Allez vous-en !
Sapristi !
That 's all right ! ”
He could speak a little Spanish , and also a language which
nobody 0
understood , unless it was the mocking-bird that hung on the other side of the door , whistling his fluty notes out upon the breeze with maddening persistence .
Mr. Pontellier 1
, unable to read his 1
newspaper with any degree of comfort , arose with an expression and an exclamation of disgust .
He 1
walked down the gallery 2
and across the narrow “ bridges ” which connected
the Lebrun cottages 4
one with the other
3 .
He 1
had been seated before the door of the main house 5
.
The parrot and the mockingbird were the property of Madame Lebrun 6
, and they had the right to make all the noise they wished .
Mr. Pontellier 1
had the privilege of quitting their 1
society when they 1
ceased to be entertaining .
He 1
stopped before the door of , which was the fourth one from the main building 5
and next to the last .
Seating himself 1
in a wicker rocker which was there 7
, he 1
once more applied himself 1
to the task of reading the newspaper .
The day was Sunday ; the paper was a day old .
The Sunday papers had not yet reached Grand Isle 8
.
He 1
was already acquainted with the market reports , and he 1
glanced restlessly over the editorials and bits of news which he 1
had not had time to read before quitting New Orleans 9
the day before .
Mr. Pontellier 1
wore eye-glasses .
He 1
was a man of forty , of medium height and rather slender build 55
; he 1
stooped a little .
His 1
hair was brown and straight , parted on one side .
His 1
beard was neatly and closely trimmed .
Once in a while he 1
withdrew his 1
glance from the newspaper and looked about him 1
.
There was more noise than ever over at the house 5
.
The main building 5
was called “ the house 5
, ” to distinguish it 5
from the cottages 4
.
The chattering and whistling birds were still at it .
Two young girls , the Farival twins 10
, were playing a duet from “ Zampa ” upon the piano .
Madame Lebrun 6
was bustling in and out , giving orders in a high key to a yard-boy 11
whenever she 6
got inside the house 5
, and directions in an equally high voice to a
dining-room 13
servant
12 whenever she 6
got outside .
She 6
was a fresh , pretty woman , clad always in white with elbow sleeves 56
.
Her 6
starched skirts crinkled as she 6
came and went .
Farther down , before one of the cottages 14
, a lady in black 15
was walking demurely up and down , telling her 15
beads .
A good many persons of the pension 16
had gone over to the Cheniere Caminada 17
in Beaudelet 's lugger 18
to hear mass .
Some young people 19
were out under the wateroaks playing croquet .
Mr. Pontellier 1
's two children
20 were there 21
-- sturdy little fellows of four and five 20
.
A quadroon nurse 22
followed them 20
about with a faraway , meditative air .
Mr. Pontellier 1
finally lit a cigar and began to smoke , letting the paper drag idly from his 1
hand .
He 1
fixed his 1
gaze upon a white sunshade that was advancing at snail 's pace from the beach .
He 1
could see it plainly between the gaunt trunks of the water-oaks and across the stretch of yellow camomile .
The gulf 23
looked far away , melting hazily into the blue of the horizon 24
.
The sunshade continued to approach slowly .
Beneath its pink-lined shelter were , Mrs. Pontellier 25
, and young Robert Lebrun 26
.
When they 27
reached the cottage 7
, the two 27
seated themselves 27
with some appearance of fatigue upon the upper step of the porch , facing each other , each leaning against a supporting post .
“ What folly !
to bathe at such an hour in such heat ! ”
exclaimed Mr. Pontellier 1
.
He 1
himself 1
had taken a plunge at daylight .
That was why the morning seemed long to him 1
.
“ You 25
are burnt beyond recognition , ” he 1
added , looking at as one looks at a valuable piece of personal property which has suffered some damage .
She 25
held up her 25
hands , strong , shapely hands , and surveyed them critically , drawing up her 25
fawn sleeves above the wrists .
Looking at them reminded her 25
of her 25
rings , which she 25
had given to before leaving for the beach 28
.
She 25
silently reached out to him 1
, and he 1
, understanding , took the rings from his 1
vest pocket and dropped them into her 25
open palm .
She 25
slipped them upon her 25
fingers ; then clasping her 25
knees , she 25
looked across at Robert 26
and began to laugh .
The rings sparkled upon her 25
fingers .
He 26
sent back an answering smile .
“ What is it ? ”
asked Pontellier 1
, looking lazily and amused from one 25
to the other 26
.
It was some utter nonsense ; some adventure out there in the water , and they 27
both tried to relate it at once .
It did not seem half so amusing when told .
They 27
realized this , and so did Mr. Pontellier 1
.
He 1
yawned and stretched himself 1
.
Then he 1
got up , saying he 1
had half a mind to go over to and play a game of billiards .
“ Come go along , Lebrun 26
, ” he 1
proposed to Robert 26
.
But Robert 26
admitted quite frankly that he 26
preferred to stay where he 26
was and talk to Mrs. Pontellier 25
.
“ Well , send him 26
about his 26
business when he 26
bores you 25
, Edna 25
, ” instructed as he 1
prepared to leave .
“ Here , take the umbrella , ” she 25
exclaimed , holding it out to him 1
.
He 1
accepted the sunshade , and lifting it over his 1
head descended the steps and walked away .
“ Coming back to dinner ? ”
called after him 1
.
He 1
halted a moment and shrugged his 1
shoulders .
He 1
felt in his 1
vest pocket ; there was a ten-dollar bill there .
He 1
did not know ; perhaps he 1
would return for the early dinner and perhaps he 1
would not .
It all depended upon the company which he 1
found over at and the size of “ the game . ”
He 1
did not say this , but she 25
understood it , and laughed , nodding good-by to him 1
.
Both children 20
wanted to follow when they 20
saw him 1
starting out .
He 1
kissed them 20
and promised to bring them 20
back bonbons and peanuts .
II Mrs. Pontellier 25
's eyes were quick and bright ; they were a yellowish brown , about the color of her 25
hair .
She 25
had a way of turning them swiftly upon an object and holding them there as if lost in some inward maze of contemplation or thought .
Her 25
eyebrows were a shade darker than her 25
hair .
They were thick and almost horizontal , emphasizing the depth of her 25
eyes .
She 25
was rather handsome than beautiful .
Her 25
face was captivating by reason of a certain frankness of expression and a contradictory subtle play of features .
Her 25
manner was engaging .
Robert 26
rolled a cigarette .
He 26
smoked cigarettes because he 26
could not afford cigars , he 26
said .
He 26
had a cigar in his 26
pocket which Mr. Pontellier 1
had presented him 26
with , and he 26
was saving it for his 26
after-dinner smoke .
This seemed quite proper and natural on his 26
part .
In coloring he 26
was not unlike .
A clean-shaved face made the resemblance more pronounced than it would otherwise have been .
There rested no shadow of care upon his 26
open countenance .
His 26
eyes gathered in and reflected the light and languor of the summer day .
Mrs. Pontellier 25
reached over for a palm-leaf fan that lay on the porch and began to fan herself 25
, while Robert 26
sent between his 26
lips light puffs from his 26
cigarette .
They 27
chatted incessantly : about the things around them 27
; their 27
amusing adventure out in the water -- it had again assumed its entertaining aspect ; about the wind , the trees , the people who had gone to
the Cheniere 17
31 ; about the children playing croquet under the oaks 19
, and the Farival twins 10
, who were now performing the overture to “ The Poet and the Peasant . ”
Robert 26
talked a good deal about himself 26
.
He 26
was very young , and did not know any better .
Mrs. Pontellier 25
talked a little about herself 25
for the same reason .
Each 32
was interested in what the other 33
said .
Robert 26
spoke of his 26
intention to go to Mexico 34
in the autumn , where fortune awaited him 26
.
He 26
was always intending to go to Mexico 34
, but some way never got there 34
.
Meanwhile he 26
held on to his 26
modest position in a mercantile house in
New Orleans 9
35 , where an equal familiarity with English , French and Spanish gave him 26
no small value as a clerk 36
and correspondent 37
.
He 26
was spending his 26
summer vacation , as he 26
always did , with at Grand Isle 38
.
In former times , before Robert 26
could remember , “ the house 5
” had been a summer luxury of the Lebruns 39
.
Now , flanked by its 5
dozen or more cottages 4
, which were always filled with exclusive visitors from
the “ Quartier Francais , ” 41
40 it 5
enabled Madame Lebrun 6
to maintain the easy and comfortable existence which appeared to be her 6
birthright .
Mrs. Pontellier 25
talked about 's Mississippi 43
plantation
44 and her 25
girlhood home in
the old Kentucky bluegrass country 46
45 .
She 25
was an American woman , with a small infusion of French which seemed to have been lost in dilution 57
.
She 25
read a letter from her 25
sister , who was away in
the East 48
, and who had engaged
herself 47
to be married
47 .
Robert 26
was interested , and wanted to know what manner of girls 49
the sisters 50
were , what the father 42
was like , and how long the mother 51
had been dead .
When Mrs. Pontellier 25
folded the letter it was time for her 25
to dress for the early dinner .
“ I 25
see Leonce 1
is n't coming back , ” she 25
said , with a glance in the direction whence had disappeared .
Robert 26
supposed he 1
was not , as there were a good many over at .
When Mrs. Pontellier 25
left him 26
to enter , the young man 26
descended the steps and strolled over toward the croquet players 19
, where , during the half-hour before dinner , he 26
amused himself 26
with the little Pontellier children , who were very fond of
him 26
20 .
III It was eleven o'clock that night when Mr. Pontellier 1
returned from .
He 1
was in an excellent humor , in high spirits , and very talkative .
His 1
entrance awoke , who was in bed and fast asleep when he 1
came in .
He 1
talked to her 25
while he 1
undressed , telling her 25
anecdotes and bits of news and gossip that he 1
had gathered during the day .
From his 1
trousers pockets he 1
took a fistful of crumpled bank notes and a good deal of silver coin , which he 1
piled on the bureau indiscriminately with keys , knife , handkerchief , and whatever else happened to be in his 1
pockets .
She 25
was overcome with sleep , and answered him 1
with little half utterances .