Missing What We Can't Have — The Awakening

Robert's absence dulls everything; Edna haunts Madame Lebrun's sewing room, studying baby pictures and reading his brief letter with jealous attention to its postscript. Mademoiselle Reisz asks if she misses Robert, then venomously dismantles the Lebrun family myth, praising Robert and recalling his fight with Victor over Mariequita.

Léonce mentions meeting Robert in the city, cheerful about Mexico, while Edna steers talk back to him without shame. She tells Madame Ratignolle she would give life for her children but not herself, baffling her friend.

The gossip depresses Edna; she swims with fierce abandon, half hoping Reisz will leave. Reisz waits, flatters Edna's bathing suit, and presses a city address into her hand. Obsession and truth-telling intertwine as Grand Isle nears its close.

Léonce meets Robert in the city and reports him cheerful about Mexico while Edna steers every conversation back to him. She tells Adèle she would give her life for her children but not herself, a distinction her friend cannot parse. Reisz waits after the swim, flatters the bathing suit, and presses her city address into Edna's hand as Grand Isle nears its close. The chapter crystallizes Edna's new ethic: maternal sacrifice yes, self-erasure no, even when the friend beside her still calls that love.