Compelled to rise long before any one else in the house,
I was expected to have everything in order by the time the others
made their appearance with their eyes still heavy with sleep. It
is true that my benefactors rewarded me after their fashion. On
Sundays they took me with them on their excursions into the
country, so as to give me a rest, they said, after the week's
work. And I followed them along the dusty highways in the hot
sunshine, panting, perspiring, and tottering under the weight of a
heavy basket of provisions, which were eaten on the grass or in
the woods, and the remnants of which fell to me. Madame Greloux's
brother generally accompanied us; and his name would have lingered
in my memory, even if it had not been a peculiar one. He was
called Vantrasson. He was a tall, robust man. with eyes that
made me tremble whenever he fixed them upon me. He was a soldier;
intensely proud of his uniform; a great talker, and enchanted with
himself. He evidently thought himself irresistible. It was from
that man's mouth that I heard the first coarse word at which my
unsophisticated heart took offence. It was not to be the last
one. He finally told me that he had taken a fancy to me, and I
was obliged to complain to Madame Greloux of her brother's
persecutions. But she only laughed at me, and said: 'Nonsense!
He's merely talking to hear himself talk.' Yes, that was her
answer. And yet she was an honest woman, a devoted wife, and a
fond mother.
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