Anxious to discover the meaning of Francine's abrupt
departure, she went to the window, where Madame du Gua followed her,
no doubt to guard against any suspicions which might arise in her
mind. They returned together to the chimney, after each had cast a
look upon the shore and the lake,--Marie without seeing anything that
could have caused Francine's flight, Madame du Gua seeing that which
satisfied her she was being obeyed.
The lake, at the edge of which Marche-a-Terre had shown his head,
where Madame du Gua had seen him, joined the moat in misty curves,
sometimes broad as ponds, in other places narrow as the artificial
streamlets of a park. The steep bank, washed by its waters, lay a few
rods from the window. Francine, watching on the surface of the water
the black lines thrown by the willows, noticed, carelessly at first,
the uniform trend of their branches, caused by a light breeze then
prevailing. Suddenly she thought she saw against the glassy surface a
figure moving with the spontaneous and irregular motion of life. The
form, vague as it was, seemed to her that of a man. At first she
attributed what she saw to the play of the moonlight upon the foliage,
but presently a second head appeared, then several others in the
distance. The shrubs upon the bank were bent and then violently
straightened, and Francine saw the long hedge undulating like one of
those great Indian serpents of fabulous size and shape.
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