‘Armand stood appalled at the letter – daring to neither to believe his eyes or the ink upon the paper. Silence seemed to crackle louder than the bonfire in Armand’s mind lasting what seemed to be an eternity. Breaking the the period of silence, was the ashes of Desiree’s affection in the form of letters drifting up and across his sight – the endearment exchanged during their espousal which he tore apart. “What have I done,” would be the one of the questions ringing relentingly in Armand’s mind, “May I have a chance to fix this regret?” Desperate to not lose hope, he lunged past the tall licks of flames to grasp at the remnants of the still burning letters – searing the skin on his hands black and blistering. Moments later, while the pain of his hands seemed nonexistent next to the pain in his heart, he left the L’Abri in desperate hopes to see Desiree and remedy their situation in anyway possible.
Arriving at the plantation of the Valmonde, the sight of an untidy and frantic Armand left Madam Valmont curious of his visit as he asked, “Where is Desiree? I must apology for my irreparable mistakes!” Later to his shock, and more importantly Madam Desiree’s, the absence of the mother and her child may only leave the worst to be assumed for the heartbroken mother – leaving the smoldering sparks of his hope to fall identical to the ashes of the letters. Staring at his darken and blistering hands, he may only ask himself in self-loathing, “What have I done? What has become of me?”
My understanding of the story would leave me to believe that Armand would quickly rethink his assumptions and try to remedy the problems, but little did he know the impact of his previous choice would have on Desiree. Desiree, I believe, in her sorrows did not know how to continued her life falling from love in the eyes of Armand leading her to detest and destroy what caused the ruin of the relationship – being herself and their child. The walk away from the L’Abri could only be the departure of the lives of Armand’s misunderstood wife and child.
