Then, as a veiled lady furtively sprang into the vehicle, he turned
round wondering: Was that not Valentine? And as the cab drove off he felt
convinced it was.
There came other meetings when he reached the main avenue; first Gaston
and Lucie, already tired of play, and dragging about their puny limbs
under the careless supervision of Celeste, who was busy laughing with a
grocer's man; while farther off La Catiche, superb and royal, decked out
like the idol of venal motherhood, was giving little Andree an outing,
with her long purple ribbons streaming victoriously in the sunshine.
XI
ON the day when the first blow with the pick was dealt, Marianne, with
Gervais in her arms, came and sat down close by, full of happy emotion at
this work of faith and hope which Mathieu was so boldly undertaking. It
was a clear, warm day in the middle of June, with a pure, broad sky that
encouraged confidence. And as the children had been given a holiday, they
played about in the surrounding grass, and one could hear the shrill
cries of little Rose while she amused herself with running after the
three boys.
"Will you deal the first blow?" Mathieu gayly asked his wife.
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