CHAPTER TWELVE

Edna hardly slept at all during the three hours that she was in bed. Her dreams were full of anxious desires that she felt could never be achieved. She got out of bed very early and walked out into the cool morning air. The coolness sharpened her senses, but she did not care, for she had decided to simply follow her natural feeling. And it seemed as though this natural feeling were created by something outside of herself. She no longer felt responsible for her actions.

Hardly anyone else was up at that hour. Only those who were going to church and those same lovers from the other day at the beach were out and about. Oh, but no they weren't the only ones, after all. There was also the old woman in black, who was still praying to her beads. And Mr Farival was also up for some reason.

Edna approached one of Madame Lebrun's servants, who was cleaning the front porch of the house, and asked her to tell Robert that she was going to church. If he wanted to join her, he would have to come right away, for the boat would be leaving soon.

Moments later, he was downstairs, ready to go. Although she had never come looking for him before, Edna did not have the feeling that she was doing something strange or surprising. Robert, too, did not seem to feel this way, either. However, his face had a smile that seemed more confident and pleased than ever before.

The Lebrun's servants cooked them a quick breakfast with coffee. The two of them stood outside on the porch and ate what was given to them. Edna commented that the food was delicious and that she had not even thought of eating that morning. Robert replied that she never seemed to plan things very well.

"I thought of getting you up to go to church, didn't I? My goodness. You sound like my husband. He always says, 'Why do I have to do all the thinking in this house?' Of course, I always seem to put him in a bad mood."

They crossed the sandy beach to where the boat was waiting. There, sitting aboard, were the lovers, the woman in black, Mr Farival, and a young Spanish woman holding a basket. Robert was familiar with her and had a brief conversation with her in Spanish on the way to the church. She was called Mariequita. She was a small woman with a pretty face and dark eyes. Her feet were rather rough, but she made no attempt to cover them.

The driver of the boat, Beaudelet, acted as though he did not like it that Mariequita was on his boat. In reality, he was upset because Mr Farival believed he was a better driver than him. However, it was easier to treat Mariequita badly, so he chose to fight with her. She would often just sit and give Robert a helpless look. However, other times, she would say something in Spanish under her breath and give Mr Beaudelet an angry look.

The lovers did not pay attention to anyone else. They just looked into one another's eyes. The woman in black was still praying, as usual. And Mr Farival went on and on about how he would handle the boat differently from the way Mr Beaudelet was handling it.

All this time, Edna could not take her eyes off of Mariequita. The Spanish woman asked Robert why the woman was looking at her in this way.

"I suppose that she finds you attractive," he answered, "Do you want me to find out?"

"Don't bother. Are you two boyfriend and girlfriend?"

"No. She's got a husband and two boys."

"Well, that means nothing. Don't you know that Francisco carried away Sylvano's woman? And they used his boat to get away, too!"

"Oh, stop!"

"Can she speak Spanish?"

"No."

"What about them over there, ignoring everyone else. Do you think they are husband and wife?"

"No way!"

"Exactly. No way!"

The day was beginning to grow hotter. Edna felt her body absorbing the heat, while the wind cooled her skin. Robert opened his umbrella over her in order to block the light.

While they were sailing, a large wind suddenly caught hold of the boat and prevented it from moving forward for a short while. Mr Farival laughed at this and Mr Beaudelet quietly said angry words to himself about his troublesome passenger.

Edna felt freer than ever before. It was as if she could keep sailing to wherever in the world she wanted to go. Robert talked to her without stopping. He no longer even noticed the Spanish woman, who was carrying shrimp in her basket and talking angrily to herself.

"I've got an idea. Why don't we head over to Grande Terre tomorrow?" he suggested.

"What's there, what can we do?"

"There's an old castle there that we can walk on. It has a great view up there."

The idea sounded wonderful to her. She imagined herself with Robert, walking among the castle ruins, seeing the snakes crawl about the land.

Robert continued to say, "And after that, we can take a boat to the Bayou Brulow."

"And what's there?"

"We can go fishing!"

"I'd rather stay at the Grande Terre. Let's not bother the fish."

"It's entirely up to you. I'll have my boat repaired. Then we can go sailing on our own. Perhaps while we're out on the sea, your ghost will speak to you again and tell you where the secret treasure is hidden on one of the islands out there."

"We'd be wealthy! But I wouldn't know what to do with so much money. I think I'd probably just hand it all over to you to use. Stolen money is not meant to be saved but to be thrown about here and there. Just for the beauty of it."

"No. It would be ours to spend together," he said, his face turning bright red.

When they finally arrived at the church, everyone except for Beaudelet got out of the boat and went inside for the morning service. Meanwhile, Mariequita kept an angry eye on Robert.

(end of section)