There be three things which are too wonderful for me, yea, for which I know not:
The way of an eagle in the air; the way of a serpent upon a rock; the way of a ship in the midst of the sea; and the way of a man with a maid.
Chapter I
The utter desolation of the scene began to have its effect; I sat down to face the situation and, if possible, recall to mind some landmark1 which might aid me in extricating2 myself from my present position. If I could only find the ocean again all would be clear, for I knew one could see the island of Groix from the cliffs.
I laid down my gun, and kneeling behind a rock lighted my pipe. Then I looked at my watch. It was nearly four o’clock. I might have wandered far from Kerselec since daybreak.
Standing3 the day before on the cliffs below Kerselec with Goulven, looking out over the sombre moors4 among which I had now lost my way, these downs had appeared to me level as a meadow, stretching to the horizon, and although I knew how deceptive6 is distance, I could not realize that what from Kerselec seemed to be mere7 grassy8 hollows were great valleys covered with gorse and heather, and what looked like scattered9 boulders10 were in reality enormous cliffs of granite11.
“It’s a bad place for a stranger,” old Goulven had said; “you’d better take a guide;” and I had replied, “I shall not lose myself.” Now I knew that I had lost myself, as I sat there smoking, with the sea-wind blowing in my face. On every side stretched the moorland, covered with flowering gorse and heath and granite boulders. There was not a tree in sight, much less a house. After a while, I picked up the gun, and turning my back on the sun tramped on again.
There was little use in following any of the brawling12 streams which every now and then crossed my path, for, instead of flowing into the sea, they ran inland to reedy pools in the hollows of the moors. I had followed several, but they all led me to swamps or silent little ponds from which the snipe rose peeping and wheeled away in an ecstasy13 of fright. I began to feel fatigued15, and the gun galled16 my shoulder in spite of the double pads. The sun sank lower and lower, shining level across yellow gorse and the moorland pools.
As I walked my own gigantic shadow led me on, seeming to lengthen17 at every step. The gorse scraped against my leggings, crackled beneath my feet, showering the brown earth with blossoms, and the brake bowed and billowed along my path. From tufts of heath rabbits scurried18 away through the bracken, and among the swamp grass I heard the wild duck’s drowsy19 quack20.
Once a fox stole across my path, and again, as I stooped to drink at a hurrying rill, a heron flapped heavily from the reeds beside me. I turned to look at the sun. It seemed to touch the edges of the plain. When at last I decided21 that it was useless to go on, and that I must make up my mind to spend at least one night on the moors, I threw myself down thoroughly22 fagged out.
The evening sunlight slanted23 warm across my body, but the sea-winds began to rise, and I felt a chill strike through me from my wet shooting-boots. High overhead gulls24 were wheeling and tossing like bits of white paper; from some distant marsh25 a solitary26 curlew called. Little by little the sun sank into the plain, and the zenith flushed with the after-glow. I watched the sky change from palest gold to pink and then to smouldering fire. Clouds of midges danced above me, and high in the calm air a bat dipped and soared. My eyelids27 began to droop28. Then as I shook off the drowsiness29 a sudden crash among the bracken roused me. I raised my eyes. A great bird hung quivering in the air above my face. For an instant I stared, incapable30 of motion; then something leaped past me in the ferns and the bird rose, wheeled, and pitched headlong into the brake.
I was on my feet in an instant peering through the gorse. There came the sound of a struggle from a bunch of heather close by, and then all was quiet. I stepped forward, my gun poised31, but when I came to the heather the gun fell under my arm again, and I stood motionless in silent astonishment32. A dead hare lay on the ground, and on the hare stood a magnificent falcon33, one talon34 buried in the creature’s neck, the other planted firmly on its limp flank. But what astonished me, was not the mere sight of a falcon sitting upon its prey35. I had seen that more than once. It was that the falcon was fitted with a sort of leash36 about both talons37, and from the leash hung a round bit of metal like a sleigh-bell. The bird turned its fierce yellow eyes on me, and then stooped and struck its curved beak38 into the quarry39. At the same instant hurried steps sounded among the heather, and a girl sprang into the covert40 in front. Without a glance at me she walked up to the falcon, and passing her gloved hand under its breast, raised it from the quarry.
Then she deftly41 slipped a small hood42 over the bird’s head, and holding it out on her gauntlet, stooped and picked up the hare.
She passed a cord about the animal’s legs and fastened the end of the thong43 to her girdle. Then she started to retrace44 her steps through the covert. As she passed me I raised my cap and she acknowledged my presence with a scarcely perceptible inclination45. I had been so astonished, so lost in admiration46 of the scene before my eyes, that it had not occurred to me that here was my salvation47. But as she moved away I recollected48 that unless I wanted to sleep on a windy moor5 that night I had better recover my speech without delay. At my first word she hesitated, and as I stepped before her I thought a look of fear came into her beautiful eyes. But as I humbly49 explained my unpleasant plight50, her face flushed and she looked at me in wonder.
“Surely you did not come from Kerselec!” she repeated.
Her sweet voice had no trace of the Breton accent nor of any accent which I knew, and yet there was something in it I seemed to have heard before, something quaint51 and indefinable, like the theme of an old song.
I explained that I was an American, unacquainted with Finistère, shooting there for my own amusement.
“An American,” she repeated in the same quaint musical tones. “I have never before seen an American.”
For a moment she stood silent, then looking at me she said: “If you should walk all night you could not reach Kerselec now, even if you had a guide.”
This was pleasant news.
“But,” I began, “if I could only find a peasant’s hut where I might get something to eat, and shelter.“The falcon on her wrist fluttered and shook its head. The girl smoothed its glossy52 back and glanced at me.
“Look around,” she said gently. “Can you see the end of these moors? Look, north, south, east, west. Can you see anything but moorland and bracken?”
“No,” I said.
“The moor is wild and desolate53. It is easy to enter, but sometimes they who enter never leave it. There are no peasants’ huts here.”
“Well,” I said, “if you will tell me in which direction Kerselec lies, tomorrow it will take me no longer to go back than it has to come.”
She looked at me again with an expression almost like pity.
“Ah,” she said, “to come is easy and takes hours; to go is different — and may take centuries.”
I stared at her in amazement54 but decided that I had misunderstood her. Then before I had time to speak she drew a whistle from her belt and sounded it.
“Sit down and rest,” she said to me; “you have come a long distance and are tired.”
She gathered up her pleated skirts and motioning me to follow picked her dainty way through the gorse to a flat rock among the ferns.
“They will be here directly,” she said, and taking a seat at one end of the rock invited me to sit down on the other edge. The after-glow was beginning to fade in the sky and a single star twinkled faintly through the rosy55 haze56. A long wavering triangle of water-fowl drifted southward over our heads and from the swamps around plover57 were calling.
“They are very beautiful — these moors,” she said quietly.
“Beautiful, but cruel to strangers,” I answered.
“Beautiful and cruel,” she repeated dreamily, “beautiful and cruel.”
“Like a woman,” I said stupidly.
“Oh,” she cried with a little catch in her breath and looked at me. Her dark eyes met mine and I thought she seemed angry or frightened.
“Like a woman,” she repeated under her breath, “how cruel to say so!” Then after a pause, as though speaking aloud to herself, “How cruel for him to say that.”
I don’t know what sort of an apology I offered for my inane58, though harmless, speech, but I know that she seemed so troubled about it that I began to think I had said something very dreadful without knowing it, and remembered with horror the pitfalls59 and snares60 which the French language sets for foreigners. While I was trying to imagine what I might have said, a sound of voices came across the moor and the girl rose to her feet.
“No,” she said, with a trace of a smile on her pale face, “I will not accept your apologies, Monsieur, but I must prove you wrong and that shall be my revenge. Look. Here come Hastur and Raoul.”
Two men loomed61 up in the twilight62. One had a sack across his shoulders and the other carried a hoop63 before him as a waiter carries a tray. The hoop was fastened with straps64 to his shoulders and around the edge of the circler sat three hooded65 falcons66 fitted with tinkling67 bells. The girl stepped up to the falconer, and with a quick turn of her wrist transferred her falcon to the hoop where it quickly sidled off and nestled among its mates who shook their hooded heads and ruffled68 their feathers till the belled jesses tinkled69 again. The other man stepped forward and bowing respectfully took up the hare and dropped it into the game-sack.
“These are my piqueurs,” said the girl turning to me with a gentle dignity. “Raoul is a good fauconnier and I shall some day make him grand veneur. Hastur is incomparable.”
The two silent men saluted70 me respectfully.
“Did I not tell you, Monsieur, that I should prove you wrong?” she continued. “This then is my revenge, that you do me the courtesy of accepting food and shelter at my own house.”
Before I could answer she spoke71 to the falconers who started instantly across the heath, and with a gracious gesture to me she followed. I don’t know whether I made her understand how profoundly grateful I felt, but she seemed pleased to listen, as we walked over the dewy heather.
“Are you not very tired?” she asked.
I had clean forgotten my fatigue14 in her presence and I told her so.
“Don’t you think your gallantry is a little old-fashioned,” she said; and when I looked confused and humbled72, she added quietly, “Oh, I like it, I like everything old-fashioned, and it is delightful73 to hear you say such pretty things.”
The moorland around us was very still now under its ghostly sheet of mist. The plover had ceased their calling; the crickets and all the little creatures of the fields were silent as we passed, yet it seemed to me as if I could hear them beginning again far behind us. Well in advance the two tall falconers strode across the heather and the faint jingling74 of the hawks76? bells came to our ears in distant murmuring chimes.
Suddenly a splendid hound dashed out of the mist in front, followed by another and another until half a dozen or more were bounding and leaping around the girl beside me. She caressed77 and quieted them with her gloved hand, speaking to them in quaint terms which I remembered to have seen in old French manuscripts.
Then the falcons on the circlet borne by the falconer ahead began to beat their wings and scream, and from somewhere out of sight the notes of a hunting-horn floated across the moor.
The hounds sprang away before us and vanished in the twilight, the falcons flapped and squealed79 upon their perch80 and the girl taking up the song of the horn began to hum. Clear and mellow81 her voice sounded in the night air.
“Chasseur, chasseur, chassez encore, Quittez Rosette et Jeanneton, Tonton, tonton, tontaine, tonton, Ou, pour, rabattre, dês l’aurore, Que les Amours soient de planton, Tonton, tontaine, tonton.”
As I listened to her lovely voice, a gray mass which rapidly grew more distinct loomed up in front, and the horn rang out joyously83 through the tumult84 of the hounds and falcons. A torch glimmered85 at a gate, a light streamed through an opening door, and we stepped upon a wooden bridge which trembled under our feet and rose creaking and straining behind us as we passed over the moat and into a small stone court, walled on every side. From an open doorway86 a man came and bending in salutation presented a cup to the girl beside me. She took the cup and touched it with her lips, then lowering it turned to me and said in a low voice, “I bid you welcome.”
At that moment one of the falconers came with another cup, but before handing it to me, presented it to the girl, who tasted it. The falconer made a gesture to receive it, but she hesitated a moment and then stepping forward offered me the cup with her own hands. I felt this to be an act of extraordinary graciousness, but hardly knew what was expected of me, and did not raise it to my lips at once. The girl flushed crimson87. I saw that I must act quickly.
“Mademoiselle,” I faltered88, “a stranger whom you have saved from dangers he may never realize, empties this cup to the gentlest and loveliest hostess of France.”
“In His name,” she murmured, crossing herself as I drained the cup. Then stepping into the doorway she turned to me with a pretty gesture and taking my hand in hers, led me into the house, saying again and again: “You are very welcome, indeed you are welcome to the Chateau89 d’Ys.”
Chapter ii
I awoke next morning with the music of the horn in my ears, and leaping out of the ancient bed, went to a curtained window where the sunlight filtered through little deep-set panes90. The horn ceased as I looked into the court below.
A man who might have been brother to the two falconers of the night before stood in the midst of a pack of hounds. A curved horn was strapped91 over his back, and in his hand he held a long-lashed whip. The dogs whined92 and yelped93, dancing around him in anticipation94; there was the stamp of horses too in the walled yard.
“Mount!” cried a voice in Breton, and with a clatter95 of hoofs96 the two falconers, with falcons upon their wrists, rode into the courtyard among the hounds. Then I heard another voice which sent the blood throbbing97 through my heart: “Piriou Louis, hunt the hounds well and spare neither spur nor whip. Thou Raoul and thou Gaston, see that the epervier does not prove himself niais, and if it be best in your judgment98, faites courtoisie à l’oiseau. Jardiner un oiseau like the mué there on Hastur’s wrist is not difficult, but thou, Raoul, mayest not find it so simple to govern that hagard. Twice last week he foamed99 au vif and lost the beccade although he is used to the leurre. The bird acts like a stupid branchier. Pa?tre un hagard n’est pas si facile.”
Was I dreaming? The old language of falconry which I had read in yellow manuscripts — the old forgotten French of the middle ages was sounding in my ears while the hounds bayed and the hawks? bells tinkled accompaniment to the stamping horses. She spoke again in the sweet forgotten language:
“If you would rather attach the longe and leave thy hagard au bloc100, Raoul, I shall say nothing; for it were a pity to spoil so fair a day’s sport with an ill-trained sors. Essimer abaisser — it is possibly the best way. ?a lui donnera des reins101. I was perhaps hasty with the bird. It takes time to pass à la filière and the exercises d’escap.”
Then the falconer Raoul bowed in his stirrups and replied: “If it be the pleasure of Mademoiselle, I shall keep the hawk75.”
“It is my wish,” she answered. “Falconry I know, but you have yet to give me many a lesson in Autourserie, my poor Raoul. Sieur Piriou Louis, mount!”
The huntsman sprang into an archway and in an instant returned, mounted upon a strong black horse, followed by a piqueur also mounted.
“Ah!” she cried joyously, “speed Glemarec René! speed! speed all! Sound thy horn Sieur Piriou!”
The silvery music of the hunting-horn filled the courtyard, the hounds sprang through the gateway102 and galloping103 hoof-beats plunged104 out of the paved court; loud on the drawbridge, suddenly muffled105, then lost in the heather and bracken of the moors. Distant and more distant sounded the horn, until it became so faint that the sudden carol of a soaring lark106 drowned it in my ears. I heard the voice below responding to some call from within the house.
“I do not regret the chase, I will go another time. Courtesy to the stranger, Pelagie, remember!” And a feeble voice came quavering from within the house, “Courtoisie.”
I stripped, and rubbed myself from head to foot in the huge earthen basin of icy water which stood upon the stone floor at the foot of my bed. Then I looked about for my clothes. They were gone, but on a settle near the door lay a heap of garments which I inspected with astonishment.
As my clothes had vanished I was compelled to attire107 myself in the costume which had evidently been placed there for me to wear while my own clothes dried. Everything was there, cap, shoes, and hunting doublet of silvery gray homespun; but the close-fitting costume and seamless shoes belonged to another century, and I remembered the strange costumes of the three falconers in the courtyard. I was sure that it was not the modern dress of any portion of France or Brittany; but not until I was dressed and stood before a mirror between the windows did I realize that I was clothed much more like a young huntsman of the middle ages than like a Breton of that day. I hesitated and picked up the cap. Should I go down and present myself in that strange guise109?
There seemed to be no help for it, my own clothes were gone and there was no bell in the ancient chamber110 to call a servant, so I contented111 myself with removing a short hawk’s feather from the cap, and opening the door went downstairs.
By the fireplace in the large room at the foot of the stairs an old Breton woman sat spinning with a distaff. She looked up at me when I appeared, and smiling frankly112, wished me health in the Breton language, to which I laughingly replied in French. At the same moment my hostess appeared and returned my salutation with a grace and dignity that sent a thrill to my heart. Her lovely head with its dark curly hair was crowned with a head-dress which set all doubts as to the epoch113 of my own costume at rest. Her slender figure was exquisitely114 set off in the homespun hunting-gown edged with silver, and on her gauntlet-covered wrist she bore one of her petted hawks. With perfect simplicity115 she took my hand and led me into the garden in the court, and seating herself before a table invited me very sweetly to sit beside her. Then she asked me in her soft quaint accent how I had passed the night and whether I was very much inconvenienced by wearing the clothes which old Pelagie had put there for me while I slept. I looked at my own clothes and shoes, drying in the sun by the garden-wall, and hated them. What horrors they were compared with the graceful116 costume which I now wore! I told her this laughing, but she agreed with me very seriously.
“We will throw them away,” she said in a quiet voice. In my astonishment I attempted to explain that I not only could not think of accepting clothes from anybody, although for all I knew it might be the custom of hospitality in that part of the country, but that I should cut an impossible figure if I returned to France clothed as I was then.
She laughed and tossed her pretty head, saying something in old French which I did not understand, and the Pelagie trotted117 out with a tray on which stood two bowls of milk, a loaf of white bread, fruit, a platter of honeycomb, and a flagon of deep red wine. “You see I have not yet broken my fast because I wished you to eat with me. But I am very hungry,” she smiled.
“I would rather die than forget one word of what you have said!” I blurted118 out while my cheeks burned. “She will think me mad,” I added to myself, but she turned to me with sparking eyes.
“Ah!” she murmured. “Then Monsieur knows all that there is of chivalry119 —”
She crossed herself and broke bread — I sat and watched her white hands, not daring to raise my eyes to hers.
“Will you not eat,” she asked; “why do you look so troubled?”
Ah, why? I knew it now. I knew I would give my life to touch with my lips those rosy palms I understood now that from the moment when I looked into her dark eyes there on the moor last night I had loved her. My great and sudden passion held me speechless.
“Are you ill at ease?” she asked again.
Then like a man who pronounces his own doom120 I answered in a low voice: “Yes, I am ill at ease for love of you.” And as she did not stir nor answer, the same power moved my lips in spite of me and I said, “I, who am unworthy of the lightest of your thoughts, I who abuse hospitality and repay your gently courtesy with bold presumption121, I love you.”
She leaned her head upon her hands, and answered softly, “I love you. Your words are very dear to me. I love you.”
“Then I shall win you.”
“Win me,” she replied.
But all the time I had been sitting silent, my face turned toward her. She also silent, her sweet face resting on her upturned palm, sat facing me, and as her eyes looked into mine, I knew that neither she nor I had spoken human speech; but I knew that her soul had answered mine, and I drew myself up feeling youth and joyous82 love coursing through every vein122. She, with a bright color in her lovely face, seemed as one awakened124 from a dream, and her eyes sought mine with a questioning glance which made me tremble with delight. We broke our fast, speaking of ourselves. I told her my name and she told me hers, the Demoiselle Jeanne d’Ys.
She spoke of her father?s and mother’s deaths, and how the nineteen of her years had been passed in the little fortified125 farm alone with her nurse Pelagie. Glemarec Renè the piqueur, and the four falconers, Raoul, Gaston, Hastur, and the Sieur Piriou Louis, who had served her father. She had never been outside the moorland — never even had seen a human soul before, except the falconers and Pelagie. She did not know how she had heard of Kerselec; perhaps the falconers had spoken of it. She knew the legends of Loup Garou and Jeanne la Flamme from her nurse Pelagie. She embroidered126 and spun108 flax. Her hawks and hounds were her only distraction127. When she had met me there on the moor she had been so frightened that she almost dropped at the sound of my voice. She had, it was true, seen ships at sea from the cliffs, but as far as the eye could reach the moors over which she galloped128 were destitute129 of any sign of human life. There was a legend which old Pelagie told, how anybody once lost in the unexplored moorland might never return, because the moors were enchanted130. She did not know whether it was true, she never had thought about it until she met me. She did not know whether the falconers had even been outside or whether they could go if they would. The books in the house which Pelagie the nurse had taught her to read were hundreds of years old.
All this she told me with a sweet seriousness seldom seen in any one but children. My own name she found easy to pronounce and insisted, because my first name was Philip, I must have French blood in me. She did not seem curious to learn anything about the outside world, and I thought perhaps she considered it had forfeited131 her interest and respect from the stories of her nurse.
We were still sitting at the table and she was throwing grapes to the small field birds which came fearlessly to our very feet.
I began to speak in a vague way of going, but she would not hear of it, and before I knew it I had promised to stay a week and hunt with hawk and hound in their company. I also obtained permission to come again from Kerselec and visit her after my return.
“Why,” she said innocently, “I do not know what I should do if you never came back;” and I, knowing that I had no right to awaken123 her with the sudden shock which the avowal132 of my own love would bring to her, sat silent, hardly daring to breathe.
“You will come very often?” she asked.
“Very often,” I said.
“Every day?”
“Every day.”
“Oh,” she sighed, “I am very happy — come and see my hawks.”
She rose and took my hand again with a childlike innocence133 of possession, and we walked through the garden and fruit trees to a grassy lawn which was bordered by a brook134. Over the lawn were scattered fifteen or twenty stumps135 of trees — partially136 imbedded in the grass — and upon all of these except two sat falcons. They were attached to the stumps by thongs137 which were in turn fastened with steel rivets138 to their legs just above the talons. A little stream of pure spring water flowed in a winding139 course within easy distance of each perch.
The birds set up a clamor when the girl appeared, but she went from one to another caressing140 some, taking others for an instant upon her wrist, or stooping to adjust their jesses.
“Are they not pretty?” she said. “See, here is a falcon-gentil. We call it ‘ignoble,’ because it takes the quarry in direct chase. This is a blue falcon. In falconry we call it ‘noble’ because it rises over the quarry, and wheeling, drops upon it from above. This white bird is a gerfalcon from the north. It is also ‘noble!’ Here is a merlin, and this tiercelet is a falcon-heroner.”
I asked her how she had learned the old language of falconry. She did not remember, but thought her father must have taught it to her when she was very young.
Then she led me away and showed me the young falcons still in the nest. “They are termed niais in falconry,” she explained. “A branchier is the young bird which is just able to leave the nest and hop141 from branch to branch. A young bird which has not yet moulted is called a sors, and a mué is a hawk which has moulted in captivity142. When we catch a wild falcon which has changed its plumage we term it a hagard. Raoul first taught me to dress a falcon. Shall I teach you how it is done?”
She seated herself on the bank of the stream among the falcons and I threw myself at her feet to listen.
Then the Demoiselle d’Ys held up one rosy-tipped finger and began very gravely, “First one must catch the falcon.”
“I am caught,” I answered.
She laughed very prettily143 and told me my dressage would perhaps be difficult as I was noble.
“I am already tamed,” I replied; “jessed and belled.”
She laughed, delighted. “Oh, my brave falcon; then you will return at my call?”
“I am yours,” I answered gravely.
She sat silent for a moment. Then the color heightened in her cheeks and she held up her finger again saying, “Listen; I wish to speak of falconry —”
“I listen, Countess Jeanne d’Ys.”
But again she fell into the reverie, and her eyes seemed fixed144 on something beyond the summer clouds.
“Philip,” she said at last.
“Jeanne,” I whispered.
“That is all — that is what I wished,” she sighed — “Philip and Jeanne.”
She held her hand toward me and I touched it with my lips.
“Win me,” she said, but this time it was the body and soul which spoke in unison145.
After a while she began again: “Let us speak of falconry.”
“Begin,” I replied; “we have caught the falcon.” Then Jeanne d’Ys took my hand in both of hers and told me how with infinite patience the young falcon was taught to perch upon the wrist, how little by little it became used to belled jesses and the chaperon à cornette.
“They must first have a good appetite,” she said; “then little by little I reduce their nourishment146 which in falconry we call pat. When after many nights passed au bloc as these birds are now, I prevail upon the hagard to stay quietly on the wrist, then the bird is ready to be taught to come for its food. I fix the pat to the end of a thong or leurre, and teach the bird to come to me as soon as I begin to whirl the cord in circles about my head. At first I drop the pat when the falcon comes, and he eats the food on the ground. After a little he will learn to seize the leurre in motion as I whirl it around my head, or drag it over the ground. After this it is easy to teach the falcon to strike at game, always remembering to ‘faire courtoisie à l’oiseau,’ that is, to allow the bird to taste the quarry.”
A squeal78 from one of the falcons interrupted her, and she arose to adjust the longe which had become whipped about the bloc, but the bird still flapped its wings and screamed.
“What is the matter?” she said; “Philip, can you see?”
I looked around and at first saw nothing to cause the commotion147 which was now heightened by the screams and flapping of all the birds. Then my eye fell upon the flat rock beside the stream from which the girl had risen. A gray serpent was moving slowly across the surface of the bowlder, and the eyes in its flat triangular148 head sparkled like jet.
“A couleuvre,” she said quietly.
“Is it harmless, is it nor?” I asked.
She pointed149 to the black V-shaped figure on the neck.
“It is certain death,” she said; “it is a viper150.”
We watched the reptile151 moving slowly over the smooth rock to where the sunlight fell in a broad warm patch.
I started forward to examine it, but she clung to arm crying, “Don’t, Philip, I am afraid.”
“For me?”
“For you, Philip — I love you.”
Then I took her in my arms and kissed her on the lips, but all I could say was: “Jeanne, Jeanne, Jeanne.” And as she lay trembling on my breast, something struck my foot in the grass below, but I did not heed152 it. Then again something struck my ankle, and a sharp pain shot through me. I looked into the sweet face of Jeanne d’Ys and kissed her, and with all my strength lifted her in my arms and flung her from me. Then bending, I tore the viper from my ankle and set my heel upon its head. I remember feeling weak and numb153 — I remember falling to the ground. Through my slowly glazing154 eyes I saw Jeanne’s white face bending close to mine, and when the light in my eyes went out I still felt her arms about my neck, and her soft cheek against my drawn155 lips.
When I opened my eyes, I looked around in terror. Jeanne was gone. I saw the stream and the flat rock; I saw the crushed viper in the grass beside me, but the hawks and blocs156 had disappeared. I sprang to my feet. The garden, the fruit trees, the drawbridge and the walled court were gone. I stared stupidly at a heap of crumbling157 ruins, ivy-covered and gray, through which great trees had pushed their way. I crept forward, dragging my numbed158 foot, and as I moved, a falcon sailed from the tree-tops among the ruins, and soaring, mounting in narrowing circles, faded and vanished in the clouds above.
“Jeanne. Jeanne,” I cried, but my voice died on my lips, and I fell on my knees among the weeds. And as God willed it, I, not knowing, had fallen kneeling before a crumbling shrine159 carved in stone for our Mother of Sorrows. I saw the sad face of the Virgin160 wrought161 in the cold stone. I saw the cross and thorns at her feet, and beneath it I read:
“Pray for the soul of the Demoiselle Jeanne d’Ys. who died in her youth for love of Philip, a Stranger A.D. 1573.”
But upon the icy slab162 lay a woman’s glove still warm and fragrant163.
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landmark
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| n.陆标，划时代的事，地界标 | |
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extricating
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| v.使摆脱困难，脱身( extricate的现在分词 ) | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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4
moors
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| v.停泊，系泊（船只）( moor的第三人称单数 ) | |
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moor
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| n.荒野，沼泽；vt.(使)停泊；vi.停泊 | |
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6
deceptive
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| adj.骗人的，造成假象的，靠不住的 | |
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7
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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8
grassy
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| adj.盖满草的；长满草的 | |
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scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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10
boulders
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| n.卵石( boulder的名词复数 )；巨砾；（受水或天气侵蚀而成的）巨石；漂砾 | |
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granite
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| adj.花岗岩，花岗石 | |
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12
brawling
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| n.争吵，喧嚷 | |
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13
ecstasy
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| n.狂喜，心醉神怡，入迷 | |
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14
fatigue
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| n.疲劳，劳累 | |
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15
fatigued
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| adj. 疲乏的 | |
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16
galled
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| v.使…擦痛( gall的过去式和过去分词 )；擦伤；烦扰；侮辱 | |
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17
lengthen
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| vt.使伸长，延长 | |
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18
scurried
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| v.急匆匆地走( scurry的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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19
drowsy
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| adj.昏昏欲睡的，令人发困的 | |
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20
quack
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| n.庸医；江湖医生；冒充内行的人；骗子 | |
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21
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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22
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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23
slanted
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| 有偏见的； 倾斜的 | |
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24
gulls
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| n.鸥( gull的名词复数 )v.欺骗某人( gull的第三人称单数 ) | |
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25
marsh
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| n.沼泽，湿地 | |
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26
solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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27
eyelids
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| n.眼睑( eyelid的名词复数 )；眼睛也不眨一下；不露声色；面不改色 | |
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28
droop
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| v.低垂，下垂；凋萎，萎靡 | |
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29
drowsiness
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| n.睡意；嗜睡 | |
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30
incapable
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| adj.无能力的，不能做某事的 | |
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31
poised
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| a.摆好姿势不动的 | |
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32
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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33
falcon
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| n.隼，猎鹰 | |
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34
talon
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| n.爪；（如爪般的）手指；爪状物 | |
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35
prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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36
leash
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| n.牵狗的皮带，束缚；v.用皮带系住 | |
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37
talons
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| n.（尤指猛禽的）爪( talon的名词复数 )；（如爪般的）手指；爪状物；锁簧尖状突出部 | |
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38
beak
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| n.鸟嘴，茶壶嘴，钩形鼻 | |
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39
quarry
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| n.采石场；v.采石；费力地找 | |
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40
covert
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| adj.隐藏的；暗地里的 | |
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41
deftly
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| adv.灵巧地，熟练地，敏捷地 | |
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42
hood
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| n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖 | |
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43
thong
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| n.皮带；皮鞭；v.装皮带 | |
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44
retrace
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| v.折回；追溯，探源 | |
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45
inclination
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| n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好 | |
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46
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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47
salvation
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| n.（尤指基督）救世，超度，拯救，解困 | |
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48
recollected
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| adj.冷静的；镇定的；被回忆起的；沉思默想的v.记起，想起( recollect的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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49
humbly
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| adv. 恭顺地，谦卑地 | |
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50
plight
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| n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定 | |
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51
quaint
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| adj.古雅的，离奇有趣的，奇怪的 | |
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52
glossy
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| adj.平滑的；有光泽的 | |
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53
desolate
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| adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂 | |
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54
amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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55
rosy
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| adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的 | |
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56
haze
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| n.霾，烟雾；懵懂，迷糊；vi.(over)变模糊 | |
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57
plover
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| n.珩，珩科鸟，千鸟 | |
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58
inane
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| adj.空虚的，愚蠢的，空洞的 | |
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59
pitfalls
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| （捕猎野兽用的）陷阱( pitfall的名词复数 )； 意想不到的困难，易犯的错误 | |
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60
snares
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| n.陷阱( snare的名词复数 )；圈套；诱人遭受失败（丢脸、损失等）的东西；诱惑物v.用罗网捕捉，诱陷，陷害( snare的第三人称单数 ) | |
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61
loomed
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| v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的过去式和过去分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近 | |
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62
twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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63
hoop
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| n.（篮球）篮圈，篮 | |
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64
straps
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| n.带子( strap的名词复数 )；挎带；肩带；背带v.用皮带捆扎( strap的第三人称单数 )；用皮带抽打；包扎；给…打绷带 | |
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65
hooded
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| adj.戴头巾的；有罩盖的；颈部因肋骨运动而膨胀的 | |
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66
falcons
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| n.猎鹰( falcon的名词复数 ) | |
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67
tinkling
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| n.丁当作响声 | |
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68
ruffled
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| adj. 有褶饰边的, 起皱的 动词ruffle的过去式和过去分词 | |
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69
tinkled
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| （使）发出丁当声，（使）发铃铃声( tinkle的过去式和过去分词 )； 叮当响着发出，铃铃响着报出 | |
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70
saluted
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| v.欢迎，致敬( salute的过去式和过去分词 )；赞扬，赞颂 | |
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71
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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72
humbled
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| adj. 卑下的，谦逊的，粗陋的 vt. 使 ... 卑下，贬低 | |
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73
delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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74
jingling
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| 叮当声 | |
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75
hawk
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| n.鹰，骗子；鹰派成员 | |
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76
hawks
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| 鹰( hawk的名词复数 )； 鹰派人物，主战派人物 | |
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77
caressed
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| 爱抚或抚摸…( caress的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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78
squeal
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| v.发出长而尖的声音；n.长而尖的声音 | |
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79
squealed
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| v.长声尖叫，用长而尖锐的声音说( squeal的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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80
perch
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| n.栖木，高位，杆；v.栖息，就位，位于 | |
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81
mellow
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| adj.柔和的；熟透的；v.变柔和；(使)成熟 | |
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82
joyous
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| adj.充满快乐的；令人高兴的 | |
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83
joyously
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| ad.快乐地, 高兴地 | |
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84
tumult
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| n.喧哗；激动，混乱；吵闹 | |
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85
glimmered
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| v.发闪光，发微光( glimmer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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86
doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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87
crimson
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| n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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88
faltered
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| （嗓音）颤抖( falter的过去式和过去分词 )； 支吾其词； 蹒跚； 摇晃 | |
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89
chateau
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| n.城堡，别墅 | |
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90
panes
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| 窗玻璃( pane的名词复数 ) | |
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91
strapped
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| adj.用皮带捆住的，用皮带装饰的；身无分文的；缺钱；手头紧v.用皮带捆扎(strap的过去式和过去分词)；用皮带抽打；包扎；给…打绷带 | |
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92
whined
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| v.哀号( whine的过去式和过去分词 )；哀诉，诉怨 | |
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93
yelped
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| v.发出短而尖的叫声( yelp的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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94
anticipation
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| n.预期，预料，期望 | |
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95
clatter
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| v./n.(使)发出连续而清脆的撞击声 | |
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96
hoofs
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| n.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的名词复数 )v.（兽的）蹄，马蹄( hoof的第三人称单数 ) | |
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97
throbbing
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| a. 跳动的,悸动的 | |
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98
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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99
foamed
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| 泡沫的 | |
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100
bloc
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| n.集团；联盟 | |
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101
reins
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| 感情，激情； 缰( rein的名词复数 )； 控制手段； 掌管； （成人带着幼儿走路以防其走失时用的）保护带 | |
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102
gateway
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| n.大门口，出入口，途径，方法 | |
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103
galloping
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| adj. 飞驰的, 急性的 动词gallop的现在分词形式 | |
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104
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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105
muffled
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| adj.（声音）被隔的；听不太清的；（衣服）裹严的；蒙住的v.压抑，捂住( muffle的过去式和过去分词 )；用厚厚的衣帽包着（自己） | |
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106
lark
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| n.云雀，百灵鸟；n.嬉戏，玩笑；vi.嬉戏 | |
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107
attire
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| v.穿衣，装扮[同]array；n.衣着；盛装 | |
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108
spun
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| v.纺，杜撰，急转身 | |
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109
guise
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| n.外表，伪装的姿态 | |
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110
chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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111
contented
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| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
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112
frankly
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| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
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113
epoch
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| n.(新)时代；历元 | |
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114
exquisitely
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| adv.精致地；强烈地；剧烈地；异常地 | |
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115
simplicity
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| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
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116
graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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117
trotted
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| 小跑，急走( trot的过去分词 )； 匆匆忙忙地走 | |
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118
blurted
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| v.突然说出，脱口而出( blurt的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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119
chivalry
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| n.骑士气概，侠义；（男人）对女人彬彬有礼，献殷勤 | |
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120
doom
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| n.厄运，劫数；v.注定，命定 | |
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121
presumption
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| n.推测，可能性，冒昧，放肆，[法律]推定 | |
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122
vein
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| n.血管，静脉；叶脉，纹理；情绪；vt.使成脉络 | |
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123
awaken
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| vi.醒，觉醒；vt.唤醒，使觉醒，唤起，激起 | |
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124
awakened
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| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
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125
fortified
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| adj. 加强的 | |
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embroidered
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| adj．绣花的 | |
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distraction
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| n.精神涣散，精神不集中，消遣，娱乐 | |
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galloped
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| （使马）飞奔，奔驰( gallop的过去式和过去分词 )； 快速做[说]某事 | |
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destitute
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| adj.缺乏的；穷困的 | |
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enchanted
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| adj. 被施魔法的，陶醉的，入迷的 动词enchant的过去式和过去分词 | |
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131
forfeited
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| （因违反协议、犯规、受罚等）丧失，失去( forfeit的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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avowal
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| n.公开宣称，坦白承认 | |
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133
innocence
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| n.无罪；天真；无害 | |
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brook
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| n.小河，溪；v.忍受，容让 | |
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135
stumps
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| （被砍下的树的）树桩( stump的名词复数 )； 残肢； （板球三柱门的）柱； 残余部分 | |
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136
partially
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| adv.部分地，从某些方面讲 | |
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137
thongs
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| 的东西 | |
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rivets
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| 铆钉( rivet的名词复数 ) | |
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139
winding
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| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
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140
caressing
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| 爱抚的，表现爱情的，亲切的 | |
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141
hop
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| n.单脚跳，跳跃；vi.单脚跳，跳跃；着手做某事；vt.跳跃，跃过 | |
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142
captivity
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| n.囚禁；被俘；束缚 | |
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143
prettily
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| adv.优美地；可爱地 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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unison
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| n.步调一致，行动一致 | |
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146
nourishment
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| n.食物，营养品；营养情况 | |
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commotion
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| n.骚动，动乱 | |
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triangular
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| adj.三角（形）的，三者间的 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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150
viper
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| n.毒蛇；危险的人 | |
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151
reptile
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| n.爬行动物；两栖动物 | |
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heed
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| v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心 | |
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numb
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| adj.麻木的，失去感觉的；v.使麻木 | |
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glazing
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| n.玻璃装配业；玻璃窗；上釉；上光v.装玻璃( glaze的现在分词 )；上釉于，上光；（目光）变得呆滞无神 | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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blocs
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| n.集团，联盟( bloc的名词复数 ) | |
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crumbling
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| adj.摇摇欲坠的 | |
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158
numbed
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| v.使麻木，使麻痹( numb的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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shrine
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| n.圣地，神龛，庙；v.将...置于神龛内，把...奉为神圣 | |
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160
virgin
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| n.处女，未婚女子；adj.未经使用的；未经开发的 | |
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161
wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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slab
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| n.平板，厚的切片；v.切成厚板，以平板盖上 | |
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fragrant
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| adj.芬香的，馥郁的，愉快的 | |
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