CHAPTER TWO

Mrs Pontellier had a pair of bright eyes, which were yellowish brown, a similar color to her hair. She could move them quickly and look at something in a way, which made it seem that she was thinking very hard. Her eyebrows had a darker color than her hair. They were straight and full, making her eyes look even deeper. "Handsome" is a better word to describe her than "beautiful." She had a charming nature and people found her easy to talk with.

Without much money to buy cigars, Robert often rolled his own cigarettes. He was doing so now. Mr Pontellier had given him a cigar earlier in the day, but he wanted to smoke it after dinner. His appearance was a little similar to Mrs Pontellier's. They had a similar skin color.

They couldn't stop chatting about everything that was happening on the little island. They talked about their experience in the water (it had, once again, become interesting to them); about the people who had gone to church earlier that morning; about the children who were playing croquet, and the two Farival girls who they could hear still playing piano. They also talked about themselves. Robert told her that he wanted to go to Mexico. In fact, he had always wanted to go, but for some reason he could not. In the meantime, he worked for a company in New Orleans, where his ability to speak French and Spanish was considered very useful.

He was at Grand Isle with his mother for the holiday. "The house" had once been a summer home for the Lebrun family. Now, however, it had been turned into a vacation spot for the wealthy residents of New Orleans' French Quarter. So that more of them could come and enjoy the island, many small cottages were built around the house. All of this provided Madame Lebrun with enough money to live a very easy and comfortable life.

Mrs Pontellier started to talk about her father's farm and her childhood in Kentucky. She told Robert about a letter she had just received from her sister, who was going to get married. Robert was so interested in her sister and asked many questions about her family that, by the time she finished reading the letter, it was already time for her to change clothing for supper.

"It seems like Leonce's pool game is going well," she said while preparing to leave. Robert had not thought Mr Pontellier would return, because there would be a lot of people at the club with whom he could play.

After his chat with Mrs Pontellier, Robert walked over to where the croquet players were. He played with the Pontellier boys, who liked him very much.

(end of section)