The Project Gutenberg EBook of At Fault, by Kate Chopin

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Title: At Fault

Author: Kate Chopin

Release Date: December 10, 2007 [EBook #23810]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AT FAULT ***

Produced by Bernard Koloski

[Transcriber's note: There was no table of contents in the original
book; one has been added in this project to ease the navigation.]

At Fault

by Kate Chopin

Part I.

I. The Mistress of Place-du-Bois.
II. At the Mill.
III. In the Pirogue.
IV. A Small Interruption.
V. In the Pine Woods.
VI. Melicent Talks.
VII. Painful Disclosures.
VIII. Treats of Melicent.
IX. Face to Face.
X. Fanny's Friends.
XI. The Self-Assumed Burden.
XII. Severing Old Ties.

Part II.

I. Fanny's First Night at Place-du-Bois.
II. "Neva to See You!"
III. A Talk Under the Cedar Tree.
IV. Therese Crosses the River.
V. One Afternoon.
VI. One Night.
VII. Melicent Leaves Place-du-Bois.
VIII. With Loose Rein.
IX. The Reason Why.
X. Perplexing Things.
XI. A Social Evening.
XII. Tidings That Sting.
XIII. Melicent Hears the News.
XIV. A Step Too Far.
XV. A Fateful Solution.
XVI. To Him Who Waits.
XVII. Conclusion.

PART I

I

The Mistress of Place-du-Bois.

When Jerome Lafirme died, his neighbors awaited the results of his
sudden taking off with indolent watchfulness. It was a matter of
unusual interest to them that a plantation of four thousand acres had
been left unincumbered to the disposal of a handsome, inconsolable,
childless Creole widow of thirty. A _betise_ of some sort might safely
be looked for. But time passing, the anticipated folly failed to
reveal itself; and the only wonder was that Therese Lafirme so
successfully followed the methods of her departed husband.

Of course Therese had wanted to die with her Jerome, feeling that life
without him held nothing that could reconcile her to its further
endurance. For days she lived alone with her grief; shutting out the
appeals that came to her from the demoralized "hands," and unmindful
of