Her letter was most imprudent and absurd, and made his
hair stand on end. He had intended, on his arrival, to reproach
her; but it was she who upbraided him.

"Why this flight?"

"I could not stay here--I suffered, trembled, felt as if I were
dying."

"What a coward you are!"

He would have replied, but she put her finger on his mouth, and
pointed with her other hand to the door of the next room.

"Sh! Three doctors have been in consultation there for the past
hour, and I haven't been able to hear a word of what they said. Who
knows what they are about? I shall not be easy till they go away."

Bertha's fears were not without foundation. When Sauvresy had his
last relapse, and complained of a severe neuralgia in the face and
an irresistible craving for pepper, Dr. R--- had uttered a significant
exclamation. It was nothing, perhaps--yet Bertha had heard it, and
she thought she surprised a sudden suspicion on the doctor's part;
and this now disturbed her, for she thought that it might be the
subject of the consultation. The suspicion, however, if there had
ever been any, quickly vanished. The symptoms entirely changed
twelve hours later, and the next day the sick man felt pains quite
the opposite of those which had previously distressed him. This
very inconstancy of the distemper served to puzzle the doctor's
conclusions. Sauvresy, in these latter days, had scarcely suffered
at all, he said, and had slept well at night; but he had, at times,
strange and often distressing sensations. He was evidently failing
hourly; he was dying--everyone perceived it. And now Dr. R--- asked
for a consultation, the result of which had not been reached when
Tremorel returned.

The drawing-room door at last swung open, and the calm faces of the
physicians reassured the poisoner. Their conclusions were that the
case was hopeless; everything had been tried and exhausted; no human
resources had been neglected; the only hope was in Sauvresy's strong
constitution.

Bertha, colder than marble, motionless, her eyes full of tears,
seemed so full of grief on hearing this cruel decision, that all
the doctors were touched.

"Is there no hope then? Oh, my God!" cried she, in agonizing tones.

Dr. R--- hardly dared to attempt to comfort her; he answered her
questions evasively.

"We must never despair," said he, "when the invalid is of Sauvresy's
age and constitution; nature often works miracles when least
expected."

The doctor, however