Part 2, Dolce: Chapters 8 and 9 Summary

Benoit brazenly discusses the war with Bonnet, openly showing his hostility. Benoit is concerned that Madeleine, having been adopted as a child, may have come from the middle class, which would explain her ease around lady-like things, her love of beauty and her boredom with the farm. Benoit realizes Madeleine does not really like him; Madeleine feels Cecile is keeping him worked up, perhaps over the past with Jean-Marie in the house while he was gone. She whispers to Benoit that he needs to hide his shotgun, as it is verboten and he could be shot for not turning it in. He admits he killed Germans to escape. The landowners, the Montmorts, and the Sabaries have been enemies for generations, and Benoit shares with Madeleine that he steals from the Viscount. The viscount thinks it is the...