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The Awakening - Kate Chopin · Classic Fiction Library

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Chapter one. A green and yellow parrot, which hung in
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: a cage outside the door, kept repeating over and over,
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: A le vousan, A le voussan sa pristille, that's all right.
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: He could speak a little Spanish, and also a language
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: which nobody understood, unless it was the mocking bird that
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: hung on the other side of the door, whistling his
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: fluty notes out upon the breeze with maddening persistence. Mister Pontellier,
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: unable to read his newspaper with any degree of comfort,
• 0:35
  Speaker 1: arose with an expression and an exclamation of disgust. He
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: walked down the gallery and across the narrow bridges which
• 0:44
  Speaker 1: connected the le Brune cottages one with the other. He
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: had been seated before the door of the main house.
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: The parrot and the mocking bird were the property of
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: Madame Lebrun, and they had the right to make all
• 0:57
  Speaker 1: the noise they wished. Mister Pontellier had the privilege of
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: quitting their society when they ceased to be entertaining. He
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: stopped before the door of his own cottage, which was
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: the fourth one from the main building and next to
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: the last, seating himself in a wicker rocker which was
• 1:15
  Speaker 1: there he once more applied himself to the task of
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: reading the newspaper. The day was Sunday, the paper was
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: a day old. The Sunday papers had not yet reached
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: grand Isle. He was already acquainted with the market reports,
• 1:31
  Speaker 1: and he glanced restlessly over the editorials and bits of news,
• 1:35
  Speaker 1: which he had not had time to read before quitting
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: New Orleans the day before. Mister Pontellier wore eye glasses.
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: He was a man of forty, of medium height and
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: rather slender build. He stooped a little. His hair was
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: brown and straight, parted on one side. His beard was
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: neatly and closely trimmed. Once in a while he would
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: withdrew his glance from the newspaper and looked about him.
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: There was more noise than ever over at the house.
• 2:07
  Speaker 1: The main building was called the House to distinguish it
• 2:11
  Speaker 1: from the cottages. The chattering and whistling birds were still
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: add it. Two young girls, the Farival Twins, were playing
• 2:20
  Speaker 1: a duet from Zampa upon the piano. Madame Lebrun was
• 2:25
  Speaker 1: bustling in and out, giving orders in a high key
• 2:28
  Speaker 1: to a yard boy whenever she got inside the house,
• 2:31
  Speaker 1: and directions in an equally high voice to a dining
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: room servant. Whenever she got outside. She was a fresh
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: pretty woman, clad always in white with elbow sleeves. Her
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: starched skirts crinkled as she came and went farther down
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: before one of the cottages, a lady in black was
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: walking demurely up and down, telling her beads a good
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: Many persons of the pension had gone over to the
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: shinier Kaminada in Beaudolai's lugger to hear mass. Some young
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: people were out under the water oaks playing croquet. Mister
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: Pontellier's two children were there, sturdy little fellows of four
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: and five. A quadroon nurse followed them about with a
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: far away, meditative air. Mister Pontellier finally lit a cigar
• 3:23
  Speaker 1: and began to smoke, letting the paper drag idly from
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: his hand. He fixed his gaze upon a white sunshade
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: that was advancing at snail's pace from the beach. He
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: could see it plainly between the gaunt trunks of the
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: water oaks and across the stretch of yellow camomel. The
• 3:42
  Speaker 1: gulf looked far away, melting hazily into the blue of
• 3:46
  Speaker 1: the horizon. The sunshade continued to approach slowly. Beneath its
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: pink lined shelter were his wife, Missus Pontellier, and young
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: Robert le Brun. When they reached the cottage, the two
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: seated themselves, with some appearance of fatigue, upon the upper
• 4:04
  Speaker 1: step of the porch, facing each other, each leaning against
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: a supporting post. What folly to bathe at such an
• 4:13
  Speaker 1: hour in such heat, exclaimed mister Pontellier. He himself had
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: taken a plunge at daylight. That was why the morning
• 4:22
  Speaker 1: seemed long to him. You are burnt beyond recognition, he added,
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: looking at his wife as one looks at a valuable
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: piece of personal property which has suffered some damage. She
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: held up her hands, strong shapely hands and surveyed them critically,
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: drawing up her fawn sleeves above the wrists. Looking at
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: them reminded her of her rings, which she had given
• 4:49
  Speaker 1: to her husband before leaving for the beach. She silently
• 4:52
  Speaker 1: reached out to him, and he, understanding, took the rings
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: from his vest pocket and dropped them into her open palm.
• 5:01
  Speaker 1: She slipped them upon her fingers, Then clasping her knees,
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: she looked across at Robert and began to laugh. The
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: rings sparkled upon her fingers. He sent back an answering smile.
• 5:15
  Speaker 1: What is it, asked Pontellier, looking lazily and amused from
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: one to the other. It was some utter nonsense, some
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: adventure out there in the water, and they both tried
• 5:27
  Speaker 1: to relate it at once. It did not seem half
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: so amusing. When told they realized this, and so did
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: mister Pontellier, he yawned and stretched himself. Then he got up,
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: saying he had half a mind to go over to
• 5:42
  Speaker 1: Kleine's hotel and play a game of billiards. Come go along, lebrum,
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: he proposed to Robert, but Robert admitted, quite frankly, that
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: he preferred to stay where he was, and talked to
• 5:55
  Speaker 1: missus Pontellier, Well send him about his bill business when
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: he bores you. Edna instructed her husband, as he prepared
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: to leave here, take the umbrella, she exclaimed, holding it
• 6:09
  Speaker 1: out to him. He accepted the sunshade, and, lifting it
• 6:13
  Speaker 1: over his head, descended the steps and walked away. Coming
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: back to dinner, his wife called after him. He halted
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: a moment and shrugged his shoulders. He felt in his
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: vest pocket. There was a ten dollar bill there. He
• 6:30
  Speaker 1: did not know. Perhaps he would return for the early dinner,
• 6:33
  Speaker 1: and perhaps he would not. It all depended upon the
• 6:36
  Speaker 1: company which he found over at Klein's, and the size
• 6:39
  Speaker 1: of the game. He did not say this, but she
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: understood it and laughed, nodding good bye to him. Both
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: children wanted to follow their father. When they saw him
• 6:49
  Speaker 1: starting out, he kissed them and promised to bring them
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: back bonbons and peanuts. End of chapter one, Chapter two.
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: Missus Pontellier's eyes were quick and bright. They wore a
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: yellowish brown about the color of her hair. She had
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: a way of turning them swiftly upon an object and
• 7:14
  Speaker 1: holding them there, as if lost in some inward maze
• 7:18
  Speaker 1: of contemplation or thought. Her eyebrows were a shade darker
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: than her hair. They were thick and almost horizontal, emphasizing
• 7:28
  Speaker 1: the depth of her eyes. She was rather handsome than beautiful.
• 7:33
  Speaker 1: Her face was captivating by reason of a certain frankness
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: of expression and a contradictory, subtle play of features. Her
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: manner was engaging. Robert rolled a cigarette. He smoked cigarettes
• 7:47
  Speaker 1: because he could not afford cigars. He said he had
• 7:51
  Speaker 1: a cigar in his pocket, which mister Pontellier had presented
• 7:54
  Speaker 1: him with, and he was saving it for his after
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: dinner smoke. This seemed quite proper and natural on his part.
• 8:03
  Speaker 1: In coloring, he was not unlike his companion. A clean
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: shaved face made the resemblance more pronounced than it would
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: otherwise have been. There rested no shadow of care upon
• 8:15
  Speaker 1: his open countenance. His eyes gathered in and reflected the
• 8:20
  Speaker 1: light and languor of the summer day. Missus Pontellier reached
• 8:25
  Speaker 1: over for a palm leaf fan that lay on the
• 8:27
  Speaker 1: porch and began to fan herself, while Robert sent between
• 8:32
  Speaker 1: his lips light puffs from his cigarette. They chatted incessantly
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: about the things around them, their amusing adventure out in
• 8:41
  Speaker 1: the water. It had again assumed its entertaining aspect, about
• 8:46
  Speaker 1: the wind, the trees, the people who had gone to
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: the chigner, about the children playing croquet under the oaks,
• 8:54
  Speaker 1: and the fariv all twins who were now performing the
• 8:57
  Speaker 1: overture too, the poet and the peasant. Robert talked a
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: good deal about himself. He was very young and did
• 9:06
  Speaker 1: not know any better. Missus Pontellier talked a little about
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: herself for the same reason each was interested in what
• 9:15
  Speaker 1: the other said. Robert spoke of his intention to go
• 9:18
  Speaker 1: to Mexico in the autumn, where fortune awaited him. He
• 9:22
  Speaker 1: was always intending to go to Mexico, but some way
• 9:25
  Speaker 1: never got there. Meanwhile, he held on to his modest
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: position in a mercantile house in New Orleans, where an
• 9:33
  Speaker 1: equal familiarity with English, French, and Spanish gave him no
• 9:38
  Speaker 1: small value as a clerk and correspondent. He was spending
• 9:44
  Speaker 1: his summer vacation, as he always did with his mother
• 9:47
  Speaker 1: at Grand Isle. In former times, before Robert could remember,
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: the house had been a summer luxury of the Lebruns.
• 9:56
  Speaker 1: Now flanked by its dozen or more cottages, which were
• 9:59
  Speaker 1: all always filled with exclusive visitors from the Courtier Francais.
• 10:04
  Speaker 1: It enabled Madame l Rune to maintain the easy and
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: comfortable existence which appeared to be her birthright. Missus Pontellier
• 10:13
  Speaker 1: talked about her father's Mississippi plantation and her girlhood home
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: in the old Kentucky Bluegrass country. She was an American
• 10:22
  Speaker 1: woman with a small infusion of French, which seemed to
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: have been lost in Delucian. She read a letter from
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: her sister, who was away in the east and who
• 10:32
  Speaker 1: had engaged herself to be married. Robert was interested and
• 10:36
  Speaker 1: wanted to know what manner of girls the sisters were,
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: what the father was like, and how long the mother
• 10:42
  Speaker 1: had been dead. When Missus Pontellier folded the letter, it
• 10:48
  Speaker 1: was time for her to dress for the early dinner.
• 10:52
  Speaker 1: I see leonce isn't coming back, she said, with a
• 10:55
  Speaker 1: glance in the direction whence her husband had disappeared. Robert
• 10:59
  Speaker 1: suppose he was not, as there were a good many
• 11:02
  Speaker 1: New Orleans club men over at Klein's. When Missus Pontellier
• 11:07
  Speaker 1: left him to enter her room, the young man descended
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: the steps and strolled over toward the croquet players, where,
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: during the half hour before dinner, he amused himself with
• 11:18
  Speaker 1: the little Pontellier children, who were very fond of him
• 11:24
  Speaker 1: and of Chapter two. Chapter three. It was eleven o'clock
• 11:30
  Speaker 1: that night when mister Pontellier returned from Kline's hotel. He
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: was in an excellent humor, in high spirits, and very talkative.
• 11:40
  Speaker 1: His entrance awoke his wife, who was in bed and
• 11:43
  Speaker 1: fast asleep. When he came in. He talked to her
• 11:47
  Speaker 1: while he undressed, telling her anecdotes and bits of news
• 11:50
  Speaker 1: and gossip that he had gathered during the day. From
• 11:54
  Speaker 1: his trousers pockets, he took a fistful of crumpled bank
• 11:57
  Speaker 1: notes and a good deal of silver coin, which he
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: piled on the bureau indiscriminately, with keys, knife, handkerchief and
• 12:06
  Speaker 1: whatever else happened to be in his pockets. She was
• 12:09
  Speaker 1: overcome with sleep and answered him with little half utterances.
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: He thought it very discouraging that his wife, who was
• 12:19
  Speaker 1: the sole object of his existence, evinced so little interest
• 12:24
  Speaker 1: in things which concerned him, and valued so little his conversation.
• 12:30
  Speaker 1: Mister Pontellier had forgotten the bon bonds and peanuts for
• 12:33
  Speaker 1: the boys, Notwithstanding he loved them very much, and went
• 12:37
  Speaker 1: into the adjoining room where they slept to take a
• 12:40
  Speaker 1: look at them and make sure that they were resting comfortably.
• 12:45
  Speaker 1: The result of his investigation was far from satisfactory. He
• 12:49
  Speaker 1: turned and shifted the youngsters about in bed. One of
• 12:53
  Speaker 1: them began to kick and talk about a basket full
• 12:56
  Speaker 1: of crabs. Mister Pontellier returned to his wife with the
• 13:00
  Speaker 1: information that Raoul had a high fever and needed looking after.
• 13:05
  Speaker 1: Then he lit a cigar and went and sat near
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: the open door to smoke it. Missus Pontellier was quite
• 13:13
  Speaker 1: sure Raoul had no fever. He had gone to bed
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: perfectly well, she said, and nothing had ailed him all day.
• 13:21
  Speaker 1: Mister Pontellier was too well acquainted with fever symptoms to
• 13:24
  Speaker 1: be mistaken. He assured her. The child was consuming at
• 13:28
  Speaker 1: that moment. In the next room, he reproached his wife,
• 13:33
  Speaker 1: with her inattention her habitual neglect of the children. If
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: it was not a mother's place to look after children,
• 13:40
  Speaker 1: whose on earth was it? He himself had his hands
• 13:43
  Speaker 1: full with his brokerage business. He could not be in
• 13:46
  Speaker 1: two places at once, making a living for his family
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: on the street and staying at home to see that
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: no harm befell them. He talked in a monotonous, insistent way.
• 13:59
  Speaker 1: Missus Pontellier sprang out of bed and went into the
• 14:02
  Speaker 1: next room. She soon came back and sat on the
• 14:05
  Speaker 1: edge of the bed, leaning her head down on the pillow.
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: She said nothing and refused to answer her husband when
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: he questioned her. When his cigar was smoked out, he
• 14:16
  Speaker 1: went to bed, and in half a minute he was
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: fast asleep. Missus Pontellier was by that time thoroughly awake.
• 14:26
  Speaker 1: She began to cry a little and wiped her eyes
• 14:29
  Speaker 1: on the sleeve of her penoir. Blowing out the candle
• 14:33
  Speaker 1: which her husband had left burning, she slipped her bare
• 14:36
  Speaker 1: feet into a pair of satin mules at the foot
• 14:38
  Speaker 1: of the bed, and went out on the porch, where
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: she sat down in the wicker chair and began to
• 14:44
  Speaker 1: rock gently to and fro. It was then past midnight.
• 14:50
  Speaker 1: The cottages were all dark. A single faint light gleamed
• 14:54
  Speaker 1: out from the hallway of the house. There was no
• 14:58
  Speaker 1: sound abroad except the hoot of an old owl in
• 15:01
  Speaker 1: the top of a water oak, and the everlasting voice
• 15:04
  Speaker 1: of the sea that was not uplifted. At that soft hour,
• 15:08
  Speaker 1: it broke like a mournful lullaby upon the night. The
• 15:14
  Speaker 1: tears came so fast to missus Pontellier's eyes that the
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: damp sleeve of her penoir no longer served to dry them.
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: She was holding the back of her chair with one hand.
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: Her loose sleeve had slipped almost to the shoulder of
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: her uplifted arm. Turning, she thrust her face, streaming and
• 15:34
  Speaker 1: wet into the bend of her arm. And she went
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: on crying there, not caring any longer to dry her face,
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: her eyes, her arms. She could not have told why
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: she was crying. Such experiences as the foregoing were not
• 15:51
  Speaker 1: uncommon in her married life. They seemed never before to
• 15:55
  Speaker 1: have weighed much against the abundance of her husband's kindness
• 15:59
  Speaker 1: and a uniform devotion which had come to be tacit
• 16:02
  Speaker 1: and self understood. An indescribable oppression which seemed to generate
• 16:09
  Speaker 1: in some unfamiliar part of her consciousness, filled her whole
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: being with a vague anguish. It was like a shadow,
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: like a mist passing across her soul's summer day. It
• 16:22
  Speaker 1: was strange and unfamiliar. It was a mood. She did
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: not sit there inwardly upbraiding her husband, lamenting at fate
• 16:32
  Speaker 1: which had directed her footsteps to the path which they
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: had taken. She was just having a good cry all
• 16:38
  Speaker 1: to herself. The mosquitoes made merry over her, biting her
• 16:43
  Speaker 1: firm round arms and nipping at her bare in steps.
• 16:49
  Speaker 1: The little stinging, buzzing imps succeeded in dispelling a mood
• 16:53
  Speaker 1: which might have held her there in the darkness half
• 16:55
  Speaker 1: a night longer. The following morning, mister Pontellier was up
• 17:00
  Speaker 1: in good time to take the rockaway, which was to
• 17:02
  Speaker 1: convey him to the steamer at the wharf. He was
• 17:06
  Speaker 1: returning to the city to his business, and they would
• 17:09
  Speaker 1: not see him again at the island till the coming Saturday.
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: He had regained his composure, which seemed to have been
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: somewhat impaired the night before. He was eager to be
• 17:20
  Speaker 1: gone as he looked forward to a lively week in
• 17:23
  Speaker 1: Carondelet Street. Mister Pontellier gave his wife half of the
• 17:28
  Speaker 1: money which he had brought away from Kline's hotel the
• 17:31
  Speaker 1: evening before. She liked money as well as most women,
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: and accepted it with no little satisfaction. It will buy
• 17:41
  Speaker 1: a handsome wedding present for sister Janet, she exclaimed, smoothing
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: out the bills as she counted them one by one. Oh,
• 17:49
  Speaker 1: we'll treat sister Janet better than that, my dear, he laughed,
• 17:53
  Speaker 1: as he prepared to kiss her good bye. The boys
• 17:57
  Speaker 1: were tumbling about, clinging to his life, imploring that numerous
• 18:02
  Speaker 1: things be brought back to them. Mister Pontellier was a
• 18:06
  Speaker 1: great favorite, and ladies, men, children, even nurses were always
• 18:11
  Speaker 1: on hand to say goodbye to him. His wife stood
• 18:15
  Speaker 1: smiling and waving, the boys shouting as he disappeared in
• 18:19
  Speaker 1: the old rockaway down the Sandy road. A few days later,
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: a box arrived for Missus Pontellier from New Orleans. It
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: was from her husband. It was filled with friandises, with
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: luscious and toothsome bits, the finest of fruits, pates, a
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: rare bottle or two delicious syrups, and bonbonds in abundance.
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: Missus Pontellier was always very generous with the contents of
• 18:49
  Speaker 1: such a box. She was quite used to receiving them
• 18:52
  Speaker 1: when away from home. The pates and fruit were brought
• 18:55
  Speaker 1: to the dining room, the bonbonds were passed around, and
• 19:00
  Speaker 1: the ladies, selecting with dainty and discriminating fingers and a
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: little greedily, all declared that mister Pontellier was the best
• 19:08
  Speaker 1: husband in the world. Missus Pontellier was forced to admit
• 19:13
  Speaker 1: that she knew of none better, and of chapter three,
• 19:19
  Speaker 1: Chapter four, it would have been a difficult matter for
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: mister Pontellier to define to his own satisfaction or any
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: one else's wherein his wife failed in her duty toward
• 19:32
  Speaker 1: their children. It was something which he felt rather than perceived,
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: and he never voiced the feeling without subsequent regret and
• 19:41
  Speaker 1: ample atonement. If one of the little Pontellier boys took
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: a tumble whilst at play, he was not apt to
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: rush crying to his mother's arms for comfort. He would
• 19:53
  Speaker 1: more likely pick himself up, wipe the water out of
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: his eyes and the sand out of his mouth, and
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: go on playing tots as they were, they pulled together
• 20:03
  Speaker 1: and stood their ground in childish battles with doubled fists
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: and uplifted voices, which usually prevailed against the other mother tots.
• 20:14
  Speaker 1: The quadroon nurse was looked upon as a huge encumbrance,
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: only good to button up waists and panties, and to
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: brush and part hair, since it seemed to be a
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: law of society that hair must be parted and brushed.
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: In short, Missus Pontellier was not a mother woman. The
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: mother women seemed to prevail that summer at grand Isle.
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: It was easy to know them fluttering about with extended
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: protecting wings when any harm, real or imaginary, threatened their
• 20:46
  Speaker 1: precious brood. They were women who idolized their children. Worshiped
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: their husbands and esteemed it a holy privilege to efface
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: themselves as individuals and grow wings as ministering angels. Many
• 21:02
  Speaker 1: of them were delicious in the roll. One of them
• 21:05
  Speaker 1: was the embodiment of every womanly grace and charm. If
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: her husband did not adore her, he was a brute
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: deserving of death by slow torture. Her name was adel Ratagnol.
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: There are no words to describe her, save the old
• 21:21
  Speaker 1: ones that have served so often to picture the bygone
• 21:24
  Speaker 1: heroine of romance and the fair lady of our dreams.
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: There was nothing subtle or hidden about her charms. Her
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: beauty was all there, flaming and apparent. The spun gold
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: hair that comb or confining pin could restrain, the blue
• 21:42
  Speaker 1: eyes that were like nothing but sapphires, two lips that
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: pouted that were so red one could only think of
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: cherries or some other delicious crimson fruit in looking at them.
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: She was growing a little stout, but it did not
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: seem to detract an iota from the grace of every
• 22:00
  Speaker 1: step pose, gesture. One would not have wanted her white
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: neck a mite less full, or her beautiful arms more slender.
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: Never were hands more exquisite than hers, and it was
• 22:15
  Speaker 1: a joy to look at them when she threaded her needle,
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: or adjusted her gold thimble to her taper middle finger,
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: as she sewed away on the little night drawers, or
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: fashioned a bodice or a bib. Madame Ratignol was very
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: fond of Missus Pontellier, and often she took her sewing
• 22:33
  Speaker 1: and went over to sit with her in the afternoons.
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: She was sitting there the afternoon of the day the
• 22:38
  Speaker 1: box arrived from New Orleans. She had possession of the rocker,
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: and she was busily engaged in sewing upon a diminutive
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: pair of night drawers. She had brought the pattern of
• 22:51
  Speaker 1: the drawers for Missus Pontellier to cut out. A marvel
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: of construction, fastened to enclose a baby's body so effectually
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: that only two small eyes might look out from the garment,
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: like an Eskimau's. They were designed for winter wear, when
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: treacherous drafts came down chimneys and insidious currents of deadly
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: cold found their way through keyholes. Missus Pontellier's mind was
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: quite at rest concerning the present material needs of her children,
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: and she could not see the use of anticipating and
• 23:23
  Speaker 1: making winter night garments the subject of her summer meditations.
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: But she did not want to appear unamiable and uninterested,
• 23:34
  Speaker 1: so she had brought forth newspapers which she spread upon
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: the floor of the gallery, and under Madame Ratagnol's directions,
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: she had cut a pattern of the impervious garment. Robert
• 23:47
  Speaker 1: was there, seated as he had been the Sunday before,
• 23:50
  Speaker 1: and Missus Pontellier also occupied her former position on the
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: upper step, leaning listlessly against the post. Beside her was
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: a box of bonds, which she held out at intervals
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: to Madame Ratagnoan. That lady seemed at a loss to
• 24:07
  Speaker 1: make a selection, but finally settled upon a stick of nougat,
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: wondering if it were not too rich, whether it could
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: possibly hurt her. Madame Ratignoll had been married seven years.
• 24:21
  Speaker 1: About every two years she had a baby. At that
• 24:25
  Speaker 1: time she had three babies and was beginning to think
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: of a fourth one. She was always talking about her condition.
• 24:34
  Speaker 1: Her condition was in no way apparent, and no one
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: would have known a thing about it but for her
• 24:39
  Speaker 1: persistence in making it the subject of conversation. Robert started
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: to reassure her, asserting that he had known a lady
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: who had subsisted upon nugat during the entire but seeing
• 24:53
  Speaker 1: the color mount into missus Pontellier's face, he checked himself
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: and changed the subject. Missus Pontellier, though she had married
• 25:02
  Speaker 1: a Creole, was not thoroughly at home in the society
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: of creoles. Never before had she been thrown so intimately
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: among them. There were only creoles that summer at Le Brun's.
• 25:15
  Speaker 1: They all knew each other and felt like one large family,
• 25:19
  Speaker 1: among whom existed the most amicable relations. A characteristic which
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: distinguished them, and which impressed Missus Pontellier most forcibly, was
• 25:30
  Speaker 1: their entire absence of prudery. Their freedom of expression was
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: at first incomprehensible to her, though she had no difficulty
• 25:40
  Speaker 1: in reconciling it with a lofty chastity which in the
• 25:43
  Speaker 1: Creole woman seems to be inborn and unmistakable. Never would
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: Edna Pontellier forget the shock with which she had heard
• 25:53
  Speaker 1: Madame Ratignoll relating to old Monsieur Farival the harrowing story
• 25:58
  Speaker 1: of one of her accuschements, withholding no intimate detail. She
• 26:03
  Speaker 1: was growing accustomed to like shocks, but she could not
• 26:06
  Speaker 1: keep the mounting collar back from her cheeks oftener than once.
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: Her coming had interrupted the droll story with which Robert
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: was entertaining some amused group of married women. A book
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: had gone the rounds of the pension. When it came
• 26:22
  Speaker 1: her turn to read it, she did so with profound astonishment.
• 26:26
  Speaker 1: She felt moved to read the book in secret and solitude,
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: though none of the others had done so to hide
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: it from view at the sound of approaching footsteps. It
• 26:37
  Speaker 1: was openly criticized and freely discussed at table. Missus Pontellier
• 26:42
  Speaker 1: gave over being astonished and concluded that wonders would never cease.
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: End of chapter four. Chapter five. They formed a congenial
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: group sitting there that summer afternoon, same Ratagnol sewing away,
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: often stopping to relate a story or incident with much
• 27:05
  Speaker 1: expressive gesture of her perfect hands. Robert and missus Pontellier
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: sitting idle, exchanging occasional words, glances, or smiles, which indicated
• 27:16
  Speaker 1: a certain advanced stage of intimacy and camaraderie. He had
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: lived in her shadow during the past month. No one
• 27:25
  Speaker 1: thought anything of it. Many had predicted that Robert would
• 27:28
  Speaker 1: devote himself to missus Pontellier when he arrived. Since the
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: age of fifteen, which was eleven years before, Robert, each
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: summer at grand Isle had constituted himself the devoted attendant
• 27:42
  Speaker 1: of some fair dame or damsel. Sometimes it was a
• 27:47
  Speaker 1: young girl, again a widow, but as often as not
• 27:51
  Speaker 1: it was some interesting married woman. For two consecutive seasons
• 27:57
  Speaker 1: he lived in the sunlight of Mademoiselle Dedi's presence, but
• 28:01
  Speaker 1: she died between summers. Then Robert posed as an inconsolable,
• 28:06
  Speaker 1: prostrating himself at the feet of Madame Ratagnoan for whatever
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: crumbs of sympathy and comfort she might be pleased to vouchsay,
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: Missus Pontellier liked to sit and gaze at her fair
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: companion as she might look upon a faultless madonna. Could
• 28:24
  Speaker 1: any one fathom the cruelty beneath that fair exterior, murmured Robert.
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: She knew that I adored her once, and she let
• 28:33
  Speaker 1: me adore her. It was Robert, Come go, stand up,
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: sit down, do this, do that? See if the baby
• 28:41
  Speaker 1: sleeps my thimble? Please that I left. God knows where
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: come and read d'audet to me. While I sew par example,
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: I never had to ask. You were always there under
• 28:52
  Speaker 1: my feet like a troublesome cat. You mean, like an
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: adoring dog. And just as soon as Ratagnole appeared on
• 28:59
  Speaker 1: the scene, then it was like a dog. Passe adieu
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: ale Voisson. Perhaps I feared to make Alphonds jealous. She
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: interjoined with excessive navete that made them all laugh, the
• 29:15
  Speaker 1: right hand jealous of the left, the heart jealous of
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: the soul. But for that matter, the creole husband is
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: never jealous with him. The gangrene passion is one which
• 29:26
  Speaker 1: has become dwarfed by disuse. Meanwhile, Robert, addressing missus Pontellier,
• 29:33
  Speaker 1: continued to tell of his one time hopeless passion for
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: Madame Ratignol, of sleepless nights, of consuming flames till the
• 29:42
  Speaker 1: very sea sizzled when he took his daily plunge, while
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: the lady at the needle kept up a little running
• 29:47
  Speaker 1: contemptuous comment blaiseeur fassieur Grosbert vas. He never assumed this
• 29:56
  Speaker 1: serio comic tone when alone with Missus Pontellier. She never
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: knew precisely what to make of it. At that moment,
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: it was impossible for her to guess how much of
• 30:06
  Speaker 1: it was jest and what proportion was earnest. It was
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: understood that he had often spoken words of love to
• 30:13
  Speaker 1: Madame Ratignoell without any thought of being taken seriously. Missus
• 30:19
  Speaker 1: Pontellier was glad he had not assumed a similar role
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: toward herself. It would have been unacceptable and annoying. Missus
• 30:28
  Speaker 1: Pontellier had brought her sketching materials, which she sometimes dabbled
• 30:33
  Speaker 1: with in an unprofessional way. She liked the dabbling. She
• 30:38
  Speaker 1: felt in it satisfaction of a kind which no other
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: employment afforded her. She had long wished to try herself
• 30:46
  Speaker 1: on Madame Ratignoell. Never had that lady seemed a more
• 30:50
  Speaker 1: tempting subject than at that moment. Seated there like some
• 30:54
  Speaker 1: sensuous madonna, with the gleam of the fading day enriching
• 30:58
  Speaker 1: her splendid color. Robert crossed over and seated himself upon
• 31:03
  Speaker 1: the step below missus Pontellier that he might watch her work.
• 31:07
  Speaker 1: She handled her brushes with a certain ease and freedom
• 31:11
  Speaker 1: which came not from long and close acquaintance with them,
• 31:14
  Speaker 1: but from a natural aptitude. Robert followed her work with
• 31:19
  Speaker 1: close attention, giving forth little ejaculatory expressions of appreciation in French,
• 31:25
  Speaker 1: which he addressed to Madame Ratignol may say nesparmal el
• 31:31
  Speaker 1: secnai el a de la force Oui. During his oblivious attention,
• 31:38
  Speaker 1: he once quietly rested his head against Missus Pontellier's arm.
• 31:43
  Speaker 1: As gently she repulsed him. Once again, he repeated the offense.
• 31:48
  Speaker 1: She could not but believe it to be thoughtlessness on
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: his part, Yet that was no reason she should submit
• 31:54
  Speaker 1: to it. She did not remonstrate, except again to repulse
• 31:58
  Speaker 1: him quietly but firmly. He offered no apology. The picture
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: complete had borne no resemblance to Madame Ratignoan. She was
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: greatly disappointed to find that it did not look like her,
• 32:11
  Speaker 1: But it was a fair enough piece of work, and
• 32:14
  Speaker 1: in many respects satisfying. Missus Pontellier evidently did not think so.
• 32:21
  Speaker 1: After surveying the sketch critically, she drew a broad smudge
• 32:24
  Speaker 1: of paint across its surface and crumpled the paper between
• 32:27
  Speaker 1: her hands. The youngsters came tumbling up the steps, the quadroon,
• 32:32
  Speaker 1: following at the respectful distance, which they required her to observe.
• 32:37
  Speaker 1: Missus Pontellier made them carry her paints and things into
• 32:40
  Speaker 1: the house. She sought to detain them for a little
• 32:44
  Speaker 1: talk and some pleasantry, but they were greatly in earnest.
• 32:49
  Speaker 1: They had only come to investigate the contents of the
• 32:51
  Speaker 1: bonbon box. They accepted without murmuring, what she chose to
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: give them, each holding out two chubby hands, scoop like
• 33:00
  Speaker 1: in the vain hope that they might be filled, And
• 33:03
  Speaker 1: then away they went. The sun was low in the west,
• 33:07
  Speaker 1: and the breeze soft and languorous that came up from
• 33:11
  Speaker 1: the south, charged with the seductive odor of the sea.
• 33:16
  Speaker 1: Children freshly befur belowed were gathering for their games under
• 33:20
  Speaker 1: the oaks. Their voices were high and penetrating. Madame Ratignoll
• 33:26
  Speaker 1: folded her sewing, placing thimble, scissors and thread, all neatly
• 33:30
  Speaker 1: together in the roll, which she pinned securely. She complained
• 33:34
  Speaker 1: of faintness. Missus Pontellier flew for the cologne, water and
• 33:39
  Speaker 1: a fan. She bathed Madame Ratignol's face with cologne, while
• 33:44
  Speaker 1: Robert plied the fan with unnecessary vigor. The spell was
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: soon over, and Missus Pontellier could not help wondering if
• 33:52
  Speaker 1: there were not a little imagination responsible for its origin,
• 33:56
  Speaker 1: For the rose tint had never faded from her friend's face.
• 34:01
  Speaker 1: She stood watching the fair woman walk down the long
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: line of galleries with the grace and majesty which queens
• 34:08
  Speaker 1: are sometimes supposed to possess. Her little ones ran to
• 34:12
  Speaker 1: meet her. Two of them clung about her white skirts.
• 34:16
  Speaker 1: The third she took from its nurse, and, with a
• 34:18
  Speaker 1: thousand endearments, bore it along in her own fond encircling arms, though,
• 34:24
  Speaker 1: as everybody well knew, the doctor had forbidden her to
• 34:27
  Speaker 1: lift so much as a pin. Are you going bathing?
• 34:31
  Speaker 1: Asked Robert of missus Pontellier. It was not so much
• 34:35
  Speaker 1: a question as a reminder. Oh no, she answered, with
• 34:42
  Speaker 1: a tone of indecision. I'm tired, I think not. Her
• 34:47
  Speaker 1: glance wandered from his face, away toward the gulf, whose
• 34:51
  Speaker 1: sonorous murmur reached her like a loving but imperative entreaty.
• 34:56
  Speaker 1: Oh come, he insisted, you mustn't miss your bath. Come on,
• 35:01
  Speaker 1: the water must be delicious, it will not hurt you. Come.
• 35:06
  Speaker 1: He reached up for her big rough straw hat that
• 35:09
  Speaker 1: hung on a peg outside the door and put it
• 35:12
  Speaker 1: on her head. They descended the steps and walked away
• 35:16
  Speaker 1: together toward the beach. The sun was low in the west,
• 35:21
  Speaker 1: and the breeze was soft and warm. End of Chapter five.
• 35:27
  Speaker 1: End of chapters one through five.
• 35:30
  Speaker 2: Chapter six Edtne Pontellier could not have told why wishing
• 35:36
  Speaker 2: to go to the beach with Robert, she should, in
• 35:39
  Speaker 2: the first place have declined, and in the second place,
• 35:42
  Speaker 2: to have followed in obedience to one of the two
• 35:45
  Speaker 2: contradictory impulses which impelled her. A certain light was beginning
• 35:50
  Speaker 2: to dawn dimly within her, the light which, showing the
• 35:54
  Speaker 2: way forbids it. At that early period, it served to
• 36:00
  Speaker 2: bewilder her. It moved her to dreams, to thoughtfulness, to
• 36:05
  Speaker 2: the shadowy anguish which had overcome her the midnight, when
• 36:09
  Speaker 2: she had abandoned herself to tears. In short, Missus Pontellier
• 36:15
  Speaker 2: was beginning to realize her position in the universe as
• 36:18
  Speaker 2: a human being, and to recognize her relations as an
• 36:22
  Speaker 2: individual to the world within and about her. This may
• 36:27
  Speaker 2: seem like a ponderous weight of wisdom to descend upon
• 36:30
  Speaker 2: the soul of a young woman of twenty eight perhaps
• 36:34
  Speaker 2: more wisdom than the holy ghost, is usually pleased to
• 36:37
  Speaker 2: vouchsafe to any woman. But the beginning of things of
• 36:42
  Speaker 2: a world especially is necessarily vague, tangled, chaotic, and exceedingly disturbing.
• 36:52
  Speaker 2: How few of us ever emerge from such beginning? How
• 36:56
  Speaker 2: many souls perish in its tumult. The voice of the
• 37:02
  Speaker 2: sea is seductive, never ceasing, whispering, clamoring, murmuring, inviting the
• 37:09
  Speaker 2: soul to wander for a spell in abysses of solitude,
• 37:14
  Speaker 2: to lose itself in mazes of inward contemplation. The voice
• 37:19
  Speaker 2: of the sea speaks to the soul. The touch of
• 37:23
  Speaker 2: the sea is sensuous, enfolding the body in its soft,
• 37:29
  Speaker 2: close embrace. Chapter seven. Missus Pontellier was not a woman
• 37:38
  Speaker 2: given to confidences, a characteristic hitherto, contrary to her nature.
• 37:43
  Speaker 2: Even as a child, she had lived her own small life,
• 37:47
  Speaker 2: all within herself. At a very early period, she had
• 37:51
  Speaker 2: apprehended instinctively the dual life, that outward existence which conforms
• 37:57
  Speaker 2: the inward life, which questions. That summer at grand Isle,
• 38:03
  Speaker 2: she began to loosen a little the mantle of reserve
• 38:07
  Speaker 2: that had always enveloped her. There may have been There
• 38:11
  Speaker 2: must have been influences, both subtle and apparent, working in
• 38:15
  Speaker 2: their several ways to induce her to do this, But
• 38:19
  Speaker 2: the most obvious was the influence of Adele Ratignol. The
• 38:23
  Speaker 2: excessive physical charm of the Creole had first attracted her,
• 38:28
  Speaker 2: for Edna had a sensuous susceptibility to beauty. Then the
• 38:33
  Speaker 2: candor of the woman's whole existence, which everyone might read,
• 38:38
  Speaker 2: and which formed so striking a contrast to her own
• 38:41
  Speaker 2: habitual reserve. This might have furnished a link. Who can
• 38:46
  Speaker 2: tell what mettles the gods use in forging the subtle
• 38:49
  Speaker 2: bond which we call sympathy, which we might as well
• 38:53
  Speaker 2: call love. The two women went away one morning to
• 38:57
  Speaker 2: the beach together, arm in arm, and the huge white sunshade.
• 39:02
  Speaker 2: Edna had prevailed upon Madame Ratignole to leave the children behind,
• 39:07
  Speaker 2: though she could not induce her to relinquish a diminutive
• 39:10
  Speaker 2: roll of needlework, which Adele begged to be allowed to
• 39:14
  Speaker 2: slip into the depths of her pocket. In some unaccountable way,
• 39:19
  Speaker 2: they had escaped from Robert. The walk to the beach
• 39:24
  Speaker 2: was no inconsiderable one, consisting as it did of a
• 39:28
  Speaker 2: long sandy path, upon which a sporadic and tangled growth
• 39:32
  Speaker 2: that bordered it on either side made frequent and unexpected inroads.
• 39:37
  Speaker 2: There were acres of yellow camomile reaching out on either hand.
• 39:41
  Speaker 2: Further away, still vegetable gardens abounded, with frequent small plantations
• 39:47
  Speaker 2: of orange or lemon trees intervening the dark green clusters
• 39:52
  Speaker 2: glistened from afar in the sun. The women were both
• 39:56
  Speaker 2: of goodly height, Madame Ratignole possessing the more fe feminine
• 40:00
  Speaker 2: and matronly figure. The charm of Edna Pontellier's physique stole
• 40:06
  Speaker 2: insensibly upon you. The lines of her body were long,
• 40:10
  Speaker 2: clean and symmetrical. It was a body which occasionally fell
• 40:15
  Speaker 2: into splendid poses. There was no suggestion of the trim
• 40:19
  Speaker 2: stereotyped fashion plate about it. A casual and indiscriminating observer
• 40:25
  Speaker 2: in passing might not cast a second glance upon the figure,
• 40:29
  Speaker 2: but with more feeling and discernment he would have recognized
• 40:33
  Speaker 2: the noble beauty of its modeling, and the graceful severity
• 40:37
  Speaker 2: of poise and movement, which made Edna Pontellier different from
• 40:43
  Speaker 2: the crowd. She wore a cool muslin that morning, white
• 40:47
  Speaker 2: with a waving vertical line of brown running through it,
• 40:51
  Speaker 2: also a white linen collar and the big straw hat
• 40:54
  Speaker 2: which she had taken from the peg outside the door.
• 40:57
  Speaker 2: The hat rested any way on her yellow brown hair
• 41:00
  Speaker 2: that waved a little, was heavy and clung close to
• 41:03
  Speaker 2: her head. Madame Ratignoan, more careful of her complexion, had
• 41:08
  Speaker 2: twined a gauze veil about her head. She wore dogskin
• 41:12
  Speaker 2: gloves with gauntlets that protected her wrists. She was dressed
• 41:16
  Speaker 2: in pure white, with the fluffiness of ruffles that became her.
• 41:20
  Speaker 2: The draperies and fluttering things which she wore suited her rich,
• 41:24
  Speaker 2: luxuriant beauty as a greater severity of line could not
• 41:28
  Speaker 2: have done. There were a number of bath houses along
• 41:31
  Speaker 2: the beach of rough but solid construction, built with small
• 41:35
  Speaker 2: protecting galleries facing the water. Each house consisted of two compartments,
• 41:40
  Speaker 2: and each family at Lubound's possessed a compartment for itself,
• 41:45
  Speaker 2: fitted out with all the essential paraphernalia of the bath
• 41:48
  Speaker 2: and whatever other conveniences the owners might desire. The two
• 41:52
  Speaker 2: women had no intention of bathing. They had just strolled
• 41:56
  Speaker 2: down to the beach for a walk and to be
• 41:58
  Speaker 2: alone and near the water. The Pontellier and Ratignole compartments
• 42:03
  Speaker 2: adjoined one another under the same roof. Missus Pontellier had
• 42:08
  Speaker 2: brought down her key through force of habit, unlocking the
• 42:11
  Speaker 2: door of her bath house. She went inside and soon emerged,
• 42:14
  Speaker 2: bringing a rug which she spread upon the floor of
• 42:17
  Speaker 2: the gallery, and two huge hair pillows covered with crash,
• 42:20
  Speaker 2: which she placed against the front of the building. The
• 42:23
  Speaker 2: two seated themselves there in the shade of the porch,
• 42:26
  Speaker 2: side by side, with their backs against the pillows and
• 42:29
  Speaker 2: their feet extended. Madame Ratignole removed her veil, wiped her
• 42:34
  Speaker 2: face with a rather delicate handkerchief, and fanned herself with
• 42:38
  Speaker 2: the fan which she always carried, suspended somewhere about her
• 42:41
  Speaker 2: person by a long, narrow ribbon Edna removed her collar
• 42:45
  Speaker 2: and opened her dress at the throat. She took the
• 42:48
  Speaker 2: fan from Madame Ratignole and began to fan both herself
• 42:51
  Speaker 2: and her companion. It was very warm, and for a
• 42:55
  Speaker 2: while they did nothing but exchange remarks about the heat,
• 42:58
  Speaker 2: the sun, the glare. But there was a breeze blowing,
• 43:02
  Speaker 2: a choppy, stiff wind that whipped the water into froth.
• 43:06
  Speaker 2: It fluttered the skirts of the two women and kept
• 43:09
  Speaker 2: them for a while engaged in adjusting, readjusting, tucking, in
• 43:13
  Speaker 2: securing hair pins and hat pins. A few persons were
• 43:18
  Speaker 2: sporting some distance away in the water. The beach was
• 43:22
  Speaker 2: very still of human sound at that hour. The lady
• 43:25
  Speaker 2: in black was reading her morning devotions on the porch
• 43:28
  Speaker 2: of a neighboring bath house. Two young lovers were exchanging
• 43:32
  Speaker 2: their heart's yearnings beneath the children's tent, which they had
• 43:36
  Speaker 2: found unoccupied. Edna Pontellier, casting her eyes about, had finally
• 43:42
  Speaker 2: kept them at rest. Upon the sea, the day was
• 43:45
  Speaker 2: clear and carried the gaze out as far as the
• 43:48
  Speaker 2: blue sky went. There were a few white clouds suspended
• 43:53
  Speaker 2: idly over the horizon. A lateen sail was visible in
• 43:57
  Speaker 2: the direction of cat Island, and others to the south
• 44:00
  Speaker 2: seemed almost motionless in the far distance. Of whom of
• 44:06
  Speaker 2: what are you thinking? Asked Adele of her companion, whose
• 44:10
  Speaker 2: countenance she had been watching with a little amused attention.
• 44:14
  Speaker 2: Arrested by the absorbed expression which seemed to have seized
• 44:18
  Speaker 2: and fixed every feature into a statuesque repose, nothing returned
• 44:24
  Speaker 2: Missus Pontellier with a start, adding at once how stupid,
• 44:30
  Speaker 2: But it seems to me it is the reply we
• 44:32
  Speaker 2: make instinctively to such a question. Let me see. She
• 44:36
  Speaker 2: went on, throwing back her head and narrowing her fine
• 44:39
  Speaker 2: eyes till they shone like two vivid points of light.
• 44:43
  Speaker 2: Let me see. I was really not conscious of thinking
• 44:47
  Speaker 2: of anything. But perhaps I can retrace my thoughts. Oh,
• 44:51
  Speaker 2: never mind, laughed Madame Ratignan. I am not quite so exacting.
• 44:58
  Speaker 2: I will let you off this time. It is really
• 45:01
  Speaker 2: too hot to think, especially to think about thinking. But
• 45:06
  Speaker 2: for the fun of it persisted Edna. First of all,
• 45:11
  Speaker 2: the sight of the water stretching so far, those motionless
• 45:15
  Speaker 2: sails against the blue sky made a delicious picture that
• 45:20
  Speaker 2: I just wanted to sit and look at. The hot
• 45:23
  Speaker 2: wind beating in my face made me think, without any connection,
• 45:27
  Speaker 2: that I can trace of a summer day in Kentucky,
• 45:32
  Speaker 2: of a meadow that seemed as big as the ocean
• 45:35
  Speaker 2: to the very little girl walking through the grass, which
• 45:38
  Speaker 2: was higher than her waist. She threw out her arms
• 45:42
  Speaker 2: as if swimming when she walked, beating the tall grass
• 45:46
  Speaker 2: as one strikes out in the water. Oh, I see
• 45:49
  Speaker 2: the connection. Now, where were you going that day in Kentucky,
• 45:55
  Speaker 2: walking through the grass. I don't remember now. I was
• 46:00
  Speaker 2: just walking diagonally across a big field. My sun bonnet
• 46:05
  Speaker 2: obscured the view. I could only see the stretch of
• 46:08
  Speaker 2: grain before me, and I felt as if I must
• 46:11
  Speaker 2: walk on forever without coming to the end of it.
• 46:16
  Speaker 2: I don't remember whether I was frightened or pleased. I
• 46:19
  Speaker 2: must have been entertained, likely as not. It was Sunday,
• 46:23
  Speaker 2: she laughed, and I was running away from prayers from
• 46:27
  Speaker 2: the Presbyterian service, read in a spirit of gloom by
• 46:31
  Speaker 2: my father that chills me yet to think of. And
• 46:35
  Speaker 2: have you been running away from prayers ever since? Marcher asked.
• 46:39
  Speaker 2: Madame Martignoan amused, no, oh, no. Edna hastened to say,
• 46:45
  Speaker 2: I was a little unthinking child in those days, just
• 46:49
  Speaker 2: following a misleading impulse without question. On the contrary, during
• 46:54
  Speaker 2: one period of my life, religion took a firm hold
• 46:57
  Speaker 2: upon me after I was twelve, and until until why
• 47:02
  Speaker 2: I suppose until now though I never thought much about it,
• 47:06
  Speaker 2: just driven along by habit. But do you know? She
• 47:11
  Speaker 2: broke off, turning her quick eyes upon Madame Ratignoan and
• 47:15
  Speaker 2: leaning forward a little so as to bring her face
• 47:18
  Speaker 2: quite close to that of her companion. Sometimes I feel
• 47:22
  Speaker 2: this summer as if I were walking through the green
• 47:25
  Speaker 2: meadow again. Idly, aimlessly, unthinking and unguided. Madame Ratignoan laid
• 47:34
  Speaker 2: her hand over that of Missus Pontellier, which was near her.
• 47:38
  Speaker 2: Seeing that the hand was not withdrawn, she clasped it
• 47:41
  Speaker 2: firmly and warmly. She even stroked it a little fondly
• 47:45
  Speaker 2: with the other hand, murmuring in an undertone, poor Fracherie.
• 47:51
  Speaker 2: The action was at first a little confusing to Edna,
• 47:54
  Speaker 2: but she soon lent herself readily to the craon's gentle caress.
• 47:58
  Speaker 2: She was not accustomed to an outward, un spoken expression
• 48:02
  Speaker 2: of affection, either in herself or in others. She and
• 48:05
  Speaker 2: her younger sister, Janet had quarreled a good deal through
• 48:09
  Speaker 2: force of unfortunate habit. Her older sister, Margaret, was matronly
• 48:14
  Speaker 2: and dignified, probably from having assumed matronly and housewifely responsibilities
• 48:19
  Speaker 2: to early in life, their mother having died when they
• 48:22
  Speaker 2: were quite young. Margaret was not effusive, she was practical.
• 48:27
  Speaker 2: Edna had had an occasional girlfriend, but whether accidentally or not,
• 48:32
  Speaker 2: they seemed to have been all of one type, the
• 48:34
  Speaker 2: self contained. She never realized that the reserve of her
• 48:38
  Speaker 2: own character had much, perhaps everything, to do with this.
• 48:43
  Speaker 2: Her most intimate friend at school had been one of
• 48:46
  Speaker 2: rather exceptional intellectual gifts, who wrote fine sounding essays which
• 48:51
  Speaker 2: Edna admired and strove to imitate. And with her she
• 48:55
  Speaker 2: talked and glowed over the English classics and sometimes held
• 48:59
  Speaker 2: religious and political controversies. Edna often wondered at one propensity
• 49:05
  Speaker 2: which sometimes had inwardly disturbed her without causing any outward
• 49:09
  Speaker 2: show or manifestation on her part. At a very early age,
• 49:15
  Speaker 2: perhaps it was when she traversed the ocean of Waving Grass,
• 49:19
  Speaker 2: she remembered that she had been passionately enamored of a
• 49:23
  Speaker 2: dignified and sad eyed cavalry officer who visited her father
• 49:28
  Speaker 2: in Kentucky. She could not leave his presence when he
• 49:32
  Speaker 2: was there, nor remove her eyes from his face, which
• 49:36
  Speaker 2: was something like Napoleon's, with a lock of black hair
• 49:39
  Speaker 2: falling across the forehead. But the cavalry officer melted imperceptibly
• 49:45
  Speaker 2: out of her existence. At another time, her affections were
• 49:49
  Speaker 2: deeply engaged by a young gentleman who visited a lady
• 49:53
  Speaker 2: on a neighboring plantation. It was after they went to
• 49:56
  Speaker 2: Mississippi to live. The young man was engaged to be
• 50:00
  Speaker 2: married to the young lady, and they sometimes called upon Margaret,
• 50:03
  Speaker 2: driving over of afternoons in a buggy. Edna was a
• 50:07
  Speaker 2: little miss just merging into her teens, and the realization
• 50:12
  Speaker 2: that she herself was nothing, nothing, nothing to the engaged
• 50:17
  Speaker 2: young man was a bitter affliction to her. But he
• 50:22
  Speaker 2: too went the way of dreams. She was a grown
• 50:26
  Speaker 2: young woman when she was overtaken by what she supposed
• 50:29
  Speaker 2: to be the climax of her fate. It was when
• 50:32
  Speaker 2: the face and figure of a great tragedian began to
• 50:35
  Speaker 2: haunt her imagination and stir her senses. The persistence of
• 50:40
  Speaker 2: the infatuation lent it an aspect of genuineness. The hopelessness
• 50:45
  Speaker 2: of it colored it with the lofty tones of a
• 50:48
  Speaker 2: great passion. The picture of the tragedian stood inframed upon
• 50:53
  Speaker 2: her desk. Any one may possess the portrait of a
• 50:56
  Speaker 2: tragedian without exciting suspicion or comment. This was a sinister
• 51:01
  Speaker 2: reflection which she cherished in the presence of others. She
• 51:06
  Speaker 2: expressed admiration for his exalted gifts as she handed the
• 51:10
  Speaker 2: photograph around and dwelt upon the fidelity of the likeness.
• 51:14
  Speaker 2: When alone, she sometimes picked it up and kissed the
• 51:18
  Speaker 2: cold glass passionately. Her marriage to Leonce Pontellier was purely
• 51:25
  Speaker 2: an accident in this respect, resembling many other marriages which
• 51:29
  Speaker 2: masquerade as the decrees of fate. It was in the
• 51:33
  Speaker 2: midst of her secret great passion that she met him.
• 51:37
  Speaker 2: He fell in love, as men are in the habit
• 51:39
  Speaker 2: of doing, and pressed his suit with an earnestness and
• 51:43
  Speaker 2: an ardor which left nothing to be desired. He pleased her.
• 51:48
  Speaker 2: His absolute devotion flattered her. She fancied there was a
• 51:52
  Speaker 2: sympathy of thought and taste between them, in which fancy
• 51:56
  Speaker 2: she was mistaken. Add to this the vile opposition of
• 52:00
  Speaker 2: her father and her sister Margaret to her marriage with
• 52:04
  Speaker 2: a Catholic, and we need seek no further for the
• 52:07
  Speaker 2: motives which led her to accept Monsieur Pontellier for her husband.
• 52:12
  Speaker 2: The acme of bliss, which would have been a marriage
• 52:16
  Speaker 2: with the tragedian, was not for her in this world.
• 52:20
  Speaker 2: As the devoted wife of a man who worshiped her,
• 52:23
  Speaker 2: she felt she could take her place with a certain
• 52:25
  Speaker 2: dignity in the world of reality, closing the portals forever
• 52:29
  Speaker 2: behind her upon the realm of romance and dreams. But
• 52:34
  Speaker 2: it was not long before the tragedian had gone to
• 52:37
  Speaker 2: join the cavalry officer and the engaged young man and
• 52:41
  Speaker 2: a few others, and Edna found herself face to face
• 52:46
  Speaker 2: with the realities. She grew fond of her husband, realizing
• 52:51
  Speaker 2: with some unaccountable satisfaction that no trace of passion or
• 52:55
  Speaker 2: excessive or fictitious warmth colored her affection, thereby threatening its dissolusion.
• 53:02
  Speaker 2: She was fond of her children in an uneven, impulsive way.
• 53:06
  Speaker 2: She would sometimes gather them passionately to her heart. She
• 53:10
  Speaker 2: would sometimes forget them. The year before, they had spent
• 53:14
  Speaker 2: part of the summer with their grandmother Pontellier in Iberville.
• 53:18
  Speaker 2: Feeling secure regarding their happiness and welfare, she did not
• 53:22
  Speaker 2: miss them, except with an occasional intense longing. Their absence
• 53:27
  Speaker 2: was a sort of relief, though she did not admit
• 53:30
  Speaker 2: this even to herself. It seemed to free her of
• 53:34
  Speaker 2: a responsibility which she had blindly assumed and for which
• 53:38
  Speaker 2: fate had not fitted her. Edna did not reveal so
• 53:42
  Speaker 2: much as all this to Madame Ratignole that summer day,
• 53:46
  Speaker 2: when they sat with faces turned to the sea, but
• 53:49
  Speaker 2: a good part of it escaped her. She had put
• 53:52
  Speaker 2: her head down on Madame Ratignol's shoulder. She was flushed
• 53:57
  Speaker 2: and felt intoxicated with the sound of her own voice
• 54:00
  Speaker 2: and the unaccustomed taste of candor. It muddled her like wine,
• 54:06
  Speaker 2: or like a first breath of freedom. There was the
• 54:11
  Speaker 2: sound of approaching voices. It was Robert, surrounded by a
• 54:15
  Speaker 2: troop of children, searching for them. The two little Pontelliers
• 54:19
  Speaker 2: were with him, and he carried Madame Ratignolle's little girl
• 54:22
  Speaker 2: in his arms. There were other children beside, and two
• 54:26
  Speaker 2: nurse maids followed, looking disagreeable and resigned. The women at
• 54:31
  Speaker 2: once rose and began to shake out their draperies and
• 54:34
  Speaker 2: relax their muscles. Missus Pontellier threw the cushions and rug
• 54:38
  Speaker 2: into the bath house. The children all scampered off to
• 54:42
  Speaker 2: the awning, and they stood there in a line, gazing
• 54:44
  Speaker 2: upon the intruding lovers, still exchanging their vows and sighs.
• 54:49
  Speaker 2: The lovers got up with only a silent protest, and
• 54:53
  Speaker 2: walked slowly away somewhere else. The children possessed themselves of
• 54:58
  Speaker 2: the tent, and Missus Pontellier went over to join them.
• 55:02
  Speaker 2: Madame Ratignoan begged Robert to accompany her to the house.
• 55:05
  Speaker 2: She complained of a cramp and her limbs and stiffness
• 55:09
  Speaker 2: of the joints. She leaned draggingly upon his arm as
• 55:13
  Speaker 2: they walked. Chapter eight, Do me a favor, Robert spoke
• 55:22
  Speaker 2: the pretty woman at his side. Almost as soon as
• 55:24
  Speaker 2: she and Robert had started their slow homeward way, she
• 55:28
  Speaker 2: looked up in his face, leaning on his arm beneath
• 55:31
  Speaker 2: the encircling shadow of the umbrella which he had lifted.
• 55:34
  Speaker 2: Granted as many as you like, he returned, glancing down
• 55:39
  Speaker 2: into her eyes that were full of thoughtfulness and some speculation.
• 55:44
  Speaker 2: I only ask for one. Let missus Pontellier alone, pier,
• 55:50
  Speaker 2: he exclaimed, with a sudden boyish laugh. Voila coup, Madame Martignour,
• 55:55
  Speaker 2: le ja louise, nonsense. I am in earnest. I mean
• 55:58
  Speaker 2: what I say. Let missus Pontellier alone, why, he asked himself,
• 56:06
  Speaker 2: growing serious at his companion's solicitation. She is not one
• 56:11
  Speaker 2: of us, she is not like us. She might make
• 56:15
  Speaker 2: the unfortunate blunder of taking you seriously. His face flushed
• 56:20
  Speaker 2: with annoyance, and taking off his soft hat, he began
• 56:23
  Speaker 2: to beat it impatiently against his leg as he walked.
• 56:26
  Speaker 2: Why shouldn't she take me seriously? He demanded sharply. Am
• 56:30
  Speaker 2: I a comedian, a clown, a jack in the box?
• 56:33
  Speaker 2: Why shouldn't she you crells? I have no patience with you.
• 56:37
  Speaker 2: Am I always to be regarded as a feature of
• 56:39
  Speaker 2: an amusing program. I hope missus Pontellier does take me seriously.
• 56:44
  Speaker 2: I hope she has discernment enough to find in me
• 56:47
  Speaker 2: something besides the bla geur. If I thought there was
• 56:51
  Speaker 2: any doubt, Oh enough for Robert, she broke into his
• 56:55
  Speaker 2: heated outburst. You are not thinking what you are saying.
• 57:01
  Speaker 2: You speak with about as little reflection as we might
• 57:04
  Speaker 2: expect from one of those children down there playing in
• 57:07
  Speaker 2: the sand. If your attentions to any married women here
• 57:12
  Speaker 2: were ever offered with any intention of being convincing, you
• 57:17
  Speaker 2: would not be the gentleman we all know you to be,
• 57:22
  Speaker 2: and you would be unfit to associate with the wives
• 57:26
  Speaker 2: and daughters of the people who trust you. Madame D'artignolle
• 57:31
  Speaker 2: had spoken what she believed to be the law and
• 57:34
  Speaker 2: the gospel. The young man shrugged his shoulders impatiently. Oh well,
• 57:40
  Speaker 2: that isn't it, slamming his hat down vehemently upon his head.
• 57:44
  Speaker 2: You ought to feel that such things are not flattering
• 57:48
  Speaker 2: to say to a fellow. Should our whole intercourse consist
• 57:52
  Speaker 2: of an exchange of compliments? Ma foi, it isn't pleasant
• 57:58
  Speaker 2: to have a woman tell you. He went on, unheedingly,
• 58:02
  Speaker 2: but breaking off suddenly. Now, if I were like er Robert,
• 58:05
  Speaker 2: you remember i'l sie er Robert and that story of
• 58:09
  Speaker 2: the consul's wife at Biloxi. And he related the story
• 58:12
  Speaker 2: of Alcie er Robert and the consul's wife, and another
• 58:16
  Speaker 2: about the tenor of the French opera who received letters
• 58:19
  Speaker 2: which should never have been written, and still other stories
• 58:22
  Speaker 2: grave and gay, until missus Pontellier, and her possible propensity
• 58:27
  Speaker 2: for taking young men seriously was apparently forgotten. Madame Ratignoan,
• 58:32
  Speaker 2: when they had regained her cottage, went in to take
• 58:35
  Speaker 2: the hour's rest, which she considered helpful. Before leaving her,
• 58:39
  Speaker 2: Robert begged her pardon for the impatience he called it
• 58:42
  Speaker 2: rudeness with which he had received her well meant caution,
• 58:48
  Speaker 2: you make one mistake, adele, he said, with a light smile.
• 58:52
  Speaker 2: There is no earthly possibility of missus Pontellier ever taking
• 58:58
  Speaker 2: me seriously. You should have warned me against taking myself seriously.
• 59:03
  Speaker 2: Your advice might then have carried some weight and given
• 59:06
  Speaker 2: me subject for some reflection au revoir. But you look tired,
• 59:11
  Speaker 2: he added solicitously. Would you like a cup of bullion?
• 59:16
  Speaker 2: May I stir you a toddy? Let me fix you
• 59:18
  Speaker 2: a toddy with a drop of angostura. She acceded to
• 59:22
  Speaker 2: the suggestion of bullion, which was grateful and acceptable. He
• 59:26
  Speaker 2: went himself to the kitchen, which was a building apart
• 59:28
  Speaker 2: from the cottages and lying to the rear of the house,
• 59:31
  Speaker 2: and he himself brought her the golden brown bullion in
• 59:34
  Speaker 2: a dainty, severe cup with a flaky cracker or two
• 59:37
  Speaker 2: on the saucer. She thrust a bare white arm from
• 59:41
  Speaker 2: the curtain which shielded her open door, and received the
• 59:44
  Speaker 2: cup from his hands. She told him he was a
• 59:47
  Speaker 2: boon gas song, and she meant it. Robert thanked her
• 59:51
  Speaker 2: and turned away toward the house. The lovers were just
• 59:55
  Speaker 2: entering the grounds of the pension. They were leaning toward
• 59:58
  Speaker 2: each other as the water oak spent from the sea.
• 1:00:01
  Speaker 2: There was not a particle of earth beneath their feet.
• 1:00:05
  Speaker 2: Their heads might have been turned upside down, so absolutely
• 1:00:08
  Speaker 2: did they tread upon blue ether. The lady in black
• 1:00:13
  Speaker 2: creeping behind them, looked a trifle paler and more jaded
• 1:00:17
  Speaker 2: than usual. There was no sign of Missus Pontellier and
• 1:00:20
  Speaker 2: the children. Robert scanned the distance for any such apparition.
• 1:00:25
  Speaker 2: They would doubtless remain away till the dinner hour. The
• 1:00:28
  Speaker 2: young man ascended to his mother's room. It was situated
• 1:00:32
  Speaker 2: at the top of the house, made up of odd
• 1:00:34
  Speaker 2: angles and a queer sloping ceiling. Two broad dormer windows
• 1:00:39
  Speaker 2: looked out toward the gulf and as far across it
• 1:00:42
  Speaker 2: as a man's eyes might reach. The furnishings of the
• 1:00:45
  Speaker 2: room were light, cool and practical. Madame Lebrun was busily
• 1:00:51
  Speaker 2: engaged at the sewing machine. A little black girl sat
• 1:00:54
  Speaker 2: on the floor and with her hands worked the treadle
• 1:00:56
  Speaker 2: of the machine. The creal woman does not take any
• 1:01:00
  Speaker 2: chances which may be avoided, of imperiling her health. Robert
• 1:01:04
  Speaker 2: went over and seated himself on the broad sill of
• 1:01:06
  Speaker 2: one of the dormer windows. He took a book from
• 1:01:09
  Speaker 2: his pocket and began energetically to read it. Judging by
• 1:01:12
  Speaker 2: the precision and frequency with which he turned the leaves,
• 1:01:16
  Speaker 2: the sewing machine made a resounding clatter in the room.
• 1:01:19
  Speaker 2: It was of a ponderous bygone make. In the lulls,
• 1:01:23
  Speaker 2: Robert and his mother exchanged bits of desultory conversation. Where
• 1:01:28
  Speaker 2: is missus Pontellier down at the beach with the children?
• 1:01:33
  Speaker 2: I promise to lend her the goncoeur. Don't forget to
• 1:01:36
  Speaker 2: take it down when you go. It is there on
• 1:01:38
  Speaker 2: the bookshelf over the small table. Clatter, clatter, clatter, bang.
• 1:01:42
  Speaker 2: For the next five or eight minutes. Where is Victor
• 1:01:46
  Speaker 2: going with the rockaway? The rockaway? Victor? Yes, down there
• 1:01:51
  Speaker 2: in front. He seems to be getting ready to drive
• 1:01:52
  Speaker 2: away somewhere.
• 1:01:54
  Speaker 1: Call him.
• 1:01:55
  Speaker 2: Clatter clatter. Robert uttered a shrill, piercing whistle, which might
• 1:01:59
  Speaker 2: have been heard back at the wharf. He won't look up.
• 1:02:03
  Speaker 2: Madame Lebrn flew to the window. She called Victor. She
• 1:02:07
  Speaker 2: waved a handkerchief and called again. The young fellow below
• 1:02:10
  Speaker 2: got into the vehicle and started the horse off at
• 1:02:13
  Speaker 2: a gallop. Madame Lebrun went back to the machine Crimson
• 1:02:17
  Speaker 2: with annoyance. Victor was the younger son and brother, a
• 1:02:20
  Speaker 2: tete Montail, with a temper which invited violence, and a
• 1:02:24
  Speaker 2: will which no axe could break. Whenever you say the word,
• 1:02:28
  Speaker 2: I'm ready to thrash any amount of reason into him
• 1:02:30
  Speaker 2: that he's able to hold. If your father had only lived,
• 1:02:35
  Speaker 2: clatter clatter, clatter, clatter bang. It was the fixed belief
• 1:02:39
  Speaker 2: of Madame Lebrun that the conduct of the universe and
• 1:02:42
  Speaker 2: all things pertaining there too, would have been manifestly of
• 1:02:46
  Speaker 2: a more intelligent and higher order, had not Monsieur Lebrun
• 1:02:49
  Speaker 2: been removed to other spheres during the early years of
• 1:02:52
  Speaker 2: their married life. What do you hear from Montelle? Montelle
• 1:02:57
  Speaker 2: was a middle aged gentleman who is vain and ambition
• 1:03:00
  Speaker 2: and desire for the past twenty years had been to
• 1:03:03
  Speaker 2: fill the void which Monsieur le Prince taking off, had
• 1:03:06
  Speaker 2: left in the Leberal household. Clatter clatter, bang, clatter. I
• 1:03:11
  Speaker 2: have a letter somewhere. Looking in the machine drawer and
• 1:03:14
  Speaker 2: finding the letter in the bottom of the work basket,
• 1:03:18
  Speaker 2: he says to tell you he will be in vera
• 1:03:20
  Speaker 2: Cruz the beginning of next month. Clatter clatter, And if
• 1:03:23
  Speaker 2: you still have the intention of joining him, bang clatter,
• 1:03:26
  Speaker 2: clatter bang. Why didn't you tell me so before? Mother?
• 1:03:30
  Speaker 2: You know I wanted clatter clatter clatter. Do you see
• 1:03:34
  Speaker 2: missus Pontellier coming back with the children. She will be
• 1:03:37
  Speaker 2: in late to luncheon again. She never starts to get
• 1:03:40
  Speaker 2: ready for luncheon till the last minute. Clatter clatter? Where
• 1:03:43
  Speaker 2: are you going? Where did you say? The goncour was
• 1:03:49
  Speaker 2: Chapter nine. Every light in the hall was ablaze. Every
• 1:03:54
  Speaker 2: lamp turned as high as it could be without smoking
• 1:03:57
  Speaker 2: the chimney or threatening explosion. The lamps were fixed at
• 1:04:01
  Speaker 2: intervals against the wall encircling the whole room. Someone had
• 1:04:05
  Speaker 2: gathered orange and lemon branches, and with these fashioned graceful
• 1:04:08
  Speaker 2: festoons between the dark green of the branches stood out
• 1:04:12
  Speaker 2: and glistened against the white muslin curtains which draped the windows,
• 1:04:16
  Speaker 2: and which puffed, floated and flapped at the capricious will
• 1:04:19
  Speaker 2: of a stiff breeze that swept up from the gulf.
• 1:04:23
  Speaker 2: It was Saturday night, and a few weeks after the
• 1:04:25
  Speaker 2: intimate conversation held between Robert and Madame Ratignolle on their
• 1:04:30
  Speaker 2: way from the beach. An unusual number of husbands, fathers
• 1:04:34
  Speaker 2: and friends had come down to stay over Sunday, and
• 1:04:37
  Speaker 2: they were being suitably entertained by their families with the
• 1:04:40
  Speaker 2: material help of Madame Leubron. The dining tables had all
• 1:04:45
  Speaker 2: been removed to one end of the hall, and the
• 1:04:47
  Speaker 2: chairs ranged about in rows and in clusters. Each little
• 1:04:51
  Speaker 2: family group had had its say and exchanged its domestic
• 1:04:54
  Speaker 2: gossip earlier in the evening. There was now an apparent
• 1:04:58
  Speaker 2: disposition to relax, to widen the circle of confidences and
• 1:05:03
  Speaker 2: give a more general tone to the conversation. Many of
• 1:05:07
  Speaker 2: the children had been permitted to stay up beyond their
• 1:05:09
  Speaker 2: usual bedtime. A small band of them were lying on
• 1:05:12
  Speaker 2: their stomachs on the floor, looking at the colored sheets
• 1:05:15
  Speaker 2: of the comic papers which mister Pontellier had brought down.
• 1:05:19
  Speaker 2: The little Pontellier boys were permitting them to do so
• 1:05:23
  Speaker 2: and making their authority felt. Music, dancing, and a recitation
• 1:05:28
  Speaker 2: or two were the entertainments furnished, or rather offered, but
• 1:05:32
  Speaker 2: there was nothing systematic about the program, no appearance of
• 1:05:36
  Speaker 2: pre arrangement nor even premeditation. At an early hour in
• 1:05:40
  Speaker 2: the evening, the fair of all twins were prevailed upon
• 1:05:43
  Speaker 2: to play the piano. They were girls of fourteen, always
• 1:05:47
  Speaker 2: clad in the Virgin's colors blue and white, having been
• 1:05:51
  Speaker 2: dedicated to the blessed Virgin at their baptism. They played
• 1:05:54
  Speaker 2: a duet from Zampa, and at the earnest solicitation of
• 1:05:58
  Speaker 2: every one present, followed it with the overture to the
• 1:06:01
  Speaker 2: poet and the peasant. Ali vousson Sapristie shrieked the parrot
• 1:06:07
  Speaker 2: outside the door. He was the only being present who
• 1:06:10
  Speaker 2: possessed sufficient candor to admit that he was not listening
• 1:06:13
  Speaker 2: to these gracious performances for the first time that summer.
• 1:06:17
  Speaker 2: Old Monsieur Frarebal, grandfather of the twins, grew indignant over
• 1:06:22
  Speaker 2: the interruption, and insisted upon having the bird removed and
• 1:06:25
  Speaker 2: consigned to regions of darkness. Victor Lebrun objected, and his
• 1:06:30
  Speaker 2: decrees were as immutable as those of fate. The parrot
• 1:06:34
  Speaker 2: fortunately offered no further interruption to the entertainment, the whole
• 1:06:39
  Speaker 2: venom of his nature apparently having been cherished up and
• 1:06:43
  Speaker 2: hurled against the twins in that one impetuous outburst. Later,
• 1:06:48
  Speaker 2: a young brother and sister gave recitations which every one
• 1:06:51
  Speaker 2: present had heard many times at winter evening entertainments in
• 1:06:55
  Speaker 2: the city. A little girl performed a skirt dance in
• 1:06:58
  Speaker 2: the center of the floor. The mother played her accompaniments
• 1:07:01
  Speaker 2: and at the same time watched her daughter with greedy
• 1:07:04
  Speaker 2: admiration and nervous apprehension. She need have had no apprehension.
• 1:07:09
  Speaker 2: The child was mistress of the situation. She had been
• 1:07:12
  Speaker 2: properly dressed for the occasion in black tool and black
• 1:07:16
  Speaker 2: silk tights. Her little neck and arms were bare, and
• 1:07:20
  Speaker 2: her hair, artificially crimped, stood out like fluffy black plumes
• 1:07:25
  Speaker 2: over her head. Her poses were full of grace, and
• 1:07:29
  Speaker 2: her little black shod toes twinkled as they shot out
• 1:07:32
  Speaker 2: and upward with the rapidity and suddenness which were bewildering.
• 1:07:37
  Speaker 2: But there was no reason why everyone should not dance.
• 1:07:41
  Speaker 2: Madame Ratignolle could not, so it was she who gaily
• 1:07:45
  Speaker 2: consented to play for the others. She played very well,
• 1:07:49
  Speaker 2: keeping excellent Walt's time and infusing an expression into the
• 1:07:53
  Speaker 2: strains which was indeed inspiring. She was keeping up her
• 1:07:57
  Speaker 2: music on account of the children, she said, because she
• 1:08:00
  Speaker 2: and her husband both considered it a means of brightening
• 1:08:03
  Speaker 2: the home and making it attractive. Almost everyone danced, but
• 1:08:08
  Speaker 2: the twins, who could not be induced to separate during
• 1:08:11
  Speaker 2: the brief period when one or the other should be
• 1:08:14
  Speaker 2: whirling about the room in the arms of a man.
• 1:08:17
  Speaker 2: They might have danced together, but they did not think
• 1:08:20
  Speaker 2: of it. The children were sent to bed. Some went submissively,
• 1:08:24
  Speaker 2: others with shrieks and protests as they were dragged away.
• 1:08:28
  Speaker 2: They had been permitted to sit up till after the
• 1:08:30
  Speaker 2: ice cream, which naturally marked the limit of human indulgence.
• 1:08:35
  Speaker 2: The ice cream was passed round with cake, gold and
• 1:08:38
  Speaker 2: silver cake, arranged on platters in alternate slices. It had
• 1:08:42
  Speaker 2: been made and frozen during the afternoon back in the
• 1:08:45
  Speaker 2: kitchen by two black women under the supervision of Victor.
• 1:08:49
  Speaker 2: It was pronounced a great success, excellent if it had
• 1:08:53
  Speaker 2: only contained a little less vanilla or a little more sugar,
• 1:08:57
  Speaker 2: if it had been frozen a degree harder, and if
• 1:09:01
  Speaker 2: the salt might have been kept out of portions of it.
• 1:09:04
  Speaker 2: Victor was proud of his achievement and went about recommending
• 1:09:07
  Speaker 2: it and urging every one to partake of it to excess.
• 1:09:12
  Speaker 2: After Missus Pontellier had danced twice with her husband, once
• 1:09:15
  Speaker 2: with Robert and once with Monsieur Ratignole, who was thin
• 1:09:20
  Speaker 2: and tall and swayed like a reed in the wind
• 1:09:23
  Speaker 2: when he danced. She went out on the gallery and
• 1:09:26
  Speaker 2: seated herself on the low window sill, where she commanded
• 1:09:30
  Speaker 2: a view of all that went on in the hall,
• 1:09:32
  Speaker 2: and could look out toward the gulf. There was a
• 1:09:36
  Speaker 2: soft deffulgence in the east. The moon was coming up,
• 1:09:39
  Speaker 2: and its mystic shimmer was casting a million lights across
• 1:09:42
  Speaker 2: the distant, restless water. Would you like to hear Mademoiselle
• 1:09:48
  Speaker 2: ree play, asked Robert, coming out on the porch where
• 1:09:52
  Speaker 2: she was. Of course, Edna would like to hear Mademoiselle
• 1:09:56
  Speaker 2: ree play, but she feared it would be useless to
• 1:10:00
  Speaker 2: treat her. I'll ask her, he said, I'll tell her
• 1:10:04
  Speaker 2: that you want to hear her. She likes you, she
• 1:10:06
  Speaker 2: will come. He turned and hurried away to one of
• 1:10:10
  Speaker 2: the far cottages, where Mademoiselle Reese was shuffling away. She
• 1:10:15
  Speaker 2: was dragging a chair in and out of her room,
• 1:10:17
  Speaker 2: and at intervals objecting to the crying of a baby,
• 1:10:20
  Speaker 2: which a nurse in the adjoining cottage was endeavoring to
• 1:10:23
  Speaker 2: put to sleep. She was a disagreeable little woman, no
• 1:10:27
  Speaker 2: longer young, who had quarreled with almost every one, owing
• 1:10:31
  Speaker 2: to a temper which was self assertive and disposition to
• 1:10:34
  Speaker 2: trample upon the rights of others. Robert prevailed upon her
• 1:10:38
  Speaker 2: without any too great difficulty. She entered the hall with
• 1:10:42
  Speaker 2: him during a lull in the dance. She made an awkward,
• 1:10:46
  Speaker 2: imperious little bow as she went in. She was a
• 1:10:50
  Speaker 2: homely woman, with a small, woosened face and body, and
• 1:10:54
  Speaker 2: eyes that glowed. She had absolutely no taste in dress,
• 1:10:59
  Speaker 2: and wore a batch of rusty black lace with a
• 1:11:02
  Speaker 2: bunch of artificial violets pinned to the side of her hair.
• 1:11:07
  Speaker 2: Ask missus Pontellier what she would like to hear me play,
• 1:11:13
  Speaker 2: she requested of Robert. She sat perfectly still before the piano,
• 1:11:18
  Speaker 2: not touching the keys, while Robert carried her message to
• 1:11:22
  Speaker 2: Edna at the window. A general air of surprise and
• 1:11:26
  Speaker 2: genuine satisfaction fell upon every one as they saw the
• 1:11:29
  Speaker 2: pianist enter. There was a settling down and a prevailing
• 1:11:33
  Speaker 2: air of expectancy everywhere. Edna was a trifle embarrassed at
• 1:11:39
  Speaker 2: being thus singled out for the imperious little woman's favor,
• 1:11:42
  Speaker 2: she would not dare to choose, and begged that Mademoiselle
• 1:11:46
  Speaker 2: Reice would please herself in her selections. Edna was what
• 1:11:51
  Speaker 2: she herself called, very fond of music. Musical strains well
• 1:11:56
  Speaker 2: rendered had a way of evoking pictures in her mind.
• 1:12:00
  Speaker 2: She sometimes liked to sit in the room of mornings
• 1:12:03
  Speaker 2: when Madame Ratagnole played or practiced. One piece, which that
• 1:12:07
  Speaker 2: lady played, Edna had entitled Solitude. It was a short,
• 1:12:12
  Speaker 2: plaintive minor strain. The name of the piece was something else,
• 1:12:17
  Speaker 2: but she called it Solitude when she heard it. There
• 1:12:21
  Speaker 2: came before her imagination the figure of a man standing
• 1:12:25
  Speaker 2: beside a desolate rock on the sea shore. He was naked.
• 1:12:30
  Speaker 2: His attitude was one of hopeless resignation as he looked
• 1:12:33
  Speaker 2: toward a distant bird winging its flight away from him.
• 1:12:38
  Speaker 2: Another piece called to her mind, a dainty young woman
• 1:12:41
  Speaker 2: clad in an empire gown, taking mincing dancing steps as
• 1:12:45
  Speaker 2: she came down a long avenue between tall hedges. Again,
• 1:12:50
  Speaker 2: another reminded her of children at play, and still another
• 1:12:54
  Speaker 2: of nothing on earth but a demure lady stroking a cat.
• 1:12:59
  Speaker 2: The very first chords which Mademoiselle Reice, struck upon the piano,
• 1:13:04
  Speaker 2: sent a keen tremor down Missus Pontellier's spinal column. It
• 1:13:09
  Speaker 2: was not the first time she had heard an artist
• 1:13:13
  Speaker 2: at the piano. Perhaps it was the first time she
• 1:13:17
  Speaker 2: was ready, Perhaps the first time her being was tempered
• 1:13:23
  Speaker 2: to take an impress of the abiding truth. She waited
• 1:13:28
  Speaker 2: for the material pictures which she thought would gather and
• 1:13:31
  Speaker 2: blaze before her imagination. She waited in vain. She saw
• 1:13:36
  Speaker 2: no pictures of solitude, of hope, of longing, or of despair.
• 1:13:42
  Speaker 2: But the very passions themselves were aroused within her soul, swaying,
• 1:13:48
  Speaker 2: lashing it as the waves daily beat upon her splendid body.
• 1:13:53
  Speaker 2: She trembled, She was choking, and the tears blinded her.
• 1:14:00
  Speaker 2: Mademoiselle had finished, She arose, and, bowing her stiff, lofty bow,
• 1:14:06
  Speaker 2: she went away, stopping for neither thanks nor applause. As
• 1:14:11
  Speaker 2: she passed along the gallery, she patted Edna upon the shoulder. Well,
• 1:14:16
  Speaker 2: how did you like my music, she asked. The young
• 1:14:21
  Speaker 2: woman was unable to answer. She pressed the hand of
• 1:14:24
  Speaker 2: the pianist convulsively. Mademoiselle ree perceived her agitation, and even
• 1:14:31
  Speaker 2: her tears. She patted her again upon the shoulder, as
• 1:14:35
  Speaker 2: she said, you are the only one worth playing for
• 1:14:39
  Speaker 2: those others bah, And she went shuffling and sidling on
• 1:14:45
  Speaker 2: down the gallery toward her room. But she was mistaken
• 1:14:49
  Speaker 2: about those others. Her playing had aroused a fever of enthusiasm,
• 1:14:55
  Speaker 2: what passion, what an artist. I have always said, No
• 1:15:00
  Speaker 2: one could play Chopin like Mademoiselle Reice that last prelude Bontieu,
• 1:15:07
  Speaker 2: It shakes a man. It was growing late, and there
• 1:15:11
  Speaker 2: was a general disposition to disband. But some one, perhaps
• 1:15:15
  Speaker 2: it was Robert, thought of a bath at that mystic
• 1:15:18
  Speaker 2: hour and under that mystic moon, Chapter ten. At all events,
• 1:15:26
  Speaker 2: Robert proposed it, and there was not a dissenting voice.
• 1:15:31
  Speaker 2: There was not one, but was ready to follow. When
• 1:15:33
  Speaker 2: he led the way. He did not lead the way, however,
• 1:15:38
  Speaker 2: he directed the way, and he himself loitered behind with
• 1:15:42
  Speaker 2: the lovers who had betrayed a disposition to linger and
• 1:15:45
  Speaker 2: hold themselves apart. He walked between them, whether with malicious
• 1:15:50
  Speaker 2: or mischievous intent was not wholly clear even to himself.
• 1:15:56
  Speaker 2: The Pontelliers and ratignoles walked ahead, the women leaning upon
• 1:16:00
  Speaker 2: the arms of their husbands. Edna could hear Robert's voice
• 1:16:04
  Speaker 2: behind them, and could sometimes hear what he said. She
• 1:16:07
  Speaker 2: wondered why he did not join them. It was unlike
• 1:16:10
  Speaker 2: him not to. Of late, he had sometimes held away
• 1:16:15
  Speaker 2: from her for an entire day, redoubling his devotion upon
• 1:16:18
  Speaker 2: the next and the next, as though to make up
• 1:16:21
  Speaker 2: for hours that had been lost. She missed him the
• 1:16:25
  Speaker 2: days when some pretext served to take him away from her,
• 1:16:29
  Speaker 2: just as one misses the sun on a cloudy day,
• 1:16:32
  Speaker 2: without having thought much about the sun when it was shining.
• 1:16:37
  Speaker 2: The people walked in little groups towards the beach. They
• 1:16:40
  Speaker 2: talked and laughed, Some of them sang. There was a
• 1:16:43
  Speaker 2: band playing down at Clyne's Hotel, and the strains reached
• 1:16:47
  Speaker 2: them faintly, tempered by the distance. There were strange rare
• 1:16:53
  Speaker 2: odors abroad, a tangle of the sea smell and of
• 1:16:56
  Speaker 2: weeds and damp new plowed earth, ming with the heavy
• 1:17:00
  Speaker 2: perfume of a field of white blossoms somewhere near. But
• 1:17:05
  Speaker 2: the night sat lightly upon the sea and the land.
• 1:17:09
  Speaker 2: There was no weight of darkness. There were no shadows.
• 1:17:13
  Speaker 2: The white light of the moon had fallen upon the
• 1:17:16
  Speaker 2: world like the mystery and the softness of sleep. Most
• 1:17:22
  Speaker 2: of them walked into the water as though into a
• 1:17:25
  Speaker 2: native element. The sea was quiet now and swelled lazily
• 1:17:30
  Speaker 2: in broad billows that melted into one another and did
• 1:17:34
  Speaker 2: not break except upon the beach, in little foamy crests
• 1:17:40
  Speaker 2: that coiled back like slow white serpents. Edna had attempted
• 1:17:45
  Speaker 2: all summer to learn to swim. She had received instructions
• 1:17:49
  Speaker 2: from both the men and women, in some instances from
• 1:17:53
  Speaker 2: the children. Robert had pursued a system of lessons almost daily,
• 1:17:58
  Speaker 2: and he was nearly at the point of discouragement in
• 1:18:01
  Speaker 2: realizing the futility of his efforts. A certain, ungovernable dread
• 1:18:07
  Speaker 2: hung about her when in the water, unless there was
• 1:18:09
  Speaker 2: a hand near by that might reach out and reassure her.
• 1:18:14
  Speaker 2: But that night she was like the little tottering, stumbling,
• 1:18:18
  Speaker 2: clutching child who of a sudden realizes its power and
• 1:18:24
  Speaker 2: walks for the first time alone, boldly and with over confidence.
• 1:18:30
  Speaker 2: She could have shouted for joy. She did shout for joy,
• 1:18:35
  Speaker 2: as with a sweeping stroke or two she lifted her
• 1:18:38
  Speaker 2: body to the surface of the water. A feeling of
• 1:18:41
  Speaker 2: exultation overtook her, as if some power of significant import
• 1:18:47
  Speaker 2: had been given her to control the working of her
• 1:18:50
  Speaker 2: body and her soul. She grew daring and reckless. Overestimating
• 1:18:55
  Speaker 2: her strength, she wanted to swim far out where no
• 1:18:59
  Speaker 2: woman had swum before. Her unlooked for achievement was the
• 1:19:03
  Speaker 2: subject of wonder, applause, and admiration. Each one congratulated himself
• 1:19:09
  Speaker 2: that his special teachings had accomplished this desired end. How
• 1:19:14
  Speaker 2: easy it is, she thought, It is nothing, she said aloud,
• 1:19:20
  Speaker 2: Why did I not discover before that it was nothing?
• 1:19:24
  Speaker 2: Think of the time I have lost. Splashing about like
• 1:19:28
  Speaker 2: a baby, she would not join the groups in their
• 1:19:31
  Speaker 2: sports and bouts, But intoxicated with her newly conquered power,
• 1:19:36
  Speaker 2: she swam out alone. She turned her face seaward to
• 1:19:41
  Speaker 2: gather in an impression of space and solitude, which the
• 1:19:45
  Speaker 2: vast expanse of water meeting and melting with the moonlit
• 1:19:49
  Speaker 2: sky conveyed to her excited fancy. As she swam, she
• 1:19:55
  Speaker 2: seemed to be reaching out for the unlimited in which
• 1:19:58
  Speaker 2: to lose herself. Once she turned and looked towards the shore,
• 1:20:03
  Speaker 2: toward the people she had left there, She had not
• 1:20:06
  Speaker 2: gone any great distance. That is what would have been
• 1:20:10
  Speaker 2: a great distance for an experienced swimmer, but to her
• 1:20:14
  Speaker 2: unaccustomed vision, the stretch of water behind her assumed the
• 1:20:18
  Speaker 2: aspect of a barrier which her unaided strength would never
• 1:20:21
  Speaker 2: be able to overcome. A quick vision of death smote
• 1:20:26
  Speaker 2: her soul, and for a second of time appalled and
• 1:20:30
  Speaker 2: enfeebled her senses. But by an effort she rallied her
• 1:20:34
  Speaker 2: staggering faculties and managed to regain the land. She made
• 1:20:39
  Speaker 2: no mention of her encounter with death and her flash
• 1:20:42
  Speaker 2: of terror, except to say to her husband, I thought
• 1:20:46
  Speaker 2: I should have perished out there alone. You are not
• 1:20:50
  Speaker 2: so very far, my dear, I was watching you, he
• 1:20:53
  Speaker 2: told her. Edna went at once to the bath house,
• 1:20:57
  Speaker 2: and she had put on her dry clothes and was
• 1:20:59
  Speaker 2: ready to return home. Before the others had left the water,
• 1:21:03
  Speaker 2: she started to walk away alone. They all called to
• 1:21:07
  Speaker 2: her and shouted to her. She waved a dissenting hand
• 1:21:11
  Speaker 2: and went on, paying no further heed to their renewed cries,
• 1:21:15
  Speaker 2: which sought to detain her. Sometimes I am tempted to
• 1:21:18
  Speaker 2: think that missus Pontellier is capricious, said Madame lu Brent,
• 1:21:23
  Speaker 2: who was amusing herself immensely, and feared that Edna's abrupt
• 1:21:27
  Speaker 2: departure might put an end to the pleasure. I know,
• 1:21:31
  Speaker 2: she is, assented, mister Pontellier. Sometimes not often. Edna had
• 1:21:37
  Speaker 2: not traversed a quarter of the distance on her way
• 1:21:40
  Speaker 2: home before she was overtaken by Robert. Did you think
• 1:21:43
  Speaker 2: I was afraid, she asked him, without a shade of annoyance. No,
• 1:21:48
  Speaker 2: I knew you were afraid. Then why did you come?
• 1:21:52
  Speaker 2: Why didn't you stay out there with the others. I
• 1:21:55
  Speaker 2: never thought of it, thought of what of anything? What
• 1:21:59
  Speaker 2: difference does it make? I'm very tired, she uttered, complainingly.
• 1:22:06
  Speaker 3: I know you are.
• 1:22:08
  Speaker 2: You don't know anything about it. Why should you know?
• 1:22:11
  Speaker 2: I never was so exhausted in my life? But it
• 1:22:15
  Speaker 2: isn't unpleasant. A thousand emotions have swept through me tonight.
• 1:22:22
  Speaker 2: I don't comprehend half of them. Don't mind what I'm saying.
• 1:22:28
  Speaker 2: I am just thinking aloud. I wonder if I shall
• 1:22:32
  Speaker 2: ever be stirred again as Mademoiselle Reice's playing moved me tonight.
• 1:22:37
  Speaker 2: I wonder if any night on earth will ever again
• 1:22:41
  Speaker 2: be like this one. It is like a night in
• 1:22:44
  Speaker 2: a dream. The people about me are like some uncanny
• 1:22:49
  Speaker 2: half human beings. There must be spirits abroad tonight there are,
• 1:22:56
  Speaker 2: whispered Robert, didn't you know this was the twenty eighth
• 1:23:01
  Speaker 2: of August, the twenty eighth of August. Yes, on the
• 1:23:07
  Speaker 2: twenty eighth of August, at the hour of midnight. And
• 1:23:11
  Speaker 2: if the moon is shining, the moon must be shining.
• 1:23:14
  Speaker 2: A spirit that has haunted these shores for ages rises
• 1:23:18
  Speaker 2: up from the gulf with its own penetrating vision. The
• 1:23:22
  Speaker 2: spirit seeks some one mortal worthy to hold him company,
• 1:23:28
  Speaker 2: worthy of being exalted for a few hours into realms
• 1:23:33
  Speaker 2: of the semi celestials. His search has always hitherto been fruitless,
• 1:23:39
  Speaker 2: and he has sunk back, disheartened, into the sea. But
• 1:23:44
  Speaker 2: to night he found Missus Pontellier. Perhaps he will never
• 1:23:52
  Speaker 2: wholly release her from the spell. Perhaps she will never
• 1:23:56
  Speaker 2: again suffer a poor, unworthy the earthling to walk in
• 1:24:01
  Speaker 2: the shadow of her divine presence. Don't banter me, she said,
• 1:24:09
  Speaker 2: wounded at what appeared to be his flippancy. He did
• 1:24:13
  Speaker 2: not mind the entreaty, but the tone, with its delicate
• 1:24:17
  Speaker 2: note of pathos, was like a reproach. He could not explain.
• 1:24:22
  Speaker 2: He could not tell her that he had penetrated her
• 1:24:24
  Speaker 2: mood and understood. He said nothing except to offer her
• 1:24:29
  Speaker 2: his arm, for by her own admission, she was exhausted.
• 1:24:33
  Speaker 2: She had been walking alone, with her arms hanging limp,
• 1:24:36
  Speaker 2: letting her white skirts trail along the dewy path. She
• 1:24:40
  Speaker 2: took his arm, but she did not lean upon it.
• 1:24:44
  Speaker 2: She let her hand lie listlessly, as though her thoughts
• 1:24:48
  Speaker 2: were elsewhere, somewhere in advance of her body, and she
• 1:24:53
  Speaker 2: was striving to overtake them. Robert assisted her into the hammock,
• 1:24:58
  Speaker 2: which swung from the post before her out to the
• 1:25:00
  Speaker 2: trunk of a tree. Will you stay out here and
• 1:25:04
  Speaker 2: wait for mister Pontellier, he asked. I'll stay out here
• 1:25:10
  Speaker 2: good night. Shall I get you a pillow? There's one here,
• 1:25:16
  Speaker 2: she said, feeling about, for they were in the shadow.
• 1:25:20
  Speaker 2: It must be soiled. The children have been tumbling it about.
• 1:25:23
  Speaker 2: No matter, and having discovered the pillow, she adjusted it
• 1:25:27
  Speaker 2: beneath her head. She extended herself into the hammock with
• 1:25:31
  Speaker 2: a deep breath of relief. She was not a supercilious
• 1:25:35
  Speaker 2: or an over dainty woman. She was not much given
• 1:25:38
  Speaker 2: to reclining in the hammock, and when she did so,
• 1:25:41
  Speaker 2: it was with no catlike suggestion of voluptuous ease, but
• 1:25:46
  Speaker 2: with a beneficent repose which seemed to invade her whole body.
• 1:25:51
  Speaker 2: Shall I stay with you till mister Pontellier comes asked Robert,
• 1:25:56
  Speaker 2: seating himself on the outer edge of one of the
• 1:25:58
  Speaker 2: steps and taking hold of the hammock rope which was
• 1:26:01
  Speaker 2: fastened to the post. If you wish, don't swing the hammock.
• 1:26:07
  Speaker 2: Will you get my white shawl which I left on
• 1:26:09
  Speaker 2: the window sill at the house. Are you chilly? No?
• 1:26:14
  Speaker 2: But I shall be presently. Presently, he laughed. Do you
• 1:26:19
  Speaker 2: know what time it is? How long are you going
• 1:26:22
  Speaker 2: to stay out here? I don't know. Will you get
• 1:26:26
  Speaker 2: the shawl? Of course I will, he said, rising He
• 1:26:31
  Speaker 2: went over to the house, walking along the grass. She
• 1:26:34
  Speaker 2: watched his figure pass in and out of the strips
• 1:26:37
  Speaker 2: of moonlight. It was past midnight. It was very quiet.
• 1:26:43
  Speaker 2: When he returned with the shawl, she took it and
• 1:26:46
  Speaker 2: kept it in her hand. She did not put it
• 1:26:48
  Speaker 2: around her. Did you say I should stay till mister
• 1:26:52
  Speaker 2: Pontellier came back? I said you might if you wished to.
• 1:26:58
  Speaker 2: He seated himself again and rolled a seat cigarette, which
• 1:27:00
  Speaker 2: he smoked in silence. Neither did missus Pontellier speak. No
• 1:27:07
  Speaker 2: multitude of words could have been more significant than those
• 1:27:11
  Speaker 2: moments of silence, or more pregnant with the first felt
• 1:27:15
  Speaker 2: throbbings of desire. When the voices of the bathers were heard, approaching,
• 1:27:21
  Speaker 2: Robert said good night. She did not answer him. He
• 1:27:26
  Speaker 2: thought she was asleep.
• 1:27:28
  Speaker 1: Again.
• 1:27:29
  Speaker 2: She watched his figure pass in and out of the
• 1:27:32
  Speaker 2: strips of moonlight as he walked away. End of Chapter ten.
• 1:27:40
  Speaker 3: Chapters eleven through fifteen. What are you doing out here, Edna?
• 1:27:47
  Speaker 3: I thought I should find you in bed, said her husband,
• 1:27:50
  Speaker 3: when he discovered her lying there. He had walked up
• 1:27:54
  Speaker 3: with Madame Lavrune and left her at the house. His
• 1:27:57
  Speaker 3: wife did not reply. Are you asleep, he asked, bending
• 1:28:02
  Speaker 3: down close to look at her. No. Her eyes gleamed
• 1:28:07
  Speaker 3: bright and intense, with no sleepy shadows as they looked
• 1:28:10
  Speaker 3: into his Do you know it is past one o'clock?
• 1:28:14
  Speaker 3: Come on? And he mounted the steps and went into
• 1:28:17
  Speaker 3: their room. Edna called mister Pontellier from within, after a
• 1:28:22
  Speaker 3: few moments had gone by. Don't wait for me, she answered.
• 1:28:28
  Speaker 3: He thrust his head through the door. You will take
• 1:28:31
  Speaker 3: cold out there, he said, irritably, What folly is this?
• 1:28:35
  Speaker 3: Why don't you come in? It isn't cold. I have
• 1:28:39
  Speaker 3: my shawl. The mosquitoes will devour you. There are no mosquitoes.
• 1:28:46
  Speaker 3: She heard him moving about the room, every sound indicating
• 1:28:49
  Speaker 3: impatience and irritation. Another time she would have gone in
• 1:28:53
  Speaker 3: at his request. She would, through habit, have yielded to
• 1:28:57
  Speaker 3: his desire, not with any sense of submiss or obedience
• 1:29:01
  Speaker 3: to his compelling wishes, but unthinkingly, as we walk, move, sit, stand,
• 1:29:08
  Speaker 3: go through the daily treadmill of the life which has
• 1:29:10
  Speaker 3: been portioned out to us. Edna, dear, are you not
• 1:29:15
  Speaker 3: coming in soon? He asked again, this time fondly, with
• 1:29:19
  Speaker 3: a note of entreaty. No, I am going to stay
• 1:29:22
  Speaker 3: out here. This is more than folly, he blurted out.
• 1:29:27
  Speaker 3: I can't permit you to stay out there all night.
• 1:29:30
  Speaker 3: You must come in the house. Instantly, with a writhing motion,
• 1:29:34
  Speaker 3: she settled herself more securely in the hammock. She perceived
• 1:29:38
  Speaker 3: that her will had blazed up, stubborn and resistant. She
• 1:29:42
  Speaker 3: could not at that moment have done other than denied
• 1:29:44
  Speaker 3: and resisted. She wondered if her husband had ever spoken
• 1:29:48
  Speaker 3: to her like that before and if she had submitted
• 1:29:51
  Speaker 3: to his command. Of course she had. She remembered that
• 1:29:55
  Speaker 3: she had, but she could not realize why or how
• 1:29:59
  Speaker 3: she should of yielded feeling. As she then did lance
• 1:30:04
  Speaker 3: go to bed, She said, I mean to stay out here.
• 1:30:08
  Speaker 3: I don't wish to go in, and I don't intend to.
• 1:30:11
  Speaker 3: Don't speak to me like that again. I shall not
• 1:30:13
  Speaker 3: answer you. Mister Pontellier had prepared for bed, but he
• 1:30:18
  Speaker 3: slipped on an extra garment. He opened a bottle of wine,
• 1:30:21
  Speaker 3: of which he kept a small and select supply in
• 1:30:25
  Speaker 3: a buffet of his own. He drank a glass of
• 1:30:28
  Speaker 3: the wine and went out on the gallery and offered
• 1:30:30
  Speaker 3: a glass to his wife. She did not wish any.
• 1:30:34
  Speaker 3: He drew up the rocker, hoisted his slippered feet on
• 1:30:37
  Speaker 3: the rail, and proceeded to smoke a cigar. He smoked
• 1:30:41
  Speaker 3: two cigars. Then he went inside and drank another glass
• 1:30:45
  Speaker 3: of wine. Missus Pontellier again declined to accept a glass
• 1:30:49
  Speaker 3: when it was offered to her. Mister Pontellier once more
• 1:30:53
  Speaker 3: seated himself with elevated feet, and after a reasonable interval
• 1:30:57
  Speaker 3: of time, smoked some more cigars. Edna began to feel
• 1:31:02
  Speaker 3: like one who awakens gradually out of a dream, a delicious, grotesque,
• 1:31:07
  Speaker 3: impossible dream to feel again. The realities pressing into her soul,
• 1:31:12
  Speaker 3: the physical need for sleep began to overtake her. The
• 1:31:16
  Speaker 3: exuberance which had sustained and exalted her spirit laughed her,
• 1:31:20
  Speaker 3: helpless and yielding to the conditions which crowded her in
• 1:31:24
  Speaker 3: the stillest hour of the night had come, the hour
• 1:31:27
  Speaker 3: before dawn, when the world seems to hold its breath.
• 1:31:31
  Speaker 3: The moon hung low and had turned from silver to
• 1:31:34
  Speaker 3: copper in the sleeping sky. The old owl no longer hooted,
• 1:31:39
  Speaker 3: and the water oaks had ceased to moan as they
• 1:31:41
  Speaker 3: bent their heads. Edna arose, cramped from lying so long
• 1:31:46
  Speaker 3: and still in the hammock. She tottered up the steps,
• 1:31:50
  Speaker 3: clutching feebly at the post before passing into the house.
• 1:31:54
  Speaker 3: Are you coming in, leonce, she asked, turning her face
• 1:31:58
  Speaker 3: toward her husband. Yes, dear, he answered with a glance,
• 1:32:02
  Speaker 3: following a misty puff of smoke. Just as soon as
• 1:32:06
  Speaker 3: I had finished my cigar. She slept but a few hours.
• 1:32:11
  Speaker 3: They were troubled in feverish hours, disturbed with dreams that
• 1:32:15
  Speaker 3: were intangible that eluded her, leaving only an impression upon
• 1:32:19
  Speaker 3: her half awakened senses of something unattainable. She was up
• 1:32:24
  Speaker 3: and dressed in the cool of the early morning, the
• 1:32:27
  Speaker 3: air was invigorating, and studied somewhat her faculties. However, she
• 1:32:32
  Speaker 3: was not seeking refreshment or help from any source, either
• 1:32:35
  Speaker 3: external or from within. She was blindly following whatever impulse
• 1:32:40
  Speaker 3: moved her, as if she had placed herself in alien
• 1:32:42
  Speaker 3: hands for direction and freed her soul of responsibility. Most
• 1:32:48
  Speaker 3: of the people at that early hour were still in
• 1:32:50
  Speaker 3: bed and asleep. A few who intended to go over
• 1:32:54
  Speaker 3: to the Chinier for mass were moving about. The lovers
• 1:32:58
  Speaker 3: who had laid their plans night before were already strolling
• 1:33:02
  Speaker 3: toward the wharf. The lady in black, with her Sunday
• 1:33:05
  Speaker 3: prayer book velvet and gold clasped and her Sunday silver beans,
• 1:33:10
  Speaker 3: was following them at no great distance. Old Monsieur Arrival
• 1:33:15
  Speaker 3: was up and was more than half inclined to do
• 1:33:17
  Speaker 3: anything that suggested itself. He put on his big straw hat,
• 1:33:22
  Speaker 3: and taking his umbrella from the stand in the hall,
• 1:33:25
  Speaker 3: followed the lady in black, never overtaking her. The little
• 1:33:30
  Speaker 3: Negro girl who worked Madame le Brun's sewing machine was
• 1:33:33
  Speaker 3: sweeping the galleries with long, absent minded strokes of the room.
• 1:33:38
  Speaker 3: Edna sent her up into the house to awaken Robert.
• 1:33:42
  Speaker 3: Tell him I am going to the chineer. The boat
• 1:33:45
  Speaker 3: is ready. Tell him to hurry. He had soon joined her.
• 1:33:50
  Speaker 3: She had never sent for him before, She had never
• 1:33:53
  Speaker 3: asked for him, She had never seemed to want him before.
• 1:33:57
  Speaker 3: She did not appear conscious that she had done any
• 1:34:00
  Speaker 3: thing unusual in commanding his presence. He was apparently equally
• 1:34:04
  Speaker 3: unconscious of anything extraordinary in the situation, but his face
• 1:34:09
  Speaker 3: was suffused with a quiet glow when he met her.
• 1:34:13
  Speaker 3: They went together back to the kitchen to drink coffee.
• 1:34:16
  Speaker 3: There was no time to wait for any nicety of service.
• 1:34:19
  Speaker 3: They stood outside the window, and the cook passed them
• 1:34:22
  Speaker 3: their coffee and a roll, which they drank and ate
• 1:34:25
  Speaker 3: from the window.
• 1:34:26
  Speaker 2: Sill.
• 1:34:27
  Speaker 3: Edna said it tasted good. She had not thought of coffee,
• 1:34:31
  Speaker 3: nor of anything he told her. He had often noticed
• 1:34:34
  Speaker 3: that she lacked forethought. Wasn't it enough to think of
• 1:34:39
  Speaker 3: going to the shineer and waking you up? She laughed?
• 1:34:42
  Speaker 3: Do I have to think of everything? As leonce says,
• 1:34:45
  Speaker 3: when he's in a bad humor. I don't blame him.
• 1:34:48
  Speaker 3: He'd never be in a bad humor if it weren't
• 1:34:50
  Speaker 3: for me. They took a short cut across the sands.
• 1:34:55
  Speaker 3: At a distance, they could see the curious procession moving
• 1:34:58
  Speaker 3: toward the wharf, the lover shouldered to shoulder, creeping, the
• 1:35:02
  Speaker 3: lady in black gaining steadily upon them, Old Monsieur Farival,
• 1:35:07
  Speaker 3: losing ground inch by inch, and a young, barefooted Spanish
• 1:35:10
  Speaker 3: girl with a red kerchief on her head and a
• 1:35:13
  Speaker 3: basket on her arm, bringing up the rear. Robert knew
• 1:35:17
  Speaker 3: the girl, and he talked to her a little in
• 1:35:19
  Speaker 3: the boat. No one present understood what they said. Her
• 1:35:24
  Speaker 3: name was Mariquita. She had a round, sly piquant face
• 1:35:28
  Speaker 3: and pretty black eyes. Her hands were small and she
• 1:35:32
  Speaker 3: kept them folded over the handle of her basket. Her
• 1:35:35
  Speaker 3: feet were broad and coarse, she did not strive to
• 1:35:39
  Speaker 3: hide them. Edna looked at her feet and noticed the
• 1:35:42
  Speaker 3: sand and slime between her brown toes. Beau Delette grumbled
• 1:35:47
  Speaker 3: because Mariquita was there, taking up so much room. In reality,
• 1:35:51
  Speaker 3: he was annoyed at having old Monsieur Farival, who considered
• 1:35:55
  Speaker 3: himself the better sailor of the two. But he would
• 1:35:58
  Speaker 3: not quarrel with so old a man as miss Chief Farival,
• 1:36:01
  Speaker 3: so he quarreled with Mariquita. The girl was deprecatory at
• 1:36:05
  Speaker 3: one moment, appealing to Robert. She was saucy the next,
• 1:36:08
  Speaker 3: moving her head up and down, making eyes at Robert
• 1:36:11
  Speaker 3: and making mouths at Baudolat. The lovers were all alone.
• 1:36:16
  Speaker 3: They saw nothing, they heard nothing. The lady in black
• 1:36:19
  Speaker 3: was counting her beads for the third time. Old Monsieur
• 1:36:23
  Speaker 3: Farival talked incessantly of what he knew about handling a boat,
• 1:36:27
  Speaker 3: and of what Beaudeleet did not know on the same subject.
• 1:36:31
  Speaker 3: Edna liked it all. She looked Mariquita up and down,
• 1:36:35
  Speaker 3: from her ugly brown toes to her pretty black eyes,
• 1:36:39
  Speaker 3: and back again. Why does she look at me like that?
• 1:36:43
  Speaker 3: Inquired the girl of Robert. Maybe she thinks you are pretty?
• 1:36:47
  Speaker 3: Shall I ask her?
• 1:36:50
  Speaker 1: No?
• 1:36:50
  Speaker 3: Is she your sweetheart? She's a married lady and has
• 1:36:54
  Speaker 3: two children. Oh well, Francisco ran away with Silvano's wife,
• 1:36:59
  Speaker 3: who had fortune. They took all his money and one
• 1:37:02
  Speaker 3: of the children and stole his boat. Shut up, does
• 1:37:08
  Speaker 3: she understand? Oh hush, are those two married over there,
• 1:37:14
  Speaker 3: leaning on each other. Of course not laughed. Robert, of
• 1:37:19
  Speaker 3: course not, echoed Marikita with a serious, confirmatory bob of
• 1:37:24
  Speaker 3: the head. The sun was high up and beginning to bite.
• 1:37:28
  Speaker 3: The swift breeze seemed to Edna to bury the sting
• 1:37:31
  Speaker 3: of it into the pores of her face and hands.
• 1:37:35
  Speaker 3: Robert held his umbrella over her as they went, cutting
• 1:37:38
  Speaker 3: sideways through the water. The sails bellied tout, with the
• 1:37:41
  Speaker 3: wind filling and overflowing them. Old Monsieur Farival laughed sardonically
• 1:37:46
  Speaker 3: at something as he looked at the sails, and Beaudelais
• 1:37:49
  Speaker 3: swore at the old man under his breath. Sailing across
• 1:37:53
  Speaker 3: the bay to the Shania Caminada, Edna felt as if
• 1:37:56
  Speaker 3: she were being borne away from some anchorage which had
• 1:37:59
  Speaker 3: held her fast, whose chains had been loosening, had snapped
• 1:38:03
  Speaker 3: the night before when the mystic spirit was abroad, leaving
• 1:38:07
  Speaker 3: her free to drift whithersoever she chose to set her sails.
• 1:38:11
  Speaker 3: Robert spoke to her incessantly. He no longer noticed Marikita.
• 1:38:16
  Speaker 3: The girl had shrimps in her bamboo basket. They were
• 1:38:19
  Speaker 3: covered with Spanish moss. She beat the moss down impatiently,
• 1:38:23
  Speaker 3: and muttered to herself sullenly. Let us go to Grandaire tomorrow,
• 1:38:29
  Speaker 3: said Robert, in a low voice. What shall we do there?
• 1:38:34
  Speaker 3: Climb up the hill to the old fort and look
• 1:38:36
  Speaker 3: at the little wriggling gold snakes, and watch the lizards
• 1:38:39
  Speaker 3: sun themselves. She gazed away toward Grandere and thought she
• 1:38:44
  Speaker 3: would like to be alone there with Robert in the sun,
• 1:38:47
  Speaker 3: listening to the ocean's roar and watching the slimy lizards.
• 1:38:51
  Speaker 3: Writhe in and out among the ruins of the old fort.
• 1:38:54
  Speaker 3: And the next day or the next we can sail
• 1:38:56
  Speaker 3: to the Bayou Bouleau. He went on, What shall we
• 1:39:00
  Speaker 3: do there? Anything? Cast bait for fish? No, we'll go
• 1:39:06
  Speaker 3: back to Granterre let the fish alone. We'll go wherever
• 1:39:11
  Speaker 3: you like, he said. I'll have Tony come over and
• 1:39:14
  Speaker 3: help me patch and trim my boat. We shall not
• 1:39:17
  Speaker 3: need Bodolais nor any one. Are you afraid of the pirogue?
• 1:39:22
  Speaker 3: Oh no, then I'll take you some night in the
• 1:39:25
  Speaker 3: pirogue when the moon shines. Maybe your gulf spirit will
• 1:39:28
  Speaker 3: whisper to you in which of these islands the treasures
• 1:39:31
  Speaker 3: are hidden? Direct you to the very spot. Perhaps and
• 1:39:35
  Speaker 3: in a day we should be rich, she laughed. I'd
• 1:39:38
  Speaker 3: give it all to you, the pirate gold and every
• 1:39:40
  Speaker 3: bit of treasure we could dig up. I think you
• 1:39:42
  Speaker 3: would know how to spend it. Pirate gold isn't a
• 1:39:45
  Speaker 3: thing to be hoarded or utilized. It is something to
• 1:39:49
  Speaker 3: squander and throw to the four winds for the fun
• 1:39:51
  Speaker 3: of seeing the golden specks fly. We'd share it and
• 1:39:56
  Speaker 3: scatter it together, he said, his face flushed. They all
• 1:40:01
  Speaker 3: went together up to the quaint little Gothic church of
• 1:40:04
  Speaker 3: our Lady of lordus gleaming all brown and yellow with
• 1:40:07
  Speaker 3: paint in the sun's glare. Only Beaudelet remained behind, tinkering
• 1:40:12
  Speaker 3: at his boat, and Mariequito walked away with her basket
• 1:40:16
  Speaker 3: of shrimps, casting a look of childish ill humor and
• 1:40:19
  Speaker 3: reproach at Robert. From the corner of her eye. A
• 1:40:23
  Speaker 3: feeling of oppression and drowsiness overcame Edna. During the service,
• 1:40:27
  Speaker 3: Her head began to ache, and the lights on the
• 1:40:30
  Speaker 3: altar swayed before her eyes. Another time she might have
• 1:40:33
  Speaker 3: made an effort to regain her composure, but her one
• 1:40:37
  Speaker 3: thought was to quit the stifling atmosphere of the church
• 1:40:40
  Speaker 3: and reach the open air. She arose, climbing over Robert's
• 1:40:44
  Speaker 3: feet with a muttered apology. Old Monsieur Farival, flurried curious,
• 1:40:50
  Speaker 3: stood up, but upon seeing that Robert had followed Missus Pontellier,
• 1:40:54
  Speaker 3: he sank back into his seat. He whispered an anxious
• 1:40:58
  Speaker 3: inquiry of the lady in black, who did not notice
• 1:41:01
  Speaker 3: him or reply, but kept her eyes fastened upon the
• 1:41:04
  Speaker 3: pages of her velvet prayer book. I felt giddy and
• 1:41:07
  Speaker 3: almost overcome, Edna said, lifting her hands instinctively to her
• 1:41:11
  Speaker 3: head and pushing her straw hat up from her forehead.
• 1:41:15
  Speaker 3: I couldn't have stayed through the service. They were outside
• 1:41:19
  Speaker 3: in the shadow of the church. Robert was full of solicitude.
• 1:41:23
  Speaker 3: It was folly to have thought of going in the
• 1:41:25
  Speaker 3: first place, let alone staying. Come over to Madame Antoine's
• 1:41:29
  Speaker 3: you can rest there. He took her arm and led
• 1:41:33
  Speaker 3: her away, looking anxiously and continuously down into her face.
• 1:41:38
  Speaker 3: How still it was, with only the voice of the
• 1:41:40
  Speaker 3: sea whispering through the reeds that grew in the salt
• 1:41:42
  Speaker 3: water pools, The long line of little, gray, weather beaten
• 1:41:46
  Speaker 3: houses nestled peacefully among the orange trees. It must always
• 1:41:51
  Speaker 3: have been God's Day on that low, drowsy island, Edna thought.
• 1:41:55
  Speaker 3: They stopped leaning over a jagged fence made of sea
• 1:41:57
  Speaker 3: drift to ask for water. A youth, a mild face
• 1:42:01
  Speaker 3: to Kadian, was drawing water from the cistern, which was
• 1:42:05
  Speaker 3: nothing more than a rusty buoy with an opening on
• 1:42:07
  Speaker 3: one side, sunk in the ground. The water which the
• 1:42:11
  Speaker 3: youth handed to them in a tin pail was not
• 1:42:14
  Speaker 3: cold to taste, but it was cool to her heated face,
• 1:42:17
  Speaker 3: and it greatly revived and refreshed her. Madame Antoine's cot
• 1:42:22
  Speaker 3: was at the far end of the village. She welcomed
• 1:42:25
  Speaker 3: them with all the native hospitality, as she would have
• 1:42:28
  Speaker 3: opened her door to let the sunlight in. She was
• 1:42:31
  Speaker 3: fat and walked heavily and clumsily across the floor. She
• 1:42:35
  Speaker 3: could speak no English, but when Robert made her understand
• 1:42:38
  Speaker 3: that the lady who accompanied him was ill and desired
• 1:42:41
  Speaker 3: to rest, she was all eagerness to make Edna feel
• 1:42:44
  Speaker 3: at home and to dispose of her comfortably. The whole
• 1:42:48
  Speaker 3: place was immaculately clean, and the big four posted bed
• 1:42:53
  Speaker 3: snow white, invited one to repose. It stood in a
• 1:42:57
  Speaker 3: small side room which looked out across an air grass
• 1:43:00
  Speaker 3: plot towards the shed, where there was a disabled boat
• 1:43:04
  Speaker 3: lying keel upward. Madame Antoine had not gone to mass
• 1:43:09
  Speaker 3: her son Tony had, but she supposed he would soon
• 1:43:12
  Speaker 3: be back, and she invited Robert to be seated and
• 1:43:14
  Speaker 3: wait for him. But he went and sat outside the
• 1:43:18
  Speaker 3: door and smoked. Madame Antoine busied herself in the large
• 1:43:22
  Speaker 3: front room preparing dinner. She was boiling mullets over a
• 1:43:25
  Speaker 3: few red coals in the huge fireplace. Edna, left alone
• 1:43:30
  Speaker 3: in the little side room, loosened her clothes, removing the
• 1:43:33
  Speaker 3: greater part of them. She bathed her face, her neck,
• 1:43:37
  Speaker 3: and arms in the basin that stood between the windows.
• 1:43:40
  Speaker 3: She took off her shoes and stockings and stretched herself
• 1:43:43
  Speaker 3: in the very center of the high white bed. How
• 1:43:46
  Speaker 3: luxurious it felt to rest thus in a strange, quaint
• 1:43:49
  Speaker 3: bed with its sweet country odor of laurel. Lingering about
• 1:43:52
  Speaker 3: the sheets and mattress, she stretched her strong limbs that
• 1:43:56
  Speaker 3: ached a little. She ran her fingers through her loosened
• 1:43:59
  Speaker 3: hair for while. She looked at her round arms as
• 1:44:02
  Speaker 3: she held them straight up and rubbed them one after
• 1:44:05
  Speaker 3: the other, observing closely as if they were something she
• 1:44:08
  Speaker 3: saw for the first time, the fine, firm quality and
• 1:44:11
  Speaker 3: texture of her flesh. She clasped her hands easily above
• 1:44:16
  Speaker 3: her head, and it was thus she fell asleep. She
• 1:44:20
  Speaker 3: slept lightly at first, half awake and drowsily, attentive to
• 1:44:23
  Speaker 3: the things about her. She could hear Madame and Torn's
• 1:44:27
  Speaker 3: heavy scraping tread as she walked back and forth on
• 1:44:30
  Speaker 3: the sanded floor. Some chickens were clucking outside the windows,
• 1:44:35
  Speaker 3: scratching for bits of gravel in the grass. Later, she
• 1:44:39
  Speaker 3: half heard the voices of Robert and Tony talking under
• 1:44:41
  Speaker 3: the shed. She did not stir, even her eyelids rested
• 1:44:46
  Speaker 3: numb and heavily over her sleepy eyes. The voices went
• 1:44:50
  Speaker 3: on Tony's slow Acadian drawl Robert's quick, soft, smooth French.
• 1:44:56
  Speaker 3: She understood French imperfectly unless directly addressed, and the voices
• 1:45:01
  Speaker 3: were only part of the other drowsy muffled sounds lulling
• 1:45:03
  Speaker 3: her senses. When Edna awoke, it was with the conviction
• 1:45:08
  Speaker 3: that she had slept long and soundly. The voices were
• 1:45:11
  Speaker 3: hushed under the shed. Madame Antoine's step was no longer
• 1:45:15
  Speaker 3: to be heard in the adjoining room, even the chickens
• 1:45:18
  Speaker 3: had gone elsewhere to scratch and cluck. The mosquito bar
• 1:45:22
  Speaker 3: was drawn over her. The old woman had come in
• 1:45:24
  Speaker 3: while she slept and let down the bar. Edna arose
• 1:45:28
  Speaker 3: quietly from the bed, and, looking between the curtains of
• 1:45:31
  Speaker 3: the window, she saw by the slanting rays of the
• 1:45:33
  Speaker 3: sun that the afternoon was far advanced. Robert was out
• 1:45:37
  Speaker 3: there under the shed, reclining in the shade against the
• 1:45:40
  Speaker 3: sloping keel of the overturned boat. He was reading from
• 1:45:43
  Speaker 3: a book. Tony was no longer with him. She wondered
• 1:45:47
  Speaker 3: what had become of the rest of the party. She
• 1:45:50
  Speaker 3: peeped out at him two or three times. As she
• 1:45:52
  Speaker 3: stood washing herself in the little basin between the windows.
• 1:45:57
  Speaker 3: Madame Antoine had laid some coarse, clean towels upon a chair,
• 1:46:01
  Speaker 3: and had placed a box of pou de de ries
• 1:46:03
  Speaker 3: within easy reach. Edna dabbed the powder upon her nose
• 1:46:07
  Speaker 3: and cheeks as she looked at herself closely in the
• 1:46:09
  Speaker 3: little distorted mirror which hung on the wall above the basin.
• 1:46:14
  Speaker 3: Her eyes were bright and wide awake, and her face glowed.
• 1:46:18
  Speaker 3: When she had completed her toilette, she walked into the
• 1:46:20
  Speaker 3: adjoining room. She was very hungry. No one was there,
• 1:46:25
  Speaker 3: but there was a cloth spread upon the table that
• 1:46:28
  Speaker 3: stood against the wall, and a cover was laid for one,
• 1:46:31
  Speaker 3: with a crusty brown loaf and a bottle of wine
• 1:46:34
  Speaker 3: beside the plate. Edna bit a piece from the brown loaf,
• 1:46:38
  Speaker 3: tearing it with her strong white teeth. She poured some
• 1:46:41
  Speaker 3: of the wine into the glass and drank it down.
• 1:46:44
  Speaker 3: Then she went softly out of doors, and, plucking an
• 1:46:46
  Speaker 3: orange from the low hanging bough of a tree, threw
• 1:46:49
  Speaker 3: it at Robert, who did not know she was awaken up.
• 1:46:53
  Speaker 3: An illumination broke over his whole face when he saw her,
• 1:46:56
  Speaker 3: and joined her under the orange tree. How many years
• 1:47:00
  Speaker 3: have I slept? She inquired? The whole island seems changed.
• 1:47:05
  Speaker 3: A new race of beings must have sprung up, leaving
• 1:47:07
  Speaker 3: only you and me as past relics. How many ages
• 1:47:10
  Speaker 3: ago did Madame Antoine and Tony die? And when did
• 1:47:14
  Speaker 3: our people from grand Isle disappear from the earth? He
• 1:47:17
  Speaker 3: familiarly adjusted a ruffle upon her shoulder. You have slept
• 1:47:22
  Speaker 3: precisely one hundred years. I was left here to guard
• 1:47:25
  Speaker 3: your slumbers, And for one hundred years I have been
• 1:47:28
  Speaker 3: out under the shed reading a book. The only evil
• 1:47:31
  Speaker 3: I couldn't prevent was to keep a broiled fowl from
• 1:47:34
  Speaker 3: drying up. If it has turned to stone, still will
• 1:47:38
  Speaker 3: I eat it? Said Edna, moving with him into the house.
• 1:47:41
  Speaker 3: But really, what has become of Monsieur Farival and the
• 1:47:44
  Speaker 3: others gone? Hours ago? When they found that you were sleeping,
• 1:47:48
  Speaker 3: they thought it best not to awake you anyway, I
• 1:47:51
  Speaker 3: wouldn't have let them. What was I here for? I
• 1:47:55
  Speaker 3: wonder if Lance will be uneasy, she speculated, as she
• 1:47:58
  Speaker 3: seated herself at table. Of course, not he knows you
• 1:48:02
  Speaker 3: are with me, Robert replied, as he busied himself among
• 1:48:05
  Speaker 3: sundry pans and covered dishes which had been left standing
• 1:48:09
  Speaker 3: on the hearth. Where are Madame Antoine and her son?
• 1:48:13
  Speaker 3: Asked Edna gone to Vespers and to visit some friends.
• 1:48:17
  Speaker 3: I believe I am to take you back in Toni's
• 1:48:19
  Speaker 3: boat whenever you are ready to go. He stirred the
• 1:48:23
  Speaker 3: smoldering ashes till the broiled fowl began to sizzle afresh.
• 1:48:27
  Speaker 3: He served her with no mean repast, dripping the coffee
• 1:48:30
  Speaker 3: anew and sharing it with her. Madame Antoine had cooked
• 1:48:34
  Speaker 3: little else than the mullets. But while Edna slept, Robert
• 1:48:37
  Speaker 3: had foraged the island. He was childishly gratified to discover
• 1:48:41
  Speaker 3: her appetite and to see the relish with which she
• 1:48:44
  Speaker 3: ate the food which she had procured for her. Shall
• 1:48:47
  Speaker 3: we go right away? She asked, after draining her glass
• 1:48:51
  Speaker 3: and brushing together the crumbs of the crusty loaf. The
• 1:48:54
  Speaker 3: sun isn't as low as it will be in two hours,
• 1:48:57
  Speaker 3: he answered, The sun will be gone in two hours.
• 1:49:01
  Speaker 3: Well let it go. Who cares? They waited a good
• 1:49:05
  Speaker 3: while under the orange trees till Madame Antoine came back, panting, waddling,
• 1:49:12
  Speaker 3: with a thousand apologies to explain her absence. Tony did
• 1:49:15
  Speaker 3: not dare to return. He was shy and would not
• 1:49:19
  Speaker 3: willingly face any woman except his mother. It was very
• 1:49:23
  Speaker 3: pleasant to stay there under the orange trees, while the
• 1:49:25
  Speaker 3: sun dipped lower and lower, turning the western sky to
• 1:49:28
  Speaker 3: flaming copper and gold. The shadows lengthened and crept out,
• 1:49:32
  Speaker 3: like stealthy, grotesque monsters across the grass. Edna and Robert
• 1:49:38
  Speaker 3: both sat upon the ground, that is, he lay upon
• 1:49:41
  Speaker 3: the ground beside her, occasionally picking up the hem of
• 1:49:44
  Speaker 3: her muslin. Gown. Madame Antoine seated her fat body broad
• 1:49:48
  Speaker 3: and squat upon a bench beside the door. She had
• 1:49:52
  Speaker 3: been talking all the afternoon and had wound herself up
• 1:49:55
  Speaker 3: to the story telling pitch, and what stories she told them.
• 1:50:00
  Speaker 3: But twice in her life she had left the Schenia Camenada,
• 1:50:03
  Speaker 3: and then, for the briefest span all her years, she
• 1:50:07
  Speaker 3: had squatted and waddled there upon the island, gathering legends
• 1:50:10
  Speaker 3: of the Barratarians and the sea. The night came on
• 1:50:14
  Speaker 3: with the moon to lighten it. Edna could hear the
• 1:50:17
  Speaker 3: whispering voices of dead men and the click of muffled gold.
• 1:50:21
  Speaker 3: When she and Robert stepped into Tony's boat with the
• 1:50:23
  Speaker 3: red lateen sail Misty. Spirit forms were prowling in the
• 1:50:27
  Speaker 3: shadows and among the reeds, and upon the water were
• 1:50:31
  Speaker 3: phantom ships speeding to cover. The youngest boy, Etienne had
• 1:50:35
  Speaker 3: been very naughty, Madame Ratignol said, as she delivered him
• 1:50:39
  Speaker 3: into the hands of his mother. He had been unwilling
• 1:50:42
  Speaker 3: to go to bed and had made a scene, whereupon
• 1:50:45
  Speaker 3: she had taken charge of him and pacified him as
• 1:50:47
  Speaker 3: well as she could. Raoul had been in bed and
• 1:50:50
  Speaker 3: asleep for two hours. The youngster was in his long
• 1:50:54
  Speaker 3: white nightgown that kept tripping him up. As Madame Ratignoll
• 1:50:57
  Speaker 3: led him along by the hand. With the other chubby fist,
• 1:51:01
  Speaker 3: he rubbed his eyes, which were heavy with sleep and
• 1:51:03
  Speaker 3: ill humor. Edna took him in her arms, and, seating
• 1:51:07
  Speaker 3: herself in the rocker, began to coddle and caress him,
• 1:51:11
  Speaker 3: calling him all manner of tender names, soothing him to sleep.
• 1:51:15
  Speaker 3: It was not more than nine o'clock. No one had
• 1:51:18
  Speaker 3: yet gone to bed, but the children Leonce had been
• 1:51:22
  Speaker 3: very uneasy at first, Madame Retignol said, and had wanted
• 1:51:26
  Speaker 3: to start at once for the chineur, but Monsieur Farleval
• 1:51:29
  Speaker 3: had assured him that his wife was only overcome with
• 1:51:32
  Speaker 3: sleep and fatigue, that Tony would bring her safely back
• 1:51:35
  Speaker 3: later in the day, and he had thus been dissuaded
• 1:51:38
  Speaker 3: from crossing the bay. He had gone over to Kleines,
• 1:51:42
  Speaker 3: looking up some cotton broker whom he wished to see
• 1:51:44
  Speaker 3: in regard to securities, exchanges, stocks, bonds, or something of
• 1:51:48
  Speaker 3: the sort. Madame Retignol did not remember what he said.
• 1:51:53
  Speaker 3: He would not remain away late. She herself was suffering
• 1:51:56
  Speaker 3: from heat and oppression. She said. She carried a bottle
• 1:51:59
  Speaker 3: of sel and a large fan. She would not consent
• 1:52:03
  Speaker 3: to remain with Edna, for Monsieur Ratignol was alone, and
• 1:52:07
  Speaker 3: he detested above all things to be left alone. When
• 1:52:10
  Speaker 3: Ettsienne had fallen asleep, Edna bore him into the back room,
• 1:52:15
  Speaker 3: and Robert went and lifted the mosquito bar that she
• 1:52:17
  Speaker 3: might lay the child comfortably in his bed. The quadroon
• 1:52:21
  Speaker 3: had vanished when they emerged from the cottage. Robert bawded Edna,
• 1:52:25
  Speaker 3: good night. Do you know we have been together the
• 1:52:28
  Speaker 3: whole live long day. Robert, sincerely this morning, she said,
• 1:52:32
  Speaker 3: at parting, all but the hundred years when you were sleeping.
• 1:52:36
  Speaker 3: Good night. He pressed her hand and went away in
• 1:52:39
  Speaker 3: the direction of the beach. He did not join any
• 1:52:42
  Speaker 3: of the others, but walked alone toward the gulf. Edna
• 1:52:46
  Speaker 3: stayed outside, awaiting her husband's return. She had no desire
• 1:52:50
  Speaker 3: to sleep or to retire, nor did she feel like
• 1:52:53
  Speaker 3: going over to sit with the Retagnoles, or to join
• 1:52:56
  Speaker 3: Madame le Brune and a group whose animated voices reached
• 1:52:59
  Speaker 3: her as they sat in conversation before the house. She
• 1:53:03
  Speaker 3: let her mind wander back over her stay at grand Isle,
• 1:53:07
  Speaker 3: and she tried to discover wherein this summer had been
• 1:53:10
  Speaker 3: different from any and every other summer of her life.
• 1:53:14
  Speaker 3: She could only realize that she herself, her present self,
• 1:53:18
  Speaker 3: was in some way different from the other self, that
• 1:53:21
  Speaker 3: she was seeing with different eyes and making the acquaintance
• 1:53:24
  Speaker 3: of new conditions in herself that colored and changed her environment.
• 1:53:27
  Speaker 3: She did not yet suspect. She wondered why Robert had
• 1:53:31
  Speaker 3: gone away and left her. It did not occur to
• 1:53:34
  Speaker 3: her to think he might have grown tired of being
• 1:53:36
  Speaker 3: with her the livelong day. She was not tired, and
• 1:53:39
  Speaker 3: she felt that he was not. She regretted that he
• 1:53:42
  Speaker 3: had gone. It was so much more natural to have
• 1:53:45
  Speaker 3: him stay when he was not absolutely required to leave her.
• 1:53:49
  Speaker 3: As Edna waited for her husband, she sang low a
• 1:53:52
  Speaker 3: little song that Robert had sung as they crossed the bay.
• 1:53:56
  Speaker 3: It began with ah see two suffice, and every verse
• 1:54:00
  Speaker 3: ended with s two suffice. Robert's voice was not pretentious,
• 1:54:05
  Speaker 3: it was musical and true. The voice, the notes, the
• 1:54:09
  Speaker 3: whole refrain haunted her memory. When Edna entered the dining
• 1:54:13
  Speaker 3: room one evening, a little late, as was her habit,
• 1:54:17
  Speaker 3: an unusually animated conversation seemed to be going on. Several
• 1:54:21
  Speaker 3: persons were talking at once, and Victor's voice was predominating,
• 1:54:26
  Speaker 3: even over that of his mother. Edna had returned late
• 1:54:29
  Speaker 3: from her bath, had dressed in some haste, and her
• 1:54:32
  Speaker 3: face was flushed. Her head, set off by her dainty
• 1:54:35
  Speaker 3: white gown, suggested a rich rare blossom. She took her
• 1:54:39
  Speaker 3: seat at table between old Monsieur Varval and Madame Retigmand.
• 1:54:44
  Speaker 3: As she seated herself and was about to begin to
• 1:54:46
  Speaker 3: eat her soup, which had been served when she entered
• 1:54:49
  Speaker 3: the room, several persons informed her simultaneously that Robert was
• 1:54:53
  Speaker 3: going to Mexico. She laid her spoon down and looked
• 1:54:57
  Speaker 3: about her, bewildered. He had been with her, reading to
• 1:55:00
  Speaker 3: her all the morning and had never even mentioned such
• 1:55:03
  Speaker 3: a place as Mexico. She had not seen him during
• 1:55:06
  Speaker 3: the afternoon. She had heard some one say he was
• 1:55:10
  Speaker 3: at the house upstairs with his mother. This she had
• 1:55:13
  Speaker 3: thought nothing of, though she was surprised when he did
• 1:55:16
  Speaker 3: not join her Later in the afternoon when she went
• 1:55:19
  Speaker 3: down to the beach, she looked across at him, where
• 1:55:22
  Speaker 3: he sat beside Madame le Brun, who presided Edna's face
• 1:55:27
  Speaker 3: was a blank picture of bewilderment, which she never thought
• 1:55:30
  Speaker 3: of disguising. He lifted his eyebrows with the pretext of
• 1:55:33
  Speaker 3: a smile as he returned her glance. He looked embarrassed
• 1:55:37
  Speaker 3: and uneasy. When is he going? She asked of everybody
• 1:55:41
  Speaker 3: in general, as if Robert were not there to answer
• 1:55:44
  Speaker 3: for himself to night, this very evening. Did you ever
• 1:55:48
  Speaker 3: what possesses him? Were some of the replies she gathered,
• 1:55:51
  Speaker 3: uttered simultaneously in French and English. Impossible, she exclaimed, How
• 1:55:57
  Speaker 3: can a person start off from grand Isle to Mexico
• 1:56:00
  Speaker 3: at a moment's notice, as if he were going over
• 1:56:02
  Speaker 3: to Klein's, or to the wharf or down to the beach.
• 1:56:06
  Speaker 3: I said all along, I was going to Mexico. I've
• 1:56:09
  Speaker 3: been saying so for years, cried Robert in an excited
• 1:56:13
  Speaker 3: and irritable tone, with the air of a man defending
• 1:56:16
  Speaker 3: himself against a swarm of stinging insects. Madame LaRue knocked
• 1:56:21
  Speaker 3: on the table with her knife handle. Please let Robert
• 1:56:25
  Speaker 3: explain why he is going and why he is going
• 1:56:28
  Speaker 3: to night, she called out. Really, this table is getting
• 1:56:32
  Speaker 3: to be more and more like bedlam every day with
• 1:56:34
  Speaker 3: everybody talking at once. Sometimes I hope God will forgive me,
• 1:56:39
  Speaker 3: but positively, sometimes I wish Victor would lose the power
• 1:56:43
  Speaker 3: of speech. Victor laughed sardonically as he thanked his mother
• 1:56:47
  Speaker 3: for her holy wish, of which he failed to see
• 1:56:49
  Speaker 3: the benefit to anybody, except that it might afford her
• 1:56:53
  Speaker 3: a more ample opportunity and license to talk herself. Monsieur
• 1:56:58
  Speaker 3: Farval thought that Victor should have been taken out in
• 1:57:00
  Speaker 3: mid ocean in his earliest youth and drowned. Victor thought
• 1:57:05
  Speaker 3: there would be more logic in thus disposing of old
• 1:57:07
  Speaker 3: people with an established claim for making themselves universally obnoxious.
• 1:57:13
  Speaker 3: Madame Lebrun grew a trifle hysterical. Robert called his brother
• 1:57:17
  Speaker 3: some sharp, hard names. There is nothing much to explain, mother,
• 1:57:22
  Speaker 3: he said, though he explained, nevertheless, looking chiefly at Edna,
• 1:57:27
  Speaker 3: that he can only meet the gentleman whom he intended
• 1:57:30
  Speaker 3: to join at Vera Cruz, by taking such and such
• 1:57:33
  Speaker 3: a steamer which left New Orleans on such a day
• 1:57:36
  Speaker 3: that Beaudelais was going out with his lugger load of
• 1:57:39
  Speaker 3: vegetables that night, which gave him an opportunity of reaching
• 1:57:42
  Speaker 3: the city and making his vessel in time. But when
• 1:57:47
  Speaker 3: did you make up your mind to all this? Demanded
• 1:57:49
  Speaker 3: Monsieur Farival this afternoon, returned Robert with a shade of annoyance.
• 1:57:55
  Speaker 3: At what time this afternoon? Persisted the old gentleman with
• 1:57:59
  Speaker 3: nagging determination, as if he were cross questioning a criminal
• 1:58:02
  Speaker 3: in a court of justice. At four o'clock this afternoon,
• 1:58:06
  Speaker 3: Monsieur Farival, Robert replied in a high voice and with
• 1:58:10
  Speaker 3: a lofty air, which reminded Edna of some gentleman on
• 1:58:13
  Speaker 3: the stage. She had forced herself to eat most of
• 1:58:17
  Speaker 3: her soup, and now she was picking the flaky bits
• 1:58:20
  Speaker 3: of a court bouillon with her fork. The lovers were
• 1:58:24
  Speaker 3: profiting by the general conversation on Mexico to speak in
• 1:58:27
  Speaker 3: whispers of matters which they rightly considered were interesting to
• 1:58:31
  Speaker 3: no one but themselves. The Lady in Black had once
• 1:58:34
  Speaker 3: received a pair of prayer beads of a curious workmanship
• 1:58:37
  Speaker 3: from Mexico, with very special indulgence attached to them, but
• 1:58:41
  Speaker 3: she had never been able to ascertain whether the indulgence
• 1:58:44
  Speaker 3: extended outside the Mexican border. Father Fauchell of the Cathedral
• 1:58:49
  Speaker 3: had attempted to explain it, but he had not done
• 1:58:52
  Speaker 3: so to her satisfaction, and she begged that Robert would
• 1:58:55
  Speaker 3: interest himself and discover, if possible, whether she was entitled
• 1:58:59
  Speaker 3: to the indulgence accompanying the remarkably curious Mexican prayer beans.
• 1:59:04
  Speaker 3: Madame Ratignole hoped that Robert would exercise extreme caution in
• 1:59:08
  Speaker 3: dealing with the Mexicans, who she considered were a treacherous people,
• 1:59:13
  Speaker 3: unscrupulous and revengeful. She trusted she did them no injustice
• 1:59:17
  Speaker 3: in this, condemning them as a race. She had known
• 1:59:20
  Speaker 3: personally but one Mexican who made and sold excellent tomales,
• 1:59:25
  Speaker 3: and whom she would have trusted implicitly. So soft spoken
• 1:59:29
  Speaker 3: was he one day he was arrested for stabbing his wife.
• 1:59:33
  Speaker 3: She never knew whether he had been hanged or not.
• 1:59:36
  Speaker 3: Victor had grown hilarious and was attempting to tell an
• 1:59:39
  Speaker 3: anecdote about a Mexican girl who served chocolate one winter
• 1:59:43
  Speaker 3: in a restaurant in Dauphine Street. No one would listen
• 1:59:46
  Speaker 3: to him but old Monsieur Farival, who went into convulsions
• 1:59:50
  Speaker 3: over the droll story. Edna wondered if they had all
• 1:59:53
  Speaker 3: gone mad to be talking and clamoring at that rate.
• 1:59:57
  Speaker 3: She herself could think of nothing to say about Mexican
• 2:00:00
  Speaker 3: or the Mexicans. At what time do you leave? She
• 2:00:04
  Speaker 3: asked Robert at ten, He told her, Beaudolet wants to
• 2:00:08
  Speaker 3: wait for the moon. Are you all ready to go?
• 2:00:13
  Speaker 3: Quite ready? I shall only take a hand bag and
• 2:00:16
  Speaker 3: shall pack my trunk in the city. He turned to
• 2:00:19
  Speaker 3: answer some question put to him by his mother, and Edna,
• 2:00:22
  Speaker 3: having finished her black coffee, left the table. She went
• 2:00:26
  Speaker 3: directly to her room. The little cottage was close and
• 2:00:29
  Speaker 3: stuffy after leaving the outer air, but she did not mind.
• 2:00:33
  Speaker 3: There appeared to be a hundred different things demanding her
• 2:00:36
  Speaker 3: attention indoors. She began to set the toilette stand to rights,
• 2:00:42
  Speaker 3: grumbling at the negligence of the quadroon, who was in
• 2:00:44
  Speaker 3: the adjoining room putting the children to bed, She gathered
• 2:00:48
  Speaker 3: together stray garments that were hanging on the backs of
• 2:00:50
  Speaker 3: chairs and put each where it belonged in closet or
• 2:00:53
  Speaker 3: bureau drawer. She changed her gown for a more comfortable
• 2:00:57
  Speaker 3: and commodious wrapper. She rearranged her hair, combing and brushing
• 2:01:01
  Speaker 3: it with unusual energy. Then she went in and assisted
• 2:01:05
  Speaker 3: the quadroon in getting the boys to bed. They were
• 2:01:08
  Speaker 3: very playful and inclined to talk, to do anything but
• 2:01:11
  Speaker 3: lie quiet and go to sleep. Edna sent the quadroon
• 2:01:14
  Speaker 3: away to her supper and told her she need not return.
• 2:01:18
  Speaker 3: Then she sat and told the children a story. Instead
• 2:01:22
  Speaker 3: of soothing, it excited them and added to their wakefulness.
• 2:01:26
  Speaker 3: She left them in heated argument, speculating about the conclusion
• 2:01:29
  Speaker 3: of the tale, which their mother promised to finish. The
• 2:01:32
  Speaker 3: following night, the little black girl came in to say
• 2:01:36
  Speaker 3: that Madame Lebrun would like to have missus Pontellier go
• 2:01:40
  Speaker 3: and sit with them over at the house till mister
• 2:01:43
  Speaker 3: Robert went away. Edna returned, answered that she was already undressed,
• 2:01:48
  Speaker 3: that she did not feel quite well, but perhaps she
• 2:01:50
  Speaker 3: would go over to the house later. She started to
• 2:01:53
  Speaker 3: dress again and got as far advanced as to remove
• 2:01:56
  Speaker 3: her pagnoit, but changing her mind once more, she resumed
• 2:02:00
  Speaker 3: the pennoit and went outside and sat down before her door.
• 2:02:04
  Speaker 3: She was overheated and irritable, and fanned herself energetically for
• 2:02:08
  Speaker 3: a while. Madame Ratignol came down to discover what was
• 2:02:12
  Speaker 3: the matter. All that noise and confusion at the table
• 2:02:16
  Speaker 3: must have upset me, replied Edna. And moreover, I hate
• 2:02:20
  Speaker 3: shocks and surprises, the idea of Robert's starting off in
• 2:02:23
  Speaker 3: such a ridiculously sudden and dramatic way, as if it
• 2:02:27
  Speaker 3: were a matter of life and death, never saying a
• 2:02:30
  Speaker 3: word about it all morning when he was with me. Yes,
• 2:02:34
  Speaker 3: agreed Madame Ratignoll. I think it was showing us all
• 2:02:37
  Speaker 3: you especially very little consideration. It wouldn't have surprised me
• 2:02:42
  Speaker 3: in any of the others. Those la bruins are all
• 2:02:45
  Speaker 3: given to heroics. But I must say I should never
• 2:02:48
  Speaker 3: have expected such a thing from Robert. Are you not
• 2:02:52
  Speaker 3: coming down? Come on, dear, It doesn't look friendly, No,
• 2:02:57
  Speaker 3: said Edna, a little sullenly. I can't go to the
• 2:03:00
  Speaker 3: trouble of dressing again. I don't feel like it. You
• 2:03:03
  Speaker 3: needn't dress. You look all right, fastened a belt around
• 2:03:07
  Speaker 3: your waist. Just look at me, No, persisted Edna. But
• 2:03:13
  Speaker 3: you go on, Madame le Brun might be offended if
• 2:03:16
  Speaker 3: we both stayed away. Madame Ratagnoll kissed Edna good night
• 2:03:20
  Speaker 3: and went away, being in truth rather desirous of joining
• 2:03:23
  Speaker 3: in the general an animated conversation which was still in
• 2:03:26
  Speaker 3: progress concerning Mexico and the Mexicans. Somewhat later, Robert came
• 2:03:32
  Speaker 3: up carrying his hand bag. Aren't you feeling well? He asked? Oh,
• 2:03:37
  Speaker 3: well enough, are you going right away? He lit a
• 2:03:41
  Speaker 3: match and looked at his watch. In twenty minutes, he said.
• 2:03:46
  Speaker 3: The sudden and brief flare of the match emphasized the
• 2:03:48
  Speaker 3: darkness for a while. He sat down upon a stool
• 2:03:52
  Speaker 3: which the children had left out on the porch. Get
• 2:03:55
  Speaker 3: a chair, said Edna. This will do, he replied. He
• 2:04:00
  Speaker 3: put on his soft hat and nervously took it off again,
• 2:04:03
  Speaker 3: and wiping his face with his handkerchief, complained of the heat.
• 2:04:08
  Speaker 3: Take the fan, said Edna, offering it to him. Oh, no,
• 2:04:11
  Speaker 3: thank you. It does no good. You have to stop
• 2:04:14
  Speaker 3: fanning some time and feel all the more uncomfortable afterward.
• 2:04:18
  Speaker 3: That's one of the ridiculous things which men always say.
• 2:04:22
  Speaker 3: I have never known one to speak otherwise of fanning.
• 2:04:25
  Speaker 3: How long will you be gone? Forever? Perhaps? I don't know.
• 2:04:30
  Speaker 3: It depends upon a good many things. Well, in case
• 2:04:34
  Speaker 3: it shouldn't be forever, How long will it be? I
• 2:04:38
  Speaker 3: don't know. This seems to me perfectly preposterous and uncalled for.
• 2:04:43
  Speaker 3: I don't like it. I don't understand your motive for
• 2:04:46
  Speaker 3: silence and mystery, never saying a word to me about
• 2:04:49
  Speaker 3: it this morning, he remained silent, not offering to defend himself.
• 2:04:55
  Speaker 3: He only said, after a moment, don't part from me
• 2:04:59
  Speaker 3: in any ill humor. I never knew you to be
• 2:05:01
  Speaker 3: out of patience with me before. I don't want to
• 2:05:05
  Speaker 3: part in any ill humor, she said, But can't you
• 2:05:08
  Speaker 3: understand I've grown used to seeing you, to having you
• 2:05:11
  Speaker 3: with me all the time, and your action seems unfriendly,
• 2:05:15
  Speaker 3: even unkind. You don't even offer an excuse for it.
• 2:05:19
  Speaker 3: Why I was planning to be together, thinking of how
• 2:05:22
  Speaker 3: pleasant it would be to see you in the city
• 2:05:24
  Speaker 3: next winter, So was I, he blurted. Perhaps that's the
• 2:05:30
  Speaker 3: He stood up suddenly and held out his hand. Good Bye,
• 2:05:33
  Speaker 3: my dear missus Pontellier, good bye. You won't I hope
• 2:05:38
  Speaker 3: you won't completely forget me. She clung to his hand,
• 2:05:41
  Speaker 3: striving to detain him. Write to me when you get there,
• 2:05:45
  Speaker 3: won't you, Robert, she entreated, I will thank you good bye.
• 2:05:50
  Speaker 3: How unlike Robert, the merest acquaintance, would have said something
• 2:05:54
  Speaker 3: more emphatic than I will thank you good bye. To
• 2:05:58
  Speaker 3: such a request. He had evidently already taken leave of
• 2:06:02
  Speaker 3: the people over at the house, for he descended the
• 2:06:05
  Speaker 3: steps and went to join Beaudelais, who was out there
• 2:06:07
  Speaker 3: with an oar across his shoulder, waiting for Robert. They
• 2:06:11
  Speaker 3: walked away in the darkness. She could only hear Beaudelia's voice.
• 2:06:15
  Speaker 3: Robert had apparently not even spoken a word of greeting
• 2:06:18
  Speaker 3: to his companion. Edna bit her handkerchief convulsively, striving to
• 2:06:23
  Speaker 3: hold back and to hide even from herself, as she
• 2:06:26
  Speaker 3: would have hidden from another, the emotion, which was troubling
• 2:06:30
  Speaker 3: tearing her. Her eyes were burming with tears. For the
• 2:06:34
  Speaker 3: first time, she recognized the symptoms of infatuation, which she
• 2:06:37
  Speaker 3: had felt incipiently as a child, as a girl, in
• 2:06:40
  Speaker 3: her earliest teens, and later as a young woman. The
• 2:06:44
  Speaker 3: recognition did not lessen the reality, the poignancy of the
• 2:06:47
  Speaker 3: revelation by any suggestion or promise of instability. The past
• 2:06:53
  Speaker 3: was nothing to her, offered no lesson which she was
• 2:06:56
  Speaker 3: willing to heed. The future was a mystery which she
• 2:06:59
  Speaker 3: never attempt to penetrate. The present alone was significant was
• 2:07:04
  Speaker 3: hers to torture her as it was doing then with
• 2:07:07
  Speaker 3: the biting conviction that she had lost that which she
• 2:07:11
  Speaker 3: had held, that she had been denied that which her
• 2:07:14
  Speaker 3: impassion newly awakened being demanded. End of chapters eleven through fifteen.
• 2:07:23
  Speaker 4: Chapter sixteen, do you miss your friend? Greatly asked Mademoiselle
• 2:07:27
  Speaker 4: Rees one morning, as she came creeping up behind Edna,
• 2:07:30
  Speaker 4: which just left her cottage, on her way to the beach.
• 2:07:33
  Speaker 4: She spent so much of her time in the water
• 2:07:35
  Speaker 4: since she had acquired finally the art of swimming. As
• 2:07:39
  Speaker 4: their stay at Grendel drew near its close, she felt
• 2:07:44
  Speaker 4: that she could not give too much time to a
• 2:07:46
  Speaker 4: diversion which afforded her the only real pleasurable moments that
• 2:07:49
  Speaker 4: she knew. When Mademoiselle Rese came and touched her upon
• 2:07:53
  Speaker 4: the shoulder and spoke to her, the woman seemed to
• 2:07:56
  Speaker 4: echo the thought which was ever in Edna's mind, or
• 2:08:00
  Speaker 4: better the feeling which constantly possesses her. Robert's going had
• 2:08:05
  Speaker 4: some way taken the brightness, the color, the meaning out
• 2:08:09
  Speaker 4: of everything. The conditions of her life were in no
• 2:08:12
  Speaker 4: way changed, but her whole existence was stalled, like a
• 2:08:16
  Speaker 4: faded garment which seems to be no longer worth wearing.
• 2:08:20
  Speaker 4: She saw him everywhere, and others to whom she introduced
• 2:08:24
  Speaker 4: to talk about him. She went up in the mornings
• 2:08:27
  Speaker 4: to Madame Lebrun's room, braving the clatter of old sewing machines.
• 2:08:32
  Speaker 4: She sat there and chattered at intervals as Robertton. She
• 2:08:36
  Speaker 4: gazed around the room at the pictures and photographs hanging
• 2:08:39
  Speaker 4: upon the wall, and discovered in some corner an old
• 2:08:43
  Speaker 4: family album, which she examined with the keenest interest, appealing
• 2:08:47
  Speaker 4: to Madame Lebrun for enlightenment concerning the many figures and
• 2:08:51
  Speaker 4: faces which she discovered. Between its pages there was a
• 2:08:55
  Speaker 4: picture of Madame Lebrun with Robert as a baby, seated
• 2:08:58
  Speaker 4: in her lap, a rounded faced infant with a fist
• 2:09:03
  Speaker 4: in his mouth. The eyes alone in the baby suggested
• 2:09:06
  Speaker 4: the man, and that was he, also in kilts at
• 2:09:09
  Speaker 4: the age of five, wearing long curls and holding a
• 2:09:12
  Speaker 4: whip in his hand. It met edna laugh, and she
• 2:09:15
  Speaker 4: laughed too at the portrait in his first long trousers.
• 2:09:18
  Speaker 4: While another interest he taken when he left for college,
• 2:09:23
  Speaker 4: looking thin, long faced, with eyes full of fire, ambition
• 2:09:27
  Speaker 4: and great intentions. But there was no recent picture, none
• 2:09:31
  Speaker 4: which suggested the Robert, who had gone away five days ago,
• 2:09:35
  Speaker 4: leaving a void and wilderness behind him. Oh, Robert stopped
• 2:09:39
  Speaker 4: having his picture taken when he had to pay for
• 2:09:42
  Speaker 4: him himself. He found wiser to you, wiser use for
• 2:09:46
  Speaker 4: his money, he says, explained Madame Lebrun. She had a
• 2:09:49
  Speaker 4: letter from him written before he left New Orleans. Edna
• 2:09:54
  Speaker 4: wished to see the letter, and Madame Lebrun told her
• 2:09:56
  Speaker 4: to look for it, either on the table or the dresser,
• 2:09:59
  Speaker 4: or perhaps it was on the mental piece. The letter
• 2:10:03
  Speaker 4: was on the bookshelf. It possessed the great interest and
• 2:10:07
  Speaker 4: attraction for Edna, the envelope, its size and shape, the postmark,
• 2:10:12
  Speaker 4: the handwriting. She examined every detail of the outside before
• 2:10:16
  Speaker 4: opening it. There was only a few lines setting forth
• 2:10:20
  Speaker 4: that he would leave the city that afternoon, that he
• 2:10:23
  Speaker 4: had packed his trunk in good shape, that he was well,
• 2:10:26
  Speaker 4: and sent her his love and begged to be affectionately
• 2:10:29
  Speaker 4: remembered to all. There was no special message to Edna,
• 2:10:33
  Speaker 4: except a PostScript saying that if Missus Pontellier desired to
• 2:10:37
  Speaker 4: finish the book which he had been reading to her,
• 2:10:40
  Speaker 4: his mother would find it in his room among other books.
• 2:10:43
  Speaker 4: There on the table. Edna experienced a pang of jealousy
• 2:10:46
  Speaker 4: because he had written to his mother rather than to her.
• 2:10:50
  Speaker 4: Everyone seemed to take for granted that she missed him,
• 2:10:53
  Speaker 4: even her husband. When he came down the Saturday following,
• 2:10:56
  Speaker 4: Robet's departner expressed regret that he had gone. Did you
• 2:11:00
  Speaker 4: get on without him, Edna? He asked, Oh, it's all
• 2:11:03
  Speaker 4: very dull without him, she admitted. Mister Pontellier had seen
• 2:11:07
  Speaker 4: Robert in the city, and Edna asked him a dozen
• 2:11:10
  Speaker 4: questions or more. Where had they met on Carron de
• 2:11:14
  Speaker 4: Les Street in the morning they had gone in and
• 2:11:17
  Speaker 4: had a drink and a cigar together. What had they
• 2:11:20
  Speaker 4: talked about, chiefly about his prospect in Mexico, which mister
• 2:11:23
  Speaker 4: Pontellier thought were promising. How did he look, how did
• 2:11:27
  Speaker 4: he seem grave or gay? Or how quite cheerful and
• 2:11:31
  Speaker 4: wholly taken up with the idea of his trip, which
• 2:11:34
  Speaker 4: mister Pontellier found altogether natural and a young fellow about
• 2:11:37
  Speaker 4: to seek fortunate adventure in a strange queer country. Edna
• 2:11:41
  Speaker 4: tapped her foot impatiently and wondered why the children persisted
• 2:11:44
  Speaker 4: in playing in the sun when they might be under
• 2:11:46
  Speaker 4: the trees. She went down and let them out of
• 2:11:49
  Speaker 4: the suns. Called in the quadroons for not being more attentive.
• 2:11:53
  Speaker 4: It did not strike her as in the least grotesque
• 2:11:56
  Speaker 4: that she should be making of Rabat the object to
• 2:11:58
  Speaker 4: conversation and leading her husband to speak of him. The
• 2:12:02
  Speaker 4: sentiment which she had entertained for Robert in no way
• 2:12:05
  Speaker 4: resembled that which she felt for her husband, or had
• 2:12:08
  Speaker 4: ever felt, or ever expected to feel. She had, all
• 2:12:12
  Speaker 4: her life long, being accustomed to harbor thoughts and emotion
• 2:12:15
  Speaker 4: which never voiced themselves. They had never taken the form
• 2:12:18
  Speaker 4: of struggles. They belonged to her and were her own,
• 2:12:22
  Speaker 4: and she entertained the conviction that she had a right
• 2:12:24
  Speaker 4: to them, and that they concerned no one but herself.
• 2:12:28
  Speaker 4: Edna at once told Madame Ratignolle that she would never
• 2:12:31
  Speaker 4: sacrifice herself for her children or for anyone. Then had
• 2:12:35
  Speaker 4: followed a rather heated argument. The two women did not
• 2:12:39
  Speaker 4: appear to understand each other or to be talking the
• 2:12:42
  Speaker 4: same language. Edna tried to appease her friend, and to explain,
• 2:12:46
  Speaker 4: I would give up the inessentials, I would give my money,
• 2:12:50
  Speaker 4: I would give my life for my children, but I
• 2:12:52
  Speaker 4: wouldn't give myself. I can't make it more clear. It's
• 2:12:56
  Speaker 4: only something which I am beginning to comprehend, which is
• 2:12:59
  Speaker 4: revealing itself. I don't know what you would call the essentials,
• 2:13:03
  Speaker 4: or what you mean by the unessentials, said Madame Ratignolle cheerfully.
• 2:13:07
  Speaker 4: But a woman who would give her life for her
• 2:13:09
  Speaker 4: children could do no more than that. Your Bible tells you,
• 2:13:12
  Speaker 4: so I'm sure I couldn't do more than that. Oh, yes,
• 2:13:15
  Speaker 4: you could, laugh, Edna. She was not surprised at Mademoiselle
• 2:13:19
  Speaker 4: Ree's question. The morning that lady following her to the
• 2:13:22
  Speaker 4: beach tapped her on the shoulder and asked if she
• 2:13:24
  Speaker 4: did not greatly miss her young friend. Oh, good morning, Mademoiselle,
• 2:13:29
  Speaker 4: is it you? Why, of course, I miss Robert. Are
• 2:13:32
  Speaker 4: you going down to bathe? Why should I go down
• 2:13:35
  Speaker 4: to bath at the end of the very season when
• 2:13:38
  Speaker 4: I haven't been in the surf all summer? Replied the
• 2:13:40
  Speaker 4: woman disagreeably. I beg your pardon, offered Edna, in some embarrassment,
• 2:13:45
  Speaker 4: for she should have remembered that Mademoiselle Rey's avoidance of
• 2:13:48
  Speaker 4: the water had furnished a theme for much pleasantry some
• 2:13:51
  Speaker 4: among them thought that on the account of her false
• 2:13:54
  Speaker 4: hair or the dread of getting the violet sweat, while
• 2:13:57
  Speaker 4: others attributed it to the natural aversion for water sometimes
• 2:14:01
  Speaker 4: believed to accompany the artistic temperament. Mademoiselle offered Edna some
• 2:14:05
  Speaker 4: chocolates in a paper bag, which she took from her
• 2:14:08
  Speaker 4: pocket by way of showing that she bore no ill feeling.
• 2:14:12
  Speaker 4: She generally ate chocolate for their sustaining quality. They contained
• 2:14:16
  Speaker 4: much nutriment in small camp as, she said, they saved
• 2:14:19
  Speaker 4: her from starvation, as Madame Lebrun's table was utterly impossible,
• 2:14:23
  Speaker 4: and no one, save so impertinent a woman as Madame Lebrun,
• 2:14:27
  Speaker 4: could think of offering such food to people and require
• 2:14:30
  Speaker 4: them to pay for it. She must feel very lonely
• 2:14:33
  Speaker 4: without her son, said Edna, desiring to change the subject.
• 2:14:37
  Speaker 4: Her favorite son too. It must have been quite hard
• 2:14:40
  Speaker 4: to let him go, Mademoiselle laughed mercilessly. Her favorite son, Oh, dear,
• 2:14:46
  Speaker 4: who could have been imposing such a tale upon you?
• 2:14:49
  Speaker 4: Alleinn Lebrun lives for Victor, and for Victor alone. She
• 2:14:53
  Speaker 4: has spoiled him into the worthless creature that he is.
• 2:14:57
  Speaker 4: She worships him and the ground he walks on. Robert
• 2:15:00
  Speaker 4: is very well in a way to give up all
• 2:15:02
  Speaker 4: the money he can earn to the family and keep
• 2:15:05
  Speaker 4: the barest pittance for himself, favorite son. Indeed, I missed
• 2:15:09
  Speaker 4: the poor fellow myself, My dear. I'd like to see
• 2:15:12
  Speaker 4: him and hear him about the place. The only le
• 2:15:15
  Speaker 4: Broun who is worth a pinch of salt. He comes
• 2:15:17
  Speaker 4: to see me often in the city. I like to
• 2:15:19
  Speaker 4: play with him. That Victor hanging would be too good
• 2:15:23
  Speaker 4: for him. It's a wonder Robert hasn't beaten him to
• 2:15:26
  Speaker 4: that long ago. But I thought he had great patience
• 2:15:30
  Speaker 4: with his brother, offered Edna, Glad to be talking about
• 2:15:33
  Speaker 4: Robert no better. What was said? Oh, well, he trashed
• 2:15:36
  Speaker 4: him well enough a year or two ago, said Mademoiselle.
• 2:15:39
  Speaker 4: It was about a Spanish girl whom Victor considered that
• 2:15:43
  Speaker 4: he had some sort of claim upon. He met Robert
• 2:15:46
  Speaker 4: one day talking to the girl, or walking with her,
• 2:15:48
  Speaker 4: or bathing with her, or carrying her basket, I don't
• 2:15:50
  Speaker 4: remember what, and he became so insulting and abusive that
• 2:15:54
  Speaker 4: Robert gave him a trashing on the spot that kept
• 2:15:56
  Speaker 4: him comparatively in order for a good while. It's about
• 2:16:00
  Speaker 4: time it was getting another. Was her name, Mariquita, asked Edna, Merikita, Yes,
• 2:16:06
  Speaker 4: that's it, Mariquita. I had forgotten. Oh she was a
• 2:16:09
  Speaker 4: sly one and a bad one, that Merrikita. Edna looked
• 2:16:12
  Speaker 4: down at Mademoiselle Reise and wondered how she could have
• 2:16:15
  Speaker 4: listened to her venom so long. For some reason, she
• 2:16:19
  Speaker 4: felt depressed, almost unhappy. She had not intended to go
• 2:16:23
  Speaker 4: into the water, but she had donned her bathing suit
• 2:16:25
  Speaker 4: and left Mademoiselle alone, seated under the shade of the
• 2:16:28
  Speaker 4: children's tent. The water was growing cooler as the season advanced.
• 2:16:33
  Speaker 4: Enna plunged and swam about with an abandon that shrilled
• 2:16:36
  Speaker 4: and invigorated her. She remained a long time in the water,
• 2:16:40
  Speaker 4: half hoping that Mademoiselle Rence would not wait for her,
• 2:16:43
  Speaker 4: But Mademoiselle waited. She was very amiable during the walk
• 2:16:47
  Speaker 4: back and raved much over it's appearance. In her bathing suit,
• 2:16:51
  Speaker 4: she talked about music. She hoped that Enna would go
• 2:16:54
  Speaker 4: to see her in the city, and wrote her address
• 2:16:56
  Speaker 4: with the stub of a pencil on a piece of
• 2:16:57
  Speaker 4: cart which she found in her pocket. When do you
• 2:17:00
  Speaker 4: leave asked Edna next Monday. Anew the following week, answered Edna, adding,
• 2:17:06
  Speaker 4: it has been a pleasant summer as in at Mademoiselle
• 2:17:09
  Speaker 4: Well agreed. Mademoiselle rees with a shrug, rather pleasant if
• 2:17:13
  Speaker 4: it hadn't been for the mosquitos and the furrow Old Twins,
• 2:17:17
  Speaker 4: Chapter seventeen. The Pontelliers possessed a very charming home on
• 2:17:23
  Speaker 4: Esplanade Street in New Orleans. It was a large double
• 2:17:27
  Speaker 4: cottage with a broad front veranda, whose round, fluted columns
• 2:17:31
  Speaker 4: supported the sloping roof. The house was painted in a
• 2:17:34
  Speaker 4: dazzling white. The outside shutters, or jalousie, were green. In
• 2:17:39
  Speaker 4: the yard, which was kept scrupulously neat, were flowers and
• 2:17:43
  Speaker 4: plants of every description which flourishes in South Louisiana. Within doors,
• 2:17:48
  Speaker 4: the appointments were perfect after the conventional type. The softest
• 2:17:52
  Speaker 4: carpets and rugs covered the floors. Rich and tasteful draperies
• 2:17:56
  Speaker 4: hung at doors and windows. There were paintings selected with
• 2:18:00
  Speaker 4: judgment and discrimination. Upon the walls. The cut glass, the silver,
• 2:18:04
  Speaker 4: the heavy damask, which daily appeared upon the table were
• 2:18:07
  Speaker 4: the envy of many women whose husband were less generous
• 2:18:10
  Speaker 4: than mister Pontellier. Mister Pontellier was very fond of walking
• 2:18:14
  Speaker 4: about his house, examining its various appointments and details to
• 2:18:19
  Speaker 4: see that nothing was amiss. He greatly valued his possession,
• 2:18:23
  Speaker 4: chiefly because they were his, and derived genuine pleasure from
• 2:18:26
  Speaker 4: contemplating a painting, a statuette, a rare lace skirt, and
• 2:18:30
  Speaker 4: no matter what after, he bought it and placed it
• 2:18:32
  Speaker 4: among his household goods. On Tuesday afternoons, Tuesday being Missus
• 2:18:37
  Speaker 4: pontellier reception day, there was a constant stream of callers,
• 2:18:42
  Speaker 4: women who came in carriages or in the street cars
• 2:18:45
  Speaker 4: or walk when the air was soft and distance permitted.
• 2:18:48
  Speaker 4: A light colored mulletto boy in dress coat and bearing
• 2:18:52
  Speaker 4: a diminutive silver tray for reception of cars, admitted them.
• 2:18:56
  Speaker 4: A maid in white fluted cap offered the callers liqueure
• 2:19:00
  Speaker 4: coffee or chocolate as they might desire. Missus Pontellier, tirant,
• 2:19:05
  Speaker 4: in a handsome reception gown, remained in the drawing room
• 2:19:08
  Speaker 4: the entire afternoon, receiving her visitors. Men sometimes called the
• 2:19:12
  Speaker 4: in the evening with their wives. This has been the
• 2:19:15
  Speaker 4: program which Missus Pontellier had religiously followed since her marriage
• 2:19:19
  Speaker 4: six years before, certain evenings during the week she and
• 2:19:23
  Speaker 4: her husband attended the opera or sometimes the theater. Mister
• 2:19:27
  Speaker 4: Pontellier left his home in the mornings between nine and
• 2:19:29
  Speaker 4: ten o'clock and rarely returned before half past six or seven.
• 2:19:33
  Speaker 4: In the evening, dinner being served at half past seven,
• 2:19:37
  Speaker 4: He and his wife seated themselves at table one Tuesday evening,
• 2:19:41
  Speaker 4: a few weeks after their return from Grandil. They were
• 2:19:44
  Speaker 4: alone together. The boys were being put to bed. The
• 2:19:47
  Speaker 4: patter of their bare escaping feet could be heard occasionally,
• 2:19:51
  Speaker 4: as well as the pursuing voice of the quadroon lifted
• 2:19:54
  Speaker 4: in mild protests and entreaty. Missus Pontellier did not wear
• 2:19:58
  Speaker 4: her usual Tuesday reception gown. She was in ordinary house dress.
• 2:20:02
  Speaker 4: Mister Pontellier was observant about those things. Noticed it as
• 2:20:06
  Speaker 4: he served the soup and handed it to the boy
• 2:20:08
  Speaker 4: in waiting. Tired out EDNA, whom did you have many callers?
• 2:20:13
  Speaker 4: He asked. He tasted his soup and began to season
• 2:20:16
  Speaker 4: it with pepper, salt, vinegar. There were a good many,
• 2:20:20
  Speaker 4: replied Ntnah, who was eating her soup with evident satisfaction.
• 2:20:24
  Speaker 4: I found their cards when I got home. I was
• 2:20:26
  Speaker 4: out out, exclaimed her husband, with something like genuine consternation
• 2:20:31
  Speaker 4: in his voice, as he laid down the vinegar cruet
• 2:20:35
  Speaker 4: and looked at her to his glasses. Why what could
• 2:20:39
  Speaker 4: have taken you out on Tuesday? What did you have
• 2:20:42
  Speaker 4: to do?
• 2:20:44
  Speaker 5: Nothing?
• 2:20:44
  Speaker 4: I simply felt like going out, and I went out. Well,
• 2:20:47
  Speaker 4: I hope you left some suitable excuse, said her husband,
• 2:20:50
  Speaker 4: somewhat appeased as he added a dash of cayne paper
• 2:20:53
  Speaker 4: to the soup. No, I left no excuse. I told
• 2:20:57
  Speaker 4: Joe to say I was out. That was all. Why,
• 2:21:00
  Speaker 4: my dear, I should think you'd understand by this time
• 2:21:03
  Speaker 4: that people don't do such things. We've got to observe
• 2:21:06
  Speaker 4: lekov naals if we ever expect to get on and
• 2:21:09
  Speaker 4: keep up with the procession. If you felt that you
• 2:21:12
  Speaker 4: had to leave home this afternoon, you should have left
• 2:21:14
  Speaker 4: some suitable explanation for your absence. This soup is really impossible.
• 2:21:19
  Speaker 4: It's strange that woman hasn't learned yet to make a
• 2:21:21
  Speaker 4: decent soup. Any free lunch stand in town serves a
• 2:21:25
  Speaker 4: better one, was missus Belthrop, here, bring the tray with
• 2:21:29
  Speaker 4: the cards, Joe, I don't remember who was here. The
• 2:21:32
  Speaker 4: boy retired and return after a moment, bringing the tiny
• 2:21:35
  Speaker 4: silver tray, which was covered with ladies visiting card. He
• 2:21:38
  Speaker 4: handed it to Missus Pontellier. Give it to mister Pontellier,
• 2:21:42
  Speaker 4: she said.
• 2:21:43
  Speaker 1: So.
• 2:21:43
  Speaker 4: Joe offered the tray to mister Pontellier and removed the soup.
• 2:21:47
  Speaker 4: Mister Pontellier scanned the name of his wife callers, reading
• 2:21:50
  Speaker 4: some of them aloud with comments as he read, Hm,
• 2:21:54
  Speaker 4: the Missus de Lasidas, I worked a big deal in
• 2:21:57
  Speaker 4: futures for their father this morning. Nice else, it's time
• 2:22:00
  Speaker 4: they were getting married. Missus Belthrop, I tell you what
• 2:22:04
  Speaker 4: it is, Edna. You can't afford to snub Missus Belthrop.
• 2:22:08
  Speaker 4: Well Belthrop could buy and sell us ten times over.
• 2:22:12
  Speaker 4: His business is worth a good round sum to me.
• 2:22:14
  Speaker 4: You'd better write her a note. Missus James high Camp. Huh.
• 2:22:19
  Speaker 4: The less you have to do with Missus high Camp,
• 2:22:21
  Speaker 4: the better. Madame LaForce came all the way from Carrollton,
• 2:22:27
  Speaker 4: poor soul, Missus Wiggs, Missus Eleanor Bolton's. He pushed the
• 2:22:32
  Speaker 4: cart aside. Mercy, exclaimed Edna, who'd been fuming, Why are
• 2:22:37
  Speaker 4: you taking the thing so seriously and making such a
• 2:22:39
  Speaker 4: fuss over it. I'm not making any fuss over it.
• 2:22:42
  Speaker 4: But it's just such seeming trifles that we've got to
• 2:22:45
  Speaker 4: take seriously. Such things count. The fish was scorched, mister
• 2:22:50
  Speaker 4: Pontellier would not even touch it. Edna said she didn't
• 2:22:54
  Speaker 4: mind a little scorch taste. The rose was in some
• 2:22:57
  Speaker 4: way not to his fancy, and he did not like
• 2:22:59
  Speaker 4: to a matter in which the vegetables were served. It
• 2:23:03
  Speaker 4: seems to me, he said, we spend money enough in
• 2:23:05
  Speaker 4: this house to procure at least one meal a day
• 2:23:07
  Speaker 4: which a man could eat and retain his self respect.
• 2:23:10
  Speaker 4: You used to think that the cook was a treasure,
• 2:23:12
  Speaker 4: returned Edna indifferently, perhaps when she was first came in.
• 2:23:17
  Speaker 4: But cooks are only human. They need looking after, like
• 2:23:20
  Speaker 4: any other class or persons that you employ. Suppose I
• 2:23:23
  Speaker 4: didn't look after the clerks in my office and just
• 2:23:26
  Speaker 4: let them run things their own way, they'd soon make
• 2:23:28
  Speaker 4: a nice mess of me and my business. Where are
• 2:23:31
  Speaker 4: you going, asked Edna, seeing that her husband arose from
• 2:23:34
  Speaker 4: table without having eaten a morsel except the taste of
• 2:23:37
  Speaker 4: the highly seasoned soup. I'm going to get my dinner
• 2:23:40
  Speaker 4: at the club good night. He went into the hall,
• 2:23:43
  Speaker 4: took his hat and sticked from the stand, and left
• 2:23:45
  Speaker 4: the house. She was somewhat familiar with such scenes. They
• 2:23:49
  Speaker 4: had often made her very unhappy. On a few previous occasions,
• 2:23:53
  Speaker 4: she had been completely deprived of any desire to finish
• 2:23:56
  Speaker 4: her dinner. Sometimes she had gone into the kitchen to
• 2:23:59
  Speaker 4: administer tardy rebuke to the cook. When she went into
• 2:24:03
  Speaker 4: a room and studied the cook book during an entire evening,
• 2:24:06
  Speaker 4: finally writing out a menu for the week, which left
• 2:24:09
  Speaker 4: her ha rest with a feeling that after all she
• 2:24:11
  Speaker 4: had accomplished no good that was worth the name. But
• 2:24:14
  Speaker 4: that evening, Edna finished her dinner alone with forced deliberation.
• 2:24:19
  Speaker 4: Her face was flushed and her eyes flamed with some
• 2:24:22
  Speaker 4: inward fire that lighted them. After finishing her dinner, she
• 2:24:26
  Speaker 4: went to her room, having instructed the boy to tell
• 2:24:28
  Speaker 4: any of the callers that she was indisposed. It was
• 2:24:32
  Speaker 4: a large, beautiful room, rich and picturesque. In the soft
• 2:24:35
  Speaker 4: dim light which the maid had turned low, she went
• 2:24:39
  Speaker 4: and stood at an open window and looked out on
• 2:24:42
  Speaker 4: the deep tangles of the garden below. All the mystery
• 2:24:45
  Speaker 4: and witchery of the night seemed to have gathered there
• 2:24:48
  Speaker 4: amid the perfumes and a dusky and tortuous outline of
• 2:24:51
  Speaker 4: flowers and foliage. She was seeking herself and finding herself
• 2:24:56
  Speaker 4: in just such sweet half darkness which met her moods.
• 2:25:00
  Speaker 4: But the voices were not soothing that came to her
• 2:25:02
  Speaker 4: from the darkness in the sky above and the stars.
• 2:25:06
  Speaker 4: They jeered and sounded mournful notes, without promise, devoid even
• 2:25:10
  Speaker 4: a hope. She turned back into the room and began
• 2:25:15
  Speaker 4: to walk to and fro down its whole length without stopping,
• 2:25:19
  Speaker 4: without resting. She carried in her hands a thin handkerchief,
• 2:25:23
  Speaker 4: which she tore into ribbons, rolled into a ball, and
• 2:25:26
  Speaker 4: flung from her once she stopped, and, taking off her
• 2:25:29
  Speaker 4: wedding ring, flung it upon the carpet. When she saw
• 2:25:33
  Speaker 4: it lying there, she stamped her heel upon it, striving
• 2:25:36
  Speaker 4: to crush it. But her small boot heel did not
• 2:25:38
  Speaker 4: make an indenture, not a mark upon the little glittering circlet.
• 2:25:43
  Speaker 4: In a sweeping passion, she seized a glass vase from
• 2:25:46
  Speaker 4: the table and flung it upon the tiles on the earth.
• 2:25:49
  Speaker 4: She wanted to destroy something. The crash and clatter were
• 2:25:53
  Speaker 4: what she wanted to hear. A maid, alarm at the
• 2:25:56
  Speaker 4: din of breaking glass, entered the room to discover what
• 2:25:59
  Speaker 4: was the matter. Oh, a vase fell upon the arth,
• 2:26:03
  Speaker 4: said Enna, never mind, leave it till morning. Well you
• 2:26:07
  Speaker 4: might get some of the glass on your feet, ma'am,
• 2:26:09
  Speaker 4: insisted the young woman, picking up bits of broken glass
• 2:26:13
  Speaker 4: that were scattered upon the carpet. And here's your ring,
• 2:26:15
  Speaker 4: ma'am under the chair. Edna held out her hand and
• 2:26:19
  Speaker 4: taking the ring, slipped it upon her finger Chapter eighteen.
• 2:26:25
  Speaker 4: The following morning, mister Pontellier, upon leaving for his office,
• 2:26:29
  Speaker 4: asked Edna if she would not meet him in town
• 2:26:31
  Speaker 4: in order to look at some new fixtures for the library.
• 2:26:34
  Speaker 4: I hardly think we need new fixtures. Leons. Don't let
• 2:26:38
  Speaker 4: us get anything new. You're too extravagant. I don't believe
• 2:26:41
  Speaker 4: you ever think of saving or putting by the way
• 2:26:44
  Speaker 4: to become rich is to make money, my dear Edna,
• 2:26:47
  Speaker 4: not to save it, he said. He regretted that she
• 2:26:50
  Speaker 4: didn't feel inclined to go with him and select new fixtures.
• 2:26:54
  Speaker 4: He kissed her good bye and told her that she
• 2:26:56
  Speaker 4: was not looking well and must take care of herself.
• 2:26:59
  Speaker 4: She was unusually pale and very quiet. She stood on
• 2:27:02
  Speaker 4: the front veranda as he quitted the house, and absently
• 2:27:05
  Speaker 4: picked a few sprays of jasmine that grew upon a
• 2:27:08
  Speaker 4: trailley nearby. She inhaled the odor of the blossoms and
• 2:27:11
  Speaker 4: trusted them in the bosom of her white morning gown.
• 2:27:15
  Speaker 4: The boys were dragging along the banquet a small express
• 2:27:18
  Speaker 4: wagon which they had filled with blocks and sticks. The
• 2:27:21
  Speaker 4: Quadroon was following them. The Quadroon was following them with
• 2:27:26
  Speaker 4: little quick steps, having assumed a fictitious animation and alacrity
• 2:27:31
  Speaker 4: for the occasion. A fruit vendor was crying his wares
• 2:27:34
  Speaker 4: in the street. Edna looked straight before her, in a
• 2:27:37
  Speaker 4: self absorbed expression on her face. She felt no interest
• 2:27:40
  Speaker 4: in anything about her. The street, the children, the fruit vendor,
• 2:27:45
  Speaker 4: the flowings rowing there under her eyes were all part
• 2:27:48
  Speaker 4: and parcel of an alien world which she had suddenly
• 2:27:51
  Speaker 4: become antagonistic. She went back into the house. She had
• 2:27:56
  Speaker 4: thought of speaking to the cook concerning the blunders of
• 2:27:59
  Speaker 4: the previous night, but mister pontellerd saved her that disagreeable
• 2:28:03
  Speaker 4: mission for which she was so poorly fitted. Mister Ponteller's
• 2:28:06
  Speaker 4: arguments were usually convincing with those whom he employed. He
• 2:28:11
  Speaker 4: left home feeling quite sure that he and Edna would
• 2:28:13
  Speaker 4: sit down that evening, and possibly a few subsequent evenings,
• 2:28:17
  Speaker 4: to a dinner deserving the name. Edna spent an hour
• 2:28:21
  Speaker 4: or two in looking over some of her old sketches.
• 2:28:24
  Speaker 4: She could see their shortcomings and defects, which were glaring
• 2:28:27
  Speaker 4: in her eyes. She tried to work a little, but
• 2:28:29
  Speaker 4: found that she was not in the humor. Finally, she
• 2:28:32
  Speaker 4: gathered together a few of the sketches, those which she
• 2:28:35
  Speaker 4: considered at least discredible, and she carried them with her
• 2:28:39
  Speaker 4: when a little later she dressed and left the house,
• 2:28:41
  Speaker 4: she looked handsome and distinguished in her street gown. The
• 2:28:45
  Speaker 4: tan of the seashore had left her face, and her
• 2:28:47
  Speaker 4: forehead was smooth white and polished. Beneath her heavy yellow
• 2:28:51
  Speaker 4: brown hair. There were a few freckles on her face,
• 2:28:54
  Speaker 4: and a small dark mole near the under lip, and
• 2:28:57
  Speaker 4: one on the temple, half hidden in the hair. As
• 2:29:01
  Speaker 4: Edna walked along the street, she was thinking of Robert.
• 2:29:04
  Speaker 4: She was still under the spell of her infatuation. She
• 2:29:07
  Speaker 4: had tried to forget him, realizing the inutility of remembering,
• 2:29:11
  Speaker 4: but the thought of him was like an obsession, ever
• 2:29:14
  Speaker 4: pressing itself upon her. It was not that she dwelt
• 2:29:17
  Speaker 4: upon details of their acquaintance, or recalled any special or
• 2:29:21
  Speaker 4: particular awareness personality. It was his being, his existence, which
• 2:29:25
  Speaker 4: dominated thought, fading sometimes as if it would melt into
• 2:29:30
  Speaker 4: the midst of the forgotten, but reviving again with an
• 2:29:33
  Speaker 4: intensity which filled her with an uncomprincible longing. Edna was
• 2:29:38
  Speaker 4: on her way to Madame Ratignolle's. Their intimacy begun at
• 2:29:42
  Speaker 4: Grandille at Nat Decline, and they had seen each other
• 2:29:45
  Speaker 4: with some frequency since their returned to the city. The
• 2:29:49
  Speaker 4: Ratignelle lived at no great distance from Edna's home, on
• 2:29:52
  Speaker 4: the corner of a side street where Monsieur Ratignell owned
• 2:29:55
  Speaker 4: and conducted a drug store which enjoyed steady and prospered trade.
• 2:29:59
  Speaker 4: Is father had been in the business before him, and
• 2:30:02
  Speaker 4: Monsieur Ratignoll stood well in the community and bore enviable
• 2:30:05
  Speaker 4: reputation for integrity and clear headedness. His family lived in
• 2:30:10
  Speaker 4: commodious apartments over the store, having an entrance on the
• 2:30:13
  Speaker 4: side within the porte cocher. There was something which Edna
• 2:30:17
  Speaker 4: thought very French, very foreign, about the whole manner of living.
• 2:30:20
  Speaker 4: In the large and pleasant salon which extended across the
• 2:30:24
  Speaker 4: width of the house, the Ratignol entertained their friends once
• 2:30:27
  Speaker 4: a fortnight with a soiree musicale, sometimes deversified by card playing.
• 2:30:33
  Speaker 4: There was a friend who played upon the cello, one
• 2:30:36
  Speaker 4: brought his flute, and another is violin, while there were
• 2:30:39
  Speaker 4: some who sang, and a number performed upon the piano.
• 2:30:42
  Speaker 4: With various degrees of taste and agility. The Ratignoll sooiri
• 2:30:46
  Speaker 4: musicales were widely known, and it was considered a privilege
• 2:30:49
  Speaker 4: to be invited to them. Edna found her friend engaged
• 2:30:53
  Speaker 4: in assorting the clothes which had returned that morning from
• 2:30:56
  Speaker 4: the laundry. She had once abandoned her occupation upon seeing Anna,
• 2:31:00
  Speaker 4: who had been ushered without ceremony into her presence. Sitik
• 2:31:04
  Speaker 4: and do it as well as I. It's really her business,
• 2:31:07
  Speaker 4: she explained to Edna, who apologized for interrupting her as
• 2:31:11
  Speaker 4: she summoned a black young woman, whom she instructed in
• 2:31:15
  Speaker 4: French to be careful and checking off the list which
• 2:31:18
  Speaker 4: she entered to her. She told her to notice, particularly
• 2:31:21
  Speaker 4: if a fine linen handkerchief of Monsieur Ratignoll's, which was
• 2:31:24
  Speaker 4: missing last week, had been returned, and to be sure
• 2:31:27
  Speaker 4: to set on one side such pieces as required mending
• 2:31:30
  Speaker 4: and darning. Then, placing an arm around Esna's waist, she
• 2:31:34
  Speaker 4: led her to the front of the house, to the salon,
• 2:31:37
  Speaker 4: where it was cool and sweet with the odor of
• 2:31:39
  Speaker 4: great roses that stood upon the earth and jars. Madame
• 2:31:42
  Speaker 4: Ratignolle looked more beautiful than ever there at home, in
• 2:31:46
  Speaker 4: the neglige, which left her arms almost wholly bare, and
• 2:31:49
  Speaker 4: exposed the rich, melting curves of her white throat. Perhaps
• 2:31:53
  Speaker 4: I shall be able to paint your pictures some day,
• 2:31:56
  Speaker 4: said Edna with a smile. When they were seated. Then
• 2:31:59
  Speaker 4: she produced the role of sketches and started to unfold them.
• 2:32:03
  Speaker 4: I believe I ought to work again. I feel as
• 2:32:05
  Speaker 4: if I wanted to be doing something. Would you think
• 2:32:08
  Speaker 4: of them? Do you think it worthwhile to take it
• 2:32:11
  Speaker 4: up again and study some more? I might study for
• 2:32:14
  Speaker 4: a while with ledpour. She knew that Madame Ratignolle's opinion
• 2:32:18
  Speaker 4: in such a matter would be next to valueless, that
• 2:32:22
  Speaker 4: she herself had not alone decided but determined. But she
• 2:32:26
  Speaker 4: thought the words of praise and encouragement that would help
• 2:32:29
  Speaker 4: her to put heart into a venture. Your talent is immense,
• 2:32:33
  Speaker 4: dear nonsense, protested Edna. Well pleased, immense, I tell you,
• 2:32:38
  Speaker 4: persisted Madame Ratignolle, surveying the sketches one by one at
• 2:32:42
  Speaker 4: close range, then holding them at arm's length, narrowing her
• 2:32:46
  Speaker 4: eyes and dropping her hand on one side. Surely, this
• 2:32:49
  Speaker 4: Bavarian peasant is worthy of framing, and this basket of
• 2:32:52
  Speaker 4: apples never have seen anything more lifelike. One might almost
• 2:32:57
  Speaker 4: be tempted to reach out a hand and take one.
• 2:33:01
  Speaker 4: Edna could not control a feeling which bordered upon complacency
• 2:33:04
  Speaker 4: at her friend's praise, even realizing as she did its
• 2:33:07
  Speaker 4: true worth. She retained a few of the sketches and
• 2:33:10
  Speaker 4: gave all the rest Madame Ratignolle, who appreciated the gift
• 2:33:14
  Speaker 4: far beyond its value, and proudly exhibited the pictures to
• 2:33:17
  Speaker 4: her husband when he came up from the store, and
• 2:33:19
  Speaker 4: a little later for his midday dinner. Mister Rattignolle was
• 2:33:23
  Speaker 4: one of those men who are called the salt of
• 2:33:25
  Speaker 4: the earth. His cheerfulness was unbounded, and it was matched
• 2:33:29
  Speaker 4: by his goodness of heart. His broad charity and common sense.
• 2:33:33
  Speaker 4: He and his wife spoke English with an accent which
• 2:33:36
  Speaker 4: was only discernible through his un English emphasis and a
• 2:33:40
  Speaker 4: certain carefulness and deliberation. Edna's husband spoke English with no
• 2:33:45
  Speaker 4: accent whatsoever. The Rattignolles understood each other perfectly. If ever
• 2:33:50
  Speaker 4: diffusion of two human beings and to one has been
• 2:33:53
  Speaker 4: accomplished on this sphere, it has surdly been in their union.
• 2:33:58
  Speaker 4: As Edna seated herself at table with them, she thought
• 2:34:01
  Speaker 4: better at dinner of herbs, though it didn't take her
• 2:34:04
  Speaker 4: long to discover that it was no dinner of herbs,
• 2:34:06
  Speaker 4: but a delicious repast, simple choice, and in every way satisfying.
• 2:34:11
  Speaker 4: Monsieur Ratignolle was delighted to see her, though he found
• 2:34:15
  Speaker 4: her looking not so well as Gradzill, and he advised
• 2:34:18
  Speaker 4: a tonic. He talked a good deal about various topics,
• 2:34:22
  Speaker 4: a little politics, some city news, and neighborhood gossips. He
• 2:34:27
  Speaker 4: spoke with an animation and earnestness that gave an exaggerated
• 2:34:31
  Speaker 4: importance to every syllable he utered. His wife was keenly
• 2:34:34
  Speaker 4: interested in everything he said, laying down her fork the
• 2:34:37
  Speaker 4: better to listen chiming in taking the words out of
• 2:34:41
  Speaker 4: his mouth. Edna felt the pressed rather than suited. After
• 2:34:44
  Speaker 4: leaving them, the little glimpse of domestic harmony that had
• 2:34:48
  Speaker 4: been just offered to her gave her no regret, no longing.
• 2:34:51
  Speaker 4: It was not a condition of life which fitted her,
• 2:34:54
  Speaker 4: and she could see in it, but an appalling and
• 2:34:56
  Speaker 4: hopeless annui. She was moved by a kind of commissary
• 2:35:00
  Speaker 4: for Madame Ratignolle, a pity for that colorless existence which
• 2:35:04
  Speaker 4: never uplifted its possessor beyond the region of blind contentment,
• 2:35:09
  Speaker 4: in which no moment of anguish ever visited her soul,
• 2:35:13
  Speaker 4: in which she would never have the taste of life delirium.
• 2:35:16
  Speaker 4: Edna vaguely wondered what she meant by life's delirium. It
• 2:35:19
  Speaker 4: had crossed her thought like some unsought extraneous impression. Chapter nineteen.
• 2:35:27
  Speaker 4: Edna could not help but think that it was very foolish,
• 2:35:30
  Speaker 4: very childish, to have stamped upon her wedding ring and
• 2:35:33
  Speaker 4: smashed a crystal vase upon the tiles. She was visited
• 2:35:36
  Speaker 4: by no more outbursts moving her to such futile expedients.
• 2:35:41
  Speaker 4: She began to do as she liked and to feel
• 2:35:43
  Speaker 4: as she liked. She completely abandoned her Tuesday at home
• 2:35:47
  Speaker 4: and did not return the visits of those who had
• 2:35:49
  Speaker 4: called upon her. She made no ineffectual efforts to conduct
• 2:35:53
  Speaker 4: her household in bun Meneger, going and coming as it
• 2:35:57
  Speaker 4: suited her fancy, and so far as she was able,
• 2:36:00
  Speaker 4: lending herself to any passing caprice. Mister Pontellier had been
• 2:36:04
  Speaker 4: a rather courteous husband so long as he met a
• 2:36:06
  Speaker 4: certain tacit subnisciousness in his wife. But her new and
• 2:36:11
  Speaker 4: unexpected line of conduct completely bewildered him. It shocked him.
• 2:36:15
  Speaker 4: Then her absolute disregard for her duties as a wife
• 2:36:18
  Speaker 4: angered him. When mister Pontellier became rude, Edna grew insolent,
• 2:36:24
  Speaker 4: she had resolved never to take another step backward. It
• 2:36:27
  Speaker 4: seems to me the utmost folly for a woman at
• 2:36:29
  Speaker 4: the end of a household and the mother of children
• 2:36:32
  Speaker 4: to spend in and at teddy days, which would be
• 2:36:35
  Speaker 4: better employed contriving for the comfort of her family. I
• 2:36:39
  Speaker 4: like painting, answered Enna, perhaps I shan't always feel like it. Then,
• 2:36:43
  Speaker 4: in God's name, paint, but don't let the family go
• 2:36:46
  Speaker 4: to the devil. There's Madame Ratignolle, because she keeps up
• 2:36:50
  Speaker 4: her music, she doesn't let everything else go to chaos.
• 2:36:54
  Speaker 4: And she's more of a musician than you are a painter.
• 2:36:57
  Speaker 4: She isn't a musician, and I'm not a painter. It
• 2:37:00
  Speaker 4: isn't on account of painting that I letting go. On
• 2:37:03
  Speaker 4: account of wet then I don't know. Let me alone,
• 2:37:07
  Speaker 4: you bother me. It sometimes entered mister Pontellier's mind to
• 2:37:12
  Speaker 4: wonder if his wife were not growing a little unbalanced mentally.
• 2:37:16
  Speaker 4: He could see plainly that she was not herself. That is,
• 2:37:19
  Speaker 4: he could not see that she was becoming herself, and
• 2:37:22
  Speaker 4: daily cast it aside, that fictitious self which we assume
• 2:37:26
  Speaker 4: like a garment with which to appear before the world.
• 2:37:29
  Speaker 4: Her husband let her alone, as she requested, and went
• 2:37:32
  Speaker 4: away to his office. Edna went up to attelier, a
• 2:37:36
  Speaker 4: bright room at the top of the house. She was
• 2:37:39
  Speaker 4: working with great energy and interest, without accomplishing anything, however,
• 2:37:43
  Speaker 4: which satisfied her even in the smallest degree. For a
• 2:37:47
  Speaker 4: time she had the whole household enrolled in the service
• 2:37:49
  Speaker 4: of art. The boys posed for her, and though they
• 2:37:53
  Speaker 4: thought it amusing at first, the occupation soon lost its
• 2:37:56
  Speaker 4: attractiveness when they discovered that it was not a game
• 2:37:59
  Speaker 4: range of space visually for their entertainment. The quadroon sat
• 2:38:03
  Speaker 4: for hours before Edna's palette, patient as a savage, while
• 2:38:07
  Speaker 4: the housemaid took charge of the children, and the drawing
• 2:38:10
  Speaker 4: room went undusted. But the housemaid too served her term
• 2:38:14
  Speaker 4: as model. When Enna perceived that the young woman's back
• 2:38:16
  Speaker 4: and shoulders were molded on classic lines, and that her
• 2:38:20
  Speaker 4: hair loosened from its confining, cat became an inspiration. While
• 2:38:25
  Speaker 4: Edna worked, she sometimes sang low the little air Ah
• 2:38:28
  Speaker 4: city Savee. It moved her with recollections. She could hear
• 2:38:32
  Speaker 4: again the ripple of the water, the flapping sail. She
• 2:38:36
  Speaker 4: could see the glint of the moon upon the bay,
• 2:38:38
  Speaker 4: and she could feel the soft, gusty beating of the
• 2:38:40
  Speaker 4: hot salt wind. A subtle current of desire passed through
• 2:38:44
  Speaker 4: her body and weakening her hold upon the brushes and
• 2:38:47
  Speaker 4: making her eyes burn. There were days when she was
• 2:38:50
  Speaker 4: very happy, without knowing why. She was happy to be
• 2:38:53
  Speaker 4: alive and breathing, when her whole being seemed to be
• 2:38:56
  Speaker 4: one with the sunlight, the color, the odors, the luxuriant
• 2:39:00
  Speaker 4: warmth of some perfect southern day, She liked them to
• 2:39:04
  Speaker 4: wonder alone in a strange and unfamiliar place. She discovered
• 2:39:08
  Speaker 4: many a sunny sleeping corner fashioned to dreaming, and she
• 2:39:12
  Speaker 4: found it good to dream and to be alone and unmolested.
• 2:39:16
  Speaker 4: There were days when she was unhappy. Anne did not
• 2:39:19
  Speaker 4: know why, when it did not seem worth while to
• 2:39:22
  Speaker 4: be glad or sorry, to be alive or dead. When
• 2:39:25
  Speaker 4: life appeared to her like a grotesque pandemonium, and humanity
• 2:39:30
  Speaker 4: like worms struggling blindly towards inevitable annihilation. She could not
• 2:39:36
  Speaker 4: work on such a day, or weave fancies to stir
• 2:39:39
  Speaker 4: pulses and warmer blood Chapter twenty. It was during such
• 2:39:44
  Speaker 4: a mood that Edna hunted Mademoiselle race She had not
• 2:39:48
  Speaker 4: forgotten the rather disagreeable impression left upon her by their
• 2:39:52
  Speaker 4: last interview, but she nevertheless felt the desire to see her,
• 2:39:56
  Speaker 4: above all to listen while she played upon the piano.
• 2:40:00
  Speaker 4: Quite early in the afternoon, she started upon her quest
• 2:40:02
  Speaker 4: for the pianist. Unfortunately, she had mislaid or lost Mademoiselle
• 2:40:06
  Speaker 4: Reye's guard, and looking up in her address in the
• 2:40:09
  Speaker 4: city directory, she found that the woman lived on Bayville Street,
• 2:40:13
  Speaker 4: some distance away. The directory which fell into her hands
• 2:40:17
  Speaker 4: were a year or more old, however, and upon reaching
• 2:40:20
  Speaker 4: the number indicated, Edna discovered that the house was occupied
• 2:40:24
  Speaker 4: by a respectable family of Mulattos, which had Chambregerny to left.
• 2:40:29
  Speaker 4: They had been living there for six months and knew
• 2:40:32
  Speaker 4: absolutely nothing of Mademoiselle Rence. In fact, they knew nothing
• 2:40:36
  Speaker 4: of any of their neighbors. Their lodgers were all people
• 2:40:39
  Speaker 4: of the highest distinction, they assured Edna. She did not
• 2:40:42
  Speaker 4: linger to discuss class distinctions with Madame Pouponne, but hastened
• 2:40:46
  Speaker 4: to a neighboring grocery store, feeling sure that Mademoiselle should
• 2:40:50
  Speaker 4: have left her address with the proprietor. He knew Mademoiselle
• 2:40:54
  Speaker 4: Rence a good deal better than he wanted to know her,
• 2:40:56
  Speaker 4: and inform his questioner. In truth, he did not want
• 2:41:00
  Speaker 4: to know her at all, or anything concerning her, the
• 2:41:03
  Speaker 4: most disagreeable and unpopular woman who ever lived on Beaeyville Street.
• 2:41:08
  Speaker 4: He thanked Heaven that she had left the neighborhood, and
• 2:41:10
  Speaker 4: was equally thankful that he did not know where she
• 2:41:13
  Speaker 4: had gone. Edna's desire to see Mademoiselle Rise had increased
• 2:41:17
  Speaker 4: tenfold since these unlooking for obstacles, had arisen to toward it.
• 2:41:22
  Speaker 4: She was wondering who should give her the information she
• 2:41:26
  Speaker 4: sawt when it suddenly occurred to her that Madame Lebrun
• 2:41:29
  Speaker 4: would be the most likely to do so. She knew
• 2:41:32
  Speaker 4: it was useless to ask Madame Ratignolle, who was on
• 2:41:35
  Speaker 4: the most distant terms with the musician and preferred to
• 2:41:38
  Speaker 4: know nothing to concerning her. She had once been almost
• 2:41:42
  Speaker 4: as emphatic in expressing herself upon the subject as the
• 2:41:45
  Speaker 4: grocery owner. Edna knew that Madame Lebrun had returned to
• 2:41:49
  Speaker 4: the city, for it was the middle of November, and
• 2:41:52
  Speaker 4: she also knew where de Lebrun lived on Chartres Street.
• 2:41:56
  Speaker 4: Their home from the outside looked like a prison, with
• 2:41:59
  Speaker 4: iron bars before the door and lower windows. The iron
• 2:42:03
  Speaker 4: bars were a relic of an old resume, and no
• 2:42:06
  Speaker 4: one had ever thought of dislodging them. At the side
• 2:42:10
  Speaker 4: was a high fence enclosing the garden. A gate or
• 2:42:13
  Speaker 4: door opening upon the street was locked. Edna rang the
• 2:42:17
  Speaker 4: bell at the side garden gate and stood upon the buquette,
• 2:42:21
  Speaker 4: waiting to be admitted. It was Victor who opened the
• 2:42:24
  Speaker 4: gate for her. A black woman wiping her hands upon
• 2:42:27
  Speaker 4: her apron was close at his heels. Before she saw them,
• 2:42:31
  Speaker 4: Edna could hear them in altercation. The woman plainly an anomaly,
• 2:42:36
  Speaker 4: claiming the right to be allowed to perform her duties,
• 2:42:39
  Speaker 4: one of which was to answer the bell. Victor was
• 2:42:42
  Speaker 4: surprised and delighted to see Missus Pontellier, and he made
• 2:42:45
  Speaker 4: no attempt to conceal either his astonishment or his delight.
• 2:42:49
  Speaker 4: He was a dark brown, good looking youngster of nineteen,
• 2:42:52
  Speaker 4: greatly resembling his mother. But when ten times her impetuosity
• 2:42:58
  Speaker 4: instructed the black woman to go at once and inform
• 2:43:00
  Speaker 4: Madame Lebrun that Missus Pontellier desired to see her, the
• 2:43:04
  Speaker 4: woman grumbled a refusal to do part of her duty
• 2:43:07
  Speaker 4: when she had not been permitted to do it at all,
• 2:43:09
  Speaker 4: and started back to her interrupted task of weeding the garden,
• 2:43:14
  Speaker 4: whereupon Victor administered a rebuke in the form of a
• 2:43:17
  Speaker 4: volley of abuse, which, owing to its rapidity and incoherence,
• 2:43:22
  Speaker 4: was all but incomprehensible to Edna. Whatever it was, the
• 2:43:25
  Speaker 4: rebuke was convincing, for the woman dropped her hoe and
• 2:43:29
  Speaker 4: went mumbling into the house. Edna did not wish to enter.
• 2:43:33
  Speaker 4: It was very pleasant there on the side porch, where
• 2:43:36
  Speaker 4: there were chairs, a wicker lounge and a small table.
• 2:43:40
  Speaker 4: She seated herself, for she was tired from her long trap,
• 2:43:44
  Speaker 4: and she began to rock gently and smooth out the
• 2:43:46
  Speaker 4: folds of her silk parasol. Victor drew up his chair
• 2:43:50
  Speaker 4: beside her. He at once explained that the black woman's
• 2:43:53
  Speaker 4: offensive conduct was all due to imperfect training, as he
• 2:43:57
  Speaker 4: was not there to take her in hand. He had
• 2:43:59
  Speaker 4: only come up from the island the morning before and
• 2:44:01
  Speaker 4: expected to return the next day. He stayed all winter
• 2:44:04
  Speaker 4: at the island. He lived there and kept the place
• 2:44:07
  Speaker 4: in order, and got things ready for the summer visitors.
• 2:44:10
  Speaker 4: But a man needed occasional relaxation, and he informed missus Pontellier,
• 2:44:15
  Speaker 4: And every now and again he drummed up a pretext
• 2:44:17
  Speaker 4: to bring him to the city. My but he had
• 2:44:20
  Speaker 4: had a time of it in the evening before. He
• 2:44:23
  Speaker 4: wouldn't want his mother to know, and he began to
• 2:44:26
  Speaker 4: talk in a whisper. He was scintilliant recollections. Of course,
• 2:44:31
  Speaker 4: he couldn't think of telling Missus Pontellier all about it,
• 2:44:34
  Speaker 4: she being a woman and not comprehending such things. But
• 2:44:38
  Speaker 4: it all began with the girl peeping and smiling at
• 2:44:41
  Speaker 4: him through the shutters as he passed by. Oh but
• 2:44:44
  Speaker 4: she was a beauty, certainly, he smiled back and went
• 2:44:47
  Speaker 4: up and talked to her. Missus Pontellier did not know him,
• 2:44:50
  Speaker 4: if she supposed he was one to let an opportunity
• 2:44:54
  Speaker 4: like that escape him despite herself, the youngster amused her.
• 2:44:58
  Speaker 4: She must have betrayed in her look some degree you
• 2:45:00
  Speaker 4: of interest or entertainment. The boy grew more daring, and
• 2:45:04
  Speaker 4: Missus Pontellier might have found herself in a little while
• 2:45:06
  Speaker 4: listening to a highly colored story. But for the timely
• 2:45:09
  Speaker 4: appearance of Madame Lebrun. That lady was still clad in
• 2:45:14
  Speaker 4: white according to her custom of the summer. Her eyes
• 2:45:17
  Speaker 4: beam an effusive welcome. Would not missus Pontellier go inside?
• 2:45:23
  Speaker 4: How she partake of some refreshment? Why had she not
• 2:45:26
  Speaker 4: been there before? How is that, dear mister Pontellier, And
• 2:45:30
  Speaker 4: how were their sweet children at Missus Pontellier ever known
• 2:45:33
  Speaker 4: such a warm November? Victor went and reclined on the
• 2:45:37
  Speaker 4: wicker lounge behind his mother's chair, where he commanded a
• 2:45:40
  Speaker 4: view of Edna's face he had taken her parasol from
• 2:45:43
  Speaker 4: her hands while he spoke to her, and now he
• 2:45:46
  Speaker 4: lifted it and twirled it above him as he lay
• 2:45:48
  Speaker 4: on his back. When Madame Lebrun complained that it was
• 2:45:52
  Speaker 4: so dull coming back to the city, that she saw
• 2:45:55
  Speaker 4: so few people. Now that even Victor, when he came
• 2:45:58
  Speaker 4: up from the island for a day or two, had
• 2:46:00
  Speaker 4: so much to occupy him and engage in time, then
• 2:46:03
  Speaker 4: it was that the youth went into contortions on the
• 2:46:06
  Speaker 4: lounge and winked slyly at Edna. She somehow felt like
• 2:46:10
  Speaker 4: a confederate in crime, and tried to look severe and disapproving.
• 2:46:14
  Speaker 4: There had been but two letters from Robert, with little
• 2:46:17
  Speaker 4: in them, they told her, and Victor said it was
• 2:46:21
  Speaker 4: really not worth while to go inside for the letters.
• 2:46:23
  Speaker 4: When his mother entreated him to go and search for them,
• 2:46:26
  Speaker 4: he remembered the contents, which in truth he rattled off
• 2:46:29
  Speaker 4: very ghibly when put to the test. One letter was
• 2:46:33
  Speaker 4: written from Vera, Cruz, and the other from the city
• 2:46:35
  Speaker 4: of Mexico. He had met Montelle, which was doing everything
• 2:46:40
  Speaker 4: towards his advancement. So far, the financial situation was no
• 2:46:44
  Speaker 4: improvement over the one he had left in New Orleans,
• 2:46:47
  Speaker 4: but of course the prospects were vastly better. He wrote
• 2:46:50
  Speaker 4: of the city of Mexico, and the buildings, the people,
• 2:46:53
  Speaker 4: and their habits, the condition of life which he found there.
• 2:46:57
  Speaker 4: He sent his love to the family. He in closed
• 2:47:00
  Speaker 4: the check to his mother and hoped that she would
• 2:47:02
  Speaker 4: affectionately remember him to all his friends. That was about
• 2:47:05
  Speaker 4: the substance of the two letters. Edna felt that if
• 2:47:08
  Speaker 4: there had been a message for her, she would have
• 2:47:10
  Speaker 4: received it. The despondent frame of mind in which she
• 2:47:13
  Speaker 4: had left home began again to overtake her, and she
• 2:47:17
  Speaker 4: remembered that she wished to find Mademoiselle Rese. Madame Lebrun
• 2:47:20
  Speaker 4: knew where Mademoiselle Rece lived. She gave Edna the address,
• 2:47:24
  Speaker 4: regretting that she would not consent to stay and spend
• 2:47:26
  Speaker 4: the remainder of the afternoon and pay a visit Mademoiselle
• 2:47:29
  Speaker 4: Rese someother day. The afternoon was already well advanced. Victor
• 2:47:34
  Speaker 4: escorted her out upon the banquette, lifted her parasol, and
• 2:47:38
  Speaker 4: held it over her while he walked to the car
• 2:47:40
  Speaker 4: with her. He entreated her to bear in mind that
• 2:47:43
  Speaker 4: the disclosures of the afternoon were strictly confidential. She laughed
• 2:47:47
  Speaker 4: and bantered him a little, remembering too late that she
• 2:47:50
  Speaker 4: should have been dignified and reserved. How handsome missus Pontellier looked,
• 2:47:55
  Speaker 4: said Madame Lebrun to his son, ravishingly admitted. The city
• 2:47:59
  Speaker 4: atmosphere as improved her in some ways, doesn't seem like
• 2:48:02
  Speaker 4: the same woman. End of chapter sixteen to twenty.
• 2:48:09
  Speaker 5: Chapter twenty one. Some people contended that the reason Mademoiselle
• 2:48:15
  Speaker 5: Rouch always chose apartments up under the roof was to
• 2:48:18
  Speaker 5: discourage the approach of beggars, peddlers, and callers. There were
• 2:48:22
  Speaker 5: plenty of windows in her little front room. They were
• 2:48:25
  Speaker 5: for the most part dingy, but as they were nearly
• 2:48:27
  Speaker 5: always open, it did not make so much difference. They
• 2:48:30
  Speaker 5: often admitted into the room a good deal of smoke
• 2:48:33
  Speaker 5: and soot, but at the same time all the light
• 2:48:35
  Speaker 5: and air that there was came through them. From her
• 2:48:38
  Speaker 5: windows could be seen the crescent of the river, the
• 2:48:41
  Speaker 5: masts of ships, and the big chimneys of the Mississippi steamers.
• 2:48:45
  Speaker 5: A magnificent piano crowded the apartment. In the next room
• 2:48:48
  Speaker 5: she slept, and in the third and last she harboured
• 2:48:51
  Speaker 5: a gasoline stove on which she cooked her meals when
• 2:48:54
  Speaker 5: disinclined to descend to the neighboring restaurant. It was there
• 2:48:58
  Speaker 5: also that she ate her belongings in a rare old buffet,
• 2:49:02
  Speaker 5: dingy and battered from a hundred years of use. When
• 2:49:05
  Speaker 5: Edna knocked at mademoiselle rightious front room door and entered,
• 2:49:09
  Speaker 5: she discovered that person standing beside the window engaged in
• 2:49:13
  Speaker 5: mending war patching an old prunallgator. The little musician laughed
• 2:49:18
  Speaker 5: all over when she saw Edna. Her laugh consisted of
• 2:49:21
  Speaker 5: a contortion of the face and all the muscles of
• 2:49:24
  Speaker 5: the body. She seemed strikingly homely standing there in the
• 2:49:27
  Speaker 5: afternoon light. She still wore the shabby lace and the
• 2:49:31
  Speaker 5: artificial bunch of flowers on the side of her head.
• 2:49:35
  Speaker 5: So you remembered me at last, said Mademoiselle. I had
• 2:49:39
  Speaker 5: said to myself, ah, bah, she will never come. Did
• 2:49:43
  Speaker 5: you want me to come, asked Edna with a smile.
• 2:49:46
  Speaker 5: I had not thought much about it, answered Mademoiselle. The
• 2:49:51
  Speaker 5: two had seated themselves on a little bumpy sofa, which
• 2:49:54
  Speaker 5: stood against the wall. I am glad, however, that you came,
• 2:49:58
  Speaker 5: I have the water boiling and was just about to
• 2:50:01
  Speaker 5: make some coffee. You will drink a cup with me?
• 2:50:04
  Speaker 5: And how is La belle dam Always handsome, always healthy,
• 2:50:09
  Speaker 5: always contented? She took Edna's hand between her strong, wiry fingers,
• 2:50:14
  Speaker 5: holding it closely without warmth, and executing a sort of
• 2:50:18
  Speaker 5: double theme upon the back and palm. Yes, she went on.
• 2:50:23
  Speaker 5: I sometimes thought she will never come, she promised, as
• 2:50:27
  Speaker 5: those women in society always do without meaning it. She
• 2:50:31
  Speaker 5: will not come, for I really don't believe you like me,
• 2:50:34
  Speaker 5: missus Pontellier. I don't know whether I like you or not,
• 2:50:39
  Speaker 5: replied Edna, gazing down at the little woman with a
• 2:50:42
  Speaker 5: quizzical look. The candor of missus Pontellier's admission greatly pleased
• 2:50:46
  Speaker 5: Mademoiselle Rush. She expressed her gratification by repairing forthwith to
• 2:50:51
  Speaker 5: the region of the gasolene stove and rewarding her guest
• 2:50:55
  Speaker 5: with the promised cup of coffee. The coffee and the
• 2:50:58
  Speaker 5: biscuit accompanying it proved very acceptable to Edna, who had
• 2:51:02
  Speaker 5: declined refreshment at Madame Lebrun's and was now beginning to
• 2:51:05
  Speaker 5: feel hungry. Mademoiselle set the tray, which she brought in
• 2:51:09
  Speaker 5: upon a small table near at hand, and seated herself
• 2:51:12
  Speaker 5: once again on the lumpy sofa. I have had a
• 2:51:15
  Speaker 5: letter from your friend, she remarked, as she poured a
• 2:51:19
  Speaker 5: little cream into Edna's cup and handed it to her.
• 2:51:22
  Speaker 1: My friend.
• 2:51:24
  Speaker 5: Yes, your friend Robert, He wrote to me from the
• 2:51:27
  Speaker 5: city of Mexico, wrote to you, repeated Edna, in amazement,
• 2:51:32
  Speaker 5: stirring her coffee absently. Yes to me, why not don't
• 2:51:38
  Speaker 5: stir all the warmth out of your coffee? Drink it?
• 2:51:41
  Speaker 5: Though the letter might as well have been sent to you.
• 2:51:44
  Speaker 5: It was nothing but missus Pontellier from beginning to end.
• 2:51:48
  Speaker 5: Let me see it, requested the young woman entreatingly. No,
• 2:51:52
  Speaker 5: a letter concerns no one but the person who writes
• 2:51:55
  Speaker 5: it and the one to whom it is written. Haven't
• 2:51:58
  Speaker 5: you just said it concerned me? For I'm beginning to end.
• 2:52:01
  Speaker 5: It was written about you, not to you. E hem.
• 2:52:05
  Speaker 5: Have you seen missus Pontellier. How is she looking? He asks,
• 2:52:10
  Speaker 5: as missus Pontellier says, or as Missus Pontellier once said,
• 2:52:15
  Speaker 5: if Missus Pontellier should call upon you, play for her.
• 2:52:18
  Speaker 5: That impromptu of Chopin's my favorite. I heard it here
• 2:52:21
  Speaker 5: a day or two ago, but not as you play it.
• 2:52:24
  Speaker 5: I should like to know how it affects her, and
• 2:52:26
  Speaker 5: so on, as if he supposed we were constantly in
• 2:52:29
  Speaker 5: each other's society. Let me see the letter. Oh, No,
• 2:52:34
  Speaker 5: have you answered it?
• 2:52:36
  Speaker 1: No?
• 2:52:37
  Speaker 5: Let me see the letter no, and again no. Then
• 2:52:41
  Speaker 5: play the impromptu for me. It's growing late. What time
• 2:52:45
  Speaker 5: do you have to be home? Time doesn't concern me.
• 2:52:48
  Speaker 5: Your question seems a little rude. Play the impromptu that
• 2:52:53
  Speaker 5: you've told me nothing of yourself? What are you doing?
• 2:52:56
  Speaker 5: Hah painting? Laughed Edna, I am becoming an artist? Think
• 2:53:01
  Speaker 5: of it? Ah, an artist? You have pretensions, madame? Why pretensions?
• 2:53:07
  Speaker 5: Do you think I could not become an artist? I
• 2:53:09
  Speaker 5: do not know you well enough to say I do
• 2:53:12
  Speaker 5: not know your talent or your temperament. To be an
• 2:53:14
  Speaker 5: artist includes much. One must possess many gifts, absolute gifts
• 2:53:19
  Speaker 5: which have not been acquired by one's own effort. And moreover,
• 2:53:22
  Speaker 5: to succeed, the artist must possess the courageous soul. What
• 2:53:26
  Speaker 5: do you mean by the courageous soul? Courageous ma foi,
• 2:53:31
  Speaker 5: the brave soul, the soul that dares and defies. Show
• 2:53:36
  Speaker 5: me the letter and play for me the impromptu. You
• 2:53:38
  Speaker 5: see that I have persistence? Does that quality count for
• 2:53:41
  Speaker 5: anything in art? He It counts with a foolish old
• 2:53:45
  Speaker 5: woman whom you have captivated, replied Mademoiselle, with her wriggling laugh.
• 2:53:51
  Speaker 5: The letter was right there at hand, in the drawer
• 2:53:53
  Speaker 5: of the little table upon which Edna had just placed
• 2:53:55
  Speaker 5: her coffee cup. Mademoiselle opened the drawer and drew forth
• 2:53:59
  Speaker 5: the letter, the topmost one. She placed it in Edna's hands, and,
• 2:54:03
  Speaker 5: without further comment, arose and went to the piano. Mademoiselle
• 2:54:07
  Speaker 5: played a soft interlude. It was an improvisation. She sat
• 2:54:11
  Speaker 5: low at the instrument, and the lines of her body
• 2:54:14
  Speaker 5: settled into ungraceful curves and angles that gave it an
• 2:54:17
  Speaker 5: appearance of deformity. Gradually and imperceptibly, the interlude melted into
• 2:54:23
  Speaker 5: the soft opening minor chords of the chopin impromptu. Edna
• 2:54:27
  Speaker 5: did not know when the impromptu began or ended. She
• 2:54:30
  Speaker 5: sat in the sofa corner reading Robert's letter. By the
• 2:54:33
  Speaker 5: fading light. Mademoiselle had glided from the Chopin into the
• 2:54:37
  Speaker 5: quivering love notes of Ialdi's song, and back again to
• 2:54:40
  Speaker 5: the impromptu with its soulful and poignant longing. The shadows
• 2:54:45
  Speaker 5: deepened in the little room. The music grew strange and fantastic, turbulent, insistent, plaintive,
• 2:54:51
  Speaker 5: and soft with entreaty, the shadows grew deeper. The music
• 2:54:56
  Speaker 5: filled the room. It floated out upon the night, over
• 2:54:59
  Speaker 5: the house, the crescent of the river, losing itself in
• 2:55:03
  Speaker 5: the silence of the upper air. Edna was sobbing, just
• 2:55:07
  Speaker 5: as she had wept one midnight at grand Isle. When
• 2:55:09
  Speaker 5: strange new voices awoke in her She arose in some
• 2:55:13
  Speaker 5: agitation to take her departure. May I come again, Mademoiselle,
• 2:55:18
  Speaker 5: she asked, at the threshold, Come whenever you feel like it.
• 2:55:22
  Speaker 5: Be careful, the stairs and landings are dark. Don't stumble.
• 2:55:27
  Speaker 5: Mademoiselle re entered and lit a candle. Robert's letter was
• 2:55:31
  Speaker 5: on the floor. She stooped and picked it up. It
• 2:55:34
  Speaker 5: was crumpled and damp with tears. Mademoiselle smoothed the letter out,
• 2:55:39
  Speaker 5: restored it to the envelope, and replaced it in the
• 2:55:42
  Speaker 5: table drawer. End of Chapter twenty one. Chapter twenty two,
• 2:55:53
  Speaker 5: one morning, on his way into town, mister Pontellier stopped
• 2:55:56
  Speaker 5: at the house of his old friend and family physician,
• 2:55:59
  Speaker 5: doctor Mandeleai. The doctor was a semi retired physician, resting
• 2:56:03
  Speaker 5: as the saying is, upon his laurels. He bore a
• 2:56:06
  Speaker 5: reputation for wisdom rather than skill, leaving the active practice
• 2:56:10
  Speaker 5: of medicine to his assistants and younger contemporaries, and was
• 2:56:14
  Speaker 5: much sought for in matters of consultation. A few families
• 2:56:17
  Speaker 5: united to him by bonds of friendship, he still attended
• 2:56:20
  Speaker 5: when they required the services of a physician. The Pontelliers
• 2:56:24
  Speaker 5: were among these. Mister Pontellier found the doctor reading at
• 2:56:28
  Speaker 5: the open window of his study. His house stood rather
• 2:56:31
  Speaker 5: far back from the street, in the center of a
• 2:56:34
  Speaker 5: delightful garden, so that it was quiet and peaceful at
• 2:56:37
  Speaker 5: the old gentleman's study window. He was a great reader.
• 2:56:41
  Speaker 5: He stared up disapprovingly over his eye glasses as mister
• 2:56:44
  Speaker 5: Pontellier entered, wondering who had the temerity to disturb him
• 2:56:48
  Speaker 5: at that hour of the morning. Ah, Pontellier, not sick,
• 2:56:52
  Speaker 5: I hope come in a sat What news do you
• 2:56:56
  Speaker 5: bring this morning? He was quite portly with a profusion
• 2:56:59
  Speaker 5: of gray hair and small blue eyes, which age had
• 2:57:02
  Speaker 5: robbed of much of their brightness, but none of their penetration.
• 2:57:07
  Speaker 5: Oh I'm never sick, doctor, You know that I come
• 2:57:10
  Speaker 5: of tough fiber, of that old creole race of Pontellier's
• 2:57:13
  Speaker 5: that dry up and finally blow away. I came to consult, No,
• 2:57:17
  Speaker 5: not precisely to consult, to talk to you about Edna.
• 2:57:21
  Speaker 5: I don't know what ails her, Madame Pontellier, not well,
• 2:57:26
  Speaker 5: marveled the doctor. Why I saw her? I think it
• 2:57:29
  Speaker 5: was a week ago, walking along Canal Street, the picture
• 2:57:32
  Speaker 5: of health, it seemed to me. Yes, yes, she seems
• 2:57:36
  Speaker 5: quite well, said mister Pontellier, leaning forward and whirling his
• 2:57:40
  Speaker 5: stick between his two hands. But she doesn't act well.
• 2:57:44
  Speaker 5: She's odd. She's not like herself. I can't make her out,
• 2:57:48
  Speaker 5: and I thought perhaps you'd help me. How does she act?
• 2:57:51
  Speaker 5: Inquired the doctor. Well it isn't easy to explain, said
• 2:57:56
  Speaker 5: mister Pontellier, throwing himself back in his chair. She lets
• 2:58:00
  Speaker 5: a housekeeping go to the Dickens. Well, well, women are
• 2:58:04
  Speaker 5: not all alike, my dear Pontellier. We've got to consider.
• 2:58:08
  Speaker 5: I know that I told you I couldn't explain her
• 2:58:11
  Speaker 5: whole attitude towards me and everybody, and everything has changed.
• 2:58:15
  Speaker 5: You know, I have a quick temper, but I don't
• 2:58:18
  Speaker 5: want to quarrel or be rude to a woman, especially
• 2:58:21
  Speaker 5: my wife. Yet I'm driven to it, and I feel
• 2:58:24
  Speaker 5: like ten thousand devils after I've made a fool of myself.
• 2:58:27
  Speaker 5: She's making it devilishly uncomfortable for me, he went on nervously.
• 2:58:32
  Speaker 5: She's got some sort of notion in her head concerning
• 2:58:35
  Speaker 5: the eternal rights of women. And you understand we meet
• 2:58:39
  Speaker 5: in the morning at the breakfast table. The old gentleman
• 2:58:43
  Speaker 5: lifted his shaggy eyebrows, protruded his thick nether lip, and
• 2:58:47
  Speaker 5: tapped the arms of his chair with his cushioned finger tips.
• 2:58:51
  Speaker 5: What have you been doing to her, Pontellier, doing parbleu? Has?
• 2:58:57
  Speaker 5: She asked the doctor with a smile. Has she been
• 2:59:00
  Speaker 5: associating of late with a circle of pseudo intellectual women,
• 2:59:04
  Speaker 5: super spiritual, superior beings. My wife has been telling me
• 2:59:08
  Speaker 5: about them. That's the trouble broke in, mister Pontellier. She
• 2:59:13
  Speaker 5: hasn't been associating with any one. She has abandoned her
• 2:59:17
  Speaker 5: tuesdays at home and has thrown over all her acquaintances
• 2:59:21
  Speaker 5: and goes tramping about by herself, moping in the street
• 2:59:24
  Speaker 5: cars getting in after dark. I tell you she's peculiar.
• 2:59:28
  Speaker 5: I don't like it. I feel a little worried over it.
• 2:59:32
  Speaker 5: This was a new aspect for the doctor. Nothing hereditary,
• 2:59:36
  Speaker 5: he asked, seriously. Nothing peculiar about her family? Antecedentci is there? Oh? No, no,
• 2:59:43
  Speaker 5: Indeed she comes of sound old Presbyterian Kentucky stock. The
• 2:59:48
  Speaker 5: old gentleman her father I've heard used to atone for
• 2:59:51
  Speaker 5: his week day sins, with his Sunday devotions. I know
• 2:59:55
  Speaker 5: for a fact that his race horses literally ran away
• 2:59:58
  Speaker 5: with the prettiest bit of Kentucky fire armingland. I have
• 3:00:00
  Speaker 5: laid eyes upon Margaret. You know Margaret, she has all
• 3:00:04
  Speaker 5: the Presbyterianism undiluted, and the youngest is something of a vixen.
• 3:00:09
  Speaker 5: By the way. She gets married in a couple of
• 3:00:11
  Speaker 5: weeks from now. Send your wife up to the wedding,
• 3:00:15
  Speaker 5: exclaimed the doctor, foreseeing a happy solution. Let her stay
• 3:00:19
  Speaker 5: among her own people for a while. It will do
• 3:00:21
  Speaker 5: her good. That's what I want her to do. She
• 3:00:25
  Speaker 5: won't go to the marriage, She says a wedding is
• 3:00:28
  Speaker 5: one of the most lamentable spectacles on earth. Nice thing
• 3:00:31
  Speaker 5: for a woman to say to her husband, exclaimed mister Pontellier,
• 3:00:35
  Speaker 5: fuming anew at the recollection, Pontellier said the doctor, after
• 3:00:40
  Speaker 5: a moment's reflection, let your wife alone for a while.
• 3:00:44
  Speaker 5: Don't bother her, and don't let her bother you. Woman,
• 3:00:48
  Speaker 5: my dear friend, is a very peculiar and delicate organism.
• 3:00:52
  Speaker 5: A sensitive and highly organized woman, such as I know
• 3:00:55
  Speaker 5: missus Pontellier to be, is especially peculiar. It would we require
• 3:01:00
  Speaker 5: an inspired psychologist to deal successfully with them. And when
• 3:01:04
  Speaker 5: ordinary fellows like you and me attempt to cope with
• 3:01:07
  Speaker 5: their idiosyncrasies, the result is bungling. Most women are moody
• 3:01:11
  Speaker 5: and whimsical. This is some passing whim of your wife,
• 3:01:15
  Speaker 5: but due to some cause or causes which you and
• 3:01:17
  Speaker 5: I needn't try to fathom. But it will pass happily over,
• 3:01:21
  Speaker 5: especially if you let her alone. Send her around to
• 3:01:25
  Speaker 5: see me. Oh, I couldn't do that, There'd be no
• 3:01:29
  Speaker 5: reason for it, objected mister Pontellier. Then I'll go around
• 3:01:33
  Speaker 5: and see her, said the doctor. I'll drop in to
• 3:01:37
  Speaker 5: dinner some evening en bon ami. Do by all means,
• 3:01:42
  Speaker 5: urged mister Pontellier, what evening will you come? Say Thursday?
• 3:01:47
  Speaker 5: Will you come Thursday? He asked, rising to take his
• 3:01:50
  Speaker 5: leave very well. Thursday. My wife may possibly have some
• 3:01:54
  Speaker 5: engagement for me Thursday. In case she has, I shall
• 3:01:57
  Speaker 5: let you know. Otherwise you may excpt effect me. Mister
• 3:02:01
  Speaker 5: Pontellier turned before leaving to say, I am going to
• 3:02:05
  Speaker 5: New York on business very soon. I have a big
• 3:02:08
  Speaker 5: scheme on hand, and I want to be on the
• 3:02:10
  Speaker 5: field proper to pull the ropes and handle the ribbons.
• 3:02:13
  Speaker 5: We'll let you in on the inside if you say so, doctor,
• 3:02:16
  Speaker 5: he laughed. No, I thank you, my dear sir, returned
• 3:02:20
  Speaker 5: the doctor. I leave such ventures to you younger men,
• 3:02:23
  Speaker 5: with the fever of life still in your blood. What
• 3:02:26
  Speaker 5: I wanted to say, continued mister Pontellier, with his hand
• 3:02:30
  Speaker 5: on the knob. I may have to be absent for
• 3:02:32
  Speaker 5: a good while. Would you advise me to take Edna
• 3:02:36
  Speaker 5: long by all means? If she wishes to go, if
• 3:02:40
  Speaker 5: not leave her here, don't contradict her. The mood will pass.
• 3:02:44
  Speaker 5: I assure you it may take a month two three, months,
• 3:02:48
  Speaker 5: possibly longer, but it will pass. Have patience well, good
• 3:02:53
  Speaker 5: bye a jade, said mister Pontellier as he let himself out.
• 3:02:58
  Speaker 5: The doctor would have liked, during the course of the
• 3:03:01
  Speaker 5: conversation to ask is there any man in the case?
• 3:03:05
  Speaker 5: But he knew his creole too well to make such
• 3:03:08
  Speaker 5: a blunder, as that he did not resume his book immediately,
• 3:03:12
  Speaker 5: but sat for a while meditatively, looking out into the garden.
• 3:03:18
  Speaker 5: End of chapter twenty two. Chapter twenty three. Edna's father
• 3:03:26
  Speaker 5: was in the city and had been with them several days.
• 3:03:29
  Speaker 5: She was not very warmly or deeply attached to him,
• 3:03:32
  Speaker 5: but they had certain tastes in common, and when together
• 3:03:35
  Speaker 5: they were companionable. His coming was in the nature of
• 3:03:39
  Speaker 5: a welcome disturbance. It seemed to furnish a new direction
• 3:03:42
  Speaker 5: for her emotions. He had come to purchase a wedding
• 3:03:45
  Speaker 5: gift for his daughter Janet, and an outfit for himself
• 3:03:49
  Speaker 5: in which he might make a creditable appearance at her marriage.
• 3:03:52
  Speaker 5: Mister Pontellier had selected the bridal gift, as every one
• 3:03:55
  Speaker 5: immediately connected with him always deferred to his taste in
• 3:03:59
  Speaker 5: such matters, and his suggestions on the question of dress,
• 3:04:02
  Speaker 5: which too often assumes the nature of a problem, were
• 3:04:06
  Speaker 5: of inestimable value to his father in law. But for
• 3:04:09
  Speaker 5: the past few days the old gentleman had been upon
• 3:04:12
  Speaker 5: Edna's hands, and in his society she was becoming acquainted
• 3:04:15
  Speaker 5: with a new set of sensations. He had been a
• 3:04:18
  Speaker 5: colonel in the Confederate Army, and still maintained with the
• 3:04:22
  Speaker 5: title the military bearing which had always accompanied it. His
• 3:04:26
  Speaker 5: hair and mustache were white and silky, emphasizing the rugged
• 3:04:29
  Speaker 5: bronze of his face. He was tall and thin, and
• 3:04:33
  Speaker 5: wore his coats padded, which gave a fictitious breadth and
• 3:04:36
  Speaker 5: depth to his shoulders and chest. Edna and her father
• 3:04:40
  Speaker 5: looked very distinguished together, and excited a good deal of
• 3:04:43
  Speaker 5: notice during their perambulations. Upon his arrival, she began by
• 3:04:47
  Speaker 5: introducing him to her atelier and making a sketch of him.
• 3:04:51
  Speaker 5: He took the whole matter very seriously. If her talent
• 3:04:55
  Speaker 5: had been tenfold greater than it was, it would not
• 3:04:57
  Speaker 5: have surprised him. Convinced as he was that he had
• 3:05:00
  Speaker 5: bequeathed to all of his daughters the gems of a
• 3:05:03
  Speaker 5: masterful capability which only depended upon their own efforts to
• 3:05:07
  Speaker 5: be directed towards successful achievement. Before her pencil, he sat
• 3:05:12
  Speaker 5: rigid and unflinching, as he had faced the cannon's mouth
• 3:05:15
  Speaker 5: in days gone by. He resented the intrusion of the children,
• 3:05:19
  Speaker 5: who gaped with wondering eyes at him, sitting so stiff
• 3:05:22
  Speaker 5: up there in their mother's bright artelier. When they drew near,
• 3:05:25
  Speaker 5: he motioned them away with an expressive action of the foot,
• 3:05:29
  Speaker 5: loath to disturb the fixed lines of his countenance, his arms,
• 3:05:33
  Speaker 5: or his rigid shoulders. Edna anxious to entertain him, invited
• 3:05:37
  Speaker 5: Mademoiselle Rech to meet him, having promised him a treat
• 3:05:40
  Speaker 5: in her piano playing, But Mademoiselle declined the invitation, so
• 3:05:45
  Speaker 5: together they attended a soiree musicale at the Ratignoles. Monsieur
• 3:05:50
  Speaker 5: and Madame Ratignole made much of the colonel, installing him
• 3:05:53
  Speaker 5: as the guest of honor and engaging him at once
• 3:05:56
  Speaker 5: to dine with them the following Sunday, or at any
• 3:05:59
  Speaker 5: day which he might select. Madame coquetted with him in
• 3:06:02
  Speaker 5: the most captivating and naive manner, with eyes, gestures, and
• 3:06:06
  Speaker 5: a profusion of compliments, till the colonel's old head felt
• 3:06:10
  Speaker 5: thirty years younger on his padded shoulders. Edna marveled, not
• 3:06:14
  Speaker 5: comprehending she herself was almost devoid of coquetry. There were
• 3:06:19
  Speaker 5: one or two men whom she observed at the soiree musicale,
• 3:06:22
  Speaker 5: but she would never have felt moved to any kittenish
• 3:06:25
  Speaker 5: display to attract their notice, to any feline or feminine
• 3:06:29
  Speaker 5: wiles to express herself toward them. Their personality attracted her
• 3:06:33
  Speaker 5: in an agreeable way. Her fancy selected them, and she
• 3:06:37
  Speaker 5: was glad when a lull in the music gave them
• 3:06:39
  Speaker 5: an opportunity to meet her and talk with her. Often
• 3:06:43
  Speaker 5: on the street. The glance of strange eyes had lingered
• 3:06:45
  Speaker 5: in her memory and sometimes had disturbed her. Mister Pontellier
• 3:06:50
  Speaker 5: did not attend these soiree musicales. He considered them bourgeois
• 3:06:54
  Speaker 5: and found more diversion at the club. To Madame Ratignoll,
• 3:06:58
  Speaker 5: he said the music to dispensed at her soirees was too heavy,
• 3:07:03
  Speaker 5: too far beyond his untrained comprehension. His excuse flattered her,
• 3:07:08
  Speaker 5: but she disapproved of mister Pontellier's club, and she was
• 3:07:11
  Speaker 5: frank enough to tell Edna, so it's a pity mister
• 3:07:15
  Speaker 5: Pontellier doesn't stay home more in the evenings. I think
• 3:07:18
  Speaker 5: you would be more well, if you don't mind my
• 3:07:21
  Speaker 5: saying it, more united if he did. Oh no, dear,
• 3:07:26
  Speaker 5: said Edna, with a blank look in her eyes. What
• 3:07:29
  Speaker 5: should I do if he stayed home? We wouldn't have
• 3:07:31
  Speaker 5: anything to say to each other. She had not much
• 3:07:34
  Speaker 5: of anything to say to her father, for that matter,
• 3:07:37
  Speaker 5: but he did not antagonize her. She discovered that he
• 3:07:41
  Speaker 5: interested her, though she realized that he might not interest
• 3:07:44
  Speaker 5: her long, and for the first time in her life,
• 3:07:46
  Speaker 5: she felt as if she were thoroughly acquainted with him.
• 3:07:49
  Speaker 5: He kept her busy serving him and ministering to his wants.
• 3:07:53
  Speaker 5: It amused her to do so. She would not permit
• 3:07:55
  Speaker 5: a servant or one of the children to do anything
• 3:07:58
  Speaker 5: for him which she might do herself. Her husband noticed
• 3:08:01
  Speaker 5: and thought it was the expression of a deep filial
• 3:08:04
  Speaker 5: attachment which he had never suspected. The colonel drank numerous
• 3:08:08
  Speaker 5: toddies during the course of the day, which left him, however, imperturbed.
• 3:08:13
  Speaker 5: He was an expert at concocting strong drinks. He had
• 3:08:17
  Speaker 5: even invented some to which he had given fantastic names,
• 3:08:20
  Speaker 5: and for whose manufacture he required diverse ingredients that it
• 3:08:24
  Speaker 5: devolved upon Edna to procure for him. When Doctor Mandelaer
• 3:08:28
  Speaker 5: dined with the Pontelliers on Thursday, he could discern in
• 3:08:31
  Speaker 5: Missus Pontellier no trace of that morbid condition which her
• 3:08:35
  Speaker 5: husband had reported to him. She was excited and in
• 3:08:38
  Speaker 5: a manner radiant. She and her father had been to
• 3:08:41
  Speaker 5: the race course, and their thoughts when they seated themselves
• 3:08:45
  Speaker 5: at table, were still occupied with the events of the afternoon,
• 3:08:48
  Speaker 5: and their talk was still of the track. The doctor
• 3:08:51
  Speaker 5: had not kept pace with turf affairs. He had certain
• 3:08:55
  Speaker 5: recollections of racing in what he called the good old
• 3:08:58
  Speaker 5: times when the Lecomte stable flourished, and he drew upon
• 3:09:01
  Speaker 5: this fund of memories so that he might not be
• 3:09:04
  Speaker 5: left out and seem wholly devoid of the modern spirit.
• 3:09:07
  Speaker 5: But he failed to impose upon the Colonel, and was
• 3:09:10
  Speaker 5: even far from impressing him with his trumped up knowledge
• 3:09:13
  Speaker 5: of by gone days. Edna had staked her father on
• 3:09:16
  Speaker 5: his last venture, with the most gratifying results to both
• 3:09:20
  Speaker 5: of them. Besides, they had met some very charming people.
• 3:09:23
  Speaker 5: According to the colonel's impressions, Missus Mortimer Merriman and Missus
• 3:09:28
  Speaker 5: James high Camp, who were there with alsat Arobin, had
• 3:09:31
  Speaker 5: joined them and had enlivened the hours in a fashion
• 3:09:34
  Speaker 5: that warmed him to think of. Mister Pontellier himself had
• 3:09:38
  Speaker 5: no particular leaning toward horse racing, and was even rather
• 3:09:41
  Speaker 5: inclined to discourage it as a pastime, especially when he
• 3:09:45
  Speaker 5: considered the fate of that bluegrass farm in Kentucky. He
• 3:09:48
  Speaker 5: endeavored in a general way to express a particular disapproval,
• 3:09:52
  Speaker 5: and only succeeded in arousing the ire and opposition of
• 3:09:55
  Speaker 5: his father in law. A pretty dispute followed, in which
• 3:09:59
  Speaker 5: Edna warmed espoused her father's cause and the doctor remained neutral.
• 3:10:03
  Speaker 5: He observed his hostess attentively from under his shaggy brows,
• 3:10:07
  Speaker 5: and noted a subtle change which had transformed her from
• 3:10:10
  Speaker 5: the listless woman he had known into a being who,
• 3:10:13
  Speaker 5: for the moment seemed palpitant with the forces of life.
• 3:10:17
  Speaker 5: Her speech was warm and energetic. There was no repression
• 3:10:21
  Speaker 5: in her glance or gesture. She reminded him of some beautiful,
• 3:10:24
  Speaker 5: sleek animal waking up in the sun. The dinner was excellent,
• 3:10:29
  Speaker 5: the claret was warm, and the Champagne was cold, and
• 3:10:32
  Speaker 5: under their beneficent influence, the threatened unpleasantness melted and vanished.
• 3:10:36
  Speaker 5: With the fumes of the wine. Mister Pontellier warmed up
• 3:10:40
  Speaker 5: and grew reminiscent. He told some amusing plantation experiences, recollections
• 3:10:45
  Speaker 5: of old Iberville and his youth. When he hunted possum
• 3:10:48
  Speaker 5: in company with some friendly darky thrashed the pecan trees,
• 3:10:52
  Speaker 5: shot the grow back, and roamed the woods and fields
• 3:10:55
  Speaker 5: in mischievous idleness. The colonel, with little sense of humor
• 3:10:59
  Speaker 5: and of the fitness of things, related a somber episode
• 3:11:02
  Speaker 5: of those dark and bitter days in which he had
• 3:11:04
  Speaker 5: acted a conspicuous part and always formed a central figure.
• 3:11:09
  Speaker 5: Nor was the doctor happier in his selection when he
• 3:11:11
  Speaker 5: told the old, ever new and curious story of the
• 3:11:14
  Speaker 5: waning of a woman's love, seeking strange new channels, only
• 3:11:19
  Speaker 5: to return to its legitimate source after days of fierce unrest.
• 3:11:23
  Speaker 5: It was one of the many little human documents which
• 3:11:26
  Speaker 5: had been unfolded to him during his long career as
• 3:11:29
  Speaker 5: a physician. The story did not seem especially to impress Edna.
• 3:11:33
  Speaker 5: She had one of her own to tell, of a
• 3:11:35
  Speaker 5: woman who paddled away with her lover one night in
• 3:11:38
  Speaker 5: a pirogue and never came back. They were lost amid
• 3:11:42
  Speaker 5: the Baritarian Islands, and no one ever heard of them
• 3:11:45
  Speaker 5: or found trace of them from that day to this.
• 3:11:48
  Speaker 5: It was a pure invention. She said that Madame Antoine
• 3:11:51
  Speaker 5: had related it to her. That also was an invention.
• 3:11:55
  Speaker 5: Perhaps it was a dream she had had, But every
• 3:11:58
  Speaker 5: glowing word seemed real to those who listened. They could
• 3:12:02
  Speaker 5: feel the hot breath of the southern night. They could
• 3:12:05
  Speaker 5: hear the long sweep of the pirogue through the glistening
• 3:12:07
  Speaker 5: moonlit water, the beating of the bird's wings rising startled
• 3:12:11
  Speaker 5: from among the reeds in the salt water pools. They
• 3:12:14
  Speaker 5: could see the faces of the lovers, pale close together,
• 3:12:18
  Speaker 5: wrapt in oblivious forgetfulness, drifting into the unknown. The champagne
• 3:12:23
  Speaker 5: was cold, and its subtle fumes played fantastic tricks with
• 3:12:27
  Speaker 5: Edna's memory. That night, outside, away from the glow of
• 3:12:31
  Speaker 5: the fire and the soft lamplight, the night was chill
• 3:12:34
  Speaker 5: and murky. The doctor doubled his old fashioned cloak across
• 3:12:37
  Speaker 5: his breast as he strode home through the darkness. He
• 3:12:41
  Speaker 5: knew his fellow creatures better than most men, knew that
• 3:12:44
  Speaker 5: inner life, which so seldom unfolds itself to unanointed eyes.
• 3:12:49
  Speaker 5: He was sorry he had accepted Pontellier's invitation. He was
• 3:12:53
  Speaker 5: growing old and beginning to need rest and an imperturbed spirit.
• 3:12:57
  Speaker 5: He did not want the secrets of other lives thrust
• 3:13:00
  Speaker 5: upon him. I hope it is an arabaan, he muttered
• 3:13:04
  Speaker 5: to himself as he walked. I hope to heaven. It isn't,
• 3:13:08
  Speaker 5: I'll say arabaan end of chapter twenty three. Chapter twenty four,
• 3:13:19
  Speaker 5: Edna and her father had a warm and almost violent
• 3:13:22
  Speaker 5: dispute upon the subject of her refusal to attend her
• 3:13:25
  Speaker 5: sister's wedding. Mister Pontellier declined to interfere to interpose either
• 3:13:30
  Speaker 5: his influence or his authority. He was following doctor Mandelai's
• 3:13:34
  Speaker 5: advice and letting her do as she liked. The colonel
• 3:13:37
  Speaker 5: reproached his daughter for her lack of filial kindness and respect,
• 3:13:41
  Speaker 5: her want of sisterly affection and womanly consideration. His arguments
• 3:13:46
  Speaker 5: were labored and unconvincing. He doubted if Janet would accept
• 3:13:50
  Speaker 5: any excuse forgetting that Edna had offered none. He doubted
• 3:13:54
  Speaker 5: if Janet would ever speak to her again, and he
• 3:13:57
  Speaker 5: was sure Margaret would not, and was glad to be
• 3:14:00
  Speaker 5: rid of her father. When he finally took himself off
• 3:14:03
  Speaker 5: with his wedding garments and his bridal gifts, with his
• 3:14:06
  Speaker 5: padded shoulders, his bible, reading, his toddies and ponderous oaths,
• 3:14:11
  Speaker 5: mister Pontellier followed him closely. He meant to stop at
• 3:14:15
  Speaker 5: the wedding on his way to New York and endeavor
• 3:14:17
  Speaker 5: by every means which money and love could devise to
• 3:14:20
  Speaker 5: atone somewhat for Edna's incomprehensible action. You are too lenient,
• 3:14:26
  Speaker 5: too lenient by far, leonce asserted the colonel. Authority coercion
• 3:14:31
  Speaker 5: are what is needed. Put your foot down, good and
• 3:14:34
  Speaker 5: hard the only way to manage a wife. Take my
• 3:14:37
  Speaker 5: word for it. The colonel was perhaps unaware that he
• 3:14:41
  Speaker 5: had coerced his own wife into her grave. Mister Pontellier
• 3:14:45
  Speaker 5: had a vague suspicion of it, which he thought it
• 3:14:47
  Speaker 5: needless to mention. At that late day, Edna was not
• 3:14:51
  Speaker 5: so consciously gratified at her husband's leaving home as she
• 3:14:54
  Speaker 5: had been over the departure of her father. As the
• 3:14:57
  Speaker 5: day approached when he was to leave her for a compact,
• 3:15:00
  Speaker 5: arratably long stay, she grew melting and affectionate, remembering his
• 3:15:04
  Speaker 5: many acts of consideration and his repeated expressions of an
• 3:15:08
  Speaker 5: ardent attachment. She was solicitous about his health and his welfare.
• 3:15:13
  Speaker 5: She bustled around looking after his clothing, thinking about heavy underwear,
• 3:15:18
  Speaker 5: quite as Madame Ratignole would have done under similar circumstances.
• 3:15:22
  Speaker 5: She cried when he went away, calling him her dear
• 3:15:26
  Speaker 5: good friend, and she was quite certain she would grow
• 3:15:29
  Speaker 5: lonely before very long and go to join him in
• 3:15:31
  Speaker 5: New York. But after all, a radiant peace settled upon her.
• 3:15:36
  Speaker 5: When she at last found herself alone, even the children
• 3:15:39
  Speaker 5: were gone. Old Madame Pontellier had come herself and carried
• 3:15:44
  Speaker 5: them off to Iberville with their quadroon. The Old Madame
• 3:15:47
  Speaker 5: did not venture to say she was afraid they would
• 3:15:50
  Speaker 5: be neglected during Leonce's absence. She hardly ventured to think so.
• 3:15:55
  Speaker 5: She was hungry for them, even a little fierce in
• 3:15:57
  Speaker 5: her attachment. She did not want want them to be
• 3:16:00
  Speaker 5: wholly children of the pavement, she always said when begging
• 3:16:04
  Speaker 5: to have them for a space. She wished them to
• 3:16:07
  Speaker 5: know the country with its streams, its fields, its woods,
• 3:16:11
  Speaker 5: its freedom, so delicious to the young she wished them
• 3:16:15
  Speaker 5: to taste something of the life their father had lived
• 3:16:18
  Speaker 5: and known and loved when he too was a little child.
• 3:16:22
  Speaker 5: When Edna was at last alone, she breathed a big,
• 3:16:25
  Speaker 5: genuine sigh of relief. A feeling that was unfamiliar but
• 3:16:28
  Speaker 5: very delicious came over her. She walked all through the house,
• 3:16:33
  Speaker 5: from one room to another, as if inspecting it for
• 3:16:36
  Speaker 5: the first time. She tried the various chairs and lounges
• 3:16:40
  Speaker 5: as if she had never sat and reclined upon them before.
• 3:16:43
  Speaker 5: And she perambulated around the outside of the house, investigating,
• 3:16:47
  Speaker 5: looking to see if windows and shutters were secure and
• 3:16:50
  Speaker 5: in order. The flowers were like new acquaintances. She approached
• 3:16:55
  Speaker 5: them in a familiar spirit and made herself at home
• 3:16:58
  Speaker 5: among them. The gardens were damp, and Edna called to
• 3:17:02
  Speaker 5: the maid to bring out her rubber sandals, and there
• 3:17:05
  Speaker 5: she stayed and stooped, digging around the plants, trimming, picking
• 3:17:09
  Speaker 5: dead dry leaves. The children's little dog came out, interfering,
• 3:17:14
  Speaker 5: getting in her way. She scolded him, laughed at him,
• 3:17:18
  Speaker 5: played with him. The garden smelled so good and looked
• 3:17:22
  Speaker 5: so pretty in the afternoon sunlight. Edna plucked all the
• 3:17:25
  Speaker 5: bright flowers she could find and went into the house
• 3:17:28
  Speaker 5: with them, she and the little dog. Even the kitchen
• 3:17:32
  Speaker 5: assumed a sudden interesting character which she had never before perceived.
• 3:17:37
  Speaker 5: She went in to give directions to the cook, to
• 3:17:39
  Speaker 5: say that the butcher would have to bring much less meat,
• 3:17:42
  Speaker 5: that they would require only half their usual quantity of bread,
• 3:17:45
  Speaker 5: of milk, and groceries. She told the cook that she
• 3:17:49
  Speaker 5: herself would be greatly occupied during mister Pontellier's absence, and
• 3:17:53
  Speaker 5: she begged her to take all thought and responsibility of
• 3:17:56
  Speaker 5: the larder upon her own shoulders. That night, Edna dined alone.
• 3:18:01
  Speaker 5: The candelabra with a few candies in the center of
• 3:18:04
  Speaker 5: the table gave all the light she needed. Outside the
• 3:18:08
  Speaker 5: circle of light in which she sat, the large dining
• 3:18:11
  Speaker 5: room looked solemn and shadowy. The cook, placed upon her metal,
• 3:18:16
  Speaker 5: served a delicious repast, a luscious tenderloin broiled a point.
• 3:18:21
  Speaker 5: The wine tasted good, the marin glass seemed to be
• 3:18:25
  Speaker 5: just what she wanted. It was so pleasant, too, to
• 3:18:28
  Speaker 5: dine in a comfortable paanoir. She thought a little sentimentally
• 3:18:33
  Speaker 5: about Leonce and the children, and wondered what they were doing.
• 3:18:37
  Speaker 5: As she gave a dainty scrap or two to the doggie,
• 3:18:40
  Speaker 5: she talked intimately to him about Etienne and Raoul. He
• 3:18:44
  Speaker 5: was beside himself with astonishment and delight over these companionable advances,
• 3:18:49
  Speaker 5: and showed his appreciation by his little, quick, snappy barks
• 3:18:52
  Speaker 5: and a lively agitation. Then Edna sat in the library
• 3:18:56
  Speaker 5: after dinner and read Emerson until she grew sleepy. She
• 3:19:00
  Speaker 5: realized that she had neglected her reading and determined to
• 3:19:03
  Speaker 5: start anew upon a course of improving studies, now that
• 3:19:06
  Speaker 5: her time was completely her own to do with as
• 3:19:09
  Speaker 5: she liked. After a refreshing bath, Edna went to bed,
• 3:19:14
  Speaker 5: and as she snuggled comfortably beneath the eider down, a
• 3:19:17
  Speaker 5: sense of restfulness invaded her such as she had not
• 3:19:20
  Speaker 5: known before. End of chapter twenty four. Chapter twenty five,
• 3:19:33
  Speaker 5: when the weather was dark and cloudy, Edna could not work.
• 3:19:36
  Speaker 5: She needed the sun to mellow and temper her mood
• 3:19:39
  Speaker 5: to the sticking point. She had reached a stage when
• 3:19:42
  Speaker 5: she seemed to be no longer feeling her way working
• 3:19:45
  Speaker 5: when in the humor with sureness and ease and being
• 3:19:48
  Speaker 5: devoid of ambition and striving not towards accomplishment, she drew
• 3:19:53
  Speaker 5: satisfaction from the work in itself. On rainy or melancholy days,
• 3:19:58
  Speaker 5: Edna went out and sought the society of the friends
• 3:20:00
  Speaker 5: she had made at grand Isle or else she stayed
• 3:20:03
  Speaker 5: indoors and nursed a mood with which she was becoming
• 3:20:06
  Speaker 5: too familiar for her own comfort and peace of mind.
• 3:20:10
  Speaker 5: It was not despair, but it seemed to her as
• 3:20:13
  Speaker 5: if life were passing by, leaving its promise broken and unfulfilled.
• 3:20:18
  Speaker 5: Yet there were other days when she listened, was led
• 3:20:20
  Speaker 5: on and deceived by fresh promises which her youth held
• 3:20:24
  Speaker 5: out to her. She went again to the races, and
• 3:20:27
  Speaker 5: again al Say Arabin and Missus high Camp called for
• 3:20:30
  Speaker 5: her one bright afternoon in Araban's drag. Missus high Camp
• 3:20:34
  Speaker 5: was a worldly but unaffected, intelligent, slim, tall, blonde woman
• 3:20:39
  Speaker 5: in the forties, with an indifferent manner and blue eyes
• 3:20:42
  Speaker 5: that stared. She had a daughter who served her as
• 3:20:45
  Speaker 5: a pretext for cultivating the society of young men of fashion.
• 3:20:50
  Speaker 5: Al Say Arabin was one of them. He was a
• 3:20:53
  Speaker 5: familiar figure at the race course, the opera, the fashionable clubs,
• 3:20:57
  Speaker 5: There was a perpetual smile in his eyes, which seldom
• 3:21:00
  Speaker 5: failed to awaken a corresponding cheerfulness in any one who
• 3:21:04
  Speaker 5: looked into them and listened to his good humored voice.
• 3:21:07
  Speaker 5: His manner was quiet and at times a little insolent.
• 3:21:11
  Speaker 5: He possessed a good figure, a pleasing face, not overburdened
• 3:21:15
  Speaker 5: with depth of thought or feeling, and his dress was
• 3:21:18
  Speaker 5: that of the conventional man of fashion. He admired Edna
• 3:21:22
  Speaker 5: extravagantly after meeting her at the races with her father.
• 3:21:26
  Speaker 5: He had met her before on other occasions, but she
• 3:21:29
  Speaker 5: had seemed to him unapproachable until that day. It was
• 3:21:34
  Speaker 5: at his instigation that Missus high Camp called to ask
• 3:21:36
  Speaker 5: her to go with them to the Jockey Club to
• 3:21:38
  Speaker 5: witness the turf event of the season. There were possibly
• 3:21:42
  Speaker 5: a few track men out there who knew the race
• 3:21:44
  Speaker 5: horse as well as Edna, but there was certainly none
• 3:21:47
  Speaker 5: who knew it better. She sat between her two companions,
• 3:21:50
  Speaker 5: as one having authority to speak. She laughed at Arabain's
• 3:21:54
  Speaker 5: pretensions and deplored Missus Highcamp's ignorance. The race horse was
• 3:21:58
  Speaker 5: a friend and intimate associate of her childhood. The atmosphere
• 3:22:02
  Speaker 5: of the stables, and the breath of the bluegrass paddock
• 3:22:05
  Speaker 5: revived in her memory and lingered in her nostrils. She
• 3:22:09
  Speaker 5: did not perceive that she was talking like her father,
• 3:22:11
  Speaker 5: as the sleek gelding sambled in review before them. She
• 3:22:15
  Speaker 5: played for very high stakes, and fortune favored her. The
• 3:22:19
  Speaker 5: fever of the game flamed in her cheeks and eyes,
• 3:22:22
  Speaker 5: and it got into her blood and into her brain
• 3:22:24
  Speaker 5: like an intoxicant. People turned their heads to look at her,
• 3:22:28
  Speaker 5: and more than one lent an attentive ear to her utterances,
• 3:22:31
  Speaker 5: hoping thereby to secure the elusive but ever desired tip.
• 3:22:36
  Speaker 5: Arobin caught the contagion of excitement, which drew him to
• 3:22:39
  Speaker 5: Edna like a magnet. Missus high Camp remained as usual, unmoved,
• 3:22:44
  Speaker 5: with her indifferent stare and uplifted eyebrows. Edna stayed and
• 3:22:49
  Speaker 5: dined with Missus high Camp, upon being urged to do so.
• 3:22:52
  Speaker 5: Arouban also remained and sent away his drag. The dinner
• 3:22:56
  Speaker 5: was quiet and uninteresting, save for the cheerful efforts of
• 3:22:59
  Speaker 5: Aerowbound to enliven things. Missus high Camp deplored the absence
• 3:23:04
  Speaker 5: of her daughter from the races and tried to convey
• 3:23:07
  Speaker 5: to her what she had missed by going to the
• 3:23:09
  Speaker 5: Dante reading instead of joining them. The girl held a
• 3:23:12
  Speaker 5: geranium leaf up to her nose and said nothing, but
• 3:23:15
  Speaker 5: looked knowing and noncommittal. Mister high Camp was a plain,
• 3:23:19
  Speaker 5: bald headed man who only talked under compulsion. He was unresponsive.
• 3:23:24
  Speaker 5: Missus high Camp was full of delicate courtesy and consideration
• 3:23:28
  Speaker 5: toward her husband. She addressed most of her conversation to
• 3:23:31
  Speaker 5: him at table. They sat in the library after dinner
• 3:23:35
  Speaker 5: and read the evening papers together under the drop light,
• 3:23:38
  Speaker 5: while the younger people went into the drawing room near
• 3:23:40
  Speaker 5: by and talked. Miss high Camp played some selections from
• 3:23:44
  Speaker 5: Grieg upon the piano. She seemed to have apprehended all
• 3:23:47
  Speaker 5: of the composer's coldness and none of his poetry. While
• 3:23:51
  Speaker 5: Edna listened, she could not help wondering if she had
• 3:23:53
  Speaker 5: lost her taste for music. When the time came for
• 3:23:57
  Speaker 5: her to go home, mister high Camp grunted a lame
• 3:24:00
  Speaker 5: offer to escort her, looking down at his slippered feet
• 3:24:03
  Speaker 5: with tactless concern. It was Arabain who took her home.
• 3:24:07
  Speaker 5: The car ride was long, and it was late when
• 3:24:10
  Speaker 5: they reached Esplanade Street, Arabaan asked permission to enter for
• 3:24:14
  Speaker 5: a second to light his cigarette. His match safe was empty.
• 3:24:18
  Speaker 5: He filled his match safe, but did not light his
• 3:24:20
  Speaker 5: cigarette until he left her, after she had expressed her
• 3:24:24
  Speaker 5: willingness to go to the races with him again. Edna
• 3:24:27
  Speaker 5: was neither tired nor sleepy. She was hungry again for
• 3:24:31
  Speaker 5: the high camp dinner, though of excellent quality, had lacked abundance.
• 3:24:35
  Speaker 5: She rummaged in the larder and brought forth a slice
• 3:24:38
  Speaker 5: of gruyere and some crackers. She opened a bottle of beer,
• 3:24:42
  Speaker 5: which she found in the ice box. Edna felt extremely
• 3:24:45
  Speaker 5: restless and excited. She vacantly hummed a fantastic tune as
• 3:24:50
  Speaker 5: she poked at the wood embers on the hearth and
• 3:24:52
  Speaker 5: munched a cracker. She wanted something to happen, something, anything,
• 3:24:57
  Speaker 5: she did not know what. She regretted that she had
• 3:25:01
  Speaker 5: not made Araban stay half an hour to talk over
• 3:25:03
  Speaker 5: the horses with her. She counted the money she had won,
• 3:25:07
  Speaker 5: but there was nothing else to do, so she went
• 3:25:09
  Speaker 5: to bed and tossed there for hours in a sort
• 3:25:12
  Speaker 5: of monotonous agitation. In the middle of the night, she
• 3:25:16
  Speaker 5: remembered that she had forgotten to write her regular letter
• 3:25:19
  Speaker 5: to her husband, and she decided to do so next
• 3:25:22
  Speaker 5: day and tell him about her afternoon at the jockey club.
• 3:25:25
  Speaker 5: She lay wide awake composing a letter which was nothing
• 3:25:28
  Speaker 5: like the one she wrote next day when the maid
• 3:25:31
  Speaker 5: awoke her in the morning. Edna was dreaming of mister
• 3:25:34
  Speaker 5: high Camp playing the piano at the entrance of a
• 3:25:37
  Speaker 5: music store on Canal Street, while his wife was saying
• 3:25:40
  Speaker 5: to Alsay Araban as they boarded an Esplanade street car,
• 3:25:44
  Speaker 5: what a pity that so much talent has been neglected,
• 3:25:48
  Speaker 5: But I must go. When a few days later, a'lsey
• 3:25:52
  Speaker 5: Araban again called for Edna in his drag. Missus high
• 3:25:56
  Speaker 5: Camp was not with him. He said they would pick
• 3:25:58
  Speaker 5: her up, but that lady had not been apprized of
• 3:26:01
  Speaker 5: his intention of picking her up. She was not at home.
• 3:26:05
  Speaker 5: The daughter was just leaving the house to attend the
• 3:26:08
  Speaker 5: meeting of a branch folklore Society and regretted that she
• 3:26:11
  Speaker 5: could not accompany them. Araban appeared nonplussed and asked Edna
• 3:26:15
  Speaker 5: if there were anyone else she cared to ask. She
• 3:26:18
  Speaker 5: did not deem it worth while to go in search
• 3:26:21
  Speaker 5: of any of the fashionable acquaintances from whom she had
• 3:26:23
  Speaker 5: withdrawn herself. She thought of Madame Ratignoll, but knew that
• 3:26:27
  Speaker 5: her fair friend did not leave the house except to
• 3:26:30
  Speaker 5: take a languid walk around the block with her husband
• 3:26:33
  Speaker 5: after nightfall. Mademoiselle Reich would have laughed at such a
• 3:26:37
  Speaker 5: request from Edna. Madame Lebrun might have enjoyed the outing,
• 3:26:41
  Speaker 5: but for some reason Edna did not want her, so
• 3:26:44
  Speaker 5: they went alone. She and Araban. The afternoon was intensely
• 3:26:49
  Speaker 5: interesting to her. The excitement came back upon her like
• 3:26:52
  Speaker 5: a remittent fever. Her talk grew familiar and confidential. It
• 3:26:57
  Speaker 5: was no labor to become intimate with Araban. His manner
• 3:27:01
  Speaker 5: invited easy confidence. The preliminary stage of becoming acquainted was
• 3:27:05
  Speaker 5: one which he always endeavored to ignore when a pretty
• 3:27:08
  Speaker 5: and engaging woman was concerned. He stayed and dined with Edna.
• 3:27:13
  Speaker 5: He stayed and sat beside the wood fire. They laughed
• 3:27:16
  Speaker 5: and talked, and before it was time to go, he
• 3:27:19
  Speaker 5: was telling her how different life might have been if
• 3:27:22
  Speaker 5: he had known her years before. With ingenious frankness, he
• 3:27:26
  Speaker 5: spoke of what a wicked, ill disciplined boy he had been,
• 3:27:30
  Speaker 5: and impulsively drew up his cuff to exhibit upon his
• 3:27:33
  Speaker 5: wrist the scar from a saber cut, which he had
• 3:27:35
  Speaker 5: received in a jewel outside of Paris when he was nineteen.
• 3:27:40
  Speaker 5: She touched his hand as she scanned the red cicatrice
• 3:27:43
  Speaker 5: on the inside of his white wrist. A quick impulse
• 3:27:46
  Speaker 5: that was somewhat spasmodic impelled her fingers to close in
• 3:27:49
  Speaker 5: a sort of clutch upon his hand. He felt the
• 3:27:52
  Speaker 5: pressure of her pointed nails in the flesh of his palm.
• 3:27:56
  Speaker 5: She arose hastily and walked towards the mantel. The light
• 3:28:00
  Speaker 5: of a wound or scar always agitates and sickens me.
• 3:28:04
  Speaker 5: She said, I shouldn't have looked at it. I beg
• 3:28:07
  Speaker 5: your pardon, he entreated, following her. It never occurred to
• 3:28:12
  Speaker 5: me that it might be repulsive. He stood close to her,
• 3:28:16
  Speaker 5: and the effrontery in his eyes repelled the old, vanishing
• 3:28:19
  Speaker 5: self in her, yet drew all her awakening sensuousness. He
• 3:28:23
  Speaker 5: saw enough in her face to impel him to take
• 3:28:26
  Speaker 5: her hand and hold it while he said his lingering
• 3:28:29
  Speaker 5: good night. Will you go to the races again? He
• 3:28:33
  Speaker 5: asked no. She said, I've had enough of the races.
• 3:28:38
  Speaker 5: I don't want to lose all the money I've won,
• 3:28:41
  Speaker 5: and I've got to work when the weather is bright
• 3:28:43
  Speaker 5: instead of yees work to be sure, you promise to
• 3:28:47
  Speaker 5: show me your work.
• 3:28:49
  Speaker 6: What morning?
• 3:28:49
  Speaker 5: May I come up to your etelier tomorrow? No day after?
• 3:28:56
  Speaker 2: No?
• 3:28:56
  Speaker 5: No, oh, please don't refuse me. I know something of
• 3:29:01
  Speaker 5: such things. I might help you with a stray suggestion
• 3:29:04
  Speaker 5: or two. No, good night, why don't you go after
• 3:29:08
  Speaker 5: you have said good night? I don't like you, she
• 3:29:12
  Speaker 5: went on in a high, excited pitch, attempting to draw
• 3:29:15
  Speaker 5: away her hand. She felt that her words lacked dignity
• 3:29:19
  Speaker 5: and sincerity, and she knew that he felt it. I'm
• 3:29:23
  Speaker 5: sorry you don't like me. I'm sorry I offended you.
• 3:29:27
  Speaker 5: How have I offended you? What have I done? Can't
• 3:29:31
  Speaker 5: you forgive me? And he bent down and pressed his
• 3:29:34
  Speaker 5: lips upon her hand, as if he wished nevermore to
• 3:29:37
  Speaker 5: withdraw them. Mister Arabau, she complained, I'm greatly upset by
• 3:29:43
  Speaker 5: the excitement of the afternoon. I'm not myself. My manner
• 3:29:47
  Speaker 5: must have misled you in some way. I wish you
• 3:29:50
  Speaker 5: to go, please, she spoke in a monotonous, dull tone.
• 3:29:55
  Speaker 5: He took his hat from the table and stood with
• 3:29:57
  Speaker 5: eyes turned from her, looking into the dying fo For
• 3:30:01
  Speaker 5: a moment or two, he kept an impressive silence. Your
• 3:30:05
  Speaker 5: manner has not misled me, missus Pontellier, he said. Finally,
• 3:30:09
  Speaker 5: my own emotions have done that. I couldn't help it.
• 3:30:12
  Speaker 5: When I'm near you, how could I help it? Don't
• 3:30:15
  Speaker 5: think anything of it. Don't bother. Please you see, I
• 3:30:19
  Speaker 5: go when you command me. If you wish me to
• 3:30:22
  Speaker 5: stay away, I shall do so. If you let me
• 3:30:25
  Speaker 5: come back, I oh, will you let me come back?
• 3:30:29
  Speaker 5: He cast one appealing glance at her, to which she
• 3:30:31
  Speaker 5: made no response. Alsea Arabin's manner was so genuine that
• 3:30:36
  Speaker 5: it often deceived even himself. Edna did not care or
• 3:30:40
  Speaker 5: think whether it were genuine or not. When she was alone,
• 3:30:43
  Speaker 5: she looked mechanically at the back of her hand, which
• 3:30:46
  Speaker 5: she had kissed so warmly. Then she leaned her head
• 3:30:49
  Speaker 5: down on the mantelpiece. She felt somewhat like a woman who,
• 3:30:53
  Speaker 5: in a moment of passion, is betrayed into an act
• 3:30:55
  Speaker 5: of infidelity and realizes the significance of the act without
• 3:30:59
  Speaker 5: being wholly awakened from its glamor. The thought was passing
• 3:31:03
  Speaker 5: vaguely through her mind. What would he think? She did
• 3:31:08
  Speaker 5: not mean her husband. She was thinking of Robert Lebron.
• 3:31:12
  Speaker 5: Her husband seemed to her now like a person whom
• 3:31:14
  Speaker 5: she had married without love. As an excuse, she lit
• 3:31:18
  Speaker 5: a candle and went up to her room. I'll say
• 3:31:21
  Speaker 5: Arabin was absolutely nothing to her. Yet his presence, his manners,
• 3:31:26
  Speaker 5: the warmth of his glances, and above all, the touch
• 3:31:29
  Speaker 5: of his lips upon her hand had acted like a
• 3:31:31
  Speaker 5: narcotic upon her. She slept a languorous sleep, interwoven with
• 3:31:36
  Speaker 5: vanishing dreams. End of Chapter twenty five.
• 3:31:42
  Speaker 7: Chapter twenty six, Ilse Alberin wrote Edna an elaborate note
• 3:31:47
  Speaker 7: of apology, palpitant with sincerity. It embarrassed her, for, in
• 3:31:52
  Speaker 7: a cooler, quieter moment, it appeared to her absurd that
• 3:31:55
  Speaker 7: she should have taken his action so seriously, so dramatically.
• 3:31:59
  Speaker 7: She felt sure that the significance of the whole occurrence
• 3:32:01
  Speaker 7: had lain in her own self consciousness. If she ignored
• 3:32:05
  Speaker 7: his note, it would give undue importance to a trivial affair.
• 3:32:08
  Speaker 7: If she replied to it in a serious spirit, it
• 3:32:11
  Speaker 7: would still leave in his mind the impression that she
• 3:32:14
  Speaker 7: had in a susceptible moment yielded to his influence. After all,
• 3:32:19
  Speaker 7: it was no great matter to have one's hand kissed.
• 3:32:23
  Speaker 7: She was provoked at his having written the apology. She
• 3:32:26
  Speaker 7: answered in as light and bantering a spirit as she
• 3:32:29
  Speaker 7: fancied it deserved, and said she would be glad to
• 3:32:31
  Speaker 7: have him look in upon her at work whenever he
• 3:32:33
  Speaker 7: felt the inclination, and his business gave him the opportunity.
• 3:32:37
  Speaker 7: He responded at once by presenting himself at her door
• 3:32:40
  Speaker 7: with all his disarming naivete. And then there was scarcely
• 3:32:43
  Speaker 7: a day which followed that she did not see him,
• 3:32:45
  Speaker 7: or was not reminded of him. He was prolific in pretexts.
• 3:32:49
  Speaker 7: His attitude became one of good humored subservience and tacit adoration.
• 3:32:54
  Speaker 7: He was ready at all times to submit to her moods,
• 3:32:56
  Speaker 7: which were as often kind as they were cold. She
• 3:32:59
  Speaker 7: grew accustomed to him. They became intimate and friendly, by
• 3:33:04
  Speaker 7: imperceptible degrees, and then by leaps. He sometimes talked in
• 3:33:08
  Speaker 7: a way that astonished her at first, and brought the
• 3:33:10
  Speaker 7: crimson into her face in a way that pleased her
• 3:33:13
  Speaker 7: at last, appealing to the animalism that stirred impatiently within her.
• 3:33:18
  Speaker 7: There was nothing which so quieted the turmoil of Edna's
• 3:33:21
  Speaker 7: senses as a visit to Mademoiselle raise. It was then,
• 3:33:25
  Speaker 7: in the presence of that personality which was offensive to her,
• 3:33:29
  Speaker 7: that the woman, by her divine art, seemed to reach
• 3:33:32
  Speaker 7: Edna's spirit and set it free. It was misty with
• 3:33:37
  Speaker 7: heavy lowering atmosphere one afternoon when Edna climbed the stairs
• 3:33:41
  Speaker 7: to the pianist's apartments under the roof, her clothes were
• 3:33:44
  Speaker 7: dripping with moisture. She felt chilled and pinched as she
• 3:33:48
  Speaker 7: entered the room. Mademoiselle was poking at a rusty stove
• 3:33:51
  Speaker 7: that smoked a little and warmed the room indifferently. She
• 3:33:55
  Speaker 7: was endeavoring to heat a pot of chocolate on the stove.
• 3:33:58
  Speaker 7: The room looked cheerless and dary to Edna as she entered.
• 3:34:01
  Speaker 7: A bust of beethoven, covered with a hood of dust,
• 3:34:04
  Speaker 7: scowled at her from the mantelpiece. Ah here comes the sunlight,
• 3:34:09
  Speaker 7: exclaimed Mademoiselle, rising from her knees before the stove. Now
• 3:34:13
  Speaker 7: it will be warm and bright enough. I can let
• 3:34:15
  Speaker 7: the fire alone. She closed the stove door with a
• 3:34:18
  Speaker 7: bang and approached, assisting in removing Edna's dripping mackintosh. You
• 3:34:23
  Speaker 7: are cold. You look miserable. The chocolate will soon be hot,
• 3:34:27
  Speaker 7: but would you rather have a taste of brandy? I
• 3:34:29
  Speaker 7: have scarcely touched the bottle which you brought me for
• 3:34:31
  Speaker 7: my cold. A piece of red flannel was wrapped around
• 3:34:34
  Speaker 7: Mademoiselle's throat. A stiff neck compelled her to hold her
• 3:34:37
  Speaker 7: head on one side. I will take some brandy, said Edna,
• 3:34:41
  Speaker 7: shivering as she removed her gloves and overshoes. She drank
• 3:34:45
  Speaker 7: the liquor from the glass as a man would have done. Then,
• 3:34:47
  Speaker 7: flinging herself upon the uncomfortable sofa, she said, Mademoiselle, I
• 3:34:50
  Speaker 7: am going to move away from my house on Esplanade Street. Ah,
• 3:34:55
  Speaker 7: ejaculated the musician, neither surprised nor especially interested, they ever,
• 3:35:00
  Speaker 7: seemed to astonish her very much. She was endeavoring to
• 3:35:03
  Speaker 7: adjust the bunch of violets, which had become loose from
• 3:35:05
  Speaker 7: its fastening in her hair. Edna drew her down upon
• 3:35:08
  Speaker 7: the sofa, and taking a pin from her own hair,
• 3:35:11
  Speaker 7: secured the shabby artificial flowers in their accustomed place. Aren't
• 3:35:16
  Speaker 7: you astonished? Passively? Where you're going to New York, to Iberville,
• 3:35:21
  Speaker 7: to your father in Mississippi, where just two steps away,
• 3:35:25
  Speaker 7: laughed Edna, in a little four room house around the corner.
• 3:35:28
  Speaker 7: It looked so cozy, so inviting and RESTful whenever I
• 3:35:31
  Speaker 7: pass by, and it's for rent. I'm tired of looking
• 3:35:35
  Speaker 7: after that big house. It never seemed like mine anyway,
• 3:35:38
  Speaker 7: like home. There's too much trouble. I have to keep
• 3:35:40
  Speaker 7: too many servants. I'm tired of bothering with them. That
• 3:35:44
  Speaker 7: is not your true reason, Mabel. There's no use in
• 3:35:47
  Speaker 7: telling me lies. I don't know your reason, but you've
• 3:35:50
  Speaker 7: not told me the truth. Edna did not protest or
• 3:35:54
  Speaker 7: endeavor to justify herself. The house, the money that provides
• 3:35:58
  Speaker 7: for it or not mine. Isn't that enough reason? They
• 3:36:01
  Speaker 7: are your husband's, returned mademoiselle, with a shrug and a
• 3:36:04
  Speaker 7: malicious elevation of the eyebrows. Oh, I see there's no
• 3:36:08
  Speaker 7: deceiving you. Then let me tell you it is a caprice.
• 3:36:13
  Speaker 7: I have a little money of my own from my
• 3:36:15
  Speaker 7: mother's estate, which my father sends me by driblets. I
• 3:36:18
  Speaker 7: want a large sum this winter on the races, and
• 3:36:20
  Speaker 7: I am beginning to sell my sketches. Lad poor is
• 3:36:23
  Speaker 7: more and more pleased with my work. He says, it
• 3:36:25
  Speaker 7: grows in force and individuality. I cannot judge of that myself,
• 3:36:29
  Speaker 7: but I feel that I have gained an ease and confidence. However,
• 3:36:33
  Speaker 7: as I said, I have sold a good many through
• 3:36:35
  Speaker 7: led poor I can live in the tiny house for
• 3:36:37
  Speaker 7: a little or nothing, with one servant. Old Celestine, who
• 3:36:41
  Speaker 7: works occasionally for me, says she will come and stay
• 3:36:43
  Speaker 7: with me and do my work. I know I shall
• 3:36:46
  Speaker 7: like it, like the feeling of freedom and independence. What
• 3:36:50
  Speaker 7: does your husband say. I have not told him yet.
• 3:36:54
  Speaker 7: I only thought of it this morning. He will think
• 3:36:56
  Speaker 7: I am demented, no doubt, perhaps you think so, Mademoiselle
• 3:37:00
  Speaker 7: shook her head slowly. Your reason is not yet clear
• 3:37:04
  Speaker 7: to me, she said. Neither was it quite clear to
• 3:37:07
  Speaker 7: Edna herself. But it unfolded itself as she sat for
• 3:37:11
  Speaker 7: a while in silence. Instinct had prompted her to put
• 3:37:14
  Speaker 7: away her husband's bounty in casting off her allegiance. She
• 3:37:17
  Speaker 7: did not know how it would be when he returned.
• 3:37:20
  Speaker 7: There would have to be an understanding, an explanation. Conditions
• 3:37:26
  Speaker 7: would some way adjust themselves, she felt, But whatever came,
• 3:37:29
  Speaker 7: she had resolved never again to belong to another than herself.
• 3:37:34
  Speaker 7: I shall give a grand dinner before I leave the
• 3:37:36
  Speaker 7: old house, Edna exclaimed, You will have to come to it, Mademoiselle.
• 3:37:40
  Speaker 7: I will give you everything that you like to eat
• 3:37:42
  Speaker 7: and drink. We shall sing and laugh and be merry
• 3:37:45
  Speaker 7: for once, and she uttered a sigh that came from
• 3:37:49
  Speaker 7: the very depths of her being. If Mademoiselle happened to
• 3:37:52
  Speaker 7: have received a letter from Robert during the interval of
• 3:37:55
  Speaker 7: Edna's visits, she would give her the letter unsolicited, and
• 3:37:59
  Speaker 7: she would see herself with the piano and play as
• 3:38:01
  Speaker 7: her humor prompted her. While the young woman read the letter,
• 3:38:05
  Speaker 7: the little stove was roaring. It was red hot, and
• 3:38:08
  Speaker 7: the chocolate in the tin sizzled and sputtered. Edna went
• 3:38:11
  Speaker 7: forward and opened the stove door, and Mademoiselle Rising took
• 3:38:15
  Speaker 7: a letter from under the bust of Beethoven and handed
• 3:38:17
  Speaker 7: it to Edna. Another so soon, she exclaimed, her eyes
• 3:38:22
  Speaker 7: filled with delight. Tell me, Mademoiselle, does he know that
• 3:38:25
  Speaker 7: I see his letters? Never in the world. He would
• 3:38:28
  Speaker 7: be angry and would never write to me again if
• 3:38:30
  Speaker 7: he thought so. Does he write to you? Never a line?
• 3:38:33
  Speaker 7: Does he send you a message, never a word. It
• 3:38:35
  Speaker 7: is because he loves you, poor fool, and is trying
• 3:38:38
  Speaker 7: to forget you, since you are not free to listen
• 3:38:40
  Speaker 7: to him or to belong to him. Why do you
• 3:38:43
  Speaker 7: show me his letters? Then? Haven't you begged for them?
• 3:38:46
  Speaker 7: Can I refuse you anything? Oh, you cannot deceive me.
• 3:38:50
  Speaker 7: And Mademoiselle approached her beloved instrument and began to play.
• 3:38:54
  Speaker 7: Edna did not at once read the letter. She sat
• 3:38:57
  Speaker 7: holding it in her hand while the music penetrated her
• 3:39:00
  Speaker 7: whole being like an afflusience, warming and brightening the dark
• 3:39:06
  Speaker 7: places of her soul. It prepared her for joy and exultation. Oh,
• 3:39:13
  Speaker 7: she exclaimed, letting the letter fall to the floor. Why
• 3:39:15
  Speaker 7: did you not tell me? She went and grasped Mademoiselle's
• 3:39:19
  Speaker 7: hands up from the keys. Oh, unkind malicious? Why did
• 3:39:23
  Speaker 7: you not tell me? Then? He was coming back? No
• 3:39:27
  Speaker 7: great news, mau foir. I wonder he did not come
• 3:39:30
  Speaker 7: long ago? But when when cried Edna impatiently, he does
• 3:39:34
  Speaker 7: not say when he says very soon. You know as
• 3:39:38
  Speaker 7: much about it as I do. It's all in the letter.
• 3:39:41
  Speaker 7: But why why is he coming? Oh? If? I thought?
• 3:39:44
  Speaker 7: And she snatched the letter from the floor, and turned
• 3:39:47
  Speaker 7: the pages this way and that way, looking for the
• 3:39:49
  Speaker 7: reason which was left untold. If I were young and
• 3:39:53
  Speaker 7: in love with a man, said Mademoiselle, turning on the
• 3:39:57
  Speaker 7: stool and pressing her wiry hands between her knees as
• 3:39:59
  Speaker 7: she looked Edna, who sat on the floor holding the letter.
• 3:40:03
  Speaker 7: It seems to me he would have to be some
• 3:40:07
  Speaker 7: gonic spree, a man with lofty aims and ability to
• 3:40:12
  Speaker 7: reach them, one who stood high enough to attract the
• 3:40:14
  Speaker 7: notice of his fellow men. It seems to me, if
• 3:40:18
  Speaker 7: I were young and in love, I should never deem
• 3:40:20
  Speaker 7: a man of ordinary caliber worthy of my devotion. Now
• 3:40:25
  Speaker 7: it is you who are telling lies and seeking to
• 3:40:27
  Speaker 7: deceive me, Mademoiselle, or else you have never been in
• 3:40:31
  Speaker 7: love and know nothing about it. Why went on Edna,
• 3:40:35
  Speaker 7: clasping her knees and looking up into Mademoiselle's twisted face.
• 3:40:38
  Speaker 7: Do you suppose a woman knows why she loves? Does
• 3:40:41
  Speaker 7: she select? Does she say to herself, go too, Here
• 3:40:44
  Speaker 7: is a distinguished statesman with presidential possibilities. I shall proceed
• 3:40:48
  Speaker 7: to fall in love with him, or I shall set
• 3:40:51
  Speaker 7: my heart upon this musician, whose fame is on every tongue,
• 3:40:54
  Speaker 7: or this financier who controls the world's money markets. You
• 3:40:59
  Speaker 7: are purposely misunderstanding me, Moraine. Are you in love with Robert? Yes,
• 3:41:07
  Speaker 7: said Edna. It was the first time she had admitted it,
• 3:41:10
  Speaker 7: and a glow overspread her face, blotching it with red spots. Why,
• 3:41:16
  Speaker 7: asked her companion, Why do you love him when you
• 3:41:19
  Speaker 7: ought not to? Edna, with emotion or two, dragged herself
• 3:41:23
  Speaker 7: on her knees before Mademoiselle Reyes, who took the glowing
• 3:41:27
  Speaker 7: face between her two hands. Why because his hair is
• 3:41:32
  Speaker 7: brown and grows away from his temples, because he opens
• 3:41:36
  Speaker 7: and shuts his eyes, and his nose is a little
• 3:41:39
  Speaker 7: out of drawing, because he has two lips and a
• 3:41:42
  Speaker 7: square chin, and a little finger which he can't straighten
• 3:41:45
  Speaker 7: from having played baseball too energetically in his youth. Because
• 3:41:49
  Speaker 7: because you do, in short, laughed Mademoiselle. What will you
• 3:41:54
  Speaker 7: do when he comes back? She asked, do nothing except
• 3:41:59
  Speaker 7: feel glad and happy to be alive. She was already
• 3:42:04
  Speaker 7: glad and happy to be alive. At the mere thought
• 3:42:06
  Speaker 7: of his return. The murky, lowering sky, which had depressed
• 3:42:10
  Speaker 7: her a few hours before, seemed bracing and invigorating as
• 3:42:13
  Speaker 7: she splashed through the streets. On her way home, she
• 3:42:17
  Speaker 7: stopped at a confectioner's and ordered a huge box of
• 3:42:19
  Speaker 7: bonbons for the children in Iberville. She slipped a card
• 3:42:22
  Speaker 7: in the box, on which she scribbled a tender message
• 3:42:25
  Speaker 7: and sent an abundance of kisses before dinner. In the evening,
• 3:42:30
  Speaker 7: Edna wrote a charming letter to her husband, telling him
• 3:42:33
  Speaker 7: of her intention to move for a while into the
• 3:42:35
  Speaker 7: little house around the block, and to give a farewell
• 3:42:38
  Speaker 7: dinner before leaving, regretting that he was not there to
• 3:42:41
  Speaker 7: share it, to help out with the menu and assist
• 3:42:43
  Speaker 7: her in entertaining the guests. Her letter was brilliant and
• 3:42:47
  Speaker 7: brimming with cheerfulness. Chapter twenty seven, What is the matter
• 3:42:54
  Speaker 7: with you? Asked Aubaut that evening. I never found you
• 3:42:57
  Speaker 7: in such a happy mood. Edna was tired by that
• 3:43:00
  Speaker 7: time and was reclining on the lounge before the fire.
• 3:43:03
  Speaker 7: Don't you know the weather prophet has told us we
• 3:43:05
  Speaker 7: shall see the sun pretty soon? Well that ought to
• 3:43:08
  Speaker 7: be reason enough. He acquiesced, you wouldn't give me another
• 3:43:11
  Speaker 7: if I sat here all night imploring you. He sat
• 3:43:14
  Speaker 7: close to her on the low tabouret, and as he spoke,
• 3:43:18
  Speaker 7: his fingers lightly touched the hair that fell a little
• 3:43:21
  Speaker 7: over her forehead. She liked the touch of his fingers
• 3:43:25
  Speaker 7: through her hair and closed her eyes sensitively. One of
• 3:43:29
  Speaker 7: these days, she said, I'm going to pull myself together
• 3:43:32
  Speaker 7: for a while and think, try to determine what character
• 3:43:35
  Speaker 7: of a woman I am. For candidly, I don't know
• 3:43:39
  Speaker 7: by all the codes which I am acquainted with, I
• 3:43:41
  Speaker 7: am a devilishly wicked specimen of the sex. But some
• 3:43:44
  Speaker 7: way I can't convince myself that I am. I must
• 3:43:47
  Speaker 7: think about it, don't what's the use? Why should you
• 3:43:51
  Speaker 7: bother thinking about it when I can tell you what
• 3:43:53
  Speaker 7: manner of woman you are. His fingers strayed occasionally down
• 3:43:57
  Speaker 7: to her warm, smooth cheeks and firm chin, which was
• 3:44:00
  Speaker 7: growing a little full and double. Oh, yes, you will
• 3:44:05
  Speaker 7: tell me that I am adorable everything that is captivating.
• 3:44:08
  Speaker 7: Spare yourself the effort. No, I shan't tell you anything
• 3:44:12
  Speaker 7: of the sort, though I shouldn't be lying if I did.
• 3:44:15
  Speaker 7: Do you know Mademoiselle RaSE, she asked irrelevantly, the pianist.
• 3:44:20
  Speaker 7: I know her by sight. I've heard her play, she
• 3:44:23
  Speaker 7: says queer things, sometimes in a bantering way that you
• 3:44:26
  Speaker 7: don't notice at the time, and you find yourself thinking
• 3:44:29
  Speaker 7: about afterward. For instance, well, for instance, when I left
• 3:44:33
  Speaker 7: her to day, she put her arms around me and
• 3:44:35
  Speaker 7: felt my shoulder blades to see if my wings were strong.
• 3:44:38
  Speaker 7: She said, the bird that would soar above the level
• 3:44:41
  Speaker 7: plain of tradition and prejudice must have strong wings. It
• 3:44:45
  Speaker 7: is a sad spectacle to see the weaklings, bruised, exhausted,
• 3:44:49
  Speaker 7: fluttering back to earth. Whither would you soar? I am
• 3:44:54
  Speaker 7: not thinking of any extraordinary flights. I only half comprehend her.
• 3:44:58
  Speaker 7: I have heard she's partially, said Albert. She seems to
• 3:45:02
  Speaker 7: me wonderfully sane. Edna replied, I'm told she's extremely disagreeable
• 3:45:09
  Speaker 7: and unpleasant. Why have you introduced her at a moment
• 3:45:12
  Speaker 7: when I desired to talk of you? Oh, talk of
• 3:45:15
  Speaker 7: me if you like, cried Edna, clasping her hands beneath
• 3:45:18
  Speaker 7: her head. But let me think of something else while
• 3:45:21
  Speaker 7: you do. I'm jealous of your thoughts to night. They're
• 3:45:25
  Speaker 7: making you a little kinder than usual. But some way
• 3:45:27
  Speaker 7: I feel as if they were wandering, as if they
• 3:45:30
  Speaker 7: were not here with me. She only looked at him
• 3:45:34
  Speaker 7: and smiled. His eyes were very near. He leaned upon
• 3:45:39
  Speaker 7: the lounge with an arm extended across her, while the
• 3:45:41
  Speaker 7: other hand still rested upon her hair. They continued silently
• 3:45:45
  Speaker 7: to look into each other's eyes. When he leaned forward
• 3:45:49
  Speaker 7: and kissed her, she clasped his head, holding his lips
• 3:45:52
  Speaker 7: to hers. It was the first kiss of her life
• 3:45:55
  Speaker 7: to which her nature had really responded. It was a
• 3:45:58
  Speaker 7: flaming torch that kindled desire. Chapter twenty eight. Edna cried
• 3:46:05
  Speaker 7: a little that night after Robert left her. It was
• 3:46:08
  Speaker 7: only one phase of the multitudinous emotions which had assailed her.
• 3:46:12
  Speaker 7: There was with her an overwhelming feeling of irresponsibility. There
• 3:46:18
  Speaker 7: was the shock of the unexpected and the unaccustomed. There
• 3:46:21
  Speaker 7: was her husband's reproach, looking at her from the external
• 3:46:24
  Speaker 7: things around her, which he had provided for her external existence.
• 3:46:29
  Speaker 7: There was Robert's reproach, making itself felt by a quicker, fiercer,
• 3:46:33
  Speaker 7: more overpowering love which had awakened within her toward him.
• 3:46:38
  Speaker 7: Above all, there was understanding. She felt as if a
• 3:46:43
  Speaker 7: mist had been lifted from her eyes, enabling her to
• 3:46:45
  Speaker 7: look upon and comprehend the significance of life That monster
• 3:46:51
  Speaker 7: made up of beauty and brutality. But among the conflicting
• 3:46:54
  Speaker 7: sensations which assailed her, there was neither shame nor remorse.
• 3:46:59
  Speaker 7: There was a dull of regret, because it was not
• 3:47:02
  Speaker 7: the kiss of love which had inflamed her, because it
• 3:47:06
  Speaker 7: was not love which had held this cup of life
• 3:47:09
  Speaker 7: to her lips, chapter twenty nine. Without even waiting for
• 3:47:16
  Speaker 7: an answer from her husband regarding his opinion or wishes
• 3:47:19
  Speaker 7: in the matter, Edna hastened her preparations for quitting her
• 3:47:22
  Speaker 7: home on Esplanade Street and moving into the little house
• 3:47:25
  Speaker 7: around the block. A feverish anxiety attended her every action
• 3:47:29
  Speaker 7: in that direction. There was no moment of deliberation, no
• 3:47:33
  Speaker 7: interval of repose between the thought and its fulfillment. Early
• 3:47:37
  Speaker 7: upon the morning following those hours passed in Acrobat's society,
• 3:47:41
  Speaker 7: Edna set about securing her new abode and hurrying her
• 3:47:45
  Speaker 7: arrangements for occupying it. Within the precincts of her home,
• 3:47:49
  Speaker 7: she felt like one who has entered and lingered within
• 3:47:52
  Speaker 7: the portals of some forbidden temple, in which a thousand
• 3:47:56
  Speaker 7: muffled voices bade her be gone. Whatever was her own
• 3:48:00
  Speaker 7: in the house, everything which she had acquired aside from
• 3:48:03
  Speaker 7: her husband's bounty. She caused to be transported to the
• 3:48:06
  Speaker 7: other house, supplying simple and meager deficiencies from her own resources.
• 3:48:11
  Speaker 7: Arouba found her with rolled sleeves, working in company with
• 3:48:15
  Speaker 7: the housemaid. When he looked in during the afternoon, she
• 3:48:18
  Speaker 7: was splendid and robust, and had never appeared handsomer than
• 3:48:22
  Speaker 7: in the old blue gown. With a red silk handkerchief
• 3:48:25
  Speaker 7: knotted at random around her head to protect her hair
• 3:48:28
  Speaker 7: from the dust, she was mounted upon a high step ladder,
• 3:48:31
  Speaker 7: unhooking a picture from the wall. When he entered, he
• 3:48:34
  Speaker 7: had found the front door open and had followed his
• 3:48:37
  Speaker 7: ring by walking in unceremoniously. Come down, he said, you
• 3:48:41
  Speaker 7: want to kill yourself? She greeted him with affected carelessness
• 3:48:44
  Speaker 7: and appeared absorbed in her own occupation. If edix, he
• 3:48:49
  Speaker 7: was no doubt prepared for any emergency, ready for any
• 3:48:52
  Speaker 7: of the foregoing attitudes, just as he bent himself easily
• 3:48:55
  Speaker 7: and naturally to the situation which confronted him. Please come down,
• 3:49:00
  Speaker 7: he insisted, holding the ladder and looking up at her. No,
• 3:49:03
  Speaker 7: she answered, Ellen is afraid to mount the ladder. Joe
• 3:49:06
  Speaker 7: is working over at the Pigeon House. That's the name
• 3:49:09
  Speaker 7: Ellen gives it because it's so small and looks like
• 3:49:11
  Speaker 7: a pigeon house, and some one has to do this.
• 3:49:15
  Speaker 7: Arom Bin pulled off his coat and expressed himself ready
• 3:49:18
  Speaker 7: and willing to tempt fate. In her place, Ellen brought
• 3:49:21
  Speaker 7: him one of her dust caps and went into contortions
• 3:49:24
  Speaker 7: of mirth, which she found it impossible to control when
• 3:49:26
  Speaker 7: she saw him put it on before the mirror as
• 3:49:28
  Speaker 7: grotesquely as he could. Edna herself could not refrain from
• 3:49:32
  Speaker 7: smiling when she fastened it at his request. So it
• 3:49:35
  Speaker 7: was he who in turn mounted the ladder, unhooking pictures
• 3:49:38
  Speaker 7: and curtains, and dislodging ornaments as Edna directed. When he
• 3:49:43
  Speaker 7: had finished, he took off his dust cap and went
• 3:49:45
  Speaker 7: out to wash his hands. Edna was sitting on the
• 3:49:48
  Speaker 7: tabouat idly brushing the tips of a feather duster along
• 3:49:52
  Speaker 7: the carpet when he came in again. Is there anything
• 3:49:55
  Speaker 7: more you will let me do? He asked, That is all,
• 3:49:58
  Speaker 7: she answered, Ellen can manage the rest. She kept the
• 3:50:01
  Speaker 7: young woman occupied in the drawing room, unwilling to be
• 3:50:04
  Speaker 7: left alone with Albert. What about the dinner, he asked?
• 3:50:08
  Speaker 7: The grand event the coupdittar, It will be day after tomorrow.
• 3:50:12
  Speaker 7: Why do you call it the coupdeta? Oh, it will
• 3:50:15
  Speaker 7: be very fine, all my best of everything, crystal, silver
• 3:50:19
  Speaker 7: and gold, severe flowers, music and champagnees women. I'll let
• 3:50:24
  Speaker 7: Laos pay the bills. I wonder what he'll say when
• 3:50:27
  Speaker 7: he sees the bills. And you ask me why I
• 3:50:30
  Speaker 7: call it a coupd'etar Aarrobert put on his coat, and
• 3:50:34
  Speaker 7: he stood before her and asked if his cravat was plumb.
• 3:50:38
  Speaker 7: She told him it was, looking no higher than the
• 3:50:40
  Speaker 7: tip of his collar. When do you go to the
• 3:50:43
  Speaker 7: pigeon house with all due acknowledgment to Ellen? Day after
• 3:50:47
  Speaker 7: to morrow, after the dinner, I shall sleep there. Ellen,
• 3:50:51
  Speaker 7: will you very kindly get me a glass of water,
• 3:50:54
  Speaker 7: asked Arobas the dust in the curtains, if you will
• 3:50:56
  Speaker 7: pardon me for hinting such a thing has parched my
• 3:50:59
  Speaker 7: throat to a crisp. Well, Ellen gets the water, said Edna, rising.
• 3:51:04
  Speaker 7: I will say good bye and let you go. I
• 3:51:06
  Speaker 7: must get rid of this grime, and I have a
• 3:51:08
  Speaker 7: million things to do and think of. When shall I
• 3:51:11
  Speaker 7: see you, asked Arobin, seeking to detain her the maid
• 3:51:14
  Speaker 7: having left the room at the dinner. Of course, you
• 3:51:16
  Speaker 7: are invited not before, not to night, or to morrow morning,
• 3:51:21
  Speaker 7: or to morrow noon or night, or the day after
• 3:51:23
  Speaker 7: morning or noon. Can't you see yourself without my telling
• 3:51:25
  Speaker 7: you what an eternity it is? He had followed her
• 3:51:29
  Speaker 7: into the hall and to the foot of the stairway,
• 3:51:31
  Speaker 7: looking up at her as she mounted, with her face
• 3:51:33
  Speaker 7: half turned to him. Not an instant sooner, she said,
• 3:51:37
  Speaker 7: But she laughed and looked at him with eyes that
• 3:51:40
  Speaker 7: at once gave him courage to wait, and made it
• 3:51:43
  Speaker 7: torture to wait. Chapter thirty. Though Edna had spoken of
• 3:51:48
  Speaker 7: the dinner as a very grand affair, it was in
• 3:51:51
  Speaker 7: truth a very small affair and very select insomuch as
• 3:51:55
  Speaker 7: the guests invited were few and were selected with discrimination.
• 3:51:59
  Speaker 7: She had counted upon an even dozen, seating themselves at
• 3:52:02
  Speaker 7: her round mahogany board, forgetting for the moment that Madame
• 3:52:06
  Speaker 7: Ratignolle was to the last degree suffrante and unpresentable, and
• 3:52:10
  Speaker 7: not foreseeing that Madame Lebrun would send a thousand regrets
• 3:52:14
  Speaker 7: at the last moment. So there were only ten, after all,
• 3:52:18
  Speaker 7: which made a cozy, comfortable number. There were mister Missus Merriman,
• 3:52:22
  Speaker 7: a pretty vivacious little woman in the thirties, her husband
• 3:52:25
  Speaker 7: a jovial fellow, something of a shallow pate, who laughed
• 3:52:29
  Speaker 7: a good deal at other people's witticisms, and had thereby
• 3:52:32
  Speaker 7: made himself extremely popular. Missus high Camp had accompanied them.
• 3:52:36
  Speaker 7: Of course, there was Alseer Robert and Mademoiselle Rees had
• 3:52:40
  Speaker 7: consented to come. Edna had sent her a fresh bunch
• 3:52:43
  Speaker 7: of violets with black lace trimmings for her hair. Monsieur
• 3:52:46
  Speaker 7: Ratignolle brought himself and his wife's excuses. Victor Lebruis, who
• 3:52:51
  Speaker 7: happened to be in the city, bent upon relaxation, had
• 3:52:55
  Speaker 7: accepted with alacrity. There was miss Mayblunt, no longer in
• 3:52:59
  Speaker 7: her teen, who looked at the world through lorgnettes and
• 3:53:02
  Speaker 7: with the keenest interest. It was thought and said that
• 3:53:06
  Speaker 7: she was intellectual. It was suspected of her that she
• 3:53:09
  Speaker 7: wrote under a nom de guerre. She had come with
• 3:53:12
  Speaker 7: a gentleman by the name of Gouvernail, connected with one
• 3:53:16
  Speaker 7: of the daily papers, of whom nothing special could be said,
• 3:53:19
  Speaker 7: except that he was observant and seemed quiet and inoffensive.
• 3:53:23
  Speaker 7: Edna herself made the tenth, and at half past eight,
• 3:53:26
  Speaker 7: they seated themselves at table, Robert and Monsieur Ratiugnelle on
• 3:53:30
  Speaker 7: either side of their hostess. Missus high Camp sat between
• 3:53:34
  Speaker 7: Robert and Victor Lebrun. Then came Missus Merrimont, mister Gouvernaille,
• 3:53:40
  Speaker 7: miss May Blunt, Mister Merrimont, and Mademoiselle Reyes sat next
• 3:53:44
  Speaker 7: to Monsieur Ratignelle. There was something extremely gorgeous about the
• 3:53:49
  Speaker 7: appearance of the table, an effect of splendor conveyed by
• 3:53:53
  Speaker 7: a cover of pale yellow satin under strips of lace work.
• 3:53:58
  Speaker 7: There were wax candles in mass, massive brass candelabra burning
• 3:54:02
  Speaker 7: softly under yellow silk shades. Full fragrant roses, yellow and
• 3:54:07
  Speaker 7: red abounded. There were silver and gold, as she had
• 3:54:11
  Speaker 7: said there would be, and crystal which glittered like the
• 3:54:14
  Speaker 7: gems which the women wore. The ordinary stiff dining chairs
• 3:54:18
  Speaker 7: had been discarded for the occasion and replaced by the
• 3:54:21
  Speaker 7: most commodious and luxurious which could be collected throughout the house.
• 3:54:26
  Speaker 7: Mademoiselle Ray's, being exceedingly diminutive, was elevated upon cushions, as
• 3:54:31
  Speaker 7: small children are sometimes hoisted at table upon bulky volumes.
• 3:54:36
  Speaker 7: Something new, Edna, exclaimed Miss Mayblunt, with Lorgnette directed towards
• 3:54:42
  Speaker 7: a magnificent cluster of diamonds that sparkled, that almost sputtered
• 3:54:46
  Speaker 7: in Edna's hair, just over the center of her forehead.
• 3:54:49
  Speaker 7: Quite new, bran new, in fact, a present from my husband.
• 3:54:53
  Speaker 7: It arrived this morning from New York. I may as
• 3:54:55
  Speaker 7: well admit that this is my birthday, and that I
• 3:54:58
  Speaker 7: am twenty nine. In good time, I expect you to
• 3:55:01
  Speaker 7: drink my health. Meanwhile, I shall ask you to begin
• 3:55:04
  Speaker 7: with this cocktail composed, would you say, composed with an
• 3:55:07
  Speaker 7: appeal to Miss Mayblunt, composed by my father in order
• 3:55:11
  Speaker 7: of Sister Janet's wedding. Before each guest stood a tiny
• 3:55:15
  Speaker 7: glass that looked and sparkled like a Garnet gem. Then,
• 3:55:19
  Speaker 7: all things considered, spoke a Robert. It might not be
• 3:55:23
  Speaker 7: amiss to start out by drinking the Colonel's health in
• 3:55:26
  Speaker 7: the cocktail, which he composed on the birthday of the
• 3:55:30
  Speaker 7: most charming of women, the daughter whom he invented. Mister
• 3:55:34
  Speaker 7: Merriman's laugh at the sally was such a genuine outburst
• 3:55:38
  Speaker 7: and so contagious that it started the dinner with an
• 3:55:41
  Speaker 7: agreeable swing that never slackened. Miss Mayblunt begged to be
• 3:55:45
  Speaker 7: allowed to keep her cocktail untouched before her just to
• 3:55:47
  Speaker 7: look at the color was marvelous. She could compare it
• 3:55:51
  Speaker 7: to nothing she had ever seen, and the garnet lights
• 3:55:54
  Speaker 7: which it emitted were unspeakably rare. She pronounced the colonel
• 3:55:58
  Speaker 7: an artist, and stuck to it. Monsieur Ratignoll was prepared
• 3:56:03
  Speaker 7: to take things seriously, the metes, the antremets, the service,
• 3:56:07
  Speaker 7: the decorations, even the people. He looked up from his
• 3:56:10
  Speaker 7: pompeneau and inquired of Araba if he were related to
• 3:56:13
  Speaker 7: that gentleman of that name, who formed one of the
• 3:56:16
  Speaker 7: firm of let Ney and Robin Lawyers. The young man
• 3:56:21
  Speaker 7: admitted that let Ney was a warm personal friend who
• 3:56:24
  Speaker 7: permitted Arobat to decorate the firm's letter heads and to
• 3:56:27
  Speaker 7: appear upon a shingle that Grace Perdido Street. There are
• 3:56:31
  Speaker 7: so many inquisitive people and institutions abounding, said Arobert, that
• 3:56:36
  Speaker 7: one is really forced, as a matter of convenience these days,
• 3:56:39
  Speaker 7: to assume the virtue of an occupation if he has
• 3:56:41
  Speaker 7: it not. Monsieur Ratignoll stared a little, then turned to
• 3:56:45
  Speaker 7: ask Mademoiselle Reyes if she considered the symphony concerts up
• 3:56:49
  Speaker 7: to the standard which had been set the previous winter.
• 3:56:52
  Speaker 7: Mademoiselle Reyes answered monsieur ratignolle in French, which Edna thought
• 3:56:56
  Speaker 7: a little rude under the circumstances, but characteristic. Mademoiselle had
• 3:57:01
  Speaker 7: only disagreeable things to say of the symphony concerts and
• 3:57:03
  Speaker 7: insulting remarks to make of all the musicians of New Orleans.
• 3:57:06
  Speaker 7: Singly and collectively. All her interests seemed to be centered
• 3:57:10
  Speaker 7: upon the delicacies placed before her. Mister Merriman said that
• 3:57:14
  Speaker 7: mister Aruba's remark about inquisitive people reminded him of a
• 3:57:18
  Speaker 7: man from Waco the other day at the Saint Charles Hotel.
• 3:57:21
  Speaker 7: But as mister Merriman's stories were always lame and lacking point,
• 3:57:25
  Speaker 7: his wife seldom permitted him to complete them. She interrupted
• 3:57:28
  Speaker 7: him to ask if he remembered the name of the
• 3:57:30
  Speaker 7: author whose books she had bought the week before to
• 3:57:32
  Speaker 7: send to a friend in Geneva. She was talking books
• 3:57:36
  Speaker 7: with mister Gouvernail and trying to draw from him his
• 3:57:39
  Speaker 7: opinion upon current literary topics. Her husband told the story
• 3:57:43
  Speaker 7: of the Wacoman privately to miss Mayblunt, who pretended to
• 3:57:46
  Speaker 7: be greatly amused and to think it extremely clever. Missus
• 3:57:50
  Speaker 7: high Camp hung with languid but unaffected interest upon the
• 3:57:53
  Speaker 7: warm and impetuous volubility of her left hand neighbor, Victor Lebrun.
• 3:57:58
  Speaker 7: Her attention was never for a moment with drawn from
• 3:58:00
  Speaker 7: him after seating herself at table, And when he turned
• 3:58:03
  Speaker 7: to Missus Merriman, who was prettier and more vivacious than
• 3:58:06
  Speaker 7: Missus high Camp, she waited with easy indifference for an
• 3:58:09
  Speaker 7: opportunity to reclaim his attention. There was the occasional sound
• 3:58:13
  Speaker 7: of music, of mandolin's sufficiently removed to be an agreeable
• 3:58:16
  Speaker 7: accompaniment rather than an interruption to the conversation. Outside, the soft,
• 3:58:22
  Speaker 7: monotonous splash of a fountain could be heard. The sound
• 3:58:25
  Speaker 7: penetrated into the room with the heavy odor of jessamine
• 3:58:28
  Speaker 7: that came through the open windows. The golden shimmer of
• 3:58:32
  Speaker 7: Edna's satin gown spread in rich folds on either side
• 3:58:35
  Speaker 7: of her. There was a soft fall of lace encircling
• 3:58:38
  Speaker 7: her shoulders. It was the color of her skin, without
• 3:58:41
  Speaker 7: the glow the myriad living tints that one may sometimes
• 3:58:45
  Speaker 7: discover in vibrant flesh. There was something in her attitude,
• 3:58:50
  Speaker 7: in her whole appearance, when she leaned her head against
• 3:58:54
  Speaker 7: the high backed chair and spread her arms, which suggested
• 3:58:57
  Speaker 7: the regal woman, the one who rules, who looks on,
• 3:59:01
  Speaker 7: who stands alone. But as she sat there amid her guests,
• 3:59:05
  Speaker 7: she felt the old anui overtaking her, the hopelessness which
• 3:59:10
  Speaker 7: so often assailed her, which came upon her like an obsession,
• 3:59:13
  Speaker 7: like something extraneous, independent of volition. It was something which
• 3:59:20
  Speaker 7: announced itself, a chill breath that seemed to issue from
• 3:59:23
  Speaker 7: the vast cavern wherein discords waited. There came over her
• 3:59:28
  Speaker 7: the acute longing which always summoned into her spiritual vision,
• 3:59:33
  Speaker 7: the presence of the beloved one, overpowering her at once
• 3:59:37
  Speaker 7: with a sense of the unattainable. The moments glided on,
• 3:59:41
  Speaker 7: while a feeling of good fellowship passed around the circle,
• 3:59:44
  Speaker 7: like a mystic chord, holding and binding these people together
• 3:59:48
  Speaker 7: with jest and laughter. Monsieur Ratignell was the first to
• 3:59:51
  Speaker 7: break the pleasant charm. At ten o'clock, he excused himself.
• 3:59:55
  Speaker 7: Madame Ratignolle was waiting for him at home. She was
• 3:59:59
  Speaker 7: biese Eufrance, and she was filled with vague dread which
• 4:00:02
  Speaker 7: only her husband's presence could allay. Mademoiselle RaSE arose with
• 4:00:07
  Speaker 7: Monsieur Ratiunelle, who offered to escort her to the car.
• 4:00:11
  Speaker 7: She had eaten well. She had tasted the good, rich wines,
• 4:00:14
  Speaker 7: and they must have turned her head, for she bowed
• 4:00:16
  Speaker 7: pleasantly to all. As she withdrew from table. She kissed
• 4:00:20
  Speaker 7: Edna upon the shoulder and whispered, bernuis merine, souse, sage.
• 4:00:26
  Speaker 7: She had been a little bewildered upon rising, or rather descending,
• 4:00:29
  Speaker 7: from her cushions, and Monsieur Ratignelle gallantly took her arm
• 4:00:33
  Speaker 7: and led her away. Missus high Camp was weaving a
• 4:00:36
  Speaker 7: garland of roses, yellow and red. When she finished the garland,
• 4:00:40
  Speaker 7: she laid it lightly upon Victor's black curls. He was
• 4:00:43
  Speaker 7: reclining far back in the luxurious chair, holding a glass
• 4:00:47
  Speaker 7: of champagne to the light, as if a magician's wand
• 4:00:51
  Speaker 7: had touched him. The garland of roses transformed him into
• 4:00:54
  Speaker 7: a vision of oriental beauty. His cheeks were the color
• 4:00:57
  Speaker 7: of crushed grapes, and his dusky eyes glowed with a
• 4:01:01
  Speaker 7: languishing fire. Cepristie, exclaimed Arobin. But Missus high Camp had
• 4:01:07
  Speaker 7: one more touch to add to the picture. She took
• 4:01:10
  Speaker 7: from the back of her chair a white silken scarf
• 4:01:12
  Speaker 7: with which she had covered her shoulders in the early
• 4:01:15
  Speaker 7: part of the evening. She draped it across the boy
• 4:01:18
  Speaker 7: in graceful folds and in a way to conceal his black,
• 4:01:21
  Speaker 7: conventional evening dress. He did not seem to mind what
• 4:01:24
  Speaker 7: she did to him, only smiled, showing a faint gleam
• 4:01:28
  Speaker 7: of white teeth, while he continued to gaze with narrowing
• 4:01:31
  Speaker 7: eyes at the light through his glass of champagne. Oh
• 4:01:35
  Speaker 7: to be able to paint in color rather than in words,
• 4:01:38
  Speaker 7: exclaimed miss Mayblunt, losing herself in a rhapsodic dream. As
• 4:01:42
  Speaker 7: she looked at him, there was a graven image of
• 4:01:44
  Speaker 7: desire painted with red blood on a ground of gold,
• 4:01:48
  Speaker 7: murmured Gournail under his breath. The effect of the wine
• 4:01:52
  Speaker 7: upon Victor was to change his accustomed volubility into silence.
• 4:01:56
  Speaker 7: He seemed to have abandoned himself to a reverie and
• 4:01:59
  Speaker 7: to be seeing pleasing visions in the amber. Bead sing
• 4:02:05
  Speaker 7: entreated Missus high Camp. Won't you sing to us. Let
• 4:02:08
  Speaker 7: him alone, said Albert. He's posing, offered mister Merriman. Let
• 4:02:13
  Speaker 7: him have it out. I believe he's paralyzed, laughed Missus Merriman,
• 4:02:18
  Speaker 7: and leaning over the youth's chair, she took the glass
• 4:02:20
  Speaker 7: from his hand and held it to his lips. He
• 4:02:23
  Speaker 7: sipped the wine slowly, and when he had drained the glass,
• 4:02:26
  Speaker 7: she laid it upon the table and wiped his lips
• 4:02:29
  Speaker 7: with her little filmy handkerchief. Yes, I'll sing for you,
• 4:02:34
  Speaker 7: he said, Turning in his chair towards Missus high Camp,
• 4:02:37
  Speaker 7: he clasped his hands behind his head, and, looking up
• 4:02:40
  Speaker 7: at the ceiling, began to hum a little, trying his
• 4:02:43
  Speaker 7: voice like a musician tuning an instrument. Then, looking at Edna,
• 4:02:47
  Speaker 7: he began to sing, ah, Sity servey. Stop. She cried,
• 4:02:52
  Speaker 7: don't sing that. I don't want you to sing it,
• 4:02:54
  Speaker 7: and she laid her glass so impetuously and blindly upon
• 4:02:57
  Speaker 7: the table as to shatter it against a carafe. The
• 4:03:00
  Speaker 7: wine spilled over Avrobat's legs, and some of it trickled
• 4:03:04
  Speaker 7: down upon Missus Highcamp's black gauze gown. Victor had lost
• 4:03:08
  Speaker 7: all idea of courtesy or else, he thought his hostess
• 4:03:10
  Speaker 7: was not in earnest, for he laughed and went on,
• 4:03:13
  Speaker 7: Ah sittya savey cucutisieu mesdisson. Oh you mustn't, you mustn't,
• 4:03:20
  Speaker 7: exclaimed Edna, and pushing back her chair, she got up, and,
• 4:03:23
  Speaker 7: going behind him, placed her hand over his mouth. He
• 4:03:26
  Speaker 7: kissed the soft palm that pressed upon his lips. No, no,
• 4:03:30
  Speaker 7: I won't, Missus pontaviier, I didn't know you meant it.
• 4:03:34
  Speaker 7: Looking up at her with caressing eyes, The touch of
• 4:03:38
  Speaker 7: his lips was like a pleasing sting to her hand.
• 4:03:41
  Speaker 7: She lifted the garland of roses from his head and
• 4:03:43
  Speaker 7: flung it across the room. Come, Victor, you've posed long enough.
• 4:03:47
  Speaker 7: Give Missus high Camp her scarf. Missus Highcamp undraped the
• 4:03:51
  Speaker 7: scarf from about him with her own hands. Miss Mayblunt
• 4:03:55
  Speaker 7: and mister Gouvernail suddenly conceived the notion that it was
• 4:03:57
  Speaker 7: time to say good night, and mister and Missus Merriment wondered
• 4:04:00
  Speaker 7: how it could be so late. Before parting from Victor,
• 4:04:04
  Speaker 7: Missus high Camp invited him to call upon her daughter,
• 4:04:07
  Speaker 7: whom she knew would be charmed, to meet him and
• 4:04:09
  Speaker 7: talk French and sing French songs with him Victor expressed
• 4:04:13
  Speaker 7: his desire and intention to call upon Miss high Camp
• 4:04:16
  Speaker 7: at the first opportunity which presented itself. He asked if
• 4:04:19
  Speaker 7: Alban were going his way. Albu was not. The mandolin
• 4:04:24
  Speaker 7: players had long since stolen away. A profound stillness had
• 4:04:28
  Speaker 7: fallen upon the broad, beautiful street. The voices of Edna's
• 4:04:32
  Speaker 7: disbanding guests jarred like a discordant note upon the quiet
• 4:04:37
  Speaker 7: harmony of the night. End of chapters twenty six through thirty.
• 4:04:45
  Speaker 6: Chapter thirty one, Well questioned Arabin, who'd remained with Edna
• 4:04:51
  Speaker 6: after the others had departed. Well, she reiterated, and stood up,
• 4:04:56
  Speaker 6: stretching her arms and feeling the need to relax her
• 4:04:58
  Speaker 6: muscles after having been so long seated. What next, he asked.
• 4:05:05
  Speaker 6: The servants are all gone. They left when the musicians did.
• 4:05:08
  Speaker 6: I've dismissed them. The house has to be closed and locked,
• 4:05:11
  Speaker 6: and I shall trot around to the pigeon house and
• 4:05:13
  Speaker 6: shall send Celestine over in the morning to straighten things up.
• 4:05:17
  Speaker 6: He looked around and began to turn out some of
• 4:05:19
  Speaker 6: the lights. What about upstairs, he inquired. I think it's
• 4:05:25
  Speaker 6: all right, but there may be a window or two
• 4:05:27
  Speaker 6: unlatched we'd better look. You might take a candle and see,
• 4:05:30
  Speaker 6: and bring me my wrap and hat on the foot
• 4:05:32
  Speaker 6: of the bed in the middle room. He went up
• 4:05:35
  Speaker 6: with the light, and Edna began closing the doors and
• 4:05:37
  Speaker 6: windows she hated to shut in the smoke and the
• 4:05:40
  Speaker 6: fumes of the wine. Arabin found her cape and hat,
• 4:05:43
  Speaker 6: which he brought down and helped her to put on.
• 4:05:46
  Speaker 6: When everything was secured and the lights put out, they
• 4:05:48
  Speaker 6: left through the front door, Arabin locking it and taking
• 4:05:51
  Speaker 6: the key, which he carried for Edna. He helped her
• 4:05:54
  Speaker 6: down the steps. Will you have a spray of jessamine,
• 4:05:57
  Speaker 6: he asked, breaking off a few blossoms as he passed. No,
• 4:06:00
  Speaker 6: I don't want anything. She seemed disheartened and had nothing
• 4:06:04
  Speaker 6: to say. She took his arm, which he offered her.
• 4:06:07
  Speaker 6: Holding up the weight of her satin train with the
• 4:06:09
  Speaker 6: other hand, she looked down, noticing the black line of
• 4:06:13
  Speaker 6: his leg moving in and out so close to her
• 4:06:15
  Speaker 6: against the yellow shimmer of her gown. There was the
• 4:06:17
  Speaker 6: whistle of a railway train somewhere in the distance, and
• 4:06:20
  Speaker 6: the midnight bells were ringing. They met no one on
• 4:06:23
  Speaker 6: their short walk. The pigeon house stood behind a locked
• 4:06:27
  Speaker 6: gate and a shallow parterre that had been somewhat neglected.
• 4:06:30
  Speaker 6: There was a small front porch upon which a long
• 4:06:33
  Speaker 6: window in the front door opened. The door opened directly
• 4:06:36
  Speaker 6: into the parlor. There was no side entry. Back in
• 4:06:39
  Speaker 6: the yard was a room for servants, in which old
• 4:06:41
  Speaker 6: Celestine had been ensconced. Edna had left a lamp burning
• 4:06:45
  Speaker 6: low upon the table. She had succeeded in making the
• 4:06:48
  Speaker 6: room look habitable and home like. There were some books
• 4:06:51
  Speaker 6: on the table and a lounge near at hand. On
• 4:06:53
  Speaker 6: the floor was a fresh matting covered with a rugg
• 4:06:55
  Speaker 6: or two, and on the walls hung a few tasteful pictures.
• 4:06:59
  Speaker 6: But the her room was filled with flowers. These were
• 4:07:02
  Speaker 6: a surprise to her. Arabine had sent them and had
• 4:07:05
  Speaker 6: had Celestine distribute them during Edna's absence. Her bedroom was adjoining,
• 4:07:10
  Speaker 6: and across a small passage were the dining room and kitchen.
• 4:07:14
  Speaker 6: Edna seated herself with every appearance of discomfort. Are you tired,
• 4:07:18
  Speaker 6: he asked yes, and chilled and miserable. I feel as
• 4:07:24
  Speaker 6: if I had been wound up to a certain pitch
• 4:07:26
  Speaker 6: too tight, and something inside of me had snapped. She
• 4:07:30
  Speaker 6: rested her head against the table, upon her bare arm.
• 4:07:34
  Speaker 6: You want to rest, he said, and to be quiet.
• 4:07:37
  Speaker 6: I'll go I'll leave you and let you rest. Yes,
• 4:07:41
  Speaker 6: she replied. He stood up beside her and smoothed her
• 4:07:44
  Speaker 6: hair with his soft, magnetic hand. His touch conveyed to
• 4:07:47
  Speaker 6: her a certain physical comfort. She could have fallen quietly
• 4:07:50
  Speaker 6: asleep there if he had continued to pass his hand
• 4:07:53
  Speaker 6: over her hair. He brushed the hair upward from the
• 4:07:55
  Speaker 6: nape of her neck. I hope you will feel happier
• 4:07:59
  Speaker 6: in the morning, he said. You've tried to do too
• 4:08:01
  Speaker 6: much in the past few days. Could dinner with the
• 4:08:04
  Speaker 6: last straw? You might have dispensed with it? Yes, she
• 4:08:09
  Speaker 6: admitted it was stupid. No, it was delightful, but it
• 4:08:13
  Speaker 6: has worn you out. His hands strayed to her beautiful shoulders,
• 4:08:17
  Speaker 6: and he could feel the response of her flesh to
• 4:08:19
  Speaker 6: his touch. He seated himself beside her and kissed her
• 4:08:22
  Speaker 6: lightly upon the shoulder. I thought you were going away,
• 4:08:27
  Speaker 6: she said, in an uneven voice. I am after I've
• 4:08:31
  Speaker 6: said good night. Good night, she murmured. He did not answer,
• 4:08:37
  Speaker 6: except to continue to caress her. He did not say
• 4:08:40
  Speaker 6: good night until she had become supple to his gentle
• 4:08:43
  Speaker 6: Seductive Entreaties, Chapter thirty two. When mister Pontellier learned of
• 4:08:51
  Speaker 6: his wife's intention to abandon her home and take up
• 4:08:53
  Speaker 6: her residence elsewhere, he immediately wrote her a letter of
• 4:08:57
  Speaker 6: unqualified disapproval and remonstrance. She had given reasons which he
• 4:09:01
  Speaker 6: was unwilling to acknowledge as adequate. He hoped she had
• 4:09:05
  Speaker 6: not acted upon her rash impulse, and he begged her
• 4:09:07
  Speaker 6: to consider first, foremost, and above all else what people
• 4:09:11
  Speaker 6: would say. He was not dreaming of scandal when he
• 4:09:14
  Speaker 6: uttered this warning. That was a thing which would never
• 4:09:17
  Speaker 6: have entered into his mind to consider in connection with
• 4:09:19
  Speaker 6: his wife's name or his own. He was simply thinking
• 4:09:22
  Speaker 6: of his financial integrity. It might get noised about that
• 4:09:25
  Speaker 6: the Pontelliers had met with reverses and were forced to
• 4:09:28
  Speaker 6: conduct their minage on a humbler scale than Heretofore, it
• 4:09:32
  Speaker 6: might do incalculable mischief to his business prospects. But remembering
• 4:09:37
  Speaker 6: Edna's whimsical turn of mind of late, and foreseeing that
• 4:09:40
  Speaker 6: she had immediately acted upon her impetuous determination, he grasped
• 4:09:44
  Speaker 6: the situation with his usual promptness and handled it with
• 4:09:47
  Speaker 6: his well known business tact and cleverness. The same mail
• 4:09:51
  Speaker 6: which brought to Edna his letter of disapproval carried instructions
• 4:09:55
  Speaker 6: the most minute instructions to a well known architect concerning
• 4:09:58
  Speaker 6: the remodeling of his home, changes which he had long
• 4:10:01
  Speaker 6: contemplated and which he desired carried forward during his temporary absence.
• 4:10:06
  Speaker 6: Expert and reliable packers and movers were engaged to convey
• 4:10:09
  Speaker 6: the furniture, carpet's pictures, everything movable in short to places
• 4:10:13
  Speaker 6: of security, and in an incredibly short time the Pontellier
• 4:10:17
  Speaker 6: house was turned over to the artisans. There was to
• 4:10:20
  Speaker 6: be an addition a small snuggery. There was to be frescoing,
• 4:10:23
  Speaker 6: and hardwood flooring was to be put into such rooms
• 4:10:25
  Speaker 6: as had not yet been subjected to this improvement. Furthermore,
• 4:10:29
  Speaker 6: in one of the daily papers appeared a brief notice
• 4:10:31
  Speaker 6: to the effect that mister and Missus Pontellier were contemplating
• 4:10:35
  Speaker 6: a summer sojourn abroad, and that their handsome residence on
• 4:10:38
  Speaker 6: Esplanade Street was undergoing sumptuous alterations and would not be
• 4:10:42
  Speaker 6: ready for occupancy until their return. Mister Pontellier had saved appearances.
• 4:10:48
  Speaker 6: Edna admired the skill of his maneuver, and avoided any
• 4:10:51
  Speaker 6: occasion to balk his intentions. When the situation is set
• 4:10:54
  Speaker 6: forth by mister Pontellier, was accepted and taken for granted.
• 4:10:58
  Speaker 6: She was apparently satisfied that it should be so. The
• 4:11:01
  Speaker 6: Pigeon house pleased her. It at once assumed the intimate
• 4:11:04
  Speaker 6: character of a home, while she herself invested it with
• 4:11:07
  Speaker 6: a charm which it reflected like a warm glow. There
• 4:11:11
  Speaker 6: was with her a feeling of having descended in the
• 4:11:13
  Speaker 6: social scale, with a corresponding sense of having risen in
• 4:11:16
  Speaker 6: the spiritual. Every step which she took toward relieving herself
• 4:11:20
  Speaker 6: from obligations added to her strength and expansion as an individual.
• 4:11:24
  Speaker 6: She began to look with her own eyes, to see
• 4:11:27
  Speaker 6: and to apprehend the deeper undercurrents of life. No longer
• 4:11:31
  Speaker 6: was she content to feed upon opinion, when her own
• 4:11:33
  Speaker 6: soul had invited her. After a little while, a few
• 4:11:36
  Speaker 6: days in fact, Edna went up and spent a week
• 4:11:39
  Speaker 6: with her children in Yberville. They were delicious February days,
• 4:11:43
  Speaker 6: with all the summer's promise hovering in the air. How
• 4:11:46
  Speaker 6: glad she was to see the children. She wept for
• 4:11:49
  Speaker 6: very pleasure. When she felt their little arms clasping her,
• 4:11:52
  Speaker 6: their hard ready cheeks pressed against her own glowing cheeks.
• 4:11:55
  Speaker 6: She looked into their faces with hungry eyes that could
• 4:11:58
  Speaker 6: not be satisfied with looking. And what stories they had
• 4:12:01
  Speaker 6: to tell their mother about the pigs, the cows, the mules,
• 4:12:05
  Speaker 6: about riding to the mill behind Googloo, fishing back in
• 4:12:08
  Speaker 6: the lake with their uncle Jasper, picking pecans with Liddy's
• 4:12:11
  Speaker 6: little black brood, and hauling chips in their express wagon.
• 4:12:15
  Speaker 6: It was a thousand times more fun to haul real
• 4:12:18
  Speaker 6: chips for old Lame SUSY's real fire than to drag
• 4:12:21
  Speaker 6: painted blocks along the banquete on Esplanade Street. She went
• 4:12:25
  Speaker 6: with them herself to see the pigs and the cows,
• 4:12:28
  Speaker 6: to look at the darkies laying the cane, to thrash
• 4:12:30
  Speaker 6: the pecan trees, and catch fish in the back lake.
• 4:12:34
  Speaker 6: She lived with them a whole week long, giving them
• 4:12:36
  Speaker 6: all of herself, and gathering and filling herself with their
• 4:12:40
  Speaker 6: young existence. They listened breathless while she told them the
• 4:12:43
  Speaker 6: house in Esplanade Street was crowded with workmen hammering, nailing, sawing,
• 4:12:48
  Speaker 6: and filling the place with clatter. They wanted to know
• 4:12:51
  Speaker 6: where their bed, was what had been done with the
• 4:12:53
  Speaker 6: rocking horse? Where did Joe sleep? And where at elling gone?
• 4:12:55
  Speaker 1: And the cook?
• 4:12:56
  Speaker 6: But above all they were fired with the desire to
• 4:12:59
  Speaker 6: see the house around the block? Was there any place
• 4:13:02
  Speaker 6: to play? Were there any boys next door? Raoul, with
• 4:13:05
  Speaker 6: pessimistic foreboding, was convinced that they were only girls next door.
• 4:13:10
  Speaker 6: Where would they sleep? And where would Papa sleep? She
• 4:13:13
  Speaker 6: told them the fairies would fix it all right. The
• 4:13:16
  Speaker 6: old madam was charmed with Edna's visit and showered all
• 4:13:19
  Speaker 6: manner of delicate attentions upon her. She was delighted to
• 4:13:22
  Speaker 6: note that the Esplanade Street house was in a dismantled condition.
• 4:13:26
  Speaker 6: It gave her promise and a pretext to keep the
• 4:13:28
  Speaker 6: children indefinitely. It was with a wrench and a pang
• 4:13:32
  Speaker 6: that Edna left her children. She carried away with her
• 4:13:35
  Speaker 6: the sound of their voices and the touch of their cheeks.
• 4:13:38
  Speaker 6: All along the journey homeward, their presence lingered with her
• 4:13:41
  Speaker 6: like the memory of a delicious song. But by the
• 4:13:44
  Speaker 6: time she had regained the city, the song no longer
• 4:13:47
  Speaker 6: echoed in her soul. She was again alone. Thirty three.
• 4:13:53
  Speaker 6: It happened sometimes when Edna went to see Mademoiselle Reese,
• 4:13:57
  Speaker 6: that the little musician was absent, giving a lesson, nor
• 4:14:00
  Speaker 6: making some small necessary household purchase. The key was always
• 4:14:03
  Speaker 6: left in a secret hiding place in the entry, which
• 4:14:06
  Speaker 6: Edna knew. If Mademoiselle happened to be away, Edna would
• 4:14:09
  Speaker 6: usually enter and wait for her return. When she knocked
• 4:14:13
  Speaker 6: at Mademoiselle Reese's door one afternoon, there was no response, so,
• 4:14:16
  Speaker 6: unlocking the door as usual, she entered and found the
• 4:14:19
  Speaker 6: apartment deserted. As she had expected. Her day had been
• 4:14:23
  Speaker 6: quite filled up, and it was for a rest, for
• 4:14:25
  Speaker 6: a refuge, and to talk about Robert that she had
• 4:14:27
  Speaker 6: sought out her friend. She had worked at her canvas
• 4:14:30
  Speaker 6: a young Italian character study all the morning, completing the
• 4:14:34
  Speaker 6: work without the model, but there had been many interruptions,
• 4:14:37
  Speaker 6: some incident to her modest housekeeping, and others of a
• 4:14:40
  Speaker 6: social nature. Madame Ratignolle had dragged herself over, avoiding the
• 4:14:45
  Speaker 6: two public thoroughfares, she said. She complained that Edna had
• 4:14:48
  Speaker 6: neglected her much of late. Besides, she was consumed with
• 4:14:52
  Speaker 6: curiosity to see the little house and the manner in
• 4:14:55
  Speaker 6: which it was conducted. She wanted to hear all about
• 4:14:57
  Speaker 6: the dinner party. Monsieur ratignoll I had left so early.
• 4:15:01
  Speaker 6: What had happened after he left? The champagne and grapes
• 4:15:04
  Speaker 6: which Edna sent over were too delicious. She had so
• 4:15:07
  Speaker 6: little appetite. They'd refreshed and toned her stomach. Where on
• 4:15:12
  Speaker 6: earth was she going to put mister Pontellier in that
• 4:15:14
  Speaker 6: little house and the boys? And then she made Edna
• 4:15:17
  Speaker 6: promise to go with her when her hour of trial
• 4:15:19
  Speaker 6: overtook her at any time, any time of the night
• 4:15:23
  Speaker 6: or day. Dear Edna assured her before leaving, Madame Ratignolle said,
• 4:15:29
  Speaker 6: in some way, you seem to me like a child, Edna.
• 4:15:32
  Speaker 6: You seem to act without a certain amount of reflection,
• 4:15:34
  Speaker 6: which is necessary in this life. That's the reason I
• 4:15:37
  Speaker 6: want to say. You mustn't mind if I advise you
• 4:15:39
  Speaker 6: to be a little careful while you're living here alone.
• 4:15:42
  Speaker 6: Why don't you have some one come and stay with you.
• 4:15:44
  Speaker 6: Wouldn't Mademoiselle Reusee come, No, she wouldn't wish to come,
• 4:15:49
  Speaker 6: and I shouldn't want her always with me. Well, the reason,
• 4:15:53
  Speaker 6: you know, how evil minded the world is. Some one
• 4:15:56
  Speaker 6: was talking of Elsie Arabin visiting you. Of course, it
• 4:16:00
  Speaker 6: wouldn't matter if mister Arabin had not such a dreadful reputation.
• 4:16:04
  Speaker 6: Monsieur Ratunelle was telling me that his attentions alone are
• 4:16:07
  Speaker 6: considered enough to ruin a woman's name. Does he boast
• 4:16:11
  Speaker 6: of his successes, asked Edna indifferently, squinting at her picture. No,
• 4:16:17
  Speaker 6: I think not. I believe he's a decent fellow as
• 4:16:19
  Speaker 6: far as that goes. But his character is so well
• 4:16:22
  Speaker 6: known among the men, I shan't be able to come
• 4:16:25
  Speaker 6: back and see you. It was very, very imprudent to
• 4:16:27
  Speaker 6: day mind the step, cried Edna. Don't neglect me, entreated
• 4:16:33
  Speaker 6: Madame Ratugnell, And don't mind what I said about Erabin
• 4:16:37
  Speaker 6: or having someone stay with you. Of course not Edna laughed,
• 4:16:41
  Speaker 6: You may say anything you liked to me. They kissed
• 4:16:45
  Speaker 6: each other good bye. Madame Ratugnell had not far to go,
• 4:16:48
  Speaker 6: and Edna stood on the porch while watching her walk
• 4:16:50
  Speaker 6: down the street. Then in the afternoon, Missus Merriman and
• 4:16:55
  Speaker 6: Missus high Kemp made their party call. Edna felt that
• 4:16:58
  Speaker 6: they might have dispensed with the formal They had also
• 4:17:01
  Speaker 6: come to invite her to play vant aone One evening
• 4:17:03
  Speaker 6: at Missus Merriman's, she was asked to go early to
• 4:17:06
  Speaker 6: dinner and mister Merriman or mister Arabine would take her home.
• 4:17:10
  Speaker 6: Edna accepted in a half hearted way. She sometimes felt
• 4:17:13
  Speaker 6: very tired of Missus high Camp and Missus Merriman. Late
• 4:17:17
  Speaker 6: in the afternoon, she sought refuge with Mademoiselle Ree's and
• 4:17:20
  Speaker 6: stayed there alone, waiting for her, feeling a kind of
• 4:17:23
  Speaker 6: repose invade her. With the very atmosphere of the shabby,
• 4:17:26
  Speaker 6: unpretentious little room, Edna sat at the window which looked
• 4:17:30
  Speaker 6: out over the housetops and across the river. The window
• 4:17:33
  Speaker 6: frame was filled with pots of flowers, and she sat
• 4:17:35
  Speaker 6: and picked the dry leaves from a rose geranium. The
• 4:17:39
  Speaker 6: day was warm, and the breeze which blew from the
• 4:17:41
  Speaker 6: river was very pleasant. She removed her hat and laid
• 4:17:44
  Speaker 6: it on the piano. She went on picking the leaves
• 4:17:46
  Speaker 6: and digging around the plants with her hat pin. Once
• 4:17:49
  Speaker 6: she thought she heard Mademoiselle Ree's approaching, but it was
• 4:17:52
  Speaker 6: a young black girl who came in bringing a bundle
• 4:17:54
  Speaker 6: of laundry, which she deposited in the adjoining room and
• 4:17:57
  Speaker 6: went away. Edna seated herself at the piano and softly
• 4:18:01
  Speaker 6: picked out with one hand the bars of a piece
• 4:18:03
  Speaker 6: of music which lay open before her. A half hour
• 4:18:06
  Speaker 6: went by. There was the occasional sound of people going
• 4:18:09
  Speaker 6: and coming in the lower hall. She was growing interested
• 4:18:12
  Speaker 6: in her occupation of picking out the area. When there
• 4:18:15
  Speaker 6: was a second rap at the door. She vaguely wondered
• 4:18:18
  Speaker 6: what these people did when they found Mademoiselle's door locked.
• 4:18:21
  Speaker 6: Come in, she called, turning her face towards the door,
• 4:18:24
  Speaker 6: and this time it was Robert le Brun who presented himself.
• 4:18:28
  Speaker 6: She attempted to rise, she could not have done so
• 4:18:30
  Speaker 6: without betraying the agitation which mastered her at the sight
• 4:18:33
  Speaker 6: of him, so she fell back upon the stool, only
• 4:18:35
  Speaker 6: exclaiming why Robert He came and clasped her hand, seemingly
• 4:18:40
  Speaker 6: without knowing what he was saying or doing. Missus pontellier,
• 4:18:44
  Speaker 6: how do you happen to?
• 4:18:45
  Speaker 1: Oh?
• 4:18:46
  Speaker 6: How well you look? Is Mademoiselle viez not here? I
• 4:18:49
  Speaker 6: never expected to see you. When did you come back?
• 4:18:53
  Speaker 6: Asked Edna in an unsteady voice, wiping her face with
• 4:18:56
  Speaker 6: a handkerchief. She seemed ill at ease, on the piano stool,
• 4:18:58
  Speaker 6: and he begged her to take the chair by the window.
• 4:19:01
  Speaker 6: She did so mechanically, while he seated himself on the stool.
• 4:19:04
  Speaker 6: I returned the day before yesterday, he answered, while he
• 4:19:07
  Speaker 6: leaned his arm on the keys, praying forth a crash
• 4:19:09
  Speaker 6: of discordant sound. Day before yesterday, she repeated aloud, and
• 4:19:15
  Speaker 6: went on thinking to herself. Day before yesterday, in a
• 4:19:18
  Speaker 6: sort of an uncomprehending way. She had pictured him seeking
• 4:19:22
  Speaker 6: her out at the very first hour, and he had
• 4:19:24
  Speaker 6: lived under the same sky since the day before yesterday,
• 4:19:28
  Speaker 6: while only by accident he'd stumbled upon her. Mademoiselle must
• 4:19:32
  Speaker 6: have lied when she said, poor fool, he loves you.
• 4:19:35
  Speaker 6: Day before yesterday, she repeated, breaking off a spray of
• 4:19:39
  Speaker 6: Mademoiselle's geranium. Then if you had not met me here today,
• 4:19:43
  Speaker 6: you wouldn't when that is, didn't you mean to come
• 4:19:46
  Speaker 6: and see me? Of course I should have gone to
• 4:19:49
  Speaker 6: see you. There have been so many things. He turned
• 4:19:51
  Speaker 6: the leaves of Mademoiselle's music nervously. I started in at
• 4:19:55
  Speaker 6: once yesterday with the old firm. After all, there is
• 4:19:58
  Speaker 6: as much chance for me here as there was there.
• 4:20:00
  Speaker 6: That is, I might find it profitable some day. The
• 4:20:03
  Speaker 6: Mexicans were not very congenial, so he had come back
• 4:20:07
  Speaker 6: because the Mexicans were not congenial, because business was as
• 4:20:10
  Speaker 6: profitable here as there, because of any reason, and not
• 4:20:14
  Speaker 6: because he cared to be near her. She remembered the
• 4:20:16
  Speaker 6: day she sat on the floor, turning the pages of
• 4:20:18
  Speaker 6: his letter, seeking the reason which was left untold. She
• 4:20:22
  Speaker 6: had not noticed how he looked, only feeling his presence,
• 4:20:25
  Speaker 6: but she turned deliberately and observed him. After all, he
• 4:20:29
  Speaker 6: had been absent but a few months, and was not changed.
• 4:20:32
  Speaker 6: His hair, the color of hers, waved back from his
• 4:20:35
  Speaker 6: temples in the same way as before. His skin was
• 4:20:38
  Speaker 6: not more burned than it had been at grand Isle.
• 4:20:41
  Speaker 6: She found in his eyes when he looked at her
• 4:20:43
  Speaker 6: for one silent moment, the same tender caress, with an
• 4:20:47
  Speaker 6: added warmth and entreaty which had not been there before,
• 4:20:50
  Speaker 6: the same glance which had penetrated to the sleeping places
• 4:20:52
  Speaker 6: of her soul and awakened them. A hundred times, Edna
• 4:20:56
  Speaker 6: had pictured Robert's return and imagined their first meeting was
• 4:21:00
  Speaker 6: usually at her home, whither he had sought her out
• 4:21:02
  Speaker 6: at once. She always fancied him expressing or betraying in
• 4:21:06
  Speaker 6: some way his love for her. And here the reality
• 4:21:10
  Speaker 6: was that they sat ten feet apart. She at the window,
• 4:21:12
  Speaker 6: crushing geranium leaves in her hand and smelling them. He
• 4:21:15
  Speaker 6: twirling around on the piano stool, saying, I was very
• 4:21:18
  Speaker 6: much surprised to hear of mister Pontellier's absence. It's a
• 4:21:22
  Speaker 6: wonder Mademoiselle Ree did not tell me. And you're moving,
• 4:21:25
  Speaker 6: mother told me yesterday. I should think you would have
• 4:21:27
  Speaker 6: gone to New York with him, or to Yberville with
• 4:21:29
  Speaker 6: the children, rather than be bothered here with housekeeping. And
• 4:21:33
  Speaker 6: you're going abroad too. I hear we shan't have you
• 4:21:35
  Speaker 6: at grand Isle next summer. It won't seem do you
• 4:21:38
  Speaker 6: see much of Mademoiselle Rees. She often spoke of you
• 4:21:41
  Speaker 6: in the few letters she wrote. Do you remember that
• 4:21:44
  Speaker 6: you promised to write me when you went away? A
• 4:21:47
  Speaker 6: flush overspread his whole face. I couldn't believe that my
• 4:21:50
  Speaker 6: letters would be of any interest to you. That's an excuse,
• 4:21:54
  Speaker 6: it isn't the truth. Edna reached for her hat on
• 4:21:57
  Speaker 6: the piano. She adjested it, sticking the hat pin through
• 4:22:00
  Speaker 6: the heavy coil of hair with some deliberation. Are you
• 4:22:03
  Speaker 6: not going to wait for mademoiselle ree asked Robert. No,
• 4:22:07
  Speaker 6: I've found when she's absent this long, she is not
• 4:22:09
  Speaker 6: liable to come back till late. She drew on her
• 4:22:11
  Speaker 6: gloves and Robert picked up his hat. Won't you wait
• 4:22:14
  Speaker 6: for her, asked Edna, not if you think she will
• 4:22:17
  Speaker 6: not be back till late, adding as if suddenly aware
• 4:22:20
  Speaker 6: of some discourtesy in his speech. And I should miss
• 4:22:23
  Speaker 6: the pleasure of walking home with you. Edna locked the
• 4:22:26
  Speaker 6: door and put the key back in a tiding place.
• 4:22:29
  Speaker 6: They went together, picking their way across muddy streets and
• 4:22:32
  Speaker 6: sidewalks encumbered with a cheap display of small tradesmen. Part
• 4:22:35
  Speaker 6: of the distance, they rode in the car, and after disembarking,
• 4:22:39
  Speaker 6: passed the Pontellier mansion, which looked broken and half torn asunder.
• 4:22:43
  Speaker 6: Robert had never known the house and looked at it
• 4:22:45
  Speaker 6: with interest. I never knew you in your home, he remarked,
• 4:22:49
  Speaker 6: I am glad you did not why. She did not answer.
• 4:22:55
  Speaker 6: They went on around the corner, and it seemed as
• 4:22:57
  Speaker 6: if her dreams were coming true after all. When he
• 4:22:59
  Speaker 6: followed her into the little house. You must stay and
• 4:23:03
  Speaker 6: dine with me, Robert. You see, I'm all alone, and
• 4:23:06
  Speaker 6: it's so long since I've seen you. There's so much
• 4:23:08
  Speaker 6: I want to ask you. She took off her hat
• 4:23:11
  Speaker 6: and gloves. He stood irresolute, making some excuse about his mother,
• 4:23:15
  Speaker 6: who expected him. He even muttered something about an engagement.
• 4:23:19
  Speaker 6: She struck a match and lit the lamp on the table.
• 4:23:21
  Speaker 6: It was growing dusk when he saw her face in
• 4:23:24
  Speaker 6: the lamplight, looking pained with all the soft lines gone
• 4:23:27
  Speaker 6: out of it. He threw his hat aside and seated himself.
• 4:23:31
  Speaker 6: Oh you know I want to stay, if you will
• 4:23:33
  Speaker 6: let me, he exclaimed. All the softness came back. She
• 4:23:37
  Speaker 6: laughed and went to put her hand on his shoulder.
• 4:23:40
  Speaker 6: This is the first moment you've seemed like the old Robert.
• 4:23:44
  Speaker 6: I'll go tell Celestine. She hurried away to tell Celestine
• 4:23:47
  Speaker 6: to set an extra place. She even sent her off
• 4:23:50
  Speaker 6: in search of some added delicacy, which she'd not thought
• 4:23:52
  Speaker 6: of for herself, and she recommended great care in dripping
• 4:23:56
  Speaker 6: the coffee and having the omelet done to a proper turn.
• 4:23:59
  Speaker 6: When she reached entered, Robert was turning over magazines, sketches
• 4:24:02
  Speaker 6: and things that lay upon the table in great disorder.
• 4:24:05
  Speaker 6: He picked up a photograph and exclaimed, Alsie Arabine, what
• 4:24:08
  Speaker 6: on earth is his picture doing here? I tried to
• 4:24:12
  Speaker 6: make a sketch of his head one day, answered Edna,
• 4:24:14
  Speaker 6: and he thought the photograph might help me. It was
• 4:24:17
  Speaker 6: at the other house. I thought it had been left there.
• 4:24:19
  Speaker 6: I must have been packed up with my drawing materials.
• 4:24:22
  Speaker 6: I should think you would give it back to him
• 4:24:24
  Speaker 6: if you've finished with it. Oh, I had a great
• 4:24:27
  Speaker 6: many such photographs. I never think of returning them. They
• 4:24:29
  Speaker 6: don't amount to anything. Robert kept on looking at the picture.
• 4:24:34
  Speaker 6: It seems to me, do you think is ed worth drawing?
• 4:24:37
  Speaker 6: Is he a friend of mister Pontellier's. You never said
• 4:24:39
  Speaker 6: you knew him. He isn't a friend of mister Pontellier's.
• 4:24:42
  Speaker 6: He's a friend of mine. I always knew him, that is.
• 4:24:46
  Speaker 6: It is only of late that I know him pretty well.
• 4:24:49
  Speaker 6: But i'd rather talk about you and know what you've
• 4:24:51
  Speaker 6: been seeing and doing and feeling out there in Mexico.
• 4:24:55
  Speaker 6: Robert threw aside the picture. I've been seeing the waves
• 4:24:58
  Speaker 6: and the white beach of Grand Isle, the quiet grassy
• 4:25:01
  Speaker 6: street of the Chenier, the old fort at Grandtaire, I've
• 4:25:05
  Speaker 6: been working like a machine and feeling like a lost soul.
• 4:25:08
  Speaker 6: There was nothing interesting. She leaned her head upon her
• 4:25:11
  Speaker 6: hand to shade her eyes from the light. And what
• 4:25:14
  Speaker 6: have you been seeing and doing and feeling all these days?
• 4:25:17
  Speaker 6: He asked. I've been seeing the waves in the white
• 4:25:20
  Speaker 6: beach of grand Isle, the quiet grassy street at the
• 4:25:22
  Speaker 6: Chener Comminada, the old sunny fort at Grandaire. I've been
• 4:25:27
  Speaker 6: working with a little more comprehension than a machine, and
• 4:25:30
  Speaker 6: still feeling like a lost soul. There was nothing interesting.
• 4:25:35
  Speaker 6: Missus Pontellier, you are cruel, he said with feeling, closing
• 4:25:40
  Speaker 6: his eyes and resting his head back in his chair.
• 4:25:42
  Speaker 6: They remained in silence till Old Celistine announced dinner thirty four.
• 4:25:50
  Speaker 6: The dining room was very small. Edna's round mahogany table
• 4:25:53
  Speaker 6: would have almost filled it. As it was, there was
• 4:25:56
  Speaker 6: but a step or two from the little table to
• 4:25:58
  Speaker 6: the kitchen, to the mantel, the small and the side
• 4:26:01
  Speaker 6: door that opened out on the narrow brick paved yard.
• 4:26:04
  Speaker 6: A certain degree of ceremony settled upon them with the
• 4:26:06
  Speaker 6: announcement of dinner. There was no return to personalities. Robert
• 4:26:10
  Speaker 6: related incidents of his sojourn in Mexico, and Edna talked
• 4:26:14
  Speaker 6: of events likely to interest him which had occurred during
• 4:26:16
  Speaker 6: his absence. The dinner was of ordinary quality, except for
• 4:26:19
  Speaker 6: the few delicacies which he'd sent out to purchase. Old Celestine,
• 4:26:23
  Speaker 6: with a bandana tignon twisted about her head, hobbled in
• 4:26:26
  Speaker 6: and out, taking a personal interest in everything, and she
• 4:26:30
  Speaker 6: lingered occasionally to talk patois with Robert, whom she'd known
• 4:26:33
  Speaker 6: as a boy. He went out to a neighboring cigar
• 4:26:36
  Speaker 6: stand to purchase cigarette papers, and when he came back,
• 4:26:38
  Speaker 6: he found that Celestine had served the black coffee in
• 4:26:41
  Speaker 6: the parlor. Perhaps I shouldn't have come back, he said,
• 4:26:44
  Speaker 6: When you're tired of me, tell me to go. You
• 4:26:47
  Speaker 6: never tire me. You must have forgotten the hours and
• 4:26:50
  Speaker 6: hours at grand Isle, in which we grew accustomed to
• 4:26:52
  Speaker 6: each other and used to being together. I forgotten nothing
• 4:26:56
  Speaker 6: at grand Isle, he said, not looking at her, but
• 4:26:59
  Speaker 6: rolling a cigar. His tobacco pouch, which he laid upon
• 4:27:02
  Speaker 6: the table, was a fantastic embroidered silk affair, evidently the
• 4:27:06
  Speaker 6: handiwork of a woman. You used to carry your tobacco
• 4:27:10
  Speaker 6: in a rubber pouch, said Edna, picking up the pouch
• 4:27:12
  Speaker 6: and examining the needlework. Yes, it was lost. Where did
• 4:27:17
  Speaker 6: you buy this one? In Mexico? It was given to
• 4:27:20
  Speaker 6: me by a Vera Cruz girl. They're very generous, he replied,
• 4:27:23
  Speaker 6: striking a match and lighting his cigarette. They are very handsome.
• 4:27:27
  Speaker 6: I suppose those Mexican women very picturesque, with their black
• 4:27:30
  Speaker 6: eyes and their lace scarbs. Some are others are hideous,
• 4:27:34
  Speaker 6: just as you find women everywhere. What was she like,
• 4:27:36
  Speaker 6: the one who gave you the pouch? You must have
• 4:27:38
  Speaker 6: known her very well. She was very ordinary. She wasn't
• 4:27:42
  Speaker 6: of the slightest importance. I knew her well enough. Did
• 4:27:46
  Speaker 6: you visit at her house? Was it interesting? I should
• 4:27:49
  Speaker 6: like to know and hear about the people you met
• 4:27:51
  Speaker 6: and the impressions they made on you. There are some
• 4:27:54
  Speaker 6: people who leave impressions not so lasting as the imprint
• 4:27:56
  Speaker 6: of an ore upon the water. Was she such a
• 4:28:01
  Speaker 6: it would be ungenerous for me to admit that she
• 4:28:04
  Speaker 6: was of that order and kind. He thrust the pouch
• 4:28:06
  Speaker 6: back in his pocket, as if to put away the subject.
• 4:28:09
  Speaker 6: With the trifle the head brought it up. Araban dropped
• 4:28:12
  Speaker 6: in with a message from missus Merriman to say that
• 4:28:14
  Speaker 6: the card party was postponed on account of the illness
• 4:28:17
  Speaker 6: of one of her children. How do you do, Arabin,
• 4:28:20
  Speaker 6: said Robert, rising from obscurity, Oh, Lebrun, to be sure
• 4:28:24
  Speaker 6: I heard yesterday you were back. How'd they treat you
• 4:28:27
  Speaker 6: down in Mexik fairly well, but not well enough to
• 4:28:31
  Speaker 6: keep you there? Stunning girls? Though in Mexico I thought
• 4:28:34
  Speaker 6: I should never get away from Vera Cruz when I
• 4:28:36
  Speaker 6: was down there a couple of years ago. Did they
• 4:28:39
  Speaker 6: embroider slippers and tobacco pouches and hat bands and things
• 4:28:42
  Speaker 6: for you? Asked Edna. Oh mine, no, I didn't get
• 4:28:45
  Speaker 6: so deep in their regard. I fear they made more
• 4:28:47
  Speaker 6: impression on me than I made on them. You were
• 4:28:50
  Speaker 6: less fortunate than Robert, then I'm always less fortunate than Robert.
• 4:28:55
  Speaker 6: Has he been imparting tender confidences? I've been imposing myself
• 4:29:00
  Speaker 6: long enough, said Robert, rising and shaking hands with Edna.
• 4:29:03
  Speaker 6: Please convey my regards to mister Pontellier when you write.
• 4:29:07
  Speaker 6: And he shook hands with Arabin and went away. Fine fellow,
• 4:29:10
  Speaker 6: that le Brun, said Arabin. When Robert had gone. I
• 4:29:13
  Speaker 6: never heard you speak of him. I knew him last
• 4:29:16
  Speaker 6: summer at grand Isle. She replied, here's that photograph of yours.
• 4:29:19
  Speaker 6: Don't you want it? What do I want with it?
• 4:29:22
  Speaker 6: Throw it away? She threw it back on the table.
• 4:29:26
  Speaker 6: I'm not going to missus Merriman's, she said. If you
• 4:29:29
  Speaker 6: see her, tell her so. But perhaps i'd better write.
• 4:29:33
  Speaker 6: I think I shall write now and say that I'm
• 4:29:34
  Speaker 6: sorry her child is sick, and tell her not to
• 4:29:36
  Speaker 6: count on me. It would be a good scheme, acquiesced Arabin.
• 4:29:40
  Speaker 6: I don't blame you, stupid lot. Edna opened the blotter, and,
• 4:29:45
  Speaker 6: having procured paper and pen, began to write the note.
• 4:29:48
  Speaker 6: Arabin lit a cigar and read the evening paper, which
• 4:29:50
  Speaker 6: he had in his pocket. What is the date, she asked?
• 4:29:55
  Speaker 6: He told her. Will you mail us for me when
• 4:29:57
  Speaker 6: you go out? Certainly? He read little bits out of
• 4:30:00
  Speaker 6: the newspaper while she straightened things on the table. What
• 4:30:04
  Speaker 6: do you want to do, he asked, throwing aside the paper.
• 4:30:06
  Speaker 6: Do you want to go for a walk, or a
• 4:30:08
  Speaker 6: drive or anything. You'd be a fine night for a drive. No,
• 4:30:12
  Speaker 6: I don't want to do anything, but just to be quiet.
• 4:30:14
  Speaker 6: You go away and amuse yourself don't stay. I'll go
• 4:30:17
  Speaker 6: away if I must, but I shan't amuse myself. You
• 4:30:20
  Speaker 6: know that I only live when I'm near you. He
• 4:30:23
  Speaker 6: stood up to bid her good night. Is that one
• 4:30:26
  Speaker 6: of the things you always say to women. I've said
• 4:30:28
  Speaker 6: it before, but I don't think I ever came so
• 4:30:31
  Speaker 6: near meaning it, he answered with a smile. There were
• 4:30:34
  Speaker 6: no warm lights in her eyes, only a dreamy, absent look.
• 4:30:39
  Speaker 6: Good night. I adore you. Sleep well, he said, and
• 4:30:42
  Speaker 6: he kissed her hand and went away. She stayed alone
• 4:30:45
  Speaker 6: in a kind of reverie, a sort of stupor. Step
• 4:30:48
  Speaker 6: by step she lived over every instant of the time
• 4:30:50
  Speaker 6: she had been with Robert. After he entered Mademoiselle Vis's door,
• 4:30:54
  Speaker 6: she recalled his words, his looks, how few and meager
• 4:30:57
  Speaker 6: they had been for her hungry heart. As a transcendently
• 4:31:01
  Speaker 6: seductive vision of a Mexican girl arose before her, she
• 4:31:05
  Speaker 6: wriothed with a jealous pang. She wondered when he would
• 4:31:08
  Speaker 6: come back. He had not said he would come back.
• 4:31:11
  Speaker 6: She had been with him, had heard his voice and
• 4:31:13
  Speaker 6: touched his hand, But some way he'd seen nearer to her.
• 4:31:16
  Speaker 6: Off there in Mexico. Thirty five, the morning was full
• 4:31:22
  Speaker 6: of sunlight and hope. Edna could see before her no denial,
• 4:31:25
  Speaker 6: only the promise of excessive joy. She lay in bed,
• 4:31:28
  Speaker 6: awake with bright eyes, full of speculation. He loves you,
• 4:31:32
  Speaker 6: poor fool. She could but get that conviction fixed firmly
• 4:31:36
  Speaker 6: in her mind. What mattered about the rest? She felt
• 4:31:40
  Speaker 6: she'd been childish and unwise the night before, and giving
• 4:31:43
  Speaker 6: herself over to despondency. She recapitulated the motives which no
• 4:31:47
  Speaker 6: doubt explained Robert's reserve. They were not insurmountable. They would
• 4:31:51
  Speaker 6: not hold if he really loved her. They could not
• 4:31:54
  Speaker 6: hold against her own passion, which he must come to
• 4:31:56
  Speaker 6: realize in time. She pictured him going to his business
• 4:32:00
  Speaker 6: that morning. She even saw how he was dressed, how
• 4:32:03
  Speaker 6: he walked down one street and turned the corner of another.
• 4:32:06
  Speaker 6: Saw him bending over his desk, talking to people who
• 4:32:09
  Speaker 6: entered the office, going to lunch, and perhaps watching for
• 4:32:12
  Speaker 6: her on the street. He would come to her in
• 4:32:14
  Speaker 6: the afternoon or evening, sit and roll his cigarette, talk
• 4:32:17
  Speaker 6: a little, and go away, as he had done the
• 4:32:19
  Speaker 6: night before. But how delicious it would be to have
• 4:32:22
  Speaker 6: him there with her. She would have no regrets, nor
• 4:32:24
  Speaker 6: seek to penetrate his reserve if he still chose to
• 4:32:27
  Speaker 6: wear it. Edna ate her breakfast only half dressed. The
• 4:32:30
  Speaker 6: maid brought her a delicious printed scrawl from Raoul, expressing
• 4:32:34
  Speaker 6: his love, asking her to send him some bonbonds, and
• 4:32:37
  Speaker 6: telling her that they had found that morning ten tiny
• 4:32:40
  Speaker 6: white pigs, all lying in a row beside Liddy's big
• 4:32:43
  Speaker 6: white pig. A letter also came from her husband, saying
• 4:32:47
  Speaker 6: he hoped to be back in early March, and then
• 4:32:49
  Speaker 6: they would get ready for that journey abroad, which he'd
• 4:32:51
  Speaker 6: promised her so long, but she now felt fully able
• 4:32:54
  Speaker 6: to afford. He felt able to travel as people should,
• 4:32:57
  Speaker 6: without any thought of small economies, thanks to his re
• 4:33:00
  Speaker 6: speculations in Wall Street. Much to her surprise, she received
• 4:33:04
  Speaker 6: a note from Arabian, written at midnight from the club.
• 4:33:07
  Speaker 6: It was to say good morning to her, to hope
• 4:33:09
  Speaker 6: she had slept well, to assure her of his devotion,
• 4:33:11
  Speaker 6: which he trusted. She, in some faintest manner returned. All
• 4:33:15
  Speaker 6: these letters were pleasing to her, She answered the children
• 4:33:18
  Speaker 6: in a cheerful frame of mind, promising them bombonds and
• 4:33:21
  Speaker 6: congratulating them upon their happy find of the little pigs.
• 4:33:25
  Speaker 6: She answered her husband with friendly evasiveness, not with any
• 4:33:28
  Speaker 6: fixed design to mislead him, only because all sense of
• 4:33:31
  Speaker 6: reality had gone out of her life. She had abandoned
• 4:33:34
  Speaker 6: herself to fate and awaited the consequences with indifference. To
• 4:33:38
  Speaker 6: Arabin's note, she made no reply. She put it under
• 4:33:40
  Speaker 6: Celestiane's stove lid. Edna worked several hours with much spirit.
• 4:33:45
  Speaker 6: She saw no one but a picture dealer, who asked
• 4:33:48
  Speaker 6: her if it were true that she were going abroad
• 4:33:49
  Speaker 6: to study in Paris. She said, possibly she might, and
• 4:33:53
  Speaker 6: he negotiated with her for some Parisian studies to reach
• 4:33:55
  Speaker 6: him in time for the holiday trade in December. Robert
• 4:33:59
  Speaker 6: did not come that day. She was keenly disappointed. He
• 4:34:03
  Speaker 6: did not come the following day, nor the next. Each
• 4:34:06
  Speaker 6: morning she woke with hope, and each night she was
• 4:34:09
  Speaker 6: a prey to despondency. She was tempted to seek him out,
• 4:34:12
  Speaker 6: but far from yielding to the impulse, she avoided any
• 4:34:15
  Speaker 6: occasion which might throw her in his way. She did
• 4:34:18
  Speaker 6: not go to Mademoiselle Ree's, nor passed by Madame le Brun's,
• 4:34:21
  Speaker 6: as she might have done if he had still been
• 4:34:23
  Speaker 6: in Mexico. When Arabin one night urged her to drive
• 4:34:26
  Speaker 6: with him. She went out to the lake on the
• 4:34:29
  Speaker 6: shell road. His horses were full of metal and even
• 4:34:32
  Speaker 6: a little unmanageable. She liked the rapid gait at which
• 4:34:35
  Speaker 6: they spun along, and the quick, sharp sound of the
• 4:34:37
  Speaker 6: horse's hoofs on the hard road. They did not stop
• 4:34:40
  Speaker 6: anywhere to eat or drink. Arabin was not needlessly imprudent,
• 4:34:44
  Speaker 6: but they ate and they drank. When they regained Edna's
• 4:34:46
  Speaker 6: little dining room, which was comparatively early in the evening.
• 4:34:50
  Speaker 6: It was late when he left her. It was getting
• 4:34:53
  Speaker 6: to be more than a passing whim with Arabin to
• 4:34:55
  Speaker 6: see her and be with her. He had detected the
• 4:34:58
  Speaker 6: latent sensuality which unfold under his delicate sense of her
• 4:35:01
  Speaker 6: nature's requirements, like a torpid torrid sensitive blossom. There was
• 4:35:06
  Speaker 6: no despondency when she fell asleep that night, nor was
• 4:35:09
  Speaker 6: there hope when she awoke in the morning. End of
• 4:35:12
  Speaker 6: chapters thirty one through thirty five.
• 4:35:15
  Speaker 8: Chapter thirty six, there was a garden out in the suburbs,
• 4:35:21
  Speaker 8: a small leafy corner with a few green tables under
• 4:35:25
  Speaker 8: the orange trees. An old cat slept all day on
• 4:35:28
  Speaker 8: the stone step in the sun and an old milatresse.
• 4:35:32
  Speaker 8: Slept her idle hours away in her chair at the
• 4:35:34
  Speaker 8: open window, till some one happened to knock on one
• 4:35:37
  Speaker 8: of the green tables. She had milk and cream, cheese
• 4:35:41
  Speaker 8: to sell, and bread and butter. There was no one
• 4:35:45
  Speaker 8: who could make such excellent coffee or fried chicken so
• 4:35:48
  Speaker 8: golden brown as she. The place was too modest to
• 4:35:53
  Speaker 8: track the attention of people of fashion, and so quiet
• 4:35:57
  Speaker 8: as to have escaped the notice of those in search
• 4:35:59
  Speaker 8: of pleasure and dissipation. Edna had discovered it accidentally. One day,
• 4:36:05
  Speaker 8: when the high board gate stood Ajar, she caught sight
• 4:36:09
  Speaker 8: of a little green table, blotched with a checkered sunlight
• 4:36:13
  Speaker 8: that filtered through the quivering leaves overhead. Within she had
• 4:36:18
  Speaker 8: found the slumbering miller dress, the drowsy cat, and a
• 4:36:22
  Speaker 8: glass of milk, which reminded her of the milk she
• 4:36:25
  Speaker 8: had tasted in Ireville. She often stopped here during her perambulations,
• 4:36:31
  Speaker 8: sometimes taking a book with her and sitting an hour
• 4:36:34
  Speaker 8: or two under the trees when she found the place deserted.
• 4:36:39
  Speaker 8: Once or twice she took a quiet dinner here alone,
• 4:36:42
  Speaker 8: having instructed Celestine beforehand to prepare no dinner at home.
• 4:36:48
  Speaker 8: It was the last place in the city where she
• 4:36:50
  Speaker 8: would have expected to meet anyone she knew. Still, she
• 4:36:55
  Speaker 8: was not astonished when, as she was partaking of a
• 4:36:57
  Speaker 8: modest dinner late in the afternoon, looking into an open book,
• 4:37:01
  Speaker 8: stroking the cat which had made friends with her, she
• 4:37:05
  Speaker 8: was not greatly astonished to see Robert come in at
• 4:37:08
  Speaker 8: the tall garden gate. I am destined to see only
• 4:37:14
  Speaker 8: by accident, she said, shoving the cat off the chair
• 4:37:17
  Speaker 8: beside her. He was surprised, ill at ease, almost embarrassed
• 4:37:23
  Speaker 8: at meeting her thus so unexpectedly. Do you come here often?
• 4:37:29
  Speaker 8: He asked, I almost live here, she said. I used
• 4:37:35
  Speaker 8: to drop in very often for a cup of corteitious
• 4:37:37
  Speaker 8: good coffee. This is the first time since I came back.
• 4:37:44
  Speaker 8: She'll bring you a plate and you will share my dinner.
• 4:37:47
  Speaker 8: There's always enough for two even three. Edna had intended
• 4:37:52
  Speaker 8: to be indifferent and as reserved as he when she
• 4:37:55
  Speaker 8: met him. She had reached the determination by a laborious
• 4:38:00
  Speaker 8: train of reasoning incident to one of her despondent moods,
• 4:38:05
  Speaker 8: but her resolve melted when she saw him. Before designing
• 4:38:08
  Speaker 8: providence had led him into her path. Why have you
• 4:38:13
  Speaker 8: kept away from me, Robert, she asked, closing the book
• 4:38:17
  Speaker 8: that lay open upon the table. Why are you so personal,
• 4:38:22
  Speaker 8: missus Pontellier. Why do you force me to idiotic subterfuges,
• 4:38:28
  Speaker 8: he exclaimed with sudden warmth. I suppose there's no use
• 4:38:32
  Speaker 8: telling you I've been very busy, or that I've been sick,
• 4:38:35
  Speaker 8: or that I've been to see you and not found
• 4:38:37
  Speaker 8: you at home. Please let me off with any of
• 4:38:40
  Speaker 8: these excuses. You are the embodiment of selfishness, she said.
• 4:38:48
  Speaker 8: You save yourself something I don't know what, but there
• 4:38:52
  Speaker 8: is some selfish motive, and in sparing yourself, you never
• 4:38:55
  Speaker 8: consider for a moment what I think or how I feel.
• 4:38:58
  Speaker 8: Your neglected and different ference. I suppose this is what
• 4:39:02
  Speaker 8: you would call unwomanly, but I have got into a
• 4:39:05
  Speaker 8: habit of expressing myself. It doesn't matter to me, and
• 4:39:09
  Speaker 8: you may think me unwomanly if you like. No, I
• 4:39:14
  Speaker 8: only think you cruel, as I said the other day.
• 4:39:18
  Speaker 8: Maybe not intentionally cruel, but you seem to be forcing
• 4:39:22
  Speaker 8: me into disclosures which can result in nothing, as if
• 4:39:26
  Speaker 8: you would have me bear a wound for the pleasure
• 4:39:28
  Speaker 8: of looking at it without the intention or power of
• 4:39:30
  Speaker 8: healing it. I'm spoiling a dinner, Robert, Never mind what
• 4:39:36
  Speaker 8: I say. You haven't eaten a morsel. I only came
• 4:39:41
  Speaker 8: in for a cup of coffee. His sensitive face was
• 4:39:45
  Speaker 8: all disfigured with excitement. Isn't this a delightful place, she remarked.
• 4:39:53
  Speaker 8: I am so glad that it has never actually been discovered.
• 4:39:56
  Speaker 8: It is so quiet, so sweet here. Do you notice
• 4:40:01
  Speaker 8: there is scarcely a sand to be heard. It's so
• 4:40:05
  Speaker 8: out of the way, and a good walk from the car. However,
• 4:40:09
  Speaker 8: I don't mind walking. I always feel so sorry for
• 4:40:12
  Speaker 8: women who don't like to walk. They miss so much,
• 4:40:15
  Speaker 8: so many rare glimpses of life, and we women learn
• 4:40:19
  Speaker 8: so little of life. On the whole coatitious coffee is
• 4:40:22
  Speaker 8: always hot. I don't know how she manages it here
• 4:40:26
  Speaker 8: in the open air. Celestine's coffee gets cold bringing it
• 4:40:29
  Speaker 8: from the kitchen to the dining room three lumps. How
• 4:40:33
  Speaker 8: can you drink it so sweet? Take some of the
• 4:40:36
  Speaker 8: crests with your chop. It's so biting and crisp. Then
• 4:40:40
  Speaker 8: there's the advantage of being able to smoke with your
• 4:40:43
  Speaker 8: coffee hat. Here now in the city. Aren't you going
• 4:40:46
  Speaker 8: to smoke after a while, he said, laying a cigar
• 4:40:52
  Speaker 8: on the table. Who gave it to you? She laughed,
• 4:40:57
  Speaker 8: I bought it. I suppose I'm getting reckless. I bought
• 4:41:00
  Speaker 8: a hill box. She was determined not to be personal
• 4:41:04
  Speaker 8: again and make him uncomfortable. The cat made friends with
• 4:41:10
  Speaker 8: him and climbed into his lap. When he smoked his cigar,
• 4:41:15
  Speaker 8: he stroked her silky fur and talked a little about her.
• 4:41:19
  Speaker 8: He looked at Edna's book, which he had read, and
• 4:41:22
  Speaker 8: he told her the end, to save her the trouble
• 4:41:24
  Speaker 8: of wading through it, he said again. He accompanied her
• 4:41:29
  Speaker 8: back to her home, and it was after dusk when
• 4:41:32
  Speaker 8: they reached the little Pigeon house. She did not ask
• 4:41:35
  Speaker 8: him to remain, which he was grateful for as it
• 4:41:38
  Speaker 8: permitted him to stay without the discomfort of blunderings for
• 4:41:41
  Speaker 8: an excuse which he had no intention of considering. He
• 4:41:46
  Speaker 8: helped her to light the lamp. Then she went into
• 4:41:49
  Speaker 8: her room to take off her hat and to bathe
• 4:41:51
  Speaker 8: her face and hands. When she came back, Robert was
• 4:41:56
  Speaker 8: not examining the pictures and magazines as before. He sat
• 4:42:00
  Speaker 8: off in the shadow, leaning his head back on the chair,
• 4:42:03
  Speaker 8: as if in a reverie. Edna lingered a moment beside
• 4:42:08
  Speaker 8: the table, arranging the books there. Then she went across
• 4:42:12
  Speaker 8: the room to where he sat. She bent over the
• 4:42:16
  Speaker 8: arm of his chair and called his name, Robert, She said,
• 4:42:21
  Speaker 8: are you asleep? No, he answered, looking up at her.
• 4:42:28
  Speaker 8: She leaned over and kissed him, a soft, cool, delicate
• 4:42:32
  Speaker 8: kiss whose voluptuous sting penetrated his whole being. Then she
• 4:42:38
  Speaker 8: moved away from him. He followed and took her in
• 4:42:42
  Speaker 8: his arms, just holding her close to him. She put
• 4:42:46
  Speaker 8: her hand up to his face and pressed his cheek
• 4:42:49
  Speaker 8: against her own. The action was full of love and tenderness.
• 4:42:54
  Speaker 8: He sought her lips again. Then he drew her down
• 4:42:58
  Speaker 8: upon the sofa beside him and held her hand in
• 4:43:01
  Speaker 8: both of his Now you know, he said, Now ye
• 4:43:07
  Speaker 8: know what I've been fighting against since last summer at
• 4:43:09
  Speaker 8: grand Isle. What drove me away and drove me back again?
• 4:43:16
  Speaker 8: Why have you been fighting against it? She asked, Her
• 4:43:20
  Speaker 8: face glowed with soft lights. Why because you were not free?
• 4:43:27
  Speaker 8: You were leons Pontellier's wife. I couldn't help loving you
• 4:43:32
  Speaker 8: if you were ten times his wife. But so long
• 4:43:34
  Speaker 8: as I went away, from you and kept away. I
• 4:43:37
  Speaker 8: could help telling you.
• 4:43:38
  Speaker 3: So.
• 4:43:41
  Speaker 8: She put her free hand up to his shoulder and
• 4:43:43
  Speaker 8: then against his cheek, rubbing it softly. He kissed her again.
• 4:43:49
  Speaker 8: His face was warm and flushed there in Mexico. I
• 4:43:54
  Speaker 8: was thinking of you all the time, and longing for you,
• 4:43:57
  Speaker 8: but not writing to me. She interrupted, something put it
• 4:44:03
  Speaker 8: into my head that you cared for me and had
• 4:44:05
  Speaker 8: lost my senses. I forgot everything but a wild dream
• 4:44:09
  Speaker 8: of you some way becoming my wife, your wife, religion, loyalty,
• 4:44:16
  Speaker 8: everything would give way if only you cared. Then you
• 4:44:22
  Speaker 8: must have forgotten that I was lynces Pontellier's wife. Oh,
• 4:44:26
  Speaker 8: I was demented, dreaming of wild, impossible things, recalling men
• 4:44:31
  Speaker 8: who had set their wives free. We have heard of
• 4:44:34
  Speaker 8: such things, Yes, we have heard of such things. I
• 4:44:39
  Speaker 8: came back full of vague, mad intentions, and when I
• 4:44:42
  Speaker 8: got here, when you got here, you never came near me.
• 4:44:47
  Speaker 8: She was still caressing his cheek. I realized what occur.
• 4:44:53
  Speaker 8: I was to dream of such a thing, even if
• 4:44:56
  Speaker 8: you had been willing. She took his face between her
• 4:44:59
  Speaker 8: hands and looked into it, as if she would never
• 4:45:02
  Speaker 8: withdraw her eyes more. She kissed him on the forehead,
• 4:45:06
  Speaker 8: the eyes, the cheeks, and the lips. You have been
• 4:45:11
  Speaker 8: a very, very foolish boy, wasting your time dreaming of
• 4:45:14
  Speaker 8: impossible things. When you speak of mister Pontellier setting me free,
• 4:45:20
  Speaker 8: I am no longer one of mister Pontellier's possessions to
• 4:45:23
  Speaker 8: dispose of or not, I give myself where I choose.
• 4:45:29
  Speaker 8: If he were to say, hear Robert, take her and
• 4:45:31
  Speaker 8: be happy she is yours, I should laugh at you both.
• 4:45:37
  Speaker 8: His face grew a little white. What do you mean,
• 4:45:41
  Speaker 8: he asked. There was a knock at the door. Old
• 4:45:46
  Speaker 8: Celestine came in to say that Madame Ratignolle's servant had
• 4:45:50
  Speaker 8: come around the back way with the message that Madame
• 4:45:53
  Speaker 8: had been taken sick, and begged missus Pontellier to go
• 4:45:56
  Speaker 8: to her immediately. Yes, yes, said Edna rising, I promised,
• 4:46:03
  Speaker 8: tell her yes, to wait for me. I'll go back
• 4:46:06
  Speaker 8: with her. Let me walk over with you, offered Robert. No,
• 4:46:12
  Speaker 8: she said, I will go with the servant. She went
• 4:46:17
  Speaker 8: into her room to put on her hat, and when
• 4:46:19
  Speaker 8: she came in again, she sat once more upon the
• 4:46:22
  Speaker 8: sofa beside him. He had not stirred. She put her
• 4:46:27
  Speaker 8: arms about his neck. Good Bye, my sweet Robert, tell
• 4:46:32
  Speaker 8: me good bye. He kissed her with a degree of
• 4:46:36
  Speaker 8: passion which had not before entered into his caress, and
• 4:46:39
  Speaker 8: strained her to him. I love you, she whispered, only you,
• 4:46:46
  Speaker 8: no one but you. It was you who awoke me
• 4:46:50
  Speaker 8: last summer out of a life long stupid dream. Oh,
• 4:46:54
  Speaker 8: you have made me so unhappy with your indifference. Oh,
• 4:46:57
  Speaker 8: I have suffered, suffered. Now you are here. We shall
• 4:47:01
  Speaker 8: love each other, my Robert, We shall be everything to
• 4:47:05
  Speaker 8: each other. Nothing else in the world is of any consequence.
• 4:47:11
  Speaker 8: I must go to my friend, but you will wait
• 4:47:13
  Speaker 8: for me, no matter how late you will wait for me. Robert,
• 4:47:19
  Speaker 8: don't go. Don't go. Oh, Edna, stay with me, he pleaded,
• 4:47:24
  Speaker 8: Why should you go? Stay with me? Stay with me.
• 4:47:29
  Speaker 8: I shall come back as soon as I can. I
• 4:47:31
  Speaker 8: shall find you here. She buried her face in his
• 4:47:36
  Speaker 8: neck and said good bye again. Her seductive voice, together
• 4:47:41
  Speaker 8: with his great love for her, had enthralled his senses,
• 4:47:46
  Speaker 8: had deprived him of every impulse but the longing to
• 4:47:48
  Speaker 8: hold her and keep her. Chapter thirty seven. Edna looked
• 4:47:58
  Speaker 8: in at the drug store. Monsieur Ratignolle was putting up
• 4:48:02
  Speaker 8: a mixture himself, very carefully dropping a red liquid into
• 4:48:06
  Speaker 8: a tiny glass. He was grateful to Edna for having come.
• 4:48:11
  Speaker 8: Her presence would be a comfort to his wife. Madame
• 4:48:15
  Speaker 8: Ratignolle's sister, who had always been with her at such
• 4:48:18
  Speaker 8: trying times, had not been able to come up from
• 4:48:21
  Speaker 8: the plantation, and Adele had been inconsolable until missus Pontellier
• 4:48:26
  Speaker 8: so kindly promised to come to her. The nurse had
• 4:48:30
  Speaker 8: been with them at night for the past week, as
• 4:48:32
  Speaker 8: she lived a great distance away, and doctor Maundalier had
• 4:48:36
  Speaker 8: been coming and going all the afternoon. They were then
• 4:48:40
  Speaker 8: looking for him any moment. Edna hastened upstairs by a
• 4:48:45
  Speaker 8: private stairway that led from the rear of the store
• 4:48:48
  Speaker 8: to the apartments above. The children were all sleeping in
• 4:48:52
  Speaker 8: the back room. Madame Ratignolle was in the salon, whither
• 4:48:57
  Speaker 8: she had strayed in her suffering impatience. She sat on
• 4:49:01
  Speaker 8: the sofa, clad in an ample white pinoir, holding a
• 4:49:05
  Speaker 8: handkerchief tight in her hand with a nervous clutch. Her
• 4:49:09
  Speaker 8: face was drawn and pinched, her sweet blue eyes haggard
• 4:49:13
  Speaker 8: and unnatural. All her beautiful hair had been drawn back
• 4:49:18
  Speaker 8: and plaited. It lay in a long braid on the
• 4:49:21
  Speaker 8: sofa pillow coiled like a golden serpent. The nurse, a
• 4:49:27
  Speaker 8: comfortable looking grief woman in white apron and cap, was
• 4:49:31
  Speaker 8: urging her to return to the bedroom. There is no use,
• 4:49:36
  Speaker 8: There is no use, she said at once to Edna,
• 4:49:39
  Speaker 8: we must get rid of Montalais. He is getting too
• 4:49:42
  Speaker 8: old and careless. He said he would be here at
• 4:49:45
  Speaker 8: half past seven. Now it must be eight. See what
• 4:49:49
  Speaker 8: time it is, Josephine. The woman was possessed of a
• 4:49:53
  Speaker 8: cheerful nature and refused to take any situation too seriously,
• 4:49:58
  Speaker 8: especially in the situation with which she was so familiar.
• 4:50:02
  Speaker 8: She urged Madame to have courage and patience, but Madame
• 4:50:06
  Speaker 8: only set her teeth hard into her under lip, and
• 4:50:09
  Speaker 8: Edna saw the sweat gathering beads on her white forehead.
• 4:50:14
  Speaker 8: After a moment or two, she uttered a profound sigh
• 4:50:17
  Speaker 8: and wiped her face. When the handkerchief rolled in a ball,
• 4:50:20
  Speaker 8: she appeared exhausted. The nurse gave her a fresh handkerchief
• 4:50:25
  Speaker 8: sprinkled with cologne water. This is too much, she cried.
• 4:50:30
  Speaker 8: Mountalis ought to be killed. Where is Olfance? Is it possible?
• 4:50:35
  Speaker 8: I am to be abandoned like this, neglected by every one, neglected, indeed,
• 4:50:41
  Speaker 8: exclaimed the nurse. Wasn't she there? And here was Missus
• 4:50:45
  Speaker 8: Montellier leaving, no doubt a pleasant evening at home to
• 4:50:48
  Speaker 8: devote to her. And wasn't Monsieur Ratignolle coming this very
• 4:50:52
  Speaker 8: instant through the hall? And Josephine was quite sure she
• 4:50:57
  Speaker 8: had heard doctor Montalai's coup. Yes, there it was down
• 4:51:01
  Speaker 8: at the door. Adeau consented to go back to her room.
• 4:51:06
  Speaker 8: She sat on the edge of a little low couch
• 4:51:09
  Speaker 8: next to her bed. Doctor Maundley paid no attention to
• 4:51:14
  Speaker 8: Madame Ratignolle's upbraidings. He was accustomed to them at such
• 4:51:18
  Speaker 8: times and was too well convinced of her loyalty to
• 4:51:21
  Speaker 8: doubt it. He was glad to see Edna and wanted
• 4:51:25
  Speaker 8: her to go with him into the salon and entertain him,
• 4:51:29
  Speaker 8: but Madame Ratignolle would not consent that Edna should leave her.
• 4:51:33
  Speaker 8: For an instant between agonizing moments, she chattered a little
• 4:51:38
  Speaker 8: and said it took her mind off her sufferings. Edna
• 4:51:42
  Speaker 8: began to feel uneasy. She was seized with a vague
• 4:51:46
  Speaker 8: dread her own experiences seemed far away, unreal, and only
• 4:51:50
  Speaker 8: half remembered. She recalled faintly an ecstasy of pain, the
• 4:51:56
  Speaker 8: heavy odor of chloroform, a stupor which deadened sensation, and
• 4:52:01
  Speaker 8: an awakening to find a little new life to which
• 4:52:04
  Speaker 8: she had given. Being added to the great, unnumbered multitude
• 4:52:08
  Speaker 8: of souls that come and go. She began to wish
• 4:52:12
  Speaker 8: she had not come. Her presence was not necessary. She
• 4:52:16
  Speaker 8: might have invented a pretext for staying away. She might
• 4:52:20
  Speaker 8: even invent a pretext now for going. But Edna did
• 4:52:24
  Speaker 8: not go. With an inward agony, with a flaming, outspoken
• 4:52:29
  Speaker 8: revolt against the ways of nature. She witnessed the scene
• 4:52:32
  Speaker 8: of torture. She was still stunned and speechless with emotion
• 4:52:38
  Speaker 8: when later she leaned over her friend to kiss her
• 4:52:41
  Speaker 8: and softly say good bye. Adele, pressing her cheek, whispered
• 4:52:45
  Speaker 8: in an exhausted voice. Think of the children, Edna, Oh,
• 4:52:50
  Speaker 8: Think of the children, Remember them. Chapter thirty eight. Edna
• 4:53:01
  Speaker 8: still felt dazed when she got outside in the open air.
• 4:53:05
  Speaker 8: The doctor's coup had returned for him and stood before
• 4:53:08
  Speaker 8: the porte cochere. She did not wish to enter the
• 4:53:12
  Speaker 8: coup and told doctor Mondley she would walk, She was
• 4:53:15
  Speaker 8: not afraid and would go alone. He directed his carriage
• 4:53:20
  Speaker 8: to meet him at missus Pontellier's, and he started to
• 4:53:23
  Speaker 8: walk home with her, up, away, up over the narrow
• 4:53:28
  Speaker 8: street between the tall houses. The stars were blazing, the
• 4:53:32
  Speaker 8: air was mild and caressing, but cool with the breath
• 4:53:35
  Speaker 8: of spring and the night. They walked slowly. The doctor,
• 4:53:40
  Speaker 8: with a heavy measured tread and his hands behind him,
• 4:53:44
  Speaker 8: Edna in an absent minded way, as she had walked
• 4:53:47
  Speaker 8: one night at grand Isle, as if her thoughts had
• 4:53:50
  Speaker 8: gone ahead of her and she was striving to overtake them.
• 4:53:56
  Speaker 8: He shouldn't have been there, missus Pontellier, he said, that
• 4:54:01
  Speaker 8: was no place for you. Adele is full of whims
• 4:54:04
  Speaker 8: at such times. There were a dozen women she might
• 4:54:07
  Speaker 8: have had with her, unimpressionable women. I felt that it
• 4:54:11
  Speaker 8: was cruel, cruel. You shouldn't have gone, Oh well, she
• 4:54:17
  Speaker 8: answered indifferently. I didn't know that it matters. After all,
• 4:54:21
  Speaker 8: one has to think of the children some time or other.
• 4:54:24
  Speaker 8: The sooner the better. Wen is Lean's coming back quite soon,
• 4:54:32
  Speaker 8: some time in March. Are you going abroad? Perhaps? No,
• 4:54:38
  Speaker 8: I am not going. I'm not going to be forced
• 4:54:40
  Speaker 8: into doing things. I don't want to go abroad. I
• 4:54:44
  Speaker 8: want to be let alone. Nobody has any right except
• 4:54:48
  Speaker 8: children perhaps, And even then, it seems to me, or
• 4:54:51
  Speaker 8: it did seem. She felt that her speech was voicing
• 4:54:55
  Speaker 8: the incoherency of her thoughts, and stopped abruptly. The trouble is,
• 4:55:02
  Speaker 8: sighed the doctor, grasping her meaning intuitively, that youth is
• 4:55:06
  Speaker 8: given up to illusions. It seems to be a provision
• 4:55:10
  Speaker 8: of nature, a decoy to secure mothers for the race.
• 4:55:14
  Speaker 8: That nature takes no account of moral consequences, of arbitrary
• 4:55:18
  Speaker 8: conditions which we create and which we feel obliged to
• 4:55:22
  Speaker 8: maintain at any cost. Yes, she said, the years that
• 4:55:29
  Speaker 8: are gone seem like dreams. If one might go on
• 4:55:32
  Speaker 8: sleeping and dreaming, but to wake up and find oh, well,
• 4:55:39
  Speaker 8: perhaps it is better to wake up after all, even
• 4:55:41
  Speaker 8: to suffer, rather than to remain a dupe to illusions
• 4:55:45
  Speaker 8: all one's life. It seems to me, my dear child,
• 4:55:51
  Speaker 8: said the doctor at parting, holding her hand. You seem
• 4:55:55
  Speaker 8: to me to be in trouble. I am not going
• 4:55:57
  Speaker 8: to ask for your confidence. I will only say that,
• 4:56:01
  Speaker 8: if ever you feel moved to give it to me.
• 4:56:03
  Speaker 8: Perhaps I might help you. I know I would understand,
• 4:56:07
  Speaker 8: and I tell you there are not many who would
• 4:56:10
  Speaker 8: not many, my dear. Some way, I don't feel moved
• 4:56:15
  Speaker 8: to speak of things that trouble me. Don't think I
• 4:56:18
  Speaker 8: am ungrateful, or that I don't appreciate your sympathy. There
• 4:56:22
  Speaker 8: are periods of despondency and suffering which take possession of me.
• 4:56:26
  Speaker 8: But I don't want anything but my own way. That
• 4:56:29
  Speaker 8: is wanting a good deal, of course, when you have
• 4:56:32
  Speaker 8: to trample upon the lives, the hearts, the prejudices of others.
• 4:56:37
  Speaker 8: But no matter, still, I shouldn't want to trample upon
• 4:56:40
  Speaker 8: the little lives. Oh, I don't know what I am saying. Doctor.
• 4:56:45
  Speaker 8: Good night. Don't blame me for anything. Yes, I will
• 4:56:49
  Speaker 8: blame you if you don't come and see me soon.
• 4:56:52
  Speaker 8: We will talk of things you never have dreamt of
• 4:56:54
  Speaker 8: talking about before. It will do us both good. I
• 4:56:58
  Speaker 8: don't want you to blame yourself whatever comes. Good Night,
• 4:57:02
  Speaker 8: my child. She let herself in at the gate, but
• 4:57:08
  Speaker 8: instead of entering, she sat upon the step of the porch.
• 4:57:12
  Speaker 8: The night was quiet and soothing, or the tearing emotion
• 4:57:18
  Speaker 8: or the tearing emotion of the last few hours seemed
• 4:57:21
  Speaker 8: to fall away from her like a somber, uncomfortable garment
• 4:57:24
  Speaker 8: which she had but to loosen, to be rid of.
• 4:57:28
  Speaker 8: She went back to that hour before Adele had sent
• 4:57:31
  Speaker 8: for her, and her senses kindled afresh. In thinking of
• 4:57:35
  Speaker 8: Robert's words, the pressure of his arms, and the feeling
• 4:57:38
  Speaker 8: of his lips upon her own. She could picture at
• 4:57:42
  Speaker 8: that moment no greater bliss on earth than possession of
• 4:57:45
  Speaker 8: the beloved one. His expression of love had already given
• 4:57:50
  Speaker 8: him to her. In part. When she thought that he
• 4:57:53
  Speaker 8: was there at hand, waiting for her, she grew numb
• 4:57:56
  Speaker 8: with the intoxication of expectancy. It was so late, he
• 4:58:02
  Speaker 8: would be asleep. Perhaps she would awaken him with a kiss.
• 4:58:06
  Speaker 8: She hoped he would be asleep, that she might arouse
• 4:58:09
  Speaker 8: him with her caresses. Still she remembered Adele's voice, whispering,
• 4:58:14
  Speaker 8: Think of the children, Think of them. She meant to
• 4:58:17
  Speaker 8: think of them. That determination had driven into her soul
• 4:58:21
  Speaker 8: like a death's wound. But not to night. To morrow
• 4:58:25
  Speaker 8: would be time to think of everything. Robert was not
• 4:58:30
  Speaker 8: waiting for her in the little parlor. He was nowhere
• 4:58:33
  Speaker 8: at hand. The house was empty, but he had scrawled
• 4:58:38
  Speaker 8: on a piece of paper that lay in the lamp light.
• 4:58:42
  Speaker 8: I love you good bye, because I love you. Edna
• 4:58:47
  Speaker 8: grew faint when she read the words. She went and
• 4:58:50
  Speaker 8: sat on the sofa. Then she stretched herself out there,
• 4:58:54
  Speaker 8: never uttering a sound. She did not sleep, she did
• 4:58:58
  Speaker 8: not go to bed. The lamp sputtered and went out.
• 4:59:03
  Speaker 8: She was still awake in the morning when Celestine unlocked
• 4:59:06
  Speaker 8: the kitchen door and came in to light the fire.
• 4:59:13
  Speaker 8: Chapter thirty nine. Victor, with hammer and nails and scraps
• 4:59:19
  Speaker 8: of scantling, was patching a corner of one of the galleries.
• 4:59:24
  Speaker 8: Mariquita sat near by, dangling her legs, watching him work
• 4:59:28
  Speaker 8: and handing him nails from the tool box. The sun
• 4:59:32
  Speaker 8: was beating down upon them. The girl had covered her
• 4:59:35
  Speaker 8: head with her apron folded into a square pad. They
• 4:59:39
  Speaker 8: had been talking for an hour or more. She was
• 4:59:43
  Speaker 8: never tired of hearing Victor describe the dinner at Missus Pontellier's.
• 4:59:47
  Speaker 8: He exaggerated every detail, making it appear a veritable Lucullian feast.
• 4:59:54
  Speaker 8: The flowers were in tubs, he said. The champagne was
• 4:59:58
  Speaker 8: quaffed from huge golden gold Venus rising from the phone
• 5:00:03
  Speaker 8: could have presented no more entrancing a spectacle than Missus Pontellier,
• 5:00:07
  Speaker 8: blazing with beauty and diamonds at the head of the board,
• 5:00:11
  Speaker 8: while the other women were all of them youthful hooies,
• 5:00:14
  Speaker 8: possessed of incomparable charms. She got it into her head
• 5:00:19
  Speaker 8: that Victor was in love with Missus Pontellier, and he
• 5:00:22
  Speaker 8: gave her evasive answers framed so as to confirm her belief.
• 5:00:27
  Speaker 8: She grew sullen and cried a little, threatening to go
• 5:00:30
  Speaker 8: off and leave him to his fine ladies. There were
• 5:00:34
  Speaker 8: a dozen men crazy about her at the Chinnierre, and
• 5:00:37
  Speaker 8: since it was the fashion to be in love with
• 5:00:39
  Speaker 8: married people, why she could run away any time she
• 5:00:42
  Speaker 8: liked to New Orleans with Selina's husband. Selina's husband was
• 5:00:47
  Speaker 8: a fool, a coward, and a pig, and to prove
• 5:00:50
  Speaker 8: it to her, Victor intended to hammer his head into
• 5:00:53
  Speaker 8: a jelly the next time he encountered him. This assurance
• 5:00:58
  Speaker 8: was very consoling to Mariquita. She dried her eyes and
• 5:01:02
  Speaker 8: grew cheerful at the prospect. They were still talking of
• 5:01:06
  Speaker 8: the dinner and the allurements of city life, when Missus
• 5:01:09
  Speaker 8: Pontellier herself slipped around the corner of the house. The
• 5:01:13
  Speaker 8: two youngsters stayed dumb with amazement before what they considered
• 5:01:17
  Speaker 8: to be an apparition. But it was really she in
• 5:01:21
  Speaker 8: flesh and blood, looking tired and a little travel stained.
• 5:01:27
  Speaker 8: I walked up from the wharf, she said, and heard
• 5:01:30
  Speaker 8: the hammering. I supposed it was you mending the porch.
• 5:01:34
  Speaker 8: It's a good thing I was always tripping over those
• 5:01:37
  Speaker 8: loose planks. Last summer had dreary and deserted. Everything looks
• 5:01:44
  Speaker 8: It took Victor some little time to comprehend that she
• 5:01:46
  Speaker 8: had come in Woodley's lugger, that she had come alone
• 5:01:50
  Speaker 8: and for no purpose but to rest. There's nothing fixed
• 5:01:55
  Speaker 8: up yet, you see. I'll give you my room. It's
• 5:01:57
  Speaker 8: the only place any corner will do, she assured him.
• 5:02:04
  Speaker 8: And if you can stand Philomeid's cooking, he went on,
• 5:02:08
  Speaker 8: though I might try to get her mother while you
• 5:02:10
  Speaker 8: are here. Do you think she would come? Turning to Marikita,
• 5:02:15
  Speaker 8: Mariquita thought that perhaps Philomel's mother might come for a
• 5:02:18
  Speaker 8: few days and money enough beholding missus Pontellier to make
• 5:02:24
  Speaker 8: her appearance. The girl had at once suspected a lover's rendezvous.
• 5:02:29
  Speaker 8: But Victor's astonishment was so genuine at missus Pontellier's indifference,
• 5:02:33
  Speaker 8: so apparent that the disturbing notion did not lodge long
• 5:02:37
  Speaker 8: in her brain. She contemplated with the greatest interest, this
• 5:02:42
  Speaker 8: woman who gave the most sumptuous dinners in America, and
• 5:02:45
  Speaker 8: who had all the men and New Orleans at her feet.
• 5:02:50
  Speaker 8: What time will you have dinner, asked Edna. I'm very hungry,
• 5:02:55
  Speaker 8: but don't get anything extra. I'll have it ready in
• 5:02:59
  Speaker 8: little or no time, he said, bustling and packing away
• 5:03:03
  Speaker 8: his tools. You may go to my room to brush
• 5:03:06
  Speaker 8: up and rest yourself. Marikita will show you. Thank you,
• 5:03:12
  Speaker 8: said Edna. But do you know I have a notion
• 5:03:16
  Speaker 8: to go down to the beach and take a good
• 5:03:18
  Speaker 8: wash and even a little swim before dinner. The water
• 5:03:22
  Speaker 8: is too cold, they both exclaimed. Don't think of it. Well,
• 5:03:27
  Speaker 8: I might go down and try dip my toes in. Why,
• 5:03:30
  Speaker 8: it seems to me the sun is hot enough to
• 5:03:32
  Speaker 8: have warmed the very depths of the ocean. Could you
• 5:03:36
  Speaker 8: get me a couple of towels. I'd better go right
• 5:03:39
  Speaker 8: away so as to be back in time. It would
• 5:03:42
  Speaker 8: be a little too chilly if I waited till this afternoon.
• 5:03:46
  Speaker 8: Marikita ran over to Victor's room and returned with some towels,
• 5:03:50
  Speaker 8: which she gave to Edna. I hope you have fish
• 5:03:54
  Speaker 8: for dinner, said Edna, as she started to turn away.
• 5:03:57
  Speaker 8: But don't do anything extra if you haven't run and
• 5:04:01
  Speaker 8: find Philammeon's mother. Victor instructed the girl.
• 5:04:05
  Speaker 2: I'll go to the.
• 5:04:05
  Speaker 8: Kitchen and see what I can do. But jimminy women
• 5:04:09
  Speaker 8: have no consideration. She might have sent me word. Edna
• 5:04:15
  Speaker 8: walked on down to the beach rather mechanically, not noticing
• 5:04:18
  Speaker 8: anything special except that the sun was hot. She was
• 5:04:22
  Speaker 8: not dwelling upon any particular train of thought. She had
• 5:04:26
  Speaker 8: done all the thinking which was necessary after Robert went away,
• 5:04:30
  Speaker 8: when she lay awake upon the sofa till morning. She
• 5:04:34
  Speaker 8: had said over and over to herself, to day it
• 5:04:38
  Speaker 8: is Arobert. To morrow it will be some one else.
• 5:04:41
  Speaker 8: It makes no difference to me. It doesn't matter about
• 5:04:44
  Speaker 8: Leonce Pontollier, but Raoul and Itienne. She understood now clearly
• 5:04:51
  Speaker 8: what she had meant long ago when she said to
• 5:04:53
  Speaker 8: adel Ratignolle that she would give up the unessential, but
• 5:04:56
  Speaker 8: she would never sacrifice herself for her children. Despondency had
• 5:05:03
  Speaker 8: come upon her there in the wakeful night and had
• 5:05:06
  Speaker 8: never lifted. There was not one thing in the world
• 5:05:09
  Speaker 8: that she desired. There was no human being whom she
• 5:05:12
  Speaker 8: wanted near her except Robert, and she even realized that
• 5:05:16
  Speaker 8: the day would come when he too, and the thought
• 5:05:19
  Speaker 8: of him, would melt out of her existence, leaving her alone.
• 5:05:24
  Speaker 8: The children appeared before her like antagonists who had overcome her,
• 5:05:29
  Speaker 8: who had overpowered and sought to drag her into the
• 5:05:32
  Speaker 8: soul's slavery for the rest of her days. But she
• 5:05:36
  Speaker 8: knew a way to elude them. She was not thinking
• 5:05:39
  Speaker 8: of these things when she walked down to the beach.
• 5:05:44
  Speaker 8: The water of the gulf stretched out before her, gleaming
• 5:05:47
  Speaker 8: with the million lights of the sun. The voice of
• 5:05:50
  Speaker 8: the sea is seductive, never ceasing, whispering, clamoring, murmuring, inviting
• 5:05:56
  Speaker 8: the soul to wander in abysses of solitude. All along
• 5:06:02
  Speaker 8: the white beach, up and down, there was no living
• 5:06:04
  Speaker 8: thing in sight. A bird with a broken wing was
• 5:06:08
  Speaker 8: beating the air above, reeling, fluttering, circling disabled down down
• 5:06:14
  Speaker 8: to the water, Edna had found her old bathing suit,
• 5:06:19
  Speaker 8: still hanging faded upon its accustomed peg. She put it on,
• 5:06:24
  Speaker 8: leaving her clothing in the bath house. But when she
• 5:06:28
  Speaker 8: was there beside the sea, absolutely alone, she cast the unpleasant,
• 5:06:33
  Speaker 8: pricking garments from her, and for the first time in
• 5:06:36
  Speaker 8: her life, she stood naked in the open air at
• 5:06:39
  Speaker 8: the mercy of the sun, the breeze that beat upon her,
• 5:06:42
  Speaker 8: and the waves that invited her. How strange and awful
• 5:06:47
  Speaker 8: it seemed to stand naked under the sky, How delicious
• 5:06:52
  Speaker 8: she felt, like some new born creature opening its eyes
• 5:06:55
  Speaker 8: to a familiar world that it had never known. The
• 5:07:00
  Speaker 8: foamy wavelets curled up to her white feet and coiled
• 5:07:04
  Speaker 8: like serpents about her ankles. She walked out. The water
• 5:07:08
  Speaker 8: was chill, but she walked on. The water was deep,
• 5:07:12
  Speaker 8: but she lifted her white body and reached out with
• 5:07:15
  Speaker 8: a long, sweeping stroke. The touch of the sea is sensuous,
• 5:07:20
  Speaker 8: in folding the body in its soft, close embrace. She
• 5:07:25
  Speaker 8: went on and on. She remembered the night she swam
• 5:07:29
  Speaker 8: far out, and recalled the terror that seized her at
• 5:07:32
  Speaker 8: the fear of being unable to regain the shore. She
• 5:07:36
  Speaker 8: did not look back now, but went on and on,
• 5:07:39
  Speaker 8: thinking of the blue grass meadow that she had traversed
• 5:07:41
  Speaker 8: when a little child, believing that it had no beginning,
• 5:07:45
  Speaker 8: at no end. Her arms and legs were growing tired.
• 5:07:52
  Speaker 8: She thought of Leonce and the children. They were a
• 5:07:55
  Speaker 8: part of her life, but they need not have thought
• 5:07:58
  Speaker 8: that they could possess her body and soul. How Mademoiselle
• 5:08:03
  Speaker 8: Raise would have laughed, perhaps sneered, if she knew. And
• 5:08:08
  Speaker 8: you call yourself an artist, what pretensions, madame? The artist
• 5:08:13
  Speaker 8: must possess the courageous soul, the dares and defies. Exhaustion
• 5:08:20
  Speaker 8: was pressing upon and overpowering her. Good Bye, because I
• 5:08:25
  Speaker 8: love you. He did not know, He did not understand,
• 5:08:30
  Speaker 8: He would never understand. Perhaps doctor Mountalis would have understood
• 5:08:35
  Speaker 8: if she had seen him, but it was too late.
• 5:08:38
  Speaker 8: The shorel was far behind her, and her strength was gone.
• 5:08:44
  Speaker 8: She looked into the distance and the old terror flamed
• 5:08:48
  Speaker 8: up for an instant, then sank again. Edna heard her
• 5:08:53
  Speaker 8: father's voice and her sister Margaret's. She heard the barking
• 5:08:58
  Speaker 8: of an old dog that was changed to the sycamore tree.
• 5:09:02
  Speaker 8: The spurs of the cavalry officer clanged as he walked
• 5:09:05
  Speaker 8: across the porch. There was the hum of bees and
• 5:09:10
  Speaker 8: the musky odor of pinks filled the air. End of
• 5:09:16
  Speaker 8: Chapters thirty six to thirty nine and end of the
• 5:09:20
  Speaker 8: Awakening by Kate Chuppin