I am left here dying of
thirst!" And when Helene handed the glass to her she would exclaim:
"There's no sugar in it; I won't have it!"

Then she would throw herself back on her pillow, and a second time
push away the glass, with the complaint that the drink was too sweet.
They no longer cared to attend to her, she would say; they were doing
it purposely. Helene, dreading lest she might infuriate her to a yet
greater extent, made no reply, but gazed on her with tears trembling
on her cheeks.

However, Jeanne's anger was particularly visible when the doctor made
his appearance. The moment he entered the sick-room she would lay
herself flat in bed, or sullenly hang her head in the manner of savage
brutes who will not suffer a stranger to come near. Sometimes she
refused to say a word, allowing him to feel her pulse or examine her
while she remained motionless with her eyes fixed on the ceiling. On
other days she would not even look at him, but clasp her hands over
her eyes with such a gust of passion that to remove them would have
necessitated the violent twisting of her arms. One night, as her
mother was about to give her a spoonful of medicine, she burst out
with the cruel remark: "I won't have it; it will poison me."

Helene's heart, pierced to the quick, sank within her, and she dreaded
to elicit what the remark might mean.

"What are you saying, my child?" she asked. "Do you understand what
you are talking about? Medicine is never nice to take. You must drink
this."

But Jeanne lay there in obstinate silence, and averted her head in
order to get rid of the draught. From that day onward she was full of
caprices, swallowing or rejecting her medicines according to the humor
of the moment. She would sniff at the phials and examine them
suspiciously as they stood on the night-table. Should she have refused
to drink the contents of one of them she never forgot its identity,
and would have died rather than allow a drop from it to pass her lips.
Honest Monsieur Rambaud alone could persuade her at times. It was he
whom she now overwhelmed with the most lavish caresses, especially if
the doctor were looking on; and her gleaming eyes were turned towards
her mother to note if she were vexed by this display of affection
towards another.

"Oh, it's you, old friend!" she exclaimed the moment he entered. "Come
and sit down near me. Have you brought me any oranges?"

She sat up and laughingly fumbled in his pockets, where goo