XV explained

What happens

Themes in this chapter

• Love and Betrayal

  Bertha and Hector's secret affair betrays Sauvresy's trust, while Hector's attempt to discard Jenny reveals his duplicity.

• Deception and Appearances

  Bertha feigns submissiveness to maintain her husband's trust, and Hector hides his true feelings behind a mask of gratitude.

• Guilt and Remorse

  Bertha struggles with the emotional weight of her deceit, and Hector feels trapped by his own actions.

Characters to notice

• Bertha Lechaillu

  Becomes submissive to Sauvresy to hide her affair, grows jealous of Jenny, and secretly goes to Corbeil to see her rival.

• Count Hector de Trémorel

  Resents Sauvresy's help, tries to break up with Jenny, and continues his relationship with Bertha while feeling trapped.

• Clement Sauvresy

  Unaware of the affair, he tirelessly works to settle Hector's debts, but his efforts breed Hector's resentment.

• Jenny Fancy

  Threatens Hector when he tries to leave her, then later meets him at Corbeil station with a dramatic and public display of affection.

Key passages

• “Bertha employed all her art to encourage these joyous illusions. She who had before been so capricious, so nervous, wilful, became little by little submissive to the degree of an angelic softness.”

  Bertha deliberately acted sweet and compliant to keep Sauvresy from suspecting her affair.

  Highlights Bertha's calculated deception to maintain appearances.

• “If you ever leave me, my anger will fall on her head, and I will not have any mercy on her.”

  Jenny threatens to harm any woman Hector leaves her for.

  Foreshadows Jenny's potential role in future conflict.

• “Sauvresy’s happiness, thought he, is owing to his imbecility. He thinks his wife dead in love with him, whereas she can’t bear him.”

  Hector bitterly believes Sauvresy is too foolish to see that Bertha despises him.

  Reveals Hector's growing resentment and contempt for his friend.