to go, Madame Denise. Besides,
Dr. Casimir has already done me a great deal of good. You must have
heard things of him that are not altogether bad, surely?"

The little woman reflected seriously, and then said, as with some
reluctance:

"It is certainly true, mademoiselle, that in the quarter of the poor he
is much beloved. Jean Duclos--he is a chiffonnier--had his one child
dying of typhoid fever, and he was watching it struggling for breath;
it was at the point to die. Monsieur le Comte Casimir, or Dr.
Casimir--for he is called both--came in all suddenly, and in half an
hour had saved the little one's life. I do not deny that he may have
some good in him, and that he understands medicine; but there is
something wrong--" And Madame Denise shook her head forlornly a great
number of times.

None of her statements deterred me from my intention, and I was
delighted when I found myself fairly installed at the Hotel Mars. Zara
gave me a beautiful room next to her own; she had taken pains to fit it
up herself with everything that was in accordance with my particular
tastes, such as a choice selection of books; music, including many of
the fascinating scores of Schubert and Wagner; writing materials; and a
pretty, full-toned pianette. My window looked out on a small courtyard,
which had been covered over with glass and transformed into a
conservatory. I could enter it by going down a few steps, and could
have the satisfaction of gathering roses and lilies of the valley,
while outside the east wind blew and the cold snowflakes fell over
Paris. I wrote to Mrs. Everard from my retreat, and I also informed the
Challoners where they could find me if they wanted me. These duties
done, I gave myself up to enjoyment. Zara and I became inseparables; we
worked together, read together, and together every morning gave those
finishing-touches to the ordering and arrangement of the household
which are essentially feminine, and which not the wisest philosopher in
all the world has been, or ever will be, able to accomplish
successfully. We grew to love each other dearly, with that ungrudging,
sympathizing, confiding friendship that is very rarely found between
two women. In the meantime my cure went on rapidly. Every night on
retiring to rest Heliobas prepared a medicinal dose for me, of the
qualities of which I was absolutely ignorant, but which I took
trustingly from his hand. Every morning a different little phial of
liquid was placed