Clerambault: The Story of an Independent Spirit During the WarRolland, Romain
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Clerambault: The Story of an Independent Spirit During the War
Rolland, Romain
World War, 1914-1918 -- Fiction
"My poor wife, it is awfully hard on you ...Yes, you are right," and
then waited till the shower was over. But this tone upset Madame
Clerambault, who was furious because she felt she had no hold on her
husband. She knew perfectly that though he appeared to agree with
her she could not turn him from his course of action. Despairing
of success, she went off to pour her troubles into the ears of her
brother. Leo Camus made no attempt to disguise his opinion that the
best thing she could do was to get a divorce, which he represented to
her as a duty. This, however, was going a little too far; she was,
after all, a respectable _bourgeoise_, and the traditional horror
of divorce re-awakened her profound fidelity and made her think the
remedy worse than the disease; so they remained united on the surface,
but intimacy between them was gone.
Rosine was out nearly all day, for in order to forget her unhappiness
she was taking a course in trained nursing, and she passed a large
part of her time away from home. Even when she was at home her
thoughts seemed far away, and Clerambault had never regained his
former place in his daughter's heart; another filled it now--Daniel.
She treated her father coldly; he was the cause of her separation from
the man of her heart, and this was a way of punishing him. And though
she was too just not to reproach herself, still she could not alter;
injustice is sometimes a consolation.
Daniel had not forgotten, any more than Rosine; he was not proud of
his conduct, but it rather softened his remorse to throw the blame on
his surroundings, on the tyrannical opinion which had coerced him; but
in his heart he was discontented with himself.
Accident came to the assistance of this sulking pair of lovers. Daniel
was seriously but not dangerously wounded, and was evacuated back to
Paris. During his convalescence he was walking one day near the square
of the Bon Marché when he saw Rosine. He stood still a moment but as
she came forward, without hesitation, they went on into the Square
and began a long conversation, which, beginning by embarrassment,
and interrupted by numerous reproaches and avowals, led finally to a
perfect understanding between them. They were so absorbed in their
tender explanations, that they did not see Madame Clerambault when she
came near, and the good lady, overcome by this unexpected meeting,
hurried home to tell the news to her husband. In spite of their
estrangement, she could not keep this to herself. He listened to her
indignant recital, for she could not bear that her daughter should
have anything to do with a man whose family had affronted them; and
when she had finished he said nothing at first, according to his
present habit, until at last he shook his head smiling, and said:
"Good enough."
Madame Clerambault stopped short, shrugged her shoulders, turned to
go, but with her hand on the door of her room she looked back and
said:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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