Blaise was with the parents at the bedside at the moment when Maurice
expired. It was then about two in the morning, and as soon as possible he
telegraphed the news of the death to Chantebled. Nine o'clock was
striking when Marianne, very pale, quite upset, came into the yard to
call Mathieu.
"Maurice is dead! . . . _Mon Dieu_! an only son; poor people!"
They stood there thunderstruck, chilled and trembling. They had simply
heard that the young man was poorly; they had not imagined him to be
seriously ill.
"Let me go to dress," said Mathieu; "I shall take the quarter-past ten
o'clock train. I must go to kiss them."
Although Marianne was expecting her eleventh child before long, she
decided to accompany her husband. It would have pained her to be unable
to give this proof of affection to her cousins, who, all things
considered, had treated Blaise and his young wife very kindly. Moreover,
she was really grieved by the terrible catastrophe. So she and her
husband, after distributing the day's work among the servants, set out
for Janville station, which they reached just in time to catch the
quarter-past ten o'clock train.
Pages:
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404