She protests for a moment but then gives herself over to his embrace. He grabs her and plants a ferocious kiss on her lips. On the evening he finishes the portrait, he and Thérèse finally have a moment alone. He considers starting an affair with her and decides to do it-he can tell she wants to, and he has no reason to hold back, since he’s always looking for pleasure. As he paints, he can feel Thérèse smoldering with desire behind him. Madame Raquin and Camille are delighted and arrange for him to come each day after work. Laurent offers to paint Camille’s portrait. As he talks about the nude models he used to paint, he makes direct eye contact with Thérèse. He’s powerful and strong, and she’s fiercely attracted to him. Camille is scandalized by what he says, but Thérèse feels suddenly awoken by Laurent’s presence. But Laurent quickly shocks them by talking about how he doesn’t care about his job-he just wants to lead an “idle” life of painting nude women and satisfying his desires. Madame Raquin and Camille are delighted to have him, especially because he earns a high salary. His name is Laurent, and he used to play with Camille when he was a boy. One day, though, Camille brings home a new coworker.

Thérèse suffers quietly through Thursday evenings, finding the gatherings dreadfully boring.

Camille also invites his older coworker, Grivet, a man he respects because he earns a high salary. Each week, Madame Raquin’s old friend Michaud-who used to work for the police-comes with his son, Olivier (who currently works for the police) and Olivier’s wife, Suzanne. She particularly hates it when Camille and Madame Raquin host friends every Thursday night to play dominoes. It isn’t long before Camille finds a job and settles into his new life, but Thérèse is still unhappy. However, Camille doesn’t mind: he dreams of working in a large office and plans to spend most of his time there. Both Camille and Thérèse are disappointed by the store and the apartment above it, which is where they’ll live. The store Madame Raquin finds is in a depressing alleyway, but she doesn’t care because it was cheap-so cheap that she hardly has to dip into her savings. In this way, she’s able to financially help Camille and Thérèse while also keeping them in her life. Madame Raquin has sold her haberdashery but decides to open a new store in Paris. Shortly after the wedding, Camille announces that he wants to move to Paris. But she knew that was impossible: Madame Raquin expected her and Camille to marry. Thérèse slept in the same bed as her cousin, and though she adopted a passive attitude, she yearned for a more exciting life. Because Camille was always sick, Madame Raquin doted on him. Thérèse thus grew up alongside Camille outside of Paris, where Madame Raquin owned a haberdashery. Her father took her to Madame Raquin shortly after her mother died.

Thérèse has lived with her aunt, Madame Raquin, and cousin, Camille, since she was two years old.

Thérèse Raquin by Émile Zola