One
evening, while conversing peacefully with Therese and Laurent, she
remained in the middle of a sentence with her mouth wide open: she felt
as if she was being throttled. When she wanted to cry out and call for
help, she could only splutter a few hoarse sounds. Her hands and feet
were rigid. She found herself struck dumb, and powerless to move.
Therese and Laurent rose from their chairs, terrified at this stroke,
which had contorted the old mercer in less than five seconds. When she
became rigid, and fixed her supplicating eyes on them, they pressed her
with questions in order to ascertain the cause of her suffering. Unable
to reply, she continued gazing at them in profound anguish.
They then understood that they had nothing but a corpse before them, a
corpse half alive that could see and hear, but could not speak to them.
They were in despair at this attack. At the bottom of their hearts, they
cared little for the suffering of the paralysed woman. They mourned over
themselves, who in future would have to live alone, face to face.
From this day the life of the married couple became intolerable. They
passed the most cruel evenings opposite the impotent old lady, who no
longer lulled their terror with her gentle, idle chatter.
Pages:
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251