MONT ORIOL
OR
A ROMANCE OF AUVERGNE
A NOVEL
By
GUY DE MAUPASSANT
SAINT DUNSTAN SOCIETY
Akron, Ohio
1903
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER I.
THE SPA
CHAPTER II.
THE DISCOVERY
CHAPTER III.
BARGAINING
CHAPTER IV.
A TEST AND AN AVOWAL
CHAPTER V.
DEVELOPMENTS
CHAPTER VI.
ON THE BRINK
CHAPTER VII.
ATTAINMENT
CHAPTER VIII.
ORGANIZATION
CHAPTER IX.
THE SPA AGAIN
CHAPTER X.
GONTRAN'S CHOICE
CHAPTER XI.
A MUTUAL UNDERSTANDING
CHAPTER XII.
A BETROTHAL
CHAPTER XIII.
PAUL CHANGES HIS MIND
CHAPTER XIV.
CHRISTIANE'S VIA CRUCIS
ILLUSTRATIONS
"HE HAD THOUGHT WITH DEEP ANXIETY OF THIS CHILD, OF WHICH HE WASTHE FATHER"
"SHE SPRANG WILDLY TO HER FEET. IT WAS HE!"
MONT ORIOL
CHAPTER I.
THE SPA
The first bathers, the early risers, who had already been at the water,were walking slowly, in pairs or alone, under the huge trees along thestream which rushes down the gorges of Enval.
Others arrived from the village, and entered the establishment ina hurried fashion. It was a spacious building, the ground floorbeing reserved for thermal treatment, while the first story servedas a casino, café, and billiard-room. Since Doctor Bonnefille haddiscovered in the heart of Enval the great spring, baptized by him theBonnefille Spring, some proprietors of the country and the surroundingneighborhood, timid speculators, had decided to erect in the midstof this superb glen of Auvergne, savage and gay withal, planted withwalnut and giant chestnut trees, a vast house for every kind of use,serving equally for the purpose of cure and of pleasure, in whichmineral waters, douches, and baths were sold below, and beer, liqueurs,and music above.
A portion of the ravine along the stream had been inclosed, toconstitute the park indispensable to every spa; and three walks hadbeen made, one nearly straight, and the other two zigzag. At the endof the first gushed out an artificial spring detached from the parentspring, and bubbling into a great basin of cement, sheltered by astraw roof, under the care of an impassive woman, whom everyone called"Marie" in a familiar sort of way. Thi