Page 457 - swanns-way

tals, her lover; and because that restriction which for him
alone was set upon the universal right to travel freely where
one would, was but one of the many forms of that slavery,
that love which was so dear to him. Decidedly, it was better
not to risk a quarrel with her, to be patient, to wait for her
return. He spent his days in poring over a map of the for-
est of Compiègne, as though it had been that of the ‘Pays
du Tendre’; he surrounded himself with photographs of the
Château of Pierrefonds. When the day dawned on which it
was possible that she might return, he opened the time-ta-
ble again, calculated what train she must have taken, and,
should she have postponed her departure, what trains were
still left for her to take. He did not leave the house, for fear
of missing a telegram, he did not go to bed, in case, having
come by the last train, she decided to surprise him with a
midnight visit. Yes! The front-door bell rang. There seemed
some delay in opening the door, he wanted to awaken the
porter, he leaned out of the window to shout to Odette, if
it was Odette, for in spite of the orders which he had gone
downstairs a dozen times to deliver in person, they were
quite capable of telling her that he was not at home. It was
only a servant coming in. He noticed the incessant rumble
of passing carriages, to which he had never before paid any
attention. He could hear them, one after another, a long way
off, coming nearer, passing his door without stopping, and
bearing away into the distance a message which was not for
him. He waited all night, to no purpose, for the Verdurins
had returned unexpectedly, and Odette had been in Par-
is since midday; it had not occurred to her to tell him; not

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