Chapter XXXII

by Kate Chopin

　　When Mr. Pontellier learned of his wife's intention to abandonher home and take up her residence elsewhere, he immediately wroteher a letter of unqualified disapproval and remonstrance. She hadgiven reasons which he was unwilling to acknowledge as adequate.He hoped she had not acted upon her rash impulse; and he begged herto consider first, foremost, and above all else, what people wouldsay. He was not dreaming of scandal when he uttered this warning;that was a thing which would never have entered into his mind toconsider in connection with his wife's name or his own. He wassimply thinking of his financial integrity. It might get noisedabout that the Pontelliers had met with reverses, and were forcedto conduct their menage on a humbler scale than heretofore. Itmight do incalculable mischief to his business prospects.But remembering Edna's whimsical turn of mind of late, andforeseeing that she had immediately acted upon her impetuous determination,he grasped the situation with his usual promptness and handled it withhis well-known business tact and cleverness.The same mail which brought. to Edna his letter of disapprovalcarried instructions--the most minute instructions--to a well-knownarchitect concerning the remodeling of his home, changes which hehad long contemplated, and which he desired carried forward duringhis temporary absence.Expert and reliable packers and movers were engaged to conveythe furniture, carpets, pictures --everything movable, in short--toplaces of security. And in an incredibly short time the Pontellierhouse was turned over to the artisans. There was to be anaddition--a small snuggery; there was to be frescoing, and hardwoodflooring was to be put into such rooms as had not yet beensubjected to this improvement.Furthermore, in one of the daily papers appeared a briefnotice to the effect that Mr. and Mrs. Pontellier werecontemplating a summer sojourn abroad, and that their handsomeresidence on Esplanade Street was undergoing sumptuous alterations,and would not be ready for occupancy until their return. Mr.Pontellier had saved appearances!Edna admired the skill of his maneuver, and avoided anyoccasion to balk his intentions. When the situation as set forthby Mr. Pontellier was accepted and taken for granted, she wasapparently satisfied that it should be so.The pigeon house pleased her. It at once assumed the intimatecharacter of a home, while she herself invested it with a charmwhich it reflected like a warm glow. There was with her a feelingof having descended in the social scale, with a corresponding senseof having risen in the spiritual. Every step which she took towardrelieving herself from obligations added to her strength andexpansion as an individual. She began to look with her own eyes; to seeand to apprehend the deeper undercurrents of life. No longer wasshe content to "feed upon opinion" when her own soul had invited her.After a little while, a few days, in fact, Edna went up andspent a week with her children in Iberville. They were deliciousFebruary days, with all the summer's promise hovering in the air.How glad she was to see the children! She wept for verypleasure when she felt their little arms clasping her; their hard,ruddy cheeks pressed against her own glowing cheeks. She lookedinto their faces with hungry eyes that could not be satisfied withlooking. And what stories they had to tell their mother! About thepigs, the cows, the mules! About riding to the mill behind Gluglu;fishing back in the lake with their Uncle Jasper; picking pecanswith Lidie's little black brood, and hauling chips in their expresswagon. It was a thousand times more fun to haul real chips for oldlame Susie's real fire than to drag painted blocks along thebanquette on Esplanade Street!She went with them herself to see the pigs and the cows, tolook at the darkies laying the cane, to thrash the pecan trees, andcatch fish in the back lake. She lived with them a whole weeklong, giving them all of herself, and gathering and filling herselfwith their young existence. They listened, breathless, when shetold them the house in Esplanade Street was crowded with workmen,hammering, nailing, sawing, and filling the place with clatter.They wanted. to know where their bed was; what had been done withtheir rocking-horse; and where did Joe sleep, and where had Ellengone, and the cook? But, above all, they were fired with a desireto see the little house around the block. Was there any place toplay? Were there any boys next door? Raoul, with pessimisticforeboding, was convinced that there were only girls next door.Where would they sleep, and where would papa sleep? She told themthe fairies would fix it all right.The old Madame was charmed with Edna's visit, and showered allmanner of delicate attentions upon her. She was delighted to knowthat the Esplanade Street house was in a dismantled condition. Itgave her the promise and pretext to keep the children indefinitely.It was with a wrench and a pang that Edna left her children.She carried away with her the sound of their voices andthe touch of their cheeks. All along the journey homeward theirpresence lingered with her like the memory of a delicious song.But by the time she had regained the city the song no longer echoedin her soul. She was again alone.