"Never, never."
He had lifted up the lad, whose tears were raining fast; and then for all
came the supreme grief, the frightful moment of the hatchet-stroke, of
the separation which was to be eternal.
"Good-by, little brother! Good-by, good-by, all of you!"
While Mathieu accompanied the future conqueror to the door for the last
time wishing him victory, Benjamin in wild grief sought a refuge beside
his mother who was blinded by her tears. And she caught him up with a
passionate clasp, as if seized with fear that he also might leave her. He
was the only one now left to them in the family nest.
XXI
AT the factory, in her luxurious house on the quay, where she had long
reigned as sovereign mistress, Constance for twelve years already had
been waiting for destiny, remaining rigid and stubborn amid the continual
crumbling of her life and hopes.
During those twelve years Beauchene had pursued a downward course, the
descent of which was fatal. He was right at the bottom now, in the last
state of degradation. After beginning simply as a roving husband,
festively inclined, he had ended by living entirely away from his home,
principally in the company of two women, aunt and niece.
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