t hope vanished when she whispered the news of her prospective
motherhood in his ear; now there was no possibility of a dissolution of
their connection. If a human creature was indebted to him for its life,
he must give himself up to it, and to this sacred duty he must
sacrifice freedom, happiness, even self-respect. But his heart
contracted with a bitter pang at the thought. It was as if a black
curtain had been drawn in front of him, or a window walled up which
permitted a view over the open country from a dark room.

However, he had been spared this crowning addition to the burden of his
discomfort, and he breathed more freely. But the episode had served to
rend the last remaining veil that hung before his moral eye. That the
situation should seem so unbearable, that he was so sensitive to the
opinion of others, that his blood had run cold at Pilar's news, that he
had felt the disappointment of her hopes as a relief, that the idea
that the danger might recur should fill him with terror--this all
pointed to one fact, the realization of which forced itself upon him
with inexorable persistency; he did not love Pilar, or at any rate he
did not love her sufficiently--not enough to take her finally into his
life, and, possessing her, to forget himself and all the world beside.

In the midst of his torturing efforts to come to some conclusion he
noticed that Auguste, who had come to his room with a letter, lingered
about in an undecided manner, as if he had something to say but did not
know exactly how to say it.

"What is it?" asked Wilhelm, coming to his assistance.

He liked Auguste, for he was always civil and attentive to him, whereas
the hostility of the rest of the servants was easily discerned in spite
of their forced show of servility.

"Monsieur le Docteur must excuse me," said the man, "but I really can't
listen to it any longer and keep quiet. The lady's maid never stops
saying the most scandalous things about monsieur. She says it is not
true that monsieur is a celebrated doctor and a member of Parliament,
and that they are not going to make him President of the German
Republic."

"Who has been trying to impose upon you with such stories?"

"But Madamela Comtess tells everybody so, and all the world knows it. I
have long wanted to ask monsieur for something against the rheumatism
in my left shoulder, but did not like to because madame says monsieur
may not practice here."

What object could Pilar have