#p. 188

‘Pauline was buried alongside her father in the cemetery at Passy, steps away from Natalie’s eventual gravesite. In time, Hélène constructed atop her grave a tiny, neo-Gothic chapel with a granite altar and a pretty stained glass window. The walls inside are inscribed with lines from Tarn’s poetry. The epitaph, on an outer wall, is one she wrote herself.’

‘With spooky synchronicity, Natalie picked the very morning of Pauline’s death to finally pay her respects. When she rang the bell, she had no idea that Pauline was dead, nor that people who disliked her [Natalie] intensely were weeping over her corpse. Antoinette [Tarn], in particular, blamed Natalie for her sister’s deterioration—and, thus, her death. Natalie was not wanted in that residence or beside that deathbed, and it is a logical probability that Antoinette or Hélène refused her entry, ordering the butler to send her away.’

Contrary to convention, intimate relationships begin with a commitment to ourselves, not to another. We are committed to presenting ourselves as we are, not pretending to be something the other expects or prefers. If who we really are is not liked by another, then it is best for us to learn that early rather than waste our time on a relationship that is bound to fail no matter how much we pretend otherwise.