Michel and Angèle E-Book

Gilbert Parker

• Herausgeber: Booksell-Verlag
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2020

Beschreibung

Set against the vibrant backdrop of the early 20th century, Gilbert Parker's "Michel and Angèle" intricately weaves a tale of love, sacrifice, and the tumult of human emotions. The narrative style is lush and descriptive, characterized by an evocative lyricism that brings to life the lush landscapes and turbulent social dynamics of Canada. The novel captures the complexities of its characters, particularly the titular Michel, as they navigate the tensions between passion and duty, revealing the struggles inherent in human relationships. Through expertly crafted dialogues and a nonlinear timeline, Parker immerses readers in both the beauty and the tragedy of life's choices. Gilbert Parker, a prominent Canadian novelist and journalist, was deeply influenced by his experiences in the Yukon and his observations of postcolonial life in Canada. His background in journalism is evident in the incisive character studies and vivid depictions of the socio-political climate of his time. Parker's works often reflect his commitment to social issues, and "Michel and Angèle" stands as a poignant exploration of personal versus societal expectations. This novel comes highly recommended for those who appreciate rich narrative depth and nuanced character exploration. Readers seeking to immerse themselves in a story that balances emotional intensity with thoughtful commentary on love and sacrifice will find "Michel and Angèle" a compelling and rewarding experience.

Leseprobe

Gilbert Parker

Michel and Angèle

Published by Good Press, 2022

[email protected]

EAN 4064066433406

Table of Contents

I

II

III

IV

V

PART II VI

VII

VIII

IX

X

XI

XII

XIII

I

Table of Contents

IF you go to Southampton and search in the Register of the Walloon Church there, you will find that on the 3d April, 1575, "Madame Vefue de Montgomery with all her family and servants were admitted to the Communion;" "tous ceux cj furent Reçus à la Cène du 1575, comme passans, sans avoir Rendu Raison de la foi, mes sur la tesmognage de Mons. Forest, Ministre de Madame, quj certifia quj ne cognoisoit Rien en tout ceux la porquoy Il ne leur deust administré la Cène s'il estoit en lieu por la ferre."

One year later there is another record, which says that on this date—May 8, 1576—Demoiselle Angèle Claude Aubert, daughter of Monsieur de la Haie Aubert, Councillor of the Parliament of Rouen, was married to Michel de la Forêt, of the most noble Flemish family of that name.

When I first saw these records, now grown dim with time, I fell to wondering what was the real life history of these two people. Forthwith I began to make their records piece by piece in imagination, and I had reached a romantic dénoûement satisfactory to myself and in sympathy with history, when the Angel of Accident stepped forward with a "human document" in his hand, and I found that my tale, which was woven back from the two obscure records I have given, was the real story of two most unhappy yet most happy people. From the note which had been struck in my mind when my finger touched that sorrowful page in the Register of the Church of the Refugees at Southampton had spread out the whole melody and the very book of the song.

The later-discovered record, the "human document," was a letter, tear-stained, faded, beautifully written in old French, from Demoiselle Angèle Claude Aubert to Michel de la Forêt at Anvers in May of the year 1574. The letter lies beside me as I write, and I can scarcely believe that three and a quarter centuries have passed since it was written, and that she who wrote it was but eighteen years old at the time. I translate it into English, though it is quite impossible to adequately carry over either the flavor or the idiom of the language:

"

Written on this May Day of the year 1574, at the place hight Rozel in the Manor called of the same of Jersey Isle, to Michel de la Forêt, at Anvers in Flanders.

"Michel,—Thy good letter by safe carriage cometh to my hand, bringing to my heart a lightness it hath not known since that day when I was hastily carried to the port of St. Malo, and thou towards the King his prison. In what great fear have I lived, having no news of thee and fearing all manner of mischance! But our God hath benignly saved thee from death, and me He hath set safely here in this isle of the sea. To Him goeth up hourly my thanksgiving for that He hath put it into thy heart to come over to us in our cause.

"Thou hast ever been a brave soldier, enduring and not fearing; thou shalt find enow to keep thy blood stirring in these days of trial and peril to us who are so opprobriously called Les Huguenots! If thou wouldst know more of my mind thereupon, come hither and seek me. Safety is here, and work for thee—smugglers and pirates do abound on these coasts, and Popish wolves do harry the flock even in this province of England. Michel, I plead for the cause which thou hast nobly espoused, but—alas! my selfish heart—where thou art lie work and fighting, the same high cause, and sadly I confess it is for my own happiness that I ask of thee to come. I wot well that escape from France hath peril, that the way hither from that point upon yonder coast called Carteret is hazardous—but all ways to happiness are set with hazard.

"If thou dost come to Carteret thou wilt see two lights turning this-wards: one upon a headland called Tour de Rozel, and one upon the great rock called of the Ecréhos. These will be in line with thy sight by the sands of Hatainville. Near by the Tour de Rozel shall I be watching and awaiting thee. By day and night doth my prayer ascend for thee.

"The messenger who bears this to thee (a piratical knave with a most kind heart, having, I am told, a wife in every port in France and of England the south, a most heinous sin) will wait for thy answer, or will bring thee thither, which is still better. He is worthy of trust if thou makest him swear by the little finger of St. Peter. By all other swearings he doth deceive freely.

"The Lord make thee true, Michel. If thou art faithful to me, I shall know how faithful thou art in all, for thy vows to me were most frequent and pronounced, with a full savor that might warrant short seasoning. Yet, because thou mayst still be given to such dear fantasies of truth, I tell thee now that I do love thee, and shall so love- when, as my heart in spires me, the cloud shall fall that will hide us from each other forever.

Angèle."

A year before Angèle's letter was written, Michel de la Forêt had become an officer in the army of Comte Gabriel de Montgomery, and fought with him until what time the great chief was besieged in the Castle of Domfront in Normandy. When the siege grew desperate, Montgomery besought the intrepid young Huguenot soldier to escort his wife to England, to be safe from the oppression and misery sure to follow any mishap to the brave leader of the Camisards.

At the very moment of departure of the refugees from Domfront with the Comtesse, Angèle's messenger, the "piratical knave with the most kind heart," presented himself, delivered her letter to de la Forêt, and proceeded with the party to the coast of Normandy by St. Brieuc. Embarking there in a lugger which Buonespoir the pirate secured for them, they made for England.

Having come but half-way of the Channel, the lugger was stopped by an English frigate. After much persuasion the Captain of the frigate agreed to land the Comtesse upon the island of Jersey, but forced de la Forêt to return to the coast of France, and Buonespoir elected to return with him.

II

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Meanwhile Angèle had gone through many phases of alternate hope and despair. She knew that the Comte de Montgomery was dead, and a rumor, carried by refugees, had reached her that de la Forêt was with him to the end. The same news was presently supplemented by the word that he had been beheaded. But one day she learned that the Comtesse de Montgomery was sheltered by the Governor, Sir Hugh Pawlett, her kinsman, at Mont Orgueil Castle.

Thither she went in fear from her refuge at Rozel, and was admitted to the Comtesse. There she learned the joyful truth that de la Forêt had not been slain, and in all likelihood was in hiding on the coast of Normandy.

The long waiting was a time of sore trial, yet laughter was often upon her lips henceforth. The peasants, the farmers and fishermen of Jersey, at first—as they have ever been—little inclined towards strangers, learned at last to look for her in the fields and upon the shore, and laughed in response, they knew not why, to the quick smiling of her eyes. She even learned to speak their unmusical but friendly Norman-Jersey French. There were at least a half-dozen fishermen who for her would have gone at night straight to the Witches' Rock in St. Clement's Bay!

It came to be known all along the coast that ma'm'selle was waiting for a lover to come from the French coast. This gave her fresh interest in the eyes of the serfs and sailors and their women folk, who at first were not inclined towards the Huguenot maiden, partly because she was French, and partly because she was not a Catholic. But even these, when they saw that she never talked religion to them, that she was fast learning to speak their own homely patois, and that in the sickness of their children she was untiring in her kindness, forgave the austerity of the gloomy-browed old man her father, who spoke to them distantly, or never spoke at all; and her position was secure. Then, upon the other hand, the gentry of the manors, seeing the friendship grow between her and the Comtesse de Montgomery at Mont Orgueil Castle, made courteous advances towards her father, and through him towards herself.

She could scarce have counted the number of times she climbed the great hill like a fortress at the lift of the little bay of Rozel, and from the Nez du Guet scanned the sea for a sail, and the sky for fair weather. When her eyes were not thus busy, they were searching the lee of the hill-side round for yellow lilies, and the valley below for the campion, the daffodil, and the thousand pretty ferns growing in profusion there. Every night she looked out to see that her fire was lit upon the Nez du Guet, and she never went to bed without taking one last look over the sea, in the restless inveterate hope which at once sustained her and devoured her.

But the longest waiting must end. It came on the evening of the very day that the Seigneur of Rozel went to Angèle's father and bluntly told him he was ready to forego all Norman-Jersey prejudice against the French and the Huguenot religion, and take Angèle to wife without penny or estate.

In reply to the Seigneur, Monsieur Aubert said that he was conscious of an honor, and referred monsieur to his daughter, who must answer for herself; but he must tell Monsieur of Rozel that monsieur's religion would, in his own sight, be a bar to the union. To that the Seigneur said that no religion that he had could be a bar to anything at all, and so long as the young lady could manage her household, drive a good bargain with the craftsmen and hucksters, and have the handsomest face and manners in the Channel Islands, he'd ask no more; and she might pray for him and his salvation without let or hinderance.

The Seigneur found the young lady in a little retreat among the rocks, called by the natives La Chaire, or The Pulpit. Here she sat sewing upon some coarse linen for a poor fisherwoman's babe when the Seigneur came near. She heard the scrunch of his heels upon the gravel, the clank of his sword upon the rocks, and looked up with a flush, her needle poised; for none should know of her presence in this place save her father. When she saw who it was, she rose. After greeting and compliment, none too finely put, but more generous than fitted with Jersey parsimony, the Gentleman of Rozel came at once to the point.