wever, were not broken off, and they continued to
meet. Penautier was considered such a lucky fellow that it was generally
expected he would somehow or other get some day the post he coveted so
highly. People who had no faith in the mysteries of alchemy declared that
Sainte-Croix and Penautier did business together.

Now, when the period for mourning was over, the relations of the marquise
and Sainte-Croix were as open and public as before: the two brothers
d'Aubray expostulated with her by the medium of an older sister who was
in a Carmelite nunnery, and the marquise perceived that her father had on
his death bequeathed the care and supervision of her to her brothers.
Thus her first crime had been all but in vain: she had wanted to get rid
of her father's rebukes and to gain his fortune; as a fact the fortune
was diminished by reason of her elder brothers, and she had scarcely
enough to pay her debts; while the rebukes were renewed from the mouths
of her brothers, one of whom, being civil lieutenant, had the power to
separate her again from her lover. This must be prevented. Lachaussee
left the service of Sainte-Croix, and by a contrivance of the marquise
was installed three months later as servant of the elder brother, who
lived with the civil lieutenant. The poison to be used on this occasion
was not so swift as the one taken by M. d'Aubray so violent a death
happening so soon in the same family might arouse suspicion. Experiments
were tried once more, not on animals--for their different organisation
might put the poisoner's science in the wrong--but as before upon human
subjects; as before, a 'corpus vili' was taken. The marquise had the
reputation of a pious and charitable lady; seldom did she fail to relieve
the poor who appealed: more than this, she took part in the work of those
devoted women who are pledged to the service of the sick, and she walked
the hospitals and presented wine and other medicaments. No one was
surprised when she appeared in her ordinary way at l'Hotel-Dieu. This
time she brought biscuits and cakes for the convalescent patients, her
gifts being, as usual, gratefully received. A month later she paid
another visit, and inquired after certain patients in whom she was
particularly interested: since the last time she came they had suffered a
relapse--the malady had changed in nature, and had shown graver symptoms.
It was a kind of deadly fatigue, killing them by a slows strange decay.
Sh