85
30
35
40
45
50
55
“Yes, go.”
“Do you want me to go?”
“Yes, I want you to go.”
She turned away like one stunned by a blow and walked slowly toward the
door, hoping he would call her back.
“Good-bye, Armand,” she moaned.
He did not answer her.
Desiree went in search of her child. Zandrine was pacing the
gallery with
it. She took the little one from the nurse’s
arms and, descending the steps,
walked away.
Desiree had not changed the thin white dress nor the slippers which she
wore. She did not take the broad road which led to the far-off
plantation of
Valmonde. She
walked across a deserted field, where the stubble bruised her
tender feet and tore her thin gown to shreds. She disappeared among the reeds
and willows that grew thick along the banks; and she did not come back again.
Some weeks later there was
a curious scene enacted at L’Abri. In the center
of the backyard was a great bonfire. Armand Aubigny sat in the wide hallway
that commanded a view of the spectacle; and it was
he who dealt out to a half
dozen negroes the material which kept this fire
ablaze.
The last thing to go was a tiny bundle of
letters that Desiree had sent to him during the
days of their
espousal. There was the remnant
of one back in the drawer from which he took
them. But it was not Desiree’s;
it was part of an
old letter from his mother to his father. He read it. She was thanking God for the
blessing of her husband’s love:
“
But above all,” she wrote, “
I thank the good God for having so arranged
our lives that our dear Armand will never know that his mother belongs to the
race that is cursed with the brand of slavery.”
Reading Time
_______ minutes _______ seconds
599 words
34
gallery ---
an outdoor balcony
38
plantation --- a large farm or estate that produces huge harvests of crops
42
L’Abri --- the name of the plantation that Armand owned
49
espousal --- marriage
56
brand --- a mark of disgrace
