Everybody in Fecamp knew Mother Patin's story. She had certainly been unfortunate
with her husband, for in his lifetime he used to beat her, just as wheat is threshed in the
barn.
He was master of a fishing bark and had married her, formerly, because she was pretty,
although poor.
Patin was a good sailor, but brutal. He used to frequent Father Auban's inn, where he
would usually drink four or five glasses of brandy, on lucky days eight or ten glasses and
even more, according to his mood. The brandy was served to the customers by Father
Auban's daughter, a pleasing brunette, who attracted people to the house only by her
pretty face, for nothing had ever been gossiped about her.
Patin, when he entered the inn, would be satisfied to look at her and to compliment her
politely and respectfully. After he had had his first glass of brandy he would already find
her much nicer; at the second he would wink; at the third he would say. "If you were only
willing, Mam'zelle Desiree----" without ever finishing his sentence; at the fourth he
would try to hold her back by her skirt in order to kiss her; and when he went as high as
ten it was Father Auban who brought him the remaining drinks.
The old innkeeper, who knew all the tricks of the trade, made Desiree walk about
between the tables in order to increase the consumption of drinks; and Desiree, who was
a worthy daughter of Father Auban, flitted around among the benches and joked with
them, her lips smiling and her eyes sparkling.
Patin got so well accustomed to Desiree's face that he thought of it even while at sea,
when throwing out his nets, in storms or in calms, on moonlit or dark evenings. He
thought of her while holding the tiller in the stern of his boat, while his four companions
were slumbering with their heads on their arms. He always saw her, smiling, pouring out
the yellow brandy with a peculiar shoulder movement and then exclaiming as she turned
away: "There, now; are you satisfied?"
He saw her so much in his mind's eye that he was overcome by an irresistible desire to
marry her, and, not being able to hold out any longer, he asked for her hand.
He was rich, owned his own vessel, his nets and a little house at the foot of the hill on the
Retenue, whereas Father Auban had nothing. The marriage was therefore eagerly agreed
upon and the wedding took place as soon as possible, as both parties were desirous for
the affair to be concluded as early as convenient.
Three days after the wedding Patin could no longer understand how he had ever imagined
Desiree to be different from other women. What a fool he had been to encumber himself
