Soon after her departure Pascal showed symptoms of a
fatal affection of the heart, and after some weeks of great suffering
telegraphed for Clotilde to come back. One hour before her return he
died. His mother, Madame Felicite Rougon, who feared that his researches
on heredity might bring scandal on the family, burned all his papers,
and in one hour destroyed the work of a lifetime. A child was born to
Clotilde seven months after the death of Doctor Pascal; a child which
he intensely desired, in the hope that through it might come the
regeneration and rejuvenation of his race.
Zola, in an interview quoted by Mr. E. A. Vizetelly in the preface to
his translation of _Le Docteur Pascal_ (London: Chatto & Windus), states
that in this book he has been able to defend himself against all the
accusations which have been brought against him. "Pascal's works on the
members of his family," says Zola, "is, in small, what I have attempted
to do on humanity, _to show all so that all may be cured_. It is not a
book which, like _La Debacle_, will stir the passions of the mob. It
is a scientific work, the logical deduction and conclusion of all my
preceding novels, and at the same time it is my speech in defence of all
that I have done before the court of public opinion.
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