But I have found out my folly, and discover that there is still happiness in this world--enough to go on with, at all events." I rose to bid him good-night, for I had to make an early start the next morning.
"I only hope, mon ami," he said, taking my hand in his small fingers, "that the good God will show you soon what a fool you have been." I arrived at Draguignan late on the following evening, and put up at the Hotel Bertin there, than which the traveller will find no better accommodation in Provence.

I had not named the hour or day of my proposed arrival at La Pauline, knowing that the affairs of Madame de Clericy might delay me in Paris, which, in fact, they did.
The next morning I set out on foot for the Chateau of La Pauline by the road passing through the vineyards and olive groves lately despoiled of their fruit.

The rich hues of autumn were creeping up the mountains, where the cool air of the upper slopes preserved the verdure longer than in the sunburnt valley.

The air was light and fresh, with a brisk breeze from the west.

The world seemed instinct with fruition and the gathering of that which had been sown with toil and carefulness.