When they forgot that she was there
and could hear and see them, they were seized with folly. Perceiving
Camille, they sought to drive him away. Then, in unsteady tones,
they allowed the truth to escape them, uttering words that revealed
everything to Madame Raquin. Laurent had a sort of attack, during
which he spoke like one under the influence of hallucination, and the
paralysed woman abruptly understood.
A frightful contraction passed over her face, and she experienced such
a shock that Therese thought she was about to bound to her feet and
shriek, but she fell backward, rigid as iron. This shock was all the
more terrible as it seemed to galvanise a corpse. Sensibility which had
for a moment returned, disappeared; the impotent woman remained more
crushed and wan than before. Her eyes, usually so gentle, had become
dark and harsh, resembling pieces of metal.
Never had despair fallen more rigorously on a being. The sinister truth,
like a flash of flame, scorched the eyes of the paralysed woman and
penetrated within her with the concussion of a shaft of lightning. Had
she been able to rise, to utter the cry of horror that ascended to her
throat, and curse the murderers of her son, she would have suffered
less.
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