ong the forest
level; farther, the wild mint and the centaurea perfume the shady nooks,
the oaks and lime-trees arch their spreading branches, and the
honeysuckle twines itself round the knotty shoots of the hornbeam, whence
the thrush gives forth her joyous, sonorous notes.

Not only in the forest, but also in the park belonging to the chateau,
and in the village orchards, spring had donned a holiday costume. Through
the open windows, between the massive bunches of lilacs, hawthorn, and
laburnum blossoms, Julien de Buxieres caught glimpses of rolling meadows
and softly tinted vistas. The gentle twittering of the birds and the
mysterious call of the cuckoo, mingled with the perfume of flowers, stole
into his study, and produced a sense of enjoyment as novel to him as it
was delightful. Having until the present time lived a sedentary life in
cities, he had had no opportunity of experiencing this impression of
nature in her awakening and luxuriant aspect; never had he felt so
completely under the seductive influence of the goddess Maia than at this
season when the abundant sap exudes in a white foam from the trunk of the
willow; when between the plant world and ourselves a magnetic current
seems to exist, which seeks to wed their fraternizing emanations with our
own personality. He was oppressed by the vividness of the verdure,
intoxicated with the odor of vegetation, agitated by the confused music
of the birds, and in this May fever of excitement, his thoughts wandered
with secret delight to Reine Vincart, to this queen of the woods, who was
the personification of all the witchery of the forest. Since their
January promenade in the glades of Charbonniere, he had seen her at a
distance, sometimes on Sundays in the little church at Vivey, sometimes
like a fugitive apparition at the turn of a road. They had also exchanged
formal salutations, but had not spoken to each other. More than once,
after the night had fallen, Julien had stopped in front of the courtyard
of La Thuiliere, and watched the lamps being lighted inside. But he had
not ventured to knock at the door of the house; a foolish timidity had
prevented him; so he had returned to the chateau, dissatisfied and
reproaching himself for allowing his awkward shyness to interpose, as it
were, a wall of ice between himself and the only person whose
acquaintance seemed to him desirable.

At other times he would become alarmed at the large place a woman
occupied in his tho