"Never had he seen anything to compare with the splendor of her dark skin, the seduction of her figure, or the translucent delicacy of her fingers. He looked at her work basket with eyes full of wonder, as if it were a thing of beauty. What was her name, her home, her life, her past? He longed to know about the furniture in her room, all the dresses she had ever worn, the people she mixed with; and even the desire for physical possession gave way to a deeper yearning, an aching curiosity which knew no bounds."
Finally at the end of the book after years of separation Madam Arnoux comes to visit him. He gets down on one knee to avoid seeing her greying hair and finally professes his love for her:
"Your person, your slightest movements seemed to me to possess a superhuman importance in the world. My heart used to raise like the dust in your footsteps. The effect you had on me was that of a moonlit night in summer, when all is perfume, soft shadows, pale light, and infinite horizons. For me your name contained all the delights of flesh and spirit, and I repeated it again and again, trying to kiss it with my lips."
