Casting an anxious glance at him, she said: ‘What exactly do you advise me to do, then?’

‘Go back home and just try to bear it until you can get either a separation or a divorce, but keep your reputation beyond reproach.’

‘Don’t you think that’s a little cowardly?’

‘No, I don’t. I think it’s the wisest, most sensible thing to do. You have a position to maintain, your honour to protect, friends you want to keep and relatives to think of. You must not forget all these considerations by acting on impulse …’

She rose and violently burst out, ‘No, no, no! I can’t do it. I tell you it’s over, finished, once and for all!’

Then, placing her hands on her lover’s shoulders and looking deep into his eyes, she said: ‘Do you love me?’

‘Yes.’

‘Truly?’

‘Yes.’

‘Then take me in.’

‘Take you in? Here? In my house? Are you mad? I’d lose you forever! Finally and definitively! Have you taken leave of your senses?’

Slowly, and seriously she continued, weighing every word carefully: ‘Listen, Jacques. He has forbidden me to see you again. I do not intend to play games. I will not come and see you on the sly. You must take me or lose me.’

‘In that case, my dear lrene, get your divorce and I will marry you.’

‘That’s in, what, two years? At the earliest. Your impatience is flattering.’

‘Listen, please. If you stay here, he’ll come and pick you up tomorrow. He’s your husband. He has the law on his side. He’d be acting within his rights.’

‘I wasn’t asking you to keep me here, Jacques. I meant take me away with you, anywhere. I thought you loved me enough to do that. I see I was wrong. Goodbye.’

She turned on her heel and made for the door. She moved so fast that he only caught up with her on the threshold of the drawing room where he seized hold of her. ‘Irene, listen!’

She struggled, refusing to hear another word. Her eyes were full of tears as she stammered: ‘Leave me … leave me … leave me alone! Let me go!’

He forced her to sit down and once again knelt down in front of her. He tried every means in his power to convince her of the folly and the danger of doing what she was contemplating. His arguments were comprehensive and he searched deep in his heart for reasons to dissuade her from this course.

Still she remained icily silent. He begged and implored her to listen to him, to believe what he said and to take his advice. When he had finished speaking, she said:

‘Now will you let me go? Take your hands off me and let me get up.’

‘Irene, listen …’

‘I said, let me go, will you?’

‘Irene, are you really going to leave him?’

‘Let me go, I tell you!’