Autumn Glory; Or, The Toilers of the Field

u will not take your meals with us either to-day, or for some days to come. A girl like Eléonore, who respects her

as they are in those parts; but the whole kit of them are not worth their salt in the Marais, those dannions! I am cured of taking them into my service. Ther

e Mathurin had been talking to him a long time after Nesmy

nd by a broad tuck, showing the pretty feet beneath; her most dainty coif and embroidered pyramid of muslin kept in shape by silver paper that rested on her hair; open-work stockings; sabots, like the prow of a ship, so much did they turn up. A blue

her. André himself, the soldier brother so soon coming home, who had always been kind, only treated her as a child to be teased and pett

en Sallertaine upon its eminence. No, she had no other hope save in those two dear old friends; no other regret than that she had not before been to that little house in the town. The old sisters' warmth of heart seemed to her just now a thing of priceless worth, which, hitherto, had not been valued half enough. The mere thought of their round faces, withered and smiling, was a goal to her. It seemed as if only to see the Michelonnes, even if she might not speak one word of her trouble, wou

Lumineaus are known to everyone in the district. But the good folks are either taking their noonday sleep, or else without quitting their shady corners they call to her, "Good day, little one! How fast you are walking!" "Yes, I am in a hurry. Sometimes one is." "Yes, indeed," they reply, and on she goes. She has reached the long open Place that narrows as it reaches the church. Now she has only eyes for the

picture them within the walls; a half smile, a ray of hope crosses h

door opens to the tinkle of so tiny a bell th

sixty years of work, of sisterly affection, and their good consciences. There was also a twinkle in their eyes of fun without malice; a something as of the flame of youth economised in the course of their lives, and leaving a fund for their old age. Poverty had not been wanting, but it had always been borne by them together. From childhood's day they had worked side by side in the light of the same window, day rising and setting on their busy needles never at rest. There was no one in all Sallertaine, nor in Perrier, nor Saint Gervais who could cut and make cloaks as skilfully as they could; and t

flower of my flock; it is a

et up, but said both together, Adelaide

e Lumineau! Good

id Adelaide, "you are

ique. "Your eyes are as br

tionship difficult to establish, but principally on account of the old ladies' kindness. "I

ht of the coming marriage, and the eldest, Adelaide, drawing her

bout to ma

u, my aunts, to my seat in church and my rosary. It is for father

ok their heads as though to communicate the impression that, all the same, some disturbing element had entered into Rousille's life. But the sisters were more instinctively polite than curious.

p fellow, that Fran?ois. Would you believe it, yesterday he actually sold his dappled grey filly-that flies like a plover, and was the envy of all the breeders and dannions that went b

and twent

them. Are they

de. I promised th

se you were to go to our nephew?

not reach above the head of Marie-Rose sitting. Rapidly shaking off the t

e money will be here, and you wil

went down the lane. No sooner had she gone than Adelaide went up to Marie-Rose a

are crying now!" The wrinkled hand seized the girl's pink palm. "What is it, my R

t the contact of the hand which touched her own, her eyes like diamonds, her face s

away Jean Nesmy,

Such a good wo

orning. And they think that all is over between us because I sha

?chine," exclaim

f poverty; no fear that he will forget me. The day he comes back, for he has promised to come back, I will go to meet him, and no one shall prevent me-had I t

ce of love and bitterness. It was to herself, herself only, that she spoke, because she suffered

stricted circle of everyday thought, that all the calm had vanished from her face, and the quiet old maid, oppressed by the sm

hild. I thoroughly app

being hitherto unknown to her. There was a light in her face; the poor arms,

nd who had such difficulty afterwards to kill their hearts! Do not live alone, it is worse than death! Your Nesmy, I know him-your Nesmy and you are true lovers of the soil, such

ver the little black-robed figure and suffering her tears to flow

om the girl's arms, went towards the window, standing where she could not be seen from outside. Between the roofs of two adjoining ho

not, who denounced you?"

s always wa

u see. He has a gr

t, poor

e been his; jealous of Fran?ois, of André, of you. He is like a lost soul when he h

istant Marais, where the poplars, tiny as gra

ill thinks o

ding her head. "If he is still thinking

of Mathurin, he has drunk too deeply of love to forget. Beware of Félicité Ga

ike a child surprised in some fault by her mother. A pair of sabots was heard at the foot of the wall, they passed the doorsteps, and went on down the Place. It was not Véronique. Marie-Rose

nne. If I need help I s

eware of Mathurin. Bewar

the door; then the latch was lifted, fell back into its socket, and there only remained in the silent chamber a li