Vincart for the last time. He was nursing, down in
the bottom of his heart, a vague hope, which, frail and slender as the
filament of a plant, was yet strong enough to keep him on his native
soil. Instead of taking the path to Vivey, he made a turn in the
direction of La Thuiliere, and soon reached the open elevation whence
the roofs of the farm-buildings and the turrets of the chateau could
both alike be seen. There he faltered, with a piteous sinking of the
heart. Only a few steps between himself and the house, yet he hesitated
about entering; not that he feared a want of welcome, but because he
dreaded lest the reawakening of his tenderness should cause him to
lose a portion of the courage he should need to enable him to leave.
He leaned against the trunk of an old pear-tree and surveyed the forest
site on which the farm was built.

The landscape retained its usual placidity. In the distance, over the
waste lands, the shepherd Tringuesse was following his flock of sheep,
which occasionally scattered over the fields, and then, under the
dog's harassing watchfulness, reformed in a compact group, previous to
descending the narrow hill-slope. One thing struck Claudet: the pastures
and the woods bore exactly the same aspect, presented the same play of
light and shade as on that afternoon of the preceding year, when he had
met Reine in the Ronces woods, a few days before the arrival of
Julien. The same bright yet tender tint reddened the crab-apple and the
wild-cherry; the tomtits and the robins chirped as before, among
the bushes, and, as in the previous year, one heard the sound of the
beechnuts and acorns dropping on the rocky paths. Autumn went through
her tranquil rites and familiar operations, always with the same
punctual regularity; and all this would go on just the same when Claudet
was no longer there. There would only be one lad the less in the
village streets, one hunter failing to answer the call when they were
surrounding the woods of Charbonniere. This dim perception of how small
a space man occupies on the earth, and of the ease with which he is
forgotten, aided Claudet unconsciously in his effort to be resigned,
and he determined to enter the house. As he opened the gate of the
courtyard, he found himself face to face with Reine, who was coming out.

The young girl immediately supposed he had come to make a last assault,
in the hope of inducing her to yield to his wishes. She feared a renewal
of the painf