Bellflower by Guy de Maupassant (1850-1893) Word Count: 1857

HOW STRANGE are those old recollections which haunt us without our being able to get rid of them! This one is so very old that I cannot understand how it has clung so vividly and tenaciously to my memory. Since then I have seen so many sinister things, either affecting or terrible, that I am astonished at not being able to pass a single day without the face of Mother Bellflower recurring to my mind's eye, just as I knew her formerly long, long ago, when I was ten or twelve years old. She was an old seamstress who came to my parents' house once a week, every Thursday, to mend the linen. My parents lived in one of those country houses called chateaux, which are merely old houses with pointed roofs, to which are attached three or four adjacent farms. The village, a large village, almost a small market town, was a few hundred yards off and nestled round the church, a red brick church, which had become black with age. Well, every Thursday Mother Bellflower came between half-past six and seven in the morning and went immediately into the linen room and began to work. She was a tall, thin, bearded or rather hairy woman, for she had a beard all over her face, a surprising, an unexpected beard, growing in improbable tufts, in curly bunches which looked as if they had been sown by a madman over that great face, the face of agendarme in petticoats. She had them on her nose, under her nose, round her nose, on her chin, on her cheeks, and her eyebrows, which were extraordinarily thick and

long and quite gray, bushy and bristling, looked exactly like a pair of mustaches stuck on there by mistake. She limped, not like lame people generally do, but like a ship pitching. When she planted her great bony, vibrant body on her sound leg, she seemed to be preparing to mount some enormous wave, and then suddenly she dipped as if to disappear in an abyss and buried herself in the ground. Her walk reminded one of a ship in a storm, and her head, which was always covered with an enormous white cap, whose ribbons fluttered down her back, seemed to traverse the horizon from north to south and from south to north at each limp. I adored Mother Bellflower. As soon as I was up I used to go into the linen room, where I found her installed at work with a foot warmer under her feet. As soon as I arrived she made me take the foot warmer and sit upon it, so that I might not catch cold in that large chilly room under the roof. "That draws the blood from your head," she would say to me. She told me stories while mending the linen with her long, crooked, nimble fingers; behind her magnifying spectacles, for age had impaired her sight, her eyes appeared enormous to me, strangely profound, double. As far as I can remember from the things which she told me and by which my childish heart was moved, she had the large heart of a poor woman. She told me what had happened in the village, how a cow had escaped from the cow house and had been found the next morning in front of Prosper Malet's mill looking at the sails turning, or about a hen's egg which had been found in the church belfry without anyone being able to understand what creature had been there to lay it, or the queer story of Jean Pila's dog who had gone ten leagues to bring back his master's breeches which a tramp had stolen while they were hanging up to dry out of doors after he had been caught in the rain. She told me these simple adventures in such a manner that in my mind they assumed the proportions of never-to-be-forgotten dramas, of grand and mysterious poems; and the ingenious stories invented by the poets, which my mother told me in the evening, had none of the flavor, none of the fullness or of the vigor of the peasant woman's narratives. Well, one Thursday when I had spent all the morning in listening to Mother Clochette, I wanted to go upstairs to her again during the day after picking hazelnuts with the manservant in the wood behind the farm. I remember it all as clearly as what happened only yesterday.

On opening the door of the linen room I saw the old seamstress lying on the floor by the side of her chair, her face turned down and her arms stretched out, but still holding her needle in one hand and one of my shirts in the other. One of her legs in a blue stocking, the longer one no doubt, was extended under her chair, and her spectacles glistened by the wall, where they had rolled away from her. I ran away uttering shrill cries. They all came running, and in a few minutes I was told that Mother Clochette was dead. I cannot describe the profound, poignant, terrible emotion which stirred my childish heart. I went slowly down into the drawing room and hid myself in a dark corner in the depths of a great old armchair, where I knelt and wept. I remained there for a long time, no doubt, for night came on. Suddenly someone came in with a lamp--without seeing me, however--and heard my father and mother talking with the medical man, whose voice recognized. He had been sent for immediately, and he was explaining the cause of the accident, of which I understood nothing, however. Then he sat down and had a glass of liqueur and a biscuit. He went on talking, and what he then said will remain engraved on my mind until I die. I think that I can give the exact words which he used. "Ah!" he said. "The poor woman! she broke her leg the day of my arrival here. I had not even had time to wash my hands after getting off the diligence before I was sent for in all haste, for it was a bad case, very bad. "She was seventeen and a pretty girl, very pretty! Would anyone believe it? I have never told her story before; in fact, no one but myself and one other person, who is no longer living in this part of the country, ever knew it. Now that she is dead I may be less discreet. "A young assistant teacher had just come to live in the village; he was good looking and had the bearing of a soldier. All the girls ran after him, but he was disdainful. Besides that, he was very much afraid of his superior, the schoolmaster, old Grabu, who occasionally got out of bed the wrong foot first. "Old Grabu already employed pretty Hortense, who has just died here and who was afterward nicknamed Clochette. The assistant master singled out the pretty young girl who was no doubt flattered at being chosen by this disdainful conqueror; at any rate, she fell in love with him, and he

succeeded in persuading her to give him a first meeting in the hayloft behind the school at night after she had done her day's sewing. "She pretended to go home, but instead of going downstairs when she left the Grabus', she went upstairs and hid among the hay to wait for her lover. He soon joined her, and he was beginning to say pretty things to her, when the door of the hayloft opened and the schoolmaster appeared and asked: 'What are you doing up there, Sigisbert?' Feeling sure that he would be caught, the young schoolmaster lost his presence of mind and replied stupidly: 'I came up here to rest a little among the bundles of hay, Monsieur Grabu.' "The loft was very large and absolutely dark. Sigisbert pushed the frightened girl to the farther end and said: 'Go, there and hide yourself. I shall lose my situation, so get away and hide yourself.' "When the schoolmaster heard the whispering he continued: 'Why, you are not by yourself.' "'Yes, I am, Monsieur Grabu!' "'But you are not, for you are talking.' "'I swear I am, Monsieur Grabu.' "'I will soon find out,' the old man replied and, double-locking the door, he went down to get a light. "Then the young man, who was a coward such as one sometimes meets, lost his head, and he repeated, having grown furious all of a sudden: 'Hide yourself, so that he may not find you. You will deprive me of my bread for my whole life; you will ruin my whole career! Do hide yourself!' "They could hear the key turning in the lock again, and Hortense ran to the window which looked out onto the street, opened it quickly and then in a low and determined voice said: 'You will come and pick me up when he is gone,' and she jumped out. "Old Grabu found nobody and went down again in great surprise! A quarter of an hour later Monsieur Sigisbert came to me and related his adventure. The girl had remained at the foot of the wall, unable to get up, as she had fallen from the second story, and I went with him to fetch her. It was raining in torrents, and I brought the unfortunate girl home with me, for the right leg was broken in three places, and the bones had come out

through the flesh. She did not complain and merely said with admirable resignation: 'I am punished, well punished!' "I sent for assistance and for the workgirl's friends and told them a madeup story of a runaway carriage which had knocked her down and lamed her outside my door. They believed me, and the gendarmes for a whole month tried in vain to find the author of this accident. "That is all! Now I say that this woman was a heroine and had the fiber of those who accomplish the grandest deeds in history. "That was her only love affair, and she died a virgin. She was a martyr, a noble soul, a sublimely devoted woman! And if I did not absolutely admire her I should not have told you this story, which I would never tell anyone during her life; you understand why." The doctor ceased; Mamma cried, and Papa said some words which I did not catch; then they left the room, and I remained on my knees in the armchair and sobbed, while I heard a strange noise of heavy footsteps and something knocking against the side of the staircase. They were carrying away Clochette's body.

Dora Greenfield leaves her husband Paul Greenfield at the start of the novel, but realises that she is more afraid of him when she is away from him than when they are together, so agrees to return to him. During this time Paul has temporarily moved to Imber Abbey, Gloucestershire to work on some 14th century manuscripts. Dora takes a train to Imber, and on her way she sees Toby Gashe (who is going to stay at the community before he goes to Oxford) and James Tayper Pace (a member of the community), but does not realise who they are. During the train journey Dora spots a butterfly crawling along the carriage and picks it up to avoid it being crushed. On the station Paul is waiting for Dora where she is introduced to Toby and James. During this conversation Dora releases the butterfly and they all watch it fly away. Dora, distracted with rescuing the butterfly, leaves the suitcases on the train. Paul then drives them all to Imber where Dora is introduced to Mrs Mark, Michael Meade, Mark, Catherine, Peter Topglass and Patchway. They all attend a small service during which Dora leaves to explore the lake. While doing this she throws her shoes off and forgets where she put them. Shortly afterwards Toby and James volunteer to find them, Toby being the successful person. During that evening Paul tells Dora the legend of the bell and how a nun had a lover but she wouldn't confess when called to do so. Because of this a bishop put a curse on the abbey; the bell then plummeted into the lake. At the same time James and Michael discuss where Toby should stay during his time at Imber. James reluctantly agrees with Michael that Toby should stay with Nick Fawley (Catherine's brother) to keep him company and keep an eye on him as he has threatened suicide in the past. Michael first knew Nick when he was a fourteen-year-old schoolboy. Michael had to leave his position as a teacher after Nick, who was sixteen at the time, told the Headmaster about the sexual relationship they had. Dora has a tour of the grounds with Mrs Mark, before returning to the station to collect her luggage. Dora then visits the White Lion pub, again forgetting her luggage, and returns to Imber. Michael takes her back up to the house, and on the journey back they see Toby naked by the lake. The scene is described to us as though it were the garden of Eden. Michael is woken by a nightmare which is repeated later on in the book. A meeting is held to discuss important issues such as the arrival of the new Bell. During chapter seven we learn of Michael's past homosexual relationships. We then discover that he used to be a Schoolmaster and had a relationship with Nick Fawley. Nick eventually told the headmaster what happened, ending Michael's dream of wanting to become a priest. Despite this we still get the impression that Michael is still partly in love with Nick. In this chapter, when Dora expresses her disbelief at Catherine wanting to join a convent, she tells her that often the best things in life are things "one doesn't choose", which Dora interprets as her being forced to become a nun. Toby decides to explore a new part of the lake and discovers the old bell at the bottom of the lake and decides that he will come back at another time to see it in greater detail. Michael then takes Toby with him to go and collect the mechanical cultivator, which is being held for them in Swindon. On the way back they stop at the pub where Michael gets slightly drunk. During the drive back to Imber Michael feels a great deal of responsibility and tenderness towards Toby. When they reach Imber Toby wants to see if human eyes reflect car headlights, but as he reaches the car Michael leans out of the window and kisses Toby. Just after this has happened Nick walks up to see what's going on, before Michael swiftly retreats back to the house, worrying if Nick saw what happened. During the next few days both Michael and Toby are very confused and upset and avoid speaking with each other. Michael then decides to apologise to Toby who in turn agrees to bury the matter. During which time, Toby decides to enter the abbey; however he is caught by two nuns who politely show him where the exit is.

In the next chapter Dora decides she will go to London to show Paul that she is an independent woman, and visit Noel Spens. Dora and Noel talk about the events of Imber before they both end up dancing together. Dora then leaves Noel to visit the National Gallery where she seems to have a religious experience when admiring the paintings that have become so familiar to her. Dora then decides to return to Imber but when she returns the community are listening to a Bach recital. Toby sees her outside and comes to join her. Toby then shows Dora the bell who decides that they should bring it to the surface and substitute it for the new bell during the ceremony in an attempt to trick the community that a miracle has happened. Michael preaches his sermon before going to see Nick who is fixing the lorry. The conversation between them is awkward on Michael's behalf as Nick appears to be mocking him. We also get our first inkling that Catherine is in love with Michael. Toby and Dora meet to haul the bell out of the lake. Toby successfully does this by using the tractor, and drags it into a nearby barn. Toby then embraces Dora and starts to kiss her before they roll into the bell making it ring. Michael is awakened by the noise and goes outside to see what is going on. He meets Paul who is looking for Dora and both go to Nick, who tells Michael that he saw them kissing in the woods. Noel turns up to Dora's horror intent on doing a report on the new bell shortly followed by the bishop. A small ceremony is held for the community during which Dora breaks out into uncontrollable laughter and drops a note, addressed to Toby which Noel picks up. Nick stops Toby leaving the house and a short scuffle breaks out, after which Nick explains that he knows what Toby has been doing and that he must confess it all to James. The day of the ceremony arrives and goes badly. The bell ends up falling into the lake as Nick has sawed through part of the causeway, perhaps to stop his sister entering the abbey. Catherine then runs off pursued by Dora. Catherine tries to drown herself and Dora tries to save her but cannot swim, and both end up being rescued. The Straffords then take Catherine off to a clinic in London. James tells Michael that Toby confessed what went on between them and that he has sent Toby home. Michael says he will step down from Imber. After this conversation takes place they are alerted to Nick's house where it has soon become apparent that he has shot himself. The community soon breaks apart until Dora and Michael are the only two remaining. They get on well and Dora decides she will not return to Paul but instead will go and stay with her friend Sally. Michael then leaves, making Dora the last person at Imber.

Characters[edit]
Dora Greenfield, a young, flirtatious woman, who is interested in art Michael Meade, the owner of the court outside of the Imber Abbey Toby Gashe, a young curious boy, who comes to the Abbey of religious vocation Paul Greenfield, a wealthy scholar who comes to the Abbey to do research. Dora's legal husband Nick Fawley, a troubled member of the Abbey Catherine Fawley, a beautiful young lady who wants to become a nun James Tayper Pace, a very religious and austere member of the community Patchway, a gardener Father Bob Joyce Mark Stafford

Margaret Stafford, a.k.a. Mrs Mark Sister Ursula The Abbess The Bishop Mother Clare Peter Topglass Sally, a friend of Dora's who lives in London Noel Spens, a reporter who has an affair with Dora

Key to chapters[edit]
1. Introduction to Paul and Dora Greenfield, Toby Gashe, and James Tayper Pace. Train ride from London to Gloucestershire. 2. A drive to Imber Court, and introduction to much of the rest of the community. 3. Paul tells Dora the legend of the bell. 4. Conversation between James and Michael, and introduction to Nick Fawley. 5. Dora's tour of the grounds with Mrs Mark, and, with Michael, the discovery of Toby swimming. 6. Michael's nightmare, his background, and a business meeting at Imber Court. 7. Michael's history with the Fawleys. 8. Peter, Toby, Michael, and Dora inspect the birds in the woods. 9. James' sermon, and a fight between Dora and Paul. 10. Toby discovers an underwater bell. 11. Michael and Toby travel to Swindon. 12. Michael and Toby's individual thoughts on their last encounter, and a walk in the woods. 13. Toby's thoughts on the walk, and his entry into the abbey. 14. Dora's sojourn in London. 15. Toby sees Dora in the window, and later tells her of the Bell. 16. Michael's sermon, and encounter with drunken Nick. 17. Toby and Dora raise the bell. 18. Paul tells Michael part of the legend of the bell, and Nick tells Michael that Dora is having an affair. 19. Michael receives advice from James and the Abbess. 20. Noel and the Bishop come to Imber Court to christen the bell. 21. Nick tells Toby to confess. 22. Dora overhears Nick's informing Noel, and rings the bell. 23. The new bell is sunk in the water during a procession, Catherine attempts suicide, and Dora is rescued by Mother Clare. 24. Paul leaves Imber Court to see to the old bell in London. 25. James reveals to Michael that he knows about him and Toby. Nick commits suicide. 26. The community is dissolved, and Michael and Dora work hard together. Michael is in pain. Dora says goodbye to Michael.

References[edit]

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