As soon as its edge has been crossed, the view extends suddenly and without obstacle over the vast moors which form the triangular plateau of the Cape La Hague; fields of furze and heather, stone fences without cement, here and there a cross of granite, on the right and on the left the distant undulations of the ocean--such is the severe but grand landscape that is suddenly unfolded to the eyes beneath the unobstructed light of the heavens.
Monsieur de Lucan was born in Vastville.

The poetic reminiscences of childhood mingled in his imagination with the natural poetry of that site, and made it dear to him.

Under pretext of hunting, he came on a pilgrimage to it every year.

Since his marriage only, he had given up that habit of the heart, in order not to leave Clotilde, who was detained in Paris by her daughter; but it had been agreed upon that they would go and bury themselves in that retreat for a season as soon as they had recovered their liberty.

Clotilde only knew Vastville from her husband's enthusiastic descriptions; she loved it on his representations, and it was for her, in advance, an enchanted spot.