The bell of Etchezar, the same dear, old bell, that of the tranquil
curfew, that of the festivals and that of the agonies, rang joyously in
the beautiful sun of June. The village was decorated with white cloths,
white embroideries, and the procession of the Fete-Dieu passed slowly,
on a green strewing of fennel seed and of reeds cut from the marshes.
The mountains seemed near and sombre, somewhat ferocious in their brown
tones, above this white parade of little girls marching on a carpet of
cut leaves and grass.
All the old banners of the church were there, illuminated by that sun
which they had known for centuries but which they see only once or twice
a year, on the consecrated days.
The large one, that of the Virgin, in white silk embroidered with pale
gold, was borne by Gracieuse, who walked in white dress, her eyes lost
in a mystic dream. Behind the young girls, came the women, all the women
of the village, wearing black veils, including Dolores and Franchita,
the two enemies. Men, numerous enough, closed this cortege, tapers in
their hands, heads uncovered--but there were especially gray hairs,
faces with expressions vanquished and resigned, heads of old men.
Gracieuse, holding high the banner of the Virgin, became at this hour
one of the Illuminati; she felt as if she were marching, as after
death, toward the celestial tabernacles. And when, at instants, the
reminiscence of Ramuntcho's lips traversed her dream, she had the
impression, in the midst of all this white, of a sharp stain, delicious
still. Truly, as her thoughts became more elevated from day to day, what
brought her back to him was less her senses, capable in her of being
tamed, than true, profound tenderness, the one which resists time and
deceptions of the flesh. And this tenderness was augmented by the fact
that Ramuntcho was less fortunate than she and more abandoned in life,
having had no father--