Louis and Victorine

Louis G. was a young bookmaker who was about to marry Victorine R., a young woman working in the same shop. Their marriage plans were so far along that the banns were already being published, and Louis even took his meals with her every day to save money. One day they quarreled over something trivial. The argument became violent, and Louis stormed away, saying he would never come back. The next day he came back and begged her forgiveness. Victorine, perhaps frightened by what marriage with him might become, refused to make peace and broke the engagement. His tears, pleading, and despair could not move her. Several days later he came to her room again and knocked in a way that made her know it was him. She still refused to open. He begged and pleaded to be let in, but she remained hard. At last he cried, "Farewell, cruel girl! Farewell forever! Try to find a husband who will love you as truly as I do!" She heard a muffled groan and a heavy thud against the door. Thinking he was sitting outside waiting for her, she stayed in her room. A quarter of an hour later, a neighbor came down with a light and cried out. Louis lay dead outside her door. He had plunged his bookmaker's awl into his heart.

At the Paris Spiritist Society, Saint Louis was first asked about Victorine's responsibility.

The medium’s hand begins writing...

MediumIs the young woman, who was the unwilling cause of the death of her fiance, responsible for the event?

Mediums’ GuideYes.

Mediums’ GuideBecause she did not love him.

MediumTo prevent the tragedy, should she have married him in spite of her dislike of the match?

Mediums’ GuideNo.

Mediums’ GuideShe was looking for a chance to break it off.

Mediums’ GuideAt the beginning of their relationship, she did what she would have done later if she had married him.

MediumThen her fault was in encouraging an affection she did not share, and so becoming, without meaning to, one cause of the young man's death?

Mediums’ GuideYes.

Mediums’ GuideThat was it.

MediumIn that case, her responsibility must be less than if she had caused his death on purpose.

Mediums’ GuideObviously.

MediumIs Louis's suicide excused by the kind of madness brought on by Victorine's stubborn refusal to forgive him?

Mediums’ GuideYes.

Mediums’ GuideHis suicide, brought on by the violence of disappointed love, is less blameworthy in the sight of God than the suicide of someone who throws away life out of cowardice.

Later, Louis himself was called.

The medium’s hand begins writing...

MediumWhat do you now think of what you did?

Louis G.Victorine is an ungrateful creature.

Louis G.It was very foolish of me to kill myself over her.

Louis G.She was not worth the sacrifice.

MediumDid she not love you?

Louis G.No.

Louis G.She imagined she did, but she was mistaken.

Louis G.The scene I caused opened her eyes.

Louis G.And she was glad to seize that excuse to get rid of me.

MediumDid you really love her?

Louis G.I was passionately in love with her.

Louis G.But I think that was all.

Louis G.If I had loved her with a pure and true love, I would not have wanted to cause her pain.

MediumIf she had known that you would really kill yourself, would she still have refused to receive you?

Louis G.I do not know.

Louis G.I think not.

Louis G.She is not hard-hearted.

Louis G.But she would have been unhappy.

Louis G.It is better for her that it ended as it did.

MediumWhen you came to her door, had you already planned to kill yourself if she refused to let you in?

Louis G.No.

Louis G.I had no such thought.

Louis G.I did not think she would be so stubborn.

Louis G.It was only when I saw how stubborn she was that a kind of madness took hold of me.

MediumYou seem to regret your suicide only because Victorine was not worth it.

MediumIs that the only feeling you have about it?

Louis G.For now, yes.

Louis G.I am still confused.

Louis G.It seems to me that I am still outside her door.

Louis G.But I feel something else that I cannot explain.

MediumWill you understand it in time?

Louis G.Yes.

Louis G.When my mind becomes clearer.

Louis G.What I did was wrong.

Louis G.I should have left her in peace.

Louis G.I was weak.

Louis G.And I am suffering the consequences.

Louis G.Anger blinds a person and makes him do many foolish things.

Louis G.He understands it when it is too late.

MediumYou say you are suffering the consequences of your weakness.

MediumWhat is your suffering?

Louis G.I did wrong in shortening my life.

Louis G.I should not have done it.

Louis G.I should have borne everything rather than ending it before the proper time.

Louis G.And besides, I'm unhappy.

Louis G.I suffer.

Louis G.And it is still she who makes me suffer.

Louis G.I seem to be still there, at her door.

Louis G.The ungrateful girl...

Louis G.Do not speak of her.

Louis G.I do not want to think of her.

Louis G.It pains me too much.

Louis G.Farewell.

Kardec says this case shows how responsibility is measured according to each person's part in the fault. Victorine carried the heavier share because she encouraged a love she did not truly return and treated it carelessly. Louis also suffered, but his punishment was lighter because he gave way in a sudden storm of passion, not from the cold intention of escaping life's appointed trials.