The Romance of the Forest

The author says that she has taken the story of Pierre de la Motte and the Marquis Philippe de Montalt from a history by the French writer Guyot de Pitaval. Events take place in 17th-century France.

Pierre de la Motte and his wife leave Paris to evade arrest. La Motte lost his fortune gambling, resorted to cheating, and was exposed. They become lost on a dark heath, and when La Motte approaches a remote cottage during a storm, he fears he has stumbled into the hideout of bandits. A man drags a young woman into the room. Her beauty and disheveled but innocent appearance move La Motte. The man orders La Motte to take the girl away with him, threatening harm if he does not. The girl begs for La Motte’s assistance, and he agrees to help.

Reunited with his wife in the carriage, the encounter puzzles La Motte, and he reflects that “it appeared like a vision, or one of those improbable fictions that sometimes are exhibited in a romance” (8). The girl, Adeline, is distressed, but Madame La Motte comforts her. As dawn breaks, the landscape soothes Adeline.

La Motte is concerned about pursuit and hopes to escape to Geneva.