"Where's Dargelos, Gérard ]-l don't know" "Thief!" "You'll give it back I'll make you confess lt wasn't me, I tell you" "Sure it was" "It snowed that day" "For the boys, the building site turned into an engine of war" "Dargelos?" "Dargelos!" "It's me!" "He's bleeding" "Here's the deputy head!" "Dargelos did it, sir" "That's not true, he didn't" "You again, naturally." "Calm down and follow me" "Vast are the privileges of beauty even among those unaware of it." "The masters liked Dargelos" "The deputy head was much troubled by this inexplicable business" "What's wrong, Paul?" "Say something" "What happened?" "I hit him in the chest with a snowball" "He went "ah!" and fell down" "A nose-bleed, I thought" "Snowballs don't do that much damage" "He'd put a stone in it ls that true?" "Have you no answer?" "He's coming round." "Ask him" "How do you feel?" "l'm sorry" "Don't apologize... you fainted" "l remember..." "Do you know what made you faint?" "A snowball hit my chest" "A snowball wouldn't knock you out" "That's all it was" "Your friend says it had a stone inside" "He's crazy l'd been running" "Maybe that did it" "The deputy head was relieved" "The car is here" "One licorice strip" "Come along, boy, you're all right and we're taking you home" "A snowball can't be very serious, can it?" "I can see that he gets home" "He's looking much better" "34, Rue du Rocher" "Children are quick to imagine the worst" "But the worst never seems quite real because they can't envisage death" "Paul's dying" "He didn't believe this,. it seemed the natural conclusion to a dream travelling through the snow everlastingly embalmed in ice" "But for Paul, the car and its frosted windows would have been no more than that the snow and police sirens merely snow and police sirens" "Do you need any help?" "Want him to help?" "l'm not dead." "Help me and shut up" "Open up, Elisabeth, it's us" "Open up..." "Paul's unwell" "Are you having me on?" "No, he's shivering out here" "It happened just after school..." "Stop yelling, idiot" "You'll wake mother up" "Some rotter hit him with a snowball lt wasn't just snow" "Like an idiot, I fainted" "Out having fun, were you?" "While I nurse my poor sick mother you're playing at snowballs" "You got Paul into it, I bet but I'll have to nurse him, dolt!" "Lisbeth, dear..." "Don't you dare "dear" me!" "Ignore the bag, Gérard; she's a pain" "Why should I care about a ninny who can't stand up to a snowball?" "You can look after yourself" "Look, Gérard, I've been practising" "Sleeping, Mum?" "Just dozing" "Paul's got a sprain;" "I'll get the doctor ls he in pain?" "Just when walking; he sends his love" "What about a maid?" "Still nothing" "You asleep?" "Get lost!" "How charming. I'm slaving and you're gone" ""Gone", in their private language, was the point of a game they played" ""I'm going, they'd say, "I'm gone"" "You're a real creep, you stinker" "Let me get your shoes off" "Freezing" "Disturbing a player while "gone" was considered an unpardonable crime I'll get a hot-water bottle" "Stop playing the fool or I'll never get it off" "This was their Treasure, impossible to describe" "Their purpose replaced by symbolic meanings these treasured objects seemed merely junk to the uninitiated eye" "Adjustable spanners, aspirin tubes, aluminium tubs, hair-curlers" "Now sleep, idiot" "Paul was hit in the chest by a snowball, but..." "I put him to bed" "What's all this, Paul?" "Pass the thermometer and leave us, Lise" "Wait outside. I don't like people milling around watching me" "Don't worry." "There's no danger, but it is serious" "He already had a weak chest" "No school for him." "What he needs is rest, rest and more rest" "We needn't bother your mother over this I know I can count on you" "Call the maid" "We haven't one any more" "Tomorrow I'll send along two nurses who can help with the house" "You'll be in charge" "Elisabeth did not thank him." "Accustomed to miracles she expected them to happen..." "and they did I'll look in on your mother" "My darling..." "What's the matter with you?" "Can't you let other people sleep?" "I'd like to sleep, too, but I nurse you, feed you, listen to your noise" "What noise?" "A real racket I wanted to tell you the big news, but now I won't" "Keep your news for all I care" "Brother and sister felt no embarrassment" "Their room was a shell in which they lived, washed, dressed like two members of the same body" "What did the doctor say?" "No school for you" "In an agony of despair he pictured Dargelos continuing to live elsewhere but playing no part in his own future" "Lise..." "I don't feel well" "Now I've got pins and needles" "What do you want?" "l want you near me, beside my bed" "Now there's a silly" "No more school, and he cries." "Imagine living shut away in our room" "The doctor promised us nurses. I'll only go out for books and lemonade" "Are you so fond of school?" "What's wrong, then?" "Let's play our game." "Blow your nose" "Watch..." "I'm hypnotizing you" "But sleep undid her efforts with bold, dark strokes sweeping like a car's headlights over snow" "Blow your nose and sleep" "Monsieur Dargelos I have had various unfavourable reports concerning you" "You exercise an influence over your fellows that seems incomprehensible but is nevertheless undesirable" "Now it seems that a boy hit by you is in no state to attend school" "What have you to say?" "Belt up!" "You heard!" "Don't talk to me like that I'll talk how I like" "Do you realize how serious your position is?" "You make me puke!" "Some pepper?" "Schools cannot impose a death penalty so they sent Dargelos home and took the head to hospital" "He walked out, ignoring everyone" "Do you know his address?" "That sort never tell you" "So it's all that's left of him." "Get the photograph" "What's this?" "Delivering hats?" "It's for you" "How ghastly..." "I like it, I'd have thought you too stupid for that" "She hates violets" "But they're fake; we'll put them in water" "Forget that freak; get Athalie" "On Commemoration Day the school had staged Athalie;" "Dargelos took the title role" "He looks like a tiger" ""To tiny birds he offers pasture." "His bounty extends to all nature"" "His finery suggested a tragedienne of the 1880s" "Ugly looking thing" "Each to his taste. into the Treasure" "You might consult me first" "We are consulting you." "He threw the snowball, the pepper, he got expelled" "He's still an ugly thing" "Don't wear Paul out, Gérard ]I must check on Mum's nurses" "They're impossible, always trying to take the initiative I can't look away for a moment" "She's incorrigible" "Not a word, stupid l've amazing news for you..." "Paul's a sleepwalker" "Don't shout it from the rooftops" "He walks on the roof?" "Are you deaf, or just stupid?" "is that our strange pal?" "Come in, we won't eat you" "Suicide is a mortal sin" "Curiosity killed the cat" "He has no manners" "More than you!" "Just drop the subject" "Just drop it, as she says" "No "buts"" "But, but nothing -l'll slap him" "Slap her back!" "Don't you cowards dare!" "Wait till I get my own room" "And me, mine" "He wants a chandelier" "A plaster Sphinx and an enamelled Louis XlV chandelier!" "You're too stupid to understand" "Well, I'm off to a hotel;" "I'm packed already" "He can stay and look after himself" "She slapped me, Mum!" "He spat at me!" "That's not true" "Tell Mum it's untrue or I will slap you" "What's wrong?" "Come here, Paul." "Look I think Mum's dead" "What they saw left a lasting impression on them casting a fabulous veil over the reality of their mother's death" "Prodigies were necessary to the room they shared" "The outlandishness of this death masking the pain it evoked served as a barbaric tomb enshrining her memory in the world of dreams" "Doctor, does it really make a terrific noise?" "All the time" "ls that bad?" "You must look after yourself ls it serious?" "No, but he's growing and that complicates things." "He needs rest" "You see he gets it." "Mariette can help" "Mariette's leaving I'll see she stays." "Leave us to talk" "Well, doctor?" "You've lost your grandson, you're alone." "Won't you stay?" "I'll handle the money" "Do they tease you?" "is the air unhealthy?" "What they breathe is lighter than air" "Splendid." "You can restore order impossible, doctor" "Order their disorder, then." "Will you?" "Yes." "One can't help loving them" "See me when you run short of money" "You're very good, doctor -l'm not; but I like you, I love them lf only they could go to the seaside" "No, it's Gérard. I'll put my uncle on" "No, it's Gérard. I'll put my uncle on" "Hello, doctor." "Yes, it's not out of the question I've only a short holiday, so can't give them much time" "But Gérard can invite the ]if he looks after them" "No, no... they're very welcome" "Excuse me, but I've an engagement" "Don't thank me" "Elisabeth switched roles from shrew to nurse" "Heard Gérard's idea?" "Stupid, I bet" "No, a seaside holday with his uncle" "Yes, we'll see the sea" "But do you know about travelling?" "No, but the thing is to pretend we do" "We'll need a heap of luggage" "All aboard, children" "They don't seem very wild" "My brother's a little shy" "Bitch!" "Look at the ladder" "It's fun, one of you on top" "Here's your wash-basin" "This isn't our first sleeper!" "You've never left home before -lf you'd travelled as much as we..." "Just ignore him" "Know-it-all!" "Where are the beds?" "One above the other" "What does Gérard know about it ]They'll probably sling a hammock" "Someone's knocking" "Open the door, then" "That's the wash-basin" "First service." "Shall I make up your beds?" "Naturally" "Ready for the dining-car?" "Come along, Paul; don't stand there like a dummy" "It took considerable effort for them to mask their excitement" "But, though knowing nothing of the world, a certain innate elegance enabled them to appear entirely at ease within it" "You grabbed the top one, naturally" "You're ill, it's best for you below I want you to come down" "From now on, it's separate rooms for us l want you to come down" "Do you feel unwell?" "l don't want you above me" "What a pest!" "What's that you've got?" "A clothes-peg, to give me a Grecian profile" "You're mad" "At least I haven't a weak chin lt's time you tried an elastic bandage on yours" "Let me go to sleep -ls that why you got me down?" "Does the doctor think I'm going to die?" "Am I done for?" "Completely." "So die and let me get on with my life." "That chin!" "Are you joking, or is that true?" "l never tell the truth" "l'd like to have the light off -l don't know how to do it." "You try" "You make me sick!" "Likewise." "And watch your tone of voice lt's like Dad's, and he drank and beat Mum" "All fire and ice, shying clear of the lukewarm she was a thoroughbred, and wanted Paul the same" "Travelling by train for the first time, deaf to the clickety-clack this child intently devoured the face of her brother her manic intensity impinging briefly on other passengers'dreams" "You've not looked at the sea" "You mind your own business" "l'm not sleeping in a bathroom -l'm not sharing my room" "You sleep here, I'll take the bathroom." "The hotels are full" "Share my room?" "You sort it out." "Right now I'm having a bath." "So keep out I ran that bath!" "So, first no bed, then no bath" "Leave her alone, Paul!" "Oh you, Mister Big Heart!" "l'm getting in!" "Me first, then you can steal my bath" "All settled in?" "Sorry, but they may have another room soon" "Your friends didn't sound pleased" "Oh, but they are" "Got it?" "I stick my tongue out, then when I give you the nudge, you do it" "Sit down, children" "No special diets?" "To think I was warned you might be difficult I never said that!" "Fond of children, I see?" "l adore them" "She stuck her tongue out" "Forgive me for attending to my mail" "He did, too" "Really!" "Striking a child, at the seaside... I need protection from the sun at my age" "How much is this one?" "495 francs lt's outrageous I'm afraid I've no change I can manage that" "They stole for the sake of stealing,." "no profit motive was involved" "Nothing useful could be taken,." "all they wanted was to be scared" "Come on, children, don't hang about" "lt's raining!" "You should have brought an umbrella lt never rains long here." "Something to drink?" "We aren't thirsty, thanks" "You take my cape. I'll see you at the hotel later" "Be good I'll see the boys behave" "Show us" "Don't make me do it again;" "I couldn't" "Brushes don't count; they're useful" "l'm no idiot -l didn't think so... till now" "Something very difficult" "The watering-can" "Never!" "Do it, or I won't speak to you again" "But it's enormous" "Show me your mettle" "No buts, just obey." "You can have the cape to help hide the watering-can" "We'll be watching" "Hello, Mariette" "You do look well." "Have you enjoyed yourselves?" "Have you been good?" "Very" "We remembered you, too" "Now you'll have somewhere to keep hot water" "The curtain went up every night at 1 1 o'clock" "No matinées, except on Sundays" "In this room, with Gérar ]camped on the floor the drama unfolded unnoticed.." "Paul with his milk and his towels Elisabeth with her magazines and strange forces at work hostile to daily living" "Your "Turkey-red" shade..." "I can't read I can; it stays" "Her and her creams!" "She read that American actresses use it" "Thinks they're good for the scalp" "Are you listening?" "Yes" "You're too good-natured;" "just ignore him" "For Paul, going to bed meant an embalming" "Comforters, food, treasures, all attended his nocturnal ventures" "A crayfish, Gérard?" "Come on, make your mouth tingle" "Bitch!" "She hates crayfish" "She hates pepper because I love it" "She'd take the roof off her mouth to spite me" "What do you think of them?" "Excellent" "Pass me one, Gérard" "What could be lower than a 16-year-old begging for a crayfish?" "He'd crawl on all fours!" "No, let him come and get one" "Dying of greed, but too lazy to make an effort I'm ashamed of him I quote, Gérard;" ""l love her lack of taste, her motley dress, shapeless shawl, addled speech"" ""The crime was exceptionally sordid" ""The Michaut woman's farm..."" "The wretch!" "Help me, Gérard" "Dry me with this; put the paper in the fireplace" "Careful, you're so clumsy" "I was going to give him one, too" "Want one?" "They're a bit milky" "I'm not mean, you can have your crayfish." "Here, eat I'm off if you don't want it" "This you have to see" "Here's your crayfish, Paul" "Look, Gérard, he's eating in hi ]sleep." "How very curious" "Greed like that is pretty low" "From this scene Gérard took in only one thing." "]she used the familiar "tu"to him" "Where's Mariette?" "I sent her out for drinks and sandwiches" "How awful" "Everything's awful" "Leave, then -l intend to I'll get a job;" "I'm sick of being a maid." "You do as you like" "Ajob doing what?" "Paul can do as he likes, Gérard ]he's hopeless, anyway lsn't she sweet?" "I have to think of myself. I'll find myself a job..." "I have to" "As an Aunt Sally, maybe" "The poor boy's still sick lt's not his fault that a snowball was enough to lay him low" "l'm saddled with an invalid, though" "You stinker!" "He's the picture of health;" "look at those shoulders" "So what, when he's weak, greedy and spineless?" "And clumsy" "Well you, in my opinion, are a big mouth of no use to anyone or anything" "Gérard knows how lazy you are ]expecting me to do everything for you" "Go on, then, I know just the job for you" "The oldest profession" "You went too far" "Stay" "You see how things are?" "Perhaps I could work for that couturier your uncle knows" "Work is good for you" "As a salesgirl, no chance;" "model, maybe... I forbid it!" "If my sister's going to be a tart let her walk the streets I might run into you" "Anyway, just look at yourself" "You've more chance of being hired as a scarecrow than a model" "This is the young lady." "Be patient with her" "My name's Elisabeth" "The girls will tease, but they're nice." "You'll get used to it" "Let's see what's under those clothes I've everything to learn I'll see she learns fast" "The two orphans!" "Don't look so grim. lf they make fun of you, make fun of them" "You're a customer I'm showing a dress to" "Sit down" "Smile" "No, don't. I was forgetting you're the customer; customers never smile" "You walk straight up to the customers hands on hips, thumbs forward staring her in the eye" "You halt, you slowly turn your back on her face her again, inspect her from head to toe as if you didn't see her" "Then, with a scornful look, you walk away and start again with another customer" "Now you try;" "I'm the customer" "That's perfect" "You look like an old hand I was scared stiff" "Agathe" "A marble" "We have an agate marble in our Treasure" "How come you have my picture?" "That's not you" "The costume's different, but I have a picture of me looking just like this" "Who is it?" "A boy, the one who hit Paul with a snowball" "Doesn't he look like Agathe, Paul?" "The obvious resemblance suddenly exploded" "Paul saw Dargelos, felt the snowball again" "No, it's just the picture;" "you're not really alike" "Put the picture back, Elisabeth ls there a resemblance, Gérard?" "Leave Gérard out of this" "Suddenly, Elisabeth realized that the boxers, detectives and stars pinned up by Paul on the walls all resembled Agathe and Dargelos/Athalie" "You worked pretty fast" "Agathe deserves better than some poxy hotel" "Maybe... but Mum's room?" "It's just an empty room." "Mum's in our room now" "Agathe being here bothers me" "What bothers you is the resemblance, isn't it?" "Mind your own business" "Am I disturbing you?" "I was bad-mouthing you" "Elisabeth was wrong to make you live here I knew I'd be in the way ln his, maybe, not mine." "I insist on your staying" "Oh, stay if the fashion business depends on it" "Now you've made her cry." "He's just an ill-mannered bear, Agathe I should go" "Go or stay, I don't care" "You're no match for me, so you play strong man with poor Agathe" "Don't you start, it's complicated enough" "Listen to the psychologist I've figured you out, anyway." "I won't let Agathe become your victim" "Suppose she wants to be?" "You see?" "The monster has found his victim" "Well, he's got me to reckon with" "Will you let me sleep" "Go to bed and stop crying, Agathe." "I want to have a word with Paul" "This is the way we are;" "you'll have to get used to it" "Paul darling... ls it her looking like that boy that bothers you?" "If you must know it's because she's new here, stops us playing our game" "We haven't played in ages" "That's your fault" "l had to go out to find work" "Precisely" "Paul darling let's play now I play alone now" "Listen... yes, listen imagine a vast temple, the Temple of Destruction" "Of fifty high priests, four enter the inner sanctum where thousands of slaves toil, all sworn to silence I don't know what you're on about or what's happening to us." "Let me sleep" "Go to sleep then, darling" "Introspection requires a discipline of which they were incapable" "They found only darkness and the ghosts of feelings" "So you're spying on us?" "Doing my duty... yes, my duty" "You're rotten tarts and Gérard' ]your pimp." "Don't interrupt!" "I'll move out, leave them to their men. I always knew models were tarts" "You and Gérard led Agathe astray" "ignore him, Gérar ]" "No, I insist on explaining" "We wanted you to meet Michael, a rich young American Jew; he knows my uncle I'll slap your rotten Jew if I meet him" "You should be ashamed, leading Agathe astray; to sell her, I suppose?" "Anti-Semitic, are you?" "Anyway, it's me Michael wants to marry. I like him" "Marry you?" "You must be mad" "Look at yourself in the mirror." "You're unmarriageable ugly, the queen of all idiots." "He's pulling your leg" "Your chin looks firmer when you're angry; rage away" "She can marry who she likes" "Who cares?" "You, maybe?" "What do you mean?" "Do meet Michael; you'll like him -l doubt that very much" "There's no use reasoning with a lunatic" "You're wrong;" "I will meet him" "Just to be awkward" "Not at all I'd like to commiserate with anyone who can stomach you" "Come, Agathe" "Gérard turned away to the window" "To marry the virgin of the temple was beyond his hopes" "Behind him receded the inner inner sanctum profaned by a young motorist completely unaware of its taboos" "Another room no one uses." "This will be mine, with Louis xvi furnishings" "Very fitting" "Salon, music and games rooms I leave to Michael plus a strange gallery that leads nowhere" "Gérard could take Agathe's room" "Mum's room lf Michael's away, you girls can come back" "Why don't you live here, Paul?" "I need to be alone" "We've still eighteen rooms to see" "And my famous gallery" "Tell Mariette we'll see to Paul's expenses" "You're very kind, Michael" "Where's the honeymoon to be?" "You explain our plans, Michael" "After the wedding, I leave Elisabeth" "Good idea!" "I move in here, he goes to the Riviera" "Now that's a marriage." "When do you get back?" "Four days later. lt's business I couldn't put off" "Now see and wonder" "This vast glory-hole that led nowhere was Michael's weakness his smile, his very soul betraying a touch of fantasy that made him one of them" "How did you dream this up?" "Playing the reconstruction architect, he miscalculated. I love his mistakes" "One could camp out in tents" "Go ahead" "ls there a ghost?" "l've never seen one" "With us you will" "But their domestic genie still watched" "On the road between Cannes and Nice, Michael was killed" "Only one wheel moved in the silent wreck ever more slowly, like a lottery wheel" "Thanks for your help;" "figures baffle me" "Especially with sums like these" "Can I do anything in return?" "Well, I'm off to Morocco for a week" "Gérard will be alone; could h ]perhaps stay with you?" "He's very depressed" "Of course." "Paul's coming, too;" "we've no shortage of rooms" "That's wonderful" "Chin up; this has been a terrible tragedy" "She's as rich as Croesus now" "That won't change anything lt will;" "I'll be here" "Elisabeth's only keeping Mariette and the chauffeur" "Only Mariette for eighteen rooms?" "You did agree to stay here?" "Well, I was lonely" "l'll be here, so nothing's changed" "Full house, except for Gérard" "Am I in the way?" "You're joking" "Well, I'm a widow" "Wearing mourning, anyway lt's awful to say, but mourning suits you" "You think so?" "So does callousness" "The veil's striking..." "...but the sun's so hard on it" "That's it, I give up!" "You like your room?" "l'm scared, all alone on that floor I want Agathe's room" "Then you can move in with me" "Room for one more!" "I forgot to say;" "Gérard's stayin ]while his uncle's away" "House full!" "In that abstract room that could be reborn anywhere Michael lived on after his death" "And a mystery resolved itself" "Elisabeth married Michael not for his charm, wealth or looks" "She married him for his death" "Agathe, dear, be good enough not to count out loud" "He's so sensitive that anything upsets him" "Shut up!" "This is my room" "Please don't interfere, Gérard" "I'll leave you to it, then" "Would you pick up that coverlet, Gérard?" "Pick up that coverlet, Gérard I hate untidyness" "Once in the mysterious gallery Paul became as wary as a prowling cat" "Stopping, turning, sniffing at the furnishings he found there no building site or snowball fight but did sense profound echoes of a former life" "Dominated by Agathe, his pride suffered" "Not realizing he loved her and her sweetness should conquer him he fought against what he thought must be his dream" "The gallery housed screens for a never-built winter garden as absurd, clumsy and inelegant as everything else in here" "Paul unfolded them and made ramparts of them a sort of Chinoiserie city" "An old carpet completed his masterpiece" "Wrapped in blankets, he went to sleep" "Their old room gradually came to life again in this gallery" "The lamp, the "Turkey Red", the bed the chair, the bottles, the Treasure chest the moustachioed bust" "After a visit or two, Elisabeth, Agathe and Gérard moved in, unable to resist Paul's exciting new artificial roomscape lt's really the only possible room" "It is nice" "lt's awful being rich -l'd imagine so" "Do I look rich?" "No, you always look like a beggar" "Good. I was afraid of wealth" "Come in, then" "May I?" "There speaks the wealth" "Paul, I feel lost" "Lost, alone..." "I'll never get my room right" "You have Agathe and Gérard with you" "No, they keep to their rooms, go out together a lot" "Go out together?" "I let them use the car" "What can they talk about?" "We intimidate them" "Alone, they feel free to talk" "What about?" "About us" "And those cranks make you feel lost?" "I longed for my own room, but I hate it" "Sharing with you again would be hell" "Good" "But I hate my room" "You were lucky to find this" "You must love your desert island, your Chinoiserie lt's all right" "One could "go" here" "Go where?" "You know... our game I'm too old for that" "Sorry to hear it" "Where are you going?" "Nowhere" "What Paul's letter said was this.." ""Agathe, I'm mailing this because I dare not leave it in your room" ""Don't be cross.." "I love you" ""Stupidly, I thought you meant me harm" ""If you don't love me, too, I'll die" ""Answer this, I beg you." "I'll be waiting in my gallery"" "Unfortunately, instead of putting Agathe's name on the envelope Paul wrote his own" "She felt unwell I'll see if she wants anything" "No, she asked to be left alone" "What did she say?" "She thinks Paul hates her" "Eat up -l'm not hungry" "Go and question Paul, then; find out what he's got against us all" "l'll see Agathe" "She said not to" "Leave her to me; go and see Paul" "He'll say nothing" "Could you oblige me, for once, by not being so stupid?" "He'll be furious" "He never is now; that's the odd thing" "What's going on here?" "Nothing" "Something did this to you" "Nothing, I tell you." "Leave me alone, I'm sick of myself lt's Gérard, isn't it?" "He sai ]something to hurt you" "No, let me alone" "Not till I cheer you up" "You can't" "Serious as all that?" "Are you in love?" "Just let me alone" "Calm down; blow your nose" "Now tell me I love him. I adore him." "He despises me" "What right has he to despise you?" "Did he tell you he does?" "Lucky for him, then. lf you love him, the two of you must marry" "You're so kind, Lise" "But he doesn't love me" "Are you sure?" "Gérard is very shy" "It's not Gérard..." "I'm talkin ]about Paul" "Now that's astonishing;" "I'd never have guessed" "That really is a surprise" "Tell me" "There's nothing to tell." "I loved Paul from the very first I didn't dare say anything." "I liked his teasing could have put up with his insults in order to be near him" "But he's avoiding me now;" "I can't stand that lt's very simple. I'll talk to Paul" "No, please; don't let him even suspect" "Leave it to me; if Paul loves you, it's all for the best I'll find out how he feels without giving you away" "Trust me; don't budge from this room" "Her heart thudding, nothing could stop her now" "She was not even thinking" "The genie of the room had taken her over as other spirits do a financier in crisis a sailor facing shipwreck, a criminal in need of an alibi" "Paul's in a strange mood, he wants to see you" "How's the invalid?" "She asked to be left alone" "l was going up" "She said not to" "Wait in my room while I see Paul" "I've come to see how you are." "Agathe is ill" "Not ill, unwell." "She needs rest" "Did she say anything..." "about a letter?" "What letter?" "I can't take any more, Lise" "So I'll tell you; a letter from me" "Writing to someone living here?" "Ridiculous, I know, but I hoped the unexpected might lend fate a hand if you were all there together" "What does the letter say?" "That I love her" "Yes, Lise, I'm crazy about her" "For days I've refused to admit it I'm mad about Agathe" "Well, now..." "She said nothing?" "You noticed nothing?" "I'm the last person she'd tell" "The little fool!" "Wait here a minute for me." "I must talk seriously with you" "Agathe says she had no letter but it can't have flown away" "Didn't she seem upset, angry, agitated in some way?" "No, she was perfectly calm I'll be back right away" "There it was, the yellow envelope like a crumpled leaf on the tray" "It was Paul's writing a clumsy schoolboy scrawl but, as you know, the envelope bore Paul's own name" "He had written to himself" "It was typical of him,." "he'll never change" "Agathe's asleep, but there's an envelope on her dresser" "A yellow one" "Like those" "She didn't mention it?" "No. I don't want her ever to know I saw it, so don't mention it to her" "She'd have to lie" "Don't cry, darling; you're a man now" "There's something I kept from you, because..." "What?" "Agathe is in love with someone else" "You've got all your signals crossed." "Agathe is no Queen Athalie" "She's just small-time, after all" "Who is it?" "Brace yourself..." "Gérard lt's odd he didn't tell you." "I intimidate him" "He probably thought you'd jeer at them" "It's perfectly natural" "Little goose, nice boy..." "they're made for each other" "Gérard will have his uncle's mone ]and head a nice bourgeois family" "Nothing stands in their way lt would be criminal to interfere" "You can't, just because of a passing fancy lt's grotesque" "True, but you have to accept it I can't do that, Lise" "Don't be silly" "Agathe wants to forget the letter" "Let her think it was a whim." "Keep away from her I'd better go away" "That would be silly; just pretend nothing happened" "The wedding will keep them busy, and that'll be an end to it" "The task had to be completed" "Instinct told her that assassins strike blow upon blow without drawing back" "Prowling like a spider in the darkness she spun her glittering web through the night working slowly, effortlessly, unceasingly" "Must you always shout?" "Sorry, I'm upset" "Paul's sick." "The doctor will know if it's 'flu or a relapse I've told him to stay in bed and see no one I'm off home, anyway" "I want to talk to you" "What are you doing about Agathe?" "Doing?" "Why?" "Are you pulling my leg?" "She loves you and can't understand your silence" "She imagines you love me" "An absurd and revolting idea, given my great wealth" "You've no place to hide, so stop mooning around me" "Marry Agathe, and keep my role in all this from her I couldn't bear for her to think she owes her happiness to me" "l don't believe this" "So that's settled; off you go I'll tell Agathe you love her and have shed your delusions of grandeur" "Kiss me, and admit how happy you are lf it's what you want" "Paul doesn't love you; he's incapable of loving anyone" "His monstrous egotism would destroy any woman I'll die" "No, you won't." "Gérard is fine, honest ]loving, and can offer you a future" "You love him without realizing it" "But Paul..." "He's delighted to know you and Gérard are in love" "Just make a happy announcement of your marriage and he'll never guess your foolishness" "Thank you, Lise... you're so good" "Don't thank me;" "I'd hate to see you suffer" "Now go to sleep" "She felt calm, unburdened but her heart began to beat faster as she saw Paul on the stairs once more prey to one of his sleepwalking attacks" "All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand" "Her eyes cast down, Elisabeth washed her appalling hands" "I don't understand this relapse; he should be moved to a comfortable room" "Paul won't have it" "Try to persuade him" "He doesn't look too bad" "Not in that red light; in daylight it's a different story" "He shouldn't be left alone" "Leave it!" "Just looking at you" "What did the doctor say?" "That you looked awful" "Are Agathe and Gérard back?" "They're lunching tomorrow I'll join you" "Mustn't miss the performance" "So you're happy?" "Very" "Does Gérard beat you ]" "Poor Gérard..." "I'm the difficult one" "Guess who I met in Marseilles;" "Dargelos" "Has he changed?" "He's paler, like you" "You'd swear he's Agathe's brother" "He's friendlier; his arrogance is gone" "He shuttles to and from lndo-China for a car firm" "He asked if I still saw Snowball meaning you" "Then he asked if you still liked poisons" "Poisons?" "Just to have, to look at, to know it's there. lt's wonderful" "How horrible!" "Why horrible?" "I used to cook up "poisons", with labels on the bottles" "They're insane, Gérard" "Dargelos had Indian, Chinese, Mexican poisons" ""Snowball wanted to collect them", he said, "but I'm the one doing it"" "A present from Dargelos" "The ball of poison imposed silence fascinating and repellent as a single serpent's coil revealing several heads" "It stank of pestilence and geraniums" "He wouldn't send poison I'll tell you what it is; it's what natives use to poison their arrows" "Don't give it to Paul;" "he's so careless" "Paul?" "Just watch..." "Eat it!" "So brave, so careless!" "Eat it yourself, idiot!" "And delight you by dying?" "No thanks lt goes in the Treasure ln a tin, it smells so" "Reverently she put it away tongue slightly protruding, like a witch sticking pins in a figurine" "Throw it away, Paul" "We've a gun already" "The gem of our Treasure" "Give it to Gérard to thro ]in the Seine" "Paul and I don't care for petty minds" "Take that as read" "It was a Sunday and snowing" "Elisabeth stayed in bed all day" "She slept." "She dreamed..." "Paul was dead, walking in a strange way" "She took the blue path leading to the blue carpet in the gallery" "She wore an unfamiliar dressing- gown, not her usual towelling one" "She climbed a hillock" "Passing one of the screens, she found the Chinese room gone and Paul lying on the billiard-table" "The table's name was Melancholy" "She leaned over Paul, her left hand touching the automatic marker her right hand on his" "Paul said.. "It's the departure bell"" "Doubtless the marker clicking" "Lucky someone let you in I've a key." "How's Paul?" "Asleep, probably." "Why?" "He wrote that he was taking poison." "Mariette must have brought the letter" "Probably a leg-pull" "Don't stand there, call the doctor" "He's gone to the country." "It's Sunday... there isn't anyone" "Get some hot coffee" "Put your fur over him" "Look at me, Paul; say something" "Drink..." "Don't frighten me so, Paul" "What did that letter mean?" "It's your fault, Agathe" "Then Paul explained" "Haltingly, in whispers, he revealed the truth" "Agathe listened, stunned" "Like the poison spreading its noxious fumes the plot laid bare its hideous mechanisms" "Elisabeth lied to you, Paul." "I told her I loved you" "You must live" "Too late, Agathe" "Don't drink that!" "Me, poison him?" "You're capable of it" "You're out of your mind" "Monster!" "Maybe, but I'm no coward I couldn't let Agathe take you from me" "She's going to shoot, Paul!" "Make life unliveable, that's the answer" "Revolt life so much that it cannot stand me any longer" "Be so hideous that it spits in my very face" "She's mad, she'll kill me" "You're wrong. I'm not the one who's mad, you are I have to hold on to the end, but the end is slow in coming lt isn't easy" "Listen, Paul..." "look at me I know you hear me, Paul." "Make an effort" "Don't let go." "Calculate, add, multiply with me I'll lead you, come on, calculate, don't let go" "Come on, you're under my spell I'm hypnotizing you" "Help!"