needs much
careful treatment.'

He kept his eyes fixed upon the priest as he spoke, but he did not
detect so much as a quiver of Serge's eyelids.

'She took great care of you, you know,' he added, more roughly. 'Without
her, my boy, you might now be in one of the cells at Les Tulettes, with
a strait waistcoat on.... Well, I promised that you would go to see her.
I will take you with me. It will be a farewell meeting. She is anxious
to go away.'

'I can do nothing more than pray for the person of whom you speak,' said
Abbe Mouret, softly.

And as the doctor, losing his temper, brought his stick down heavily
upon the couch, he added calmly, but in a firm voice:

'I am a priest, and can only help with prayers.'

'Ah, well! Yes, you are right,' said Uncle Pascal, dropping down into
an armchair, 'it is I who am an old fool. Yes, I wept like a child, as
I came here alone in my gig. That is what comes of living amongst books.
One learns a lot from them, but one makes a fool of oneself in the
world. How could I guess that it would all turn out so badly?'

He rose from his chair and began to walk about again, looking
exceedingly troubled.

'But yes, but yes, I ought to have guessed. It was all quite natural.
Though with one in your position, it was bound to be abominable! You
are not as other men. But listen to me, I assure you that otherwise you
would never have recovered. It was she alone, with the atmosphere she
set round you, who saved you from madness. There is no need for me to
tell you what a state you were in. It is one of my most wonderful cures.
But I can't take any pride, any pleasure in it, for now the poor girl is
dying of it!'

Abbe Mouret remained there erect, perfectly calm, his face reflecting
all the quiet serenity of a martyr whom nothing that man might do could
disturb.

'God will take mercy upon her,' he said.

'God! God!' muttered the doctor below his breath. 'Ah! He would do
better not to interfere. We might manage matters if we were left
to ourselves.' Then, raising his voice, he added: 'I thought I had
considered everything carefully, that is the most wonderful part of it.
Oh! what a fool I was! You would stay there, I thought, for a month to
recover your strength. The shade of the trees, the cheerful chatter of
the girl, all the youthfulness about you would quickly bring you round.
And then you, on your side, it seemed to me, would do something to
reclaim the poor child from her wild ways