The whole door was resplendent in the purity of intense cold. But she did not think she was awake, for she often saw him thus in her dreams, and her trouble increased when, rousing from her sleep, she realised the truth.Among the crowd of white surplices which seemed to overflow the grating, shone the golden capes of the choristers, and the red robes of the singing-boys.� An intense feeling of contempt so excited her that she stood up on her feet.� "I thought to have loved you no longer; but it was certainly only a feeling of pique, since just now, as soon as I found you again at my feet, my heart beat rapidly, and my first impulse was to follow you as if I were your slave.She was a mere nothing now.As the snow that covered her clothes melted it fell in heavy drops.And that is why I am here.
The sun also filled it with life from the changing play of its rays; from the early morning, which rejuvenated it with a delicate gaiety, even to the evening, when, under the slightly lengthened-out shadows, it basked in the unknown.The aforesaid nurse had received on her departure the pay for the first month of her care, in addition to her clothing."So much the better! Just then, by chance, the altar-light was dimmed, so that she could not distinguish the outline of the figures on the painted glass, but all seemed like a blue cloud of vapoury mist.Why had he wished her to come back to life!The officiating priest chanted at the altar.And if one joked her upon her great wild-rose bush, she joined them in their laughter, although a little pale, and with tears almost ready to fall.
After having taken the pot of Flemish glue from the chest of drawers, he moistened with a brush the underside of the material, to make the embroidery firmer.� Felicien uttered one cry of joy as she thus anticipated his desire.� "There is no doubt about that, Monsieur." She should have known well, had she not been over-impatient, that the canopy must be only at the lower wharf of Ligneul.� "Ah, yes!In this final adieu the thousands of tapers appeared to burn still higher, stretching out their flames like tongues of fire, vacillating under the vaulted arches.Already the shadow of the Cathedral seemed to envelop her, and she was on the point of entering her own garden by the little gate which separated it from the Clos, without having once glanced behind her.
She was so happy that she asked for nothing more.The rays even penetrated into the apse, and the sepulchral crypts were brightened up by them. Not she slept, however; but she lay there with closed eyes, penetrated by the refreshing odour that came from his gift; happy to await events, in a repose and confident abandonment of her whole being.Do not hesitate to do so, if you are in the least anxious about the execution of the work."Each evening at lamplight she recommenced her reading of the "Golden Legend," being as delighted with it as when she was a young child.� "Come, let us go."It was hard work, but she thoroughly enjoyed it, and only stopped occasionally to say a few words or to show her shiny face covered with foam.� "Ah! you may be sure that Maman Nini would have beaten you.She bent over it, with her forehead resting on her hands, studying it so intently, that she no longer lived in the real life, but, unconscious of time, she seemed to see, mounting from the depths of the unknown, the broad expansion of a dream.