Marianne

"What is it that you think about, Sleeping Beauty, as you ride along the country lanes on that skinny mare of yours? And not so much of a beauty either, come to think of it. Too skinny, too pale, too dull. Not a glimmer of sparkle in those big dark eyes. Still, I do wonder, when you're riding past the hedges, little dreaming you are watched, I wonder what exactly it is you go out for. What sort of things are going through your mind? You look straight ahead, far into the distance and I wonder, do your thoughts travel that far too, or do they stay close to home, wrapped up in yourself?"

"So ran the silent thoughts of Pierre Andre as he watched Marianne Chevreuse slow her horse to a walking pace. Passing under the walnut trees and reaching the river, horse and rider broke into a trot and, at a bend near some boulders, disappeared out of sight."

Read the book Marianne while riding the bus across town today, could not attempt to write words deserving and so I leave it to Flaubert who wrote these words to George Sand -

"Thank you from the bottom of my heart, chere maitre. Thanks to you I have just spent the most exquisite day. Marianne moved me deeply and two or three times I found myself weeping. I saw a lot of myself in Pierre and some pages could have been excerpts from my own memoirs if I had talent enough to write like that. It's so charming and poetic and true. You see how happy you have made me? But then you've never done me anything but good and I love you most tenderly..."

I came upon George while watching the movie Children of the Century. I adored hearing the words shared between two lovers, particularly being the beautiful authors George Sand and Alfred de Musset.