They lived in a perfect pandemonium, fighting, rendering all they did and said bitter and cruel, seeking to fling one another to the bottom of the abyss which they felt beneath their feet, and falling into it together.
Ideas of separation had, indeed, occurred to both of them.

Each had thought of flight, of seeking some repose far from this Arcade of the Pont Neuf where the damp and filth seemed adapted to their desolated life.

But they dared not, they could not run away.

It seemed impossible for them to avoid reviling each other, to avoid remaining there to suffer and cause pain.

They proved obstinate in their hatred and cruelty.