Edouard visits his first wife Magdalena, a beautiful but oblivious French socialite, in the geriatric wing of a hospital in the northern rim of Paris — a hospital that only took her in because they expect her to die soon. During the visit, Magdalena absurdly remarks that she had never met Edouard’s second wife, Juliette. Juliette, Edouard, and Magdalena had met some time before in 1954 for a lunch to ply Magdalena to agree to divorce Edouard, but Magdalena, being a newly converted Catholic, staunchly refused, as divorce is heretical to her religious sensibilities.  Some time passes, and Edouard, unable to visit Magdalena at the hospital from as he has contracted bronchitis, sends Magdalena stationary and stamps to maintain correspondence. Magdalena’s messages are the same, and she urges Edouard to come save his “wife” from death in an institution. After a few months pass, Edouard goes to visit Magdalena on her birthday. The two reflect on their torturous relationship, and Edouard remarks that he didn’t love Magdalene, but was always fascinated by her. He says that his and Juliette’s relationship was always barred by Magdalena’s refusal to divorce him, that he and Juliette were never able to have children. Because of that, he couldn’t claim his own son, Thomas, and he couldn’t leave Thomas an inheritance because of the stringent regulations on marriage. After that visit, Magdalena doesn’t write with the same urgency and doesn’t make awkward demands of Edouard.  As her health continues to decline, Edouard still visits, but refuses the imposition of her “enduring look of pure love,” and never meets her doleful pale blue eyes.