Notes For All Chapters English Footprints without Feet Class 10 CBSE
I
Matilda a dreamy woman
Matilda was very pretty. But due to ill fate, she was bom in a family of clerk. She had no dowry, no hopes. She had no means to become known and loved by rich men. So she married a clerk, Mr. Loisel, in the Education Board Office. Matilda would think of beautiful things. She had neither frocks nor jewels. And she loved these things. But she remained unhappy. She suffered due to it.
Invitation to Minister’s Party
One evening her husband returned home. He was happy. He and Matilda had been invited to the Minister’s party at the Minister’s residence. But Matilda became unhappy. Her husband told her that it was a party of the selected people. Matilda told him that she did not have a good dress for this party.
Problem of new dress solved
She began weeping. Her husband was grieved at this. He told her that she could buy a new dress. He had saved four hundred francs to buy a gun. He had saved them to join some hunting parties. He told her that he would give that money to her. She could buy a good dress.
Diamond necklace borrowed
Matilda bought the new dress. But she was not happy. She told her husband that she did not have a jewel to wear. He told her to wear some natural flowers. But Matilda was not satisfied. Then her husband told her to borrow some jewels from her friend Mme Forestier. The next day, she got a diamond necklace for the occasion from her.
Matilda at party
The day of the ball arrived. Mme Loisel was a great success. All praised her. She was the prettiest of all. She smiled and was full of joy. She danced with enthusiasm. She was simply mad with pleasure. She went home toward four o’clock in the morning. Her husband had been half asleep in a salon since midnight. He threw around her shoulders the modest wraps. Matilda wanted to hurry home. She did not want to be seen by other women in those wraps. These women were wrapped in rich furs.
Loss of the necklace
They reached home. Matilda removed the wraps from her shoulders before the glass. She wanted to have a final view of herself in her glory. Suddenly, she uttered a cry. Her necklace was not around her neck. It had been lost.
II
Search for the necklace
Matilda told her husband that she had lost the necklace. Both searched the necklace. Loisel went out to see it where they had walked. He searched the place. But it was not found. He told her that it might have dropped in the carriage. But they did not note its number. They searched folds and pockets. But the necklace had been lost for ever.
Replacement of the necklace by a new one
At the end of one week, Matilda told her husband to replace the necklace. They saw one like the earlier one in a shop of the Palais- Royal. Its price was 40,000 francs. They could get it for 36,000 francs. Matilda’s husband had 18,000 francs from his father. He borrowed the rest from various persons at high interest. At last, they were able to buy the necklace. They returned it to Mme Forestier. Mme Forestier told Matilda that she should have returned that earlier. She might have needed that. She did not open the box as Matilda feared she would.
Loisel’s horrible life
Mme Loisel now knew the horrible life of want. They would have to return the borrowed money. Matilda sent away the maid. They went to cheaper lodgings. She washed the dishes. She brought up the water herself. She breathed at every landing. She haggled for every sou. Her husband worked day and night. They faced the hardest time. This went on for ten years.
Changes in Mme Loisel
Mme Loisel now looked quite old. She looked a hard woman. Her hair was badly dressed. Her duress was awry. When her husband was in the office, she would sit before the window. She would then think of the earlier times. She thought what would have happened if she had not lost the necklace.
The truth is out
One Sunday she was walking in the Champs-Elysees. Suddenly she saw a woman walking with a child. It was Mme Forestier. She was still pretty and attractive. Mme Loisel was affected on seeing this. She went to her. Mme Forestier could not recognise Matilda. Matilda talked about herself and what had happened to her. At this Mme, Forestier told her that the necklace she had lent her was artificial.
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