Odalite

“ Le remained at Mondreer, only riding over to Greenbushes every day to superintend the repairs and refurnishing of his house.
He never met Odalite except at meal times, and then their chairs were so placed that neither need look in the face of the other. Odalite’s seat was near the head of the table. Le’s near the foot, on the same side. They merely greeted each other on entering the dining room, and that was all. Mr. and Mrs. Force treated their young relative with the most delicate consideration. ”

“ But to think that he has kissed you!” exclaimed the 91 youth, with a jealous pang, as he remembered the usual manner of sealing such an acceptance.
“Oh, no, no, Le! He has never kissed me—never, never kissed me—and he never shall until I cease to be myself and become his property, a body without a soul, which cannot help itself,” said Odalite, with a woeful, wintry smile of triumph and defiance breaking through the cold rain of her tears. ”

“ The lady gazed at the man with eyes slowly dilating with horror.
“Odalite!” she gasped, under her breath.
“Yes, if you please. I hear that the girl is considered marriageable. I hear also a rumor to the effect that she may possibly be married to that young midshipman who is expected home at Christmas—unless I supplant him, which I hope to do, for she cannot care for him really, you know, since they parted when they were boy and child.”
“But she does care for him. She loves him as he loves her. They have always been devoted to each other,” indignantly retorted Elfrida Force. ”

“ But understand this—Odalite must be my wife before that young midshipman returns home to make trouble. And the marriage must be made to appear to everybody to be her own choice. You may give the girl as much or as little of your confidence as you see fit, only make her clearly comprehend the consequences of her refusal. When she accepts, as she must accept, my proposal, let her know and feel the absolute necessity of her seeming to wish the marriage, especially when in the presence of her father. You understand. It is useless to prolong a painful interview. ”

“ But Odalie turned at last, and still signaling anxiously to the sentry, as if to implore silence and forbearance, she crossed the open space with her swift, swinging step, climbed the red clay slope among the spiked staves of the fraises, knelt down, slipped through the embrasure, and was lifted to her feet by Demeré, while the gunners stood by looking on, and smiling and ready to cry over her. ”

“ This woman—a child, she would be called elsewhere, save in this land of tropical growth and precocity—lost her heart to one who never knew, a very common story, by the way, but one which would have been quite distasteful to the haughty judge, her father, had he known.
Odalie was beautiful. Odalie was haughty too, but gracious enough to those who pleased her dainty fancy. In the old French house on Royal Street, with its quaint windows and Spanish courtyard green and cool, and made musical by the plashing of the fountain and the trill of caged birds, lived Odalie in convent-like seclusion. ”

“ For Odalie was presently conveying this juvenile personage about in her arms, and he left off a whimper, characteristic of no particular age or sex, to exhibit a truly masculine interest in the big soldiers with their bright uniforms and clanking accouterments, and although constrained by the force of the concussion to blink and close his eyes whenever the great guns were fired, he fairly wheezed and squealed with manly ecstasy in the sound—for a cannonade had begun, seeking to deter the plunder of the deserted houses in the settlement. ”

“ And Odette in her baby voice whispered back, “The Holy Virgin has sent me, in order to make you well!”
Presently the woman calmed herself, and sat staring at the shining river, as though she had quite forgotten that Odette was beside her.
“Tell me what is the matter,” Odette said at length, “and I will try to help you.”
The woman looked at her kindly: “How should you understand what is the matter?” she said, “You, who have lived always with good people, far away from the temptations of the world, what have you to do with the likes of us?” ”

“ Equally humble of origin was [102] another of Odalie's future neighbors, with a sort of homespun dress made after the fashion called a "short gown," a red petticoat, and a pair of moccasons in lieu of shoes. Her face was as broad as the moon, and as bland. Much smiling had worn dimples around her mouth instead of wrinkles in her forehead. She, too, had a keen gleam of discernment in her eyes, but tempered with a perception of the sweetly ludicrous in life, which converted folly into the semblance of fun. ”

“ And ere Odalie could suffer more than a pang to realize that [51] she was so far from that grave, her head drooped once more—she was asleep.
No; she was awake, awake and splendid in a white dress, her beautiful bridal dress in which she had looked a very queen, with her grand'maman's pearl necklace, itself an heirloom, about her white throat. And so, standing at the altar of the little church with Alexander, and much light about her, and a white dress, oh, very white—and suddenly! all the church is stricken to darkness. No; there is light again! ”

“ One of the Indian women smiled in return, a bright-eyed demonstration, and suddenly Odalie remembered the young Cherokee beauty she had noted at the sally-port, watching the parade, the day after her arrival at Fort Loudon. The other, encouraged, began to speak, and to speak in French—a curious, dislocated patter. Asking how she had acquired the language, Odalie was informed that this was the squaw of Savanukah, and that he had journeyed as guide and hunted much with a French trader who had formerly dwelt at Choté, and hearing them talk the squaw, too, had learned. ”

“ At these words, Paul felt his strength leaving him. He sank into a chair, and, burying his face in his hands, he wept. This proud, strong man wept in his despair like a little child. Tears were falling from Odette's eyes as she sought to take his hand. He pushed her away. Raising his head, he said with the composure of utter hopelessness: "Forgive me. I have not shed tears for many years. You do not love me. I shall die. With me, my heart is my life, and I know death will soon relieve me from my suffering. ”

“ Odette came closer to her sister, seized her hands and said slowly: "You are right. I do not love him."
Germaine's eyes flashed with anger. What! his wife! belong to him! so tenderly loved, and no love for him in return! Oh, it was infamous! She groaned in her despair, but suddenly reproached herself that her sympathy was all for Paul. She conquered her anger, and with infinite tenderness said: "Then, dear one, I understand [118] your sufferings; but, hope! dearest Odette. Every one has hours of anguish and despair; but hope, and you will regain your lost love. Depend on me and on God!" ”

“ God, the soul, eternity, the Virgin—they may be foolish, old-fashioned superstitions; but women without them are helpless and lost."
She turned again to the door.
"Odette, Odette, where are you going?" cried the unhappy father.
"I am going where all women go whose honor is lost, who are desperate, who believe in neither God, nor goodness, nor justice. I am going—to perdition!"
And she disappeared, leaving her father's gray head bowed in despair, while Germaine [250] was kneeling, her eyes and hands raised to Heaven.
All Paris remembers Claude Sirvin's attempt at suicide. ”

“ Oblique lamination belongs to many of the coarse shelly oolites: spongoid bodies, enveloped in siliceous matter, lie in the oolitic rocks of Portland and Oxford, but not so regularly as flints do in chalk: there is very little pyrites, and, except in the lower Bath oolite, little oxide or carbonate of iron in the calcareous rocks, above the lias. ”

“ But the story that Odette found the most wonderful of all, was the account of the child Bernadette beholding the Holy Virgin in the mountains. This, for her, was the most perfect story in the world, and with her quick, imaginative mind she would picture the little peasant girl Bernadette returning to her parents’ distant dwelling, when suddenly in a ray of glorious light, the Holy Mary herself appeared on the lonely mountain path, like a beautiful dream. ”

“ Germaine replied.
Claude happened to have invited a few gentlemen to dinner, so the conversation was very gay and animated. Odette wished nothing more than to be left to her own thoughts; but Grenoble insisted upon discussing art with her, and she replied with some vivacity. As she became interested in the subject, her wit and sparkling sallies drew the attention of the whole party. Grenoble and the gentlemen applauded. She was inexpressibly beautiful—her nervous excitement flushing her delicate complexion and lending brilliancy to her glorious eyes. ”

“ For days after she hung between life and death, and then, when she at last got well again, she always seemed to be thinking of him, always seemed to be living in the past. Sometimes she would sit for hours in the garden staring in front of her, and smiling and talking to herself so that I used to feel afraid. Then, a few years later, when the father and mother of the little Odette were drowned on their way back from India, Madame seemed to wake up from her long dream, as it were, and went to Paris to fetch Mademoiselle Odette from the convent of the Holy Dove. ”

“ Odette started; then taking her sister's hand and trying to speak as tenderly as before: "Do you not remember my wish never to discuss religion?"
"I remember it; but I shall never agree to it. It would be a crime if I should! My poor blind sister, my greatest happiness on [78] earth is the hope of opening your eyes to the Light some day."
But as they loved each other too much to say any thing wounding, they left the subject immediately, and Germaine continued: "Now I have told you every thing, I must ask you the same questions you asked me. Tell me now about your love affairs." ”

“ Lacking the austerity of his predecessor, Odon—the great reformer whose energies had given new life to the Benedictine order—Saint Odilon, this "dernier et le plus méprisable des frères de Cluny," as he styled himself, though short and thin in person, was, at the same time, robust and virile; a humble, grave, sympathetic, fatherly man, whose pale face could flush with anger, and his gentle voice become terrible in rebuke of wrong-doing; one whom the sins and sorrows of the living and the dead [74] touched to the heart, as attested by the many healings with which legend has credited his name. ”

“ Odette was changing gradually; growing gentler, sweeter and more loving, as the days drifted by in such dreamy tranquillity. After nights of feverish anxiety and sleepless despair, came this refreshing peace. Every day she grew happier, and more affectionately disposed towards her husband. The hours seemed to have wings. Mornings, they would stroll into the country, or explore the depths of the forest, as light-hearted and gay as two little children. Paul would stop from time to time to wreathe flowers in her hair. ”

“ Those which appear in considerable thickness, as the Bath oolite, Portland oolite, Oxford oolite, are generally of the oolitic texture in the middle, though below and above this may be exchanged for compact or shelly beds. Thin detached limestones, like the forest marble, are sometimes very coarsely oolitic: calcareous layers in sand are usually charged with siliceous matter and often cleave able to slate or flags (Stonesfield) . The grains of oolite vary much in size; the smallest are perfectly spherical, the largest irregular; they generally cohere ”

“ Odette was like a clay which during two and a half years had been continually receiving the touches of a thumb or chisel, powerless to give her the form which an invisible artist desired her to take, and the last touch, removing an encumbering bit, had produced precisely the shape desired. ”

“ Her lips moved as if she were about to speak, but, evidently changing her mind, she sank again into her revery, her eyes fixed on the sea.
"Have I annoyed you?" Corinne asked gently; "then let us leave this subject. Have you heard from Germaine to-day?"
The name of Germaine roused Odette again. "No," she replied. "No letter from her for three days. If I do not hear before [19] to-night, I shall telegraph to Naples. I am afraid she is sick."
She rose and paced up and down the terrace in great agitation. Her face expressed the deepest anxiety. ”

“ We were nearly home when our protector uttered a cry of pain and fell at our feet. The wretched beggars, furious at losing their booty, had followed us at a distance and thrown a large stone, which had struck the young man on the shoulder, making a painful wound. With my assistance, our new friend managed to drag himself to our house."
Odette burst out laughing. "Is that what you call an 'ordinary incident?' Italy must be a queer place if it is. But [76] tell me, how long did your 'fairy prince,' your 'protector,' your 'new friend,' stay at your house?" ”

“ All had risen to their feet, pale and trembling. All understood that the tempest had broken, and that the whispers about Odette were to be answered in this fatal hour. Adèle's heart swelled with sympathy and compassion for the betrayed husband, yet she dared not reply to him. Her husband, however, bowed to the young man in token of silent assent, and he continued slowly, "Madame, I have discovered a most abominable crime. The woman that bears my name has a lover; that lover is my mother's husband. ”

“ For the first time her virgin heart suffered something like the pangs of jealousy. When she bade him good night, she had to close her eyes that he might not see the tender love and pity swimming in their depths.
"But you must not go home alone, Germaine," said Mme. Sirvin. "The carriage is ready. Paul will go with you."
"Oh, no!" she replied, quickly. "Odette will lend me her maid," and to Paul's polite insistance she gave a firm refusal. She had whispered, "Be brave," to Odette, and as she drove off, asked herself why life never unites those who would be happiest together. ”