ng. She had reached the point of making them perform the duties
of a hand or mouth, in asking for what she required and in expressing
her thanks. In this way she replaced the organs that were wanting, in a
most peculiar and charming manner. Her eyes, in the centre of her flabby
and grimacing face, were of celestial beauty.

Since her twisted and inert lips could no longer smile, she smiled with
adorable tenderness, by her looks; moist beams and rays of dawn issued
from her orbits. Nothing was more peculiar than those eyes which laughed
like lips in this lifeless countenance. The lower part of the face
remained gloomy and wan, while the upper part was divinely lit up.
It was particularly for her beloved children that she placed all her
gratitude, all the affection of her soul into a simple glance. When
Laurent took her in his arms, morning and night, to carry her, she
thanked him lovingly by looks full of tender effusion.

She lived thus for weeks, awaiting death, fancying herself sheltered
from any fresh misfortune. She thought she had already received her
share of suffering. But she was mistaken. One night she was crushed by a
frightful blow.

Therese and Laurent might well place her between them, in the full
light, but she was no longer sufficiently animated to separate and
defend them against their anguish. When they forgot that she was there
and could hear and see them, they were seized with folly. Perceiving
Camille, they sought to drive him away. Then, in unsteady tones,
they allowed the truth to escape them, uttering words that revealed
everything to Madame Raquin. Laurent had a sort of attack, during
which he spoke like one under the influence of hallucination, and the
paralysed woman abruptly understood.

A frightful contraction passed over her face, and she experienced such
a shock that Therese thought she was about to bound to her feet and
shriek, but she fell backward, rigid as iron. This shock was all the
more terrible as it seemed to galvanise a corpse. Sensibility which had
for a moment returned, disappeared; the impotent woman remained more
crushed and wan than before. Her eyes, usually so gentle, had become
dark and harsh, resembling pieces of metal.

Never had despair fallen more rigorously on a being. The sinister truth,
like a flash of flame, scorched the eyes of the paralysed woman and
penetrated within her with the concussion of a shaft of lightning. Had
she been able to rise, to utter the cry