The Red and the Black by Stendhal Page B

famous by the tragic adventure of Gabrielle. * A few hundred yards from the picturesque ruins of the old gothic
church, M. de Rênal owns an old château with four turrets and a garden
laid out like the one at the Tuileries, * full of boxwood borders and walks lined with chestnut trees pruned
twice a year. A neighbouring field planted with apple trees provided a
place for walks. There were about ten magnificent walnut trees at the
bottom of the orchard; their great canopy of leaves rose to a height
of some eighty feet.
    'Each one of
these cursed walnuts costs me half an acre's worth of harvest,' M. de
Rênal would say whenever his wife admired them. 'Wheat won't grow in
their shade.'
    The sight of the countryside struck M me de Rênal as quite new, and she marvelled at it to the point of
ecstasy. The feeling within her made her witty and decisive. Two days
after their arrival in Vergy, when M. de Rênal had gone back to town
on civic business, M me de Rênal hired some workmen at her
own expense. Julien had given her the idea of a little sandy path
which would wind through the orchard and under the great walnut trees,
allowing the children to go for walks in the early morning without
getting their shoes drenched with dew. This idea was carried out less
than twenty-four hours after being thought up. M me de Rênal spent the whole day happily in Julien's company, giving instructions to the workmen.
    When the mayor of Verrières returned from town, he was most surprised to find the path finished. M me de Rênal was
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equally surprised to see him back; she had forgotten about his
existence. For two months he talked peevishly about the audacity of
carrying out so important an improvement without consulting him; but M me de Rênal had done it at her own expense, which consoled him a little.
    She spent her days running about the orchard with her children, and
chasing after butterflies. They had made big hood-shaped nets out of
pale-coloured gauze to catch the lepidoptera with. This was the barbarous name that Julien taught M me de Rênal to use. For she had had M. Godart's excellent study * sent over from Besançon, and Julien told her all about the peculiar habits of these poor creatures.
    They were mercilessly stuck with pins on to a large cardboard frame which was also set up by Julien.
    This at last provided M me de Rênal and Julien with a topic of conversation, and he was no
longer condemned to suffer the terrible torture inflicted on him by
moments of silence.
    They talked
endlessly to each other, and with considerable interest, although
always on wholly innocent subjects. This busy and cheerful life of
activity suited everyone except M lle Elisa, who found
herself overwhelmed with work. 'Not even at carnival time,' she would
say, 'when there's a ball at Verrières, has Madam ever taken so much
trouble over her appearance; she changes dresses two or three times a
day.'
    As our intention is to flatter no one, we shall not deny that M me de Rênal, who had lovely skin, had some dresses cut to leave her arms
and bosom very exposed. She had a very good figure, and this way of
dressing suited her wonderfully.
    'You've never been so young , M me de Rênal,' she was told by her friends from Verrières who came to dine at Vergy. (This is a local expression.)
    The strange thing is--and it will scarcely be believed by people like ourselves--that M me de Rênal had no conscious intention in taking so much trouble. It
afforded her pleasure; and without giving any other thought to it, she
did in fact devote all the time she was not catching butterflies with
the children and Julien to dressmaking with Elisa. The only time
she went into Verrières to shop was when she fancied some
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new summer dresses that had just been brought from Mulhouse.
    She arrived back in Vergy bringing with her a young woman who was one of her relatives. Since her marriage M me de Rênal had been drawn imperceptibly