"To be sure; that"s true enough. But really your castles in the air are very amusing. Go on, Goualeuse."
"They would be very much satisfied with your husband, and you would have some allowances from your master, a poultry-yard, a garden; and, in fact, you would have to work very hard, La Louve, from morning till night."
"Oh, if that were all, if I once had my good man near me, I should not be afraid of work! I have stout arms."
"And you would have plenty to employ them, I will answer for that. There is so much to do,--so much to do! There is the stable to clean, the meals to get ready, the clothes to mend; to-day is washing day, next day there"s the bread to bake, or perhaps the house to clean from top to bottom; and, then, the other keepers would say, "There is no such manager as Martial"s wife; from the cellar to the garret, in her house, it is a pattern of cleanliness, and the children are taken such care of!
But then she is so very industrious, Madame Martial.""
"Really though, La Goualeuse, is it true? I should call myself Madame Martial," said La Louve, with a sort of pride,--"Madame Martial!"
"Which is better than being called La Louve,--is it not?"
"_Pardieu!_ Why, there"s no doubt but I should rather be called by my man"s name than the name of a wild beast; but--bah!--bah! _louve_ I was born, _louve_ I shall die!"
"Who knows? Who can say? Not to shrink from a life that is hard, but honest, will ensure success. So, then, work would not frighten you?"
"Oh, certainly not! It is not a husband and four or five brats to take care of that would give me any trouble!"
"But then it would not be all work; there are moments for rest. In the winter evenings, when the children were put to bed, and your husband smoked his pipe whilst he was cleaning his gun or caressing his dogs, you would have a little leisure."
"Leisure,--sit with my arms crossed before me! _Ma foi!_ No, I would rather mend the linen, by the side of the fire in the evening. That is not a very hard job, and in winter the days are so short."
As Fleur-de-Marie proceeded, La Louve forgot more and more of the present for the dreams of the future, as deeply interested as La Goualeuse had been before her, when Rodolph had talked to her of the rustic delights of the Bouqueval farm. La Louve did not attempt to conceal the wild tastes with which her lover had inspired her.
Remembering the deep and wholesome impression which she had experienced from the smiling picture of Rodolph in relation to a country life, Fleur-de-Marie was desirous of trying the same means of action on La Louve, thinking, with reason, that, if her companion was so far affected at the sketch of a rude, poor, and solitary life, as to desire ardently such an existence, she merited interest and pity. Delighted to see her companion listen to her with attention, La Goualeuse continued, smiling:
"And then you see, Madame Martial,--let me call you so,--what does it matter--"
"Quite the contrary; it flatters me." Then La Louve shrugged her shoulders, and, smiling, also added, "What folly to play at madame! Are we children? Well, it"s all the same; go on,--it"s quite amusing. You said--"
"I was saying, Madame Martial, that in speaking of your life, the winter in the thickest of the woods, we were only alluding to the worst of the seasons."
"_Ma foi!_ No, that is not the worst. To hear the wind whistle all night in the forest, and the wolves howl from time to time far off, very far off,--I shouldn"t tire of that; provided I was at the fireside with my man and my children, or even quite alone, if my man was going his rounds. Ah, I am not afraid of a gun! If I had my children to defend, I could do that,--the wolf would guard her cubs!"
"Oh, I can well believe you! You are very brave--you are; but I am a coward. I prefer spring to the winter, when the leaves are green, when the pretty wild flowers bloom, and they smell so sweet, so sweet that the air is quite scented; and then your children would roll about so merrily in the fresh gra.s.s; and then the forest would be so thick that you could hardly see your house in the midst of the foliage,--I can fancy that I see it now. In front of the house is a vine full of leaves, which your husband has planted, and which shades the bank of turf where he sleeps during the noonday heat, whilst you are going backwards and forwards desiring the children not to wake their father. I don"t know whether you have remarked it, but in the heat of summer about midday there is in the woods as deep silence as at midnight, you don"t hear the leaves shake, nor the birds sing."
"Yes, that"s true," replied La Louve, almost mechanically, who became more and more forgetful of the reality, and almost believed she saw before her the smiling pictures which the poetical imagination of Fleur-de-Marie, so instinctively amorous of the beauties of nature, presented before her.
Delighted at the deep attention which her companion lent her, La Goualeuse continued, allowing herself to be drawn on by the charm of the thoughts which she called up:
"There is one thing which I love almost as well as the silence of the woods, and that is the noise of the heavy drops of rain falling on the leaves; do you like that, too?"
"Oh, yes! I am very fond of a summer shower."
"So am I; and when the trees, the moss, and the gra.s.s, are all moistened, what a delightfully fresh odour they give out! And then, how the sun, as it pa.s.ses over the trees, makes all the little drops of water glisten as they hang from the leaves! Have you ever noticed that?"
"Yes; I remember it now because you tell me of it. Yet, how droll all this is! But, Goualeuse, you talk so well that one seems to see everything,--to see everything just as you talk; and then, I really do not know how to explain it all. But now, what you say seems good, it is quite pleasant,--just like the rain we were talking of."
"Oh, don"t suppose that we are the only creatures who love a summer shower! The dear little birds, how delighted they are! How they shake their feathers, whilst they warble so joyously; not more joyously, though, than your children,--your children as free, and gay, and light-hearted as they! And then, look! as the day declines the youngest children run across the wood to meet the elder, who brings back the two heifers from pasture, for they have heard the tinkling of the bell in the distance!"
"Yes, Goualeuse, and I think I see the smallest and boldest, whom his brother has put astride on the back of one of the cows."
"And one would say that the poor animal knows what burden she bears, she steps so carefully. But it is supper-time; your eldest child, whilst he has been tending the cows at pasture, has amused himself with gathering for you a basket of beautiful strawberries, which he has brought quite fresh under a thick covering of wild violets."
"Strawberries and violets,--ah, what a lovely smell they have! But where the deuce did you find all these ideas, La Goualeuse?"
"In the woods, where the strawberries ripen and the violets blow, you have only to look and gather them--But let us go on with our housekeeping. It is night, and you must milk your heifers, prepare your supper under the shelter of the vine, for you hear your husband"s dogs bark, and then their master"s voice, who, tired as he is, comes home singing,--and who could not sing when on a fine summer"s eve with cheerful heart you return to the house where a good wife and five children are waiting for you?--eh, Madame Martial?"
"True, true; one could not but sing," replied La Louve, becoming more and more thoughtful.
"Unless one weeps for joy," continued Fleur-de-Marie, herself much touched, "and such tears are as sweet as songs. And then, when night has completely come, what a pleasure to sit in the arbour and enjoy the calmness of a fine evening, to breathe the sweet odour of the forest, to hear the prattle of the children, to look at the stars, then the heart is so full,--so full that it must pour out its prayer; it must thank him to whom we are indebted for the freshness of the evening, the sweet scent of the woods, the gentle brightness of the starry sky! After this thanksgiving or this prayer, we go to sleep tranquilly till the next day, and then again thank our Creator. And this poor, hard-working, but calm and honest life, is the same each and every day."
"Every day!" repeated La Louve, with her head drooping on her chest, her look fixed, her breast oppressed, "for it is true the good G.o.d is good to give us wherewithal to live upon, and to make us happy with so little."
"Well, tell me now," continued Fleur-de-Marie, gently,--"tell me, ought not he to be blessed, after G.o.d, who should give you this peaceable and laborious life, instead of the wretched existence you lead in the mud of the streets of Paris?"
This word Paris suddenly recalled La Louve to reality.
A strange phenomenon had taken place in the mind of this creature.
The simple painting of a humble and rude condition--the mere recital by turns--lighted up by the soft rays from the domestic hearth, gilded by some joyful sunbeams, refreshed by the breeze of the great woods, or perfumed by the odour of wild flowers,--this narrative had made on La Louve a more profound or more sensible impression than could an exhortation of the most pious morality have effected.
In truth, in proportion as Fleur-de-Marie spoke, La Louve had longed to be, and meant to be, an indefatigable manager, a worthy wife, an affectionate and devoted mother.
To inspire, even for an instant, a violent, immoral, and degraded woman with a love of home, respect for duty, a taste for labour, and grat.i.tude towards her Creator; and that, by only promising her what G.o.d gives to all, the sun, the sky, and the depths of the forest,--what society owes to those who lack a roof and a loaf,--was, indeed, a glorious triumph for Fleur-de-Marie! Could the most severe moralist--the most overpowering preacher--have obtained more in threatening, in their monotonous and menacing orations, all human vengeances--all divine thunders?
The painful anger with which La Louve was possessed when she returned to the reality, after having allowed herself to be charmed by the new and wholesome reverie in which, for the first time, Fleur-de-Marie had plunged her, proved the influence of her words on her unfortunate companion. The more bitter were La Louve"s regrets when she fell back from this consoling delusion to the horrors of her real position, the greater was La Goualeuse"s triumph. After a moment"s silence and reflection, La Louve raised her head suddenly, pa.s.sed her hand over her brow, and rose threatening and angry.
"See, see! I had reason to mistrust you, and to desire not to listen to you, because it would turn to ill for me! Why did you talk thus to me?
Why make a jest of me? Why mock me? And because I have been so weak as to say to you that I should like to live in the depths of a forest with my man. Who are you, then, that you should make a fool of me in this way? You, miserable girl, don"t know what you have done! Now, in spite of myself, I shall always be thinking of this forest, the house, and--and--the children--and all that happiness which I shall never have--never--never! And if I cannot forget what you have told me, why, my life will be one eternal punishment,--a h.e.l.l,--and that by your fault! Yes, by your fault!"
"So much the better! Oh, so much the better!" said Fleur-de-Marie.
"You say, so much the better!" exclaimed La Louve, with her eyes glaring.
"Yes,--so much the better! For if your present miserable life appears to you a h.e.l.l, you will prefer that of which I have spoken to you."
"What is the use of preferring it, since it is not destined for me? What is the use of regretting that I walk the streets, since I shall die in the streets?" exclaimed La Louve, more and more irritated, and taking in her powerful grasp the small hand of Fleur-de-Marie. "Answer--answer!
Why do you try to make me desire that which I cannot have."
"To desire an honest and industrious life is to be worthy of that life, as I have already told you," replied Fleur-de-Marie, without attempting to disengage her hand.
"Well, and what then? Suppose I am worthy, what does that prove? How much the better off will that make me?"
"To see realised what you consider as a dream," answered Fleur-de-Marie, in a tone so serious and full of conviction that La Louve, again under control, let go La Goualeuse"s hand, and gazed at her in amazement.
"Listen to me, La Louve," said Fleur-de-Marie, in a voice full of feeling; "do you think me so wicked as to excite such ideas and hopes in you, if I were not sure that, whilst I made you blush at your present condition, I gave you the means to quit it?"
"You! You can do this?"