Noémi

“ Since the first time he had seen her, she had been for him the forbidden Paradise, that marvellous mirage, woman, which appears before the awakening glance of an innocent child. The fascinating image is shaped as much from what exists as from what does not exist, as much from what he sees as from what he does not see, what he does not know, what he fears and desires, what he wants and what he does not want, the terrifying attraction that thrills the adolescent body at the ecstatic, brutal appeal of nature. As for Noémi's features, he probably did not see one of them just as it was. ”

“ In the midst of this hellish spectacle, Bar Noemi folded his hands across his breast and prayed in silence. He had quite made up his mind to breathe his last in the belly of the idol.
Again the elders and high priests whispered together, then, with smiling countenances, they spoke thus to Bar Noemi—
"Thou hast remained steadfast in thy faith. Cleave thereto henceforward also, and never forswear thyself. Wed thee with thy betrothed after the manner of thy nation, and take her with thee to thy distant dwelling; live as long as thy God wills it." ”

“ The chief remained sullen, with knitted brow and clenched teeth, brooding.
"The sun is set," said Jean, and pointed through the window.
The yellow flame had disappeared that had flushed the hills on the further side of the Dordogne, the wooded slopes and the tall rock of Vitrac, itself a natural fortress.
The Captain moved uneasily on his pallet, and looked furtively at his guards near the door.
Jean read his thought.
"Nothing you can do is of any avail, save the release of my father. The first ray of sun that lights the sky sees the spark of life die out in your Noémi's heart." ”

“ Had not the priest himself chosen the path of matrimony for her?
Noémi was silent; how could she reply, pre-eminently fitted as she was to be a wife and a mother, and full of piety and tenderness? She never read novels; she waited upon her parents, obeyed them. ”

“ But though the earth tremble beneath the hideous [Pg 196] hubbub, Bar Noemi's heart trembles not. He has found the name which gave him strength in the midst of the raging elements, and drawing his sword, he stands in the midst of the furious mob, like a god, or rather like a true man amongst men who have lost every spark of manhood. ”

“ Noémi could not live alone on that desert island. The woman must have justice in return for her fidelity and love: accursed would he be who could find it in his heart to abandon her who had given herself to him body and soul. And then, too, Timéa would be happy. ”

“ Never stand before man, never kneel before God. I'm a young man; I'm five-and-twenty, and have got three children. I'll never do aught but lie as a log all the years I have to live!"
"There is a trifle for you," said Noémi, putting money into his hand. "I would I had more. Hush! I cannot bear that!"
The poor woman, still half distraught, now worked to further excitement by the return of the seven men safe and sound, while her own husband lay in irrecoverable wretchedness, broke into a storm of curses against Le Gros Guillem, and of blasphemy against God. ”

“ Letting go of her dwarf, Noémi sprang towards me like a tigress, seized my yellak, for I wore the Albanian costume, and said to me, her eyes blazing with anger:
"If you try to go away, and leave us here, we will set the palace on fire, and, holding you in our arms, we will all be burned together." ”

“ Poor child, had she not been ill and prostrate at first, and fastened herself on the tender side of the good woman’s heart by the sweetness of an unselfish and buoyant nature in illness, Noemi could hardly have endured such an inmate, not even half a Huguenot, full of little Catholic observances like second nature to her; listening indeed to the Bible for the short time, but always, when it was expounded, either asleep, or finding some amusement indispensable for her baby; eager for the least variety, and above all spoilt by Maitre Gardon to a degree absolutely perplexing to the grave woman. ”

“ Where hast thou gleaned today, and where hast thou wrought? blessed be he that hath had pity on thee. And she told her with whom she had wrought: and she told the man’s name, that he was called Booz.
2:20. And Noemi answered her: Blessed be he of the Lord: because the same kindness which he shewed to the living, he hath kept also to the dead. And again she said: The man is our kinsman. ”

“ Are those real English faces that we fear and hate? Are they not the faces of our own countrymen, who call themselves English, that they may plunder and murder their fellow-countrymen and soak with blood and blast with fire the soil that reared them?"
Noémi was somewhat awed by his vehemence, but she said—
"Rather something to be talked about than a nothing at all."
"Wrong, utterly wrong!" said Jean. "Rather be the storm that bursts and wrecks all things than be still beneficent Nature in her order which brings to perfection? Any fool can destroy; it takes a wise man to build up. ”

“ Health and life were very vigorous in Eustacie; and though at first she had been completely worn out, a few days of comfort, entire rest, and good nursing restored her. Noemi dressed her much like herself, in a black gown, prim little white starched ruff, and white cap,—a thorough Calvinist dress, and befitting a minister’s widow. ”

“ His wife shared his martyrdom. It is I who am escaped alone to tell thee. But, nevertheless, this babe is an orphan of that same day. Her father was the son of the pious Baron de Ribaumont, the patron of your husband, and of myself in earlier days.’
‘Ah!’ exclaimed Noemi, startled. ‘Then the poor young mother—is she—can she be the lost Demoiselle de Nid de Merle?’
‘Is the thing known here? The will of Heaven be done; but she can send to her husband’s kindred in England.’
‘She might rest safely enough, if others beside myself believed in her being your son’s widow,’ said Noemi. ”

“ The terrible shadow of Le Gros Guillem, the awful story of the past made this impossible.
As he was nearing La Roque, he suddenly drew rein—he saw Noémi. She was seated on a mass of brown fallen leaves, and was plucking helebore flowers. Even that act struck Jean to the heart. "She plays with poison—seeks out the noxious, the deadly," he said. He leaped to the ground, and holding the rein of his horse came to her. ”

“ Jean felt that a painful obligation lay on him to see Noémi. Her father had met with a terrible death at the hands of his father, who had played with the wretched man as a cat with a mouse before he had cut the cord and precipitated him to his death. Le Gros Guillem had forfeited every right to command sympathy by his treatment of Ogier—in casting him down the oubliette and then by his treacherous attempt to have him murdered by his two men-at-arms. ”

“ Ah! stranger, here are a thousand different kinds of bliss which other lands wot not of. Shame it is that one cannot live longer. Shame that life vanishes like a dream. I myself am not far from my dotage, for thirty summers have already passed over my head!"
Bar Noemi felt very dejected. Thirty years in this place actually mean old age! ”

“ Noémi left the attendants with her horse at the foot of the steep ascent that led to the Church of Guillem.
The ascent was up a slope of crumbled chalk and flints hardly held together by a little wiry grass, some straggling pinks, and bushes of box and juniper. The incline was as rapid as that of a Gothic house-roof. Of path there was none, for every man who scrambled up mounted his own way, and his footprints sent shale and dust over the footprints of his predecessor. ”

“ Some day, perhaps, in the long-distant future, the voice of Nature may speak to us more clearly through the lips of a nobler and purer system of science than any we now know, and we may learn that Matter is not all in all, nor human love and desire given in vain; but that torn hearts may be healed and ruined lives perfected in a higher spiritual existence, where, "beyond these voices, there is peace."
Meanwhile Noemi's body rests in its quiet grave, and upon the faithful bosom lies the silver cross which her lover gave her. ”

“ There, Noémi," said the young man, laying his hand on the horse's neck, "I know you meant kindly and right by us. It is not your fault; it is the fault of your blood; it is the fault of the times that you have gone about it in a wrong way."
"There was no other way."
"I do not say that. I was going to Bergerac to raise the money there."
"And pawn your inheritance to a Christian usurer who is worse than a Jew. You have your men, you have your land—be content. If wrong is done, I did it." Noémi abandoned her horse and entered the ferry-boat with the men and Jean. ”

“ Jean was moved. "Noémi," he said, "I shall never, never forget what you have done for us."
The girl speedily recovered herself.
"I must back to Domme," she said. "My task is done. You did not say that I had surrendered myself?"
"No. I let Le Gros Guillem think that we had captured you. But it is with me as with you. I must be back to my father. There is a fellow come with me—called Heliot, and with my father is Peyrot le Fort."
"The worst—the most treacherous ruffians there are!"
"They can do no hurt. At all events, till you are restored." ”

“ I sprang forward with a cry of horror.
"Dead?" I repeated, "Noemi dead?"
White and still she lay—a broken lily—beautiful and sweet even in death; her eyes were closed lightly, and upon her lovely lips was the first smile I had seen there since the day which had stricken her innocent life into the dust. Her right hand rested on Bambin's head, in her left she held the piece of silver ribbon I had given her,—the ribbon she had hoped to wear at her wedding. ”

“ The Vézère gleamed as a plate of molten silver below.
The river passed with a sigh rather than a murmur. How white, dazzling white, those cliffs must seem facing the moon, standing up like gigantic horse-teeth! The moon smote in at the window where sat Noémi. It bathed her face, her arm that was raised to sustain her chin.
How glorious was the world! how peaceful! how [pg 195] happy! Only man, with his lust of rapine, his love of violence, transformed it into a place of torment. ”

“ God ordained that Booz should get to know the virtuous Ruth, and should, though she was poor, take her as his wife. This was so ordained in order that Ruth and Noemi should be rewarded for their virtues. Noemi was now above want, and could serve God without anxiety about her maintenance. Nothing happens by chance.
Several beautiful examples of virtue are put before us in this story.
Noemi left her home only from necessity, and kept her faith untarnished in the midst of a heathen society; and as soon as the famine was over, she returned to her own country and fellow-believers. ”

“ Bar Noemi did not hear the feeble sound. The music of the glass flutes, the soft harmony of the silver trumpets, mingled in his bosom with the choruses of the children into an enchanting, intoxicating harmony, which Byssenia's voice failed to penetrate. Seductive, sylph-like forms danced before him in fluttering garments. Their dishevelled tresses waved wildly in the air. Their flashing eyes shone brighter than the sun. Who would not have lost his reason at the sight of so much beauty, so much bliss? ”

“ NOÉMI: A Romance of the Cave-Dwellers. Illustrated by R. Caton Woodville. Third Edition.
‘“Noémi” is as excellent a tale of fighting and adventure as one may wish to meet. The narrative also runs clear and sharp as the Loire itself.’—Pall Mall Gazette.
‘Mr. Baring Gould’s powerful story is full of the strong lights and shadows and vivid colouring to which he has accustomed us.’—Standard. ”

“ And Noémi took her arm and drew her into a small salon. "No, never." She kissed her. "Oh, what it is to be happy! She loves him no longer. I am sure of it--I can see it; I feel it."
"And you love him now?"
Noémi closed her mouth by pressing her lips upon Renée's. A young man came to claim Noémi for the dance, and Denoisel requested the same favour from Renée.
Denoisel was with Henri Mauperin. They were smoking and talking peacefully, when the door was thrust open, and a man forced his way in, pushing aside the valet who wanted to prevent him from entering. ”

“ Who can Michael be? Can he be other than he seems? What will that horrid phantom have to tell, which has turned up from the antipodes? Oh, why had Michael not done as Noémi said—if only three feet of earth lay between them!
Noémi was no feeble woman; she had grown up in the desert and learned to trust in herself; the enervating influences of the outer world had never affected her mind. The wolf knows how to defend her lair against the dogs with claws and teeth. Since that fearful visit she always carried Michael's knife in her bosom, and [Pg 252] —it is keen and sharp. ”

“ Gradually the space around him was full to overflowing, and when all the roofs were also thronged with people, Bar Noemi raised his voice and spoke.
"Ye men of Triton's city, listen to my words! The Lord, the only true God, the Lord of heaven and earth and sea speaks thus to you. Five righteous men came to-day into your city in order to stay the judgment of the Lord which He has pronounced against you. Your years have come to an end, only a few more days remain to you, for the measure of your iniquities is full to overflowing, and no one will see another moon. ”