effulgence of the morning sun rising above the harbor. “Bernard,” she said gently. The doctor turned and looked at her almost as if she were a stranger. “The telegram?” “Yes,” he said, “that’s it. A week ago.” Mme Rieux turned her face toward the window. Rieux kept silent for a while. Then he told his mother not to cry, he’d been expecting it, but it was hard all the same. And he knew, in saying this, that this suffering was nothing new. For many months, and for the last two days, it was the selfsame suffering going on and on.
