It was after the rupture, and when he saw that she was ill with grief, that he had accepted the management of the Montsou mines, still hoping also that she would reform down there in that desolate black country. The Hennebeaus, since they had lived at Montsou, returned to the irritated boredom of their early married days.
C'était apres la rupture, lorsqu'il l'avait vue malade de chagrin, qu'il avait accepté la direction des mines de Montsou, espérant encore la corriger la-bas, dans ce désert des pays noirs.*p Les Hennebeau, depuis qu'ils habitaient Montsou, retournaient a l'ennui irrité des premiers temps de leur mariage.