Page 586 - swanns-way

He was destined to see her once again, a few weeks later.
It was while he was asleep, in the twilight of a dream. He
was walking with Mme. Verdurin, Dr. Cottard, a young
man in a fez whom he failed to identify, the painter, Odette,
Napoleon III and my grandfather, along a path which fol-
lowed the line of the coast, and overhung the sea, now at a
great height, now by a few feet only, so that they were con-
tinually going up and down; those of the party who had
reached the downward slope were no longer visible to those
who were still climbing; what little daylight yet remained
was failing, and it seemed as though a black night was im-
mediately to fall on them. Now and then the waves dashed
against the cliff, and Swann could feel on his cheek a shower
of freezing spray. Odette told him to wipe this off, but he
could not, and felt confused and helpless in her company, as
well as because he was in his nightshirt. He hoped that, in
the darkness, this might pass unnoticed; Mme. Verdurin,
however, fixed her astonished gaze upon him for an endless
moment, in which he saw her face change its shape, her nose
grow longer, while beneath it there sprouted a heavy mous-
tache. He turned away to examine Odette; her cheeks were
pale, with little fiery spots, her features drawn and ringed
with shadows; but she looked back at him with eyes well-
ing with affection, ready to detach themselves like tears and
to fall upon his face, and he felt that he loved her so much
that he would have liked to carry her off with him at once.
Suddenly Odette turned her wrist, glanced at a tiny watch,
and said: ‘I must go.’ She took leave of everyone, in the same
formal manner, without taking Swann aside, without tell-

586 Swann’s Way