A Woodland Queen ('Reine des Bois') - Complete

her's meal. The humiliating disclosures made by the Abbe Pernot weighed heavily upon her mind. She foresaw that Claudet would shortly be at La Thuiliere in order to hear the result of the cure's

e way of separating Claudet and herself without his suspecting the real motive of rupture. So, telling L

hade of the forest her mind had become calmer, and better able to unravel the confusion of thoughts that surged like troubled waters through her brain. The dominant idea was, that her self-respect had been wounded; the shock to her maidenly modesty, and the shame attendant upon the fact, affected her physically, as if she had been belittled and degraded by a personal stain;

her nerves had been so severely taxed by having to receive her fiance with sufficient warmth to satisfy his expectations, and yet not afford any encouragement to his demonstrative tendencies, that the certainty of her newl

nd of friendly fellowship. With Reine, this tender feeling had always remained one of friendship, but, with Claudet, it had ripened into love; and now, after allowing the poor young fellow to believe that his love was reciprocated, she was forced to disabuse him. It was useless for her to try to find some way of softening the blow; there was none. Claudet was too much in love to remain satisfied with empty words; he would require solid reasons;

me!" to the little rose-colored centaurea of the wayside, "Teach me a charm to cure the harm I have done!" But the woods, which in former days had been her advisers and

s. She really is nothing more than the reflex of our own sensations, and can only give us back what we lend her. Beautiful but selfish

that he would come again the next day at nine o'clock. Notwithstanding her bodily fatigue, she slept uneasily, and her sleep was troubled by fev

of delicate consideration toward her lover had impelled her to choose for her explanation any other place than the one where she had first received his declaration of love, and consented to the marriage. Very soon he

ognized Reine, and took a short cut across the

rning!" cried he, joyously, "it i

ou on matters of importance, and I preferred not to have the conversation

and resolute attitude of his betrothed. He examined her more cl

e?" he inquired; "you are not

hinking over matters that are troubling me

s? Any that

lied she,

er brows bent, her mouth compressed, he lost courage and refrained from asking her any questions. They walked on thus in silence, until they came to the open level

erself on a flat, mossy stone, "we can ta

the shepherd of Vivey, who comes here sometimes with his cattle, we shall not see

ou pain, my poor Claudet, and I prefer you should hear them

d, impetuously. "For heaven's s

ve for any one but him. One would think he was aware of our intentions, for since you have been visiting at the farm, he is more agitated and suffers more. I think that any change in his way of living would bring on a stroke, and I never should forgive myself if I thought I h

you won't have

nd that I can not ask you to wait until I am perfectly free. Forgive me for having entered

all, and, with all due respect, you have changed your mind very quickly! Only the day before yesterday you authorized me to arrange about the day for the ceremony with the Abbe Pernot. Now that you have had a visit from the cu

he feared the priest might have told Reine some unfavorable stories about him. "Ah!" he continued, clenching his fists

le Cure is your friend, like myself; he esteems you

fond of me, how does it happen that you have given me my

and wishing to avoid trouble for the cure, tho

art in my decision. He has not spoken again

, why do you

ather are paramount with me, and I do not inte

persistently, "I love

an no

hy

neither to you, nor to my father, nor to me. Because marria

reasons!" he mu

oung girl, "they appear vali

nto her eyes, "can you swear, by the head of your father, th

arrassed, and

med, "you dare n

ld suffice,"

you! You are too frank, Reine, and you don't know how to lie. I rea

shoulders and tur

f discouraging me, you would hold out some hope to me, and adv

suffering, and she reproached herself for the torture she was inflicting upon him. Driven into a corner, and re

onfess you have guessed. I have a sincere friendship for you, but that is all. I have concluded that to marry a person one ought

, bitterly, "it is

ean? I do not

you love so

t true," sh

-a proof that I h

is!" cried sh

you don't want me any longer, I have no

o hard with him, and not wishing him to go away with such a grief in

r. It pains me to see you suffer, and I am sorry if I have said anyt

erce gesture, and glancing angr

or them." She understood that he was deeply hurt; gave

tween fluid walls of vapor. This hidden sky, these veiled surroundings, harmonized with his mental condition. It was easier for him to hide his chagrin. "Some one else! Yes; that's it. She loves some other fellow! how was it I did not find that out the very first day?" Then he recalled how Reine shrank from him when he solicited a caress; how she insisted on their betrothal being kept secret, and how many times she had postponed the date of the weddi

ion in his mind, Claudet at last became enlightened. Had not Reine simply followed the impulse of her wounded feelings? She was very proud, and when the man whom she secretly loved had come coolly forward to plead the cause of one who was indifferent to her, would not her self-respect be lowered, and would she not, in a spirit of bravado, accep

ions, his irritation seemed to lessen. Not that his grief was less poignant, but the first burst of rage had spent itself like a great

r her? With a man as mysterious as my cousin, it is not easy to find out what is going on in his heart. Anyhow, I have no right to complain of him; as soon as he discovered my love for Reine, d

ing!" He bent his course toward the chateau, and, breathless and excited, without replying to Manette's inquiries, he burst into the hall where his co

tone, "what a hurry you are in! I suppose you ha

et, briefly, "there

, and turned to

at? Are yo

Reine will not have me; she

m the opposite window. He saw his features relax, and his eyes glow with the same expression which he had

de Buxieres, visibly agitated; "what reasons

You may suppose I take such excuses for what they are worth. Th

hen?" exclaimed

use I forced Rei

he rea

does not

oes not

eyes. Claudet was leaning against the table, in front of his

does Reine not love me, b

oursed over his cheeks, his foreh

so?" he murmured

d it. Her heart is won, an

e time studying Julien's countenance with renewed inquiry. The latter became more

suspect?" h

o sound the obscure depth of his cousin's heart, "it

tran

tching nervously, his lips compressed, and his dilated pup

lerk in the iron-work

hy don't you have more definite information before

nterlocutor, motionless, remained silen

have played us such a trick! When I spoke to her for

is head, "she had reasons for not lett

reas

xed, act in direct contradiction to their own wishes. I have the idea that Reine accepted me only for want of some one better, an

etrothed, did not know better how to defend your rights than to suffer yourself to

e is playing for too high stakes. The moment I found there was anoth

leaving, with piteous protestations, I should have stayed near Reine, I should have surrounded her with tenderness. I should have expressed my passion with so much force tha

or that he had a listener. Claudet stood contemplating him in sullen silence: "Aha!" thought he,

t understanding that a prudent amount of caution should be observed in her presence. They ate hurriedly, and as soon as the

at do you

ater," responded t

e farmer's daughter? Or did he, with his usual timidity and distrust of himself, dread being refused by Reine, and, half through pride, half through backward ness, keep away for fear of a humiliating rejection? With de Buxieres's proud and suspicious nature, each of these suppositions was equally likely. The conclusion most undeniable was, that notwithstanding his set ideas and his moral cowardice, Julien had an ardent and over powering love for Mademoiselle Vincart. As to Reine herself, Claudet was more than ever convinced that she had a secret inclination toward somebody, although she had denied the charge. But for whom was her preference? Claudet knew the neighborhood too well to believe the existence of any rival worth talking about, other than his cousin de Buxieres. None of the boys of the village or the surrounding towns had ever come courting old Father Vincart's daughter, and de Buxieres hi

ets, where he had so frequently encountered Reine, the beautiful hunting-grounds in which he had taken such delight, only awakened painful sensations, and he felt as if he should grow to hate them all if he were obliged to pass the rest of his days in their midst. As the day waned, the sinuosities of the forest became more blended; the depth of the valleys was lost in thick vapors. The wind had risen. The first falling leaves of the season rose and fell like wounded birds; heavy clouds gathered in the sky, and the night was

f the hostess, he started on the way back to Vivey, feeling his way through the profound darkness. When he reached the chateau, every o

leaped for joy, and hope had revived within him; but the subsequent information that Mademoiselle Vincart was probably interested in some lover, as yet unknown, had grievously sobered him. He was indignant at Reine's duplicity, and Claudet's cowardly resignation. The agony caused by Claudet's betrothal

roic resolutions from being carried out. He had so long cultivated a habit of minute, fatiguing

n him. At the noise of the opening door, Julien r

aid he, l

r what has been happening during the last month, I

turned de Buxieres, quite ready

we had together concerning Reine? You spoke of her with so much

mber," faltered

sieur de Buxieres. To-day, my suspicions have beco

y protested

and have loved her for a long while. You have succeeded in hiding it from me because it is hard for

's silence, he replied, defiantly: "Well, and supposing it is so? What is

she has some other affair in her head. Yet, to confess the truth, the clerk

ll such a lie?" crie

ng made use of this old trick to put you on the right track. It wasn't such a bad

at Reine loved you?" exclaimed Julien, in an almost stifled voice, as if the avowal were choking hi

ad spoken for yourself, I have an idea you would have been better

intensity of his feeling toward Reine Vincart. But, accustomed as he was, by long habit, to concentrate every emotion within himself, he found it impossible to become, all at once,

love her any

were to go, it would perhaps be doing you a service, and that would comfort me a little. You have treated me as a friend, and that is a thing one doesn't forget. I have n

eave on my account?" ex

ver would have entered my head to make such a sacrifice for you, but sh

wild idea! Wher

hot, can stand fatigue; I have everything needed for military life. It is an occupation that I should like, and I could earn my

hick with sobs, "you are a better man th

ng for expansion, he sprang toward the grand chasserot,

urself on my account," he continu

aconically, "if I so decide, it w

day his position at Vivey seemed more unbearable. Without informing any one, he had been to Langres and

ep him on his native soil. Instead of taking the path to Vivey, he made a turn in the direction of La Thuiliere, and soon reached the open elevation whence the roofs of the farm-buildings and the turrets of the chateau could both alike be seen. There he faltered, with a piteous sinking of the heart. Only a few steps between himself and

n he had met Reine in the Ronces woods, a few days before the arrival of Julien. The same bright yet tender tint reddened the crab-apple and the wild-cherry; the tomtits and the robins chirped as before, among the bushes, and, as in the previous year, one heard the sound of the beechnuts and acorns dropping on the rocky paths. Autumn went through her tranquil rites and familiar operations, always with the same punctual regularity; and all this would go on just the same when Claude

view, and her first impulse was to put herself on her guard. Her countenance darkened, and she fixed a cold, questioning gaze upon Claudet, as if to keep him at a distance. But, when she noted the sa

st in time. A quarter of an hour later you would not

rry I got angry the other day; you were right, we must not leave each other with ill-feelin

e going

en one goes away, but it is hard to know when one will come back. That is why I wanted to s

e companion of her infancy, more than that, her nearest relative. Her throat swelled, her eyes filled w

table in the dining-room. We can talk there, and you w

rself into the cellar, to seek a bottle of old wine, br

n long in the se

gage for se

life that you

ied he, "I could not st

rface, said to himself: "It is all over; she accepts my departure as an event perfectly natural; she treats me as she would Theotime, the coal-dealer,

w of taking an air

king around the kitchen, and teasing the magpie, which was following his footsteps with inquisitive anxiety. Finally, he went up to the old man Vincart, who was lying stretched out in his picture-lined niche. He took the flabby hand of

gayety, "next time we clink glasses together,

ps, several big tears fell in, and h

e he passed the back of his hand acr

ied him to t

u, Re

he murmure

, wet with tears, upon her cheek. He could not leave her, and redoubled his caresses with passionate ardor, with the ecstasy of a lover who suddenly meets with a burst of tenderness on the part of the woman he has tenderly loved, and whom he expects never to fold again i

y from him and pushe

ing to the kitchen, of whic

hut in his face, then, falling suddenly from his happy state of illus

e no longer visible, and the waste lands of the forest border,

er loved me. She thinks only of the other man! I ha