Great sorrows only encroach upon one’s life little by little, and
Heaven has given to the man who must experience such trials the
strength to support them. In the presence of a great misfortune,
nature seems to harden itself; it bends or breaks only under the
petty miseries of existence.
On the day after his marriage, Eusebe began to realize the depth
of his love for Adéonne. He felt that the simple pronunciation of
the sacramental words by a man in priestly robes did not suffice to
destroy the greatest of human weaknesses,--habit. By nature mild
and honest, the son of the skeptic Martin did not seek to deceive
himself. He saw the magnitude of his misfortune, and determined to
bear it with resignation. Daily and nightly comparisons between the
objects by which he was then surrounded, and those to which he had
been accustomed, destroyed his tranquillity of mind and heart. The
modest coldness of Clementine’s manner contrasted painfully with
the passionate enthusiasm of Adéonne. The sober simplicity of his
wife had no charm for him like the warm sympathy of the actress.
The interior of the chemical factory gave him the vertigo. He never
touched the books in the counting-house without fear and disgust.
He regretted the pleasures of the past, and suffered continually
from _ennui_ and gloom.