Four Weddings And A Funeral 4 page

When they left the drapers shop that night, Old Michaud spoke to Laurent. He told him his idea about the marriage.

Laurent pretended to be very surprised.

'But Therese is the widow of my dear friend, Camille. Therese is like a sister to me,' Laurent said in a quiet voice. 'I couldn't marry her.'

'But you would take the place of your dear friend,' Michaud said. 'Therese needs a husband. And you are the only man that Madame Raquin likes and trusts. She will accept you. The marriage would please her very much.

'Therese was a good wife to Camille,' Michaud went on. 'She will be a good wife to you. You must marry her. We all think that this should happen.'

Laurent pretended to think for a moment.

'You're much older than me and I trust you,' he said. 'If the marriage will make Madame Raquin happy, then yes, I agree to it. I'll marry Therese Raquin.'

At the same time, Madame Raquin was talking to her niece.

'I've been a widow for many years,' the old woman said. 'I know that it's terrible to lose a husband, Therese. I loved my husband, and you loved Camille. I know that. His death was terrible and we will never forget it. But you are unhappy, my dear. Don't you ever think of marrying again?'

'Camille was my husband. No one can ever take his place,' Therese said quietly.

'I think that you're wrong, my dear,' Madame Raquin said. She was crying now and so was Therese.

'Laurent is already part of this family,' the old woman went on. 'He has been kind to both of us. We could all be happy together.'

'I want to please you, dear aunt,' Therese said. 'I love Laurent as a brother. But I'll try to accept him as a husband, if that will make you happy.'

She kissed Madame Raquin and held the old woman in her arms. The two women wept together.

The next morning, Michaud spoke to Madame Raquin outside the shop. They agreed that Therese and Laurent should get married.

Old Michaud was in the shop when Laurent arrived at five o'clock.

'Therese has agreed,' he whispered to Laurent. 'She will marry you.'

Therese looked up and stared at Laurent and he looked at her. Then Old Michaud went over to Madame Raquin and put his hand on her shoulder.

'Dear Madame,' he said. 'These two young people want to make you happy.'

Madame Raquin could not speak for several minutes. She held Therese's hand and placed it in Laurent's hand.

'I want you to get married,' she said. 'I want you, my dear niece, Therese, to marry dear Laurent. Then Laurent can be my true son.'

The guilty lovers' bodies shook as their hands touched.

'Therese, would you like to make your aunt happy?' Laurent asked.

'Yes,' Therese replied.

Laurent turned to Madame Raquin. 'When Camille fell into the water, he cried, "Help my Therese!'" Laurent said. 'He wanted me to look after her. I'm sure of that, Madame. I will marry Therese. I think that is the right thing to do.'

Therese could not listen to these words and she turned away. But Madame Raquin was weeping with happiness.

'Yes, yes. Make Therese happy, my dear,' she said to Laurent. 'My son thanks you from his grave!'

'Kiss each other,' Old Michaud said to Laurent and Therese.

Laurent kissed Therese and her pale face became red. This was the first time that anyone had seen them kissing each other.

By the following Thursday, all their friends knew about the marriage between Laurent and Therese.

'The marriage was my idea,' Old Michaud said. 'Laurent and Therese will be happy when they are husband and wife!'

Suzanne Michaud kissed Therese, and Grivet made a few stupid jokes. Laurent and Therese were polite to each other, but they did not show their true feelings. They carefully hid their desire.

Laurent wrote to his father. He hoped that Old Laurent would be pleased and that he would send his best wishes. But the old man said that he did not care about his son. He also said that Laurent would never get his money. When Madame Raquin heard this, she did a very stupid thing. She gave all her money - forty thousand francs - to her niece. She knew that Therese and Laurent would always look after her. The preparations for the wedding started at once.

Chapter nine

The Wedding Night

The day of the wedding had come at last. Laurent and Therese woke up in their own rooms. They were both very happy. Their last night of fear was over.

It was December and very cold. Laurent was pleased that he was leaving his small, cold attic for ever.

'I will be warmer tonight,' he said to himself, smiling.

Madame Raquin had given him five hundred francs and he had spent most of the money on new clothes. Now, the young man washed and dressed carefully. As he was putting on his shirt, he felt a sharp pain in his neck. The old bite-mark made by Camille's teeth looked red and sore. Every time that he moved, Laurent felt a sharp pain.

When he was ready, Laurent got into a cab and went to the town hall. At the town hall, the official asked Laurent and Therese if they wanted to marry each other. After Therese and Laurent had both agreed, the official spoke the rest of the words of the marriage ceremony, and the two young people signed a paper. Laurent and Therese were calm and quiet. They felt as if they were in a dream. They were married! They could forget about the past.

At six o'clock, Laurent, Therese and Madame Raquin met their friends in a cafe outside Paris. The new husband and wife could not believe what was happening. That night, they would sleep together in the same bed, and everyone would be happy. Therese and Laurent believed that their future would be comfortable and happy. They were too tired to think clearly. Madame Raquin was very happy. And she also believed that she would have a safe and comfortable future.

By half past nine, everyone returned to the little drapers shop. Therese went into her bedroom with Suzanne and Madame Raquin. Laurent stayed in the sitting-room with the men. He listened to Grivet's jokes and said nothing.

At last, Suzanne and Madame Raquin came out of the bedroom.

'Your wife is waiting for you,' the old woman said to Laurent.

Laurent stood up and shook his friends' hands. Then he walked into the bedroom like a drunken man.

Laurent shut the bedroom door behind him and looked across the room at Therese.

A bright fire was burning in the fireplace and a lighted lamp stood on a little table. All the bedclothes on the bed were smooth and white. There were big vases full of roses and the sweet smell of the red flowers filled the bedroom. The room was a place for love - a place of calm and peace.

Therese was sitting on a small chair on the right of the fireplace and she was staring at the flames. She did not look at Laurent when he came into the room. Her white petticoats looked very bright in the light from the fire.

Laurent took off his coat and waistcoat. He walked towards Therese and kissed her on the shoulder. As his lips touched her skin, Therese's body shook. She turned and looked at Laurent with fear and disgust.

Laurent sat in a chair on the left side of the fireplace. Both lovers sat completely still for five minutes.

It was almost two years since Therese and Laurent had first been alone in this room. They had not made love since Therese's visit to Laurent's little attic. They had waited until this night - their wedding night. Now they could hold each other and kiss each other. But they did not. Their desire had turned to horror and disgust. They had killed a man and waited a long time for this moment. There was nothing to stop them loving each other, except their own feelings.

'Therese,' Laurent said, very quietly, 'do you remember those afternoons when we were in this room? I wanted to stay with you and fall asleep in your arms. And tonight that dream is coming true.'

Therese looked up at Laurent. This man was her husband now. But did she know him? In the fire-light, Laurent's face looked red. It looked as if it was covered with blood. Therese turned away.

'All our plans have succeeded, Therese,' Laurent went on. 'This is the beginning of our life together. Camille has gone for ever.'

Laurent made a terrible mistake when he said Camille's name. Immediately, the lovers felt that the ghost of the drowned man had come into the room. They felt that the corpse was sitting between them.

The bedroom was warm and smelled sweetly. But there was also the cold damp smell of death. They could not forget what they had done.

Therese looked at her new husband with fear and hate. Laurent realized that he had made a mistake and he began to talk about other things - the roses, the fire, anything that he could see. Therese tried to answer him. They were both afraid of their thoughts. They were both afraid of silence.

They could think of nothing and no one but Camille. Whatever they said aloud, the guilty lovers could not stop thinking about his death. Finally, they stopped talking. But the voices in their heads would not be silent.

'We killed Camille and his corps is here between us. It will never go away.'

'Did - did you see him in the morgue?' Therese asked quietly.

'Yes,' Laurent replied.

'Was his body badly injured?' Therese asked.

Laurent remembered the terrible body of the drowned man, but he did not answer. He stood up and walked towards the bed. Then he walked back and held out his arms to Therese.

'Kiss me!' he said.

Therese stood up too. She leant against the wall. She tried to move her head away as Laurent came towards her.

'Kiss me. Kiss me,' he repeated.

Then Therese saw the mark on Laurent's neck. 'What's that?' she asked.

'It's - it's where Camille bit me,' Laurent said quickly. 'Kiss me, Therese. Kiss me there! Take away the pain.'

'Oh, no, no!' Therese cried. 'Not there. There's blood on it!'

She fell back down onto her chair. Laurent bent down and held her head in his big hands. He made her press her lips against the mark on his neck. Therese did not move until Laurent let her go. Then she wiped her hand across her mouth and spat into the fire.

Laurent turned away. He walked around the room for almost an hour. Therese sat in the chair without moving. They both knew the truth. When they had killed Camille, they had killed their desire for each other too.

The flames of the fire were weaker now and the room had become darker. As Laurent turned, he thought that he saw something in the corner of the room. Camille was there! He was standing in the dark shadow between the fireplace and a cupboard! His face was green and twisted.

'Look there!' Laurent cried, pointing at the shadows in the corner of the room. 'Look! It's Camille!'

'It's his portrait - the picture that you painted of him,' Therese replied very quietly. 'My aunt forgot to take it to her room.'

'His portrait?' Laurent repeated.

The portrait looked exactly like the face of Camille's corpse in the morgue.

'Take it off the wall! Take it away!' Laurent whispered.

'No, I can't,' Therese replied. 'I can't touch it. You must do it.'

But neither of them were able to touch the picture. They were too frightened.

Laurent started walking around the room again. Again and again, he looked at the portrait of Camille. Laurent was going mad with terror and despair.

Then Laurent heard a scratching noise. He thought that the sound was coming from the portrait and he turned round quickly. Then he realized where the sound was coming from. Something was scratching at the door which led to the stairs. The drowned man was trying to get into the room!

The sound became louder and then there was a cry - the cry of a cat! Madame Raquin's cat, Francois, had been asleep in the bedroom all this time. Now he was awake and he wanted to get out. Laurent moved towards the cat and Francois jumped onto a chair. The cat lifted his back and stood there. He looked at Laurent with his big green eyes.

Laurent did not like cats and he hated Francois.

'Don't hurt him! Therese cried.

A terrible idea had come into Laurent's mind.

'The ghost of Camille has entered the cat,' he thought. 'I must kill Francois.'

Laurent remembered how, more than a year ago, Therese had made noises like the cat. Did Francois really know the truth about them?

Laurent wanted to throw the cat out of the window. But he was too afraid to touch the angry animal with the bright green eyes.

The cat watched Laurent move across the room. Laurent opened the door and the cat ran out, crying loudly.

Therese watched as Laurent walked between the bed and the window. They did not want to get into the bed together. They did not want to touch each other. And that is how they spent the first night of their marriage.

Daylight came, bright and cold. Laurent felt calmer now. He took the portrait of Camille off the wall and turned it round. Laurent no longer felt afraid of the picture.

Therese went to the bed and pulled back the bedclothes. Her aunt must not know the truth. She must not know that they had not slept in the bed.

'I hope that we are going to get some sleep tonight,' Laurent said angrily. 'We've been behaving like frightened children. That can't happen again. It's all your fault. Try to be more cheerful tonight, do you understand?'

'I'll try,' Therese said quietly.

Laurent laughed, but he did not know why.

Chapter ten

The Ghost

Laurent and Therese's wedding night was bad, but the nights that followed it were worse. They now both knew the truth. They would never escape from Camille. Their fear turned to anger, and everything that they said or did made the anger worse.

Before their marriage, Therese had been nervous and excited. Laurent had been calm and cheerful. He had eaten, drunk and slept like an animal. Nothing had worried him. Now he had become as nervous and frightened as Therese. He could not sleep. Terrible pictures of Camille were always in Laurent's mind. He was not sorry that he had killed his friend. But he was afraid of what was happening to himself.

In the daytime, he promised to be strong. But at night, when he was locked in the house with Therese, Camille was there too. Laurent saw frightening shadows in the corners of every room. His thoughts were making his body weak. His desire for Therese and his fears were making him mad.

Therese felt half-mad too. When she was a child, she had hidden her thoughts and feelings. After meeting Laurent, she showed the feelings that were in her heart. Now she felt guilty about Camille's death. She wanted to tell everyone what had happened on the river.

Laurent became afraid that Therese would tell Madame Raquin everything. His fear made him angry with Therese. When they were alone, he began to shout at her and beat her. He hit her again and again.

The guilty lovers could not lie in the bed. They sat by the fire or walked around the room. Sometimes they slept in the chairs. But they were terrified of lying together in the bed. In the mornings, their bodies were stiff and cold. Their faces were pale and blotchy. They both thought that they could see the terrible corpse of Camille. The drowned man was always between them.

A week passed in this way. Laurent and Therese fell asleep during the day and they were awake all night. The guilty lovers both pretended that this life and their behaviour was normal. But they were mad.

One evening, they were so tired that they lay down on the bed. The next night, they got under the bedclothes, but they did not touch each other. Therese lay down on one side of the bed, near the wall. Then Laurent lay down on the other side of the bed. There was a wide space between them. This space was for Camille. They believed that his corpse lay between them. They could feel the damp body. They were terrified of touching it.

Sometimes Laurent thought of holding Therese in his arms but the drowned man stopped him. Laurent thought that Camille was jealous of him.

One night, Laurent tried to kiss Therese. But she turned away from him and her body shook with fear.

'Why are you shaking?' he shouted. 'Are you afraid of Camille? Yes, you are, aren't you? You're afraid that he will come and pull you out of this bed! I'll take you to his grave one night. You can see his corpse for yourself. Then you will know that he can't harm you. Come! Kiss me! That will make you forget him!'

They kissed, but Therese's lips were as cold as ice. Laurent started to shake with cold too. Laurent could not kill Camille for a second time. Camille was a ghost. Laurent realized that Therese was not a widow. She was still married - married to a drowned man. Camille had destroyed them. They would never make love again. As they moved apart, they began to cry.

After Laurent and Therese were married, the domino games continued on Thursday evenings. The Michauds and Grivet came to the shop in the arcade as usual. Old Michaud and Grivet had been afraid that the domino games would end after Camille's death. They were delighted when they all met at the drapers shop as before.

Therese hated the visitors, but Laurent told her to be polite to them. Old Michaud had been a Police Commissioner in Paris and Olivier still worked for the police. The Michauds were important friends.

Laurent and Therese's days and nights had now changed completely. At night, they were terrified. But when day came, they pretended that they were happily married.

Every morning, Laurent got up and dressed quickly. After he had eaten his breakfast, he was ready for the day.

'Goodbye. I'll see you this evening,' he said cheerfully to Therese and Madame Raquin. And he went to his office at the Orleans Railway Company.

Spring had come and Laurent walked by the river. He enjoyed looking at the trees and the water. He enjoyed breathing the cool, clean air. He stayed in his office all day, but he did very little work.

In the evenings, as he walked back to the shop, his fears returned. Terror was waiting for him in the arcade.

After Laurent left every morning, Therese felt cheerful too. She cleaned the house and the shop and kept busy all day. Then Therese would cook lunch for Madame Raquin and herself.

In the afternoons, Therese would sit down behind the counter. The terrors of the night seemed very far away. She looked out of the shop window, into the arcade. Then she dreamt that she was buried in a cold grave with many other people. But she was alive and they were dead. This strange idea did not frighten her. She felt calm and safe. Sometimes Suzanne Michaud came to see Therese. Later, Therese would cook Laurent's dinner. Then the fears of the night would return.

The evenings were very quiet. Laurent and Therese stayed in the sitting-room until it was very late. They did not speak to each other, but they listened to Madame Raquin telling them stories of her life in Vernon. She told Therese and Laurent her plans for their future too.

Madame Raquin sat in the light of the lamp. The young people sat in the shadows, looking at the old woman. But they never looked at each other. The sound of the old woman's voice almost stopped their fears.

On Thursday evenings, Laurent and Therese did not think about the terrors of the night because their friends were in the house. Therese would sometimes talk and laugh and Laurent would tell jokes.

But soon the guilty lovers had something different to worry about. Madame Raquin had been ill for some time. She could not move about easily and sometimes she could not speak clearly.

Laurent and Therese were worried. They were not sorry for the poor old woman, but they were sorry for themselves. The terrors of the night now began at six o'clock, when Laurent came home.

They looked after the old woman well. Everyone told Laurent and Therese that they were good and kind to Madame Raquin. But she became weaker every day.

After four months, Laurent made a decision. He wanted to change his life. He had married Therese and stayed with her because he wanted the Raquins' money. But now he had an idea to make his life more enjoyable.

'I've something to tell you,' he said to the two women one evening. 'I've told my manager that I'm leaving the office. I don't want to work as a clerk any more. I'm going to start painting again. I've always wanted to be an artist.'

Therese looked unhappy. She knew that Laurent wanted money and she did not want to give it to him.

'How much money will you earn?' Therese asked. 'The shop doesn't make much money, you know.'

Laurent looked at his wife. She understood him at once.

'Well,' she began, 'I might be able to give you a little money each month.'

'Of course, Laurent must have some money,' Madame Raquin said kindly. 'He could be a great artist. He needs your help, Therese.'

'I'll have to rent a studio,' Laurent said quickly. 'Just a small one at first. Then I must buy new paints and brushes. One hundred francs a month would be enough.'

Laurent rented a studio the next day. Two weeks later, he left his job at the Orleans Railway Company.

The studio was small, but Laurent could be alone there. He did not start painting immediately. He did nothing. One day, Therese visited him in the studio, but he pretended to be out. In the evening, he told her that he had spent the day at the Louvre museum.

After a few weeks, Laurent bought paints and canvases and started to work. He could not pay for a model, so he drew and painted pictures from his imagination.

Laurent usually painted in the mornings. In the afternoons, he walked around Paris. On one of these walks he met an old friend. The man was a successful artist and he was making a lot of money.

'Why, it's you, Laurent!' the painter cried in a surprised voice. 'I didn't recognize you. You've become thin and pale.'

'I got married,' Laurent said. 'And I've started painting again.'

'Well, your marriage must be very successful,' the artist said, with a laugh. 'You look very well and you are better dressed too! Let me see what you are painting.'

'Come to my studio now,' Laurent said. 'I'm starting a big picture.'

The artist was very surprised by Laurent's work. 'These drawings of faces are very good,' he said to Laurent. 'Your work is much better now.'

The artist looked at the painting again.

'There is something strange about the faces,' he said. 'The faces are of men and women, but they all look the same. Change some of them. Then they will be good.'

When his friend had left, Laurent looked at the painting carefully. His face became pale and he suddenly felt very cold.

The faces were all the same - they all looked like Camille!

Laurent picked up a new canvas and drew another face. Again, it was Camille's face who looked back at him.

With a cry of terror, Laurent picked up a knife. He began to cut the pictures into many pieces. He could never be an artist. He would never paint again.

Laurent looked down at his hand. Whatever he tried to do, every painting would look like Camille. Camille would always be with him in his studio.

Chapter eleven

Madame Raquin

Madame Raquin had been ill for some time. Then she had a stroke. She stopped speaking in the middle of a sentence and she never said another word again. She also became paralysed - she could not move any part of her body, except her eyes.

Laurent and Therese were shocked and upset. But they were sorry for themselves, not for the poor old woman. From that day, their lives became worse. Madame Raquin's happy conversation had given them peace. Now she was silent and they lived with the ghost of death all the time.

The light of the lamp fell on Madame Raquin's round pale face. Therese and Laurent sat in the shadows and watched the old woman. When Madame Raquin shut her eyes, they woke her up. The old woman's eyes seemed to be the only living things in the room.

Therese looked after her aunt carefully and gently. She fed her and dressed her. She tried to understand what the old woman needed. Every morning, Laurent carried the silent old woman into the sitting-room and she sat there all day. Then Laurent went to his studio and Therese sat in the shop. In the evenings, they all sat together in the sitting-room.

The Thursday evenings went on as usual. Madame Raquin's friends talked to her. They pretended that nothing had happened. They pretended that she was talking with them.

Madame Raquin could not move and she could not speak. But she was happy because her children were looking after her. Her eyes were bright with joy. The only person who understood the old woman was Therese. She watched her aunt's eyes carefully and tried to help her.

Madame Raquin lived like this for several weeks. She thought that nothing worse could happen to her. But she was wrong. Laurent and Therese became careless. They began to talk about Camille so that the old woman could hear their conversation.

'Is he there in the shadows?' Laurent asked Therese one evening. 'Is that why you are shaking? Drowned men do not return from their graves, do they?'

'You know that they do, you murderer!' Therese replied. 'You killed him. It is because of you that he comes here.'

'And did you help Camille when I pushed him in the water?' Laurent asked his wife. 'No! If I'm a murderer, then so are you. We both wanted him dead.'

'We were fools!' Therese said. 'Our lives were better when Camille was alive. We made love every day and he didn't know. We were happy then. We killed our own happiness when we killed stupid Camille.'

Madame Raquin was horrified. The poor old woman knew the truth at last, but it was too late. She could do nothing. She tried to speak, but she could not. She tried to move her hands, but she could not. Tears ran down her face.

Therese and Laurent saw what they had done.

'We must put her into her bed,' Therese said. 'Take her out of this room.'

Laurent picked up the old woman. Her bright eyes stared at him.

'Look at me if you want to,' Laurent said. 'Camille is dead. There is nothing that you can do about it now.'

But Therese was not so sure. Thursday came and she was very worried.

'My aunt might find a way to tell her friends,' Therese told Laurent. 'There's a terrible look in her eyes. I'm sure that she will find a way to tell them our secret.'

'How?' replied Laurent. 'She can't move and she can't speak. What can she do? Nothing! Her friends are stupid. We must behave normally. We are quite safe.'

So that Thursday evening was the same as all the other Thursdays. Suzanne, Olivier, Old Michaud and Grivet sat round the table with them and began to play dominoes. Madame Raquin sat in her chair. She did not move and she did not speak. But she had a plan.

Madame Raquin slowly moved her right hand from her knee. Slowly, very slowly, her hand moved up and onto the table. The hand lay there, soft and white.

'Look at that!' Old Michaud said. 'Madame Raquin can move her fingers! Perhaps she's trying to tell us something.'

The two murderers looked at the hand that was going to tell everyone the truth. One of the fingers on Madame Raquin's right hand moved on the table.

'She is trying to write some words,' Grivet said. 'Yes, she has written your name, Therese.' He started to read the words. 'Therese and ... Go on, dear Madame, go on.'

Olivier continued reading the message. 'Therese and Laurent... Therese and Laurent are... ' he said. 'What are they? Your dear children?'

The two murderers were now mad with fear. They almost completed the sentence themselves.

Madame Raquin's hand moved once more and then became still.

'I know what our poor friend wanted to say,' Grivet said. 'Madame Raquin wanted to tell us about her children. She wanted to say: Therese and Laurent are taking good care of me.'

The others all agreed and they started another game of dominoes.

Madame Raquin was in despair. Her friends had not understood her! Her son's murderers would never be caught and punished now.

Two more months passed. Therese and Laurent hated each other and they hated their marriage. There was no escape. Their marriage was their punishment and they would never be happy again. Every night, Laurent and Therese quarrelled. The guilty lovers made each other angry about nothing. The quarrels started with cruel words and often ended with a beating. Laurent hit Therese until he could not lift his fists.

Madame Raquin watched and listened. And so she learnt everything about Laurent and Therese's adultery. She learnt about her son's death. Every evening, the old woman heard something new and the tears ran down her face.

Sometimes Therese asked Laurent to stop talking about the murder in front of her aunt.

'Let her cry! Who cares about her?' he shouted. 'She can't do anything and we've got her money. We don't have to feel sorry for her!'

And then the quarrel would begin all over again. They did not take Madame Raquin to her own room. She heard every terrible word.

Date: 2015-12-18; view: 645