The excerpt represents the core issue or deciding factor on which you must meditate, and is drawn from A Prince of Bohemia by Honore de Balzac: explained the case at length, and showed that it was absolutely
necessary to sacrifice the hair to insure the success of the
operation.
" 'Cut off Claudine's hair!' cried he in peremptory tones. 'No. I
would sooner lose her.'
"Even now, after a lapse of four years, Bianchon still quotes that
speech; we have laughed over it for half an hour together. Claudine,
informed of the verdict, saw in it a proof of affections; she felt
sure that she was loved. In the face of her weeping family, with her
husband on his knees, she was inexorable. She kept the hair. The
strength that came with the belief that she was loved came to her aid,
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