rather in the middle of the room, placed there
evidently after the experience of a sick person who knows that to be
examined she must be easily seen.

Profiting by this arrangement, Saniel immediately passed between the
bed and the windows in such a way that the daylight was behind him, and
consequently his face was in shadow. This was done naturally, without
affectation, and it seemed that he only took this side of the bed
because Balzajette took the other.

Directed by Saniel, the examination commenced with a clearness and
a precision that pleased Balzajette. He did not lose himself in idle
words, the young 'confrere', any more than in useless details. He went
straight to the end, only asking and seeking the indispensable; and as
Madame Dammauville's replies were as precise as his questions, while
listening and putting in a word from time to time he said to himself
that his dinner would not be delayed, which was the chief point of his
preoccupation. Decidedly, he understood life, the young 'confrere'; he
might be called in consultation with his heavy appearance and careless
toilet, there was no danger of rivalry.

However, when Madame Dammauville began to speak of being sensitive
to cold, Balzajette found that Saniel let her lose herself in minute
details.

"Have you always been sensitive to cold?"

"Yes; and with a deplorable disposition to take cold if the temperature
is lowered one or two degrees."

"Did you exercise in the open air?"

"Very little."

"Were you ever advised to try shower-baths of cold water?"

"I should not have been able to bear it."

"I must tell you," Balzajette interrupted, "that before occupying this
house that belongs to her, Madame Dammauville lived in a more modern
apartment which was heated by a furnace, and where consequently it was
easier to maintain an even temperature to which she was accustomed."

"On coming to live in this house, where it is not possible to have a
furnace," Madame Dammauville went on, "I employed every means to shelter
me from the cold, which I am sure is my great enemy. You can see that I
have had weather-strips put at the doors, as well as at the windows."

In spite of this invitation and the gesture which accompanied it, Saniel
was careful not to turn his head toward the window; he kept his face
in the shadow, contenting himself with looking at the door which was
opposite to him.

"At the same time," she continued, "I had hangings put on the walls