At this
price alone, would he consent to sleep with the corpse of the drowned
man.
One evening, he announced to Madame Raquin and his wife that he had sent
in his resignation, and would quit his office at the end of a fortnight.
Therese gave a gesture of anxiety. He hastened to add that he intended
taking a small studio where he would go on with his painting. He spoke
at length about the annoyance of his employment, and the broad horizons
that Art opened to him. Now that he had a few sous and could make a
bid for success, he wished to see whether he was not capable of great
achievements.
The speech he made on this subject simply concealed a ferocious desire
to resume his former studio life. Therese sat with pinched lips without
replying; she had no idea of allowing Laurent to squander the small
fortune that assured her liberty. When her husband pressed her with
questions in view of obtaining her consent, she answered curtly, giving
him to understand that if he left his office, he would no longer be
earning any money, and would be living entirely at her expense.
But, as she spoke, Laurent observed her so keenly, that he troubled her,
and arrested on her lips the refusal she was about to utter.
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