At the moment when her niece, pale and unsteady in gait, as usual, was about to retire to rest, the old mercer detained her an instant.

She questioned her in a tender tone, imploring her to be frank, and confess the cause of the trouble that overwhelmed her.

Then, as she only obtained vague replies, she spoke of the emptiness of widowhood, and little by little came to talk in a more precise manner of the offer of a second marriage, concluding by asking Therese, plainly, whether she had not a secret desire to marry again.
Therese protested, saying that such a thought had never entered her mind, and that she intended remaining faithful to Camille.

Madame Raquin began to weep.

Pleading against her heart, she gave her niece to understand that despair should not be eternal; and, finally, in response to an exclamation of the young woman saying she would never replace Camille, Madame Raquin abruptly pronounced the name of Laurent.