, it's a plant!" cried Fandor.

"Go on reading, you will see...."

Fandor continued:

"_My dear Maitre_,--

_You will forgive me, I am certain of that, for all the
inconvenience I am going to cause you; I turn to you because you
are the only friend in whom I have confidence._

_I have just received a letter from my bankers, Messieurs
Barbey-Nanteuil, of whom I have often spoken to you, who you know
manage all my money affairs for me._

_This letter informs me that I am ruined. You quite
understand--absolutely, completely ruined._

_The house I am living in, my carriage, the luxurious surroundings
so necessary to me, I shall have to give it all up, so they tell
me._

_These people have dealt me a terrible blow, struck me
brutally...._

_My dear maitre, I learned this only two hours ago, and I am still
stunned by it. I do not wish to wait for the inevitable moment when
I shall begin to console myself, because I shall begin to hope that
the disaster is exaggerated. I have no family, I am already old;
apart from the satisfaction it gives me to use my influence on
behalf of youthful talent, and to help forward its development, my
life has no sense in it, it is without aim or object. My dear
maitre, there are not two ways of announcing to one's friends
resolutions analogous to that I now take: when you receive this
letter I shall be dead._

_I have in front of me, on my writing-table, a tiny phial of poison
which I am going to drink to the last drop, without any weakening
of will, almost without fear, as soon as I have posted this letter
to you myself._

_I must confess that I have an instinctive horror of being dragged
to the Morgue, as happens whenever there is some doubt about a
suicide. It is on account of this I now write to you, so that,
thanks to your intervention, all the mistakes justice is liable to
make may be avoided._

_I kill myself, I only; that is certain._

_No one must be incriminated in connection with my death, if it be
not Fatality, which has caused my ruin. I once more apologise, my
dear maitre, for all the measures you will be forced to take owing
to my death, and I beg you to believe that my friendship for you
was very sincere:_

_Signed:_

BARONESS DE VIBRAY."

"Good for you!"