Pauline et Pascal Bruno

In the crisp air of a Swiss winter, a small gathering of fencing students and their charismatic professor pauses for a cigarette when a stranger slips into the room. The arrival of Alfred de Nerval, his arm linked to a veiled woman named Pauline, draws the narrator’s curiosity and hints at a hidden past that lingers like the steam from nearby hot springs. As the group later wanders the damp, narrow bridge over the roaring Tamina, Pauline’s ethereal presence—her pale, sorrowful face and fearless step toward the precipice—creates a moment suspended between danger and grace.

Through vivid descriptions of mist‑filled galleries, echoing caverns, and the fleeting glances of a woman who seems to belong to another world, the story unfolds as a delicate blend of mystery and quiet romance. The narrator’s recollections of past salons and dances mingle with the present encounter, inviting listeners to wonder how these fragments of memory will shape the relationships between Pauline, Pascal Bruno, and the adventurous companions that surround them.