But as to that matter, she said to herself that Laurent
could not get possession of the 40,000 francs without her signature, and
she was thoroughly determined that she would never place her name to any
document.
On the morrow, Laurent took a small studio in the lower part of the Rue
Mazarine, which his eye had been fixed on for a month. He did not mean
to leave his office without having a refuge where he could quietly pass
his days far away from Therese. At the end of the fortnight, he bade
adieu to his colleagues. Grivet was stupefied at his departure. A young
man, said he, who had such a brilliant future before him, a young man
who in the space of four years, had reached a salary that he, Grivet,
had taken twenty years to attain! Laurent stupefied him still more, when
he told him he was going to give his whole time to painting.
At last the artist installed himself in his studio, which was a sort
of square loft about seven or eight yards long by the same breadth. The
ceiling which inclined abruptly in a rapid slope, was pierced by a large
window conveying a white raw light to the floor and blackish walls.
The sounds in the street did not ascend so high. This silent, wan room,
opening above on the sky, resembled a hole, or a vault dug out of grey
clay.
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