him. He barely knew his father, but the meaning of the General’s perpetual absence was unbeknownst to the small boy at the time. The only male figure present in his life was his mother’s “friend” General Lahorie. He lived his childhood with the world as his playground. The family frequently moved, spending one moment in France and hopping to Italy or Spain the next. He breathed the culture that surrounded him taking in ever detail with his childish eyes, as he always would. In his later years Victor would write beautiful poetry about childhood. He cherished this time in his life, and he held a great deal of gratitude for the life that his mother provided for him and his brothers.Victor spent his adolescent years studying law in the home of the Foucher family. His brothers resided there as well. Monsieur Foucher was not a kind man, especially toward Victor, and Victor had no ambition in law. He missed the life that he had had with his mother, and he wrote to her of the Fouchers. My dear mamma – since you went away we have all been very bored here…Come back soon. Without you we do not know what to talk about nor what to do. We are all at a loose end. We never cease thinking of you. Mamma! Mamma! (Maurois 34)The true passion that occupied his life was actually the Foucher’s daughter, Adele. Victor expressed an amazingly deep love for this young girl when he was only 15 years of age. At this time he was beginning to develop greatly as a writer, and the eloquence of his words shines brightly in the love letters sent to Adele. Victor’s mother discouraged her son’s obsession with this young beauty. She wanted her son to marry into a finer family. The Foucher’s were equally opposed to the attraction that the two seemed to have for one another. It was the classic case of forbidden love. The following is Victor’s first letter to Adele. At the end he refers to himself as her husb...
