The Romance of the Forest

The next morning, when he peeks upstairs, La Motte is upset to see a stranger in the abbey. They pass another day in hiding but need food. Adeline agrees to venture out and walks throughout the ruin, exploring the sunny and shadowed parts. One of the deer she has made her pet comes to her. Suddenly, the soldier appears, asking for La Motte. Adeline tries to impede his search, but La Motte recognizes his son, Louis. Madame La Motte is overjoyed and feels, “This spot, so lately the mansion of despair, seemed metamorphosed into the palace of pleasure, and the walls echoed only to the accents of joy and congratulation” (66). Louis explains how he learned of his father’s departure from Paris and tracked him; Louis was the stranger inquiring after them in the village. He mentions the rumor that someone was murdered in the abbey, which the villagers now believe is haunted.

Louis notes his father’s gloom. He takes an interest in Adeline, which makes his mother treat Adeline with coolness. Trying to follow his father one day, Louis finds a small tomb in the forest and thinks he sees someone moving within it.