Lost Estate (Le Grand Meaulnes), The by Alain-Fournier Henri

Author:Alain-Fournier, Henri [Alain-Fournier, Henri]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Novel, Classics, Translated
ISBN: 9780141441894
Google: OanxRBt75iAC
Amazon: 0141441895
Barnesnoble: 0141441895
Goodreads: 983730
Publisher: Penguin
Published: 1911-12-31T15:00:00+00:00

VIII

THE GENDARMES!

We had to join up with the crowd of men and women making their way back towards the school through the dark streets. Now we understood everything. The tall white figure that Meaulnes had seen on the last evening of the celebration running between the trees was Ganache, who had picked up the heartbroken fiancé and fled with him. Frantz de Galais had accepted this wild life full of risks, games and adventures. It was like going back to his childhood…

Up to now, he had kept his name from us and pretended not to know the way back to the estate, no doubt because he was afraid that he would be forced to return to his parents. But why had he suddenly seen fit that evening to make himself known to us and to let us guess the whole truth?

How many plans The Great Meaulnes was making as the crowd of spectators slowly dispersed around the town. He decided that he would go and look for Frantz the very next morning, which was a Thursday. Then the two of them would set off for there! What a journey it would be on the wet road. Frantz would explain everything, it would all be settled, and the wonderful adventure would start again at the point where it had been broken off…

For my part, I was walking through the darkness with a vague weight pressing on my heart. Everything was combining to make me happy, from the small pleasure that I gained from anticipating the Thursday holiday to the immense discovery that we had just made by some astonishing piece of luck. And I remember that, with this sudden feeling of generosity in my heart, I went over to the ugliest of the notary’s daughters – the one to whom, as a punishment, I was sometimes required to offer my arm – and spontaneously took her hand.

Bitter memories! Vain hopes crushed!

The next day, at eight o’clock, as the two of us came into the church square, with our brightly shining shoes, our well-polished belt buckles and our new caps, Meaulnes – who up to then had been trying not to smile when he looked at me – gave a shout and started to run into the empty square… In the place where the tent and the caravan had been, only a broken pot and some rags remained… The gypsies had gone.

A little wind, which seemed icy to us, was blowing. I felt as though with every step we took we would trip up on the hard, stony ground of the square and fall over. Twice, Meaulnes made as though to run, firstly along the road to Le Vieux-Nançay, then along the road to Saint-Loup-des-Bois. He shaded his eyes with his hand, hoping for a moment that they had only just left. What could we do? There were the tracks of ten carts crisscrossing the square, then vanishing on the hard surface of the road. There was nothing for it but to stand there, helpless.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.