Then there came that terrible week in October when the unfortunate young
fellows who had drawn bad numbers had to join their regiments.[11]
Tiennou was one of them, and Margot was in despair to think that she
should not see him for five interminable years, that they could not
even, at that hour of sad farewells, be alone and exchange those
consoling words which afterwards alleviate the pain of absence.
[Footnote 11: Written before universal service was obligatory, and when
soldiers were selected by conscription, a certain amount of those who
drew high numbers, being exempt from service.--TRANSLATOR.]
Tiennou prowled about the house, like a starving beggar, and one
morning, while the miller was mending the wheel, he managed to see
Margot.
"I will wait for you in the old place to-night," he whispered, in
terrible grief. "I know it is the last time ... I shall throw myself
into some deep hole in the river if you do not come! ..."
"I will be there, Tiennou," she replied, in a bewildered manner. "I
swear I will be there ... even if I have to do something terrible to
enable me to come!"
* * * * *
The village was burning in the dark night, and the flames, fanned by the
wind, rose up like sinister torches. The thatched roofs, the ricks of
corn, the haystacks, and the barns fell in, and crackled like rockets,
while the sky looked as if they were illuminated by an _aurora
borealis_. Fresquyl's mill was smoking, and its calcined ruins were
reflected on the deep water. The sheep and cows were running about the
fields in terror, the dogs were howling, and the women were sitting on
the broken furniture, and were crying and wringing their hands; while
during all this time Margot was abandoning herself to her lover's ardent
caresses, and with her arms round his neck, she said to him, tenderly:
"You see that I have kept my promise ... I set fire to the mill so that
I might be able to get out. So much the worse if all have suffered. But
I do not care as long as you are happy in having me, and love me!"
And pointing to the fire which was still burning fiercely in the
distance, she added with a burst of savage laughter:
"Tiennou, we shall not have such beautiful tapers at out wedding Mass
when you come back from your regiment!"
And thus it was that for the second time Margot Fresquyl yielded to the
mortal sin of love.