autumn midday
My thoughts wandered into far-off regions while my eyes were fastened on the splendid tapestry of the yellowing oaks , the stern summits , the bronzed foothills . I asked myself if Henriette 's virtue were not , after all , that of ignorance , and if I were indeed guilty of her death . I fought against remorse . At last , in the sweetness of an autumn midday , one of those last smiles of heaven which are so beautiful in Touraine , I read the letter which at her request I was not to open before her death . Judge of my feelings as I read it . Madame de Mortsauf to the Vicomte Felix de Vandenesse : Felix , friend , loved too well , I must now lay bare my heart to you , -- not so much to prove my love as to show you the weight of obligation you have incurred by the depth and gravity of the wounds you have inflicted on it . At this moment , when I sink exhausted by the toils of life , worn out by the shocks of its battle , the woman within me is , mercifully , dead ; the mother alone survives .