succeeding years of solitude and mourning. She wept over his desertion;
over the desolation of her life, seeing around her only indifferent or
selfish people, and caring only to live for her child's sake, who gave
her at least a shadowy reflection of the husband she had lost.
"Lost--yes, lost for ever!" she said to herself, sighing, and looking
again at the fields whence she had so often seen him coming at this same
twilight hour, returning to his home for the evening meal. She cast a
wandering eye on the distant hills, which showed a black outline against
a yet fiery western sky, then let it fall on a little grove of olive
trees planted on the farther side of the brook which skirted her
dwelling. Everything was calm; approaching night brought silence along
with darkness: it was exactly what she saw every evening, but to leave
which required always an effort.

She rose to re-enter the house, when her attention was caught by a
movement amongst the trees. For a moment she thought she was mistaken,
but the branches again rustled, then parted asunder, and the form of a
man appeared on the other side of the brook. Terrified, Bertrande tried
to scream, but not a sound escaped her lips; her voice seemed paralyzed
by terror, as in an evil dream. And she almost thought it was a dream,
for notwithstanding the dark shadows cast around this indistinct
semblance, she seemed to recognise features once dear to her. Had her
bitter reveries ended by making her the victim of a hallucination? She
thought her brain was giving way, and sank on her knees to pray for help.
But the figure remained; it stood motionless, with folded arms, silently
gazing at her! Then she thought of witchcraft, of evil demons, and
superstitious as every one was in those days, she kissed a crucifix which
hung from her neck, and fell fainting on the ground. With one spring the
phantom crossed the brook and stood beside her.