So engrossing, indeed, were these sensations, that
they quite overpowered his previous ones, and, in his present vexation,
he for the moment forgot his fears. He knelt at his wife's feet, begged
her pardon a thousand times, swore that he adored her, and declared
that the illness and the effect of the wine had been purely the
consequences of fasting and overwork.
It was not the easiest thing in the world to reassure a woman whose
pride, affection, and taste had been so severely wounded; but Natalie
tried to believe, or to appear to do so, and a sort of reconciliation
ensued, not quite sincere on the part of the wife, and very humbling
on the part of the husband. Under these circumstances it was impossible
that he should recover his spirits or facility of manner; his gayety
was forced, his tenderness constrained; his heart was heavy within him;
and ever and anon the source whence all this disappointment and woe
had sprung would recur to his perplexed and tortured mind.
Thus mutually pained and distrustful, they returned to Paris, which
they reached about nine o'clock.
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