And they did not cease until exhausted with fatigue; then only could they go and enjoy a few hours' rest.

Their quarrels became, in a measure, necessary to them--a means of procuring a few hours' rest by stupefying their nerves.
Madame Raquin listened.

She never ceased to be there, in her armchair, her hands dangling on her knees, her head straight, her face mute.

She heard everything, and not a shudder ran through her lifeless frame.
Her eyes rested on the murderers with the most acute fixedness.

Her martyrdom must have been atrocious.