He is calm, and she is
sensible. Then they dine together in the country, for the last time,
drink champagne, and separate with blithesome wishes for future
prosperity. Or they are both sentimental. Then there is a little
weeping and sighing, they promise to write to each other and probably
do so for a time, and it is days, perhaps even weeks before the wound
in the heart which, happily, is not very deep, heals.
But often, oh, often----
Well, Rudolf's case was precisely one of these. When it was time to
leave Paris to begin his professional life, he perceived with terror
that the bonds which united him to Pauline were much firmer than he had
ever supposed. For two years she had shared his room in the Passage
Saumon and, during this whole period, she had not caused him a moment's
sorrow, had always thought only of him, to see him content and happy.
She went to her work-room in the morning with a kiss and a smile, and
returned in the evening with a smile and an embrace. If he was at work
she sat quietly in her corner, looking over at him; if he wanted to be
gay, she was as frolicsome as a poodle.
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