 Section 0, Preface to Therese Rakhine. This volume, Therese Rakhine, was Zola's third book, but it was the one that first gave him notoriety and made him somebody as the saying goes. While still a clerk at Hatchets at eight pounds a month engaged in checking and perusing advertisements and press notices, he had already in 1864 published the first series of Le Comte et Nignon, a reprint of short stories contributed to various publications, and in the following year had brought out La Confession des Clabes. Both these books were issued by La Croix, a famous go-ahead publisher and bookseller in those days, whose place of business stood at one end of the corners of the Rue Vivien and the Boulevard Montmartre, and who at La Croix, Verbo-Cove, et C, ended in bankruptcy in the early 70s. La Confession des Clabes met with poor appreciation from the general public, though it attracted the attention of the public prosecutor who sent down to Hachets to make a few inquiries about the author, but went no further. When, however, M. Barret de Orville, in a critical weekly paper called The N'Agent, spitefully alluded to this rather daring novel as Hachet's Little Book, one of the members of the firm sent for M. Zola and addressed him thus, Look here, M. Zola, you are earning eight pounds a month with us, which is ridiculous for a man of your talent. Why don't you go into literature altogether? It will bring you wealth and glory. Zola had no choice but to take this broad hand and sent in his resignation, which was at once accepted. The Hachets did not require the services of writers of risky, or, for that matter, any other novels as clerks, and besides, as Zola had told us himself in an interview with my old friend and employer, the late M. Ferrand Zoll, editor of the Paris Journal. They thought La Confession des Clabes a trifle stiff, and objected to their clerks' writing books in time, which they considered theirs as they paid for it. He sent me to Hamburg for ten days in 1892 to report on the appalling outbreak of cholera in that city, with the emoluments of ten pounds a day, besides printing several articles from my pen on Parisian topics, E. V. Zola cast, so to say, a drift with Les Comtes et Nénients, and Les Confessions des Clabes, as scant literary baggage buckled to and said about Les Mysteries des Marseilles and Therese Arkinne, while at the same time contributing art criticisms to the Évinement, a series of articles which raised such a storm that painters and sculptors were in the habit of purchasing copies of the paper and tearing it up in the faces of Zola and D. Vélimaçon, the owner, whenever they chanced to meet them. Nevertheless it was these articles that first drew attention to Manet, who had hitherto been regarded as a painter of note account, and many of whose pictures now hang in the Luxembourg Gallery. Therese Arkinne originally came out under the title of A Love Story, in a paper called The Artist, edited by that famous art critic and coutier of the Second Empire, Arsene Hussay, author of Les Grands-Dames, as well as of those charming volumes, Aum Ephem, 18 Emy Siegel, and many other works. Zola received no more than twenty-four pounds for the serial rights of the novel, and he consented at the insistence of the editor, who pointed out to him that the periodical was read by the Empress Eugenie, to draw his pen through certain passages which were reinstated when the story was published in volume form. I may say here that in this translation I have adopted the views of the late Monsieur Arsene Hussay, and if I have allowed the appalling description of the Paris morgue to stand, it is, first of all, because it constitutes a very important factor in the story, and, moreover, it is so graphic, so true to life, as I have seen the place myself, times out of number, that notwithstanding its horror, it really would be a loss to pass it over. Well, Therese Arkinne, having appeared as A Love Story and The Artist, was then published as a book in 1867, by that same lacroix, as had issued Zola's preceding efforts in novel writing. I was living in Paris at the time, and I well recall the yell of disapprobation with which the volume was received by the reviewers. Louis-Elbach, then a writer on the Figaro, to which Zola also contributed, and who subsequently founded and edited a paper called La Croche, when Zola, curiously enough, became one of his critics, made a particularly virulent attack on the novel and its author. Henri de Vilmeson, the editor, authorized Zola to reply to him, with a result that a vehement discussion ensued in print between author and critic, and Therese Arkinne promptly went into a second edition, to which Zola appended a preface. I have not thought it necessary to translate this preface, which is a long and rather tedious reply to the reviewers of the day. It will suffice to say, briefly, that the author meets the strictures of his critics by pointing out and insisting on the fact that he has simply sought to make an analytic study of temperament and not of character. I have selected persons, says he, absolutely swayed by their nerves and blood, deprived of free will, impelled in every action of life by the fatal lusts of the flesh. Therese and Laurent are human brutes, nothing more. I have sought to follow these brutes, step by step, in the secret labor of their passions, in the impulsion of their instincts, in the cerebral disorder resulting from the excessive strain on their nerves. Edward is Telly, Serbethon, 1 December 1901, end of preface. CHAPTER 1 At the end of the Rue Gynagarde, coming from the Quays, you find the Arcade of the Paune Neuf, a sort of narrow, dark corridor running from the Rue Mazurine to the Rue Duzenne. This Arcade, at the most, is thirty paces long by two in breadth. It is paved with worn, loose, yellowish tiles, which are never free from acrid damp. The square panes of glass forming the roof are black with filth. In fine days in the summer, when the streets are burning with heavy sun, whitish light falls from the dirty glazing overhead to drag miserably through the Arcade. On nasty days in winter, on foggy mornings, the glass throws nothing but darkness on the sticky tiles, unclean and abominable gloom. To the left are obscure, low, dumpy shops, wents issue, puffs of air as cold as if coming from a cellar. Here are dealers and toys, cardboard boxes, second hand books. The articles displayed in their windows are covered with dust, and owing to the prevailing darkness can only be perceived indistinctly. The shop fronts, formed of small panes of glass, streak the goods with a peculiar greenish reflex. Beyond behind the display in the windows, the dim interiors resemble a number of lugubrious cavities animated by fantastic forms. To the right, along the whole length of the Arcade, extends a wall against which the shopkeepers opposite have stuck some small cupboards. Objects without a name, goods forgotten for twenty years, are spread out there on thin shelves painted a horrible brown colour. A dealer in imitation jewellery has set up shop in one of these cupboards, and their sales fifteen Sioux rings delicately set out on a cushion of blue velvet at the bottom of a mahogany box. Above the glazed cupboards ascends the roughly plastered black wall, looking as if covered with leprosy, and all seemed with defasements. The Arcade of the Porn Noof is not a place for a stroll. You take it to make a shortcut to gain a few minutes. It is traversed by busy people whose sole aim is to go quick and straight before them. You see apprentices there in their working aprons, work girls taking home their work, persons of both sexes with parcels under their arms. There are also old men who drag themselves forward in the sad gloaming that falls from the glazed roof, and bands of small children who come to the Arcade on leaving school to make a noise by stamping their feet on the tiles as they run along. Throughout the day a sharp hurried ring of footsteps resounds on the stone with irritating irregularity. Nobody speaks, nobody stays there, all worry about their business with bent heads stepping out rapidly without taking a single glance at the shops. The tradesmen observe with an air of alarm, the passers-by who by a miracle stop before their windows. The Arcade is lit at night by three gas burners enclosed in heavy square lanterns. These jets of gas hanging from the glazed roof whereon they cast spots of font-coloured light shed around them circles of pale glimmer that seem at moments to disappear. The Arcade now assumes the aspect of a regular cutthroat alley. Great shadows stretch along the tiles, damp puffs of air enter from the street. Anyone might take the place for a subterranean gallery indistinctly lit up by three funeral lamps. The tradespeople for all light are contented with a faint trace which the gas burners threw upon their windows. Inside their shops they merely have a lamp with a shade which they place at the corner of their counter and the passers-by can then distinguish what the depths of these holes sheltering night in the daytime contain. On this blackish line of shop fronts the windows of a cardboard box maker are flaming. Two schist lamps pierce the shadow with a couple of yellow flames and on the other side of that Arcade a candle stuck in the middle of an arrogant lamp-glass casts glistening stars into the box of imitation jewellery. The dealer is dowsing in her cupboard with her hands hidden under her shawl. A few years back opposite this dealer stood a shop whose bottle-green woodwork excreted damp by all its cracks. On the signboard made of a long narrow plank figured in black letters the word Mercery. And on one of the panes of glass in the door was written in red the name of a woman, Therese Rackin. To right and left were deep showcases lined with blue paper. During the daytime the eye could only distinguish the display of goods in a soft, obscured light. On one side were a few linen articles, crimped tall caps, at two and three francs appease, muslin sleeves and collars. Then under vests, stockings, socks, braces. Each article had grown yellow and crumpled and hung lamentably suspended from a wire hook. The window from top to bottom was filled in this manner with whitish bits of clothing which took a lugubrious aspect in the transparent obscurity. The new caps of brighter whiteness formed hollow spots on the blue paper covering the shelves. And the colored socks hanging on an iron rod contributed somber notes to the livid and vague effacement of the muslin. On the other side in a narrower showcase were piled up large balls of green wool, white cards of black buttons, boxes of all colors and sizes, hairnets ornamented with steel beads spread over rounds of blueish paper, facies of knitting needles, tapestry patterns, bobbins of ribbon along with a heap of soiled and faded articles which doubtless had been lying in the same place for five or six years. All the tints had turned dirty gray in this cupboard rotting with dust and damp. In summer, towards noon, when the sun scorched the squares and streets with its tawny rays, you could distinguish behind the caps in the other window the pale grave profile of a young woman. This profile issued vaguely from the darkness raining in the shop. To a low-parched forehead was attached a long, narrow, pointed nose. The pale pink lips resembled two thin threads and the short, nervy chin was attached to the neck by a line that was supple and fat. The body, lost in the shadow, could not be seen. The profile alone appeared in its olive whiteness perforated by a large white open black eye and as though crushed beneath thick dark hair. This profile remained there for hours, motionless and peaceful, between a couple of caps for women whereon the damp iron rods had imprinted bands of rust. All night, when the lamp had been lit, you could see inside the shop which was greater in length than depth. At one end stood a small counter. At the other, a corkscrew staircase afforded communication with the rooms on the first floor. Against the walls were showcases, cupboards, rows of green cardboard boxes. Four chairs and a table completed the furniture. The shop looked bare and frigid. The goods were done up in parcels and put away in corners instead of lying heather and thither in a joist display of colour. As a rule, two women were seated behind the counter. The young woman with the grave profile and an old lady who sat dozing with a smile on her countenance. The latter was about 60. Under fat, placid face looked white in the brightness of the lamp. A great tabby cat, pratching at a corner of the counter, watched her as she slept. Lowered down on a chair, a man of 30 sat reading or chatting in a subdued voice with the young woman. He was short, delicate and in manner languid. With his fair hair devoid of lustre, his sparse beard, his face covered with red blotches, he resembled a sickly, spoiled child who arrived at manhood. Shortly before 10 o'clock, the old lady awoke. The shop was then closed and all the family went upstairs to bed. The tabby cat followed the party, purring and rubbing its head against each bar of the banisters. The lodging above comprised three apartments. The staircase led to a dining room which also did duty as drawing room. In a niche on the left stood a porcelain stove. Opposite, a sideboard. Then chairs were raged along the walls and a round table occupied the centre. At the further end, a glazed partition concealed a dark kitchen. On each side of the dining room was a sleeping apartment. The old lady, after kissing her son and daughter-in-law withdrew. The cat went to sleep on a chair in the kitchen. The married couple entered their room which had a second door opening on a staircase that communicated with the orchid by an obscure, narrow passage. The husband who was always trembling with fever went to bed while the young woman opened the window to close the shutter blinds. She remained there a few minutes facing the great black wall which ascends and stretches above the orchid. She cast a vague, wandering look upon this wall and without a word she, in her turn, went to bed in disdainful indifference. End of chapter one. Chapter two of Thiray's Rakyaa. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Thiray's Rakyaa by Emile Zola, translated by Ernest Alfred Visitelli. Chapter two. Madame Rakyaa had formerly been a mercuror at Vernon. For close upon five and twenty years, she had kept a small shop in the town. A few years after the death of her husband, becoming subject to fits of faintness, she sold her business. Her savings added to the price of this sale placed a capital of 40,000 francs in her hand, which she invested so that it brought her in an income of 2,000 francs a year. This sum amply suffice for her requirements. She led the life of her recluse, ignoring the poignant joys and cares of this world, she arranged for herself a tranquil existence of peace and happiness. At an annual rental of 400 francs, she took a small house with the garden descending to the edge of the Sain. This enclosed, quiet residence, vaguely recalled the cloister. It stood in the center of large fields and was approached by a narrow path. The windows of the dwelling opened to the river and to the solitary hillocks on the opposite bank. The good lady, who had passed the half century, shut herself up in this solitary retreat, where along with her son, Camilla, and her niece, Therese, she partook of Serene Joy. Although Camilla was then 20, his mother continued to spoil him like a little child. She adored him because she had shielded him from death throughout a tedious childhood of constant suffering. The boy contracted every fever, every imaginable malady, one after the other. Madame Raquian struggled for 15 years against these terrible evils, which arrived in rapid succession to tear her son away from her. She vanquished them all by patience, care, and adoration. Camilla, having grown up, rescued from death, had contracted a shiver from the torture of the repeated shocks he had undergone. Arrested in his growth, he remained short and delicate. His long, thin limbs moved slowly and rearly, but his mother loved him all the more on account of this weakness that arched his back. She observed his thin pale face with triumphant tenderness when she thought of how she had brought him back to life more than 10 times over. During the brief spaces of repose that his sufferings allowed him, the child attended a commercial school at Vernon. There he learned orthography and arithmetic. His science was limited to the four rules and a very superficial knowledge of grammar. Later on, he took lessons in writing and bookkeeping. Madame Raquian began to tremble when advised to send her son to college. She knew he would die if separated from her and she said the books would kill him. So Camilla remained ignorant and this ignorance seemed to increase his weakness. At 18, having nothing to do, bored to death at the delicate attention of his mother, he took a situation as Clark with a linen merchant where he earned 60 francs a month. Being of a restless nature, idleness proved unbearable. He found greater calm and better health in this labor of a brute which kept him bent all day long over invoices, over enormous additions, each figure of which he patiently added up. At night, broken down with fatigue, without an idea in his head, he enjoyed infinite delight in the daltishness which settled on him. He had to quarrel with his mother to go with the dealer in linen. She wanted to keep him always with her between a couple of blankets far from the accidents of life. But the young man spoke his master. He claimed work as children, claimed toys not from a feeling of duty but by instinct, by a necessity of nature. The tenderness, the devotedness of his mother had instilled into him an egotism which was ferocious. He fancied he loved those who pitied and caressed him but in reality he lived apart within himself loving not but his comfort seeking by all possible means to increase his enjoyment. When the tender affection of Madame Rakyan disgusted him he plunged with delight into a stupid occupation that saved him from infusions and potions. In the evening on his return from the office he ran to the bank of the Seine with his cousin Therese who was then closed upon 18. One day, 16 years previously while Madame Rakyan was still a Mercer her brother Captain Digans brought her a little girl in his arms. He had just arrived from Algeria. Here is a child, said he with a smile and you are her aunt. The mother is dead and I don't know what to do with her. I'll give her to you. The Mercer took the child, smiled at her and kissed her rosy cheeks. Although Digans remained a week at Vernon his sister barely put a question to him concerning the little girl he had brought her. She understood vaguely that the dear little creature was born at Oran and that her mother was a woman of the country of great beauty. The Captain, an hour before his departure handed his sister a certificate of birth in which Therese, applauded by him to be his child for his name. He rejoined his regiment and was never seen again at Vernon being killed a few years later in Africa. Therese grew up under the fostering care of Rant sleeping in the same bed as Camilla. She who had an iron constitution received the treatment of a delicate child partaking of the same medicine as her cousin and kept in the warm air of the room occupied by the invalid. For hours she remained crouching over the fire in thought watching the flames before her without lowering her eyelids. This obligatory life of a convalescent caused her to retire within herself. She got into the habit of talking in a low voice of moving about noiselessly of remaining mute and motionless on a chair with expressionless open eyes. But when she raised an arm when she advanced a foot it was easy to perceive that she possessed feline suppleness, short potent muzzles and that unmistakable energy and passion slumbered in her suporous frame. Her cousin having fallen down one day in a fainting fit she abruptly picked him up and carried him an effort of strength that turned her cheeks scarlet. The cloistered life she led the debilitating regimen to which she found herself subjected failed to weaken her thin, robust form. Only her face took a pale and even a slightly yellowish tint making her look almost ugly in the shade. Ever and anon she went to the window and contemplated the opposite houses on which the sun threw sheets of gold. When Madame Rakyan sold her business and withdrew to the little place beside the river they raised experienced secret thrills of joy. Her aunt had so frequently repeated to her don't make a noise, be quiet that she kept all the impetuosity of her nature carefully concealed within her. She possessed supreme composure and an apparent tranquility that masked terrible transports. She still fancied herself in the room of her cousin beside a dying child and had the softened movements, the periods of silence, the placidity, the faltering speech of an old woman. When she saw the garden, the clear river, the vast green hillocks ascending on the horizon she felt a savage desire to run and shout. She felt her heart thumping fit to burst in her bosom but not a muzzle of her face moved and she merely smiled when her aunt inquired whether she was pleased with her new home. Life now became more pleasant for her. She maintained her supple gait, her calm indifferent countenance. She remained the child brought up in the bed of an invalid but inwardly she lived in a burning passionate existence. When alone on the grass beside the water she would lie down flat on her stomach like an animal her black eyes wide open her body writhing ready to spring and she stayed there for hours without a thought scorched by the sun delighted at being able to thrust her fingers in the earth. She had the most ridiculous dreams. She looked at the roaring river in defiance imagining that the water was about to leap on her and attack her. Then she became rigid preparing for the defense and angrily inquiring of herself how she could vanquish the torrent. At night Therese appeased and silent stitched beside her aunt with a countenance that seemed to be dozing in the gleam that softly glided from beneath the lampshade. Kamiya buried in an armchair thought of his additions. A word uttered in a low voice alone disturbed at moments the peacefulness of this drowsy home. Madame Rakya observed her children with serene benevolence. She had resolved to make them husband and wife. She continued to treat her son as if he were a dead's door and she trembled when she happened to reflect that she would one day die herself and would leave him alone and suffering. In that contingency she relied on Therese saying to herself that the young girl would be a vigilant guardian beside Kamiya. Her knees with her tranquil manner and mute devotedness inspired her with unlimited confidence. She had seen Therese at work and wished to give her to her son as a guardian angel. This marriage was a solution to the matter foreseen and settled in her mind. The children knew for a long time that they were one day to marry. They had grown up with this idea which had thus become familiar and natural to them. The union was spoken of in their family as a necessary and positive thing. Madame Rakya had said, we will wait until Therese is one and twenty and they waited patiently without excitement and without a blush. Kamiya whose blood had become impoverished by illness had remained a little boy in the eyes of his cousin. He kissed her as he kissed his mother by habit without losing any of his egotistic tranquility. He looked upon her as an obliging comrade who helped him to amuse himself and who, if occasion offered, prepared him an infusion. While playing with her when he held her in his arms it was as if he had a boy to deal with. He experienced no thrill and at these moments the idea had never occurred to him of planting a warm kiss on her lips as she struggled with a nervous laugh to free herself. The girl also seemed to have remained cold and indifferent. At times her great eyes rested on Kamiya and fixedly gazed at him with sovereign calm. On such occasions her lips alone made almost imperceptible little motions. Nothing could be read on her expressionless countenance which an inexorable will always maintained gentle and attentive. Therese became grave when the conversation turned to her marriage contending herself with approving all that Madame Rakya had said by a sign of the head. Kamiya went to sleep. On summer evenings the two young people ran to the edge of the water. Kamiya irritated at the incessant attentions of his mother at times broke out in an open revolt. He wished to run about and make himself ill to escape the fondling that disgusted him. He would then drag Therese along with him provoking her to wrestle to roll in the grass. One day having pushed his cousin down the young girl bounded to her feet with all the savageness of a wild beast and with flaming face and bloodshot eyes fell upon him with clenched fists. Kamiya in fear sank to the ground. Months and years passed by and at length the day fixed for the marriage arrived. Madame Rakya took Therese apart spoke to her of her father and mother and related to her the story of her birth. The young girl listened to her aunt and when she had finished speaking kissed her without answering a word. At night Therese instead of going into her own room which was on the left of the staircase entered that of her cousin which was on the right. This was all the change that occurred in her mode of life. The following day when the young couple came downstairs Kamiya had still his sickly languidness his righteous tranquility of an egotist. Therese still maintained her gentle indifference and a restrained expression of frightful calmness. End of chapter 2 Madame Rakya protested. She had arranged her mode of life and would not modify it in any way. Thereupon her son had a nervous attack and threatened to fall ill if she did not give way to his whim. Never have I opposed you in your plans, said he. I married my cousin. I took all the drugs you gave me. It is only natural now when I have a desire of my own that you should be of the same mind. We will move at the end of the month. Madame Rakya was unable to sleep all night The decision Kamiya had come to upset her way of living and in despair she sought to arrange another existence for herself and the married couple. Little by little she recovered calm. She reflected that the young people might have children and that her small fortune would not then suffice. It was necessary to earn money, to go into business again to find lucrative occupation for Therese. The next day she'd become accustomed to the idea of moving and had arranged a plan for a new life. Her luncheon, she was quite gay. This is what we will do, said she to her children. I will go to Paris tomorrow. There I will look out for a small nursery business for sale and Therese and myself will resume selling needles and cotton which will give us something to do. You, Kamiya, will act as you like. You can either stroll about in the sun or you can find some employment. I shall find employment, and said the young man. The truth was then idiotic ambition had alone impelled Kamiya to leave Varnon. He wished to find a post in some important administration. He blushed with delight when he fancied he saw himself in the middle of a large office with lustring elbow sleeves and a pen behind his ear. Therese was not consulted. She had always displayed such passive obedience that her aunt and husband no longer took the trouble to ask her opinion. She went where they went. She did what they did without a complaint, without a reproach, without appearing even to be aware that she changed her place of residence. Madame Rakin came to Paris and went straight to the arcade of the Pont-Neuf. An old maid at Varnon had sent her to one of her relatives who in this arcade kept a nursery shop which she desired to get rid of. The former Mercer found the shop rather small and rather dark, but in passing through Paris she had been taken aback by the noise in the street by the luxuriously dressed windows. And this narrow gallery, this modern shop front recalled her former place of business which was so peaceful. She could fancy herself again in the provinces and she drew a long breath thinking that her dear children would be happy in this out of the way corner. The low price asked for the business caused her to make up her mind. The owner sold it to her for 2,000 francs and the rent of the shop on first floor was only 1,200 francs a year. Madame Rakin, who had closed upon 4,000 francs saved up calculated that she could pay for the business and settle the rent for the first year without encroaching on her fortune. The salary Camille would be receiving and the profit on the Mercery business would suffice, she thought, to meet the daily expenses so that she did not touch the income of her funded money which would capitalise and go towards providing marriage portions for her grandchildren. She returned to Vernon beaming with pleasure relating that she had found a gem, a delightful little place right in the centre of Paris. Little by little, at the end of a few days and the conversations of an evening, the damn obscure shop in the arcade became a palace. She picked it to herself so far as her memory served her as convenient, spacious, tranquil, ad replete with a thousand inestimable advantages. Ah, my dear Thérèse, said she. You will see how happy we shall be in that knock. There are three beautiful rooms upstairs. The arcade is full of people. We will make charming displays. There is no fear of our feeling dull, but she did not stop there. All her instinct of a former shopkeeper was awakened. She gave advice to Thérèse beforehand as to buying and selling and posted her up in all the tricks of small tradespeople. At length, the family quitted the house for hide the sin and on the evening of the same day were installed in the arcade of the Pont Neuf. When Thérèse entered the shop, where in future she was to live, it seemed to her that she was descending into the clammy soil of a grave. She felt quite disheartened and shivered with fear. She looked at the dirty, damp gallery, visited the shop and ascending to the first floor, walked round each room. These bare apartments without furniture looked frightful in their solitude and dilapidation. The young woman could not make a gesture or utter a word. She was, as if, frozen. Her aunt and husband, having come downstairs, she seated herself on a trunk. Her hands rigid, her throat full of sobs, and yet she could not cry. Madame Raca, face to face with reality, felt embarrassed and ashamed of her dreams. She sought to defend her acquisition. She found a remedy for every fresh inconvenience that was discovered, explaining the obscurity by saying the weather was overcast and concluded by affirming that a sweeper would suffice to set everything right. Bah! answered Camille. Oh, this is quite suitable. Besides, we should only come up here at night. I shall not be home before five or six o'clock. As to you two, you'll be together, so you will not be dull. The young man would never have consent into inhabiting such a den had he not relied on the comfort of his office. He said to himself that he would be warm all day at his administration, and that at night he would go to bed early. For a whole week, the shop and lodging remained in disorder. Thérèse had seated herself behind the counter from the first day and she did not move from that place. Madame Maracan was astonished at this depressed attitude. She had thought that the young woman would try to adorn her habitation, that she would place flowers at the windows and ask for new papers, curtains and carpets. When she suggested some repairs, some kind of embellishment, her niece quietly replied, what need is there for it? We are very well as we are. There is no necessity for luxury. It was Madame Maracan who had to arrange the rooms and tidy up the shop. Thérèse at last lost patience at seeing the good old lady and sesame turning round and round before her eyes. She engaged a charwoman and forced her aunt to be seated beside her. Camille remained a month without the finding employment. He lived as little as possible in the shop, preferring to stroll about all day and he found life so dreadfully dull with nothing to do that he spoke of returning to Vernant. But he at length obtained a post in the administration of the Orleans Railway where he earned a hundred francs a month. His dream had become realized. He set out in the morning at eight o'clock, walking down the road where Négo he found himself on the keys. Then, taking short steps with his hands in his pockets, he followed the scent from the Institute of the Jardin des Plants. This long journey which he performed twice daily never worried him. He watched the water running along and he stopped to see the rafts of wood descending the river pass by. He thought of nothing. Frequently he planted himself before Notre-Dame to contemplate the scaffolding surrounding the cathedral which was then undergoing repair. These huge pieces of timber amused him although he failed to understand why. Then he cast a glance into the Port-au-Vin as he went past and after that counted the caps coming from the station. In the evening, quite stupefied with his head full of some silly story related to his office, he crossed the Jardin des Plants and went to have a look at the bears if he was not in too great a hurry. There he remained half an hour leaning over the rails at the top of the pit observing the animals clumsily swaying to and fro. The behavior of these huge beasts pleased him. He examined them with gaping mouth and rounded eyes partaking of the joy of an idiot when he perceived them bestow themselves. At last he turned homewards, dragging his feet along, busying himself with the passers-by, with the vehicles and the shops. As soon as he arrived he dined and then began reading. He had purchased the works of Bufon and every evening he set himself to peruse 20 to 30 pages notwithstanding the worrisome nature of the task he also read in serial at Tencentines the number The History of the Consulate and Empire by Thiers and The History of the Giorna by Lamartine as well as some popular scientific works he fancied he was laboring at his education. At times he forced his wife to listen to certain pages to particular anecdotes and felt very much astonished that Thiers could remain pensive and silent the whole evening without being tempted to take up a book and he thought to himself that his wife must be a woman of very poor intelligence. Thiers thrust books away from her with impatience. She preferred to remain idle with her eyes fixed and her thoughts wandering and lost. But she maintained an even easy temper exercising all her will to render herself a passive instrument replete with supreme complacence and abnegation. The shop did not do much business. The profit was the same regularly each month. The customers consisted of female work people living in the neighborhood. Every five minutes a young girl came in to purchase a few sous-worth of goods. Thiers served the people with words that were ever the same with a smile that appeared mechanically on her lips. Madame Raquin displayed a more unbending a more gossipy disposition than to tell the truth. It was she who attracted and retained the customers. For three years days followed days and resembled one another. Camille did not once absent himself from his office. His mother and wife hardly ever left the shop. Thiers residing in damp obscurity and gloomy, crushing silence saw life expand before her in all its nakedness each night bringing the same cold couch and each more in the same empty day. End of Chapter 3, Recording by Kate McKenzie Chapter 4 of Thierry's Raquin This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Thierry's Raquin by Emile Zola translated by Ernest Alfred Visitelli Chapter 4 One day out of seven on the Thursday evening the Raquian family received their friends. They lit a large lamp in the dining room and put water on the fire to make tea. There was quite a set-out. This particular evening emerged in bold relief from the others. It had become one of the customs of the family who regarded it in the light of a middle-class orgy full of giddy gaity. They did not retire to rest until eleven o'clock at night. At Paris, Madame Raquian had found one of her old friends, the commissary of Paulus Michaud, who had held a post at Vernon for twenty years, lodging in the same house as the Mercer. A narrow intimacy had thus been established between them. Then, when the widow had sold her business to go and reside in the house beside the river, they had little by little lost sight of one another. Michaud left the provinces a few months later and came to live peacefully in Paris, Rue du Zenne, on his pension of 1,500 francs. One rainy day, he met his old friend in the orchard of the Pornouf and the same evening, dined with the family. The Thursday receptions began in this way. The former commissary of Paulus got into the habit of calling on the Raquians regularly once a week. After a while, he became accompanied by his son, Olivia, a great fellow of thirty, dry and thin, who had married a very little woman, slow and sickly. This Olivia held the post of headcork in the section of order and security at the prefecture of police, worth 3,000 francs a year, which made Camilla feel particularly jealous. From the first day he made his appearance, Therese detested this cold, rigid individual, who imagined he honored the shop in the orchard by making a display of his great shriveled-up frame and the exhausted condition of his poor little wife. Camilla introduced another guest, an old clerk, from the Orleans Railway, named Grivett, who had been twenty years in the service of the company, where he now held the position of headcork and earned 2,100 francs a year. It was he who gave out the work in the office where Camilla had found employment and the latter showed him certain respect. Camilla, in his daydreams, had said to himself that Grivett would one day die and then he would perhaps take his place at the end of a decade or so. Grivett was delighted at the welcome Madame Raquian gave him and he returned every week with perfect regularity. Six months later, his Thursday visit had become, in his way of thinking, a duty. He went to the orchard of the Pornouf just as he went every morning to his office, that is to say mechanically, and with the instinct of a brute. From this moment, the gatherings became charming. At seven o'clock, Madame Raquian lit the fire, set the lamp in the centre of the table, placed a box of dominoes beside it and wiped the tea service which was in the sideboard. Precisely at eight o'clock, old Mishad and Grivett met before the shop, one coming from the Rue du Zenne and the other from Ruma's Arena. As soon as they entered, all the family went up to the first door. There, in the dining room, they seated themselves round the table waiting for Olivier Mishad and his wife who always arrived late. When the party was complete, Madame Raquian poured out the tea. Camilla emptied the box of dominoes on the oilcloth table cover and everyone became deeply interested in their hands. Henceforth, nothing could be heard but the jingle of dominoes. At the end of each game, the players quarrelled for two or three minutes then mournful silence was resumed broken by the sharp clanks of the dominoes. Thierrys played with an indifference that irritated Camilla. She took François, the great tabby cat that Madame Raquian had brought from Vernon on her lap, carousing it with one hand whilst she placed her dominoes with the other. These Thursday evenings were a torture to her. Frequently she complained of being unwell of a bad headache so as not to play and remained there doing nothing and half asleep. An elbow on the table, her cheek resting on the palm of her hand, she watched the guests of her aunt and husband through a sort of yellow smoky mist coming from the lamp. All these phases exasperated her. She looked from one to the other in profound disgust and secret irritation. Old Mishad exhibited a pasty countenance spotted with red blotches, one of those death-like faces of an old man fallen into second childhood. Grivet had the narrow visage, the round eyes, the thin lips of an idiot. Olivia, whose bones were piercing his cheeks, gravely carried a stiff, insignificant head on a ridiculous body. As to Suzanne, the wife of Olivia, she was quite pale with expressionless eyes, white lips and a soft face. And Thierrys could not find one human being, not one living being among these grotesque and sinister creatures with whom she was shut up. Sometimes she had hallucinations. She imagined herself buried at the bottom of a tomb in company with mechanical corpses who, when the strings were pulled, moved their heads and agitated their legs and arms. The thick atmosphere of the dining room stifled her. The shivering silence, the yellow gleams of the lamps penetrated her with vague terror and inexpressible anguish. Below, to the door of the shop, they had fixed a bell whose sharp tinkle announced the entrance of customers. Thierrys had her ear on the alert, and when the bell rang, she rapidly ran downstairs, quite relieved, delighted at being able to quit the dining room. She slowly served the purchaser, and when she found herself alone, she sat down behind the counter where she remained as long as possible, dreading going upstairs again and in the enjoyment of real pleasure at no longer having grift and Olivia before her eyes. The damp air of the shop calmed the burning fever of her hands and she again fell into the customary grave reverie. But she could not remain like this for long. Camilla became angry at her absence. He failed to comprehend how anyone could prefer the shop to the dining room on a Thursday evening, and he lent over the banister to look for his wife. What's the matter? He would shout. What are you doing there? Why don't you come up? Grivett has a devil's own luck. He has just won again. The young woman rose painfully and ascending the dining room resumed her seat opposite old Michaud whose pendant lips gave heart-rending smiles. And until eleven o'clock, she remained oppressed in her chair, watching Francois whom she held in her arms so as to avoid seeing the cardboard dolls grimacing around her. End of Chapter 4 Chapter 5 of Thiray's Rakyan This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Thiray's Rakyan by Emile Zola translated by Ernest Alfred Visitelli. Chapter 5 On Thursday, Camilla, on returning from his office, brought with him a great fellow with square shoulders whom he pushed in a familiar manner into the shop. Mother, he said to Madame Rakyan, pointing to the newcomer, do you recognize this gentleman? The old Mercer looked at the strapping blade seeking among her recollections and finding nothing while Thiray's placidly observed the scene. What? resumed Camilla. You don't recognize Laurent? Little Laurent, the son of Daddy Laurent, who owns those beautiful fields of corn out Jufo's way. Don't you remember? I went to school with him. He came to fetch me of a morning on leaving the house of his uncle, who was our neighbour, and you used to give him slices of bread and jam. All at once, Madame Rakyan recollected little Laurent, whom she found very much grown. It was quite ten years since she had seen him. She now did her best to make him forget her lapse of memory in greeting him by recalling a thousand little incidents of the past and by adopting a weadling manner towards him that was quite maternal. Laurent had seated himself. With a peaceful smile on his lips, he replied to the questions addressed to him in a clear voice, casting calm and easy glances around him. Just imagine, said Kamiya. This joker has been employed at the Orleans railway station for eighteen months, and it was only tonight that we met and recognized one another. The administration is so vast, so important. As the young man made this remark, he opened his eyes wider and pinched his lips, proud to be a humble wheel in such a large machine. Shaking his head, he continued, oh, but he is in a good position. He has studied. He already earns 1,500 francs a year. His father sent him to college. He had read for the bar and learned painting. That is so, is it not, Laurent? You'll dine with us. I'm quite willing, boldly replied the other. He got rid of his hat and made himself comfortable in the shop, while Madame Rakhiaan ran off to his two pots. Therese, who had not yet pronounced a word, looked at the new arrival. She had never seen such a man before. Laurent, who was tall and robust, with a florid complexion, astonished her. It was with a feeling akin to admiration that she contemplated his low forehead, planted with coarse black hair, his full cheeks, his red lips, his regular features of sanguineous beauty. For an instant, her eyes rested on his neck, a neck that was thick and short, fat and powerful. Then she became lost in the contemplation of his great hands, which he kept spread out on his knees. The fingers were square, the clenched fist must be enormous and would fell an ox. Laurent was a real son of a peasant, rather heavy in gait, with an arched back, with movements that were slow and precise, and an obstinate, tranquil manner. One felt that his apparel concealed round and well-developed muscles and a body of thick, hard flesh. Therese examined him with curiosity, glancing from his fists to his face and experienced little shivers when her eyes fell on his bull-like neck. Camilla spread out his buffon volumes and his cereals at ten sent him the number to show his friend that he also studied. Then, as if answering an inquiry he had been making of himself for some minutes, he said to Laurent, "'But surely you must know my wife. "'Don't you remember that little cousin "'who used to play with us at Wernon? "'I had no difficulty in recognising Madame,' answered Laurent, looking Therese full in the face. This penetrating glance troubled the young woman, who nevertheless gave a forced smile and after exchanging a few words with Laurent and her husband, hurried away to join her aunt, feeling ill at ease. As soon as they had seated themselves at table and commenced the soup, Camilla thought it right to be attentive to his friend. "'How is your father?' he inquired. "'Well, I don't know,' answered Laurent. "'We are not on good terms. "'We seized corresponding five years ago.' "'Bah!' exclaimed the clerk, "'as tarnished at such a monstrosity.' "'Yes,' continued the other. "'The dear man has ideas of his own. "'As he is always at law with his neighbours, "'he sent me to college in the fond hope "'that later on, he would find in me an advocate "'who would win him all his actions. "'Oh, Daddy Laurent has not but useful ambitions. "'He even wants to get something out of his follies. "'And you wouldn't be an advocate?' "'Inquired Camilla, more and more astonished. "'Faith, no,' answered his friend with a smile. "'For a couple of years I pretended to follow the classes, "'so as to draw the allowance of 1,200 francs, "'which my father made me. "'I lived with one of my college chums, "'who is a painter, and I set about painting also. "'It amused me. "'The calling is drawl, and not at all fatiguing. "'We smoked and joked all in the life-long day.' "'The Raqqian family opened their eyes in amazement. "'Unfortunately,' continued Laurent, "'this could not last. "'My father found out that I was telling him falsehoods. "'He stopped my 100 francs a month "'and invited me to return and plow the land with him. "'I then tried to paint pictures on religious subjects, "'which proved bad business. "'As I could plainly see that I was going to die of hunger, "'I sent art to the doos and sought employment. "'My father will die one of these days, "'and I am waiting for that event to live and do nothing.' "'Laurent spoke in a tranquil tone. "'In a few words he had just related a characteristic tale "'that depicted him at full length. "'In reality he was an idle fellow "'with the appetite of a full-blooded man for everything "'and very pronounced ideas as to easy and lasting employment. "'The only ambition of this great powerful frame "'was to do nothing to grovel in idleness "'and satiation from hour to hour. "'He wanted to eat well, sleep well, "'to abundantly satisfy his passions "'without moving from his place, "'without running the risk of the slightest fatigue. "'The profession of advocate had terrified him "'and he shuddered at the idea of tilling the soil. "'He had plunged into art hoping to find therein a calling "'suitable to an idle man. "'The paintbrush struck him as being an instrument light "'to handle, and he fancied success easy. "'His dream was a life of cheap sensuality, "'a beautiful existence full of horrors, "'of reapers on divans, of victuals and intoxication. "'The dream lasted so long as Daddy Lawrence "'sent the crown pieces. "'But when the young man, who was already thirty, "'perceived the wolf at the door, he began to reflect. "'Face to face with privations, he felt himself a coward. "'He would not have accepted a day without bread "'for the utmost glory art could bestow. "'As he had said himself, he sent art to the deuce "'as soon as he recognized that it would never suffice "'to satisfy his numerous requirements. "'His first efforts had been below mediocrity. "'His peasant eyes caught a clumsy, "'slovenly view of nature. "'His muddy, badly drawn, grimacing pictures "'defied all criticism. "'But he did not seem to have an overdose "'of vanity for an artist. "'He was not in dire despair "'when he had to put aside his brushes. "'All he really regretted was the vast studio "'of his college chum, where he had been "'voluptuously groveling for four or five years. "'He also regretted the women who came to pose there. "'Nevertheless, he found himself at ease "'in his position as clerk. "'He lived very well in a British fashion, "'and he was fond of his daily task, "'which did not fatigue him, and soothed his mind. "'Still one thing irritated him. "'The food at the eighteenth's sous ordinaries "'failed to appease the gluttonous appetite "'of his stomach. "'As Camille listened to his friend, "'he contemplated him with all the astonishment "'of his simpleton. "'This feeble man was dreaming in a childish manner "'of this studio life, which his friend had been "'alluding to, and he questioned Laurent on the subject. "'So,' said he, "'there were lady models who posed before you in the nude. "'Oh, yes,' answered Laurent with a smile, "'and looking at Therese, who had turned deadly pale. "'Humans had thought that very funny, "'continued Camille, laughing like a child. "'It would have made me feel most awkward. "'I expect you were quite scandalized "'the first time it happened.' "'Laurent had spread out one of his great hands "'and was attentively looking at the palm. "'His fingers gave slight twitches, "'and his cheeks became flushed. "'The first time,' he answered, "'as if speaking to himself. "'I fancy I thought it quite natural. "'This devilish art is exceedingly amusing. "'Only it does not bring in a sue. "'I had a red-haired girl as model, "'who was superb, firm, white flesh, "'gorgeous bust, hips as wide as... "'Laurent, raising his head, "'saught Therese mute and motionless opposite, "'gazing at him with ardent fixedness. "'Her dull black eyes seemed like two fathomless holes, "'and through her parted lips could be perceived, "'the rosy tint of the inside of her mouth. "'She seemed as if overpowered by what she heard "'and lost in thought. "'She continued listening. "'Laurent looked from Therese to Camilla, "'and the former painter restrained a smile. "'He completed his phrase by a broad, voluptuous gesture, "'which the young woman followed with her eyes. "'They were a desert, and Madame Rakyan "'had just run downstairs to serve a customer. "'When the cloth was removed, "'Laurent, who for some minutes had been thoughtful, "'turned to Camilla. "'You know,' he blurted out, "'I must paint your portrait. "'This idea delighted Madame Rakyan and her son, "'but Therese remained silent. "'It is summer time,' resumed Laurent, "'and as we leave the office at four o'clock, "'I can come here and let you give me a sitting "'for a couple of hours in the evening. "'The picture will be finished in a week. "'That will be fine,' answered Camilla, flushed with joy. "'You shall dine with us. "'I will have my hair curled "'and put on my black frock coat.' "'Eight o'clock struck. "'Grivet and Michaud made their entry. "'Olivia and Suzanne arrived behind them. "'When Camilla introduced his friend to the company, "'Grivet pinched his lips. "'He detested Laurent, whose salary, "'according to his idea, had risen far too rapidly. "'Besides the introduction of a newcomer "'was quite an important matter, "'and the guests of the Rakyan's could not receive "'an individual unknown to them "'without some display of coldness. "'Laurent behaved very amicably. "'He grasped the situation and did his best "'to please the company, "'so as to make himself acceptable to them at once. "'He related anecdotes and lived in the party "'by his merry laughter, "'and even won the friendship of Grivet. "'That evening, to Ray's made no attempt "'to go down to the shop. "'She remained seated on her chair until eleven o'clock, "'playing and talking, avoiding the eyes of Laurent, "'who, for that matter, did not trouble himself about her. "'The sanguineous temperament of this trapping fellow, "'his full voice and jovial laughter, "'troubled the young woman, "'and threw her into a sort of nervous anguish. End of Chapter 5 Chapter 6 of Therese Rakyan This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Therese Rakyan by Emile Zola Translated by Ernest Alfred Visitelli Chapter 6 Henceforth, Laurent called almost every evening on the Rakyan's. He lived in the Rue Saint-Victor opposite the port of Wien, where he rented a small furnished room at 18 francs a month. This attic, pierced at the top by a lift-up window, measured barely nine square yards, and Laurent was in the habit of going home as late as possible at night. Previous to his meeting with Camilla, the state of his purse not permitting him to idle away his time in the cafes, he loitered at the cheap eating houses where he took his dinner, smoking his pipe and sipping his coffee and brandy, which cost him three sores. Then he slowly gained the Rue Saint-Victor, sauntering along the quays, where he seated himself on the benches in mild weather. The shop in the orchard of the pond of became a charming retreat, warm and quiet, where he found amicable conversation and attention. He saved the three sores his coffee and brandy cost him, and gluttonously swallowed the excellent tea prepared by Madame Rakya. He remained there until ten o'clock, dozing and digesting as if he were at home, and before taking his departure, assisted Camilla to put up the shutters and close the shop for the night. One evening he came with his easel and box of colors. He was to commence support raid of Camilla on the morrow. A canvas was purchased, minute preparations made, and the artist at last took the work in hand in the room occupied by the married couple, where Laurence said the light was the best. He took three evenings to draw the head. He carefully trailed the charcoal over the canvas, with short sorry strokes, his rigid cold drawing recalling in a grotesque fashion that of the primitive masters. He copied the face of Camilla with a hesitating hand, as a pupil copies in a cannabical figure, with a clumsy exactitude that conveyed a scowl to the face. On the fourth day he placed tiny little dabs of color on his palette and commenced painting with the point of the brush. He then dotted the canvas with small dirty spots and made short strokes altogether as if he had been using a pencil. At the end of each sitting, Madame Rakya and Camilla were in ecstasies. But Laurence said they must wait, that the resemblance would soon come. Since the portrait had been commenced, Therese no longer quitted the room, which had been transformed into a studio. Leaving her aunt alone behind the counter, she ran upstairs at the least pretext and forgot herself watching Laurence paint. Still grave and oppressed, paler and more silent, she sat down and observed the labor of the brushes. But this side did not seem to amuse her very much. She came to the spot as they were attracted by some power and she remained as if riveted there. Laurence at times turned round, with a smile inquiring whether the portrait pleased her. But she barely answered, a shiver ran through her frame and she resumed her meditative trance. Laurence returning at night to the rue Saint-Victor, reasoned with himself at length, discussing in his mind whether he should become the lover of Therese or not. Here is a little woman, said he to himself, who will be my sweetheart whenever I choose. She is always there, behind my back, examining, measuring me, summing me up. She trembles. She has a strange face that is mute and yet impassioned. What a miserable creature that camea is, to be sure. And Laurence inwardly laughed as he thought of a spale, thin friend. Then he resumed. She is bored to death in that shop. I go there because I have nowhere else to go to, otherwise they would not often catch me in the orchid of the fond noof. It is damp and sad. A woman must be weary to death there. I please her, I am sure of it. Then why not me rather than another? He stopped. Self-conceit was getting the better of him. Absorbed in thought, he watched the same running by. Anyhow, come what may, he exclaimed. I shall kiss her at the first opportunity. I bet she falls at once into my arms. As he resumed his walk, he was seized with indecision. But she is ugly, thought he. She has a long nose and a big mouth. Besides, I have not the least love for her. I shall perhaps get myself into trouble. The matter requires reflection. Laurence, who is very prudent, turned these thoughts over in his head for a whole week. He calculated all the possible inconveniences of an intrigue with Therese, and only decided to attempt the adventure, when he felt convinced that it could be attended by no evil consequences. Therese would have every interest to conceal their intimacy, and he could get rid of her whenever he pleased. Even admitting that Camilla discovered everything and got angry, he would knock him down if he became spiteful. From every point of view, that matter appeared to Laurence easy and engaging. Henceforth, he enjoyed gentle quietude waiting for the hour to strike. He had made up his mind to act boldly at the first opportunity. In the future, he saw comfortable evenings with all the ruckians contributing to his enjoyment. Therese giving him her love. Madame Rakhiaan weedling him like a mother, and Camilla chatting with him so that he might not feel too dull at night in the shop. The portrait was almost completed, but the opportunity he desired did not occur. Therese, depressed and anxious, continued to remain in the room. But so did Camilla, and Laurence was in despair at being unable to get rid of him. Nevertheless, the time came when he found himself obliged to mention that the portrait would be finished on the morrow, and Madame Rakhiaan thereupon announced that they would celebrate the completion of the work of the artist by dining together. The next day, when Laurence had given the canvas the last touch, all the family assembled to go into raptures over the striking resemblance. The portrait was vile, a dirty gray color with large, vile-essent patches. Laurence could not use even the brightest colors without making them dull and muddy. In spite of himself, he had exaggerated the van complexion of his model, and the countenance of Camilla resembled the greenish visage of a person who had met death by drowning. The grimacing drawing threw the features into convulsions, thus rendering the sinister resemblance all the more striking. But Camilla was delighted. He declared that he had the appearance of a person of distinction on the canvas. When he had thoroughly admired his own face, he declared he would go and fetch a couple of bottles of champagne. Madame Rakhiaan went down to the shop, and the artist was alone with the race. The young woman had remained seated, gazing vaguely in front of her. Laurence hesitated. He examined the portrait and played with his brushes. There was not much time to lose. Camilla might come back, and the opportunity would perhaps not occur again. The painter abruptly turned round and found himself face to face with the race. They contemplated one another for a few seconds. Then, with a violent movement, Laurence bent down and pressed the young woman to him. Throwing back her head, he crushed her mouth beneath his lips. She made a savage, angry effort at revolt, and then all its ones gave in. They exchanged not a word. The act was silent and brutal. Chapter 7 The two sweethearts from the commencement found their intrigue necessary, inevitable, and quite natural. At their first interview they conversed familiarly, kissing one another without embarrassment and without a blush, as if their intimacy had dated back several years. They lived quite at ease in their new situation, with their tranquillity and an independence that were perfect. They made their appointments. Therese, being unable to go out, it was arranged that Laurence should come to see her. In a clear, firm voice the young woman explained to him the plan she had conceived. The interview would take place in the nuptial chamber. The sweetheart would pass by the passage, which ran into the arcade, and Therese would open the door on the staircase to him. During this time Camille would be at his office, and Madame Rakin below in the shop. This was a daring arrangement that ought to succeed. Laurence accepted. There was a sort of brutal temerity in his prudence, the temerity of a man with big fists. Choosing a pretext, he obtained permission from his chief to absent himself for a couple of hours, and hastened to the arcade at the Pond Noup. The dealer in imitation jewelry was seated just opposite the door of the passage, and he had to wait until she was busy, until some young work girl came to purchase a ring, or a brooch made of brass. Then, rapidly entering the passage, he ascended the narrow, dark staircase, leaning against the walls which were clammy with damp. He stumbled against the stone steps, and each time he did so, he felt a red-hot iron piercing his chest. A door opened, and on the threshold, in the midst of a gleam of white light, he perceived Therese, who, closing the door after him, threw her arms about his neck. Laurence was astonished to find his sweetheart handsome. He had never seen her before as she appeared to him then. Therese, supple and strong, pressed him in her arms, flinging her head backward, while on her visage coursed ardent rays of light and passionate smiles. This face seemed as if transfigured with its moist lips and sparkling eyes. It now had a fun, caressing look. It radiated. She was beautiful with the strong beauty born of passionate abandon. When Laurence parted from her after his initial visit, he staggered like a drunken man, and the next day, on recovering his cunning prudent calm, he asked himself whether he should return to this young woman whose kisses gave him the fever. First of all, he positively decided to keep to himself. Then he had a cowardly feeling. He sought to forget, to avoid sinking Therese, and yet she always seemed to be there, implacably extending her arms. The physical suffering that this spectacle caused him became intolerable. He gave way. He arranged another meeting, and returned to the arcade of the Panneuf. From that day forth Therese entered into his life. He did not yet accept her, although he bore with her. He had his hours of terror, his moments of prudence, and altogether this intrigue caused him disagreeable agitation. But his discomfort and his fears disappeared. The meetings continued, and multiplied. Therese experienced no hesitation. She went straight where her passion urged her to go. This woman, whose circumstances had bowed down, and who had at length drawn herself up erect, now revealed all her being and explained her life. "'Oh, if you only knew,' said she, how I have suffered. I was brought up in the tepid, damp room of an enveled. I slept in the same bed as Camille. At night I got as far away from him as I could, to avoid the sickly odor of his body. He was naughty and obstinate. He would not take his physique unless I shared it with him. To please my aunt, I was obliged to swallow a dose of every drug. I don't know how it is, I have survived. They made me ugly. They robbed me of the only thing I possessed, and it is impossible for you to love me as I love you.' She broke off and wept, and after kissing Laurent, continued with bitter hatred. I do not wish them any harm. They brought me up. They received me, and shielded me from misery. But I should have preferred abandonment to their hospitality. I had a burning desire for the open air. When quite young, my dream was to rove barefooted along the dusty roads, holding up my hand for charity, living like a gypsy. I have been told that my mother was a daughter of the chief of a tribe in Africa. I have often thought of her, and I understood that I belonged to her by blood and instinct. I should have liked to have never parted from her, and to have crossed the sand slung at her back. Ah! what a childhood! I still feel disgust and rebellion. When I recalled the long days I passed in the room where Camille was a death-door. I sat bent over the fire, stupidly watching the infusion simmer, and feeling my limbs growing stiff. And I could not move. My aunts scolded me if I made a noise. Later on I tasted profound joy and the little house beside the river. But I was already half feeble. I could barely walk, and when I tried to run I fell down. Then they buried me alive in this vile shop. After a pause she resumed, "'You will hardly credit how bad they have made me. They have turned me into a liar and a hypocrite. They have stifled me with their middle-class gentleness, and I can hardly understand how it is that there is still blood in my veins. I have lowered my eyes and given myself a mournful, idiotic face like theirs. I have led their death-like life. When you saw me I looked like a blockhead, did I not? I was grave, overwhelmed, brutalized. I no longer had any hope. I thought of flinging myself into the sand. But previous to this depression what nights of anger I had. Down there at Vernon in my frigid room I bit my pillow to stifle my cries. I beat myself, taxed myself with cowardice. My blood was on the boil, and I would have flacerated my body. On two occasions I wanted to run away to go straight before me towards the sun. But my courage failed. They had turned me into a docile brute with their tame benevolence and sickly tenderness. Then I lied. I always lied. I remained there quite gentle, quite silent, dreaming of striking and biting. After a silence she continued, I do not know why I consented to marry Camille. I did not protest, from a feeling of a sort of disdainful indifference. I pitied the child. When I played with him I felt my fingers sink into the flesh of his limbs as into damp clay. I took him because my aunt offered him to me, and because I never intended to place any restraint on my actions on his account. I found my husband just the same little suffering boy whose bed I had shared when I was six years old. He was just as frail, just as plaintive, and he still had that insipid odor of a sick child that had been so repugnant to me previously. I am relating all this so that you may not be jealous. I was seized with a sort of disgust. I remember the physique I had drank. I got as far away from him as the bed would allow, and I passed terrible nights. But you, you, Teres drew herself up, bending backward, her fingers imprisoned in the massive hands of Laurent, gazing at his broad shoulders and enormous neck. You, I love you, she continued. I loved you from the day Camille pushed you into the shop. You have, perhaps, no esteem for me, because I gave way at once. Truly, I know not how it happened. I am proud, I am passionate. I would have liked to have beaten you the first day when you kissed me. I do not know how it was I loved you. I hated you, rather. The sight of you irritated me and made me suffer. When you were there, my nerves were strained fit to snap. My head became quite empty. I was ready to commit a crime. Oh, how I suffered! And I sought this suffering. I waited for you to arrive. I loaded round your chair, so as to move in your breath to drag my clothes over yours. It seemed as though your blood cast puffs of heat on me as I passed, and it was the sort of burning cloud in which you were enveloped that attracted me, and detain me beside you in spite of my secret revolt. You remember when you were painting here? A fatal power attracted me to your side, and I breathed your air with cruel delight. I know I seemed to be begging for kisses. I felt ashamed of my bondage. I felt I should fall, if you were to touch me. But I gave way to my cowardice. I shivered with cold, waiting until you chose to take me in your arms. When Therese ceased speaking, she was quivering, as though proud of it being avenged. In this bare and chilly room were enacted scenes of burning lust, sinister in their brutality. On her part Therese seemed to revel in daring. The only precaution she would take when expecting her lover was to tell her aunt she was going upstairs to rest. But then, when he was there, she never bothered about avoiding noise, walking about and talking. At first this terrified Laurent. For God's sake, he whispered, don't make so much noise, Madame Raquine will hear. Therese would laugh. Ha! Who cares? You are always so worried. She is at her counter and won't leave. She is too afraid of being robbed. Besides, you can hide. Laurent's passion had not yet stifled his native, peasant caution. But soon he grew used to the risks of these meetings, only a few yards from the old woman. One day, fearing her niece was ill, Madame Raquine climbed the stairs. Therese never bothered to bolt at the bedroom door. At the sound of the woman's heavy step on the wooden stairs, Laurent became frantic. Therese laughed as she saw him searching for his waistcoat and hat. She grabbed his arm and pushed him down at the foot of the bed. With perfect self-possession she whispered, stay there, don't move. She threw all his clothes that were lying about over him and covered them with a white petticoat she had taken off. Without losing her calm, she lay down half-naked with her hair loose. When Madame Raquine quietly opened the door and tiptoed to the bed, the younger woman pretended to be asleep. Laurent, under all the clothes, was in a panic. Therese, asked the old lady with some concern, are you all right, my dear? Therese, opening her eyes and yawning, answered that she had a terrible migraine. She begged her aunt to let her sleep some more. The old lady left the room as quietly as she had entered it. So you see, Therese said triumphantly, there is no reason to worry. These people are not in love. They are blind. At other times Therese seemed quite mad, wandering in her mind. She would see the cat sitting motionless and dignified, looking at them. Look at François, she said to Laurent. You'd think he understands and is planning to tell Camille everything to-night. He knows a thing or two about us. Wouldn't it be funny of one day in the shop he just started talking? The idea was delightful to Therese, but Laurent felt a shudder run through him as he looked at the cat's big green eyes. Therese's hold on him was not total, and he was scared. He got up and put the cat out of the room. Laurent was perfectly happy of an evening in the shop. He generally returned from the office with Camille. Madame Rokyan had formed quite a motherly affection for him. She knew he was short of cash and indifferently nourished, that he slept in a garret. And she had told him, once for all, that a seat would always be kept for him at their table. She liked this young fellow with that expansive feeling that old women display for people who come from their own part of the country, bringing with them memories of the past. The young man took full advantage of this hospitality. Before going to dinner, after leaving the office for the night, he and Camille went for a stroll on the quays. Both found satisfaction in this intimacy. They dawdled along, chatting with one another, which prevented them feeling dull and after a time decided to go and taste the soup prepared by Madame Rokyan. He had opened the shop door as if he were master of the house, seated himself as tried a chair, smoking and expectorating as though at home. The presence of Therese did not embarrass him in the least. He treated the young woman with friendly familiarity, paying her common place compliments, without a line of his face becoming disturbed. Camille laughed, and as his wife confined herself to answering his friends and monosyllables, he firmly believed they detested one another. One day, he even reproached Therese with what he termed her cullness for Laurence. Laurence had made a correct guess. He had become the sweetheart of the woman, the friend of the husband, the spoiled child of the mother. Never had he enjoyed such a capital time. Disposition in the family struck him as quite natural. He was on the most friendly terms with Camille, in regard to whom he felt neither anger nor remorse. He was so sure of being prudent and calm that he did not even keep watch on his gestures and speech. The egotism he displayed in the enjoyment of his good fortune shielded him from any fault. All that kept him from kissing Therese in the shop was the fear that he would not be allowed to come any more. He would not have cared a bit about hurting Camille and his mother. Therese, who was of a more nervous and quivering temperament, was compelled to play a part, and she played it to perfection, thanks to the clever hypocrisy she had acquired in her bringing up. For nearly fifteen years she had been lying, stifling her fever, exerting an implacable will to appear gloomy and half asleep. It cost her nothing to keep this mask on her face, which gave her an appearance of icy frigidity. When Laurence entered the shop, he found her glum, her nose longer, her lips thinner. She was ugly, cross, unapproachable. Nevertheless, she did not exaggerate her effects, but only played her former part without awakening attention by greater harshness. She experienced extraordinary pleasure in deceiving Camille and Madame Rakiens. She was aware she was doing wrong, and at times she felt a ferocious desire to rise from table and smother Laurence with kisses just to show her husband and aunt that she was not a fool and that she had a sweetheart. At moments she felt giddy with joy. Good actress as she proved herself, she could not on such occasions refrain from sinking when her sweetheart did not happen to be there, and she had no fear of betraying herself. The sudden outburst of gaiety charmed Madame Rakiens, who taxed her knees with being too serious. The young woman, moreover, decked the window of her room with pots of flowers, and then had new paper hung in the apartment. After this she wanted a carpet, curtains, and rosewood furniture. The nature of the circumstances seemed to have made this woman for this man, and to have thrust one towards the other. The two together, the woman nervous and hypocritical, the man sanguinius, and leading the life of a brute, formed a powerful couple alight. The one completed the other, and they mutually protected themselves. At night, at table, in the pale light of the lamp, one felt the strength of their union, at the sight of the heavy, smiling face of Laurent, opposite the mute, impenetrable mask of their race. Those evenings were pleasant and calm. In the silence, in the transparent shadow and cool atmosphere, arose friendly conversation. The family and their guest sat close together round the table. After the dessert, they chatted about a thousand trifles of the day, about incidents that had occurred the day before, about their hopes for the morrow. Camilla liked Laurent as much as he was capable of liking anybody, after the fashion of a contented egotist, and Laurent seemed to show him equal attachment. Between them there was an exchange of kind sentences, of obliging gestures, and thoughtful attentions. Madame Raquian, with placid countenance, contributed her peacefulness to the tranquillity of the scene, which resembled the gathering of old friends who knew one another to the heart, and who confidently relied on the faith of their friendship. The race, motionless, peaceful like the others, observed this joy, the smiling depression of these people of the middle-class, and in her heart there was savage laughter. All her being jeered, but her face maintained its frigid rigidity. Ah, how she deceived these worthy people, and how delighted she was to deceive them with such triumphant impudence. Her sweet heart, at this moment, was like a person unknown to her, a comrade of her husband, a sort of simpleton and interloper concerning whom she had no need to concern herself. This atrocious comedy, these duperies of life, this comparison between the burning kisses in the daytime and the indifference played at night, gave new warmth to the blood of the young woman. When by chance Madame Rakya and Kamiya went downstairs, the race bounded from her chair to silently, and with brutal energy, press her lips to those of her sweet heart, remaining thus breathless and choking until she heard stairs creak. Then she briskly seated herself again, and resumed her glum grimace, while Laurence calmly continued the interrupted conversation with Kamiya. It was like a rapid, blinding flash of lightning in a leaden sky. On Thursday the evening became a little more animated. Laurence, although bored to death, nevertheless made a point of not missing one of these gatherings. As a measure of prudence, he desired to be known and esteemed by the friends of Kamiya. So he had to lend an ear to the idle talk of Grivitt and Old Mishad. The latter always related the same tales of robbery and murder, while Grivitt spoke at the same time about his clerks, his chiefs, and his administration, until the young man sought refuge beside Olivia and Susan, whose stupidity seemed less rarism. But he soon asked for the dominos. It was on Thursday evening that Laurence and Therese arranged the day and hour of their meeting. In the buzzle attending the departure, when Madame Rakya and Kamiya accompanied the guest to the door of the orchid, the young woman approached Laurence, to whom she spoke in an undertone as she pressed his hand. At times when all had turned their backs, she kissed him out of a sort of bravado. The life of shocks and appeasements lasted eight months. The sweethearts lived in complete beatitude. Therese no longer felt dull and was perfectly contented. Laurence satiated, pampered, fatter than before, had but one fear, that of seeing this delightful existence come to an end. Therese Rakya by Emile Zola translated by Ernest Alfred Visitelli, Chapter 9 One afternoon, as Laurence was leaving his office to run and meet Therese who was expecting him, his chief gave him to understand that in future he was forbidden to absent himself. He had taken too many holidays already, and the authorities had decided to dismiss him if he again went out in all his hours. Reveted to his chair, he remained in despair until even tide. He had to earn his living, and dared not lose his place. At night the wrathful countenance of Therese was a torture to him, and he was unable to find an opportunity to explain to her how it was he had broken his word. At length, as Kamiya was putting up the shutters, he briskly approached the young woman to murmur in an undertone, we shall be unable to see one another any more. My chief refuses to give me permission to go out. Kamiya came into the shop, and Laurence was obliged to withdraw without giving any further information, leaving Therese under the disagreeable influence of this abrupt and unpleasant announcement. Exasperated at anyone daring to interfere with her delectation, she passed a sleepless night, arranging extravagant plans for a meeting with her sweetheart. The following Thursday, she spoke with Laurence for a minute at the most. Their anxiety was all the keener as they did not know where to meet for the purpose of consulting and coming to an understanding. The young woman, on this occasion, gave her sweetheart another appointment, which for the second time he failed to keep, and she then had but one fixed idea to see him at any cost. For a fortnight, Laurence was unable to speak to Therese alone, and he then felt how necessary this woman had become to his existence. Far from experiencing any uneasiness, as formerly, at the kisses which his lady loved showered on him, he now sought her embraces with the obstinacy of a famished animal. A sanguineous passion had lurked in his muzzles, and now that his sweetheart was taken from him, this passion burst out in blind violence. He was madly in love. This thriving, brutish nature seemed unconscious in everything. He obeyed his instincts, permitting the will of his organism to lead him. A year before he would have burst into laughter, had he been told he would become the slave of a woman to the point of risking his tranquility. The hidden forces of lust that had brought about this result had been secretly proceeding within him to end by casting him bound hand and foot into the arms of Therese. At this hour he was in dread, lest he should omit to be prudent. He no longer dared go of an evening to the shop in the orchid of the poor noof, lest he should commit some folly. He no longer belonged to himself. His lady love, with her feline suppleness, her nervous flexibility, had glided little by little into each fiber of his body. This woman was as necessary to his life as eating and drinking. He would certainly had committed some folly, had he not received a letter from Therese asking him to remain at home the following evening. His sweetheart promised him to call about eight o'clock. On quitting the office he got rid of Camilla by saying he was tired and she'd go to bed at once. Therese, after dinner, also played her part. She mentioned a customer who had moved without paying her and acting the indignant creditor who would listen to nothing declared that she intended calling on her debtor with the view of asking for payment of the money that was due. The customer now lived at Battinger. Madame Rakhia and Camilla considered this a long way to go and thought it doubtful whether the journey would have a satisfactory result, but they expressed no surprise and allowed Therese to set out on a rant in all tranquility. The young woman ran to the port or wind gliding over the slippery pavement and knocking up against the pausers by in her hurry to reach her destination. Beads of perspiration covered her face and her hands were burning. Anyone might have taken her for a drunken woman. She rapidly ascended the staircase of the hotel and on reaching the sixth floor out of breath and with wandering eyes she perceived Laurence, who was leaning over the banister awaiting her. She entered the garret which was so small that she could barely turn round in it and tearing off her hat with one hand lent against the bedstead in a faint. Through the lift-up window in the roof which was wide open, the freshness of the evening fell upon the burning couch. The couple remained some time in this red-chid little room as though at the bottom of a hole. All at once Therese heard a clock in the neighbourhood's strike ten. She felt as if she would have liked to have been deaf. Nevertheless she looked for her hat which she fuzzened to her hair with a long pin and then, seating herself, slowly murmured, I must go. Laurence fell on his knees before her and took her hands. Good-bye till we see each other again, said she, without moving. No, not until we see each other again, he exclaimed, that is too indefinite. When will you come again? She looked him full in the face. Do you wish me to be frank with you? She inquired. Well, then, to tell you the truth, I think I shall come no more. I have no pretext and I cannot invent one. Then we must say farewell. He remarked. No, I will not do that, she answered. She pronounced these words in terrified anger. Then she added more gently, without knowing what she was saying and without moving from her chair. I am going. Laurence reflected. He was thinking of Camilla. I wish him no harm, said he, at length, without pronouncing the name. But really, he is too much in our way. Couldn't you get rid of him? Send him on a journey somewhere, a long way off. Ah, yes, send him on a journey. Resumed the young woman, nodding her head. And do you imagine a man like that would consent to travel? There is only one journey, that from which you never return, but he will bury us all. People who are at their last breath never die. Then came a silence which was broken by Laurence, who remarked. I had a daydream. Camilla met with an accident and died, and I became your husband. Do you understand? Yes, yes, answered the race, shuddering. Then abruptly bending over the face of Laurence, she smothered it with kisses, and bursting into sobs, uttered these disjoint sentences amidst her tears. Don't talk like that, for if you do, I shall lack the strength to leave you. I shall remain here. Give me courage, brother. Tell me we shall see one another again. You have need of me, have you not? Well, one of these days we shall find a way to live together. Then come back. Come back tomorrow, said Laurence. But I cannot return, she answered. I have told you. I have no pretext. She wrung her hands and continued. Oh, I do not fear the scandal. If you like, when I get back I will tell Camilla you are my sweetheart, and return here. I am trembling for you. I do not wish to disturb your life. I want to make you happy. The prudent instincts of the young man were awakened. You are right, said he. We must not behave like children. Ah, if your husband were to die. If my husband were to die, slowly repeated the race. We would marry, he continued, and have nothing more to fear. What a nice gentle life it would be. The young woman stood up erect. Her cheeks were pale, and she looked at her sweetheart with a clouded brow, while her lips were twitching. Sometimes people die, she murmured at last. Only it is dangerous for those to survive. Laurence did not reply. You see, she continued, all the methods that are known are bad. You misunderstood me, said he, quietly. I am not a fool. I wish to love you in peace. I was thinking that accidents happen daily, that a foot may slip, a tile may fall. You understand? In the latter event, the wind alone is guilty. He spoke in a strange voice, then he smiled and added in a carousel tone. Never mind. Keep quiet. We will love one another fondly, and live happily. As you are unable to come here, I will arrange matters. Should we remain a few months without seeing one another, do not forget me, and bear in mind that I am laboring for your felicity. As the race opened the door to leave, he seized her in his arms. You are mine, are you not? he continued. You swear to belong to me at any hour when I choose. Yes, exclaimed the young woman. I am yours, do as you please with me. For a moment they remained locked together and mute. Then the race tore herself roughly away, and without turning her head, quitted the garret and went downstairs. Laurent listened to the sound of her footsteps fading away. When he heard the last of them, he returned to his wretched room and went to bed. The sheets were still warm. Without closing the window, he lay on his back, his arms bare, his hands open, exposed to the fresh air, and he reflected, with his eyes on the dark blue square that the window framed in the sky. He turned the same idea over in his head until they break. Previous to the visit of the race, the idea of murdering Camilla had not occurred to him. He had spoken of the death of this man, urged to do so by the facts, irritated at the thought that he would be unable to meet his sweetheart anymore, and it was thus that a new corner of his unconscious nature came to be revealed. Now that he was more calm, alone in the middle of the peaceful night, he studied the murder. The idea of death blurted out in despair between a couple of kisses returned implacable and keen. Racked by insomnia and unnerved by the visit of the race, he calculated the disadvantages and the advantages of his becoming an assassin. All his interests urged him to commit the crime. He said to himself that as his father, the jufours peasant, could not make up his mind to die, he would perhaps have to remain a clerk another ten years, eating in cheap restaurants and living in a garret. This idea exasperated him. On the other hand, if Camilla were dead, he would marry Therese, he would inherit from Madame Rakia, resign his clerkship and saunter about in the sun. Then he took pleasure in dreaming of his life of idleness. He saw himself with nothing to do, eating and sleeping, patiently awaiting the death of his father, and when the reality arose in the middle of his dream, he ran up against Camilla and clenched his fists to knock him down. Laurent desired Therese, he wanted her for himself alone, to have her always within reach. If he fails to make the husband disappear, the woman would escape him. She had said so, she could not return. He would have eloped with her, carried her off somewhere, but then both would die of hunger. He risked less in killing the husband. There would be no scandal. He would simply push a man away to take his place. In his brutal logic of a peasant, he found this method excellent and natural. His innate prudence even advised this rapid expedient. He groveled on his bed in perspiration, flat on his stomach with his face against the pillow, and he remained there breathless, stifling, seeing lines of fire pass along his closed eyelids. He asked himself how he would kill Camilla. Then, unable to breathe any more, he turned round at a bound to resume his position on his back, and with his eyes wide open, received full in the face the pups of cold air from the window, seeking in the stars in the blueish square of sky a piece of advice about murder, a plan of assassination. And he found nothing. As he had told his lady love, he was neither a child nor a foe. He wanted neither a dagger nor a poison. What he sought was a subtle crime, one that could be accomplished without danger, a sort of sinister suffocation without cries and without terror, a simple disappearance. Passion might well stir him and urge him forward, all his being imperiously insisted on prudence. He was too cowardly, too voluptuous to risk his tranquillity. If he killed, it would be for a calm and happy life. Little by little, slumber overcame him. Fatigued and appeased, he sank into a sort of gentle and uncertain tarpour. As he fell asleep, he decided he would await a favorable opportunity, and as thoughts fleeting further and further away, lulled him to rest with the murmur. I will kill him. I will kill him. Five minutes later, he was at rest, breathing with serene regularity. Therese returned home at eleven o'clock, with a burning head and her tauts trained, reaching the orchid of the pond-nuff unconscious of the road she had taken. It seemed to her that she had just come downstairs from her visit to Laurent, so full where her ears of the words she had recently heard. She found Madame Rakia and Camilla anxious and attentive, but she answered their questions sharply, saying she had been on a fool's errand and had waited an hour on the pavement for an omnibus. When she got into bed, she found the sheets cold and damp, her limbs which were still burning, shuddered with repugnance. Camilla soon fell asleep, and for a long time Therese watched his van face, reposing idiotically on the pillow, with his mouth wide open. Therese drew away from her husband. She felt a desire to drive her clenched fist into that mouth. End of Chapter 9, Chapter 10 of Therese Rakia. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Therese Rakia by Emile Zola, translated by Ernest Alfred V. Zatelli. Chapter 10. More than three weeks past, Laurent came to the shop every evening, looking weary and unwell. A light blueish circle surrounded his eyes, and his lips were becoming pale and chapped. Otherwise, he still maintained his obtuse tranquility. He looked camilla in the face, and showed him the same frank friendship. Madame Rakia pampered the friend of the family, the more, now that she saw him giving way to a sort of low fever. Therese had resumed her mute, glum countenance and manner. She was more motionless, more impenetrable, more peaceful than ever. She did not seem to trouble herself in the least about Laurent. She barely looked at him, rarely exchanged a word with him, treating him with perfect indifference. Madame Rakia, who in her goodness of heart felt pain that his attitude sometimes said to the young man, do not pay attention to the manner of my knees. I know her, her face appears cold, but her heart is warm with tenderness and devotedness. The two sweethearts had no more meetings. Since the evening in the Rue Saint Victor, they had not met alone. At night, when they found themselves face to face, placid in appearance and like strangers to one another, storms of passion and dismay passed beneath the calm flesh of their countenance. And while with Therese there were outbursts of fury, base ideas and cruel jeers, with Laurent there were somber brutalities and poignant indecisions. Neither dared search to the bottom of their beings, to the bottom of that cloudy fever that filled their brains with the sort of thick and acrid vapor. When they could press the hands of one another behind a door without speaking, they did so, fit to crush them in a short, rough clasp. They would have liked, mutually, to have carried off strips of their flesh clinging to their fingers. They had not but this pressure of hands to appease their feelings. They put all their souls into them and asked for nothing more from one another. They waited. One Thursday evening, before sitting down to the game of dominars, the guests of the Rakyan family had a chat, as usual. A favourite subject of conversation was afforded by the experiences of old Mishad, who was plied with questions respecting the strange and sinister adventures with which he must have been connected in the discharge of his former functions. Then Grivette and Kamiya listened to the stories of the commissary, with the affrighted and gaping countenances of small children listening to Blue Beard or Tom Tom. These tales terrified and amused them. On this particular Thursday, Mishad, who had just given an account of a horrible murder, the details of which had made his audience shudder, added as he wagged his head. And a great deal never comes out at all. How many crimes remain undiscovered, how many murderers escape the justice of man. What! exclaimed Grivette, astonished. You think there are foul creatures like that walking about the streets people who have murdered and are not arrested? Olivia smiled with an air of disdain. My dear sir, he answered in his dictatorial tone, if they are not arrested it is because no one is aware that they have committed a murder. This reasoning did not appear to convince Grivette and Kamiya came to his assistance. I am of the opinion of Mazia Grivette, said he, with silly importance. I should like to believe that the police do their duty and that I never brush against a murderer on the pavement. Olivia considered this remark a personal attack. Certainly the police do their duty. He exclaimed in a vexed tone. So we cannot do what is impossible. There are wretches who have studied crime at Satan's own school. They would escape the divinity himself. Isn't that so, father? Yes, yes, confirmed old Mishad. Thus, while I was at Vernon, you perhaps remember the incident, Madame Rakhia, a Wagner was murdered on the highway. The corpse was found cut in pieces at the bottom of a ditch. The authorities were never able to lay hands on the culprit. He is perhaps still living at this hour. Maybe he is our neighbour and perhaps Mazia Grivette will meet him on his way home. Grivette turned pale as a sheet. He dared not look around. He fancied the murder of the Wagner was behind him, but for that matter he was delighted to feel afraid. Well, no, he faltered, hardly knowing what he said. Well, no, I cannot believe that, but I also have a story. Once upon a time a servant was put in prison for stealing a silver spoon and fork belonging to her master and mistress. Two months afterwards, while a tree was being felt, the knife and fork were discovered in the nest of a magpie. It was the magpie who was the thief. The servant was released. You see that the guilty are always punished. Grivette triumphed. Olivier sneered. Then they put the magpie in prison, said he. That is not what Mazia Grivette meant to say. Answered Camilla, annoyed to see his chief turned into ridicule. Mother, give us the dominos. While Madame Rakia went to fetch the box, the young man, addressing Mishat, continued. Then you admit the police are powerless, that there are murderers walking about in the sunshine. Unfortunately, yes, answered the commissary. It is a moral, concluded Grivette. During this conversation, Therese and Laurent had remained silent. They had not even smiled at the folly of Grivette, both leaning with their arms on the table, looking slightly pale, and with a big expression in their eyes, lizzened. At one moment those dark, ardent orbs had met, and small drops of perspiration hurled at the roots of the hair of Therese, while chilly puffs of breath gave imperceptible shivers to the skin of Laurent.