Invisible Love Read Online Free PDF Page B

What dignity! “For better or worse,” the priest had said beneath the shimmering stained-glass windows of Sainte-Gudule. That was what she had committed herself to, and she was keeping her word. The “better” had been brief. The “worse” had already lasted a long time, and looked set to last much longer. Jean felt pitiful in comparison. Would he be capable of such self-denial?
    Shaken, he got back in his car and for a long time drove aimlessly through the tunnels that surrounded the city, lost in thought.
    When Laurent heard about Geneviève’s change of mind, he was just as upset. How could you put anything before happiness? He too would never have imagined . . . Although they both disapproved of Geneviève, she was forcing them to look at things differently.
    That evening, Laurent asked Jean, “Would you still love me if I became disabled?”
    â€œI don’t know. You’ve never brought me anything but joy. What about you?”
    â€œThe same.”
    They pondered this. Then Laurent said, “Basically, there’s no merit in our loving each other . . .”
    Jean nodded.
    They looked at each other, both stirred by a mixture of emotions. Should they put each other to the test to measure the extent of their love? That was absurd. They broke off this conversation and went out to see a movie.
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    *
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    The months that followed confirmed the magnitude of Geneviève’s sacrifice.
    Since Laurent had gotten into the habit of joining his colleagues in the bars of the Marolles, he often saw Giuseppe, who was looking increasingly sullen and demoralized.
    â€œAccording to the owner of the Perroquet,” he said one day to Jean, “Giuseppe’s planning to go back to Italy soon. He says the reason he’s so glum is that he’s homesick.”
    â€œWhat a mess. And what about David? Does this mean he’ll never know his real father?”
    â€œThat’s the fate of illegitimate children. The mother decides.”
    The grim turn that events had taken—chronicle of a disaster foretold—lessened their interest in the Grenier family.
    Almost in spite of themselves, they turned their attention away from them, made new friends, traveled more.
    They were probably afraid . . . Which of us, coming into contact with misfortune, hasn’t feared infection?
    Then, when we realize that misfortune can’t be spread like a virus, it is no longer misfortune that we fear, but our own reaction to it. The inertia that keeps us in painful situations opens the door to the negative forces within us, the forces that lead us to the precipice and make us lean over to look down at the seething crater, to move closer to its lava, to smell its hot, fatal breath . . .
    It was their instinct for life that made Jean and Laurent distance themselves from the Greniers.
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    *
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    Several years passed.
    Jean and Laurent were approaching their fifties, a difficult time for men. It is now that the countdown starts: the future is no longer infinite, it is simply the time they have left. They stop wanting to go faster, their one desire becomes to slow down.
    Jean and Laurent would have been astonished if anyone had reminded them that, just ten years earlier, they had talked about Geneviève every day.
    Although they still loved each other, their love was less of a miracle now, more of a habit. Each man wondered what his life would have been like if he had made a different choice, if he hadn’t selected this particular companion, preferring him over everyone else . . . Naturally, these dizzying questions remained unanswered, but they still cast a shadow over their daily lives.
    Jean had stopped listening to Angela’s gossip, especially as she had moved from Rue des Renards and had new neighbors.
    One day, as he was arranging some items in the window, he had what he thought at first was a vision. On the other side of the glass, a