A Simple Soul | Page 4

mason, was killed by falling from a scaffolding. Then her
mother died and her sisters went their different ways; a farmer took her
in, and while she was quite small, let her keep cows in the fields. She
was clad in miserable rags, beaten for the slightest offence and finally
dismissed for a theft of thirty sous which she did not commit. She took
service on another farm where she tended the poultry; and as she was
well thought of by her master, her fellow-workers soon grew jealous.
One evening in August (she was then eighteen years old), they
persuaded her to accompany them to the fair at Colleville. She was
immediately dazzled by the noise, the lights in the trees, the brightness

of the dresses, the laces and gold crosses, and the crowd of people all
hopping at the same time. She was standing modestly at a distance,
when presently a young man of well-to-do appearance, who had been
leaning on the pole of a wagon and smoking his pipe, approached her,
and asked her for a dance. He treated her to cider and cake, bought her
a silk shawl, and then, thinking she had guessed his purpose, offered to
see her home. When they came to the end of a field he threw her down
brutally. But she grew frightened and screamed, and he walked off.
One evening, on the road leading to Beaumont, she came upon a wagon
loaded with hay, and when she overtook it, she recognised Theodore.
He greeted her calmly, and asked her to forget what had happened
between them, as it "was all the fault of the drink."
She did not know what to reply and wished to run away.
Presently he began to speak of the harvest and of the notables of the
village; his father had left Colleville and bought the farm of Les Ecots,
so that now they would be neighbours. "Ah!" she exclaimed. He then
added that his parents were looking around for a wife for him, but that
he, himself, was not so anxious and preferred to wait for a girl who
suited him. She hung her head. He then asked her whether she had ever
thought of marrying. She replied, smilingly, that it was wrong of him to
make fun of her. "Oh! no, I am in earnest," he said, and put his left arm
around her waist while they sauntered along. The air was soft, the stars
were bright, and the huge load of hay oscillated in front of them, drawn
by four horses whose ponderous hoofs raised clouds of dust. Without a
word from their driver they turned to the right. He kissed her again and
she went home. The following week, Theodore obtained meetings.
They met in yards, behind walls or under isolated trees. She was not
ignorant, as girls of well-to-do families are--for the animals had
instructed her;--but her reason and her instinct of honour kept her from
falling. Her resistance exasperated Theodore's love and so in order to
satisfy it (or perchance ingenuously), he offered to marry her. She
would not believe him at first, so he made solemn promises. But, in a
short time he mentioned a difficulty; the previous year, his parents had
purchased a substitute for him; but any day he might be drafted and the

prospect of serving in the army alarmed him greatly. To Felicite his
cowardice appeared a proof of his love for her, and her devotion to him
grew stronger. When she met him, he would torture her with his fears
and his entreaties. At last, he announced that he was going to the
prefect himself for information, and would let her know everything on
the following Sunday, between eleven o'clock and midnight.
When the time grew near, she ran to meet her lover.
But instead of Theodore, one of his friends was at the meeting-place.
He informed her that she would never see her sweetheart again; for, in
order to escape the conscription, he had married a rich old woman,
Madame Lehoussais, of Toucques.
The poor girl's sorrow was frightful. She threw herself on the ground,
she cried and called on the Lord, and wandered around desolately until
sunrise. Then she went back to the farm, declared her intention of
leaving, and at the end of the month, after she had received her wages,
she packed all her belongings in a handkerchief and started for
Pont-l'Eveque.
In front of the inn, she met a woman wearing widow's weeds, and upon
questioning her, learned that she was looking for a cook. The girl did
not know very much, but appeared so willing and so modest in her
requirements, that Madame Aubain finally said:
"Very well, I will give you a trial."
And half an hour later Felicite