Chapter summary
The day after the first night, Madame de Rênal can scarcely look at Julien Sorel without blushing, and Julien, who studies every gesture like a role, conducts lunch with a masterpiece of prudence. Alarmed because the only glance he gives her is not repeated, she fears she is no longer loved for being ten years older, while Madame Derville tries to paint the danger she runs. Julien appears in her room only at one in the morning, faithful to the duty he has set himself, and this time he thinks less about his role and finds greater happiness. Within a few days he is hopelessly in love, although his love is still, to a large extent, ambition, and Fouqué's partnership offer continues to trouble him when he is alone.
Analysis
Julien conducts lunch with a masterpiece of prudence because he studies every gesture in order to seem a man of experience, and the only glance he gives her is part of the role. Madame de Rênal reads the lack of another glance as coldness and fears she is no longer loved, being ten years older. He acts to hide, and she suffers because she is hidden.
In a few days calculation gives way, and the narrator marks the turning point with a sentence that sums up the whole book: His love was still ambition; it was the joy of possessing such a noble and beautiful woman, he, a poor, unhappy creature, so despised.
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