Strong as Death

eres. The portraits of many ancestors, crudely painted, one in a cuirass, another in a tight-fitting coat, this a powdered officer of the French Guards

nd the flies made a little cloud of black specks, dancing and buzzing

id the Countess, "It i

eath of soft air, bearing the odor of warm grass and the distant sounds of the country, swept in immediately thr

" said Annette, ta

was reflected on the meadows impregnated with sunshine, at the long and verdant lawns of the park, with its groups of trees here an

Countess. "We might walk as far as Berville, follow

us take Julio to scar

t your father

see Julio pointing after them. There he is now, wor

d up and ran to the window, calli

sort of mad abandon, partly real, partly feigned, a hunting spaniel, slender, white and red, whose curly ears flapped at every bound, was trying to rouse the three big beasts, which did not wish to get up. It was

rom her wi

m, Julio,

pers, feigning to be about to bite them. They began to grow uneasy, and the nervous

was obliged to jump over her. Startled by the bound, the heavy animal took fright, and first raising her head she finally raised herself slowly on her four legs,

Julio,

untess, "come to br

shading her eyes wit

a telegraph

e blouse appeared to be gliding along the top of the grain,

the Countess; "I hope he

elegram. Now she could not remove the gummed band to open the little blue paper without feeling her fingers tremble and her soul ag

times. Her heart, which life had just saddened for the first time, could anticipate only something joyful from that black and

r as if a knife had been thrust in her throat. The anguish of having known that experience made her breathless, and she tried to guess w

e despatch and recognized the name of her husband, she read: "I telegraph to tell you that

mma?" sai

er Bertin is co

w lucky

y so

ur o'c

es

w kind

oubled her, and the sudden arrival of the painter seemed to her a

m with the carriage," s

u not come,

l wait for

at will

t feel v

alk as far as Be

eakfast has mad

ter between now an

my room. Let me know a

, ma

at the proper hour, and that a room be prepared, the

had nothing to do, after accepting love later as the complement of a happy existence, after taking her part in a guilty intimacy, largely from inclination, a little from a leaning toward sentiment itself as a compensation for the prosaic hum-drum of daily life, had barricaded itself in the happiness that chance had offered her, with no other desire than to defend it against the surprises of each day. She had the

ffect of a gnawing trouble that never ceased. But, knowing well that this descent of life was without an end, that once begun it never could be stopped, and yielding to the instinct of danger

with the freshness of her eighteen years, instead of suffering from this contrast, she was proud, on the contrary, of being ab

mained from morning until night buried in grief, trying to recall a thousand things of the dead, her familiar words, her face in earlier days, the gowns she used to wear, as if she had stored her memory with relics; and from the now buried past she gathered all th

shades, asking: "How does Madame feel to-day?" she answered, feeling exhaust

her lying so pale amide the whiteness of the bed, she stammered, in a tone of genuine

like a sharp needle, and as soon as the maid had gone she r

ad often looked at in so many different mirrors, of which she knew all the expressions, all the smiles, the pallor which she had already corrected so many times, smoothing away the marks of f

as compelled to take a handkerchief to wipe away this mist, and, trembling with a strange emotion, she made a long and patient examination of the alterations in her face. With a light finger she stretched the skin of her cheeks, smoothed her forehead, pushed back her hair, and

beauty that she did not hear the door open, and wa

orgotten to t

rprised, ashamed, and the servant

is nothing worse to spoil the s

, but Madame has not reached that time yet! With a few days of rest not a tra

other's death she visited the little orchard where long ago she had liked to cultivate and gather

de her daughter, and remarked, that she might know what

look very ill,"

felt like weeping, for she ha

ng with tears, but to prevent them from overflowing and furrowing her cheeks she repressed them, and by a superhuman effort of will turned her thoughts in other directions, mastere

g that she had grown too thin, that the flesh of women of her age needs to be full in order to keep fresh, she sought to create appet

ally, as her resistance seemed invincible, he declared that he would go a

ved the telegram annou

n when young and in good health, under the least change of influence become unrecognizable from one day to another. But the idea of appearing in broad daylight before Olivier, in the open field

more the great grief that had shattered her heart, overwhelming her before the soulless body of her beloved old mother. That grief, which she had believed incurable, had in a few days become

e park and gazed at the tall trees, watched the slow, black flight of the crows against the background of blue sky. Then she passed before her mirror, judged her appearance with o

ung to her lover with a sort of frenzy. Was he not her all-all, everything, more than life, all

ed beside Annette, in the back seat of the carriage, Olivier waved his handkerchief as he saw the Countess, to which she responded by waving him a salutation f

echamber, before th

pulse, and in a voice warmed by real emotion, exc

inst him, lifted her cheek to him, and as he pressed h

ds he clasped in his own, looked at he

ready t

le," said he, "bu

saying that, sh

ar friend!" finding

hind her in search of Ann

said abruptly, "to see y

quired th

sses under a cannon of a fort? Good heavens! when I saw the little one, just now, at the railway station, standing on the platform, all in black, with the sun shining on her hair massed around her face, the blood rushed to my head. I thought I should weep. I tell you, it is enough to drive one mad

: "Annett

ed from outside, where she w

es, I a

in h

tered

close beside

ide by side than they did before leaving Paris, the young girl having acquired a new expression of luminous youth in her black attire, while the

er entered the drawing-room

arged me to take you back with me. And I-do you know what I propose? You have no idea, have you? Well, I propose, on the

ith drooping heads, cropped the grass with avidity, and four peacocks, with a loud rustling of wings, flew up into their accustomed perch in a cedar-tree under the windows of the castle. The barking of dogs in the distance

ning eyes, breathed deeply, and, as

is hap

she answered, ap

it when it co

e country until now," the

eels that life is all before him, perhaps too because passion is stronger than pure affection; at my age, on the contrary, love has become like the habit of an invalid; it is a binding up of the soul, which fl

onstrated, taking

hing I never have known till now-sadness. If someone had told me when I was thirty that a time would come when I should be sad w

ed with an air of

er has changed. Yes, it has grown younger, perh

the spirit of evening, very near each other, nearer than they ever had bee

entered, a

Comtesse

my daughter?" t

e is in the

candelabra with six candles each illumined Annette's face and seemed to p

retty she is in

dmiring the daughter, as if to thank the

the park. Their somber mass appeared like a great island, and the country rou

us take a walk

ntess c

l take

ll, if y

eads to look. Under the trees, farther away, the moon was pouring among the branches a shower of fine rays that fell to earth, seeming to wet the leaves that were spread out on the path in littl

er back, marveling at this dark vision with its clear and brilliant face. Then when she darted away again, he took the Countess's hand and

, and the soft silence, the living silence of that vast space, so warm and luminous, was full of inexpressible hope, of that indefinable expectancy which makes summer nights so sweet. Far up in the heavens a few long sl

rs erect, glided furtively toward the two flute-like notes of the bird,

oments like this pass so quickly? We can hold nothing, keep nothing

her hand, and r

this evening! I belong to

me as I love yo

do

of having been good, useful, and helpful to you. You have loved, you still love all that you find agreeable in me, my attentions to you, my admiration, my wish to please you, my passion, the complete gift I made to you of my whole being. But it is not I you really love, do you know? Oh, I

n a soft and

y well. You make a reproachful a

bsolute way, for there is nothing better, when one loves, than to give, to give always, all, all, life, thought, body, all that one has, to feel that one is giving, to be ready to risk anything to give still more. I love you so much that I love to suffer for you, I love even my anxieties, my torments, my jealousies, the pain I feel when I realize that you

softly, ov

dear, d

ng found the quail, which had kept still at his app

she. "I will prop myself up

mity the better. They guided him, conducted him, and he walked straight before him, fascinated by them, with the one on the left as well as the one on the right, without knowing, indeed, which was on the left or which on the right, which was mother, which was daughter. He abandoned himself willingly to the pleasure of unpremeditated and exquisite sensuou

st delicious moments of his life; that he had experienced the strangest, the most puzzling, yet complet

said he, as soon as he found hims

ette; "I could pass the whole nigh

s looked at

r eleven. You must g

ts. The young girl who did not wish to go to b

opening the curtains and the shutters, brought the tea a

s better to-

u thin

me's face look

nd she felt once more as if she lived. The blood flowing in her veins was no longer coursing so rapidly as on the day before, hot

t. Then she realized the childishness of such a hope, and, after another glance, resigned herself to the knowledge that her complexion was only clearer, her eyes less fatigued, her lips a little redder

instruments of coquetry, bearing her arms surmounted by a coronet. There they were, innumerable, pretty, all different, destined for delicate and secret use, some of steel, fine and sharp, of strange shapes, like surgi

softer than a kiss, correcting imperfections, underlining the eyes, beautifying the eyelashes. At last, whe

" she inquired of a servan

chard, playing tennis with Ma

her, the deep voice of the painter and the light one of the young gi

slope that formed a boundary on three sides, like the defenses of an intrenched camp, grew borders of various kinds of flowers, wild and cultivated, roses in masses, pinks, heliotrope, fuchsias, mignonnette, and man

cut down, in order to make a good court for tennis, and a tarry

lf way up to her knee when she ran to catch a ball, dashed to and fro, with sparkling eyes

in that costume, awaited the ball coolly, judged its fall with precision, received and returned it without haste, without

that spied he

he cried, "wait till we

The ball passed against her, almost rolling

io, trained to seek and find the lost balls, as if they were partridges fallen among the bushes, sprang beh

ated by the contest, pleased to find himself so agile, he threw only a sh

ntess? I am afraid of taking

the Count

er to give a clear field to the players, and, her hear

end of the court to the other. Often, in her swift movements, little locks of hair were loosened, rolled down and fell upon her shoulders. She se

his position, cri

like that, and f

me red, let her hair fly, brave anything, dare eve

vier preferred that game, that childish sport, like the play of kittens jumping after paper balls, t

ed to her that someone had freed her, that a weight had been lifted f

e, or to feel oneself, young. Ah, yes, there is nothing like tha

r the first time omitted her daily visit to the cemetery, proposed tha

ed it; then they had to cross the end of a plain before arriving at the church, situated in the midst of a group of houses that shelt

the marble of the tomb until she seemed to feel by the poignancy of her own anguish that the dead must hear her, listen to her, but a simple, hesitating, and earnest utterance of the consecrated words of the Pater Noster and the Ave Maria. She would not have had that day sufficient strength and steadiness of nerve necessary for that cruel communion that brought no response with what remained of that being who h

sed were her fears still; but she felt the need of Divine aid, of a s

ured the formulas, sank into a reverie, for

ore ravishing picture, and somewhat regretful that it was out of t

nder but pessimistic philosophy, which is a frequent subject of conversation between men and women

thoughts, left them frequently to g

perienced an inexpressible dissatisfaction at not being able to charm her, to dominate her, as he had captivated her mother; and he felt a desire to hold out his hand and seize her, hold her, forbid her to go away. He felt that she was to

tion into space, for she hardly uttered even the commonplace replies expected of her, between her short digressions, and made them with an absent air, then returned to her flowers. Finally he became exasperated, filled with a childish impatience, and as she ran up to beg her mother to carry her first bouquet so that she could

er you prefer, and I will have

tated, s

, a b

it is the poppy; in sapphires if it is the

fectionate joy with which promises and

," said she, "i

. We will go to order it as

tracted by the thought of the jewel

ong to make a thing

eling that he

n the difficulties. We will m

ht suddenly cr

r it since I am i

r that of the young girl,

cease to wear mourning," said he; "that

he did not so fully confound the Countess with Annette, but he did more and more associate the daughter with the new-born remembrances of what the mother had been. He had a strong desire to embrace both, the one to find again upon cheek and neck a little of that pink and white freshness which he had already tasted, a

breath, seeking unconsciously to inhale something of her, a little of her breath or the warmth of her skin in the air stirred by her running. He looked at her, enraptured, as one watches the dawn, or listens to music, with thrills of delight when she bent, rose again, or raised her arms to arrange her hair. And then, more and more, hour by hour, she evoked in him the memory of the past! Her laughter,

esistible charm, like the grace of a running, leaping animal. No. She had had a riper bloom but was less untamed. First, a child of the city, then a woma

ding paths of the park. But he did not go away so far that he lost sight of the white facade or the pointed roof of the castle. As soon as it disappeared behind groups of trees or clusters of shrubbery, a shadow seemed to fall over his heart, as w

fluttering over the lawn, as if they were suspended at the end of elastic threads. He sang little airs from the opera. Several times he repeated the celeb

his soul. "That same kind god," he thought, "might well have changed my body at the same time, and rejuvenated me a little." Suddenly he saw Julio hunting among the bushes. He called him, and when the dog ran up to put his finely formed head, with its curly

as on the evening before, they sp

ess said: "We must

You would not leave Roncieres when I was not here;

id she, "we three cannot

y indefinitely, but just a few days. How many ti

rcumstances, when the hou

just two or three. He teaches me so well how to play tennis. It an

now she wished to go away, without knowing why. That day which she had hoped would be such a happy one had left in h

her room she even sought to defi

sensitive chords of the heart? Perhaps? Which? She recalled, certainly, some little annoyances, in the thousand degrees of sentiment through which she had passed,

the night air, and leaned on the

oing to his room?" she thought; "why did he not tell me he was going out again? Why did he not ask me

th a cigar in his mouth, for she could see its fiery-red point-alone, when he might have given her the joy of taking her with him; this

e might not see him or be tempted to call

ou star-gazi

ered. "You also

m simply

ire to ask: "Why did you not

smoke a cigar. I

d-night,

ight, C

and wept; and her maid, who was called to assist h

make a sad face for he

look at herself in the mirror. Her features were drawn, her eyelids swollen, her skin looked yellow; and she felt such viol

ts, where heavy curtains, even at noontime, admit only a softened light. She would herself become beautiful again there, with the pallor one should have in that discreetly softened light. Then Annette's face rose before her eyes-so fresh and pink, with slightly disheveled hair, as when she

ering her dinner for that evening by telegraph, settled her bills in the country, gave her final in

th surprise. Then, seeing that she would not give any precise reason for this sudden departure, they

hand to the painter, said: "Wi

ily. "All the same, what you have done was not ni