The Fugitive - post I

This is the sixth volume in the seven volume opus Remembrance of Things Past by Marcel Proust. The Captive, the preceding volume, ended with Albertine leaving Marcel and the story in Volume VI picks up on that story.

In case you are wondering about the page numbers I am reading a three volume set by Chatto & Windus that includes volumes V, VI and VII all in a single book.

Bullet points from pages 425 – 490

* With Albertine gone Marcel can’t quite believe it and keeps expecting her to return and not only tries to convince himself of that but also Francoise who is over the moon that she has left

* He gets his friend Saint-Loup to go and visit her at her Aunts and try to get her to come back but the mission is a failure and it gets Albertine to write to him and imply that he should not have sent messengers

* In response he writes a malicious letter that talks about the Rolls Royce and yacht he would have bought her and the hand in marriage she just missed out on but she replies in an equally teasing way telling him not to waste his money on cars

* He decides that maybe jealousy will work so writes to her asking if she would have any objections if he transfers his affections to her friend Andree but she writes two letters back the first saying that is no problem and the second asking for a rethink and an invitation for herself of a return to his life

* The problem is he receives this letter after the telegram from her aunt explaining that Albertine has dies in a horse accident - a piece of news that understandably sends Marcel into deep grief

Where will he go from here? More tomorrow…