Bearing in mind the previous paragraph's emphasis on Alphonse's fears for his son's
mental stability, we may see this careful planning between father and fiancée as reflecting
a shared concern that Victor not be left alone to indulge what they see as a tendency
toward melancholy, or, in his own characterization, "lonely, maddening reflection."
Even his seemingly innocent adjective here ("maddening") takes on added weight in
the depiction of Clerval as a kind of chaperon to ensure the preservation of Victor's
mental balance.