Chapter summary
On his return, Julien Sorel notices that since the day before yesterday he has not thought a single time of Madame de Rênal. She, who spent the absence in torment and fell ill, hears the account of the journey with extreme agitation and appears in lace stockings, Paris slippers, and a new dress, which Madame Derville reads as a sign that her friend is in love. When Madame de Rênal asks, in a trembling voice, whether he will leave the children for another position, Julien answers that it may be necessary, and, on saying "so well-born," he feels that in her eyes he is not well-born. That evening, in the garden, after absent-mindedly letting go of her hand and seeing her take it up again, he decides, out of vanity and duty, to become her lover. At midnight he tells her he must leave because he loves her with passion, and she resolves that Julien will be only a friend.
Analysis
Julien decides to be her lover out of vanity and duty after feeling, on saying "so well-born," that in Madame de Rênal's eyes he is not well-born. The declaration that he must leave is at once wounded and a provocation: if she holds him back, he proves that he is worth something to a woman of that class. She resolves that Julien will be only a friend, and the decision does not last.
Ch. XIII. The narrator on what isolated Julien from the world: His solitary life, made of imagination and distrust, had kept him away from everything that could have enlightened him.
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