himâsometimes. Often she had not. What did it matter! What could love, the unsolved mystery, count for in the face of this possession of self-assertion which she suddenly recognized as the strongest impulse of her being!
âFree! Body and soul free!â she kept whispering.
Josephine was kneeling before the closed door with her lips to the keyhold, imploring for admission. âLouise, open the door! I beg; open the doorâyou will make yourself ill. What are you doing, Louise? For heavenâs sake open the door.â
âGo away. I am not making myself ill.â No; she was drinking in a very elixir of life through that open window.
Her fancy was running riot along those days ahead of her. Spring days, and summer days, and all sorts of days that would be her own. She breathed a quick prayer that life might be long. It was only yesterday she had thought with a shudder that life might be long.
She arose at length and opened the door to her sisterâs importunities. There was a feverish triumph in her eyes, and she carried herself unwittingly like a goddess of Victory. She clasped her sisterâs waist, and together they descended the stairs. Richards stood waiting for them at the bottom.
Someone was opening the front door with a latchkey. It was Brently Mallard who entered, a little travel-stained, composedly carrying his grip-sack and umbrella. He had been far from the scene of the accident, and did not even know there had been one. He stood amazed at Josephineâs piercing cry; at Richardsâ quick motion to screen him from the view of his wife.
When the doctors came they said she had died of heart diseaseâof the joy that kills.
About the Author
Kate Chopin was an American author whose works include two novels and nearly one hundred short stories. Chopinâs close relationships with her female relativesâher mother, grandmother, and great-grandmotherâprovided inspiration for her strong female characters. Although some of her works were controversial at the time of publication, Chopin is now considered to have been ahead of her time and a precursor to the wave of feminist writing in the twentieth century. Chopinâs most notable works include
The Awakening
,
At Fault
, and the short story âDesireeâs Baby,â which explores race relations in antebellum Louisiana. Chopin died in 1904.
About the Series
Harper
Perennial
Classics brings great works of literature to life in digital format, upholding the highest standards in ebook production and celebrating reading in all its forms. Look for more titles in the Harper
Perennial
Classics collection to build your digital library.
Copyright
Harper
Perennial
Classics
An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
2 Bloor Street East, 20th Floor
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
M4W 1A8
www.harpercollins.ca
EPub Edition APRIL 2014 ISBN: 9781443435192
This title is in Canadaâs public domain and is not subject to any licence or copyright.
About the Publisher
HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty. Ltd.
Level 13, 201 Elizabeth Street
Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia
http://www.harpercollins.com.au
HarperCollins Publishers (Canada) Ltd.
2 Bloor Street East - 20th Floor
Toronto, ON, M4W 1A8, Canada
http://www.harpercollins.ca
HarperCollins Publishers (New Zealand) Limited
P.O. Box 1
Auckland, New Zealand
http://www.harpercollins.co.nz
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
77-85 Fulham Palace Road
London, W6 8JB, UK
http://www.harpercollins.co.uk
HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
10 East 53rd Street
New York, NY 10022
http://www.harpercollins.com
âFree! Body and soul free!â she kept whispering.
Josephine was kneeling before the closed door with her lips to the keyhold, imploring for admission. âLouise, open the door! I beg; open the doorâyou will make yourself ill. What are you doing, Louise? For heavenâs sake open the door.â
âGo away. I am not making myself ill.â No; she was drinking in a very elixir of life through that open window.
Her fancy was running riot along those days ahead of her. Spring days, and summer days, and all sorts of days that would be her own. She breathed a quick prayer that life might be long. It was only yesterday she had thought with a shudder that life might be long.
She arose at length and opened the door to her sisterâs importunities. There was a feverish triumph in her eyes, and she carried herself unwittingly like a goddess of Victory. She clasped her sisterâs waist, and together they descended the stairs. Richards stood waiting for them at the bottom.
Someone was opening the front door with a latchkey. It was Brently Mallard who entered, a little travel-stained, composedly carrying his grip-sack and umbrella. He had been far from the scene of the accident, and did not even know there had been one. He stood amazed at Josephineâs piercing cry; at Richardsâ quick motion to screen him from the view of his wife.
When the doctors came they said she had died of heart diseaseâof the joy that kills.
About the Author
Kate Chopin was an American author whose works include two novels and nearly one hundred short stories. Chopinâs close relationships with her female relativesâher mother, grandmother, and great-grandmotherâprovided inspiration for her strong female characters. Although some of her works were controversial at the time of publication, Chopin is now considered to have been ahead of her time and a precursor to the wave of feminist writing in the twentieth century. Chopinâs most notable works include
The Awakening
,
At Fault
, and the short story âDesireeâs Baby,â which explores race relations in antebellum Louisiana. Chopin died in 1904.
About the Series
Harper
Perennial
Classics brings great works of literature to life in digital format, upholding the highest standards in ebook production and celebrating reading in all its forms. Look for more titles in the Harper
Perennial
Classics collection to build your digital library.
Copyright
Harper
Perennial
Classics
An imprint of HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
2 Bloor Street East, 20th Floor
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
M4W 1A8
www.harpercollins.ca
EPub Edition APRIL 2014 ISBN: 9781443435192
This title is in Canadaâs public domain and is not subject to any licence or copyright.
About the Publisher
HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty. Ltd.
Level 13, 201 Elizabeth Street
Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia
http://www.harpercollins.com.au
HarperCollins Publishers (Canada) Ltd.
2 Bloor Street East - 20th Floor
Toronto, ON, M4W 1A8, Canada
http://www.harpercollins.ca
HarperCollins Publishers (New Zealand) Limited
P.O. Box 1
Auckland, New Zealand
http://www.harpercollins.co.nz
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
77-85 Fulham Palace Road
London, W6 8JB, UK
http://www.harpercollins.co.uk
HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
10 East 53rd Street
New York, NY 10022
http://www.harpercollins.com
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