And therefore the little, shining, zig-zag marks on the cover of Duruy
always brought to my mind Rameau's gay dance that I played on the shrill
old piano, only to have it drowned by the noise of the raging storm;
and the same little blotches also recall to me a vision that I had that
night (one, no doubt, born of an engraving by Teniers that hung on the
wall); there seemed to pass before my eyes little people belonging to a
bygone age who danced in the shade of a wood like that of Limoise; the
apparition awakened in me an appreciation of the pastoral gayety of that
time, a conception of the abandon and joyousness of the picnickers who
were dancing so merrily under the spreading branches of the oak trees.




CHAPTER XL.



And yet the return home from Limoise Thursday evenings would have had
a great charm but for the remorse I almost always felt because of
neglected duties.

My friends took me as far as the river in the carriage, or I rode on a
donkey, or we walked. Once past the stony plateau on the south bank of
the river, and once over it and upon the home side I found my father
and sister awaiting me; I walked gayly beside them in the straight path
lying between the extensive meadows that led to our house. I went at a
brisk pace in my eagerness to see mamma, my aunts and our dear home.

When we entered the town, by the old disused gate, it was always dusk,