Upon this latter course he was perfectly resolved, and in
view of such an heroic resolution the subjective interlude appeared
no more than his just privilege. The project of leaving
Blanquais-les-Galets at nine o'clock in the morning dropped lightly from
his mind, making no noise as it fell; but another took its place, which
had an air of being still more excellent and which consisted of starting
off on a long walk and absenting himself for the day. Bernard grasped
his stick and wandered away; he climbed the great shoulder of the
further cliff and found himself on the level downs. Here there was
apparently no obstacle whatever to his walking as far as his fancy
should carry him. The summer was still in a splendid mood, and the hot
and quiet day--it was a Sunday--seemed to constitute a deep, silent
smile on the face of nature. The sea glistened on one side, and the
crops ripened on the other; the larks, losing themselves in the dense
sunshine, made it ring here and there in undiscoverable spots; this
was the only sound save when Bernard, pausing now and then in his walk,
found himself hearing far below him, at the base of the cliff, the
drawling murmur of a wave. He walked a great many miles and passed
through half a dozen of those rude fishing-hamlets, lodged in some
sloping hollow of the cliffs, so many of which, of late years, all along
the Norman coast, have adorned themselves with a couple of hotels and a
row of bathing-machines.
Pages:
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224