"Leathernose Gentleman and Lover" "1814." "While riding an attack on the Cossacks, Roger," "Count de Tainchebraye fell in the Champagne during that carnage known as the French Campaign... at the end of one of those battles without hope, during which the Empire, in order to delay its fall, sacrificed thousands of its 20-year-old soldiers." "... and his men, led by the pike man, returned in the evening to look for their young master among the dead..." "There he is!" "Look at his face." "Master." "Master Roger." "Give me a hand." "Careful, boys." "Very careful." "He's still alive." "He won't hold out." "We'll take him back all the same." "If he must die, he'll die at home." "He woke up, now it'll be worse." "Here you are, it's over." "There's Nonancourt." " Who is it?" " M. de Tainchebraye." " They're taking him upstairs." " The beautiful Roger?" "Jesus, they've killed him!" "Stay away!" "Take it easy, soldier, I'm a doctor." "Do something so that he won't be in pain anymore." "You'll say your prayers later, my good woman." "Now get some beds ready for them." "I won't hurt you, I just want to ease your pain." "This will make you sleep." "You may leave us now." "I'll take charge." "You too." "I'll go to Tainchebraye, to inform his mother." "How old is he?" "26, Monsieur, since Corpus Christi." "Now to us, my boy!" "From the Countess de Bonneville." "He woke up." "He talks." "He'll be out of bed soon, get ready!" "I've stuffed you with opium so that you didn't suffer too much." "Now your wounds are beginning to scar." "You must have been really strong, otherwise you wouldn't have survived it." "Is it you... whom I owe..." "Don't be hasty with your thanks." "But I'm calling you "tu"." "You might do so too." "I haven't left your bedside for weeks." "My name's Marchal." "No more talking now." "Try to sleep some more." "Marchal." "Go to sleep!" "My wounds..." "Tell me." "If you don't shut up now, I'll drug you some more." "Answer me, in God's name!" "Well?" "You're not the easy-going type, once you're awake." "Alright." "Let's get it over with." "The wounds." "Where?" "Everywhere." "You were cut to pieces." " Will I remain a cripple?" " Don't insult me, I've stitched you together alright." "In a few months, you'll be in the saddle again." "And... and here?" "The face?" "How does it look?" "You don't dare tell me?" "Give me a mirror." "Don't get upset." "Is it that terrible?" "Disfigured?" "Yes." "Completely." "Horrible?" "Yes." "But do something!" "I can't stand it!" "No!" "You should have killed me, let me die!" "Have you finished?" "Yes, you're ugly." "But you'll live." "You'll live, do you hear!" " This is the only thing which counts." " I can't!" "You will!" "It's embarrassing to see you whimper like that." "This is what war is like." "Listen to me." "For 12 years there have been millions of dead..." "Rotting in the earth." "Ruins, boys whose stomachs have been ripped open, their mothers in tears." "Disfigured." "So what!" "How dare you complain!" "But there are people much more unfortunate than you are, much more!" "Thousands of cripples dragging themselves along the roads.... dying of hunger, because they don't live in a castle, because they have nothing, nothing, nobody!" "Of course, you don't care, M. de Tainchebraye !" "Then there are the blind, those with amputated limbs, you'll see them once you get up." "And there's myself!" "Yes, myself." "Myself." "Being made the laughing stock for all the idiots." "Made a eunuch at 28 years." "28 years, do you understand!" "A cut of the sabre at Hanau... at Hanau where the canons rolled in mud made out of human flesh." "I beg your ("te") pardon." "This is most cruel!" "My God, why couldn't he be dead?" "I saw Simone de Tainchebraye." "Her son got out of bed now." "Look at them." "Didn't you know?" "He's lost his nose!" "No nose at all!" "The Cossacks cut it off." "Nothing left!" "An Apollo with the face of a skull!" "I fail to see the joke." "Don Juan without his nose!" "You just go on laughing!" "We shall see..." "And you didn't want to live!" " Those women don't know about it." " The whole county knows." "They have been talking of nothing else for two months now." "All the women are waiting for you, all of them." "They haven't seen me." "How beautiful they are!" "Look, Marchal." "Peasant women!" "You can't understand, town-dweller." "Their teint when they are young." "The blond softness of their skin." "Not complicated, simple, they don't make a fuss." "That one who's looking up, 18 years at most." "The line of her neck ... neat..." " Her charm.." " Shut up!" "Soil yourself with your bitches, if you must!" "Look at them." "Use your eyes." "But keep silent." "It's time for you to return to your home." "As for me, it's getting unbearable." "They are all there, roaming around the house." " You're throwing me out?" " No, Roger." "But at the moment, they can heal you better than I can." "They'll be afraid of me, just as I'm afraid of myself." "Do you know them so little?" "Accept their pity?" "Never!" "And yet, I couldn't go on living if I don't..." "A freak to frighten away the girls." "This is what I have become." "Tomorrow you'll ask for your horse." "And three days later you'll be home." "I haven't ridden a horse for six months." "So what, you'll ride, one doesn't forget such things." "Once in the saddle you'll be alright." "You're stronger than you imagine." "For some time now, I've been keeping this for you." "You'll wear it." "Leave me alone, will you?" "There's such a crowd." "Sure, they're waiting for you." "Are you afraid?" "Whenever you're ready." "Into the saddle with you, Tainchebraye!" "Jump, you fool!" "Ah, our master!" "Take them, beautiful mask." "What about my pay?" "Is it possible that you've forgotten?" "Thank you, Marchal, thank you!" "Thank you!" "It's almost 3 o'clock, Roger." "Oh!" "The scoundrel, the bandit!" "The first guests will be arriving, you'll be late." " You're not even dressed yet." " Don't rush me." "This is insolence!" "But leave him alone!" "Defend me, my friend." "Leave him alone, if he wants to dawdle." " The queen, again." " Traitor!" " The Aubreville family." " Receive them." " But..." " Receive all of them." "Nobody of them has seen me yet." "They are dying of curiosity." " Let's starve them a bit." " But what's the use?" "What's the use?" "I don't want to confront one after the other." "I want to tackle them all in a block, and thus cut short all condolences." "Quick, go to my mother." "But the Dukes, for them you couldn't..." "The Dukes, the Dukes, they'll understand." "The Baron and the Baroness de Porval." "The Duke and the Duchess of Aubreville." "Someone saw him at Nonancourt." "They say he's wearing a sort of hood." "A hood covering his head." "It seems he can't even walk." "This is too cruel!" "He doesn't go out, shuts himself up in here." "Are you sure?" "The day before yesterday, on my lands.... ...he had a tumble with a peasant girl, like he used to." "A tumble!" "A tumble!" "The beast!" "Leather-nose?" "Leather-nose!" "A mask covering the entire face?" "So it seems." "Leather-nose, this is priceless!" "[joke with a rhyme]" "You're relieved?" "I think you're very much mistaken." "The allure of a mask, the romance." "Just a curiosity, it'll pass." "Once it is satisfied, the reputation will remain." "And there lies the danger..." "for all of you!" "Well said, Porval !" "One tires quickly of pity." "A carnival lasting the whole year is tiring." "Mask or no mask, pity or no pity, he'll remain what he has always been." "Won't he?" " But what is he?" " Roger de Tainchebraye !" "The only real man in the county!" " Touché !" "The Duke and the Duchess of Breuil." "He ought to be here by now!" "I can't stand waiting any longer." "He's lost his manners with his nose." "After all, he exaggerates." "This is beginning to get insolent." "If he keeps us waiting any longer it would be too much." "Oh, the roué !" "He knows his ways in society!" "Such silence!" "Why so?" "I've kept you waiting." "I am truly sorry." "The fellow has some nerve!" "But my nose is solid, Duke." "Besides, I have three spare ones." "Have a drink, insatiable boy." "Drink now?" "Are you mad, this would make me sober again!" "Thank you, Roger." "I wish I were 16 again." "Lock away your daughters, and keep a good watch on your wives!" "The round will recommence, or I no longer know my man." "10 years later" "His hair has gone white." "Do you think he's happy?" "Who could tell?" "He likes to humiliate others." "You're exaggerating." "He's not as bad as that, he's just amusing himself." "He used to amuse himself, God knows what he's searching for now." "Perhaps he wants to forget the thing he carries under his mask." "But this is a retrospective." "Drop your cynical act." "But this is not an act, it's the truth." "The women are embarrassed." "They are trying to compose themselves." "It's something wonderful, the secret." "Being just two to know...." "Just two, you imagine?" "But all their names are known." "All of them, really?" "Sometimes you're making me afraid." "Roger, just imagine," "I have sisters," "I love a woman." "We are friends." "That would stop you, wouldn't it?" "You couldn't have changed that much?" "Not deep in your heart?" "This is what they are asserting." "Don't let them be right in this." "What a figure!" "Who is she?" "Will you never tire of this?" "It's Hélène." "Josias' wife." "Oh, that poor chicken!" "This is gross!" "One should amuse her a bit." "She's an honest woman." "But I hope she is." "And true and pious." "Those are the best those damned prayers dropping from those lips." "I refuse to believe that you're that corrupted." "Or else..." " Or else?" "Or else you'll be terribly punished one day." "God exists." "So they say." "But it is entirely an affair between Him and myself." "It was He who attacked me first." "I'd done Him no wrong." "Not yet." "So, she's virtuous?" "Oh well." "I'll just have to get myself converted." "Five new conquest this year." "And we're still in November." "He enjoys doing evil, pervert others." "No, you don't know him." "Only a few days ago you would have stayed with me longer, tenderly holding me in your arms." "The weather had been less cold then." "After you've dropped me, I'll just be another of those women who have loved you... and who will continue doing so... without hope, their time having been used up." "Like those other women, I would have meant nothing to you." "An adventure at most, a distraction." "Certainly not." "You're going to get hurt." "I'm afraid, Roger." "Afraid for you, for myself, afraid that Josias might find out." "Must we speak about him?" "This isn't the place for it." "He's terribly jealous." "But this is charming!" "This proves that he loves you." "You're deliberately cruel, Roger." "But I'm not!" "So, Josias is jealous and you're afraid." "Let me assure you, that poor man is such an oaf that..." "Don't speak ill of him." "And I am being clumsy, I know." "I despise myself for acting like this." "I despise myself." "I annoy you." "Yes, I know." "You know those words only too well." "Tears, pangs of conscience." "One can't hide anything from you." "To appease them there's only one remedy:" "to sin again." "Then the tears will dry, the scruples will weaken, the pangs of conscience will disappear." "I love you, I love you for what you are." "Have pity, have pity, be silent." "Roger, what's the matter with you?" "What's the matter?" "Answer me!" "Get dressed quickly, just in case." "Somebody is coming in a hurry." "It's Josias." "Josias is in Flers." "And at this hour, God is asleep." "Into the hiding place with you." "In there you have nothing to fear." "Roger, I..." "This is not the moment to faint." "Get in there." "Go down the stairs, there's a chair." "Your stocking." "But this isn't mine." "A thousand pardons." "I'll be with you presently." "Who is it?" "Hélène, aunt Hélène!" "Don't touch me!" "Why, Judith ?" "Don't touch me!" "Where is aunt Hélène ?" " But I..." "Warn her!" "Warn her!" "My uncle will return this night, he's sent a message." "He's probably arrived already." "Hurry!" "Dismount and wait for me..." "It's no use." "Riding without a saddle, in the middle of the night!" "Hurry!" "I can well see that you're from the same family stock." "Where is she?" "She's coming down." "Come in." "Warm yourself." "I'll take her home first, then I'll fetch you." "No, I'm leaving." "Sure you are." "Marie-Bonne." "Marie-Bonne !" "Do you need me?" "Look at that tough old campaigner!" "Please come in." "For the moment you have a guardian angel." "Mademoiselle will stay here, I'll be back in an hour." "Saddle Agramant." "I'll fetch him." "It won't be the first time either!" "Great!" "There might be more dignified chaperons." "At this time of night, Monsieur, I don't care for jokes." "Aunt Hélène." "Judith." "I'm ashamed, ashamed." "You'll recite your Confiteor some other time." "Don't you agree, Mademoiselle?" "You'll attach the mare to the carriage." "It will be done, Roger." "Be a good girl, will you?" "Put your arms around me or have you forgotten how?" "I almost forgot, how shall we get into the house?" "I left the window of the small salon open." "All you have to do is..." "You're a monster!" "See you soon!" "But sit down, Mlle. You must be exhausted." "On my way back I've crossed him in his carriage." "He saluted me and invited me for supper on Tuesday." "Mademoiselle." "Don't toss her around, she's worn out." "She's a good girl." "Do you want Marie-Bonne to come with us?" "It's not necessary." "I may trust you?" "Get in there." "I won't even turn round once." "We'll be there very soon." "Have courage." "I thank you." "I'm not afraid." "So I see." "Stop!" "There's a light burning in my uncle's room." "Leave me here, I'll wait till all is dark, then I'll get into the house." "Thank you, Monsieur." "Very well." "But don't imagine I'll leave you alone here like that." " But it's not necessary..." " Your comments are useless." "Come with me." "After I've left you, I'll take the mare to the meadow." "I'll hide the carriage in the scrubs." "If he's counting his money, we'll be here all night." "What's the matter, soldier?" "Cold or afraid?" "I'm a bit cold, but it's nothing." "No, I don't want it." "Refusing to obey an order while on duty." "This is bad!" "Better?" "Yes." "But you'll be..." "You can't stand the cold." "Look at this!" "How did you know?" "I've heard about it." "Take it back." "No, I'll walk about a bit." "This way." "I know." "True." "Stay there." "Damn!" "They've closed it." "If we broke a pane?" "At the slightest noise, everybody will be awake and up." "The window to my dressing room." "The handle is broken." "It's up there." "Could you climb up there?" "No." "I couldn't even walk another step." "Leave me, I..." "Very well." "No use talking back, I'm giving the orders now." "Wait here." "Follow me." " No!" " Silence!" "Say a prayer." "Try to imagine for a minute that I'm somebody else." "Here we go!" "Up with you!" "Thank you, M. de Tainchebraye." "You may go now." "Well I must say!" "You've caught a cold." "Roger, I..." "No regrets now, Judith." "Those words I'll take them with me." "An immense fortune, incalculable !" "What was his name again?" "The Marquis de Brives." "No, I don't know him." "In his youth he used to..." "No!" "He was!" "Mme du Barry consulted him all the time." " He was received at Louciennes ?" " And elsewhere." "Have mercy, Abbot." "He's grown old, all that is forgotten now." "Du Barry, that brave old woman!" "It's true, she's been unfortunate." "May God help her in paradise." "What business would she have there, the dear soul?" "He's still wearing boots, powder, knee-breeches...." "You were saying?" "I said he's still wearing boots, powder, knee-breeches...." "Where was he Thursday night?" "I..." "I don't know." "But I do." "Out on the roads, at 2 o'clock." "This isn't wise." "On my way back from Flers, I met him, returning from some boudoir." "That's why he coughs." "It had been freezing." " Freezing?" "Did you find that night freezing?" "How would she know?" "She's been indoors, warm and cozy." "That's true, I must have gotten things mixed up." "What business would you have outdoors?" "Thank you." "Don't visit us anymore for some time." "You've done enough harm to everybody." "Not to you, my girl." "You have." "She can't stand my being here." "She avoids me, she's crying." "If she didn't see you anymore, she'd suffer less." "And I don't think this would be a great sacrifice for you." "You think so?" "You'll find consolation very fast, you've so many lady friends." "But none of them resembles you." "And this would the only thing I'd regret." "Very well." "I won't come anymore." "I have to apologize to you." "No, I haven't caught a cold." "I only did it so that you would look at me in a despising way." "If one believes the Abbot, M. de Tainchebraye smells of sulfur." "But I never..." "Don't worry, my uncle." "Anyway, the devil is going to leave us now." "Since then, nothing." "I've kept my promise." "A greeting on the road." "The shadow of a smile." "That child has character." "Are you that badly struck, Roger?" "Struck?" "Me?" "Are you crazy?" "Marry her, she deserves you." "Now you're talking like Marie-Bonne." "Men like myself make good lovers... ..but horrible husbands." "Enough of that rambling." "I'm expected." "Let's hurry." "Mlle de Rieusses." "I've seen the hunt, he won't be late now." "No, Mam'selle." "You cannot stay here." "You won't let me in?" "It's not that he doesn't want you to, but..." "I see, he won't come alone probably." "You'd better get back, Mlle." "I must talk to him." "I must." "Is it that grave?" "Very grave." "Well." "Write him a note, I'll deliver it to him." "Thank you." "Hurry up, Mlle." "Here we are, we've fooled them." "We've lost our way in the forest." "I'm afraid." "Must I faint now?" "Not yet, not yet." "An old instinct tells me to take that road." "In that case, let's take it." "Excuse me for a minute." "Has she been waiting long?" "Almost for an hour." "Bad news?" "I don't know yet." "But it's serious." "That's fate." "Take me back to the hunt." "Who knows, perhaps it's better this way." "Judith !" "Thank you." "I was so afraid you might have left." "Judith, what is it?" "Tell me, Judith." "It's nothing." "I'm a fool." "It's over." "Smile at me." "You can do better than that!" "Do I have to cough again?" "That's better." "I have so many things to tell you." "Let's walk a bit." "First, let me thank you for not visiting us again." "How is your aunt, her fainting spells?" "She's still suffering a lot." "And I'm afraid she'll take a long time to recover." "She's continually saying her prayers." "At the moment, we receive a lot of visitors, that distracts her." "Unfortunately, everybody talks about you." "What you've said, what you've done, with whom you're... whom you're seeing." "Is it true that you've saved two children from a fire recently?" "They surely don't mention just my good deeds." "They don't." "But it's of no importance." "I've thought a lot." "I remembered certain words of Marie-Bonne." "I've questioned her." "It's not possible to be loved at such a degree if one doesn't deserve it." "I have been insolent with you." "You don't know me, my girl." "It is they with their gossip who are right about me." "It's a lie!" "It isn't, unfortunately." " You could reform." " Impossible." "Ah, Judith." "Judith, if you knew." "If you could see me like I really am, without any morals, without any laws..." "Roger." "I am rotten." "Corrupted." "Listen to me." "At first, I only wanted to prove to myself that I could be loved despite... despite that mask." "I've had plenty of proof." "Very easy!" "That easy that I felt the need for a struggle..." " resistance..." " I know all that, Roger." "And losing my own soul, I corrupted those of my mistresses." "So what!" "A merciless hunt." "A massacre." "I've never told this to anyone, Judith." "Excuse me, I..." "I forgot how young you still are." "You've just given me the best you had to give." "You may doubt about yourself, or about us." "You have every right to do so." "But there exist other women... women for whom love isn't just a game without consequence." "No, Judith, that's not for me anymore." "It is." "I am young, but I'm sure about that." "And so are you, deep in your heart." "Roger, you must tell me." "If one of those women came to you for good without ever complaining." "If she would guard over you, give you her force, her life to save you from yourself." "If she loved you like one must love would you still go on?" "Would you still cheat on her, like you did with all the others?" "Would you abandon her too?" "Answer me." "I would, Judith." "I would, I know it." "That woman too." "Especially that woman." "Judith is getting married!" "Judith is getting married!" " With whom?" " A thousand guesses." "He's bought back Mesnil Royal." "He's installed a staff of 100 servants already." "He does it for her." "Mesnil Royal used to be his family's property." "The wedding will take place in Paris, in spring." "They'll return after that." "Such strange news." "But why?" "She could have chosen any man of her circle." "So why?" "Why Brives ?" "After all, she isn't poor." "She's 18." "What about him?" "One doesn't know how old he is." "Shut up!" "Run for it, Roger." "She'll throw herself into your arms." "An engagement can be broken." "You can't allow that to happen!" "Leave me!" "Leave me!" "Yes, I could." "Yes." "And she knows the reason why." "Just look at Brives." "But he's falling asleep!" "He wants to act the young man." "Beware of old men!" "The poor child, it's too sad." "There's been a misunderstanding." "Don't pity her." "Roger is taking care to repair destiny's errors." "Just fancy, I think he's an honest man." "They're inseparable." "He's been here every night for months." "They spend their nights in front of a chessboard." " It's a passion with both of them?" " The only one?" "You know if he continues his mischief, it'll be scandalous." "At the moment, it's..." " Her?" "He's lowering his standards!" "A pity." "Do you see him often?" "Often." "How to forget him?" "Not think of him anymore?" "You think it'll be just a "white" marriage?" "(not consummated)" "This is what everybody says." "Judith is..." ""White" Marriage..." "I believe so too." "I want to believe." "That way, you see, it'll be... it'll be less unbearable." "Perhaps better, but so ... so..." " Indulgent?" " That's the word!" "And fastidious." "Did you see the horses he's ordered from London?" "Magnificent." "There's no denying, that cuckold is royal!" "What was that?" "I said the cuckold was royal." "I heard you." " You'll give me satisfaction for this!" " With pleasure, and at once!" "There he is." "He'll reassure us." "You think so?" "He's saved others who were even worse." "Thank you for having come so quickly." "You keep on bothering me." " At the time I ought to have let you die I would have peace now" " So would I" " What's the matter with him?" " He had a syncope last night." "He's been very weak ever since." "And it's not the first time." "You're his only friend." "When you don't come for a visit, we... he misses you." "He talks of you all the time." "You..." "You've told him everything?" "Almost everything." "Nothing serious." "He's worn out." "But he mustn't be left alone at night." " I'll send you a nurse." " That's not necessary, I'll keep watch." "I'll be back very soon." "I'm handing him over to your care, orderly." "Thank you, M. Marchal." "I've heard about your miracles." "I'll see you out." " He's done for." " What was that?" "He's done for." "He's been living too rich, that man." "He's used up his last reserves." "Maybe a week, a month at most." "Does this hurt you that much?" "This is funny, I wouldn't have thought." "Because of..." "It's nothing, I was mistaken." "So it seems." " Are you angry?" " Of course not." "I know that this is incomprehensible for the world." "For me too, perhaps." "They gossip a lot, don't they?" "A little." "They are assuming." "They are wrong." "He's not responsible, he's... he's a perfect friend, so why?" "Why can't I simply make love to her?" "Is it dawn?" "Yes." "Another morning has been granted to me." "I have always loved the dawn." "You too, I can feel it." "Yes." "It seems dawn washes away all the sins committed during the night." "The fresh air on your face, on your front." "Dispelling the nausea." "I know." "I know." "If people only understood the need for purity after debauchery ...they'd be less severe." "But I'm keeping you." "I must be loathsome." "That girl, at the "Eagle"..." "You knew about her?" "At my age, one knows everything, Roger, everything." "And often... one understands even more." "Here's your relief." "You go and rest now." "We'll have a revanche soon." "He's won again." "Your turn will come." "You've earned it." "He's full of energy." "He's had his hair done, he's getting his grasp back." "I've never seen such a desire to live." "This might last for months." "Are you listening?" "I am." "Checkmate." "Revanche." "No, it's late." "It wouldn't be wise." "Let's obey." "You should get some sleep tonight, Roger." "I feel fine." "No need to watch over me." "Wouldn't it be unwise?" "But no." "You must be tired after all those nights." "I'm demanding it of you, as a favour." "Since you insist." "But just in case, I'll go to bed like a soldier, fully dressed." "Otherwise, Marchal would repudiate me." "Don't worry." "And imagine, I had to be almost dead... for you to accept to spend the night under my roof." "Isn't this strange?" "I..." "I shall leave you now." "Have a good rest." "Are you afraid of the thunderstorm?" "It's true, I forgot." "You're courageous." "Till tomorrow." "Till tomorrow." "Judith ?" "What happened?" "He's dead." "He's certainly had an attack." "He came to my door." "And there... he fell down." "I wanted to carry him away from here, because of the servants." "But..." "I didn't have the force." "Why didn't he call for me?" "How happy he looks now." "By what right?" "He was my husband." "Your husband, it's true." "No!" "They belong to him, leave them." "This will be your last gift to him." "You see... from you I would never have stolen anything." "You see, I've never left you." "All those years, I've dreamt them." "Brives, Mesnil Royal." " Do you regret it?" " Where else would I have been as comfortable?" " Could you imagine me living at that place, all alone?" " No." "Just a dream of which almost nothing is left." " A mourning dress and..." " and?" "Some bitterness." "Which has nothing to do with..." "Is she really that beautiful, that Diane de Sautainval ?" "She is." "But not as beautiful as you are." "I don't like this cough." "And it's late." "You're tiring yourself." "Let's not have reproaches on the night you visit me." "They are so rare." "Very rare." "Let's not have reproaches on the night I visit you." "I've had a visitor lately." "Judith de Brives." " Judith ?" " Yes." "She came to say farewell." "She's leaving for Paris tomorrow." "She's leaving us." "Life around here has become a burden to her." "Did she love Brives that much?" "I..." "I don't know." "Probably." "It's true, it's late now." "At the time I deplored that marriage." "I had imagined a union more..." "I'd better go up to my room now, otherwise I'll start babbling some nonsense." "Don't stay up too long, Roger." "Jeannet !" "Saddle Agramant, I'm going out." "No, don't talk!" "Don't chase me away, I had to come." "It would have impossible if you had left without seeing me." "Being unable to make the first step, you've called me... drawn me to your side, like under a spell." "Roger." "Don't be afraid." "Have I ever done anything to you which nobody else should see?" "...said one word to you nobody else ought to hear?" "I had been respectful, so respectful." "Did I even receive one look from you?" "At Mesnil Royal." "Those silences between us." "Those evenings next to you." "Brives saw through me." "He even loved me better, knowing that I loved you." "In silence." "And... his death... his death..." " No, Roger, no!" "And in church." "I had been there in spite of everything." "To tell you that I begged your pardon and that I forgave you." "You just said a few polite words and you turned away." "Why?" "Why did you do that to me?" "To me who... who survived, but... defeated by this dead man." "Why?" "And now you're leaving." "You're again abandoning me to my own life... to my rotten life." "Like you did once before." "That day, near the pond, could I have lied to you?" "Tell you without believing it that I'd renounce that infernal life?" "How could I know that I the smug man this tender sweetness which drew me to your side had been nothing but a straw fire would have been nothing but another love affair but what about love?" "Ah, Judith." "That refusal." "If you had loved me, then you shouldn't have run away from me." "I know." "I had been too young then." "I had understood it too late." "I continued my old life." "I behaved even harder, fouler." "The more I loved you, Judith, the more I..." "Why should I have fought it, since you'd abandoned me?" "No, don't... don't look at me." "Close your eyes, will you?" "Like this." "Ah, your hands." "Those hands." "How often I've dreamed to hold them like this." "No!" "Listen." "Forget everything." "Everything that's happened." "I am here before you." "Ready to obey you." "There has never been anybody else in my life, never anybody else but you." "You too, nothing has tainted your life." "Allow me to... take off this ring from your finger." "Thank you." "Oh, thank you!" "Thank you." "Leave me now, Roger." "Leave me, I'm begging you." "I'll leave." "But don't chase me away so quickly as if you didn't love me." "I?" "I, not love you?" "Leave now." "Leave now, Roger." "Oh, no." "I can't leave any longer." "I can't." "It's too late." "Roger." "No, I won't let you escape again." "Not his time." "Roger, I love you." "I beg of you, let's not start it like this." "No!" "Soil me like the other women!" "I would never forgive you, I love you too much." "Words." "Words to humiliate me, to defeat me once again." "But this time I'm stronger than you are." "Force me to it if you dare!" "What are you waiting for?" "A new life, you said." "And already you appear like you've always been." "Dreadful." "Enough!" "The Tainchebraye on his worst days." "Horrible." "A beast." "A monster which makes you afraid." "A monster which makes you afraid?" "Dreadful, wasn't it?" "Hideous?" "But you haven't seen anything yet!" " No, Roger !" " Yes !" "Like I really am, well, you'll see me now!" "My real self!" " No!" "Look at me!" "Look." "Look at the monster !" "Look !" "Look closely, Judith." "My love." "My poor love." "Go on!" "Go on!" "Get up!" "It's nothing, my friend, nothing." "My friend..." "My poor friend." "So I have killed off everything last night?" "Everything." "Are you in pain?" "Wait." "You won't suffer anymore." "This is becoming a favorite spot for walks in the country, since you're here." "You at La Trappe, this is intriguing." "They say you're entering the order." "Let them talk." "I envy those monks, with their faith." "And their silence." "Total silence." "Well... it's not very gay." "I feel reposed." "But this is like the time at Nonancourt !" "Takes us back to the days of our youth." "You haven't even opened up a single one?" "My mother?" "She isn't in the best health, I'm worried." "She would like to have you at her side." "I'll take off your splints soon." "Not yet." "I need this peace." "Mme de Brives has postponed her departure." "She visits your mother often." "Her burned hand..." " Shut up, will you!" "Alright." "But it was a rotten wound." "How could she..." "That's enough, my friend!" "Enough." "I..." "I am very tired." "I frighten them nowadays." "Have I become such an object of horror?" "And my mother?" "If you want to talk to her we must hurry." "Let's leave." "Thank you." "My mother wanted you to have this ring." "Oh, no!" "I couldn't..." " Yes you can." "She wanted only you to have it." "Accept it." "For your burned hand." "She loved you, Judith." "Almost like her own child." "During your... your absence she talked to me a lot." "I know." "You were at her side most of the time." "The peasants are taking their leave." "I had been..." "I had been despicable." "But you've resisted me..." "No." "No, Roger." "That wound... right before your eyes... on display... that horror." "Showing myself to you like I..." "I forced you to it." "My failure will always come between us." "The remembrance of it." "That face... all naked." "And your pity." "Your pity." "In the past." "Your pity in the future." "And my shame." "My shame." "I could never go through with it, Judith." "Never." "Guy told me about a punishment once." "The End"