Renée could still drag along with her father to the first trees of the
little wood near the house. She would then sink down with her back
against the moss of an oak-tree on the boundary of the wood. The smell
of hay from the fields, an odour of grass and honey came to her there
with a delicious warmth from the sunshine, the fresh air from the wood,
damp from the cool springs and the unmade paths.
In the midst of the deep silence, an immense, indistinct rustling could
be heard, and a hum and buzz of winged creatures, which filled the air
with a ceaseless sound like that of a bee-hive and the infinite murmur
of the sea. All around Renée, and near to her, there seemed to be a
great living peace, in which everything was being swayed--the gnat in
the air, the leaf on the branch, the shadows on the bark of the trees,
the tops of the trees against the sky, and the wild oats on each side of
the paths. Then from this murmur came the sighing sound of a deep
respiration, a breeze coming from afar which made the trees tremble as
it passed them, while the blue of the heavenly vault above the shaking
leaves seemed fixed and immovable. The boughs swayed slowly up and down,
a breath passed over Renée's temples and touched her neck, a puff of
wind kissed and cheered her. Gradually she began to lose all
consciousness of her physical being, the sensation and fatigue of
living; an exquisite languor took possession of her, and it seemed to
her as though she were partially freed from her material body and were
just ready to pass away in the divine sweetness of all these things.
Every now and then she nestled closer to her father like a child who is
afraid of being carried away by a gust of wind.
There was a stone bench covered with moss in the garden. After dinner,
towards seven o'clock, Renée liked to sit there; she would put her feet
up, leaning her head against the back of the seat, and with a trail of
convolvulus tickling her ear she would stay there, looking up at the
sky. It was just at the time of those beautiful summer days which fade
away in silvery evenings. Imperceptibly her eyes and her thoughts were
fascinated by the infinite whiteness of the sky, just ready to die away.
As she watched she seemed to see more brilliancy and light coming from
this closing day, a more dazzling brightness and serenity seemed to fall
upon her. Gradually some great depths opened in the heavens, and she
fancied she could see millions of little starry flames as pale as the
light of tapers, trembling with the night breeze. And then, from time to
time, weary of gazing into that dazzling brightness which kept receding,
blinded by those myriads of suns, she would close her eyes for an
instant as though shrinking from that gulf which was hanging over her
and drawing her up above.