hardly believe in them. The
 
 ■21 6 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 old-fashioned medicine started with this principle — 
 that there is a remedy for everything. God, they be- 
 lieve, in His divine bounty, has created drugs for ail 
 maladies, only He has left to men, through malice, 
 perhaps, the trouble of discovering these drugs. Now, 
 men have discovered an incalculable number of them 
 without ever knowing exactly what disease each of 
 them is suited for. In reality there are no remedies; 
 there are only maladies. When a malady declares 
 itself, it is necessary to interrupt its course, according 
 to some, to precipitate it, according to others, by 
 some means or another. Each school extols its own 
 method. In the same case, we see the most antago- 
 nistic systems employed, and the most opposed kinds 
 of medicine — ice by one and extreme heat by the 
 other, dieting by this doctor and forced nourishment 
 by that. I am not speaking of the innumerable 
 poisonous products extracted from minerals or vege- 
 tables, which chemistry procures for us. All this 
 acts, 'tis true, but nobody knows how. Sometimes 
 it succeeds, and sometimes it kills." 
 
 And, with much liveliness, he pointed out the im- 
 possibility of certainty, the absence of all scientific 
 basis as long as organic chemistry, biological chem- 
 istry had not become the starting-point of a new 
 medicine. He related anecdotes, monstrous errors of 
 the greatest physicians, and proved the insanity and 
 the falsity of their pretended science. 
 
 "Make the body discharge its functions," said he. 
 "Make the skin, the muscles, all the organs, and, 
 above all, the stomach, which is the foster-father of 
 the entire machine, its regulator and life-warehouse, 
 discharge their functions."
 
 MONT ORIOL 217 
 
 He asserted that, if he liked, by nothing save 
 regimen, he could make people gay or sad, capable 
 of physical work or intellectual work, according to 
 the nature of the diet which he imposed on them. 
 He could even act on the faculties of the brain, on 
 the memory, the imagination, on all the manifesta- 
 tions of intelligence. And he ended jocosely with 
 these words: 
 
 "For my part, I nurse my patients with massage 
 and cura^oa." 
 
 He attributed marvelous results to massage, and 
 spoke of the Dutchman Hamstrang as of a god per- 
 forming miracles. Then, showing his delicate white 
 hands: 
 
 "With those, you might resuscitate the dead." 
 
 And the Duchess added: "The fact is that he per- 
 forms massage to perfection." 
 
 He also lauded alcoholic beverages, in small pro- 
 portions to excite the stomach at certain moments; 
 and he composed mixtures, cleverly prepared, which 
 the Duchess had to drink, at fixed hours, either be- 
 fore or after her meals. 
 
 He might have been seen each morning entering 
 the Casino Cafe about half past nine and asking for 
 his bottles. They were brought to him fastened with 
 little silver locks of which he had the key. He would 
 pour out a little of one, a little of another, slowly 
 into a very pretty blue glass, which a very correct 
 footman held up respectfully. 
 
 Then the doctor would give directions: "See! 
 Bring this to the Duchess in her bath, to drink it, 
 before she dresses herself, when coming out of the 
 water."
 
 21 8 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 And when anyone asked him through curiosity: 
 "What have you put into it?" he would answer: 
 "Nothing but refined aniseed-cordial, very pure cura- 
 90a, and excellent bitters." 
 
 This handsome doctor, in a few days, became 
 the center of attraction for all the invalids. And every 
 sort of device was resorted to, in order to attract a 
 few opinions from him. 
 
 When he was passing along through the walks in 
 the park, at the hour of promenade, one heard noth- 
 ing but that exclamation of "Doctor" on all the 
 chairs where sat the beautiful women, the young 
 women, who were resting themselves a little between 
 two glasses of the Christiane Spring. Then, when he 
 stopped with a smile on his lip, they would draw 
 him aside for some minutes into the little path be- 
 side the river. At first, they talked about one thing 
 or another; then discreetly, skillfully, coquettishly, 
 they came to the question of health, but in an indif- 
 ferent fashion as if they were touching on sundry 
 topics. 
 
 For this medical man was not at the disposal of 
 the public. He was not paid by them, and people 
 could not get him to visit them nt their own houses. He 
 belonged to the Duchess, only to the Duchess. This 
 situation even stimulated people's efforts, and pro- 
 voked their desires. And, as it was whispered 
 positively that the Duchess was jealous, very jealous, 
 there was a desperate struggle between all these 
 ladies to get advice from the handsome Italian doc- 
 tor. He gave it without forcing them to entreat him 
 very strenuously. 
 
 Then, among the women whom he had favored
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 219 
 
 with his advice arose an interchange of intimate 
 confidences, in order to give clear proof of nis so- 
 licitude. 
 
 "Oh! my dear, he asked me questions — but such 
 questions! " 
 
 " Very indiscreet?" 
 
 "Oh! indiscreet! Say frightful. I actually did not 
 know what answers to give him. He wanted to 
 know things — but such things!" 
 
 "It was the same way with me. He questioned 
 me a great deal about my husband!" 
 
 "And me, also — together with details so — so 
 personal! These questions are very embarrassing. 
 However, we understand perfectly well that it is 
 necessary to ask them." 
 
 "Oh! of course. Health depends on these minute 
 details. As for me, he promised to perform massage 
 on me at Paris this winter. 1 have great need of it 
 to supplement the treatment here." 
 
 "Tell me, my dear, what do you intend to do in 
 return? He cannot take fees." 
 
 "Good heavens! my idea was to present him with 
 a scarf-pin. He must be fond of them, for he has 
 already two or three very nice ones." 
 
 "Oh! how you embarrass me! The same notion 
 was in my head. In that case I'll give him a ring." 
 
 And they concocted surprises in order to please 
 him, thought of ingenious presents in order to touch 
 him, graceful pleasantries in order to fascinate him. 
 He became the "talk of the day," the great subject 
 of conversation, the sole object of public attention, 
 till the news spread that Count Gontran de Ravenel 
 was paying his addresses to Charlotte Oriol with a
 
 220 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 view to marrying her. And tliis at once led to a 
 fresh outburst of deafening clamor in Enval. 
 
 Since the evening when he had opened with her 
 the inaugural ball at the Casino, Gontran had tied 
 himself to the young girl's skirts. He publicly showed 
 her all those little attentions of men who want to 
 please without hiding their object; and their ordinary 
 relations assumed at the same time a character of 
 gallantry, playful and natural, which seemed likely to 
 lead to love. 
 
 They saw one another nearly every day, for the 
 two girls had conceived feelings of strong friendship 
 toward Christiane, into which, no doubt, there en- 
 tered a considerable element of gratified vanity. 
 Gontran suddenly showed a disposition to remain 
 constantly at his sister's side; and he began to 
 organize parties for the morning and entertainments 
 for the evening, which greatly astonished Christiane 
 and Paul. Then they noticed that he was devoting 
 himself to Charlotte; he gaily teased her, paid her 
 compliments without appearing to do so, and mani- 
 fested toward her in a thousand ways that tender 
 care which tends to unite two beings in bonds of 
 affection. The young girl, already accustomed to the 
 free and familiar manners of this gay Parisian youth, 
 did not at first see anything remarkable in these 
 attentions; and, abandoning herself to the impulses of 
 her honest and confiding heart, she began to laugh 
 and enjoy herself with him as she might have done 
 with a brother. 
 
 Now, she had returned home with her elder sister, 
 after an evening party at which Gontran had several 
 times attempted to kiss her in consequence of forfeits
 
 MONTORIOL 221 
 
 due by her in a game of "fly-pigeon," when Louise, 
 who had appeared anxious and nervous for some time 
 past, said to her in an abrupt tone: 
 
 "You would do well to be a little careful about 
 your deportment. M. Gontran is not a suitable com- 
 panion for you." 
 
 "Not a suitable companion? What has he done?" 
 
 "You know well what I mean — don't play the 
 ninny! In the way you're going on, you would soon 
 compromise yourself; and if you don"t know how to 
 watch over your conduct, it is my business to see 
 after it." 
 
 Charlotte, confused, and filled with shame, faltered: 
 "But 1 don't know — I assure you — I have seen 
 nothing — " 
 
 Her sister sharply interrupted her: "Listen! 
 Things must not go on this way. If he wants to 
 marry you, it is for papa — for papa to consider the 
 matter and to give an answer; but, if he only wants 
 to trifle with you, he must desist at once!" 
 
 Then, suddenly, Charlotte got annoyed without 
 knowing why or with what. She was indignant at 
 her sister having taken it on herself to direct her 
 actions and to reprimand her; and, in a trembling 
 voice, and with tears in her eyes, she told her that 
 she should not have interfered in what did not con- 
 cern her. She stammered in her exasperation, divining 
 by a vague but unerring instinct the jealousy that had 
 been aroused in the embittered heart of Louise. 
 
 They parted without embracing one another, and 
 Charlotte wept when she got into bed, as she 
 thought over things that she had never foreseen or 
 suspected.
 
 222 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 Gradually her tears ceased to flow, and she began 
 to reflect. It was true, nevertheless, that Gontran's 
 demeanor toward her had altered. She had enjoyed 
 his acquaintance hitherto without understanding him. 
 She understood him now. At every turn he kept re- 
 peating to her pretty compliments full of delicate flat- 
 tery. On one occasion he had kissed her hand. 
 What were his intentions ? She pleased him, but to 
 what extent ? Was it possible by any chance that he 
 desired to marry her? And all at once she imagined 
 that she could hear somewhere in the air, in the si- 
 lent night through whose empty spaces her dreams 
 were flitting, a voice exclaiming, "Comtesse de Ra- 
 venel." 
 
 The emotion was so vivid that she sat up in the 
 bed; then, with her naked feet, she felt for her slippers 
 under the chair over which she had thrown her 
 clothes, and she went to open the window without 
 consciousness of what she was doing, in order to 
 find space for her hopes. She could hear what they 
 were saying in the room below stairs, and Colosse's 
 voice was raised: "Let it alone! let it alone! There 
 will be time enough to see to it. Father will arrange 
 that. There is no harm up to this. 'Tis father that 
 will do the thing." 
 
 She noticed that the window in front of the house, 
 just below that at which she was standing, was still 
 lighted up. She asked herself: "Who is there now? 
 What are they talking about ?" A shadow passed over 
 the luminous wall. It was her sister. So then, she 
 had not yet gone to bed. Why ? But the light was 
 presently extinguished; and Charlotte began to think 
 about other things that were agitating her heart.
 
 MONT ORIOL 22} 
 
 She could not go to sleep now. Did he love her? 
 Oh! no; not yet. But he might love her, since she had 
 caught his fancy. And if he came to love her much, 
 desperately, as people love in society, he would cer- 
 tainly marry her. 
 
 Born in a house of vinedressers, she had pre- 
 served, although educated in the young ladies" con- 
 vent at Clermont, the modesty and humility of a 
 peasant girl. She used to think that she might marry 
 a notary, perhaps, or a barrister or a doctor; but the 
 ambition to become a real lady of high social posi- 
 tion, with a title of nobility attached to her name had 
 never entered her mind. Even when she had just 
 finished the perusal of some love-story, and was mus- 
 ing over the glimpse presented to her of such a 
 charming prospect for a few minutes, it would speedily 
 Vanish from her soul just as chimeras vanish. Now, 
 here was this unforeseen, inconceivable thing, which 
 had been suddenly conjured up by some words of her 
 sister, apparently drawing near her after the fashion 
 of a ship's sail driven onward by the wind. 
 
 Every time she drew breath, she kept repeating 
 with her lips: "Comtesse de Ravenel." And the 
 shades of her dark eyelashes, as they closed in the 
 night, were illuminated with visions. She saw beau- 
 tiful drawing-rooms brilliantly lighted up, beautiful 
 women greeting her with smiles, beautiful carriages 
 waiting before the steps of a chateau, and grand serv- 
 ants in livery bowing as she passed. 
 
 She felt heated in her bed; her heart was beating. 
 She rose up a second time in order to drink a glass 
 of water, and to remain standing in her bare feet for 
 a few moments on the cold floor of her apartment.
 
 224 
 
 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 Then, somewhat calmed, she ended by falling 
 asleep. But she awakened at dawn, so much had the 
 agitation of her heart passed into her veins. 
 
 She felt ashamed of her little room with its white 
 walls, washed with water by a rustic glazier, her 
 poor cotton curtains, and some straw-chairs which 
 never quitted their place at the two corners of her 
 chest of drawers. 
 
 She realized that she was a peasant in the midst 
 of these rude articles of furniture which bespoke her 
 origin. She felt herself lowly, unworthy of this hand- 
 some, mocking young fellow, whose fair hair and 
 laughing face had floated before her eyes, had disap- 
 peared from her vision and then come back, had 
 gradually engrossed her thoughts, and had already 
 found a place in her heart. 
 
 Then she jumped out of bed and ran to look for 
 her glass, her little toilette-glass, as large as the center 
 of a plate; after that, she got into bed again, her 
 mirror between her hands; and she looked at her 
 face surrounded by her hair which hung loose on the 
 white background of the pillow. 
 
 Presently she laid down on the bedclothes the 
 little piece of glass which reflected her lineaments, 
 and she thought how difficult it would be for such 
 an alliance to take place, so great was the distance 
 between them. Thereupon a feeling of vexation 
 seized her by the throat. But immediately afterward 
 she gazed at her image, once more smiling at herself 
 in order to look nice, and, as she considered herself 
 pretty, the difficulties disappeared. 
 
 When she went down to breakfast, her sister, 
 who wore a look of irritation, asked her:
 
 MONT ORIOL 225 
 
 "What do you propose to do to-day?" 
 
 Charlotte replied unhesitatingly: "Are we not 
 going in the carriage to Royat with Madame Ander- 
 matt?" 
 
 Louise returned: "You are going alone, then; but 
 you might do something better, after what I said to 
 you last night." 
 
 The younger sister interrupted her: "I don't ask 
 for your advice — mind your own business!" 
 
 And they did not speak to one another again. 
 
 Pere Oriol and Jacques came in, and took their 
 seats at the table. The old man asked almost im- 
 mediately: "What are you doing to-day, girls?" 
 
 Charlotte said without giving her sister time to 
 answer: "As for me, I am going to Royat with 
 Madame Andermatt." 
 
 The two men eyed her with an air of satisfaction; 
 and the father muttered with that engaging smile 
 which he could put on when discussing any business 
 of a profitable character: "That's good! that's 
 good!" 
 
 She was more surprised at this secret compla- 
 cency which she observed in their entire bearing 
 than at the visible anger of Louise; and she asked 
 herself, in a somewhat disturbed frame of mind: 
 "Can they have been talking this over all together?" 
 
 As soon as the meal was over, she went up again 
 to her room, put on her hat, seized her parasol, 
 threw a light cloak over her arm, and she went off 
 in the direction of the hotel, for they were to start 
 at half past one. 
 
 Christiane expressed her astonishment at finding 
 that Louise had not come. 
 
 8 C. deM.-i5
 
 226 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 Charlotte felt herself flushing as she replied: "She 
 is a little fatigued; 1 believe she has a headache." 
 
 And they stepped into the landau, the big landau 
 with six seats, which they always used. The Mar- 
 quis and his daughter remained at the lower end, 
 while the Oriol girl found herself seated at the op- 
 posite side between the two young men. 
 
 They passed in front of Tournoel; they proceeded 
 along the foot of the mountain, by a beautiful wind- 
 ing road, under the walnut and chestnut-trees. 
 Charlotte several times felt conscious that Gontran 
 was pressing close up to her, but was too prudent 
 to take offense at it. As he sat at her right-hand 
 side, he spoke with his face close to her cheek; and 
 she did not venture to turn round to answer him, 
 through fear of touching his mouth, which she felt 
 already on her lips, and also through fear of his eyes, 
 whose glance would have unnerved her. 
 
 He whispered in her ear gallant absurdities, 
 laughable fooleries, agreeable and well-turned com- 
 pliments. 
 
 Christiane scarcely uttered a word, heavy and sick 
 from her pregnancy. And Paul appeared sad, pre- 
 occupied. The Marquis alone chatted without unrest 
 or anxiety, in the sprightly, graceful style of a selfish 
 old nobleman. 
 
 They got down at the park of Royat to listen to 
 the music, and Gontran, offering Charlotte his arm, 
 set forth with her in front. The army of bathers, on 
 the chairs, around the kiosk, where the leader of the 
 orchestra was keeping time with the brass instru- 
 ments and the violins, watched the promenaders 
 filing past. The women exhibited their dresses by
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 227 
 
 Stretching out their legs as far as the bars of the 
 chairs in front of them, and their dainty summer 
 head-gear made them look more fascinating. 
 
 Charlotte and Gontran sauntered through the midst 
 of the people who occupied the seats, looking out 
 for faces of a comic type to find materials for their 
 pleasantries. 
 
 Every moment he heard some one saying behind 
 them: "Look there! what a pretty girl!" He felt 
 flattered, and asked himself whether they took her 
 for his sister, his wife, or his mistress. 
 
 Christiane, seated between her father and Paul, 
 saw them passing several times, and thinking they 
 exhibited too much youthful frivolity, she called them 
 over to her to soberize them. But they paid no at- 
 tention to her, and went on vagabondizing through 
 the crowd, enjoying themselves with their whole 
 hearts. 
 
 She said in a whisper to Paul Bretigny: "He 
 will finish by compromising her. It will be neces- 
 sary that we should speak to him this evening when 
 he comes back." 
 
 Paul replied: "I had already thought about it. 
 You are quite right." 
 
 They went to dine in one of the restaurants of 
 Clermont-Ferrand, those of Royat being no good, ac- 
 cording to the Marquis, who was a gourmand, and 
 they returned at nightfall. 
 
 Charlotte had become serious, Gontran having 
 strongly pressed her hand, while presenting her 
 gloves to her, before she quitted the table. Her young 
 girl's conscience was suddenly troubled. This was 
 an avowal! an advance! an impropriety! What ought
 
 228 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 she to do ? Speak to him ? but about what ? To be 
 offended would be ridiculous. There was need 
 of so much tact in these circumstances. But by do- 
 ing nothing, by saying nothing, she produced the 
 impression of accepting his advances, of becoming 
 his accomplice, of answering "yes" to this pressure 
 of the hand. 
 
 And she weighed the situation, accusing herself of 
 having been too gay and too familiar at Royat, think- 
 ing just now that her sister was right, that she was 
 compromised, lost! The carriage rolled along the 
 road. Paul and Gontran smoked in silence; the Mar- 
 quis slept; Christiane gazed at the stars; and Char- 
 lotte found it hard to keep back her tears — for she 
 had swallowed three glasses of champagne. 
 
 When they had got back, Christiane said to her 
 father: "As it is dark, you have to see this young 
 girl home." 
 
 The Marquis, without delay, offered her his arm, 
 and went off with her. 
 
 Paul laid his hands on Gontran's shoulders, and 
 whispered in his ear: "Come and have five minutes' 
 talk with your sister and myself." 
 
 And they went up to the little drawing-room 
 communicating with the apartments of Andermatt and 
 his wife. 
 
 When they were seated, Christiane said: " Listen 1 
 M. Paul and I want to give you a good lecture." 
 
 "A good lecture! But about what? I'm as wise 
 as an image for want of opportunities." 
 
 "Don't trifle! You are doing a very imprudent 
 and very dangerous thing without thinking on it. 
 You are compromising this young girl."
 
 MONT ORIOL 229 
 
 He appeared much astonished. "Who is that? 
 Charlotte?" 
 
 "Yes, Charlotte!" 
 
 "I'm compromising Charlotte? — 1?" 
 
 "Yes, you are compromising her. Everyone here 
 is talking about it, and this evening again in the 
 park at Royat you have been very — very light. Isn't 
 that so, Bretigny?" 
 
 Paul answered: "Yes, Madame, I entirely share 
 your sentiments." 
 
 Gontran turned his chair around, bestrode it like 
 a horse, took a fresh cigar, lighted it, then burst out 
 laughing. 
 
 "Ha! so then I am compromising Charlotte Oriol?" 
 
 He waited a few seconds to see the effect of his 
 words, then added: "And who told you 1 did not 
 intend to marry her?" 
 
 Christiane gave a start of amazement. 
 
 "Marry her? You? Why, you're mad!" 
 
 "Why so?" 
 
 "That — that little peasant girl!" 
 
 "Tra! la! la! Prejudices! Is it from your husband 
 you learned them?" 
 
 As she made no response to this direct argument, 
 he went on, putting both questions and answers him- 
 self: 
 
 "Is she pretty? — Yes! Is she well educated? — 
 Yes! And more ingenuous, more simple, and more 
 honest than girls in good society. She knows as 
 much as another, for she can speak both English and 
 the language of Auvergne — that makes two foreign 
 languages. She will be as rich as any heiress of the 
 Faubourg Saint-Germain — as it was formerly called
 
 230 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 (they are now going to christen it Faubourg Sainte- 
 Deche) — and finally, if she is a peasant's daughter, 
 she'll be only all the more healthy to present me 
 with fine children. Enough!" 
 
 As he had always the appearance of laughing and 
 jesting, Christiane asked hesitatingly: "Come! are 
 you speaking seriously?" 
 
 "Faith, I am! She is charming, this little girl! 
 She has a good heart and a pretty face, a genial 
 character and a good temper, rosy cheeks, bright 
 eyes, white teeth, ruby lips, and flowing tresses, 
 glossy, thick, and full of soft folds. And then her 
 vinedressing father will be as rich as Croesus, thanks 
 to your husband, my dear sister. What more do you 
 want? The daughter of a peasant! Well, is not the 
 daughter of a peasant as good as any of those money- 
 lenders' daughters who pay such high prices for 
 dukes with doubtful titles, or any of the daughters 
 born of aristocratic prostitution whom the Empire has 
 given us, or any of the daughters with double sires 
 whom we meet in society? Why, if I did marry this 
 girl I should be doing the first wise and rational act 
 of my life!" 
 
 Christiane reflected, then, all of a sudden, con- 
 vinced, overcome, delighted, she exclaimed: 
 
 "Why, all you have said is true! It is quite true, 
 quite right! So then you are going to marry her, my 
 little Gontran?" 
 
 It was he who now sought to moderate her ardor. 
 "Not so quick — not so quick — let me reflect in my 
 turn. 1 only declare that, if I did marry her, I would 
 be doing the first wise and rational act of my life. 
 That does not go so far as saying that 1 will marry
 
 MONTORIOL 231 
 
 her; but I am thinking over it; I am studying her, I 
 am paying her a little attention to see if I can like 
 her sufficiently. In short, I don't answer 'yes' or 
 'no,' but it is nearer to 'yes' than to 'no.'" 
 
 Christiane turned toward Paul: "What do you 
 think of it. Monsieur Bretigny?" 
 
 She called him at one time Monsieur Bretigny, and 
 at another time Bretigny only. 
 
 He, always f^iscinated by the things in which he 
 imagined he saw an element of greatness, by unequal 
 matches which seemed to him to exhibit generosity, 
 by all the sentimental parade in which the human 
 heart masks itself, replied: "For my part I think he 
 is right in this. If he likes her, let him marry her; 
 he could not find better." 
 
 But, the Marquis and Andermatt having returned, 
 they had to talk about other subjects; and the two 
 young men went to the Casino to see whether the 
 gaming-room was still open. 
 
 From that day forth Christiane and Paul appeared 
 to favor Gontran's open courtship of Charlotte. 
 
 The young girl was more frequently invited to the 
 hotel by Christiane, and was treated in fact as if she 
 were already a member of the family. She saw all 
 this clearly, understood it, and was quite delighted at 
 it. Her little head throbbed like a drum, and went 
 building fantastic castles in Spain. Gontran, in the 
 meantime had said nothing definite to her; but his 
 demeanor, all his words, the tone that he assumed 
 with her, his more serious air of gallantry, the caress 
 of his glance seemed every day to keep repeating 
 to her: "1 have chosen you; you are to be my 
 wife."
 
 2j^2 
 
 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 And the tone of sweet affection, of discreet self- 
 surrender, of chaste reserve which she now adopted 
 toward him, seemed to give this answer: "I know 
 it, and I'll say 'yes' whenever you ask for my hand." 
 
 In the young girl's family, the matter was dis- 
 cussed in confidential whispers. Louise scarcely 
 opened her lips now except to annoy her with hurt- 
 ful allusions, with sharp and sarcastic remarks. Pere 
 Oriol and Jacques appeared to be content. 
 
 She did not ask herself, all the same, whether she 
 loved this good-looking suitor, whose wife she was, 
 no doubt, destined to become. She liked him, she 
 was constantly thinking about him; she considered 
 him handsome, witty, elegant — she was speculating, 
 above all, on what she would do when she was 
 married to him. 
 
 In Enval people had forgotten the malignant rival- 
 ries of the physicians and the proprietors of springs, 
 the theories as to the supposed attachment of the 
 Duchess de Ramas for her doctor, all the scandals 
 that flow along with the waters of thermal stations, 
 in order to occupy their minds entirely with this ex- 
 traordinary circumstance — that Count Gontran de 
 Ravenel was going to marry the younger of the Oriol 
 girls. 
 
 When Gontran thought the moment had arrived, 
 taking Andermatt by the arm, one morning, as they 
 were rising from the breakfast-table, he said to 
 him: "My dear fellow, strike while the iron is hot! 
 Here is the exact state of affairs: The little one is 
 waiting for me to propose, without my having com- 
 mitted myself at all; but, you may be quite certain 
 she will not refuse me. It is necessary to sound her
 
 MONTORIOL 233 
 
 father about it in such a way as to promote, at the 
 same time, your interests and mine." 
 
 Andermatt replied: "Make your mind easy. I'll 
 take that on myself. 1 am going to sound him this 
 very day without compromising you and without 
 thrusting you forward; and when the situation is 
 perfectly clear, I'll talk about it." 
 
 "Capital!" 
 
 Then, after a few moments' silence, Gontran 
 added: "Hold on! This is perhaps my last day of 
 bachelorhood. I am going on to Royat, where I saw 
 some acquaintances of mine the other day. I'll be 
 back to-night, and I'll tap at your door to know the 
 result." 
 
 He saddled his horse, and proceeded along by the 
 mountain, inhaling the pure, genial air, and some- 
 times starting into a gallop to feel the keen caress of 
 the breeze brushing the fresh skin of his cheek and 
 tickling his mustache. 
 
 The evening-party at Royat was a jolly affair. 
 He met some of his friends there who had brought 
 girls along with them. They lingered a long time at 
 supper; he returned home at a very late hour. 
 Everyone had gone to bed in the hotel of Mont Oriol 
 when Gontran went to tap at Andermatt's door. 
 There was no answer at first; then, as the knocking 
 became much louder, a hoarse voice, the voice of 
 one disturbed while asleep, grunted from within: 
 "Who's there.?" 
 
 "'Tis I, Gontran." 
 
 "Wait — I'm opening the door." 
 
 Andermatt appeared in his nightshirt, with 
 puffed-up face, bristling chin, and a silk handkerchief
 
 234 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 tied round his liead. Then he got back into bed, sat 
 down in it, and with his hands stretched over 
 the sheets: 
 
 "Well, my dear fellow, this won't do me. Here 
 is how matters stand: 1 have sounded this old fox 
 Oriol, without mentioning you, referring merely to a 
 certain friend of mine — 1 have perhaps allowed him 
 to suppose that the person 1 meant was Paul Bre- 
 tigny — as a suitable match for one of his daughters, 
 and 1 asked what dowry he would give her. He 
 answered me by asking in his turn what were the 
 young man's means; and I fixed the amount at three 
 hundred thousand francs with expectations." 
 
 "But 1 have nothing," muttered Gontran. 
 
 "1 am lending you the money, my dear fellow. 
 If we work this business between us, your lands 
 would yield me enough to reimburse me." 
 
 Gontran sneered: "All right. I'll have the 
 woman and you the money." 
 
 But Andermatt got quite annoyed. "If I am to 
 interest myself in your affairs in order that you might 
 insult me, there's an end of it — let us say no more 
 about it!" 
 
 Gontran apologized: "Don't get vexed, my dear 
 fellow, and excuse me! 1 know that you are a very 
 honest man of irreproachable loyalty in matters of 
 business. I would not ask you for the price of a 
 drink if 1 were your coachman; but I would intrust 
 my fortune to you if 1 were a millionaire." 
 
 William, less excited, rejoined: "We'll return 
 presently to that subject. Let us first dispose of the 
 principal question. The old man was not taken in 
 by my wiles, and said to me in reply: 'It depends
 
 MONT ORIOL 235 
 
 on which of them is the girl you're talking about. 
 If 'tis Louise, the elder one, here's her dowry.' And 
 he enumerated for me all the lands that are around 
 the establishment, those which are between the baths 
 and the hotel and between the hotel and the Casino, 
 all those, in short, which are indispensable to us, 
 those which have for me an inestimable value. He 
 gives, on the contrary, to the younger girl the other 
 side of the mountain, which will be worth as much 
 money later on, no doubt, but which is worth noth- 
 ing to me. 1 tried in every possible way to make 
 him modify their partition and invert the lots. 1 was 
 only knocking my head against the obstinacy of a 
 mule. He will not change; he has fixed his resolu- 
 tion. Reflect — what do you think of it?" 
 
 Gontran, much troubled, much perplexed, replied: 
 "What do you think of it yourself.^ Do you believe 
 that he was thinking of me in thus distributing the 
 shares in the land ? " 
 
 "I haven't a doubt of it. The clown said to him- 
 self: 'As he likes the younger one, let us take care 
 of the bag.' He hopes to give you his daughter 
 while keeping his best lands. And again perhaps his 
 object is to give the advantage to the elder girl. He 
 prefers her — who knows? — she is more like him- 
 self — she is more cunning — more artful — more 
 practical. I believe she is a strapping lass, this one 
 — for my part, if I were in your place, I would 
 change my stick from one shoulder to the other." 
 
 But Gontran, stunned, began muttering: "The 
 devil! the devil! the devil! And Charlotte's lands — 
 you don't want them ? " 
 
 Andermatt exclaimed: "I — no — a thousand times.
 
 236 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 no! I want those which are close to my baths, my 
 hotel, and my Casino. It is very simple, I wouldn't 
 give anything for the others, which could only be 
 sold, at a later period, in small lots to private indi- 
 viduals." 
 
 Gontran kept still repeating: "The devil! the 
 devil! the devil! here's a plaguy business! So then 
 you advise me ?" 
 
 "\ don't advise you at all. 1 think you would do 
 well to reflect before deciding between the two 
 sisters." 
 
 "Yes — yes — that's true — 1 will reflect — I am 
 going to sleep first — that brings counsel." 
 
 He rose up; Andermatt held him back. 
 
 "Excuse me, my dear boy! — a word or two on 
 another matter. 1 may not appear to understand, but 
 1 understand very well the allusions with which you 
 sting me incessantly, and 1 don't want any more of 
 them. You reproach me with being a Jew — that is 
 to say, with making money, with being avaricious, 
 with being a speculator, so as to come close to sheer 
 swindling. Now, my friend, I spend my life in lend- 
 ing you this money that 1 make — not without trouble 
 — or rather in giving it to you. However, let that 
 be! But there is one point that I don't admit! No, 1 
 am not avaricious. The proof of it is that 1 have made 
 presents to your sister, presents of twenty thousand 
 francs at a time, that 1 gave your father a Theodore 
 Rousseau worth ten thousand francs, to which he 
 took a fancy, and that 1 presented you, when you 
 were coming here, with the horse on which you 
 rode a little while ago to Royat. In what then am I 
 avaricious ? In not letting myself be robbed. And
 
 MONT ORIOL 237 
 
 we are all like that among my race, and we are 
 right, Monsieur. I want to say it to you once for 
 all. We are regarded as misers because we know 
 the exact value of things. For you a piano is a 
 piano, a chair is a chair, a pair of trousers is a pair 
 of trousers. For us also, but it represents, at the 
 same time, a value, a mercantile value appreciable 
 and precise, which a practical man should estimate 
 with a single glance, not through stinginess, but in 
 order not to countenance fraud. What would you 
 say if a tobacconist asked you four sous for a post- 
 age-stamp or for a box of wax-matches ? You 
 would go to look for a policeman. Monsieur, for one 
 sou, yes, for one sou — so indignant would you be! 
 And that because you knew, by chance, the value of 
 these two articles. Well, as for me, I know the value 
 of all salable articles; and that indignation which 
 would take possession of you, if you were asked 
 four sous for a postage-stamp, I experience when I 
 am asked twenty francs for an umbrella which is 
 worth fifteen! I protest against the established theft, 
 ceaseless and abominable, of merchants, servants, and 
 coachmen. I protest against the commercial dishon- 
 esty of all your race which despises us. I give the 
 price of a drink which I am bound to give for a 
 service rendered, and not that which as the result of 
 a whim you fling away without knowing why, and 
 which ranges from five to a hundred sous according 
 to the caprice of your temper! Do you understand.^" 
 
 Gontran had risen by this time, and smiling with 
 that refined irony which came happily from his lips: 
 
 "Yes, my dear fellow, I understand, and you are 
 perfectly right, and so much the more right because
 
 238 
 
 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 my grandfather, the old Marquis de Ravenel, scarcely 
 left anything to my poor father in consequence of the 
 bad habit which he had of never picking up the 
 change handed to him by the shopkeepers when he 
 was paying for any article whatsoever. He thought 
 that unworthy of a gentleman, and always gave the 
 round sum and the entire coin." 
 
 And Gontran went out with a self-satisfied air.
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 A Mutual Understanding 
 
 T 
 
 •HEY were just ready to go in to 
 dinner, on the following day, in 
 the private dining-room of the 
 p* Andermatt and Ravenel families, when 
 ^ Gontran opened the door announcing 
 the "Mesdemoiselles Oriol." 
 ; They entered, with an air of con- 
 
 straint, pushed forward by Gontran, who 
 laughed while he explained: 
 "Here they are! 1 have carried them 
 t-^ii,Ky both off through the middle of the street. 
 ^y3^ ' Moreover, it excited public attention. I brought 
 ^ -' them here by force to you because I want to 
 explain myself to Madame Louise, and could not 
 do so in the open air." 
 
 He took from them their hats and their parasols, 
 which they were still carrying, as they had been on 
 their way back from a promenade, made them sit 
 down, embraced his sister, pressed the hands of his 
 father, of his brother-in-law, and of Paul, and then, 
 approaching Louise Oriol once more, said: 
 
 "Here now, Mademoiselle, kindly tell me what 
 you have against me for some time past?" 
 
 (239)
 
 240 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 She seemed scared, like a bird caught in a net, 
 and carried away by the hunter. 
 
 "Why, nothing. Monsieur, nothing at all! What 
 has made you believe that?" 
 
 "Oh! everything. Mademoiselle, everything at all! 
 You no longer come here — you no longer com.e in 
 the Noah's Ark [so he had baptized the big landau]. 
 You assume a harsh tone whenever I meet you and 
 when 1 speak to you." 
 
 "Why, no, Monsieur, 1 assure you!" 
 
 "Why, yes, Mam'zelle, I declare to you! in any 
 case, I don't want this to continue, and 1 am go- 
 ing to make peace with you this very day. Oh! 
 you know I am obstinate. There's no use in your 
 looking black at me. I'll know easily how to 
 get the better of your hoity-toity airs, and make 
 you be nice toward your sister, who is an angel of 
 grace." 
 
 It was announced that dinner was ready; and 
 they made their way to the dining-room. Gontran 
 took Louise's arm in his. He was exceedingly atten- 
 tive to her and to her sister, dividing his compli- 
 ments between them with admirable tact, and 
 remarking to the younger girl: "As for you, you 
 are a comrade of ours — 1 am going to neglect you 
 for a few days. One goes to less expense for friends 
 than for strangers, you are aware." 
 
 And he said to the elder: "As for you, I want 
 to bewitch you. Mademoiselle, and I warn you as a 
 loyal foel I will even make love to you. Ha! you 
 are blushing — that's a good sign. You'll see that I 
 am very nice, when I take pains about it. Isn't that 
 so, Mademoiselle Charlotte?"
 
 MONTORIOL 241 
 
 And they were both, indeed, blushing, and Louise 
 stammered with her serious air: "Ohl Monsieur, 
 how foohsh you are!" 
 
 He repHed: "Bah! you will hear many things 
 said by others by and by in society, when you are 
 married, which will not be long. 'Tis then they 
 will really pay you compliments." 
 
 Christiane and Paul Bretigny expressed their ap- 
 proval of his action in having brought back Louise 
 Oriol; the Marquis smiled, amused by these childish 
 affectations. Andermatt was thinking: "He's no 
 fool, the sly dog." And Gontran, irritated by the 
 part which he was compelled to play, drawn by his 
 senses toward Charlotte and by his interests toward 
 Louise, muttered between his teeth with a sly smile 
 in her direction: "Ah! your rascal of a father 
 thought to play a trick fupon me; but I am going 
 to carry it with a high hand over you, my lassie, 
 and you will see whether I won't go about it the 
 right way! " 
 
 And he compared the two, inspecting them one 
 after the other. Certainly, he liked the younger more; 
 she was more amusing, more lively, with her nose 
 tilted slightly, her bright eyes, her straight forehead, 
 and her beautiful teeth a little too prominent in a 
 mouth which was somewhat too wide. 
 
 However, the other was pretty, too, colder, less 
 gay. She would never be lively or charming in the 
 intimate relations of life; but when at the opening of 
 a ball "the Comtesse de Ravenel " would be an- 
 nounced, she could carry her title well — better per- 
 haps than her younger sister, when she got a little 
 accustomed to it, and had mingled with persons of 
 
 8 G. de M.— 16
 
 242 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 high birth. No matter; he was annoyed. He was 
 full of spite against the father and the brother also, 
 and he promised himself that he would pay them off 
 afterward for his mischance when he was the master. 
 When they returned to the drawing-room, he got 
 Louise to read the cards, as she was skilled in fore- 
 telling the future. The Marquis, Andermatt, and 
 Charlotte listened attentively, attracted, in spite of 
 themselves, by the mystery of the unknown, by the 
 possibility of the improbable, by that invincible cre- 
 dulity with reference to the marvelous which haunts 
 man, and often disturbs the strongest minds in the 
 presence of the silly inventions of charlatans. 
 
 Paul and Christiane chatted in the recess of an 
 open window. For some time past she had been 
 miserable, feeling that she was no longer loved in the 
 same fashion; and their misunderstanding as lovers 
 was every day accentuated by their mutual error. She 
 had suspected this unfortunate state of things for the 
 first time on the evening of the fete when she brought 
 Paul along the road. But while she understood that 
 he had no longer the same tenderness in his look, 
 the same caress in his voice, the same passionate 
 anxiety about her as in the days of their early love, 
 she had not been able to divine the cause of this 
 change. 
 
 It had existed for a long time now, ever since the 
 day when she had said to him with a look of happi- 
 ness on reaching their daily meeting-place: "You 
 know, 1 believe I am really enceinte.'^ He had felt 
 at that moment an unpleasant little shiver running all 
 over his skin. Then at each of their meetings she 
 would talk to him about her condition, which made 
 
 I)
 
 MONT ORIOL 243 
 
 her heart dance with joy; but this preoccupation with 
 a matter which he regarded as vexatious, ugly, and 
 unclean clashed with his devoted exaltation about the 
 idol that he had adored. At a later stage, when he 
 saw her altered, thin, her cheeks hollow, her com- 
 plexion yellow, he thought that she might have spared 
 him that spectacle, and might have vanished for a 
 few months from his sight, to reappear afterward 
 fresher and prettier than ever, thus knowing how to 
 make him forget this accident, or perhaps knowing 
 how to unite to her coquettish fascinations as a mis- 
 tress, another charm, the thoughtful reserve of a young 
 mother, who only allows her baby to be seen at a 
 distance covered up in red ribbons. 
 
 She had, besides, a rare opportunity of displaying 
 that tact which he expected of her by spending the 
 summer apart from him at Mont Oriol, and leaving 
 him in Paris so that he might not see her robbed of 
 her freshness and beauty. He had fondly hoped that 
 she might have understood him. 
 
 But, immediately on reaching Auvergne, she had 
 appealed to him in incessant and despairing letters so 
 numerous and so urgent that he had come to her 
 through weakness, through pity. And now she was 
 boring him to death with her ungracious and lugu- 
 brious tenderness; and he felt an extreme longing to 
 get away from her, to see no more of her, to listen 
 no longer to her talk about love, so irritating and out 
 of place. He would have liked to tell her plainly all 
 that he had in his mind, to point out to her how un- 
 skillful and foolish she showed herself; but he could 
 not bring himself to do this, and he dared not take 
 his departure. As a result he could not restrain him-
 
 -^4 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 self from testifying his impatience with her in bitter 
 and hurtful words. 
 
 She was stung by them the more because, every 
 day more ill, more heavy, tormented by all the suf- 
 ferings of pregnant women, she had more need than 
 ever of being consoled, fondled, encompassed with 
 affection. She loved him with that utter abandon- 
 ment of body and soul, of her entire being, which 
 sometimes renders love a sacrifice without reserva- 
 tions and without bounds. She no longer looked 
 upon herself as his mistress, but as his wife, his 
 companion, his devotee, his worshiper, his prostrate 
 slave, his chattel. For her there seemed no further need 
 of any gallantry, coquetry, constant desire to please, 
 or fresh indulgence between them, since she belonged 
 to him entirely, since they were linked together by 
 that chain so sweet and so strong — the child which 
 would soon be born. When they were alone at the 
 window, she renewed her tender lamentation: "Paul, 
 my dear Paul, tell me, do you love me as much as 
 ever?" 
 
 "Yes, certainly! Come now, you keep repeating 
 this every day — it will end by becoming monoto- 
 nous." 
 
 "Pardon me. It is because 1 find it impossible 
 to believe it any longer, and 1 want you to reas- 
 sure me; I want to hear you saying it to me forever 
 that word which is so sweet; and, as you don't 
 repeat it to me so often as you used to do, 1 am 
 compelled to ask for it, to implore it, to beg for it 
 from you." 
 
 "Well, yes, 1 love you! But let us talk of some- 
 thing else, I entreat of you."
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 245 
 
 "Ahl how hard you are!" 
 
 "Why, no! I am not hard. Only — only you do 
 not understand — you do not understand that — " 
 
 "Oh! yes! I understand well that you no longer 
 love me. If you knew how I am suffering! " 
 
 "Come, Christiane, I beg of you not to make me 
 nervous. If you knew yourself how awkward what 
 you are now doing is!" 
 
 "Ah! if you loved me, you would not talk to me 
 in this way." 
 
 "But, deuce take it! if I did not love you, I would 
 not have come." 
 
 "Listen. You belong to me now. You are mine; 
 I am yours. There is between us that tie of a bud- 
 ding life which nothing can break; but will you 
 promise me that, if one day, you should come to 
 love me no more, you will tell me so?" 
 
 "Yes, I do promise you." 
 
 "You swear it to me?" 
 
 "I swear it to you." 
 
 "But then, all the same, we would remain friends, 
 would we not?" 
 
 "Certainly, let us remain friends." 
 
 "On the day when you no longer regard me 
 with love you'll come to find me and you'll say to 
 me: 'My little Christiane, 1 am very fond of you, but 
 it is not the same thing any more. Let us be friends, 
 there! nothing but friends.'" 
 
 "That is understood; 1 promise it to you." 
 
 "You swear it to me?" 
 
 "I swear it to you." 
 
 "No matter, it would cause me great grief. How 
 you adored me last year!"
 
 246 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 A voice called out behind them: "The Duchess 
 de Ramas-Aldavarra." 
 
 She had come as a neighbor, for Christiane held 
 receptions each day for the principal bathers, just as 
 princes hold receptions in their kingdoms. 
 
 Doctor Mazelli followed the lovely Spaniard with 
 a smiling and submissive air. The two women 
 pressed one another's hands, sat down, and commenced 
 to chat. 
 
 Andermatt called Paul across to him: "My dear 
 friend come here! Mademoiselle Oriol reads the cards 
 splendidly; she has told me some astonishing things!" 
 
 He took Paul by the arm, and added: "What an 
 odd being you are! At Paris, we never saw you, even 
 once a month, in spite of the entreaties of my wife. 
 Here it required fifteen letters to get you to come. 
 And since you have come, one would think you are 
 losing a million a day, you look so disconsolate. 
 Come, are you hearing any matter that ruffles you ? 
 We might be able to assist you. You should tell us 
 about it." 
 
 "Nothing at all, my dear fellow. If 1 haven't 
 visited you more frequently in Paris — 'tis because at 
 Paris, you understand — " 
 
 "Perfectly — 1 grasp your meaning. But here, at 
 least, you ought to be in good spirits. I am prepar- 
 ing for you two or three fetes, which will, I am 
 sure, be very successful." 
 
 "Madame Barre and Professor Cloche" were an- 
 nounced. He entered with his daughter, a young 
 widow, red-haired and bold-faced. Then, almost in 
 the same breath, the manservant called out: "Pro 
 fessor Mas-Roussel. "
 
 MONTORIOL 247 
 
 His wife accompanied him, pale, worn, with flat 
 headbands drawn over her temples. 
 
 Professor Remusot had left the day before, after 
 having, it was said, purchased his chalet on excep- 
 tionally favorable conditions. 
 
 The two other doctors would have liked to know 
 what these conditions were, but Andermatt merely 
 said in reply to them: "Oh! we have made little 
 advantageous arrangements for everybody. If you 
 desired to follow his example, we might see our 
 way to a mutual understanding — we might see our 
 way. When you have made up your mind, you can 
 let me know, and then we'll talk about it." 
 
 Doctor Latonne appeared in his turn, then Doctor 
 Honorat, without his wife, whom he did not bring 
 with him. A din of voices now filled the drawing- 
 room, the loud buzz of conversation. Gontran never 
 left Louise Oriol's side, put his head over her 
 shoulder in addressing her, and said with a laugh 
 every now and again to whoever was passing near 
 him: "This is an enemy of whom I am making a 
 conquest." 
 
 Mazelli took a seat beside Professor Cloche's 
 daughter. For some days he had been constantly 
 following her about; and she had received his ad- 
 vances with provoking audacity. 
 
 The Duchess, who kept him well in view, ap- 
 peared irritated and trembling. Suddenly she rose, 
 crossed the drawing-room, and interrupted her doc- 
 tor's confidential chat with the pretty red-haired 
 widow, saying: "Come, Mazelli, we are going to 
 retire. I feel rather ill at ease." 
 
 As soon as they had gone out, Christiane drew
 
 248 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 close to Paul's side, and said to him: "Poor woman! 
 she must suffer so much!" 
 
 He asked heedlessly: "Who, pray?" 
 
 "The Duchess! You don't see how jealous she is." 
 
 He replied abruptly: "If you begin to groan over 
 everything you can lay hold of now, you'll have no 
 end of weeping." 
 
 She turned away, ready, indeed, to shed tears, so 
 cruel did she find him, and, sitting down near Char- 
 lotte Oriol, who was all alone in a dazed condition, un- 
 able to comprehend the meaning of Gontran's conduct, 
 she said to the young girl, without letting the latter 
 realize what her words conveyed: "There are days 
 when one would like to be dead." 
 
 Andermatt, in the midst of the doctors, was re- 
 lating the extraordinary case of Pere Clovis, whose 
 legs were beginning to come to life again. He ap- 
 peared so thoroughly convinced that nobody could 
 doubt his good faith. 
 
 Since he had seen through the trick of the peas- 
 ants and the paralytic, understood that he had let 
 himself be duped and persuaded, the year before, 
 through the sheer desire to believe in the efficacy of 
 the waters with which he had been bitten, since, 
 above all, he had not been able to free himself, with- 
 out paying, from the formidable complaints of the old 
 man, he had converted it into a strong advertisement, 
 and worked it wonderfully well. 
 
 Mazelli had just come back, after having accom- 
 panied his patient to her own apartments. 
 
 Gontran caught hold of his arm: "Tell me your 
 opinion, my good doctor. Which of the Oriol girls 
 do you prefer? "
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 249 
 
 The handsome physician whispered in his ear: 
 "The younger one, to love; the elder one, to marry." 
 
 "Look at that! We are exactly of the same way 
 of thinking. 1 am delighted at it!" 
 
 Then, going over to his sister, who was still talk- 
 ing to Charlotte: "You are not aware of it ? 1 have 
 made up my mind that we are to visit the Puy de la 
 Nugere on Thursday. It is the finest crater of the 
 chain. Everyone consents. It is a settled thing." 
 
 Christiane murmured with an air of indifference: 
 "1 consent to anything you like." 
 
 But Professor Cloche, followed by his daughter, 
 was about to take his leave, and Mazelli, offering to 
 see them home, started off behind the young widow. 
 In five minutes, everyone had left, for Christiane 
 went to bed at eleven o'clock. The Marquis, Paul, 
 and Gontran accompanied the Oriol girls. Gontran 
 and Louise walked in front, and Bretigny, some paces 
 behind them, felt Charlotte's arm trembling a little as 
 it leaned on his. 
 
 They separated with the agreement: "On Thurs- 
 day at eleven for breakfast at the hotel!" 
 
 On their way back they met Andermatt, detained in 
 a corner of the park by Professor Mas-Roussel, who 
 was saying to him: "Well, if it does not put you 
 about, I'll come and have a chat with you to-morrow 
 morning about that little business of the chalet." 
 
 William joined the young men to go in with 
 them, and, drawing himself up to his brother-in-law's 
 ear, said: "My best compliments, my dear boy! You 
 have acted your part admirably." 
 
 Gontran, for the past two years, had been 
 harassed by pecuniary embarrassments which had
 
 250 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 spoiled his existence. So long as he was spending 
 the share which came to him from his mother, he 
 had allowed his Hfe to pass in that carelessness and 
 indifference which he inherited from his father, in the 
 midst of those young men, rich, blasd, and corrupted, 
 whose doings we read about every morning in the 
 newspapers, who belong to the world of fashion but 
 mingle in it very little, preferring the society of 
 women of easy virtue and purchasable hearts. 
 
 There were a dozen of them in the same set, who 
 were to be found every night at the same caf^ on 
 the boulevard between midnight and three o'clock in 
 the morning. Very well dressed, always in black 
 coats and white waistcoats, wearing shirt-buttons 
 worth twenty louis changed every month, and bought 
 in one of the principal jewelers' shops, they lived 
 careless of everything, save amusing themselves, pick- 
 ing up women, making them a subject of talk, and 
 getting money by every possible means. 
 
 As the only things they had any knowledge of 
 were the scandals of the night before, the echoes of 
 alcoves and stables, duels and stories about gambling 
 transactions, the entire horizon of their thoughts was 
 shut in by these barriers. They had had all the 
 women who were for sale in the market of gallantry, 
 had passed them through their hands, given them 
 up, exchanged them with one another, and talked 
 among themselves as to their erotic qualities as they 
 might have talked about the qualities of race-horses. 
 They also associated with people of rank whose 
 voluptuous habits excited comment and whose women 
 nearly all kept up intrigues which were matters of 
 notoriety, under the eyes of husbands indifferent or
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 251 
 
 averted or closed or devoid of perception; and they 
 passed judgment on these women as on the others, 
 forming much the same estimate about them, save 
 that they made a slight distinction on the grounds of 
 birth and social position. 
 
 By dint of resorting to dodges to get the money 
 necessary for the life which they led, outwitting 
 usurers, borrowing on all sides, putting off trades- 
 men, laughing in the faces of their tailors when pre- 
 sented with a big bill every six months, listening to 
 girls telling about the infamies they perpetrated in 
 order to gratify their feminine greed, seeing system- 
 atic cheating at clubs, knowing and feeling that they 
 were individually robbed by everyone, by servants, 
 merchants, keepers of big restaurants and others, be- 
 coming acquainted with certain sharp practices and 
 shady transactions in which they themselves had a 
 hand in order to knock out a few louis, their moral 
 sense had become blunted, used up, and their sole 
 point of honor consisted in fighting duels when they 
 realized that they were suspected of all the things 
 of which they were either capable or actually guilty. 
 
 Everyone of these young roues, after some years 
 of this existence, ended with a rich marriage, or a 
 scandal, or a suicide, or a mysterious disappearance 
 as complete as death. But they put their principal reli- 
 ance on the rich marriage. Some trusted to their 
 families to procure such a thing for them; others looked 
 out themselves for it without letting it be noticed; and 
 they had lists of heiresses just as people have lists of 
 houses for sale. They kept their eyes fixed especially 
 on the exotics, the Americans of the north and of 
 the south, whom they dazzled by their "chic," by
 
 252 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 their reputation as fast men, by talk about their suc- 
 cesses, and by the elegance of their persons. And 
 their tradesmen also placed reliance on the rich mar- 
 riage. 
 
 But this hunt after the girl with a fortune was 
 bound to be protracted. In any case it involved in- 
 quiries, the trouble of winning a female heart, fa- 
 tigues, visits, all that exercise of energy of which 
 Gontran, careless by nature, remained utterly incapa- 
 ble. For a long time past, he had been saying to 
 himself, feeling each day more keenly the unpleasant- 
 ness of impecuniosity: "I must, for all that, think 
 over it." But he did not think over it, and so he 
 found nothing. He had been reduced to the ingen- 
 ious pursuit of paltry sums, to all the questionable 
 steps of people at the end of their resources, and, to 
 crown all, to long sojourns in the family, when 
 Andermatt had suddenly suggested to him the idea 
 of marrying one of the Oriol girls. 
 
 He had, at first, said nothing through prudence, 
 although the young girl appeared to him, at first 
 blush, too much beneath him for him to consent to 
 such an unequal match. But a few minutes' reflec- 
 tion had very speedily modified his view; and he 
 forthwith made up his mind to make love to her in 
 a bantering sort of way — the love-making of a spa — 
 which would not compromise him, and would permit 
 him to back out of it. 
 
 Thoroughly acquainted with his brother-in-law's 
 character, he knew that this proposition must have 
 been cogitated for a long time, and weighed and 
 matured by him — that she meant to him a valuable 
 prize such as it would be hard to find elsewhere.
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 255 
 
 It would cost him no trouble but that of stooping 
 down and picking up a pretty girl, for he liked the 
 younger sister very much, and he had often said to 
 himself that she would be nice to associate with later 
 on. He had accordingly selected Charlotte Oriol; 
 and in a little time would have brought matters to 
 the point when a regular proposal might have been 
 made to her. 
 
 Now, as the father was bestowing on his other 
 daughter the dowry coveted by Andermatt, Gontran 
 had either to renounce this union or turn round to 
 the elder sister. He felt intense dissatisfaction with 
 this state of affairs and he had been thinking in his 
 first moments of vexation of sending his brother-in- 
 law to the devil and remaining a bachelor until a 
 fresh opportunity arose. But just at that very time 
 he found himself quite cleaned out, so that he had to 
 ask, for his play at the Casino, a sum of twenty-five 
 louis from Paul, after many similar loans, which he 
 had never paid back. And again, he would have to 
 look for a rich wife, find her, and captivate her, 
 while without any change of place, with only a few 
 days of attention and gallantry, he could capture the 
 elder of the Oriol girls just as he had been able to 
 make a conquest of the younger. In this way he 
 would make sure in his brother-in-law of a banker 
 whom he might render always responsible, on whom 
 he might cast endless reproaches, and whose cash- 
 box would always be open for him. 
 
 As for his wife, he could bring her to Paris, and 
 there introduce her into society as the daughter of 
 Andermatt's partner. Moreover, she bore the name 
 of the spa, to which he would never bring her back!
 
 254 
 
 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 Never! never! in virtue of the natural law that streams 
 do not return to their sources. She had a nice face 
 and figure, sufficiently distinguished already to become 
 entirely so, sufficiently intelligent to understand the 
 ways of society, to hold her own in it, to make a 
 good show in it, and even to do him honor. People 
 would say: "This joker here has married a lovely 
 girl, at whom he looks as if he were not making a 
 bad joke of it." And he would not make a bad joke 
 of it, in fact, for he counted on resuming by her 
 side his bachelor existence with the money in his 
 pockets. 
 
 So he turned toward Louise Oriol, and, taking ad- 
 vantage of the jealousy awakened in the skittish 
 heart of the young girl, without being aware of it, 
 had excited in her a coquetry which had hitherto 
 slumbered, and a vague desire to take away from her 
 sister this handsome lover whom people addressed as 
 "Monsieur le Comte." 
 
 She had not said this in her own mind. She had 
 neither thought it out nor contrived it, being sur- 
 prised at their being thrown together and going off 
 in one another's company. But when she saw him 
 assiduous and gallant toward her, she felt from his 
 demeanor, from his glances, and his entire attitude, 
 that he was not enamored of Charlotte, and without 
 trying to see beyond that, she was in a happy, joy- 
 ous, almost triumphant frame of mind as she lay 
 down to sleep. 
 
 They hesitated for a long time on the following 
 Thursday before starting for the Puy de la Nugere. 
 The gloomy sky and the heavy atmosphere made 
 them anticipate rain. But Gontran insisted so
 
 MONT ORIOL 2<y<y 
 
 Strongly on going that he carried the waverers along 
 with him. The breakfast was a melancholy affair. 
 Christiane and Paul had quarreled the night before, 
 without apparent cause. Andermatt was afraid that 
 Gontran's marriage might not take place, for Pere 
 Oriol had, that very morning, spoken of him in 
 equivocal terms. Gontran, on being informed of this, 
 got angry and made up his mind that he would suc- 
 ceed. Charlotte, foreseeing her sister's triumph, with- 
 out at all understanding this transfer of Gontran's 
 affections, strongly desired to remain in the village. 
 With some difficulty they prevailed on her to come. 
 
 Accordingly the Noah's Ark carried its full num- 
 ber of ordinary passengers in the direction of the 
 high plateau which looks down on Volvic. Louise 
 Oriol, suddenly becoming loquacious, acted as their 
 guide along the road. She explained how the stone 
 of Volvic, which is nothing else but the lava-current 
 of the surrounding peaks, had helped to build all the 
 churches and all the houses in the district — a cir- 
 cumstance which gives to the towns in Auvergne the 
 dark and charred-looking aspect that they present. 
 
 She pointed out the yards where this stone was 
 cut, showed them the molten rock that was worked 
 as a quarry, from which was extracted the rough 
 lava, and made them view with admiration, standing 
 on a hilltop and bending over Volvic, the immense 
 black Virgin who protects the town. Then they 
 ascended toward the upper plateau, embossed with 
 extinct volcanoes. The horses went at a walking 
 pace over the long and toilsome road. Their path 
 was bordered with beautiful green woods, and no- 
 body talked any longer.
 
 256 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 Christiane was thinking about Tazenat. It was 
 the same carriage; they were the same persons; but 
 their hearts were no longer the same. Everything 
 seemed as it had been — and yet? and yet? What 
 then had happened? Ahnost nothing. A little love 
 the more on her part! A little love the less on his! 
 Almost nothing — the invisible rent which weariness 
 makes in an intimate attachment — oh! almost noth- 
 ing — and the look in the changed eyes, because the 
 same eyes no longer saw the same faces in the 
 same way. What is this but a look ? Almost noth- 
 ing! 
 
 The coachman drew up, and said: "It is here, 
 at the right, through that path in the wood. You 
 have only to follow it in order to get there. 
 
 All descended, save the Marquis, who thought the 
 weather too warm. Louise and Gontran went on in 
 front, and Charlotte remained behind with Paul and 
 Christiane, who found difficulty in walking. The 
 path appeared to them long, right through the wood; 
 then they reached a crest covered with tall grass 
 which led by a steep ascent to the sides of the old 
 crater. Louise and Gontran, halting when they got 
 to the top, both looking tall and slender, had the 
 appearance of standing in the clouds. When the 
 others had come up with them, Paul Bretigny's en- 
 thusiastic soul was inflamed with poetic rapture. 
 
 Around them, behind them, to right, to left, they 
 were surrounded by strange cones, decapitated, some 
 shooting forth, others crushed into a mass, but all 
 preserving their fantastic physiognomy of dead vol- 
 canoes. These heavy fragments of mountains with 
 flat summits rose from south to west along an im-
 
 MONT ORIOL 257 
 
 mense plateau of desolate appearance, which, itself a 
 thousand meters above the Limagne, looked down 
 upon it, as far as the eye could reach, toward the 
 east and the north, on to the invisible horizon, al- 
 ways veiled, always blue. 
 
 The Puy de Dome, at the right, towered above all 
 its fellows, with from seventy to eighty craters now 
 gone to sleep. Further on were the Puy de Grave- 
 noire, the Puy de Crouel, the Puy de la Pedge, the 
 Puy de Sault, the Puy de Noschamps, the Puy de la 
 Vache. Nearer, were the Puy de Come, the Puy de 
 Jumes, the Puy de Tressoux, the Puy de Louchadiere 
 — a vast cemetery of volcanoes. 
 
 The young men gazed at the scene in amazement. 
 At their feet opened the first crater of La Nugere, a 
 deep grassy basin at the bottom of which could be 
 seen three enormous blocks of brown lava, lifted up 
 with the monster's last puff and then sunk once 
 more into his throat as he expired, remaining there 
 from century to century forever. 
 
 Gontran exclaimed: "As for me, I am going down 
 to the bottom. 1 want to see how they give up the 
 ghost — creatures of this sort. Come along, Mesde- 
 moiselles, for a little run down the slope." And 
 seizing Louise's arm, he dragged her after him. 
 Charlotte followed them, running after them. Then, 
 all of a sudden, she stopped, watched them as they 
 flew along, jumping with their arms linked, and, 
 turning back abruptly, she reascended toward Chris- 
 tiane and Paul, who were seated on the grass at the 
 top of the declivity. When she reached them, she 
 fell upon her knees, and, hiding her face in the young 
 girl's robe she wore, she burst out sobbing. 
 
 8 G. de M.— 17
 
 258 
 
 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 Christiane, who understood what was the matter, 
 and whom all the sorrows of others had, for some 
 time past, pierced like wounds inflicted upon herself, 
 flung her arms around the girl's neck, and, moved 
 also by her tears, murmured: "Poor little thing! 
 poor little thing!" The girl kept crying incessantly, 
 and with her hands dropping listlessly to the ground, 
 she tore up the grass unconscious of what she was 
 doing, 
 
 Bretigny had risen up in order to avoid the ap- 
 pearance of having observed her, but this misery en- 
 dured by a young girl, this distress of an innocent 
 creature, filled him suddenly with indignation against 
 Gontran. He, whom Christiane's deep anguish only 
 exasperated, was touched to the bottom of his heart 
 by a girl's first disillusion. 
 
 He came back, and kneeling down in his turn, in 
 order to speak to her, said: "Come, calm yourself, 
 I beg of you. They are going to return presently. 
 They must not see you crying." 
 
 She sprang to her feet, scared by this idea that 
 her sister might find her with tears in her eyes. 
 Her throat remained choking with sobs, which she 
 held back, which she swallowed down, which she sent 
 back into her heart, filling it with more poignant 
 grief. She faltered: "Yes — yes — it is over — it is 
 nothing — it is over. Look here! It cannot be noticed 
 now. Isn't that so? It cannot be noticed now." 
 
 Christiane wiped her cheeks with her handker- 
 chief, then passed it also across her own. She said to 
 Paul: 
 
 "Go, pray, and see what they are doing. We 
 cannot see them any longer. They have disappeared
 
 MONT ORIOL 259 
 
 under tht blocks of lava. I will look after this little 
 one, and console her." 
 
 Bretigny had again stood up, and in a trembling 
 voice, said: "1 am going there — and I'll bring them 
 back, but it will be my affair — your brother — this very 
 day — and he shall give me an explanation of his un- 
 justifiable conduct, after what he said to us the other 
 day." He began to descend, running toward the 
 center of the crater. 
 
 Gontran, hurrying Louise along, had pulled her 
 with all his strength over the steep side of the chasm, 
 in order to hold her up, to sustain her, to put her out 
 of breath, to make her dizzy, and to frighten her. 
 She, carried along by his wild rush, attempted to 
 stop him, gasping: "Oh! not so quickly — I'm going 
 to fall — why, you're mad — I'm going to fall!" 
 
 They knocked against the blocks of lava, and re- 
 mained standing up, both breathless. Then they 
 walked round the crater staring at the big gaps 
 which formed below a kind of cavern, with a double 
 outlet. 
 
 When at the end of its life, the volcano had cast 
 out this last mouthful of foam, unable to shoot it up 
 to the sky as in former times, he had spat it forth, 
 so that, thick and half-cooled, it fixed itself upon his 
 dying lips. 
 
 "We must enter under there," said Gontran. And 
 he pushed the young girl before him. Then, when 
 they were in the grotto, he said: " V/ell, Mademoiselle, 
 this is the moment to make a declaration to you." 
 
 She was stupefied: "A declaration — to me!" 
 
 "Why, yes, in four words--! find you charming!" 
 
 "It is to my sister you should say that!"
 
 26o WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 "Oh! you know well that I am not making a 
 dechiration to your sister." 
 
 "Come, now!" 
 
 "Look here! you would not be a woman if you 
 did not understand that I have paid attentions to her 
 to see what you would think of it! — and what looks 
 you gave me on account of it. Why, you looked 
 daggers at me! Oh! I'm quite satisfied. So then I 
 have tried to prove to you, by all the consideration 
 in my power, how much I thought about you." 
 
 Nobody had ever before talked to her in this way. 
 She felt confused and delighted, her heart full of joy 
 and pride. He went on: "I know well that I have 
 been nasty toward your little sister. So much the 
 worse. She is not deceived by it, never fear. You 
 see how she remained on the hillside, how she was 
 not inclined to follow us. Oh! she understands! she 
 understands! " 
 
 He had caught hold of one of Louise Oriol's hands, 
 and he kissed the ends of her fingers softly, gallantly, 
 murmuring: "How nice you are! How nice you 
 are!" 
 
 She, leaning against the wall of lava, heard his 
 heart beating with emotion without uttering a word. 
 The thought, the sole thought, which floated in her 
 agitated mind, was one of triumph; she had got the 
 better of her sister! But a shadow appeared at the 
 entrance to the grotto. Paul Bretigny was looking at 
 them. Gontran, in a natural fashion, let fall the little 
 hand which he had been raising to his lips, and said: 
 "Hallo! you here? Are you alone?" 
 
 "Yes. We were surprised to see you disappear-* 
 ing down here."
 
 MONT ORIOL 261 
 
 "Oh! well, let us go back. We were looking at 
 this. Isn't it rather curious?" 
 
 Louise, flushed up to her temples, went out first, 
 and began to reascend the slope, followed by the two 
 young men, who were talking behind in a low tone. 
 
 Christiane and Charlotte saw them approaching, 
 and awaited them with clasped hands. 
 
 They went back to the carriage in which the 
 Marquis had remained, and the Noah's Ark set out 
 again for Enval. 
 
 Suddenly, in the midst of a little forest of pine- 
 trees the landau stopped, and the coachman began to 
 swear. An old dead ass blocked the way. 
 
 Everyone wanted to look at it, and they got down 
 off the carriage. He lay stretched on the blackened 
 dust, himself discolored, and so lean that his worn 
 skin at the places where the bones projected seemed 
 as if it would have been burst through if the animal 
 had not breathed forth his last sigh. The entire carcass 
 outlined itself under the gnawed hair of his sides, and 
 his head looked enormous — a poor-looking head, 
 with the eyes closed, tranquil now on its bed of 
 broken stones, so tranquil, so calm in death, that it 
 appeared happy and surprised at this new-found rest. 
 His big ears, now relaxed, lay like rags. Two raw 
 wounds on his knees told how often he had fallen 
 that very day before sinking down for the last time; 
 and another wound on the side showed the place 
 where his master, for years and years, had been 
 prickmg him with an iron spike attached to the end 
 of a stick, to hasten his slow pace. 
 
 The coachman, having caught its hind legs, dragged 
 it toward a ditch, and the neck was strained as if
 
 262 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 the dead brute were going to bray once more, to 
 give vent to a last complaint. Wnen this was done, 
 the man, in a rage, muttered: "What brutes, to leave 
 this in the middle of the road!" 
 
 No other person had said a word; they again 
 stepped into the carriage. Christiane, heartbroken, 
 crushed, saw all the miserable life of this animal 
 ended thus at the side of the road: the merry little 
 donkey with his big head, in which glittered a pair 
 of big eyes, comical and good-tempered, with his 
 rough hair and his long ears, gamboling about, still 
 free, close to his mother's legs; then the first cart; 
 the first uphill journey; the first blows; and, after 
 that, the ceaseless and terrible walking along inter- 
 minable roads, the overpowering heat of the sun, and 
 nothing for food save a little straw, a little hay, or 
 some branches, while all along the hard roads there 
 was the temptation of the green meadows. 
 
 And then, again, as age came upon him, the iron 
 spike replacing the pliant switch; and the frightful 
 martyrdom of the animal, worn out, bereft of breath, 
 bruised, always dragging after it excessive loads, and 
 suffering in all its limbs, in all its old body, shabby 
 as a beggar's cart. And then the death, the benefi- 
 cent death, three paces away from the grass of the 
 ditch, to which a man, passing by, drags it with oaths, 
 in order to clear the road. 
 
 Christiane, for the first time, understood the wretch- 
 edness of enslaved creatures; and death appeared to 
 her also a very good thing at times. 
 
 Suddenly they passed by a little cart, which a 
 man nearly naked, a woman in tatters, and a lean 
 dog were dragging along, exhausted by fatigue. The
 
 MONT ORIOL 263 
 
 occupants of the carriage noticed that they were 
 sweating and panting. The dog, with his tongue 
 out, fieshless and mangy, was fastened between the 
 wheels. There were in this cart pieces of wood 
 picked up everywhere, stolen, no doubt, roots, 
 stumps, broken branches, which seemed to hide 
 other things; then over these branches rags, and on 
 these rags a child, nothing but a head starting out 
 through gray old scraps of cloth, a round ball with 
 two eyes, a nose, and a mouth! 
 
 This was a f^unily, a human family! The ass had 
 succumbed to fatigue, and the man, without pity for 
 his dead servant, without pushing it even into the 
 rut, had left it in the open road, in front of any 
 vehicles which might be coming up. Then, yoking 
 himself in his turn with his wife in the empty shafts, 
 they proceeded to drag it along as the beast had 
 dragged it a short time before. They were going 
 on. Where? To do what .^ Had they even a few 
 sous? That cart- — would they be dragging it for- 
 ever, not being in a position to buy another animal? 
 What would they live on? Where would they stop? 
 They would probably die as their donkey had died. 
 
 Were they married, these beggars, or merely living 
 together? And their child would do the same as 
 they did, this little brute as yet unformed, concealed 
 under sordid wrappings. Christiane was thinking on 
 all these things; and new sensations rose up in the 
 depths of her pitying soul. She had a glimpse of the 
 misery of the poor. 
 
 Gontran said, all of a sudden: "1 don't know 
 why, but I would think it a delicious thing if we 
 were all to dine together this evening at the Cafe
 
 264 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 Anglais. It would give me pleasure to have a look 
 at the boulevard." 
 
 And the Marquis muttered: "Bah! we are well 
 enough here. The new hotel is much better than the 
 old one." 
 
 They passed in front of Tournoel. A recollection 
 of the spot made Christiane's heart palpitate, as she 
 recognized a certain chestnut-tree. She glanced to- 
 ward Paul, who had closed his eyes, so that he did 
 not see her meek, appealing face. 
 
 Soon they perceived two men before the carriage, 
 two vinedressers returning from work carrying their 
 rakes on their shoulders, and walking with the long, 
 weary steps of laborers. The Oriol girls reddened to 
 their very temples. It was their father and their 
 brother, who had gone back to their vine-lands as in 
 former times, and passed their days sweating over 
 the soil which they had enriched, and bent double, 
 with their buttocks in the air, kept toiling at it from 
 morning until evening, while the fine frock-coats, 
 carefully folded up, were at rest in the chest of 
 drawers, and the tall hats in a press. 
 
 The two peasants bowed with a friendly smile, 
 while everyone in the landau waved a hand in re- 
 sponse to their "Good evening." 
 
 When they got back, just as Gontran was step' 
 ping out of the Ark to go up to the Casino, Bre- 
 tigny accompanied him, and stopping on the first 
 steps, said: 
 
 "Listen, m.y friend! What you're doing is not 
 right, and I've promised your sister to speak to you 
 about it." 
 
 "To speak about what?"
 
 MONTORIOL 265 
 
 " About the way you have been acting during the 
 last few days." 
 
 Gontran had resumed his impertinent air. 
 
 "Acting? Toward whom?" 
 
 "Toward this girl whom you are meanly jilting." 
 
 " Do you think so ?" 
 
 "Yes, I do think so — and I am right in think- 
 ing so." 
 
 "Bah! you are becoming very scrupulous on the 
 subject of jilting." 
 
 "Ah, my friend, 'tis not a question of a loose 
 woman here, but of a young girl." 
 
 "I know that perfectly; therefore, 1 have not se- 
 duced her. The difference is very marked." 
 
 They went on walking together side by side. 
 Gontran's demeanor exasperated Paul, who replied: 
 
 " If I were not your friend, I would say some 
 very severe things to you." 
 
 "And for my part I would not permit you to say 
 them." 
 
 "Look here, listen to me, my friend! This young 
 girl excites my pity. She was weeping a little while 
 ago." 
 
 "Bah! she was weeping! Why, that's a compli- 
 ment to me! " 
 
 "Come, don't trifle! What do you mean to do?" 
 
 "1? Nothing!" 
 
 "Just consider! You have gone so far with her 
 that you have compromised her. The other day you 
 told your sister and me that you were thinking of 
 marrying her." 
 
 Gontran stopped in his walk, and in that mock- 
 ing tone through which a menace showed itself:
 
 266 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 "My sister and you would do better not to bother 
 yourselves about other people's love affairs. 1 told 
 you that this girl pleases me well enough, and that 
 if I happened to marry her, I would be doing a wise 
 and reasonable act. That's all. Now it turns out 
 that to-day I like the elder girl better. I have changed 
 my mind. That's a thing that happens to every- 
 one." 
 
 Then, looking him full in the face: "What is it 
 that you do yourself when you cease to care about a 
 woman? Do you look after her?" 
 
 Paul Bretigny, astonished, sought to penetrate the 
 profound meaning, the hidden sense, of these words. 
 A little feverishness also mounted into his brain. He 
 said in a violent tone: 
 
 "I tell you again this is not a question of a hussy 
 or a married woman, but of a young girl whom you 
 have deceived, if not by promises, at least by your 
 advances. That is not, mark you, the part of a man 
 of honor! — or of an honest man!" 
 
 Gontran, pale, his voice quivering, interrupted 
 him: "Hold your tongue! You have already said 
 too much — and I have listened to too much of this. 
 In my turn, if I were not your friend 1 — I might 
 show you that I have a short temper. Another word, 
 and there is an end of everything between us for- 
 ever!" 
 
 Then, slowly weighing his words, and flinging 
 them in Paul's face, he said: "I have no explanations 
 to offer you — I might rather have to demand them 
 from you. There is a certain kind of indelicacy of 
 which it is not the part of a man of honor or of 
 an honest man to be guilty — u'hich might take many
 
 MONT ORIOL 267 
 
 forms — from which friendship ought to i<eep certain 
 people — and which love does not excuse." 
 
 All of a sudden, changing his tone, and almost 
 jesting, he added: 
 
 ''As for this little Charlotte, if she excites your 
 pity, and if you like her, take her, and marry her. 
 Marriage is often a solution of dilTicult cases. It is a 
 solution, and a stronghold, in which one may barri- 
 cade himself against desperate obstacles. She is 
 pretty and rich! It would be very desirable for you 
 to finish with an accident like this! — it would be 
 amusing for us to marry here, the same day, for I 
 certainly will marry the elder one. I tell it to you 
 as a secret, and don't repeat it as yet. Now don't 
 forget that you have less right than anyone else your- 
 self ever to talk about integrity in matters of senti- 
 ment, and scruples of affection. And now go and 
 look after your own affairs. I am going to look 
 after mine. Good night!" 
 
 And suddenly turning off in another direction, he 
 went down toward the village. Paul Bretigny, with 
 doubts in his mind and uneasiness in his heart, 
 returned with lingering steps to the hotel of Mont 
 Oriol. 
 
 He tried to understand thoroughly, to recall each 
 word, in order to determine its meaning, and he was 
 amazed at the secret byways, shameful and unfit to 
 be spoken of, which may be hidden in certain souls. 
 
 When Christiane asked him: "What reply did 
 you get from Gontran?" 
 
 He faltered: "My God! he — he prefers the elder, 
 just now. I believe he even intends to marry her — 
 and in answer to my rather sharp reproaches he shut
 
 268 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 my mouth by allusions that are — disquieting to both 
 of us." 
 
 Christiane sank into a chair, murmuring: "Oh! 
 my God! my God!" 
 
 But, as Gontran had just come in, for the bell had 
 rung for dinner, he kissed her gaily on the forehead, 
 asking: "Well, little sister, how do you feel now? 
 You are not too tired?" 
 
 Then he pressed Paul's hand, and, turning toward 
 Andermatt, who had come in after him: 
 
 "I say, pearl of brothers-in-law, of husbands, and 
 of friends, can you tell me exactly what an old ass 
 dead on a road is worth ? "
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 A Betrothal 
 
 NDERMATT and Doctof Latonne were 
 
 walking in front of the Casino on 
 
 a terrace adorned with vases made 
 
 of imitation marble. 
 
 "He no longer salutes me," the 
 
 doctor was saying, referring to his 
 
 brother-physician Bonnefille. "He is 
 
 over there in his pit, like a wild-boar. 
 
 I believe he would poison our springs, if 
 
 he could!" 
 
 ^^.. — * Andermatt, with his hands behind his 
 
 back and his hat — a small round hat of gray 
 felt — thrown back over his neck, so as to let 
 the baldness above his forehead be seen, was 
 deeply plunged in thought. At length he said: 
 
 "Oh! in three months the Company will have 
 knuckled under. We might buy it over at ten thou- 
 sand francs. It is that wretched Bonnefille who is 
 exciting them against me, and who makes them 
 fancy that I will give way. But he is mistaken." 
 
 The new inspector returned: "You are aware 
 that they have shut up their Casino since yesterday. 
 They have no one any longer." 
 
 (269)
 
 2']0 
 
 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 "Yes, I am aware of it; but we have not enough 
 of people here ourselves. They stick in too much at 
 the hotels; and people get bored in the hotels, my 
 dear fellow. It is necessary to amuse the bathers, to 
 distract them, to make them think the season too short. 
 Those staying at our Mont Oriol hotel come every 
 evening, because they are quite near, but the others 
 hesitate and remain in their abodes. It is a question 
 of routes — ^^ nothing else. Success always depends on 
 certain imperceptible causes which we ought to know 
 how to discover. It is necessary that the routes 
 leading to a place of recreation should be a source 
 of recreation in themselves, the commencement of 
 the pleasure which one will be enjoying presently. 
 
 "The ways which lead to this place are bad, 
 stony, hard; they cause fatigue. When a route which 
 goes to any place, to which one has a vague desire 
 of paying a visit, is pleasant, wide, and full of 
 shade in the daytime, easy and not too steep at 
 night, one selects it naturally in preference to others. 
 If you knew how the body preserves the recollection 
 of a thousand things which the mind has not taken 
 the trouble to retain! 1 believe this is how the 
 memory of animals is constructed. Have you felt too 
 hot when repairing to such a place ? Have you tired 
 your feet on badly broken stones ? Have you found 
 an ascent too rough, even while you were thinking 
 of something else.?* If so, you will experience invincible 
 repugnance to revisiting that spot. You were chat- 
 ting with a friend; you took no notice of the slight 
 annoyances of the journey; you were looking at 
 nothing, remarking notice; but your legs, your mus- 
 cles, your lungs, your whole body have not forgot-
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 271 
 
 ten, and they say to the mind, when it wants to 
 take them along the same route: 'No, I won't go; 1 
 have suffered too much there.' And the mind yields 
 to this refusal without disputing it, submitting to 
 this mute language of the companions who carry it 
 along. 
 
 "So then, we want fine pathways, which comes 
 back to saying that 1 require the bits of ground 
 belonging to that donkey of a Pere Oriol. But pa- 
 tience! Ha! with reference to that point, Mas-Rous- 
 sel has become the proprietor of his own chalet on 
 the same conditions as Remusot. It is a trifling sac- 
 rifice for which he will amply indemnify us. Try, 
 therefore, to find out exactly what are Cloche's in- 
 tentions." 
 
 "He'll do just the same thing as the others," said 
 the physician. "But there is something else, of 
 which I have been thinking for the last few days, 
 and which we have completely forgotten — it is the 
 meteorological bulletin." 
 
 "What meteorological bulletin?" 
 
 "In the big Parisian newspapers. It is indispensa- 
 ble, this is! It is necessary that the temperature of 
 a thermal station should be better, less variable, more 
 uniformly mild than that of the neighboring and rival 
 stations. You subscribe to the meteorological bulletin 
 in the leading organs of opinion, and I will send 
 every evening by telegraph the atmospheric situation. 
 I will do it in such a way that the average arrived 
 at when the year is at an end may be higher than 
 the best mean temperatures of the surrounding sta- 
 tions. The first thing that meets our eyes when we 
 open the big newspapers are the temperatures of Vichy,
 
 272 
 
 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 of Royat, of Mont Dore, of Chatel-Guyon, and other 
 places during the summer season, and, during the 
 winter season, the temperatures of Cannes, Mentone, 
 Nice, Saint Raphael. It is necessary that the weather 
 should always be hot and always fine in these places, 
 in order that the Parisian might say: 'Christi! how 
 lucky the people are who go down there!'" 
 
 Andermatt exclaimed: "Upon my honor, you're 
 right. Why have 1 never thought of that? I will 
 attend to it this very day. With regard to useful 
 things, have you written to Professors Larenard and 
 Pascalis ? There are two men I would like very much 
 to have here." 
 
 "Unapproachable, my dear President — unless — 
 unless they are satisfied of themselves after many 
 trials that our waters are of a superior character. 
 But, as far as they are concerned, you will accom- 
 plish nothing by persuasion — by anticipation." 
 
 They passed by Paul and Gontran, who had come 
 to take coffee after luncheon. Other bathers made 
 their appearance, especially men, for the women, on 
 rising from the table, always went up to their rooms 
 for an hour or two. Petrus Martel was looking after 
 his waiters, and crying out: "A kummel, a nip of 
 brandy, a glass of aniseed cordial," in the same roll- 
 ing, deep voice which he would assume an hour 
 later while conducting rehearsals, and giving the key- 
 note to the young premiere. 
 
 Andermatt stopped a few moments for a short 
 ^hat with the two young men; then he resumed his 
 promenade by the side of the inspector. 
 
 Gontran, with legs crossed and folded arms, loll- 
 ing in his chair, with the nape of his neck against
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 273 
 
 the back of it, and his eyes and his cigar facing the 
 sky, was puffing in a state of absolute contentment. 
 
 Suddenly, he asked: "Would you mind taking a 
 turn, presently, in the valley of Sans-Souci ? The 
 girls will be there." 
 
 Paul hesitated; then, after some reflection: "Yes, 
 I am quite willing." Then he added: "Is your 
 affair progressing.?" 
 
 "Egad, it is! Oh! 1 have a hold of her. She 
 won't escape me now." 
 
 Gontran had, by this time, taken his friend into 
 his confidence, and told him, day by day, how he 
 was going on and how much ground he had gained. 
 He even got him to be present, as a confederate, at 
 his appointments, for he had managed to obtain ap- 
 pointments with Louise Oriol by a little bit of in- 
 genuity. 
 
 After their promenade at the Puy de la Nugere, 
 Christiane put an end to these excursions by not go- 
 ing out at all, and so rendered it more and more 
 difficult for the lovers to meet. Her brother, put out 
 at first by this attitude on her part, bethought him of 
 some means of extricating himself from this predica- 
 ment. Accustomed to Parisian morals, according to 
 which women are regarded by men of his stamp as 
 game, the chase of which is often no easy one, he 
 had in former days made use of many artifices in 
 order to gain access to those for whom he had con- 
 ceived a passion. He knew better than anyone else 
 how to make use of pimps, to discover those who 
 were accommodating through interested motives, and 
 to determine with a single glance the men or women 
 who were disposed to aid him in his designs. 
 
 8 G. aL-.M.-i8
 
 274 
 
 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 The unconscious support of Christiane having sud- 
 denly been withdrawn from him, he had looked about 
 him for the requisite connecting link, the "pliant 
 nature," as he expressed it himself, whereby he could 
 replace his sister; and his choice speedily fixed itself 
 on Doctor Honorat's wife. Many reasons pointed at 
 her as a suitable person. In the first place, her hus- 
 band, closely associated with the Oriols, had been for 
 the past twenty years attending this family. He had 
 been present at the birth of the children, had dined 
 with them every Sunday, and had entertained them 
 at his own table every Tuesday. His wife, a fat old 
 woman of the lower-middle class, trying to pass as a 
 lady, full of pretension, easy to overcome through her 
 vanity, was sure to lend both hands to every desire of 
 the Comte de Ravenel, whose brother-in-law owned 
 the establishment of Mont Oriol. 
 
 Besides, Gontran, who was a good judge of a go- 
 between, had satisfied himself that this woman was 
 naturally well adapted for the part, by merely seeing 
 her walking through the street. 
 
 "She has the physique," was his reflection, "and 
 when one has the physique for an employment, one 
 has the soul required for it, too!" 
 
 Accordingly, he made his way into her abode, one 
 day, after having accompanied her husband to his 
 own door. He sat down, chatted, complimented the 
 lady, and, when the dinner-bell rang, he said, as he 
 ro.se up: "You have a very savory smell here. You 
 cook better than they do at the hotel." 
 
 Madame Honorat, swelling with pride, faltered: 
 "Good heavens! if 1 might make so bold — if 1 might 
 make so bold, Monsieur le Comte, as — "
 
 MONT ORIOL '27c 
 
 "If you might make so bold as what, dear Ma- 
 dame?" 
 
 "As to ask you to share our humble meal." 
 
 "Faith — faith, I would say 'yes.'" 
 
 The doctor, ill at ease, muttered: "But we have 
 nothing, nothing — soup, a joint of beef, and a 
 chicken, that's all!" 
 
 Gontran laughed: "That's quite enough for me. 
 I accept the invitation." 
 
 And he dined at the Honorat household. The fat 
 woman rose up, went to take the dishes out of the 
 servant-maid's hands, in order that the latter might 
 not spill the sauce over the tablecloth, and, in spite 
 of her husband's impatience, insisted on attending at 
 table herself. 
 
 The Comte congratulated her on the excellence of 
 the cooking, on the good house she kept, on her at- 
 tention to the duties of hospitality, and he left her 
 inflamed with enthusiasm. 
 
 He returned to leave his card, accepted a fresh in- 
 vitation, and thenceforth made his way constantly to 
 Madame Honorat's house, to which the Oriol girls 
 had paid visits frequently also for many years as 
 neighbors and friends. 
 
 So then he spent hours there, in the midst of the 
 three ladies, attentive to both sisters, but accentuating 
 clearly, from day to day, his marked preference for 
 Louise. 
 
 The jealousy that had sprung up between the 
 girls since the time when he had begun to make love 
 to Charlotte had assumed an aspect of spiteful hos- 
 tility on the side of the elder girl and of disdain on 
 the side of the younger. Louise, with her reserved
 
 276 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 air, imported into her reticences and her demure ways 
 in Gontran's society much more coquetry and encour- 
 agement than the other had formerly shown v/ith all 
 her free and joyous unconstraint. Charlotte, wounded 
 to the quick, concealed through pride the pain that 
 she endured, pretended not to see or hear anything 
 of what was happening around her, and continued 
 her visits to Madame Honorat's house with a beauti- 
 ful appearance of indifference to all these lovers' 
 meetings. She would not remain behind at her own 
 abode lest people might think that her heart was 
 sore, that she was weeping, that she was making 
 way for her sister. 
 
 Gontran, too proud of his achievement to throw a 
 veil over it, could not keep himself from talking about 
 it to Paul. And Paul, thinking it amusing, began to 
 laugh. He had, besides, since the first equivocal remarks 
 of his friend, resolved not to interfere in his affairs, 
 and he often asked himself with uneasiness: "Can it 
 be possible that he knows something about Christiane 
 and me.^" 
 
 He knew Gontran too well not to believe him 
 capable of shutting his eyes to an intrigue on the 
 part of his sister. But then, why did he not let it 
 be understood sooner that he guessed it or was 
 aware of it? Gontran was, in fact, one of those in 
 whose opinion every woman in society ought to have 
 a lover or lovers, one of those for whom the family 
 is merely a society of mutual help, for whom moral- 
 ity is an attitude that is indispensable in order to veil 
 the different appetites Wiiich nature has implanted in 
 us, and for whom worldly honor is a front behind 
 which amiable vices should be hidden. Moreover, if
 
 MONT ORIOL 277 
 
 he had egged on his dear sister to marry Andermatt 
 was it not with the vague, if not clearly-defined, idea 
 that this Jew might be utilized, in every way, by all 
 the family? — and he would probably have despised 
 Christiane for being faithful to this husband of con- 
 venience, of utility, just as much as he would have 
 despised himself for not borrowing freely from his 
 brother-in-law's purse. 
 
 Paul pondered over all this, and it disturbed his 
 modern Don Quixote's soul, which, in any event, was 
 disposed toward compromise. He had, therefore, be- 
 come very reserved with this enigmatic friend of his. 
 When, accordingly, Gontran told him the use that he 
 was making of Madame Honorat, Bretigny burst out 
 laughing; and he had even, for some time past, al- 
 lowed himself to be brought to that lady's house, and 
 found great pleasure in chatting with Charlotte there. 
 
 The doctor's wife lent herself, with the best grace 
 in the world, to the part she was made to play, and 
 offered them tea about five o'clock, like the Parisian 
 ladies, with little cakes manufactured by her own 
 hands. On the first occasion when Paul made his 
 way into this household, she welcomed him as if he 
 were an old friend, made him sit down, removed his 
 hat herself, in spite of his protests, and placed it be- 
 side the clock upon the mantelpiece. Then, eager, 
 bustling, going from one to the other, tremendously 
 big and fat, she asked: 
 
 "Do you feel inclined for a little dinner?" 
 
 Gontran told funny stories, joked, and laughed 
 quite at his ease. Then, he took Louise into the re- 
 cess of a window under the troubled eyes of Char- 
 lotte.
 
 278 
 
 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 Madame Honorat, who sat chatting with Paul, said 
 to him in a maternal tone: 
 
 "These dear children, they come here to have a 
 few minutes' conversation with one another. ' Tis 
 very innocent — isn't it, Monsieur Bretigny?" 
 
 "Oh! very innocent, Madame!" 
 
 When he came the next time, she familiarly ad- 
 dressed him as "Monsieur Paul," treating him more 
 or less as a crony. 
 
 And from that time forth, Gontran told him, with 
 a sort of teasing liveliness, all about the complaisant 
 behavior of the doctor's wife, to whom he had said, 
 the evening before: "Why do you never go out for 
 a walk along the Sans-Souci road ? " 
 
 "But we will go, M. le Comte — we will go." 
 
 "Say, to-morrow about three o'clock." 
 
 "To-morrow, about three o'clock, M. le Comte." 
 
 And Gontran explained to Paul: "You understand 
 that in this drawing-room, 1 cannot say anything of 
 a very confidential nature to the elder girl before 
 the younger. But in the wood 1 can go on before 
 or remain behind with Louise. So then you will 
 come?" 
 
 "Yes, I have no objection." 
 
 " Let us go on then." 
 
 And they rose up, and set forth at a leisurely pace 
 along the highroad; then, having passed through La 
 Roche Pradiere, they turned to the left and descended 
 into the wooded glen in the midst of tangled brush- 
 wood. When they had passed the little river, they 
 sat down at the side of the path and waited. 
 
 The three ladies soon arrived, walking in single 
 file, Louise in front, and Madame Honorat in the rear.
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 279 
 
 They exhibited surprise on both sides at having met 
 in this way. Gontran exclaimed: "Well, now, what 
 a good idea this was of yours to come along here!" 
 
 The doctor's wife replied: "Yes, the idea was 
 mine." 
 
 They continued their walk. Louise and Gontran 
 gradually quickened their steps, went on in advance, 
 and rambled so far together that they disappeared 
 from view at a turn of the narrow path. 
 
 The fat lady, who was breathing hard, murmured, 
 as she cast an indulgent eye in their direction: "Bah! 
 they're young — they have legs. As for me, 1 can't 
 keep up with them." 
 
 Charlotte exclaimed: "Wait! I'm going to call 
 them back!" 
 
 She was rushing away. The doctor's wife held 
 her back: "Don't interfere with them, child, if they 
 want to chat! It would not be nice to disturb them. 
 They will come back all right by themselves." 
 
 And she sat down on the grass, under the shade 
 of a pine-tree, fanning herself with her pocket-hand- 
 kerchief. Charlotte cast a look of distress toward 
 Paul, a look imploring and sorrowful. 
 
 He understood, and said: "Well, Mademoiselle, 
 we are going to let Madame take a rest, and we'll 
 both go and overtake your sister." 
 
 She answered impetuously: "Oh, yes, Monsieur." 
 
 Madame Honorat made no objection: "Go, my 
 children, go. As for me, I'll wait for you here. Don't 
 be too long." 
 
 And they started oflF in their turn. They walked 
 quickly at first, as they could see no sign of the two 
 others, and hoped to come up with them; then,
 
 28o WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 after a few minutes, it struck them that Louise and 
 Gontran might have turned off to the right or to the 
 left through the wood, and Charlotte began to call 
 them in a trembling and undecided voice. There 
 was no response. She exclaimed: "Oh! good 
 heavens, where can they be?" 
 
 Paul felt himself overcome once more by that 
 profound pity, by that sympathetic tenderness toward 
 her which had previously taken possession of him on 
 the edge of the crater of La Nugere. 
 
 He did not know what to say to this afflicted 
 young creature. He felt a longing, a paternal and 
 passionate longing to take her in his arms, to em- 
 brace her, to find sweet and consoling words with 
 which to soothe her. But what words.? 
 
 She looked about on every side, searched the 
 branches with wild glances, listening to the faintest 
 sounds, murmuring: "I think that they are here — 
 No, there — Do you hear nothing.?" 
 
 "No, Mademoiselle, I don't hear anything. The 
 best thing we can do is to wait here." 
 
 "Oh! heavens, no. We must find them!" 
 
 He hesitated for a few seconds, and then said to 
 her in a low tone: "This, then, causes you much 
 pain ? " 
 
 She raised toward his her eyes, in which there 
 was a look of wild alarm, while the gathering tears 
 filled them with a transparent watery mist, as yet 
 held back by the lids, over which drooped the long, 
 brown lashes. She strove to speak, but could not, 
 and did not venture to open her lips. But her 
 heart swollen, choked with grief, was yearning to 
 pour itself out.
 
 MONTORIOL 281 
 
 He went on: "So then you loved him very much. 
 He is not worthy of your love. Take heart!" 
 
 She could not restrain herself any longer, and 
 hiding with her hands the tears that now gushed 
 forth from her eyes, she sobbed: "No! — no! — I do 
 not love him — he — ^it is too base to have acted as 
 he did. He made a tool of me — it is too base — too 
 cowardly — but, all the same, it does pain me — a 
 great deal — for it is hard — very hard — oh! yes. But 
 what grieves me most is that my sister — my sister 
 does not care for me any longer — she who has been 
 even more wicked than he was! I feel that she no 
 longer cares for me — not a bit — that she hates me 
 — I have only her — 1 have no one else — and 1, I 
 have done nothing! " 
 
 He only saw her ear and her neck with its young 
 flesh sinking into the collar of her dress under the 
 light material she wore till it was lost in the curves 
 of her bust. And he felt himself overpowered with 
 compassion, with sympathy, carried away by that 
 impetuous desire of self-devotion which got the bet- 
 ter of him every time that a woman touched his 
 heart. And that heart of his, responsive to outbursts 
 of enthusiasm, was excited by this innocent sorrow, 
 agitating, ingenuous, and cruelly charming. 
 
 He stretched forth his hand toward her with an 
 unstudied movement such as one might use in order 
 to caress, to calm a child, and he drew it round her 
 waist from behind over her shoulder. Then he felt 
 her heart beaming with rapid throbs, as he might have 
 heard the little heart of a bird that he had caught. 
 And this beating, continuous, precipitate, sent a 
 thrill all over his arm into his heart, accelerating its
 
 282 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 movements. And he felt those quick heart-beats 
 coming from her and penetrating him through his 
 flesh, his muscles, and his nerves, so that between them 
 there was now only one heart wounded by the same 
 pain, agitated by the same palpitation, living the 
 same life, like clocks connected by a string at some 
 distance from one another and made to keep time 
 together second by second. 
 
 But suddenly she uncovered her flushed face, still 
 tear-dimmed, quickly wiped it, and said: 
 
 "Come, I ought not to have spoken to you about 
 this. 1 am foolish. Let us go back at once to Ma- 
 dame Honorat, and forget. Do you promise me?" 
 
 "I do promise you." 
 
 She gave him her hand. "1 have confidence in 
 you. 1 believe you are very honest!" 
 
 They turned back. He lifted her up in crossing 
 the stream, just as he had lifted up Christiane, the 
 year before. How often had he passed along this 
 path with her in the days when he adored her! He 
 reflected, wondering at his own changed feelings: 
 "How short a time this passion lasted!" 
 
 Charlotte, laying a finger on his arm, murmured: 
 "Madame Honorat is asleep. Let us sit down with- 
 out making a noise." 
 
 Madame Honorat was, indeed, slumbering, with 
 her back to a pine-tree, her handkerchief over her 
 face and her hands crossed over her stomach. They 
 seated themselves a few paces away from her, and 
 refrained from speaking in order not tc awaken her. 
 Then the stillness of the wood was so profound that 
 it became as painful to them as actual suffering. 
 Nothing could be heard save the water gurgling over
 
 MONTORIOL 283 
 
 the Stones, a little lower down, then those imper- 
 ceptible quiverings of insects passing by, those light 
 buzzings of flies or of other living creatures whose 
 movements made the dead leaves flutter. 
 
 Where then were Louise and Gontran ? What 
 were they doing? All at once, the sound of their 
 voices reached them from a distance. They were 
 returning. Madame Honorat woke up and looked 
 astonished. 
 
 "What! you are here again! I did not notice 
 you coming back. And the others, have you found 
 them.?" 
 
 Paul replied: "There they are! They are com- 
 ing." 
 
 They recognized Gontran's laughter. This laughter 
 relieved Charlotte from a crushing weight, which 
 had oppressed her mind — she could not have ex- 
 plained why. 
 
 They were soon able to distinguish the pair. Gon- 
 tran had almost broken into a running pace, dragging 
 by the arm the young girl, who was quite flushed. 
 And, even before they had come up, so great a hurry 
 was he in to tell his story, he shouted: 
 
 "You don't know what we surprised. 1 give you 
 a thousand guesses to discover it! The handsome 
 Doctor Mazelli along with the daughter of the illus- 
 trious Professor Cloche, as Will would say, the pretty 
 widow with the red hair. Oh! yes, indeed — sur- 
 prised, you understand ? He was embracing her, the 
 scamp. Oh! yes — oh! yes." 
 
 Madame Honorat, at this immoderate display of 
 gaiety, made a dignified movement: 
 
 "Oh! M. le Comte, think of these young ladies!"
 
 284 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 Gontran made a respectful obeisance. 
 
 "You are perfectly right, dear Madame, to recall 
 me to the proprieties. All your inspirations are ex- 
 cellent." 
 
 Then, in order that they might not be all seen 
 going back together, the two young men bowed to 
 the ladies, and returned through the wood to the 
 village. 
 
 "Well.?" asked Paul. 
 
 "Well, I told her that I adored her and that I 
 would be delighted to marry her." 
 
 "And she said.?" 
 
 "She said, with charming discretion, 'That con- 
 cerns my father. It is to him that 1 will give my 
 answer.' " 
 
 "So then you are going to — " 
 
 "To intrust mv ambassador Andermatt at once 
 with the official application. And if the old boor 
 makes any row about it, I'll compromise his daugh- 
 ter with a splash." 
 
 And, as Andermatt was again engaged in conver- 
 sation with Doctor Latonne on the terrace of the 
 Casino, Gontran stopped here, and immediately made 
 his brother-in-law acquainted with the situation. 
 
 Paul went off along the road to Riom. He wanted 
 to be alone so much did he find himself invaded by 
 that agitation of the entire mind and body into which 
 every meeting with a woman casts a man who is on 
 the point of falling in love. For some time past he 
 had felt, without quite realizing it, the penetrating 
 and youthful fascination of this forsaken girl. He 
 found her so nice, so good, so simple, so upright, so 
 innocent, that from the first he had been moved by
 
 MONTORIOL 285 
 
 compassion for her, by that tender compassion with 
 which the sorrows of women always inspire us. 
 Then, when he had seen her frequently, he had 
 allowed to bud forth in his heart that grain, that tiny 
 grain, of tenderness which they sow in us so quickly, 
 and which grows to such a height. And now, for 
 the last hour especially, he was beginning to feel 
 himself possessed, to feel within him that constant 
 presence of the absent which is the first sign of love. 
 He proceeded along the road, haunted by the remem- 
 brance of her glance, by the sound of her voice, by 
 the way in which she smiled or wept, by the gait 
 with which she walked, even by the color and the 
 flutter of her dress. And he said to himself: 
 
 "1 believe I am bitten. 1 know it. It is annoy- 
 ing, this! The best thing, perhaps, would be to go 
 back to Paris. Deuce take it, it is a young girl! 
 However, I can't make her my mistress." 
 
 Then, he began dreaming about it, just as he had 
 dreamed about Christiane, the year before. How 
 different was this one, too, from all the women he 
 had hitherto known, born and brought up in tlie 
 city, different even from those young maidens sophis- 
 ticated from their childhood by the coquetry of their 
 mothers or the coquetry which shows itself in the 
 streets. There was in her none of the artificiality of 
 the woman prepared for seduction, nothing studied 
 in her words, nothing conventional in her actions, 
 nothing deceitful in her looks. Not only was she 
 a being fresh and pure, but she came of a primitive 
 race; she was a true daughter of the soil at the mo- 
 ment when she was about to be transformed into a 
 woman of the city.
 
 286 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 And he felt himself stirred up, pleading for her 
 against that vague resistance which still struggled in 
 his breast. The forms of heroines in sentimental 
 novels passed before his mind's eye — the creations of 
 Walter Scott, of Dickens, and of George Sand, excit- 
 ing the more his imagination, always goaded by ideal 
 pictures of women. 
 
 Gontran passed judgment on him thus: "Paul! 
 he is a pack-horse with a Cupid on his back. When 
 he flings one on the ground, another jumps up in its 
 place." But Bretigny saw that night was falling. 
 He had been a long time walking. He returned to 
 the village. 
 
 As he was passing in front of the new baths, he 
 saw Andermatt and the two Oriols surveying and 
 measuring the vinefields; and he knew from their 
 gestures that they were disputing in an excited 
 fashion. 
 
 An hour afterward, Will, entering the drawing- 
 room, where the entire family had assembled, said to 
 the Marquis: "My dear father-in-law, 1 have to in- 
 form you that your son Gontran is going to marry, 
 in six weeks or two months, Mademoiselle Louise 
 Oriol." 
 
 M. de Ravenel was startled: "Gontran? You 
 
 'say.?" 
 
 "1 say that he is going to marry in six weeks or 
 two months, with your consent. Mademoiselle Louise 
 Oriol, who will be very rich." 
 
 Thereupon the Marquis said simply: "Good 
 heavens! if he likes it, 1 have no objection." 
 
 And the banker related how he had dealt with the 
 old countryman. As soon as he had learned from
 
 MONT ORIOL 287 
 
 the Comte that the young girl would consent, he 
 wanted to obtain, at one interview, the vinedresser's 
 assent without giving him time to prepare any of his 
 dodges. He accordingly hurried to Oriol's house, 
 and found him making up his accounts with great 
 difficulty, assisted by Colosse, who was adding 
 figures together with his fingers. 
 
 Seating himself: "I would like to drink of your 
 excellent wine," said he. 
 
 When big Colosse had returned with the glasses 
 and the jug brimming over, he asked whether Made- 
 moiselle Louise had come home; then he begged of 
 them to send for her. When she stood facing him, 
 he rose, and, making her a low bow: 
 
 "Mademoiselle, will you regard me at this mo- 
 ment as a friend to whom one may say everything.? 
 Is it not so ? Wei], 1 am charged with a very deli- 
 cate mission with reference to you. My brother-in- 
 law, Comte Raoul-Olivier-Gontran de Ravenel, is 
 smitten with you — a thing for which I commend 
 him — and he has commissioned me to ask you, in 
 the presence of your family, whether you will con- 
 sent to become his wife." 
 
 Taken by surprise in this way, she turned toward 
 her father her eyes, which betrayed her confusion. 
 And Pere Oriol, scared, looked at his son, his usual 
 counselor, while Colosse looked at Andermatt, who 
 went on, with a certain amount of pomposity: 
 
 "You understand. Mademoiselle, that 1 am only 
 intrusted with this mission on the terms of an im- 
 mediate reply being given to my brother-in-law. He 
 is quite conscious of the fact that you may not care 
 for him, and in that case he will quit this neighbor-
 
 288 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 hood to-morrow, never to come back to it again. I 
 am aware, besides, that you know him sufficiently to 
 say to me, a simple intermediary, 'I consent,' or 'I 
 do not consent/ " 
 
 She hung down her head, and, blushing, but res- 
 olute, she faltered: "1 consent. Monsieur." 
 
 Then she fled so quickly that she knocked herself 
 against the door as she went out. 
 
 Thereupon, Andermatt sat down, and, pouring out 
 a glass of wine after the fashion of peasants: 
 
 "Now we are going to talk about business," said he. 
 
 And, without admitting the possibility even of 
 hesitation, he attacked the question of the dowry, re- 
 lying on the declarations made to him by the vine- 
 dresser three months before. He estimated at three 
 hundred thousand francs, in addition to expectations, 
 the actual fortune of Gontran, and he let it be under- 
 stood that if a man like the Comte de Ravenel con- 
 sented to ask for the hand of Oriol's daughter, a very 
 charming young lady in other respects, it was un- 
 questionable that the girl's family were bound to show 
 their appreciation of this honor by a sacrifice of 
 money. 
 
 Then the countryman, much disconcerted, but flat- 
 tered — almost disarmed, tried to make a fight for his 
 property. The discussion was a long one. An ad- 
 mission on Andermatt's part had, however, rendered 
 it easy from the start: 
 
 "We don't ask for ready money nor for bills — 
 nothing but the lands, those which you have already 
 indicated as forming Mademoiselle Louise's dowry, in 
 addition to some others which 1 am going to point 
 you."
 
 MONTORIOL 289 
 
 The prospect of not having to pay money, that 
 money slowly heaped together, brought into the house 
 franc after franc, sou after sou, that good money, 
 white or yellow, worn by the hands, the purses, the 
 pockets, the tables of cafes, the deep drawers of old 
 presses, that money in whose ring was told the his- 
 tory of so many troubles, cares, fatigues, labors, so 
 sweet to the heart, to the eyes, to the fingers of the 
 peasant, dearer than the cow, than the vine, than the 
 field, than the house, that money harder to part with 
 sometimes than life itself — the prospect of not seeing 
 it go v/ith the girl brought on immediately a great 
 calm, a desire to conciliate, a secret but restrained 
 joy, in the souls of the father and the son. 
 
 They continued the discussion, however, in order 
 to keep a few more acres of soil. On the table was 
 spread out a minute plan of Mont Oriol; and they 
 marked one by one with a cross the portions assigned 
 to Louise. It took an hour for Andermatt to secure 
 the last two pieces. Then, in order that there might 
 not be any deceit on one side or the other, they went 
 over all the places on the plan. After that, they 
 identified carefully all the slices designated by crosses, 
 and marked them afresh. 
 
 But Andermatt got uneasy, suspecting that the two 
 Oriols were capable of denying, at their next inter- 
 view, a part of the grants to which they had con- 
 sented and would seek to take back ends of vinefields, 
 corners useful for his project; and he thought of a 
 practical and certain means of giving definiteness to 
 the agreement. 
 
 An idea crossed his mind, made him smile at first, 
 then appeared to him excellent, although singular. 
 
 8 G. de M.— 19
 
 290 
 
 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 "If you like," said he, "we'll write it all out. so 
 as not to forget it later on." 
 
 And as they were entering the village, he stopped 
 before a tobacconist's shop to buy two stamped sheets 
 of paper. He knew that the list of lands drawn up 
 on these leaves with their legal aspect would take an 
 almost inviolable character in the peasant's eyes, for 
 these leaves would represent the law, always invisi- 
 ble and menacing, vindicated by gendarmes, fines, and 
 imprisonment. 
 
 Then he wrote on one sheet and copied on the 
 other: 
 
 "In pursuance of the promise of marriage exchanged between 
 Comte Gontran de Ravenel and Mademoiselle Louise Oriol, M. Oriol, 
 Senior, surrenders as a dowry to his daughter the lands designated 
 below — " 
 
 And he enumerated them minutely, with the figures 
 attached to them in the register of lands for the 
 district. 
 
 Then, having dated and signed the document, he 
 made Pere Oriol affix his signature, after the latter 
 had exacted in turn a written statement of the in- 
 tended husband's fortune, and he went back to the 
 hotel with the document in his pocket. 
 
 Everyone laughed at his narrative and Gontran 
 most of all. Then the Marquis said to his son with 
 a lofty air of dignity: "We shall both go this even- 
 ing to pay a visit to this f^imily, and I shall myself 
 renew the application previously made by my son-in- 
 law in order that it may be more regular."
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Paul Changes His Mind 
 
 ONTRAN made an admirable fianci, as 
 courteous as he was assiduous. 
 With the aid of Andermatt's purse, 
 he made presents to everyone; and he 
 constantly visited the young girl, either 
 at her own house, or that of Madame 
 Honorat. Paul nearly always accom- 
 panied him now, in order to have the 
 opportunity of meeting Charlotte, saying 
 to himself, after each visit, that he would 
 see her no more. 
 
 She had bravely resigned herself to her 
 sister's marriage, and she referred to it with 
 apparent unconcern, as if it did not cause her the 
 slightest anxiety. Her character alone seemed a little 
 altered, more sedate, less open. While Gontran was 
 talking soft nothings to Louise in a half-whisper in a 
 corner, Bretigny conversed with her in a serious fash- 
 ion, and allowed himself to be slowly vanquished, 
 allowed this fresh love to inundate his soul like a 
 flowing tide. He knew what was happening to him, 
 and gave himself up to it, thinking: "Bah! when the 
 moment arrives. 1 will make my escape — that's all." 
 
 (29O
 
 292 
 
 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 When he left her, he would go up to see Chris- 
 tiane, who now lay from morning till night stretched 
 on a long chair. At the door, he could not help 
 feeling nervous and irritated, prepared beforehand for 
 those light quarrels to which weariness gives birth. 
 All that she said, all that she was thinking of, 
 annoyed him, even ere she had opened her lips. Her 
 appearance of suffering, her resigned attitude, her 
 looks of reproach and of supplication, made words of 
 anger rise to his lips, which he repressed through 
 good-breeding; and, even when by her side, he kept 
 before his mind the constant memory, the fixed 
 image, of the young girl whom he had just quitted. 
 
 As Christiane, tormented with seeing so little of 
 him, overwhelmed him with questions as to how he 
 spent his days, he invented stories, to which she 
 listened attentively, seeking to find out v^hether he 
 was thinking of some other woman. The power- 
 lessness which she felt in herself to keep a hold on 
 this man, the powerlessness to pour into him a little 
 of that love with which she was tortured, the phys- 
 ical powerlessness to fascinate him still, to give her- 
 self to him, to win him back by caresses, since she 
 could not regain him by the tender intimacies of 
 love, made her suspect the vv^orst, without knowing 
 on what to fix her fears. 
 
 She vaguely realized that some danger was low- 
 ering over her, some great unknown danger. And 
 she was filled with undefined jealousy, jealousy of 
 everything — of women whom she saw passing by 
 her window, and whom she thought charming, with- 
 out even having any proof that Bretigny had ever 
 spoken to them.
 
 MON r ORIOL 
 
 293 
 
 She asked of him: "Have you noticed a very 
 pretty woman, a brunette, rather tall, whom I saw a 
 little while ago, and who must have arrived here 
 within the past few days?" 
 
 When he replied, "No, I don't know her," she at 
 once jumped to the conclusion that he was lying, 
 turned pale, and went on: "But it is not possible 
 that you have not seen her. She appears to me very 
 beautiful." 
 
 He was astonished at her persistency. " 1 assure 
 you I have not seen her. I'll try to come across her." 
 
 She thought: "Surely it must be she!" She felt 
 persuaded, too, on certain days, that he was hiding 
 some intrigue in the locality, that he had sent for his 
 mistress, an actress perhaps. And she questioned 
 everybody, her father, her brother, and her husband, 
 about all the women young and desirable, whom 
 they observed in the neighborhood of Enval. If only 
 she could have walked about, and seen for herself, 
 she might have reassured herself a little; but the 
 almost complete loss of motion which her condition 
 forced upon her now made her endure an intolerable 
 martyrdom. 
 
 When she spoke to Paul, the tone of her voice 
 alone revealed her anguish, and intensified his nerv- 
 ous impatience with this love, which for him was at 
 an end. He could no longer talk quietly about any- 
 thing with her save the approaching marriage of 
 Gontran, a subject which enabled him to pronounce 
 Charlotte's name, and to give vent to his thoughts 
 aloud about the young girl. And it was a mysteri- 
 ous source of delight to him even to hear Christiane 
 articulating that name, praising the grace and all the
 
 294 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 qualities of this little maiden, compassionating her, 
 regretting that her brother should have sacrificed her, 
 and expressing a desire that some man, some noble 
 heart, should appreciate her, love her, and marry her. 
 
 He said: "Oh! yes, Gontran acted foolishly there. 
 She is perfectly charming, that young girl." 
 
 Christiane, without any misgiving, echoed: "Per- 
 fectly charming. She is a pearl! a piece of perfec- 
 tion!" 
 
 Never had she thought that a man like Paul could 
 love a little maid like this, or that he would be likely 
 to marry her. She had no apprehensions save of his 
 mistresses. And it was a singular phenomenon of 
 the heart that praise of Charlotte from Christiane's 
 lips assumed in his eyes an extreme value, excited 
 his love, whetted his desire, and surrounded the 
 young girl with an irresistible attraction. 
 
 Now, one day, when he called at Madame Hono- 
 rat's house to meet there the Oriol girls, they found 
 Doctor Mazelli installed there as if he was at home. 
 He stretched forth both hands to the two young 
 men, with that Italian smile of his, which seemed to 
 give away his entire heart with every word and 
 every movement. 
 
 Gontran and he were linked by a friendship at 
 once familiar and futile, made up of secret affinities, 
 of hidden likenesses, of a sort of confederacy of in- 
 stincts, rather than any real affection or confidence. 
 
 The Comte asked: "What about your little 
 blonde of the Sans-Souci wood?" 
 
 The Italian smiled: "Bah! we are on terms of 
 indifference toward one another. She is one of those 
 women who offer everything and give nothing."
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 295 
 
 And they began to chat. The handsome physi- 
 cian performed certain offices for the young girls, 
 especially for Charlotte. When addressing women, 
 he manifested a perpetual adoration in his voice, his 
 gestures, and his looks. His entire person, from 
 head to foot, said to them, "1 love you" with an 
 eloquence in his attitude which never failed to win 
 their favor. He displayed the graces of an actress, 
 the light pirouettes of a danseuse, the supple move- 
 ments of a juggler, an entire science of seduction 
 natural and acquired, of which he constantly made 
 use, 
 
 Paul, when returning to the hotel with Gontran, 
 exclaimed in a tone of sullen vexation: "What does 
 this charlatan come to that house for.?" 
 
 The Comte replied quietly: "How can you ever 
 tell when dealing with such adventurers ? These sort 
 of people slip in everywhere. This fellow must be 
 tired of his vagabond existence, and of giving way 
 to every caprice of his Spaniard, of whom he is 
 rather the valet than the physician — and perhaps 
 something more. He is looking about him. Professor 
 Cloche's daughter was a good catch — he has failed 
 with her, he says. The second of the Oriol girls 
 would not be less valuable to him. He is making 
 the attempt, feeling his way, smelling about, sound- 
 ing. He would become co-proprietor of the waters, 
 would try to knock over that idiot, Latonne, would in 
 any case get an excellent practice here every summer 
 for himself, which would last him over the winter. 
 Faith! this is his plan exactly — no doubt of it!" 
 
 A dull rage, a jealous animosity, was aroused 
 in Paul's heart. A voice exclaimed: "Hey! hey!" It
 
 296 
 
 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 was Mazelli, who had overtaken them. Bretigny said 
 to him, with aggressive irony: "Where are you 
 rushing so quickly, doctor ? One would say that 
 you were pursuing fortune." The Italian smiled, and, 
 without stopping, but skipping backward, he plunged, 
 with a mimic's graceful movement, his hands into 
 his two pockets, quickly turned them out and showed 
 them, both empty, holding them wide between two 
 fingers by the ends of the seams. Then he said: "I 
 have not got hold of it yet." And, turning on his 
 toes, he rushed away like a man in a great hurry. 
 
 They found him again several times, on the fol- 
 lowing days, at Doctor Honorat's house, where he 
 made himself useful to the three ladies by a thousand 
 graceful little services, by the same clever tactics 
 which he had no doubt adopted when dealing with 
 the Duchess. He knew how to do everything to 
 perfection, from paying compliments to making mac- 
 aroni. He was, moreover, an excellent cook, and 
 protecting himself from stains by means of a serv- 
 ant's blue apron, and wearing a chef's cap made of 
 paper on his head, while he sang Neapolitan ditties 
 in Italian, he did the work of a scullion, without 
 appearing a bit ridiculous, amusing and f^iscinating 
 everybody, down to the half-witted housekeeper, who 
 said of him: "He is a marvel!" 
 
 His plans were soon obvious, and Paul no longer 
 had any doubt that he was trying to get Charlotte to 
 fall in love with him. He seemed to be succeeding in 
 this. He was so profuse of flattery, so eager, so 
 artful in striving to please, that the young girl's face 
 had, when she looked at him, that air ot content- 
 ment which indicates that the heart is gratified.
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 297 
 
 Paul, in his turn, without being even able to ac- 
 count to himself for his conduct, assumed the attitude 
 of a lover, and set himself up as a rival. When he 
 saw the doctor with Charlotte, he would come on the 
 scene, and, with his more direct manner, exert him- 
 self to win the young girl's atTections. He showed 
 himself straigthforward and sympathetic, fraternal, de- 
 voted, repeating to her, with the sincerity of a friend, 
 in a tone so frank that one could scarcely see in it an 
 avowal of love: "I am very fond of you; cheer up!" 
 
 Mazelli, astonished at this unexpected rivalry, had 
 recourse to all his powers of captivation; and, when 
 Bretigny, bitten with jealousy, that nai've jealousy 
 which takes possession of a man when he is dealing 
 with any woman, even without being in love with 
 her, provided only he has taken a f^mcy to her — 
 when, filled with this natural violence, he became 
 aggressive and haughty, the other, more pliant, 
 always master of himself, replied with sly allusions, 
 witticisms, well-turned and mocking compliments. 
 
 It was a daily warfare which they both waged 
 fiercely, without either of them perhaps having a 
 well-defined object in view. They did not want to 
 give way, like two dogs who have gained a grip of 
 the same quarry. 
 
 Charlotte had recovered her good humor, but 
 along with it she now exhibited a more biting wag- 
 gery, a certain sphinx-like attitude, less candor in her 
 smile and in her glance. One would have said that 
 Gontran's desertion had educated her, prepared her 
 for possible deceptions, disciplined, and armed her. 
 
 She played off her two admirers against one an- 
 other in a sly and dexterous fashion, saying to each
 
 298 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 of them what she thought necessary, without letting 
 the one fall foul of the other, without ever letting 
 the one suppose that she preferred the other, laugh- 
 ing slightly at each of them in turn in the presence 
 of his rival, leaving them an equal match without 
 appearing even to take either of them seriously. But 
 all this was done simply, in the manner of a school- 
 girl rather than in that of a coquette, with that mis- 
 chievous air exhibited by young girls which sometimes 
 renders them irresistible. 
 
 Mazelli, however, seemed suddenly to be having 
 the advantage. He had apparently become more in- 
 timate with her, as if a secret understanding had been 
 established between them. While talking to her, he 
 played lightly with her parasol and with one of the 
 ribbons of her dress, which appeared to Paul, as it 
 were, an act of moral possession, and exasperated 
 him so much that he longed to box the Italian's 
 ears. 
 
 But, one day, at Pere Oriol's house, while Bretigny 
 was chatting with Louise and Gontran, and, at the 
 same time, keeping his eye fixed on Mazelli, who 
 was telling Charlotte in a subdued voice some things 
 that made her smile, he suddenly saw her blush with 
 such an appearance of embarrassment as to leave no 
 doubt for one moment on his mind that the other 
 had spoken of love. She had cast down her eyes, 
 and ceased to smile, but still continued listening; and 
 Paul, who felt disposed to make a scene, said to 
 Gontran: "Will you have the goodness to come out 
 with me for five minutes?" 
 
 The Comte made his excuses to his betrothed, 
 and followed his friend.
 
 MONT ORIOL 299 
 
 When they were in the street, Paul exdaimed: 
 "My dear fellow, this wretched Italian must, at any 
 cost, be prevented from inveigling this girl, who is 
 defenseless against him." 
 
 "What do you wish me to do?" 
 
 "To warn her of the fact that he is an adven- 
 turer." 
 
 "Hey, my dear boy, those things are no concern 
 of mine." 
 
 "After all, she is to be your sister-in-law." 
 
 "Yes, but there is nothing to show me conclu- 
 sively that Mazelli has guilty designs upon her. He 
 exhibits the same gallantry toward all women, and 
 he has never said or done anything improper." 
 
 "Well, if you don't want to take it on yourself, 
 I'll do it, although it concerns me less assuredly than 
 it does you." 
 
 "So then you are in love with Charlotte?" 
 
 "i? No — but I see clearly through this black- 
 guard's game." 
 
 "My dear fellow, you are mixing yourself up in 
 matters of a delicate nature, and — unless you are in 
 love with Charlotte — " 
 
 "No — -1 am not in love with her — but I am 
 hunting down imposters, that's what 1 mean!" 
 
 "May I ask what you intend to do?" 
 
 "To thrash this beggar." 
 
 "Good! the best way to make her fall in love 
 with him. You fight with him, and whether he 
 wounds you, or you wound him, he will become a 
 hero in her eyes." 
 
 "What would you do then?" 
 
 "In your place?"
 
 300 
 
 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 "In my place." 
 
 "I would speak to the girl as a friend. She has 
 great confidence in you. Well, I would say to her 
 simply in a few words what these hangers-on of 
 society are. You know very well how to say these 
 things. You possess an eloquent tongue. And I 
 would make her understand, first, why he is attached 
 to the Spaniard; secondly, why he attempted to lay 
 siege to Professor Cloche's daughter; thirdly, why, 
 not having succeeded in this effort, he is striving, in 
 the last place, to make a conquest of Mademoiselle 
 Charlotte Oriol." 
 
 "Why do you not do that, yourself, who will be 
 her brother-in-law?" 
 
 "Because — because — on account of what passed 
 between us — come! I can't." 
 
 "That's quite right. I am going to speak to her." 
 
 "Do you want me to procure for you a private 
 conversation with her immediately.?" 
 
 "Why, yes, assuredly." 
 
 "Good! Walk about for ten minutes. I am going 
 to carry off Louise and Mazelli, and, when you come 
 back, you will find the other alone." 
 
 Paul Bretigny rambled along the side of the Enval 
 gorges, thinking over the best way of opening this 
 difficult conversation. 
 
 He found Charlotte Oriol alone, indeed, on his re- 
 turn, in the cold, whitewashed parlor of the paternal 
 abode; and he said to her, as he sat down beside 
 her: "It is I, Mademoiselle, who asked Gontran to 
 procure me this interview with you." 
 
 She looked at him with her clear eyes: "Why, 
 pray ? "
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 301 
 
 "Oh! it is not to pay you insipid compliments in 
 the Italian fashion. It is to speak to you as a friend 
 ■ — as a very devoted friend, who owes you good ad- 
 vice." 
 
 "Tell me what it is." 
 
 He took up the subject in a roundabout style, 
 dwelt upon his own experience, and upon her inex- 
 perience, so as to lead gradually by discreet but ex- 
 plicit phrases to a reference to those adventurers who 
 are everywhere going in quest of fortune, taking ad- 
 vantage with their professional skill of every ingen- 
 uous and good-natured being, man or woman, whose 
 purses or hearts they explored. 
 
 She turned rather pale as she listened to him. 
 
 Then she said: "I understand and I don't under- 
 stand. You are speaking of some one — of whom?" 
 
 " I am speaking of Doctor Mazelli." 
 
 Then, she lowered her eyes, and remained a few 
 seconds without replying; after this, in a hesitating 
 voice: "You are so frank that I will be the same 
 with you. Since — since my sister's marriage has 
 been arranged, I have become a little less — a little 
 less stupid! Well, I had already suspected what you 
 tell me — and I used to feel amused of my own ac- 
 cord at seeing him coming." 
 
 She raised her face to his as she spoke, and in 
 her smile, in her arch look, in her little reiroussi 
 nose, in the moist and glittering brilliancy of her 
 teeth which showed themselves between her lips, so 
 much open-hearted gracefulness, sly gaiety, and charm- 
 ing frolicsomcness appeared that Bretigny felt himself 
 drawn toward her by one of those tumultuous trans- 
 ports which flung him distracted with passion it the
 
 902 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 feet of the woman who was his latest love. And his 
 heart exulted with joy because Mazelli had not been 
 preferred to him. So then he had triumphed. 
 
 He asked: "You do not love him, then.?" 
 
 "Whom? Mazelli.?" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 She looked at him with such a pained expression 
 in her eyes that he felt thrown off his balance, and 
 stammered, in a supplicating voice: "What? — you 
 don't love — anyone?" 
 
 She replied, with a downward glance: "1 don't 
 know — I love people who love me." 
 
 He seized the young girl's two hands, all at 
 once, and kissing them wildly in one of those mo- 
 ments of impulse in which the head loses its controll- 
 ing power, and the words which rise to the lips come 
 from the excited flesh rather than the wandering 
 mind, he faltered: 
 
 "I! — I love you, my little Charlotte; yes, I love 
 you!" 
 
 She quickly drew away one of her hands, and 
 placed it on his mouth, murmuring: "Be silent! — be 
 silent, I beg of you! It would cause me too much 
 pain if this were another falsehood." 
 
 She stood erect; he rose up, caught her in his 
 arms, and embraced her passionately. 
 
 A sudden noise parted them ; Pere Oriol had just 
 come in, and he was gazing at them, quite scared. 
 Then, he cried: "Ah! bougrrre! ah! bougrrre! ah! 
 bougrrre of a savage!" 
 
 Charlotte had rushed out, and the two men re- 
 mained face to face. After some seconds of agitation, 
 Paul made an attempt to explain his position.
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 303 
 
 "My God! Monsieur — I have conducted myself — 
 it is true — like a — " 
 
 But the old man would not listen to him. Anger, 
 furious anger, had taken possession of him, and he 
 advanced toward Bretigny, with clenched fists, re- 
 peating: 
 
 "Ah! bougrrre of a savage — " 
 
 Then, when they were nose to nose, he seized 
 Paul by the collar with his knotted peasant's hands. 
 
 But the other, as tall, and strong with that superior 
 strength acquired by the practice of athletics, freed 
 himself with a single push from the countryman's 
 grip, and, pushing him up against the wall: 
 
 "Listen, Pere Oriol, this is not a matter for us to 
 fight about, but to settle quietly. It is true, I was 
 embracing your daughter. I swear to you that this 
 is the first time — and I swear to you, too, that 1 de- 
 sire to marry her." 
 
 The old man, whose physical excitement had sub- 
 sided under the assault ot his adversary, but whose 
 anger had not yet been calmed, stuttered: 
 
 "Ha! that's how it is! You want to steal my daugh- 
 ter; you want my money. Bougrrre of a deceiver!" 
 
 Thereupon, he allowed all that was on his mind 
 to escape from him in a heap of grumbling words. 
 He found no consolation for the dowry promised with 
 his elder girl, for his vinelands going into the hands 
 of these Parisians. He now had his suspicions as to 
 Gontran's want of money, Andermatt's craft, and, 
 without forgetting the unexpected fortune which the 
 banker brought him, he vented his bile and his secret 
 rancor against those mischievous people who did not 
 let him sleep any longer in peace.
 
 304 
 
 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 One would have thought that his family and his 
 friends were coming every night to plunder him, to 
 rob him of everything, his lands, his springs, and his 
 daughters. And he cast these reproaches into Paul's 
 face, accusing him also of wanting to get hold of his 
 property, of being a rogue, and of taking Charlotte in 
 order to have his lands. 
 
 The other, soon losing all patience, shouted under 
 his very nose: "Why, 1 am richer than you, you 
 infernally currish old donkey. 1 would bring you 
 money." 
 
 The old man listened in silence to these words, 
 incredulous but vigilant, and then, in a milder tone, 
 he renewed his complaints. 
 
 Paul then answered him and entered into expla- 
 nations; and, believing that an obligation was im- 
 posed on him, owing to the circumstances under 
 which he had been surprised, and for which he was 
 solely responsible, he proposed to marry the girl 
 without asking for any dowry. 
 
 Pere Oriol shook his head and his ears, heard Paul 
 reiterating his statements, but was unable to under- 
 stand. To him this young man seemed still a pauper, 
 a penniless wretch. 
 
 And, when Bretigny, exasperated, yelled, in his 
 teeth: "Why, you old rascal, 1 have an income of 
 more than a hundred and twenty thousand francs a 
 year — do you understand? — three millions," the other 
 suddenly asked: "Will you write that down on a 
 piece of paper?" 
 
 "Yes, 1 will write it down!" 
 
 "And you'll sign it?" 
 
 "Yes, I will sign it."
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 ^05 
 
 "On a sheet of notary's paper?" 
 
 "Yes, certainly — on a sheet of notary's paper!" 
 
 Thereupon, he rose up, opened a press, took out 
 of it two leaves marked with the Government stamp, 
 and, seeking for the undertaking which Andermatt, a 
 few days before, had required from him, he drew up 
 an odd promise of marriage, in which it was made a 
 condition that the fianci vouched for his being worth 
 three millions; and, at the end of it Bretigny affixed 
 his signature. 
 
 When Paul found himself in the open air once 
 more, he felt as if the earth no longer turned round 
 in the same way. So then, he was engaged, in spite 
 of himself, in spite of her, by one of those accidents, 
 by one of those tricks of circumstance, which shut 
 out from you every point of escape. He muttered: 
 "What madness!" Then he reflected: "Bah! I 
 could not have found better perhaps in all the world!" 
 
 And in his secret heart he rejoiced at this snare of 
 destiny. 
 
 8 G. de M.— lo
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Christiane's Via Crucis 
 
 "^HE dawn of the following day 
 
 brought bad news to Andermatt. 
 
 He learned on his arrival at the 
 
 bath-establishment that M. Aubry- 
 
 Pasteur had died during the night 
 
 from an attack of apoplexy at the 
 
 Hotel Splendid. 
 
 in addition to the fact that the de- 
 ceased was very useful to him on 
 account of his vast scientific attainments, 
 isinterested zeal, and attachment to 
 the Mont Oriol station, which, in some 
 measure, he looked upon as a daughter, 
 it was much to be regretted that a patient 
 who had come there to fight against a tendency 
 toward congestion should have died exactly in this 
 fashion, in the midst of his treatment, in the very 
 height of the season, at the very moment when the 
 rising spa was beginning to prove a success. 
 
 The banker, exceedingly annoyed, walked up and 
 down in the study of the absent inspector, thinking 
 of some device whereby this misfortune might be 
 (306)
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 307 
 
 attributed to some other cause, such as an accident, 
 a fall, a want of prudence, the rupture of an artery; 
 and he impatiently awaited Doctor Latonne's arrival 
 in order that the decease might be ingeniously certi- 
 fied without awakening any suspicion as to the initial 
 cause of the fatality. 
 
 All at once, the medical inspector appeared on the 
 scene, his face pale and indicative of extreme agita- 
 tion; and, as soon as he had passed through the 
 door, he asked: "Have you heard the lamentable 
 news ?" 
 
 "Yes, the death of M. Aubry-Pasteur." 
 
 "No, no, the flight of Doctor Mazelli with Pro- 
 fessor Cloche's daughter." 
 
 Andermatt felt a shiver running along his skin. 
 
 "What? you tell me — " 
 
 "Oh! my dear manager, it is a frightful catas- 
 trophe, a crash! " 
 
 He sat down and wiped his forehead; then he 
 related the facts as he got them from Petrus Martel, 
 who had learned them directly through the professor's 
 valet. 
 
 Mazelli had paid very marked attentions to the 
 pretty red-haired widow, a coarse coquette, a wanton, 
 whose first husband had succumbed to consumption, 
 brought on, it was said, by excessive devotion to his 
 matrimonial duties. But M. Cloche, having discovered 
 the projects of the Italian physician, and not desiring 
 this adventurer as a second son-in-law, violently 
 turned him out of doors on surprising him kneeling 
 at the widow's feet. 
 
 Mazelli, having been sent out by the door, soon 
 re-entered through the window by the silken ladder
 
 308 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 of lovers. Two versions of the affair were current. 
 According to the first, he had rendered the professor's 
 daughter mad with love and jealousy; according to 
 the second, he had continued to see her secretly, 
 while pretending to be devoting his attention to an- 
 other woman; and ascertaining finally through his 
 mistress that the professor remained inflexible, he had 
 carried her off, the same night, rendering a marriage 
 inevitable, in consequence of this scandal. 
 
 Doctor Latonne rose up and, leaning his back 
 against the mantelpiece, while Andermatt, astounded, 
 continued walking up and down, he exclaimed: 
 
 "A physician, Monsieur, a physician to do such a 
 thing! — a doctor of medicine! — what an absence of 
 character!" 
 
 Andermatt, completely crushed, appreciated the 
 consequences, classified them, and weighed them, as 
 one does a sum in addition. They were: "First, 
 the disagreeable report spreading over the neighbor- 
 ing spas and all the way to Paris. If, however, 
 they went the right way about it, perhaps they 
 could make use of this elopement as an advertise- 
 ment. A fortnight's echoes well written and promi- 
 nently printed in the newspapers would strongly 
 attract attention to Mont Oriol. Secondly: Professor 
 Cloche's departure an irreparable loss. Thirdly: The 
 departure of the Duchess and the Duke de Ramas- 
 Aldavarra, a second inevitable loss without possible 
 compensation. In short. Doctor Latonne was right. 
 It was a frightful catastrophe." 
 
 Then, the banker, turning toward the physician: 
 "You ought to go at once to the Hotel Splendid, 
 and draw up the certificate of the death of Aubry-
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 509 
 
 Pasteur in such a way that no one could suspect it 
 to be a case of congestion." 
 
 Doctor Latonne put on his hnt; then just as he 
 was leaving: "Ha! another rumor which is circuhi- 
 ting! Is it true that your friend Paul Bretigny is go- 
 ing to marry Charlotte Oriol?" 
 
 Andermatt gave a start of astonishment. 
 
 "Bretigny? Come now! — who told you that.^" 
 
 "Why, as in the other case, Petrus Martel, who 
 had it from Pere Oriol himself." 
 
 "From Pere Oriol.?" 
 
 "Yes, from Pere Oriol, who declared thai his future 
 son-in-law possessed a fortune of three millions." 
 
 William did not know what to think. He mut- 
 tered: "In point of fact, it is possible. He has been 
 rather hot on her for some time past! But in that 
 case the whole knoll is ours — the whole knoll! 
 Oh! 1 must make certain of this immediately." And 
 he went ou. after the doctor in order to meet Paul 
 before breakfast. 
 
 As he was entering the hotel, he was informed 
 that his wife had several times asked to see him. 
 He found her still in bed, chatting with her father 
 and with her brother, who was looking through the 
 newspapers with a rapid and wandering glance. She 
 felt poorly, very poorly, restless. She was afraid, 
 without knowing why. And then an idea had come to 
 her, and had for some days been growing stronger 
 in her brain, as usually happens with pregnant 
 women. She wanted to consult Doctor Black. From 
 the effect of hearing around her some jokes at Doc- 
 tor Latonne's expense, she had lost all confidence in 
 him, and she wanted another opinion, that of Doctor
 
 3IO 
 
 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 Black, whose success was constantly increasing. 
 Fears, all the fears, all the hauntings, by which 
 women toward the close of pregnancy are besieged, 
 now tortured her from morning until night. Since 
 the night before, in consequence of a dream, she 
 imagined that the Caesarian operation might be neces- 
 sary. And she was present in thought at this opera- 
 tion performed on herself. She saw herself lying on 
 her back in a bed covered with blood, while some- 
 thing red was being taken away, which did not 
 move, which did not cry, and which was dead! And 
 for ten minutes she shut her eyes, in order to wit- 
 ness this over again, to be present once more at hef 
 horrible and painful punishment. She had, thereforej 
 become impressed with the notion that Doctor Black 
 alone could tell her the truth, and she wanted him at 
 once; she required him to examine her immediately, 
 immediately, immediately! Andermatt, greatly agi- 
 tated, did not knovv' what answer to give her. 
 
 "But my dear child, it is difficult, having regard 
 to my relations with Latonne it is even impossible. 
 Listen! an idea occurs to me: 1 will look up Professor 
 Mas-Roussel, who is a hundred times better than 
 Black. He will not refuse to come when 1 ask him." 
 
 But she persisted. She wanted Black, and no one 
 else. She required to see him with his big bull- 
 dog's head beside her. it was a longing, a wild, 
 superstitious desire. She considered it necessary for 
 him to see her. 
 
 Then William attempted to change the current of 
 her thoughts: 
 
 "You haven't heard how that intriguer Mazelli 
 carried off Professor Cloche's daughter the other night.
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 3n 
 
 They are gone away; nobody can tell where they 
 levanted to. There's a nice story for you!" 
 
 She was propped up on her pillow, her eyes 
 strained with grief, and she faltered: "Oh! the poor 
 Duchess — the poor woman — how I pity her!" Her 
 heart had long since learned to understand that other 
 woman's heart, bruised and impassioned! She suf- 
 fered from the same malady and wept the same 
 tears. But she resumed: "Listen, Will! Go and 
 find M. Black for me. I know I shall die unless he 
 comes!" 
 
 Andermatt caught her hand, and tenderly kissed it: 
 
 "Come, my little Christiane, be reasonable — un- 
 derstand." 
 
 He saw her eyes filled with tears, and, turning 
 toward the Marquis: 
 
 "It is you that ought to do this, my dear father- 
 in-law. As for me, I can't do it. Black comes here 
 every day about one o'clock to see the Princess de 
 Maldebourg. Stop him in the passage, and send him 
 in to your daughter. You can easily wait an hour, 
 can you not, Christiane?" 
 
 She consented to wait an hour, but refused to get 
 up to breakfast with the men, who passed alone into 
 the dining-room. 
 
 Paul was there already. Andermatt, when he saw 
 him, exclaimed: "Ah! tell me now, what is it I 
 have been told a little while ago ? You are going to 
 marry Charlotte Oriol ? It is not true, is it?" 
 
 The young man replied in a low tone, casting a 
 restless look toward the closed door: "Good God! 
 it is true!" Nobody having been sure of it till now, 
 the three stared at him in amazement.
 
 512 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 William asked: " Wiiat came over you? With 
 your fortune, to marry — to embarrass yourself with 
 one woman, when you have the whole of them ? 
 And then, after all, the family leaves something to be 
 desired in the matter of refinement. It is all very 
 well for Gontran, who hasn't a sou!" 
 
 Bretigny began to laugh: "My father made a 
 fortune out of flour; he was then a miller on a large 
 scale. If you had known him, you might have said 
 he lacked refinement. As for the young girl — " 
 
 Andermatt interrupted him: "Oh! perfect — charm- 
 ing — perfect — and you know — she will be as rich 
 as yourself — if not more so. I answer for it — I — I 
 answer for it! " 
 
 Gontran murmured: "Yes, this marriage inter- 
 feres with nothing, and covers retreats. Only he was 
 wrong in not giving us notice beforehand. How the 
 devil was this business managed, my friend?" 
 
 Thereupon, Paul related all that had occurred with 
 some slight modifications. He told about his hesita- 
 tion, which he exaggerated, and his sudden determi- 
 nation on discovering from the young girl's own lips 
 that she. loved him. He described the unexpected 
 entrance of Pere Oriol, their quarrel, which he en- 
 larged upon, the countryman's doubts concerning his 
 fortune, and the incident of the stamped paper drawn 
 by the old man out of the press. 
 
 Andermatt, laughing till the tears ran down his 
 face, hit the table with his fist: "Ha! he did that over 
 again, the stamped paper touch! It's my invention, 
 that is!" 
 
 But Paul stammered, reddening a little: "Pray 
 don't let your wife know about it yet. Owing to
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 313 
 
 the terms which we are on at present, it is more 
 suitable that I should announce it to her myself." 
 
 Gontran eyed his friend with an odd, good- 
 humored smile, which seemed to say: "This is 
 quite right, all this, quite right! That's the way 
 things ought to end, without noise, without scandals, 
 without any dramatic situations." 
 
 He suggested: "If you like, my dear Paul, we'll 
 go together, after dinner, when she's up, and you 
 will inform her of your decision." 
 
 Their eyes met, fixed, full of unfathomable 
 thoughts, then looked in another direction. And 
 Paul replied with an air of indifference: 
 
 "Yes, willingly. We'll talk about this presently." 
 
 A waiter from the hotel came to inform them 
 that Doctor Black had just arrived for his visit to the 
 Princess; and the Marquis forthwith v/ent out to 
 catch him in the passage. He explained the situa- 
 tion to the doctor, his son-in-law's embarrassment 
 and his daughter's earnest wish, and he brought him 
 in without resistance. 
 
 As soon as the little man with the big head had 
 entered Christiane's apartment, she said: "Papa, 
 leave us alone!" And the Marquis withdrew. 
 
 Thereupon, she enumerated her disquietudes, her 
 terrors, her nightmares, in a low, sweet voice, as 
 though she were at confession. And the physician 
 listened to her like a priest, covering her sometimes 
 with his big round eyes, showed his attention by a 
 little nod of the head, murmured a "That's it," 
 which seemed to mean, "I know your case at the 
 end ot my fingers, and I will cure you whenever I 
 like."
 
 314 
 
 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 When she had finished speaking, he began in his 
 turn to question her with extreme minuteness of de- 
 tail about her life, her habits, her course of diet, her 
 treatment. At one moment he appeared to express 
 approval with a gesture, at another to convey blame 
 with an "Oh!" full of reservations. When she came 
 to her great fear that the child was misplaced, he 
 rose up, and with an ecclesiastical modesty, lightly 
 passed his hand over the counterpane, and then re- 
 marked, "No, it's all right." 
 
 And she felt a longing to embrace him. What a 
 good man this physician was! 
 
 He sat down at the table, took a sheet of paper, 
 and wrote out the prescription. It was long, very 
 long. Then he came back close to the bed, and, in 
 an altered tone, clearly indicating that he had finished 
 his professional and sacred duty, he began to chat. 
 He had a deep, unctuous voice, the powerful voice of 
 a thickset dwarf, and there were hidden questions in 
 his most ordinary phrases. He talked about every- 
 thing. Gontran's marriage seemed to interest him 
 considerably. Then, with his ugly smile like that of 
 an ill-shaped being: 
 
 "I have said nothing yet to you about M. Bre- 
 tigny's marriage, although it cannot be a secret, for 
 Pere Oriol has told it to everybody." 
 
 A kind of fainting fit took possession of her, com- 
 mencing at the end of her fingers, then invading her 
 entire body — her arms, her breast, her stomach, her 
 legs. She did not, however, quite understand; but a 
 horrible fear of not learning the truth suddenly re- 
 stored her powers of observation, and she faltered: 
 "Ha! Pere Oriol has told it to everybody?"
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 3>5 
 
 "Yes, yes. He was speaking to myself about it 
 less than ten minutes ago. It appears that M. Bre- 
 tigny is very rich, and that he has been in love with 
 little Charlotte for some time past. Moreover, it is 
 Madame Honorat who made these two matches. She 
 lent her hands and her house for the meetings of the 
 young people." 
 
 Christiane had closed her eyes. She had lost con- 
 sciousness. In answer to the doctor's call, a cham- 
 bermaid rushed in; then appeared the Marquis, 
 Andermatt, and Gontran, who went to search for 
 vinegar, ether, ice, twenty different things all equally 
 useless. Suddenly, the young woman moved, opened 
 her eyes, lifted up her arms, and uttered a heart- 
 rending cry, writhing in the bed. She tried to speak, 
 and in a broken voice said: 
 
 "Oh! what pain 1 feel — my God! — what pain 1 
 feel — in my back — something is tearing me — Oh! 
 my God!" And she broke out into fresh shrieks. 
 
 The symptoms of confinement were speedily rec- 
 ognized. Then Andermatt rushed off to find Doctor 
 Latonne, and came upon him finishing his meal. 
 
 "Come on quickly — my wife has met with a 
 mishap — hurry on!" Then he made use of a little 
 deception, telling how Doctor Black had been found 
 in the hotel at the moment of the first pains. Doctor 
 Black himself confirmed this falsehood by saying to 
 his brother-physician: 
 
 "I had just come to visit the Princess when I 
 was informed that Madame Andermatt was taken ill. 
 I hurried to her. It was time!" 
 
 But William, in a state of great excitement, his 
 heart beating, his soul filled with alarm was all at
 
 ^l6 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 once seized with doubts as to the competency of the 
 two professional men, and he started off afresh, bare- 
 headed, in order to run in the direction of Professor 
 Mas-Roussel's house, and to entreat him to come. 
 The professor consented to do so at once, buttoned 
 on his frock-coat with the mechanical movement of a 
 physician going out to pay a visit, and set forth with 
 great, rapid strides, the eager strides of an eminent 
 man whose presence may save a life. 
 
 When he arrived on the scene, the two other 
 doctors, full of deference, consulted him with an air 
 of humility, repeating together or nearly at the same 
 time: 
 
 " Here is what has occurred, dear master. Don't 
 you think, dear master.? Isn't there reason to believe, 
 dear master?" 
 
 Andermatt, in his turn, driven crazy with anguish 
 at the moanings of his wife, harassed M. Mas-Roussel 
 with questions, and also addressed him as "dear 
 master" with wide-open mouth. 
 
 Christiane, almost naked in the presence of these 
 men, no longer saw, noticed, or understood anything. 
 She was suffering so dreadfully that everything else 
 had vanished from her consciousness. It seemed to 
 her that they were drawing from the tops of her 
 hips along her side and her back a long saw, with 
 blunt teeth, which was mangling her bones and mus- 
 cles slowly and in an irregular fashion, with shakings, 
 stoppages, and renewals of the operation, which be- 
 came every moment more and more frightful. 
 
 When this torture abated for a few seconds, when 
 the rendings of her body allowed her reason to come 
 back, one thought then fixed itself in her soul, more
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 517 
 
 cruel, more keen, more terrible, than her physical 
 pain: "He was in love with another woman, and 
 was going to marry her!" 
 
 And, in order to get rid of this pang, which was 
 eating into her brain, she struggled to bring on once 
 more the atrocious torment of her flesh; she shook 
 her sides; she strained her back; and when the crisis 
 returned again, she had, at least, lost all capacity for 
 thought. 
 
 For fifteen hours she endured this martyrdom, so 
 much bruised by suffering and despair that she 
 longed to die, and strove to die in those spasms in 
 which she writhed. 
 
 But, after a convulsion longer and more violent 
 than the rest, it seemed to her that everything inside 
 her body suddenly escaped from her. It was over; 
 her pangs were assuaged, like the waves of the sea, 
 when they are calmed; and the relief which she ex- 
 perienced was so intense that, for a time, even her 
 grief became numbed. They spoke to her. She an- 
 swered in a voice very weak, very low. 
 
 Suddenly, Andermatt stooped down, his face to- 
 ward hers, and he said: "She will live — she is 
 almost at the end of it. It is a girl!" 
 
 Christiane was only able to articulate: "Ah! my 
 God!" 
 
 So then she had a child, a living child, who 
 would grow big — a child of Paul! She felt a desire 
 to cry out, all this fresh misfortune crushed her heart. 
 She had a daughter. She did not want it! She 
 would not look at it! She would never touch it! 
 
 They had laid her down again on the bed, taken 
 care of her, tenderly embraced her. Who had done
 
 :;i8 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 this? No doubt, her father and her husband. She 
 could not tell. But he — where was he? What was 
 he doing? How happy she would have felt at that 
 moment, if only he still loved her! 
 
 The hours dragged along, following each other 
 without any distinction between day and night so far 
 as she was concerned, for she felt only this one 
 thought burning into her soul: he loved another 
 woman. 
 
 Then she said to herself all of a sudden: "What 
 if it were false? Why should I not have known 
 about his marriage sooner than this doctor?" After 
 that, came the reflection that it had been kept hidden 
 from her. Paul had taken care that she should not 
 hear about it. 
 
 She glanced around her room to see who was 
 there. A woman whom she did not know was 
 keeping watch by her side, a woman of the people. 
 She did not venture to question her. From whom, 
 then, could she make inquiries about this matter? 
 
 The door was suddenly pushed open. Her hus- 
 band entered on the tips of his toes. Seeing that her 
 eyes were open, he came over to her. 
 
 "Are you better?" 
 
 "Yes, thanks." 
 
 "You frightened us very much since yesterday. 
 But there is an end of the danger! By the bye, I am 
 quite embarrassed about your case. 1 telegraphed to 
 our friend, Madame Icardon, who was to have come 
 to stay with you during your confinement, informing 
 her about your premature illness, and imploring her 
 to hasten down here. She is with her nephew, who 
 has an attack of scarlet fever. You cannot, however.
 
 MONT O RIOL 
 
 319 
 
 remain without anyone near you, without some 
 woman who is a little — a little suitable for the pur- 
 pose. Accordingly, a lady from the neighborhood 
 has offered to nurse you, and to keep you company 
 every day, and, faith, I have accepted the offer. It 
 is Madame Honorat. " 
 
 Christiane suddenly remembered Doctor Black's 
 words. A start of fear shook her; and she groaned: 
 "Oh! no — no — not she!" 
 
 William did not understand, and went on: " Listen, 
 1 know well that she is very common; but your 
 brother has a great esteem for her; she has been of 
 great service to him; and then it has been thrown 
 out that she was originally a midwife, whom Hono- 
 rat made the acquaintance of while attending a pa- 
 tient. If you take a strong dislike to her, I will send 
 her away the next day. Let us try her at any rate. 
 Let her come once or twice." 
 
 She remained silent, thinking. A craving to know, 
 to know everything, entered into her, so violent that 
 the hope of making this woman chatter freely, of 
 tearing from her one by one the words that would 
 rend her ov/n heart, now filled her with a yearning 
 to reply: "Go, go, and look for her immediately — 
 immediately. Go, pray!" 
 
 And to this irresistible desire to know was also 
 superadded a strange longing to suffer more intensely, 
 to roll herself about in her misery, as she might have 
 rolled herself on thorns, the mysterious longing, mor- 
 bid and feverish, of a martyr calling for fresh pain. 
 
 So she faltered: "Yes, 1 have no objection. Bring 
 me Madame Honorat." 
 
 Then, suddenly, she felt that she could not wait
 
 320 
 
 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 any longer without making sure, quite sure, of this 
 treason; and she asked William in a voice weak as a 
 breath : 
 
 "Is it true that M. Bretigny is getting married?" 
 He replied calmly: "Yes, it is true. We would 
 have told you before this if we could have talked 
 with you." 
 
 She continued: "With Charlotte?" 
 "With Charlotte." 
 
 Now William had also a fixed idea himself which 
 from this time forth never left him — his daughter, as 
 yet barely alive, whom every moment he was going 
 to look at. He felt indignant because Christiane's 
 first words were not to ask for the baby; and in a 
 tone of gentle reproach: "Well, look here! you have 
 not yet inquired about the little one. You are aware 
 that she is going on very well?" 
 
 She trembled as if he had touched a living wound; 
 but it was necessary for her to pass through all the 
 stations of this Calvary. 
 
 "Bring her here," she said. 
 
 He vanished to the foot of the bed behind the 
 curtain, then he came back, his face lighted up with 
 pride and happiness, and holding in his hands, in an 
 awkward fashion, a bundle of white linen. 
 
 He laid it down on the embroidered pillow close 
 to the head of Christiane, who was choking with 
 emotion, and he said: "Look here, see how lovely 
 she is!" 
 
 She looked. He opened with two of his fingers 
 the fine lace with which was hidden from view a little 
 red face, so small, so red, with closed eyes, and mouth 
 constantly moving.
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 321 
 
 And she thought, as she leaned over this begin- 
 ning of being: "This is my daughter — Paul's daugh- 
 ter. Here then is what made me suffer so much. 
 This — this — this is my daughter!" 
 
 Her repugnance toward the child, whose birth 
 had so fiercely torn her poor heart and her tender 
 woman's body had, all at once, disappeared; she 
 now contemplated it with ardent and sorrowing curi- 
 osity, with profound astonishment, the astonishment 
 of a being who sees her firstborn come forth from 
 her. 
 
 Andermatt was waiting for her to caress it pas- 
 sionately. He was surprised and shocked, and asked: 
 "Are you not going to kiss it.^" 
 
 She stooped quite gently toward this little red 
 forehead; and in proportion as she drew her lips 
 closer to it, she felt them drawn, called by it. And 
 when she had placed them upon it, when she touched 
 it, a little moist, a little warm, warm with her own 
 life, it seemed to her that she could not withdraw her 
 lips from that infantile flesh, that she would leave 
 them there forever. 
 
 Something grazed her cheek; it was her husband's 
 beard as he bent forward to kiss her. And when he 
 had pressed her a long time against himself with a 
 grateful tenderness, he wanted, in his turn, to kiss 
 his daughter, and with his outstretched mouth he gave 
 it very soft little strokes on the nose. 
 
 Christiane, her heart shriveled up by this caress, 
 gazed at both of them there by her side, at her 
 daughter and at him — him! 
 
 He soon wanted to carry the infant back to its 
 cradle. 
 
 8 G. de M.— 21
 
 ^22 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 "No," said she, "let me have it a few minutes 
 longer, that I may feel it close to my face. Don't 
 speak to me any more — don't move — leave us alone, 
 and wait." 
 
 She passed one of her arms over the body hidden 
 under the swaddling-clothes, put her forehead close 
 to the little grinning face, shut her eyes, and no 
 longer stirred, or thought about anything. 
 
 But, at the end of a few minutes, William softly 
 touched her on the shoulder: "Come, mv darlincr 
 you must be reasonable! No emotions, you know, 
 no emotions! " 
 
 Thereupon, he bore away their little daughter, 
 while the mother's eyes followed the child till it had 
 disappeared behind the curtain of the bed. 
 
 After that, he came back to her: "Then it is 
 understood that I am to bring Madame Honorat to 
 you to-morrow morning, to keep you company.?" 
 
 She replied in a firm tone: "Yes, my dear, you 
 may send her to me — to-morrow morning." 
 
 And she stretched herself out in the bed, fatigued, 
 worn out, perhaps a little less unhappy. 
 
 Her father and her brother came to see her in the 
 evening, and told her news about the locality — the 
 precipitate departure of Professor Cloche in search of 
 his daughter, and the conjectures with reference to 
 the Duchess de Ramas, who was no longer to be 
 seen, and who was also supposed to have started on 
 Mazelli's track. Gontran laughed at these adventures, 
 and drew a comic moral from the occurrences: 
 
 "The history of those spas is incredible. They 
 are the only fairylands left upon the earth! In two 
 months more thin^js happen in them than in th<?
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 3^3 
 
 rest of the universe during the remainder of the year. 
 One might say with truth that the springs are not 
 mineralized but bewitched. And it is everywhere the 
 same, at Aix, Royat, Vichy, Luchon, and also at 
 the sea-baths, at Dieppe, Htretat, Trouville, Biarritz, 
 Cannes, and Nice. You meet there specimens of all 
 kinds of people, of every social grade — admirable 
 adventures, a mixture of races and people not to be 
 found elsewhere, and marvelous incidents. Women 
 play pranks there with facility and charming prompt- 
 itude. At Paris one resists temptation — at the 
 waters one falls; there you are! Some men find for- 
 tune at them, like Andermatt; others find death, like 
 Aubry-Pasteur; others find worse even than that — 
 and get married there — like myself and Paul. Isn't 
 it queer and funny, this sort of thing.? You have 
 heard about Paul's intended marriage — have you 
 not ? " 
 
 She murmured: "Yes; William told me about it 
 a little while ago." 
 
 Gontran went on: "He is right, quite right. 
 She is a peasant's daughter. Well, what of that ? 
 She is better than an adventurer's daughter or a 
 daughter who's too short. I knew Paul. He would 
 have ended by marrying a street-walker, provided 
 she resisted him for six months. And to resist him 
 it needed a jade or an innocent. He has lighted on 
 the innocent. So much the better for him!" 
 
 Christiane listened, and every word, entering 
 through her ears, went straight to her heart, and in- 
 flicted on her pain, horrible pain. 
 
 Closing her eyes, she said: "1 am very tired. I 
 would like to have a little rest."
 
 324 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 They embraced her and went out. 
 
 She could not sleep, so wakeful was her mind, 
 active and racked with harrowing thoughts. That 
 idea that he no longer loved her at all became so in- 
 tolerable that, were it not for the presence of this 
 woman, this nurse nodding asleep in the armchair, 
 she would have got up, opened the window, and 
 flung herself out on the steps of the hotel, A very 
 thin ray of moonlight penetrated through an opening 
 in the curtains, and formed a round bright spot on 
 the floor. She observed it; and in a moment a 
 crowd of memories rushed together into her brain: 
 the lake, the wood, that first "I love you," scarcely 
 heard, so agitating, at Tournoel, and all their ca- 
 resses, in the evening, beside the shadowy paths, and 
 the road from La Roche Pradiere. 
 
 Suddenly, she saw this white road, on a night 
 when the heavens were filled with stars, and he, 
 Paul, with his arm round a woman's waist, kissing 
 her at every step they walked. It was Charlotte! 
 He pressed her against him, smiled as he knew how 
 to smile, murmured in her ear sweet words, such as 
 he knew how to utter, then flung himself on his 
 knees and kissed the ground in front of her, just as 
 he had kissed it in front of herself! It was so hard, 
 so hard for her to bear, that turning round and hid- 
 ing her face in the pillow, she burst out sobbing. 
 She almost shrieked, so much did despair rend her 
 soul. Every beat of her heart, which jumped into 
 her throat, which throbbed in her temples, sent forth 
 from her one word — "Paul — Paul — Paul" — end- 
 lessly re-echoed. She stopped up her ears with her 
 hands in order to hear nothing more, plunged her
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 325 
 
 head under the sheets; but then his name sounded 
 in the depths of her bosom with every pant of her 
 tormented heart. 
 
 The nurse, waking up, asked of her: "Are you 
 worse, Madame?" 
 
 Christiane turned round, her face covered with 
 tears, and murmured: "No, I was asleep — I was 
 dreaming — I was frightened." 
 
 Then, she begged of her to Hght two wax-candles, 
 so that the ray of moonlight might be no longer vis- 
 ible. Toward morning, however, she slumbered. 
 
 She had been asleep for a few hours when Ander- 
 matt came in, bringing with him Madame Honorat. 
 The fat lady, immediately adopting a familiar tone, 
 questioned her like a doctor; then, satisfied with her 
 answers, said: "Come, come! you're going on very 
 nicely!" Then she took off her hat, her gloves, and 
 her shawl, and, addressing the nurse: "You may go, 
 my girl. You will come when we ring for you." 
 
 Christiane, already inflamed with dislike to the 
 woman, said to her husband: "Give me my daughter 
 for a little while." 
 
 As on the previous day, William carried the child 
 to her, tenderly embracing it as he did so, and placed 
 it upon the pillow. And, as on the previous day, 
 too, when she felt close to her cheek, through the 
 wrappings, the heat of this little stranger's body, im- 
 prisoned in linen, she was suddenly penetrated with 
 a grateful sense of peace. 
 
 Then, all at once, the baby began to cry, scream- 
 ing out in a shrill and piercing voice. "She wants 
 nursing," said Andermatt. 
 
 He rang, and the wet-nurse appeared, a big red
 
 326 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 woman, with a mouth hke an ogress, full of large, 
 shining teeth, which almost terrified Christiane. And 
 from the open body of her dress she drew forth a 
 breast, soft and heavy with milk. And when Chris- 
 tiane beheld her daughter drinking, she felt a longing 
 to snatch away and take back the baby, moved by a 
 certain sense of jealousy. Madame Honorat now gave 
 directions to the wet-nurse, who went off, carrying 
 the baby in her arms. Andermatt, in his turn, went 
 out, and the two women were left alone together. 
 
 Christiane did not know how to speak of what 
 tortured her soul, trembling lest she might give way 
 to too much emotion, lose her head, burst into tears, 
 and betray herself. But Madame Honorat began to 
 babble of her own accord, without having been asked 
 a single question. When she had related all the 
 scandalous stories that were circulating through the 
 neighborhood, she came to the Oriol family: "They 
 are good people," said she, "very good people. If 
 you had known the mother, what a worthy, brave 
 woman she was! She was worth ten women, 
 Madame. The girls take after her, for that matter." 
 
 Then, as she was passing on to another topic, 
 Christiane asked: "Which of the two do you prefer, 
 Louise or Charlotte ? " 
 
 "Oh! for my own part, Madame, 1 prefer Louise, 
 your brother's intended wife; she is more sensible, 
 more steady. She is a woman of order. But my 
 husband likes the other better. Men you know, have 
 tastes different from ours." 
 
 She ceased speaking. Christiane, whose strength 
 was giving way, faltered: "My brother has often met 
 his betrothed at your house."
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 327 
 
 "Oh! yes, Madame — I believe really every day. 
 Everything was brought about at my house, every- 
 thing! As for me, I let them talk, these young peo- 
 ple, I understood the thing thoroughly. But what 
 truly gave me pleasure was when 1 saw that M. 
 Paul was getting smitten by the younger one." 
 
 Then, Christiane, in an almost inaudible voice: "Is 
 he deeply in love with her?" 
 
 "Ah! Madame, is he in love with her? He had 
 lost his head about her some time since. And then, 
 when the Italian — he who ran off" with Doctor 
 Cloche's daughter — kept hanging about the girl a 
 little, it was something worth seeing and watching — 
 I thought they were going to fight! Ah! if you had 
 seen M. Paul's eyes. And he looked upon her as if 
 she were a holy Virgin, nothing less — it's a pleasant 
 thing to see people so much in love as that!" 
 
 Thereupon, Christiane asked her about all that had 
 taken place in her presence, about all they had said, 
 about all they had done, about their promenades in 
 the glen of Sans-Souci, where he had so often told 
 her of his love for her. She put unexpected ques- 
 tions, which astonished the fat lady, about matters 
 that nobody would have dreamed of, for she was 
 constantly making comparisons; she recalled a thou- 
 sand details of what had occurred the year before, all 
 Paul's delicate gallantries, his thoughtfulness about 
 her, his ingenious devices to please her, all that dis-' 
 play of charming attentions and tender anxieties 
 which on the part of a man show an imperious 
 desire to win a woman's affections; and she wanted 
 to find out whether he had manifested the same 
 affectionate interest toward the other, whether he had
 
 328 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 commenced afresh this siege of a soul with the same 
 ardor, with the same enthusiasm, with the same ir- 
 resistible passion. 
 
 And every time she recognized a little circum- 
 stance, a little trait, one of those nothings which 
 cause such exquisite bliss, one of those disquieting 
 surprises which cause the heart to beat fast, and of 
 which Paul was so prodigal when he loved, Chris- 
 tiane, as she lay prostrate in the bed, gave utterance 
 to a little "Ah!" expressive of keen suffering. 
 
 Amazed at this strange exclamation, Madame 
 Honorat declared more emphatically: "Why, yes. 
 'Tis as I tell you, exactly as I tell you. 1 never saw 
 a man so much in love!" 
 
 "Has he recited verses to her?" 
 
 "1 believe so indeed, Madame, and very pretty 
 ones, too!" 
 
 And, when they had relapsed into silence, nothing 
 more could be heard save the monotonous and 
 soothing song of the nurse as she rocked the baby 
 to sleep in the adjoining room. 
 
 Steps were drawing near in the corridor outside. 
 Doctors Mas-Roussel and Latonne had come to visit 
 their patient. They found her agitated, not quite so 
 well as she had been on the previous day. 
 
 When they had left, Andermatt opened the door 
 again, and without coming in: "Doctor Black would 
 like to see you. Will you see him?" 
 
 She exclaimed, as she raised herself up in the 
 bed: "No — no — I will not — no!" 
 
 William came over to her, looking quite astounded: 
 "But listen to me now — it would only be right — it is 
 his due — you ought to!"
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 329 
 
 She looked, with her wide-open eyes and quiver- 
 ing lips, as if she had lost her reason. She kept 
 repeating in a piercing voice, so loud that it must 
 have penetrated through the walls: "No! — no! — 
 never!" And then, no longer knowing what she 
 said, and pointing with outstretched arm toward Ma- 
 dame Honorat, who was standing in the center of 
 the apartment: 
 
 " 1 do not want her either! — send her away! — I 
 don't want to see her! — send her away!" 
 
 Then he rushed to his wife's side, took her in his 
 arms, and kissed her on the forehead: "My little 
 Christiane, be calm! What is the matter with you? 
 ■ — come now, be calm!" 
 
 She had by this time lost the power of raising 
 her voice. The tears gushed from her eyes. 
 
 "Send them all away," said she, "and remain 
 alone with me! " 
 
 He went across, in a distracted frame of mind, to 
 the doctor's wife, and gently pushing her toward the 
 door: "Leave us for a few minutes, pray. It is the 
 fever — the milk-fever. I will calm her. I will look 
 for you again by and by." 
 
 When he came back to the bedside Christiane 
 was lying down, weeping quietly, without moving 
 in any way, quite prostrated. 
 
 And then, for the first time in his life, he, too, 
 began to weep. 
 
 In fact, the milk-fever had broken out during the 
 night, and delirium supervened. After some hours of 
 extreme excitement, the recently delivered woman 
 suddenly began to speak. 
 
 The Marquis and Andermatt, who had resolved to
 
 ^30 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 remain near her, and who passed the time playing 
 cards, counting the tricks in hushed tones, imagined 
 that she was calling them, and, rising up, approached 
 the bed. She did not see them; she did not recog- 
 nize them. Intensely pale, on her white pillow, with 
 her fair tresses hanging loose over her shoulders, she 
 was gazing, with her clear blue eyes, into that un- 
 known, mysterious, and fantastic world, in which 
 dwell the insane. 
 
 Her hands, stretched over the bedclothes, stirred 
 now and then, agitated by rapid and involuntary 
 movements, tremblings, and starts. 
 
 She did not, at first, appear to be talking to any- 
 one, but to be seeing things and telling what she 
 saw. And the things she said seemed disconnected, 
 incomprehensible. She found a rock too high to jump 
 off. She was afraid of a sprain, and then she was 
 not on intimate terms enough with the man who 
 reached out his arms toward her. Then she spoke 
 about perfumes. She was apparently trying to re- 
 member some forgotten phrases. "What can be 
 sweeter.^ This intoxicates one like wine — wine in- 
 toxicates the mind, but perfume intoxicates the imagi- 
 nation. With perfume you taste the very essence, 
 the pure essence of things and of the universe — you 
 taste the flowers — the trees — the grass of the fields 
 — you can even distinguish the soul of the dwellings 
 of olden days which sleeps in the old furniture, the 
 old carpets, and the old curtains." Then her face 
 contracted as if she had undergone a long spell of 
 fatigue. She was ascending a hillside slowly, heavily, 
 and was saying to some one: "Oh! carry me once 
 more, I beg of you. I am going to die here! I can
 
 MONTORIOL 551 
 
 :?;>' 
 
 walk no farther. Carry me as you did above the 
 gorges. Do you remember? — how you loved me!" 
 
 Then she uttered a cry of anguish — a look of 
 horror came into her eyes. She saw in front of her 
 a dead animal, and she was imploring to have it 
 taken away without giving her pain. The Marquis 
 said in a whisper to his son-in-law: "She is think- 
 ing about an ass that we came across on our way 
 back from La Nugere." And now she was address- 
 ing this dead beast, consoling it, telling it that she, 
 too, was very unhappy, because she had been aban- 
 doned. 
 
 Then, on a sudden, she refused to do something 
 required of her. She cried: "Oh! no, not that! 
 Oh! it is you, you who want me to drag this cart!" 
 
 Then she panted, as if indeed she were dragging 
 a vehicle along. She wept, moaned, uttered excla- 
 mations, and always, during a period of half an 
 hour, she was climbing up this hillside, dragging 
 after her with horrible efforts the ass's cart, beyond 
 a doubt. 
 
 And some one was harshly beating her, for she 
 said: "Oh! how you hurt me! At least, don't beat 
 me! 1 will walk — but don't beat me any more, I 
 entreat you! I'll do whatever you wish, but don't 
 beat me any more! " 
 
 Then her anguish gradually abated, and all she did 
 was to go on quietly talking in her incoherent fashion 
 till daybreak. After that, she became drowsy, and 
 ended by going to sleep. 
 
 Until the following day, however, her mental 
 powers remained torpid, somewhat wavering, fleeting. 
 She could not immediately find the words she wanted,
 
 332 
 
 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 and fatigued herself terribly in searching for them. 
 But, after a night of rest, she completely regained 
 possession of herself. 
 
 Nevertheless, she felt changed, as if this crisis had 
 transformed her soul. She suffered less and thought 
 more. The dreadful occurrences, really so recent, 
 seemed to her to have receded into a past already far 
 off; and she regarded them with a clearness of con- 
 ception with which her mind had never been illumi- 
 nated before. This light, which had suddenly dawned 
 on her brain, and which comes to certain beings in 
 certain hours of suffering, showed her life, men, things, 
 the entire earth and all that it contains as she had 
 never seen them before. 
 
 Then, more than on the evening when she had 
 felt herself so much alone in the universe in her 
 room, after her return from the lake of Tazenat, she 
 looked upon herself as utterly abandoned in existence. 
 She realized that all human beings walk along side 
 by side in the midst of circumstances without any- 
 thing ever truly uniting two persons together. She 
 learned from the treason of him in whom she had 
 reposed her entire confidence that the others, all the 
 others, would never again be to her anything but in- 
 different neighbors in that journey short or long, sad 
 or gay, that followed to-morrows no one could fore- 
 see. 
 
 She comprehended that even in the clasp of this 
 man's arms, when she believed that she was intermin- 
 gling with him, entering into him, when she believed 
 that their flesh and their souls had become only one flesh 
 and one soul, they had only drawn a little nearer to 
 one another, so as to bring into contact the impene-
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 333 
 
 trable envelopes in which mysterious nature has iso- 
 lated and shut up each human creature. And she 
 saw as well that nobody has ever been able, or ever 
 will be able, to break through that invisible barrier 
 which places living beings as far from each other as 
 the stars of heaven. She divined the impotent effort, 
 ceaseless since the first days of the world, the inde- 
 fatifi^able effort of men and women to tear off the 
 sheath in which their souls forever imprisoned, for- 
 ever solitary, are struggling — an effort of arms, of 
 lips, of eyes, of mouths, of trembling, naked flesh, 
 an effort of love, which exhausts itself in kisses, 
 to finish only by giving life to some other forlorn 
 being. 
 
 Then an uncontrollable desire to gaze on her 
 daughter took possession of her. She asked for it, 
 and when it was brought to her, she begged to have 
 it stripped, for as yet she only knew its face. 
 
 The wet-nurse thereupon unfastened the swad- 
 dling-clothes, and discovered the poor little body of 
 the newborn infant agitated by those vague move- 
 ments which life puts into these rough sketches of 
 humanity. Christiane touched it with a timid, trem- 
 bling hand, then wanted to kiss the stomach, the 
 back, the legs, the feet, and then she stared at the 
 child full of fantastic thoughts. 
 
 Two beings came together, loved one another 
 with rapturous passion; and from their embrace, this 
 being was born. It was he and she intermingled; 
 until the death of this little child, it was he and she, 
 living again both together; it was a little of him, and 
 a little of her, with an unknown something which 
 ^"■^uld make it different from them. It reproduced
 
 334 
 
 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 them both in the form of its body as well as in that 
 of its mind, in its features, its gestures, its eyes, its 
 movements, its tastes, its passions, even in the sound 
 of its voice and its gait in walking, and yet it would 
 be a new being! 
 
 They were separated now — he and she — forever! 
 Never again would their eyes blend in one of those 
 outbursts of love which make the human race inde- 
 structible. And pressing the child against her heart, 
 she murmured: "Adieu! adieu!" It was to him 
 that she was saying "adieu" in her baby's ear, the 
 brave and sorrowing "adieu" of a woman who 
 would yet have much to suffer, always, it might be, 
 but who would know how to hide her tears. 
 
 "Ha! ha!" cried William through the half-open 
 door. "1 catch you there! Will you be good enough 
 to give me back my daughter?" 
 
 Running toward the bed, he seized the little one 
 in his hands already practiced in the art of handling 
 it, and lifting it over his head, he went on repeating: 
 "Good day. Mademoiselle Andermatt — good da}^, 
 Mademoiselle Andermatt." 
 
 Christiane was thinking: "Here, then, is my hus- 
 band!" 
 
 And she contemplated him, with eyes as aston- 
 ished as if they were beholding him for the first 
 time. This was he, the man who ought to be, ac- 
 cording to human ideas of religion, of society, the 
 other half of her — more than that, her master, the 
 master of her days and of her nights, of her heart 
 and of her body! She felt almost a desire to smile, 
 so strange did this appear to her at the moment, for 
 between her and him no bond could ever exist, none
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 ^35 
 
 of those bonds alas! so quickly broken, but which 
 seem eternal, ineffably sweet, almost divine. 
 
 No remorse even came to her for having deceived 
 him, for having betrayed him. She was surprised at 
 this, and asked herself why it was. Why ? No 
 doubt, there was too great a difference between 
 them, they were too far removed from one another, 
 of races too widely dissimilar. He did not understand 
 her at all; she did not understand him at all. And 
 yet he was good, devoted, complaisant. 
 
 But only perhaps beings of the same shape, of the 
 same nature, of the same moral essence can feel 
 themselves attached to one another by the sacred 
 bond of voluntary duty. 
 
 They dressed the baby again. William sat down. 
 
 "Listen, my darling," said he; "1 don't venture 
 to announce Doctor Black's visit to you, since you 
 have been so nice toward myself. There is, how- 
 ever, one person whom 1 would very much like you 
 to see — I mean Doctor Bonnefille." 
 
 Then, for the first time, she laughed, with a col- 
 orless sort of laugh, which fixed itself on her lips, 
 without going near her heart; and she asked: 
 
 " Doctor Bonnefille! what a miracle! So then you 
 are reconciled?" 
 
 "Why, yes! Listen! 1 am going to tell you, as 
 a secret, a great bit of news. 1 have just bought up 
 the old establishment. I have all the district now. 
 Hey! what a victory. That poor Doctor Bonnefille 
 knew it before anybody, be it understood. So then 
 he has been sly. He came every day to obtain in- 
 formation as to how you were, leaving his card with 
 a word of sympathy written on it. For my part, 1
 
 33^ 
 
 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 responded to these advances with a single visit; and 
 at present we are on excellent terms." 
 
 "Let him come," said Christiane, "whenever he 
 likes. I will be glad to see him." 
 
 "Good. Thank you. I'll bring him here to you to- 
 morrow morning. I need scarcely tell you that Paul 
 is constantly asking me to convey to you a thousand 
 compliments from him, and he inquires a great deal 
 about the little one. He is very anxious to see her." 
 
 In spite of her resolutions she felt a sense of op- 
 pression. She was able, however, to say: "You will 
 thank him on my behalf." 
 
 Andermatt rejoined: "He was very uneasy to learn 
 whether you had been told about his intended mar- 
 riage. I informed him that you had; then he asked 
 me several times what you thought about it." 
 
 She exerted her strength to the utmost, and felt 
 able to murmur: "You will tell him that I entirely 
 approve of it." 
 
 William, with cruel persistency, went on: "He 
 wishes also to know for certain what name you mean 
 to call your daughter. I told him we were hesitating 
 between Marguerite and Genevieve." 
 
 "I have changed my mind," said she. "I intend 
 to call her Arlette." 
 
 Formerly, in the early days of her pregnancy, she 
 had discussed with Paul the name which they ought 
 to select whether for a son or for a daughter; and for a 
 daughter they had remained undecided between Gene- 
 vieve and Marguerite. She no longer wanted these 
 two names. 
 
 William repeated: "Arlette! Arlette! That's a very 
 nice name — you are right. For my part, I would
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 337 
 
 have liked to call her Christiane, like you. 1 adore 
 that name — Christiane!" 
 
 She sighed deeply: "Oh! it forebodes too much 
 fuffering to bear the name of the Crucified." 
 
 He reddened, never having dreamed of this com- 
 parison, and rising up: "Besides, Arlette is very nice. 
 By-bye, my darling." 
 
 As soon as he had left the room, she called the 
 wet-nurse, and directed her for the future to place the 
 cradle beside the bed. 
 
 When the httle couch in the form of a wherry, 
 always rocking, and carrying its white curtain like a 
 sail on its mast of twisted copper, had been rolled 
 close to the big bed, Christiane stretched out her hand 
 to the sleeping infant, and she said in a very hushed 
 voice: "Go by-bye, my baby! You will never find 
 anyone who will love you as much as I." 
 
 She passed the next few days in a state of tran- 
 quil melancholy, thinking a great deal, building up 
 within herself a resisting soul, an energetic heart, in 
 order to resume her life again in a few weeks. Her 
 chief occupation now consisted in gazing into the 
 eyes of her child, seeking to surprise in them a first 
 look, but only seeing there two little bluish caverns 
 invariably turned townrd the sunlight coming in 
 through the window. 
 
 And she experienced a feeling of profound sadness 
 as she reflected that these eyes now closed in sleep 
 would 1 ok out on the world, as she herself had 
 looked on it, through the illusion of those secret 
 dreamings which make the souls of young women 
 trustful and joyous. They would love all that she had 
 loved, the beautiful bright days, the flowers, the 
 
 8 G. de M.— aa
 
 338 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 wood, and alas! living beings too! They would, no 
 doubt, love a man! They would carry in their depths 
 his image, well known, cherished, would see it when 
 he would be far away, would be inflamed on seeing 
 him again. And then — and then they would learn to 
 weep! Tears, horrible tears, would flow over these 
 little cheeks. And the frightful sufferings of love be- 
 trayed would render them unrecognizable, those poor 
 wandering eyes which would be blue. 
 
 And she wildly embraced the child, saying to it: 
 "Love me alone, my child!" 
 
 At length, one day, Professor Mas-Roussel, who 
 came every morning to see her, declared: "You can 
 soon get up for a little, Madame." 
 
 Andermatt, when the physician had left, said to 
 his wife: "It is very unfortunate that you are not 
 quite well, for we have a very interesting experiment 
 to-day at the establishment. Doctor Latonne has per- 
 formed a real miracle with Pere Clovis by subjecting 
 him to his system of self-moving gymnastics. Just 
 imagine! This old vagabond is now able to walk as 
 well as anyone. The progress of the cure, moreover, 
 is manifest after each exhibition!" 
 
 To please him, she asked: "And are you going 
 to have a public exhibition?" 
 
 "Yes, and no. We are having an exhibition be- 
 fore the medical men and a few friends." 
 
 "At what hour?" 
 
 "Three o'clock." 
 
 "Will M. Bretigny be there?" 
 
 "Yes, yes. He promised me that he would come 
 to it. From a medical point of view, it is exceed- 
 ingly curious."
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 339 
 
 "Well," she said, "as I'll just have risen myself 
 at that time, you will ask M. Bretigny to come and 
 see me. He will keep me company while you are 
 looking at the experiment." 
 
 "Yes, my darling." 
 
 " You won't forget?" 
 
 "No, no. Make your mind easy." 
 
 And he went otf in search of those who were to 
 witness the exhibition. 
 
 After having been imposed upon by the Oriols at 
 the time of the first treatment of the paralytic, he had 
 in his turn imposed upon the credulity of invalids — so 
 easy to get the better of, when it is a question of 
 curing. And now he imposed upon himself with the 
 farce of this cure, talking about it so frequently, with 
 so much ardor and such an air of conviction that it 
 would have been hard to determine whether he be- 
 lieved or disbelieved in it. 
 
 About three o'clock, all the persons whom he had 
 induced to attend found themselves gathered together 
 before the door of the establishment, expecting P6re 
 Clovis's arrival. He made his appearance, leaning on 
 two walking-sticks, always dragging his legs after 
 him, and bowing politely to everyone as he passed. 
 
 The two Oriols followed him, together with the 
 two young girls. Paul and Gontran accompanied 
 their intended wives. 
 
 In the great hall where the articulated instruments 
 were fixed. Doctor Latonne was waiting, and killed 
 time by chatting with Andermatt and Doctor Honorat. 
 
 When he saw Fere Clovis, a smile of delight 
 passed over his clean-shaven lips. He asked: "Well! 
 how are we going on to-day?"
 
 340 
 
 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 "Oh! all right, all right." 
 
 Petrus Martel and Saint Landri presented them- 
 selves. They wanted to satisfy their minds. The 
 first believed; the second doubted. Behind them, 
 people saw with astonishment Doctor Bonnefille com- 
 ing up, saluting his rival, and extending his hand 
 toward Andermatt. Doctor Black was the last to 
 arrive. 
 
 "Well, Messieurs and Mesdemoiselles," said Doc- 
 tor Latonne, as he bowed to Louise and Charlotte 
 Oriol, "you are going to witness a very curious 
 phenomenon. Observe first, before the experiment, 
 this worthy fellow walking a little, but very little. 
 Can you walk without your sticks, Pere Clovis?" 
 
 "Oh! no, Mochieu!" 
 
 "Good, then let us begin." 
 
 The old fellow was hoisted on the armchair; his 
 legs were strapped to the movable feet of the sitting- 
 machine; then, at the command of the inspector: 
 "Go quietly!" the attendant, with bare arms, turned 
 the handle. 
 
 Thereupon, the right knee of the vagabond was 
 seen rising up, stretching out, bending, then moving 
 forward again; after that, the left knee did the same; 
 and Pere Clovis, seized with a sudden delight, began 
 to laugh, while he repeated with his head and his 
 long, white beard all the movements imposed on his 
 legs. 
 
 The four physicians and Andermatt, stooping over 
 him, examined him with the gravity of augurs, while 
 Colosse exchanged sly winks with the old chap. 
 
 As the door had been left open, other persons 
 kept constantly crowding in, and convinced and
 
 MONT ORIOL 
 
 341 
 
 anxious bathers pressed forward to behold the ex- 
 periment. 
 
 "Quicker!" said Doctor Latonne; and, in obedi- 
 ence to his command, the man who worked the 
 handle turned it with greater energy. The old fel- 
 low's legs began to go at a running pace, and he, 
 seized with irresistible gaiety, like a child being 
 tickled, laughed as loudly as ever he could, moving 
 his head about wildly. And, in the midst of his 
 peals of laughter, he kept repeating: "What a 
 rigolo! what a rigolo!" having, no doubt, picked up 
 this word from the mouth of some foreigner. 
 
 Colosse, in his turn, broke out, and, stamping on 
 the ground with his foot and striking his thighs 
 with his hands, he exclaimed: "Ha! bougrrre of a 
 Cloviche! bougrrre of a Cloviche!" 
 
 "Enough!" was the inspector's next command. 
 
 The vagabond was unfastened, and the physicians 
 drew apart in order to verify the result. 
 
 Then Pere Clovis was seen rising from the arm- 
 chair, stepping on the ground, and walking. H« 
 proceeded with short steps, it was true, quite bent, 
 and grimacing from fatigue at every eflFort, but still 
 he walked! 
 
 Doctor Bonnefille was the first to declare: "This 
 is quite a remarkable case!" Doctor Black immedi- 
 ately improved upon his brother-physician. Doctor 
 Honorat, alone, said nothing. 
 
 Gontran whispered in Paul's ear: "I don't under- 
 stand. Look at their heads. Are they dupes or 
 humbugs?" 
 
 But Andermatt was speaking. He told the history 
 of this cure since the first day, the relapse, and the
 
 342 
 
 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 final recovery which was declared to be settled and 
 absolute. 
 
 He gaily added; "If our patient goes back a 
 little every winter, we'll cure him again every sum- 
 mer." 
 
 Then he pompously eulogized the waters of Mont 
 Oriol, extolled their properties, all their properties: 
 
 "For my own part," said he; "1 have had a 
 proof of their efficacy in the case of a being who is 
 very dear to me; and, if my family is not extinct, it 
 is to Mont Oriol that I will owe it." 
 
 But, all at once, he had a flash of recollection. 
 He had promised his wife a visit from Paul Bretigny. 
 He was filled with regret for his forgetfulness, as he 
 was most anxious to gratify her every wish. Accord- 
 ingly he glanced around him, espied Paul, and com- 
 ing up to him: "My dear friend, I completely 
 forgot to tell you that Christiane is expecting you at 
 this moment." 
 
 Bretigny said falteringly: "Me — at this moment?" 
 
 "Yes, she has got up to-day; and she desires to 
 see you before anyone. Hurry then as quickly as 
 possible, and excuse me." 
 
 Paul directed his steps toward the hotel, his heart 
 throbbing with emotion. On his way he met the 
 Marquis de Ravenel, who said to him: 
 
 " My daughter is up, and is surprised at not hav- 
 ing seen you yet." 
 
 He halted, however, on the first steps of the 
 staircase in order to consider what he would say to 
 her. How would she receive him ? Would she be 
 alone ? If she spoke about his marriage, what reply 
 should he make?
 
 MONTORiOL 343 
 
 Since he had heard of her confinement, he could 
 not think about her without groaning, so uneasy did 
 he feel; and the thought of their first meeting, every 
 time it floated through his mind, made him suddenly 
 redden or grow pale with anguish. He had also 
 thought with deep anxiety of this unknown child, of 
 which he was the father; and he remained harassed 
 by a desire to see it, mingled with a dread of look- 
 ing at it. He felt himself sunk in one of those moral 
 foulnesses which stain a man's conscience up to the 
 hour of his death. But he feared above all the glance 
 of this woman, for whom his love had been so fierce 
 and so short-lived. 
 
 Would she meet him with reproaches, with tears, 
 or with disdain ? Would she receive him, only to 
 drive him away ? 
 
 And what attitude ought he to assume toward 
 her? Humble, crushed, suppliant, or cold? Should 
 he explain himself or should he listen without reply- 
 ing? Ought he to sit down or to remain standing? 
 
 And when the child was shown to him, what 
 should he do? What should he say? With what 
 feeling should he appear to be agitated ? 
 
 Before the door he stopped again, and at the mo- 
 ment when he was on the point of ringing, he no- 
 ticed that his hand was trembling. However, he 
 placed his finger on the little ivory button, and he 
 heard the sound of the electric bell coming from the 
 interior of the apartment. 
 
 A female servant opened the door, and admitted 
 him. And, at the drawing-room door, he saw Chris- 
 tiane, at the end of the second room, lying on her 
 long chair with her eyes fixed upon him.
 
 344 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 These two rooms seemed to him interminable as he 
 was passing through them. He felt himself tottering. 
 He was afraid of knocking against the seats, and he 
 did not venture to look down toward his feet in or- 
 der to avoid lowering his eyes. She did not make a 
 single gesture, or utter a single word. She waited 
 till he was dose beside her. Her right hand re- 
 mained stretched out over her robe and her left 
 leaned over the side of the cradle, covered all round 
 with its curtains. 
 
 When he was three paces away from her he 
 stopped, not knowing what best to do. The cham- 
 bermaid had closed the door after him. 
 
 They were alone 1 
 
 Then, he felt a longing to sink upon his knees, 
 and implore her pardon. But she slowly raised the 
 hand which had rested on her robe, and, extending it 
 slightly toward him, said, "Good day," in a grave 
 tone. 
 
 He did not venture to touch her fingers, which, 
 however, he brushed with his lips, while he bowed 
 to her. 
 
 She added: "Sit down." And he sat down oil 
 a lower chair, close to her feet. 
 
 He felt that he ought to speak, but he could not 
 find a word or an idea, and he dared not even look 
 at her. However, he ended by stammering out: 
 "Your husband forgot to let me know that you were 
 waiting for me; but for that, I would have come 
 sooner." 
 
 She replied: "Oh! it matters little, since we 
 were bound to see one another again — a little sooner 
 — a little later 1"
 
 MONTORIOL ^4S 
 
 As she added nothing more, he hastened to say 
 in an inquiring tone: "I hope you are getting on 
 well by this time?" 
 
 "Thanks. As well as one can get on, after such 
 shocks! " 
 
 She was very pale and thin, but prettier than be- 
 fore her confinement. Her eyes especially had gained 
 a depth of expression which he had never seen in 
 them before. They seemed to have acquired a darker 
 shade, a blue less clear, less transparent, more in- 
 tense. Her hands were so white that their flesh 
 looked like that of a corpse. 
 
 She went on: "Those are hours very hard to live 
 through. But, when one has suffered thus, one feels 
 strong till the end of one's days." 
 
 Much affected, he murmured: "Yes; they are 
 terrible experiences!" 
 
 She repeated, like an echo: "Terrible." 
 
 For some moments there had been light move- 
 ments in the cradle — the all but imperceptible sounds 
 of an infant awakening from sleep. Bretigny could not 
 longer avert his gaze, preyed upon by a melancholy, 
 morbid yearning which gradually grew stronger, tor- 
 tured by the desire to behold what lived within 
 there. 
 
 Then he observed that the curtains of the tiny 
 bed were fastened from top to bottom with the gold 
 pins which Christiane was accustomed to wear in 
 her corsage. Often had he amused himself in bygone 
 days by taking them out and pinning them again on 
 the shoulders of his beloved, those fine pins with 
 crescent-shaped heads. He understood what she 
 meant; and a poignant emotion seized him, made
 
 346 WORKS OF GUY DE MAUPASSANT 
 
 him feel shriveled up before this barrier of golden 
 spikes which forever separated him from this child. 
 
 A little cry, a shrill plaint arose in this white 
 prison. Christiane quickly rocked the wherry, and 
 in a rather abrupt tone: 
 
 "I must ask your pardon for allowing you so 
 little time; but 1 must look after my daughter," 
 
 He rose, and once more kissed the hand which 
 she extended toward him; and, as he was on the 
 point of leaving, she said: 
 
 " I pray that you may be happy."
 
 \ 
 
 r-rfi 
 
 >tA 
 
 t 
 
 
 ■■'■ilM
 
 Illlllllllllllllllllllliiinnlliililiil 
 
 AA 000 441 840 6 
 
 .1 lilll hllillliliill I llii illi I Millllillli 
 
 L 007 544 730
 
 ^i