- Laurent decides that he will stop working at his regular office job, and instead rent a studio and return to painting.
- (Can we do that, please? Um… Okay…)
- The very next morning, Laurent finds a studio and rents it.
- While there, he spends many restful hours away from Thérèse and the ghost of Camille. Good for you, buddy.
- On one of his morning walks, Laurent even runs into an old school friend, who is now a painter.
- Laurent takes his friend to his studio, and the painter is amazed by Laurent's artwork.
- The narrator then gives us a careful explanation of what has happened to Laurent's disposition: due to his interactions with Thérèse's "nervous" personality, Laurent has developed a "woman's sensibility."
- His greater sensitivity has, in fact, transformed him into an artistic genius.
- We're not going to touch the sexism here with a ten-foot stick. But this is the author's version of an "empirical study" of the human disposition. He was a man of his times, it seems.
- Interestingly, Laurent's artist friend has only one criticism of his paintings: they all look alike.
- After his friend leaves, Laurent realizes with horror that all the paintings look like Camille's drowned face.
- And we thought something nice was happening to dear Laurent for a change.
- But no. He tries desperately to paint other things: angels, warriors, children, even cats and dogs. But every single sketch ends up looking like Camille's contorted head.
- Laurent stares at his hand in fear: it's as if the hand has memorized every single line of Camille's face. Dun dun dun.