A sort of repulsion and attraction separated and kept them together at the same time.

They behaved in the identical manner of two persons who, after quarrelling, wish to part, and who, nevertheless, continue returning to shout out fresh insults at one another.
Moreover, material obstacles stood in the way of flight.

What were they to do with the impotent woman?
What could be said to the Thursday evening guests?
If they fled, these people would, perhaps, suspect something.

At this thought, they imagined they were being pursued and dragged to the guillotine.

So they remained where they were through cowardice, wretchedly dragging out their lives amidst the horror of their surroundings.
During the morning and afternoon, when Laurent was absent, Therese went from the dining-room to the shop in anxiety and trouble, at a loss to know what to do to fill up the void in her existence that daily became more pronounced.