La Debacle.
ALBINE, niece of Jeanbernat, keeper of the Paradou, a neglected demesne
in Provence. Her father had ruined himself and committed suicide when
she was nine years old, and she then came to live with her uncle. She
grew up in that vast garden of flowers, herself its fairest, almost in
ignorance of the world outside, and when Abbe Mouret came to the Paradou
forgetful of his past, she loved him unconsciously from the first. As
she nursed him towards health, and his mind began again to grow from
that fresh starting-point to which it had been thrown back, there
developed an idyll as beautiful and as innocent as that which had its
place in another and an earlier garden. The awakening of Abbe Mouret to
the recollections of his priesthood ended the romance, for the call
of his training was too strong for his love. One effort Albine made
to bring him back, and it was successful in so much that one day he
returned to the Paradou. Again there followed the struggle between the
flesh and the Church, and again the Church prevailed. Broken-hearted,
Albine passed for the last time through her loved garden, gathering as
she went vast heaps of flowers.
Pages:
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88