In the meanwhile, the secret work of Therese and Laurent was productive of results.

The former had assumed a woeful and despairing demeanour which at the end of a few days alarmed Madame Raquin.

When the old mercer inquired what made her niece so sad, the young woman played the part of an inconsolable widow with consummate skill.

She spoke in a vague manner of feeling weary, depressed, of suffering from her nerves, without making any precise complaint.

When pressed by her aunt with questions, she replied that she was well, that she could not imagine what it was that made her so low-spirited, and that she shed tears without knowing why.
Then, the constant choking fits of sobbing, the wan, heartrending smiles, the spells of crushing silence full of emptiness and despair, continued.
The sight of this young woman who was always giving way to her grief, who seemed to be slowly dying of some unknown complaint, ended by seriously alarming Madame Raquin.