Little Falls transcript., 1886-07-02

IL saw s1G,s OF r8C0ef 1elCa lG,s IL 90 not
#know
She repeated very slow IL:
So you are from Nancy q,
The man appeared at the door with
his face impassive, as the faces Of deal
men are.
She observed:
1T makes no difference; he cannot
hear" L d. .z]
After a few seconds she spoke again:
on know q great many people at
Nancy?''s .5'' a .fS g.
why, yes nearly everybody" !.
The Saint -Allaize family?"
Yes, very well indeed They were
intimate friends Of my father" rs
1 What is your name?" &.
i told her my name. She looked
at me fixedly, and then. said in that
low voice which always accompanies
recollection: l,.. Z /: s5s ..s.s..= & b s.* 6.
I "Yes, yes, / remember perfectly well.
And the Brismares-what has become
OF them?' = M
81 ''They are all dead" i.
:s 'sAh! And the Sirmonts do you
know them?" & 81. r. r.. Z
eyes. The last one is now a gen.
eral." .,%
Then, all quivering with emotion
with anguish-with I know not what
vague, powerful and sacred feeling
with | know not what desire to speak,
to tell everything, to avow all that
she had hitherto hidden away in the
very bottom OF her heart-to talk OF
those whose mere name had so agitat-
ed her, she said:
Yes, Henri de slrmont' know him
We'll. lie ls my brother"
And raised my eyes to her face,
startled with astonishment. And all
suddenly an old memory came back
to me. .. ...:.
Long years ago it had made a great
scandal in Lorraine. A young girl,
beautiful and wealthy, Suzanne de
Sirmont, had eloped with a non-com-
missioned officer of the very same regi-
lnent of hussars that her father COM
manded.
He was handsome young MANA
son Of peasants, indeed, but looking
superb in the blue dolman, this soldier
who had made love to the daughter
OF his colonel: Doubtless she had re-
marked him first, learned to love him
as she watched brilliant tsquadrons
wheeling by. But how he had ever
managed to speak to her-how they
had ever been able to meet, to come
to all understanding-how she had
ever dared to let him know that she
loved him-nobody was ever able to
find out.
" Nothing had ever been suspected or
feared. One evening, lust at the time
the soldiers term OF service was over,
he disappeared with her. They were
long looked for-never found. No news
was ever obtained concerning them,
and all considered her as dead.
And had found her again in that
CHASTITY valley!
Then I exclaimed, in my turn:
"Yes, l remember it all now. You
are Mile. Suzanne?"
She nodded her head. Tears were
falling from her eyes. Then with q
look directing my attention to the old
man at the door, she said:
"Ehat is he.'
And understood that she loved
him still-that she saw him still as
when the first sight OF him had charm
ed her girlish eyes.
| asked:
"rell me, have you been happy?"
She answered in q voice that came
right from the heart:
ooh, yes!-very happy. He has al
ways made me very happy. have
never had cause to regret anything."
| looked at her-made sad, sur
prised, amazed by. the power of love!
That rich girl had followed that man
that peasant. She had become q
peasant herself. She had accustom-
ed herself to his life-a life without
pleasures, without luxuries, without
refnements Of any kind; she had bow,
ed to all his simple ways. And she
loved him still. She had BECOME a
country wife-wearing the Coarse bon
net, and canvas apron.~She ate from
an earthen plate upon awooden table
ate cabbage sorp, boiled with pota.
toes and lard, She slept at his side
upon q bed'of straw.
: She had never thought OF anything
but him! She had never regretted the
dainty dresses, or the rich textures,
or the elegancies, or the softness OF
sofas, or the perfumed warmth of cur
tanned rooms, or the caress OF downy
beds into which delicate bodies plunge
for sleep. She had never wanted any,
thing but him-he was there de-
sired nothing more She had abandon
ed life quite young-and society-and
those who had reared her tenderly
loved her fondly. She had come, alone
with him, to dwell in that savage
ravine. And he had been everything
to her, everything she could wish,
everything she had dreamed, every
thing she had waited for, everything
she had hoped for. He had filled her